1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Big Ten conference champions
NCAA men's Division I tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 2
Record	22–4 (12–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Howie Braun (15th season); Cal Luther (1st season);
MVP	Rod Fletcher
Captain	Rod Fletcher
Home arena	Huff Hall
	Seasons ← 1950–51 1952–53 →

1951–52 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Illinois	12	–	2	.857	22	–	4	.846
No. 7 Iowa	11	–	3	.786	19	–	3	.864
Minnesota	10	–	4	.714	15	–	7	.682
Indiana	9	–	5	.643	16	–	6	.727
Michigan State	6	–	8	.429	13	–	9	.591
Ohio State	6	–	8	.429	8	–	14	.364
Wisconsin	5	–	9	.357	10	–	12	.455
Michigan	4	–	10	.286	7	–	15	.318
Northwestern	4	–	10	.286	7	–	15	.318
Purdue	3	–	11	.214	8	–	14	.364

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had reached a level of national prominence that was only bettered by the 1914-15 national championship team. Head coach Harry Combes had guided his team to a Big Ten championship, a third place finish in the 1952 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 2 in the nation. Combes was beginning to build a dynasty in Champaign with 3 Big Ten Championships and 3 third place finishes in the NCAA tournament in his first 5 years at the helm. The 1951-52 season not only brought Illinois another Big Ten title, it also introduced John Kerr, a center from Tilden Tech in Chicago. He began his three-year reign as Illinois’ top scorer with a sophomore-record 357 points. The Illini recorded a 22-4 overall mark and went 12-2 in the conference. Once again, Illinois advanced to the national semifinals and ran into underdog St. John’s. The Redmen fought their way to a 61-59 victory in the NCAA’s first Final Four, in Seattle. Illinois took another third-place award home after beating Santa Clara, 67-64, behind 26 points by Kerr. At the conclusion of the tournament, Kerr and James Bredar were named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. Subsequently, at the conclusion of the season, Rodney Fletcher was named a Consensus 1st team All-American.

The starting lineup for the season included captain Rodney Fletcher, James Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer Johnny "Red" Kerr at the center position. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher.^[1]

Roster

1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	9	Elmer Plew	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	Paris High School	Paris, Illinois
F	11	Jim Dutcher	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Downers Grove High School	Downers Grove, Illinois
G	16	Jim Wright	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Lawrenceville High School	Lawrenceville, Illinois
G	19	James Bredar	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	Jr	Salem High School	Salem, Illinois
C	22	Johnny Kerr	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Tilden High School	Chicago, Illinois
F	24	Ed Makovsky	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	So	Morton High School	Cicero, Illinois
C	25	Robert Peterson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Jr	Elgin High School	Wayne, Illinois
G	26	Irving Bemoras	6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Marshall High School	Chicago, Illinois
C	27	Mack Follmer	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Forrest High School	Forrest, Illinois
F	29	Max Baumgardner	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Sterling High School	Sterling, Illinois
F	33	Clive Follmer	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Forrest High School	Forrest, Illinois
G	34	Seymour Gantman	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sr	Marshall High School	Chicago, Illinois
G	35	Ren Alde	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Pana High School	Pana, Illinois
G	37	Rod Fletcher (C)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Champaign Central High School	Champaign, Illinois
G	38	Herb Gerecke	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Pekin High School	Pekin, Illinois
F	41	Max Hooper	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Mt. Vernon High School	Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G	44	Walt Moore	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Fr	Mt. Vernon High School	Mt. Vernon, Illinois
G	47	Dick Christiansen	6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	New Trier High School	Winnetka, Illinois
G	48	James Schuldt	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Dundee Community High School	Dundee, Illinois

