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1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record17–1 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPAndy Phillip
CaptainArthur Mathisen
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1942–43 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Illinois 12 0   1.000 17 1   .944
Indiana 11 2   .846 18 2   .900
Northwestern 7 5   .583 8 9   .471
Wisconsin 6 6   .500 12 9   .571
Purdue 6 6   .500 9 11   .450
Minnesota 5 7   .417 8 9   .471
Ohio State 5 7   .417 8 9   .471
Michigan 4 8   .333 10 8   .556
Iowa 3 9   .250 7 10   .412
Chicago 0 9   .000 0 21   .000
"1942-43 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

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The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids, the team consisted of 20-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.[1]

The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected to Illinois' All-Century team. Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported: the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament.[2] Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided with World War II. The team was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[3]

Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.

The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.

Roster

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1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 3 Frank Bohac
So Braidwood, Illinois
G 4 Bishop Barrick
Jr Stillman Valley, Illinois
C 5 Raymond Bergeson
Jr Bridgeton, New Jersey
G 6 Clifton Fulton
So Pittsburg, Kansas
F 7 Raymond Grierson
So Champaign, Illinois
F 8 Edwin Parker
Sr Taft, California
G 9 Kenneth Parker
Sr Granite City, Illinois
G 10 Gordon Hortin
So Evansville, Indiana
G 11 John Kjellstrom
So Hebron, Illinois
F 12 Ken Menke
Jr Dundee, Illinois
C 13 Alton Shirley
So Edmond, Oklahoma
F 14 Oliver Shoaff
So Mt. Carmel, Illinois
G 15 Arthur Smiley
Jr Waterman, Illinois
F 16 W.L. Miller
Fr Chicago, Illinois
F 17 Herb Matter
Jr Naperville, Illinois
C 19 Arthur Mathisen (C)
Sr Dwight, Illinois
G 25 Ellis Vance
Jr Clinton, Illinois
F 33 Charles Fowler
So Watseka, Illinois
G/F 47 Andrew Phillip
Jr Granite City, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/7/1942*
no, no
Detroit W 38–25  1–0
Huff Hall (5,277)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1942*
no, no
Nebraska W 69–27  2–0
Huff Hall (4,884)
Champaign, IL
12/14/1942*
no, no
Missouri
Rivalry
W 51–30  3–0
Huff Hall (4,465)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1942*
no, no
at Great Lakes W 57–53  4–0
Chicago Stadium (13,295)
Chicago, IL
12/21/1942*
no, no
at Camp Grant L 31–41  4–1
Camp Grant Y.M.C.A. (2,200)
Rockford, IL
1/2/1943*
no, no
Stanford W 38–26  5–1
Huff Hall (6,835)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/9/1943
no, no
Michigan W 47–34  6–1
(1–0)
Huff Hall (7,188)
Champaign, IL
1/11/1943
no, no
at Wisconsin W 47–34  7–1
(2–0)
Wisconsin Field House (14,000)
Madison, WI
1/16/1943
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 61–41  8–1
(3–0)
Huff Hall (7,004)
Champaign, IL
1/18/1943
no, no
Iowa
Rivalry
W 66–34  9–1
(4–0)
Huff Hall (6,684)
Champaign, IL
2/1/1943
no, no
Northwestern
Rivalry
W 68–51  10–1
(5–0)
Huff Hall (6,766)
Champaign, IL
2/6/1942
no, no
at Ohio State W 60–48  11-1
(6–0)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (3,300)
Columbus, OH
2/8/1943
no, no
at Ohio State W 50–44  12–1
(7–0)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,900)
Columbus, OH
2/13/1943
no, no
at Minnesota W 56–35  13–1
(8–0)
Williams Arena (6,800)
Minneapolis, MN
2/15/1943
no, no
at Minnesota W 55–29  14–1
(9–0)
Williams Arena (5,100)
Minneapolis, MN
2/20/1943
no, no
Wisconsin W 50–26  15–1
(10–0)
Huff Hall (7,102)
Champaign, IL
2/27/1943
no, no
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 68–51  16–1
(11–0)
Chicago Stadium (19,880)
Chicago, IL
3/1/1943
no, no
University of Chicago W 92–25  17–1
(12–0)
Huff Hall (6,443)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[4]

Player stats

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Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Andy Phillip 18 131 43 305
Arthur Mathisen 18 86 51 201
Ken Menke 17 70 43 183
Jack Smiley 17 59 17 135
Gene Vance 18 56 14 126
Edwin Parker 18 12 10 34
Oliver Shoaff 14 7 3 17
Kenneth Parker 14 7 2 16
Alton Shirley 14 3 0 6
Cliff Fulton 6 1 2 4
Herbert Matter 2 1 2 4
Charles Fowler 7 2 0 4
W.L. Miller 5 1 0 2
Gordon Hortin 6 1 0 2

[5]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "1943 College Basketball Recap".
  2. ^ "My Losing Season: Wyoming @ Utah: Sailors, Ferrin, Mikan and the Great Santini". Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  3. ^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 565. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  4. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1942–43 pg.79, FightingIllini.com
  5. ^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.