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1937–38 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1937–38 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record9–9 (4-8 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainLou Boudreau
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1937–38 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Purdue 10 2   .833 18 2   .900
Minnesota 9 3   .750 16 4   .800
Ohio State 7 5   .583 12 8   .600
Northwestern 7 5   .583 10 10   .500
Michigan 6 6   .500 12 8   .600
Iowa 6 6   .500 11 9   .550
Wisconsin 5 7   .417 10 10   .500
Illinois 4 8   .333 9 9   .500
Indiana 4 8   .333 10 10   .500
Chicago 2 10   .167 6 12   .333

The 1937–38 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

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The 1937-38 season for second year head coach Doug Mills took a major step backward after finishing in a first place tie a year earlier. Mills' Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team dropped to a tie for eighth place in the Big Ten during his sophomore season. This team featured future major league baseball hall of fame shortstop and manager, Lou Boudreau. Even though they returned 6 letterman, the Illini finished the season with a conference record of 4 wins and 8 losses (the worst of Mills' career at Illinois). The team finished the season with an overall record of 9 wins 9 losses. Along with team captain Boudreau, the Illini also featured a starting lineup of Lewis Dehner at the center position, Joe Frank and William Hapac at forward and George Wardley, Tom Nisbit and Colin Handlon at guard.[1]

Roster

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1937–38 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 3 Colin Handlon
So Connersville, Indiana
F 6 Harry Lasater Jr.
So Fairfield, Illinois
C 8 Lewis Dehner
Jr Lincoln, Illinois
G 10 Carlos Davies
So Streator, Illinois
F 11 Charles Phillips
So Ridgway, Illinois
G 15 George Wardley
Jr Gary, Indiana
F 17 Joe Frank
So Urbana, Illinois
G 18 Tom Nisbet
Jr Chicago, Illinois
F 19 William Hapac
So Cicero, Illinois
F 21 Lou Boudreau (C)
Jr Harvey, Illinois
F 22 William Bennis
Sr Freeport, Illinois
G 28 Jack Hodges
Jr Rock Island, Illinois
G 27 Orval Spurlin
So Kinmundy, Illinois
F 33 Thomas Bouzeos
So Chicago, Illinois
F 55 Carter Cooley
Jr Chicago, 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
12/7/1937*
no, no
Carroll W 48–25  1–0
Huff Hall (6,500)
Champaign, IL
12/11/1937*
no, no
at Augustana W 43–27  2–0
Old Main Gymnasium (5,000)
Rock Island, IL
12/15/1937*
no, no
Washington (St. Louis) W 40–36  3–0
Huff Hall (6,800)
Champaign, IL
12/18/1937*
no, no
at St. John's W 60–45  4–0
Madison Square Garden (17,000)
New York, NY
12/20/1937*
no, no
at Temple L 38–51  4–1
Municipal Auditorium (4,000)
Philadelphia, PA
12/28/1937*
no, no
Notre Dame W 33–32  5–1
Huff Hall (8,500)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1938
no, no
at Indiana
Rivalry
L 46–51  5–2
(0–1)
IU Fieldhouse (6,000)
Bloomington, IN
1/8/1938
no, no
at Michigan L 37–45  5–3
(0–2)
Yost Field House (-)
Ann Arbor, MI
1/10/1938
no, no
Purdue W 51–43  6–3
(1–2)
Huff Hall (7,100)
Champaign, IL
1/15/1938
no, no
University of Chicago W 50–34  7–3
(2–2)
Huff Hall (7,100)
Champaign, IL
1/17/1938
no, no
Minnesota L 29–41  7–4
(2–3)
Huff Hall (7,100)
Champaign, IL
1/22/1938
no, no
at Ohio State L 26–46  7–5
(2–4)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (7,500)
Columbus, OH
2/7/1938
no, no
at Purdue L 13–23  7–6
(2–5)
Lambert Fieldhouse (5,000)
West Lafayette, IN
2/12/1938
no, no
at Minnesota L 23–28  7–7
(2–6)
Williams Arena (6,800)
Minneapolis, MN
2/19/1938
no, no
Ohio State W 42–34  8–7
(3–6)
Huff Hall (7,000)
Champaign, IL
2/21/1938
no, no
at University of Chicago L 39–43  8–8
(3–7)
Henry Crown Field House (5,000)
Chicago, IL
2/28/1938
no, no
Michigan W 36–32  9–8
(4–7)
Huff Hall (7,000)
Champaign, IL
3/4/1938
no, no
Indiana
Rivalry
L 35–45  9–9
(4–8)
Huff Hall (7,000)
Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[2]

Awards and honors

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References

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  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 1937–38 pg.79, FightingIllini.com