Head coach

Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (5th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (15th year)
Cal Luther (Valparaiso University) (1st year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Source^[2]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state^[3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/4/1951* no, no		at Butler	W 68–57	1-0	Hinkle Fieldhouse (3,043) Indianapolis, IN
12/12/1951* no, no	No. 3	Loyola (Chicago)	W 74–66	2-0	Huff Hall (-) Champaign, IL
12/13/1951* no, no	No. 3	Oklahoma	W 69-51	3-0	Huff Hall (6,505) Champaign, IL
12/20/1951* no, no	No. 3	North Carolina	W 86–66	4-0	Huff Hall (2,899) Champaign, IL
12/22/1951* no, no	No. 3	DePaul	W 70–61	5-0	Huff Hall (-) Champaign, IL
12/28/1951* no, no	No. 2	No. 16 UCLA	W 73–67	6-0	Huff Hall (2,411) Champaign, IL
12/31/1951* no, no	No. 2	Marquette	W 68–57	7-0	Marquette Gymnasium (-) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Big Ten regular season
1/5/1952 no, no	No. 2	at Minnesota	W 52–43	8-0 (1-0)	Williams Arena (17,862) Minneapolis, MN
1/7/1952 no, no	No. 2	Wisconsin	W 53–49	9-0 (2-0)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
1/12/1952 no, no	No. 2	at Michigan	W 67–51	10-0 (3-0)	Yost Field House (6,300) Ann Arbor, MI
1/14/1952 no, no	No. 2	No. 4 Indiana Rivalry	W 78–66	11-0 (4-0)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
1/26/1952* no, no	No. 1	at DePaul	L 65–69	11-1	Alumni Hall (-) Chicago, IL
1/28/1952 no, no	No. 1	at Purdue	W 84–57	12-1 (5-0)	Lambert Fieldhouse (-) West Lafayette, IN
2/2/1952 no, no	No. 3	at Ohio State	W 66–62	13-1 (6-0)	Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (8,265) Columbus, OH
2/9/1952 no, no	No. 3	at No. 9 Iowa Rivalry	L 68–73	13-2 (6-1)	Iowa Field House (-) Iowa City, IA
2/11/1952 no, no	No. 3	Michigan State	W 84–62	14-2 (7-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
2/16/1952 no, no	No. 6	Ohio State	W 80–53	15-2 (8-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
2/18/1952 no, no	No. 6	at No. 20 Indiana Rivalry	W 77–70	16-2 (9-1)	The Fieldhouse (10,556) Bloomington, IN
2/23/1952 no, no	No. 5	No. 4 Iowa Rivalry	W 78–62	17-2 (10-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
3/1/1952 no, no	No. 2	Purdue	W 82–71	18-2 (11-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
3/5/1952 no, no	No. 2	Northwestern Rivalry	W 95–74	19-2 (12-1))	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
3/8/1952 no, no	No. 2	at Wisconsin	L 48–58	19-3 (12-2)	Wisconsin Field House (13,000) Madison, WI
NCAA tournament
3/21/1952* no, no	No. 2	vs. No. 11 Dayton NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional first round	W 80–61	20-3	Chicago Stadium (-) Chicago, IL
3/22/1952* no, no	No. 2	vs. No. 4 Duquesne NCAA Tournament First Round Mideast Regional Final	W 74–68	21-3	Chicago Stadium (-) Chicago, IL
3/25/1952* no, no	No. 2	vs. No. 10 St. Johns NCAA Tournament National Semifinals	L 59–61	21-4	Hec Edmundson Pavilion (-) Seattle, WA
3/26/1952* no, no	No. 2	vs. Santa Clara NCAA Tournament National Third Place Game	W 67–64	22-4	Hec Edmundson Pavilion (-) Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
John Kerr	26	143	71	357
Rod Fletcher	26	105	80	290
Irv Bemoras	26	108	69	285
Jim Bredar	26	104	52	260
Bob Peterson	26	87	77	251
Clive Follmer	20	73	91	237
Max Hooper	20	29	11	69
Herb Gerecke	20	21	17	59
Jim Wright	12	5	2	12
Dick Christiansen	10	5	1	11
Ed Makovsky	9	1	5	7
Jim Schuldt	7	1	4	6
Max Baumgardner	7	3	0	6
Jim Dutcher	5	2	2	6
Walt Moore	4	2	1	5
Mack Follmer	9	0	4	4

^[5]

Awards and honors

Rod Fletcher
- Consensus 1st team All-American (1952)
- Look Magazine 1st team All-American (1952)
- Converse 1st team All-American (1952)
- Helms 1st team All-American (1952)
- Associated Press 2nd team All-American (1952)
- United Press International 2nd team All-American (1952)
- International News Service 2nd team All-American (1952)
- Collier's Weekly 2nd team All-American (1952)
- National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd team All-American (1952)
- Athletic Publications 2nd team All-American (1952)
- Team Most Valuable Player^[6]
Irv Bemoras
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
- United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
Johnny Kerr
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (1952)
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
- United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
- Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
Jim Bredar
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (1952)
- United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952)
Bob Peterson
- United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952)

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club
Rod Fletcher	Minneapolis Lakers

^[7]

Rankings

References

^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1951-52 Archived 2014-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ Schedule
^ RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More
^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
^ 1952 NBA draft Archived 2010-01-17 at the Wayback Machine

[1] Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7

[2] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1951-52 Archived 2014-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[3] Schedule

[4] RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More

[5] "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.

[6] "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2013.

[7] 1952 NBA draft Archived 2010-01-17 at the Wayback Machine

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[2]

[3]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics