1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1907–08 record	20–6 (6–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Fletcher Lane
Captain	Maurice Dadant
Home arena	Kenney Gym

	Conf				Overall
1907–08 Western Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Chicago	7	–	1	.875	23	–	2	.920
Wisconsin	7	–	1	.875	10	–	2	.833
Illinois	6	–	5	.545	20	–	6	.769
Minnesota	2	–	6	.250	12	–	7	.632
Purdue	0	–	8	.000	5	–	9	.357
Iowa	-	–	-	–	10	–	6	.625
Indiana	-	–	-	–	9	–	6	.600
Northwestern	-	–	-	–	2	–	7	.222

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1907–08 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1907–08 season saw the third coach in three years take the reins at the University of Illinois. Fletcher Lane was Illinois’ third coach, but lasted just one season. Even though he led his team to a 20–6 record, the university, as well as the athletes, deemed Lane's coaching style as subpar.^[1] Lane's team benefited from a long Southern trip in which the team beat several YMCA and club teams from Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. The starting lineup consisted of forwards Albert Penn and H. J. Popperfuss, center Avery Brundage, and guards Thomas E. Thompson and captain M. G. Dadant.^[2]

Roster

"1907-08 Fighting Illini team"

Player	Position	Class	Hometown
Charles Stewart	Right Forward	Senior	New York, New York
Edward Ryan	Right Guard	Senior	Chicago, Illinois
Henry Popperfuss	Left Forward	Sophomore	Tomah, Wisconsin
Maurice Dadant	Forward	Senior	Hamilton, Illinois
Avery Brundage	Right Forward	Senior	Chicago, Illinois
Thomas Thompson	Right Guard	Sophomore	Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Roy Rennacker	Left Guard	Sophomore	Winnetka, Illinois
Carl Watson	Left Forward, Right Forward	Sophomore	DeKalb, Illinois
Albert Penn	Left Forward, Right Forward	Junior	Syracuse, New York
S. A. Briggs	Right Guard
B. A. Horn	Right Guard

^[3]

Head Coach: Fletcher Lane (1st Year at Illinois)

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location
December 19, 1907	Decatur YMCA	33–28	Win	Decatur, IL
December 20, 1907	Washington University	36–25	Win	St. Louis, MO
December 21, 1907	Cairo Athletic Club	92–14	Win	Cairo, IL
December 23, 1907	Memphis YMCA	56–8	Win	Memphis, TN
December 25, 1907	Ft. Worth YMCA	41–25	Win	Ft. Worth, TX
December 25, 1907	Ft. Worth YMCA	32–20	Win	Ft. Worth, TX
December 26, 1907	Waco YMCA	58–20	Win	Waco, TX
December 27, 1907	Temple YMCA	36–17	Win	Temple, TX
December 28, 1907	Galveston YMCA	41–21	Win	Galveston, TX
December 30, 1907	Beaumont YMCA	34–17	Win	Beaumont, TX
January 1, 1908	Mobile YMCA	22–21	Win	Mobile, AL
January 2, 1908	Columbus YMCA	31–30	Win	Columbus, GA
January 2, 1908	Montgomery YMCA	21–31	Loss	Montgomery, AL
January 3, 1908	Birmingham Athletic Club	46–24	Win	Birmingham, AL
January 4, 1908	Rose Polytechnic Institute	35–26	Win	Terre Haute, IN
January 11, 1908	Purdue	24–23	Win	West Lafayette, IN
January 18, 1908	Wisconsin	20–28	Loss	Urbana, IL
January 25, 1908	Indiana	39–12	Win	Urbana, IL
February 8, 1908	University of Chicago	21–35	Loss	Urbana, IL
February 14, 1908	Iowa	14–36	Loss	Iowa City, IA
February 15, 1908	Minnesota	16–15	Win	Minneapolis, MN
February 29, 1908	Purdue	38–15	Win	Urbana, IL
March 6, 1908	University of Chicago	17–42	Loss	Chicago, IL
March 7, 1908	Northwestern	18–13	Win	Evanston, IL
March 9, 1908	Wisconsin	14–27	Loss	Madison, WI
March 12, 1908	Minnesota	22–20	Win	Urbana, IL

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Awards and honors

First 20 win season for the Fighting Illini men's basketball program.

References

↑ 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
↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
↑ All-Time Illini Rosters

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present)

Rivalries	Missouri

Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek

People	Head coaches NBA draftees Consensus All-Americans

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 1999–00 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

Helms and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics