1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference Big Ten Conference
1914–15 record 16–0 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coach Ralph Jones
Captain Sven Duner
Home arena Kenney Gym
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

DateOpponent Score Result Location
December 8, 1914Arkansas A.C.52–6WinUrbana, IL
December 12, 1914Illinois Wesleyan50–9WinUrbana, IL
December 18, 1914Millikin University19–16WinUrbana, IL
January 2, 1915Peoria YMCA27–14WinPeoria, IL
January 11, 1915Indiana34–13WinUrbana, IL
January 16, 1915Purdue27–8WinUrbana, IL
January 23, 1915Ohio State24–17WinUrbana, IL
January 26, 1915Indiana20–4WinBloomington, IN
February 8, 1915Wisconsin39–19WinUrbana, IL
February 13, 1915Wisconsin19–17WinMadison, WI
February 15, 1915Minnesota20–10WinMinneapolis, MN
February 23, 1915University of Chicago20–12WinUrbana, IL
February 27, 1915Purdue22–15WinWest Lafayette, IN
March 1, 1915Ohio State26–19WinColumbus, OH
March 6, 1915University of Chicago19–18WinChicago, IL
March 8, 1915Minnesota26–11WinUrbana, IL

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Edward Williford[5] 123156118
Frank Bane[6] 16501101
Ralf Woods[7] 15351787
Ray Woods[8]1629058
Clyde Alwood[9] 1119038
Sven Duner[10] 168016
Dudley Crane[11] 56012

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

  1. A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 ISBN 1-58261-793-7
  2. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  3. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  4. All-Time Illini Rosters
  5. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  6. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  7. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  8. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  9. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  10. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
  11. http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1914.html
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, January 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.