1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
1914–15 Western Conference men's basketball standings |
| Conf | | | Overall |
Team | W | | L | | PCT | | | W | | L | | PCT |
Illinois | 12 | – | 0 | | 1.000 | | | 16 | – | 0 |
| 1.000 |
Chicago | 9 | – | 3 | | .750 | | | 20 | – | 5 |
| .800 |
Wisconsin | 8 | – | 4 | | .667 | | | 13 | – | 4 |
| .765 |
Minnesota | 6 | – | 6 | | .500 | | | 11 | – | 6 |
| .647 |
Northwestern | 5 | – | 5 | | .500 | | | 11 | – | 8 |
| .579 |
Purdue | 4 | – | 8 | | .333 | | | 5 | – | 8 |
| .385 |
Ohio State | 3 | – | 9 | | .250 | | | 7 | – | 10 |
| .412 |
Iowa | 2 | – | 6 | | .250 | | | 9 | – | 8 |
| .529 |
Indiana | 1 | – | 9 | | .100 | | | 4 | – | 9 |
| .308 |
|
Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
Coached by Ralph Jones, the 1914–15 Fighting Illini men's basketball team became the first undefeated Big Ten champion in the history of the school as well as the fourth Big Ten National Champion.[1] That 1915
season was the third in the eight-year tenure of head coach Ralph Jones and it produced the only unbeaten season in Illini history and the first Big Ten title for the Illinois basketball program. The Illinois team was retroactively named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[2] Jones’ 1915 team scored twice as many points as its opponents and won the conference title by three games over Chicago. The arrival of the Woods brothers in 1914 had a lot to do with the success of this era. Guard Ray Woods was named first-team All-America all three years he competed (1915–17), and brother Ralf, a forward, led the team in scoring in both 1916 and 1917. His consistency at the free throw line led to the establishment
of the Ralf Woods Award, which is still given annually to the Fighting Illini player with the best free-throw percentage. The starting lineup included Frank Bane at center, Clyde Alwood and Edward Allan Williford at the forward postitons, captain Sven Duner at guard and brothers Ralf Woods and Ray Woods. Ray Woods was named an All-American during this season.[3]
Roster
"1914-15 Fighting Illini team"
Player |
Position |
Class |
Hometown |
Sven Duner |
Left Guard, Right Guard |
Senior |
Downers Grove, Illinois |
Helmuth Kircher |
Right Forward, Left Forward |
Senior |
Kalamazoo, Michigan |
Edward Williford |
Left Forward, Center |
Senior |
Binghamton, New York |
Ray Woods |
Right Guard |
Sophomore |
Oak Park, Illinois |
Ralf Woods |
Right Guard |
Sophomore |
Oak Park, Illinois |
Frank Bane |
Center |
Senior |
Pontiac, Illinois |
Dudley Crane |
Left Guard, Right Guard |
Junior |
Columbus, Ohio |
Clyde Alwood |
Right Forward |
Sophomore |
Clinton, Illinois |
Robert W. Hoffman |
Right Guard, Left Guard |
Senior |
|
D. F. Comstock |
Left Guard, Forward, Center |
Senior |
|
W. B. Erwin |
Left Forward |
Senior |
|
John E. Davis |
Left Forward, Left Guard |
Freshman |
Chicago, Illinois |
M. O. Jensen |
Right Forward |
|
|
R. A. McDermott |
|
|
|
[4]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Location |
December 8, 1914 | Arkansas A.C. | 52–6 | Win | Urbana, IL |
December 12, 1914 | Illinois Wesleyan | 50–9 | Win | Urbana, IL |
December 18, 1914 | Millikin University | 19–16 | Win | Urbana, IL |
January 2, 1915 | Peoria YMCA | 27–14 | Win | Peoria, IL |
January 11, 1915 | Indiana | 34–13 | Win | Urbana, IL |
January 16, 1915 | Purdue | 27–8 | Win | Urbana, IL |
January 23, 1915 | Ohio State | 24–17 | Win | Urbana, IL |
January 26, 1915 | Indiana | 20–4 | Win | Bloomington, IN |
February 8, 1915 | Wisconsin | 39–19 | Win | Urbana, IL |
February 13, 1915 | Wisconsin | 19–17 | Win | Madison, WI |
February 15, 1915 | Minnesota | 20–10 | Win | Minneapolis, MN |
February 23, 1915 | University of Chicago | 20–12 | Win | Urbana, IL |
February 27, 1915 | Purdue | 22–15 | Win | West Lafayette, IN |
March 1, 1915 | Ohio State | 26–19 | Win | Columbus, OH |
March 6, 1915 | University of Chicago | 19–18 | Win | Chicago, IL |
March 8, 1915 | Minnesota | 26–11 | Win | Urbana, IL |
Bold Italic connotes conference game
Player stats
Player |
Games Played |
Field Goals |
Free Throws |
Points |
Edward Williford[5] | 12 | 31 | 56 | 118 |
Frank Bane[6] | 16 | 50 | 1 | 101 |
Ralf Woods[7] | 15 | 35 | 17 | 87 |
Ray Woods[8] | 16 | 29 | 0 | 58 |
Clyde Alwood[9] | 11 | 19 | 0 | 38 |
Sven Duner[10] | 16 | 8 | 0 | 16 |
Dudley Crane[11] | 5 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
Awards and honors
Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as an All-American for the 1914–15 season.
References
|
---|
| Venues | |
---|
| Rivalries | |
---|
| Culture & lore | |
---|
| People | |
---|
| Seasons | |
---|
| Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics |
|