1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 18
Record	17–5 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes (8th season);
Assistant coach	Howie Braun (18th season)
MVP	Paul Judson
Captain	Morris Sterneck
Home arena	Huff Hall
	Seasons ← 1953–54 1955–56 →

1954–55 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Iowa	11	–	3	.786	19	–	7	.731
No. 18 Illinois	10	–	4	.714	17	–	5	.773
No. 11 Minnesota	10	–	4	.714	15	–	7	.682
Michigan State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	9	.591
Northwestern	7	–	7	.500	12	–	10	.545
Purdue	5	–	9	.357	12	–	10	.545
Michigan	5	–	9	.357	11	–	11	.500
Wisconsin	5	–	9	.357	10	–	12	.455
Indiana	5	–	9	.357	8	–	14	.364
Ohio State	4	–	10	.286	10	–	12	.455

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes, in his eighth year at Illinois, directed a youthful team with only three returning seniors, none of which were regular players. Combes' team, once again, was primarily made of sophomores and juniors recruited from the state of Illinois.

The 1954-55 team had some talented juniors including the return of twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley. It also added sophomores George Bon Salle, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. Exactly like the previous season, the Illini finished with a conference record of 10 wins and 4 losses, finishing in a 2nd place tie in the Big Ten. The Illini lost 5 total games with three of the five losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Bill Altenberger at guard and Bruce Brothers and Paul Judson at the forward slots.^[1]

Roster

1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	7	Morris Sterneck (C)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Salem High School	Salem, Illinois
G	9	Elmer Plew	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Paris High School	Paris, Illinois
F	10	Hiles Stout	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Central High School	Peoria, Illinois
G	11	Bill Ridley	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Taylorville High School	Taylorville, Illinois
F	16	James Burks	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Caverna High School	Horse Cave, Kentucky
G	20	Bill Altenberger	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Senior High School	East St. Louis, Illinois
C	22	George Bon Salle	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	So	Loyola Academy	Chicago, Illinois
F	27	Jim Dutcher	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Downers Grove High School	Downers Grove, Illinois
G	30	Phil Judson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Alden-Hebron High School	Hebron, Illinois
F	32	Bruce Brothers	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Quincy Senior High School	Quincy, Illinois
G	33	Harvard Schmidt	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Kankakee High School	Kankakee, Illinois
G	34	Paul Judson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Alden-Hebron High School	Hebron, Illinois

Head coach

Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (8th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (18th 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
12/2/1954* no, no		Butler	W 88–34	1-0	Huff Hall (4,566) Champaign, IL
12/4/1954* no, no		Missouri Rivalry	W 77–69	2-0	Huff Hall (4,766) Champaign, IL
12/11/1954* no, no	No. 14	at No. 11 Oklahoma A&M	W 59–53	3-0	Gallagher Hall (8,200) Stillwater, OK
12/15/1954* no, no	No. 3	Miami (OH)	W 97–72	4-0	Huff Hall (4,898) Champaign, IL
12/18/1954* no, no	No. 3	No. 20 Notre Dame	W 66–57	5-0	Huff Hall (6,804) Champaign, IL
12/21/1954* no, no	No. 3	at Rice	W 86–53	6-0	Tudor Fieldhouse (3,300) Houston, TX
12/22/1954* no, no	No. 3	at Loyola (New Orleans)	L 66–72	6-1	The Den (-) New Orleans, LA
Big Ten regular season
1/1/1955 no, no	No. 6	Wisconsin	L 64–79	6-2 (0-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
1/8/1955 no, no	No. 12	Indiana Rivalry	L 64–67	7-2 (1-1)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
1/10/1955 no, no	No. 12	at Purdue	W 83–73	8-2 (2-1)	Lambert Fieldhouse (9,700) West Lafayette, IN
1/15/1955 no, no	No. 7	at Ohio State	W 86–78	9-2 (3-1)	Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (6,154) Columbus, OH
1/17/1955 no, no	No. 7	at No. 19 Iowa Rivalry	L 80–92	9-3 (3-2)	Iowa Field House (15,000) Iowa City, IA
1/29/1955* no, no	No. 10	at Loyola (Chicago)	W 95–69	10-3	Chicago Stadium (12,181) Chicago, IL
2/5/1955 no, no	No. 10	Northwestern Rivalry	W 104–89	11-3 (4-2)	Huff Hall (5,844) Champaign, IL
2/7/1955 no, no	No. 10	at Michigan	W 81–80	12-3 (5-2)	Yost Field House (6,913) Ann Arbor, MI
2/12/1955 no, no	No. 10	at No. 12 Minnesota	L 71–78 ^OT	12-4 (5-3)	Williams Arena (11,879) Minneapolis, MN
2/14/1955 no, no	No. 10	Michigan State	W 90–72	13-4 (6-3)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
2/19/1955 no, no	No. 14	at Wisconsin	W 99–71	14-4 (7-3)	Wisconsin Field House (12,100) Madison, WI
2/21/1955 no, no	No. 14	No. 15 Iowa Rivalry	L 70–89	14-5 (7-4)	Huff Hall (6,912) Champaign, IL
2/26/1955 no, no	No. 13	Ohio State	W 85–77	15-5 (8-4)	Huff Hall (5,829) Champaign, IL
2/28/1955 no, no	No. 13	Michigan	W 81–75	16-5 (9-4)	Huff Hall (4,366) Champaign, IL
3/5/1955 no, no	No. 17	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 81–69	17-5 (10-4)	McGaw Memorial Hall (9,765) Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Paul Judson	22	139	85	363
Bill Ridley	22	123	88	334
George BonSalle	20	98	67	263
Bruce Brothers	22	93	55	241
Bill Altenberger	22	91	25	207
Hiles Stout	16	40	44	124
Harv Schmidt	21	36	28	100
Phil Judson	22	35	22	92
Jim Dutcher	13	20	20	60
Morris Sterneck	12	4	1	9
Elmer Plew	12	3	3	9
James Burks	7	2	2	6
Dick Rapp	2	0	0	0
William Bosnak	2	0	0	0

^[4]

Awards and honors

Paul Judson
- International News Service Honorable Mention All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[5]
Bill Ridley
- Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
George Bon Salle
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
No Player Drafted

^[6]

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 1954-55, FightingIllini.com
^ Schedule
^ "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
^ 1955 NBA Draft Archived 2013-01-05 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 1954-55, FightingIllini.com

[3] Schedule

[4] "Season Stats". Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014.

[5] "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2013.

[6] 1955 NBA Draft Archived 2013-01-05 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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