1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1908–09 record	7–6 (5–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Herb V. Juul
Captain	Henry Popperfuss
Home arena	Kenney Gym

	Conf				Overall
1908–09 Western Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Chicago	12	–	0	1.000	12	–	0	1.000
Purdue	6	–	4	.600	8	–	4	.667
Wisconsin	5	–	4	.556	8	–	4	.667
Illinois	5	–	6	.455	7	–	6	.538
Minnesota	3	–	6	.333	8	–	6	.571
Indiana	2	–	6	.250	5	–	9	.357
Northwestern	1	–	4	.200	1	–	7	.125
Iowa	1	–	5	.167	8	–	7	.533

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1908–09 season witnessed the fourth coach in just four years to head up the University of Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. The only difference for this season, however; was that Herb V. Juul became the first coach to stay for more than one year.^[1] He also became the first former Fighting Illini player to head the Illinois basketball program, serving as captain of the 1906–07 team. The starting lineup for the team included captain H. J. Popperfuss and Carl P. Watson at the forward positions, Emmett V. Poston as the center, and a combination of Roy G. Rennacker, Louis S. Bernstein and Thomas E. Thompson at guard. The Illini finished their season with an overall record of seven wins and six losses with a conference record of five wins, six losses and a fourth place finish in the Western Conference.^[2]

Roster

"1908-09 Fighting Illini team"

Player	Position	Class	Hometown
Emmett V. Poston	Center	Senior	Springfield, Illinois
Carl Watson	Left Forward, Right Forward	Senior	DeKalb, Illinois
Henry Popperfuss	Left Forward	Junior	Tomah, Wisconsin
Roy Rennacker	Left Guard	Junior	Winnetka, Illinois
Thomas Thompson	Right Guard	Junior	Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Avery Brundage	Right Forward	Senior	Chicago, Illinois
Louis S. Bernstein	Left Guard, Right Guard	Sophomore	Niagara Falls, New York
Charles M. Bunn	Left Forward	Junior	Chicago, Illinois
C. E. Lord	Left Forward
D. R. Palmquist	Right Guard

^[3]

Head Coach: Herb Juul (1st year at Illinois)

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location
December 22, 1908	Shelbyville Business College	93–19	Win	Urbana, IL
December 23, 1908	Mt. Vernon	47–25	Win	Mt. Vernon, IL
January 9, 1909	Indiana	30–2	Win	Urbana, IL
January 16, 1909	Wisconsin	28–19	Win	Urbana, IL
January 22, 1909	Minnesota	17–18	Loss	Minneapolis, MN
January 23, 1909	Wisconsin	10–20	Loss	Madison, WI
February 10, 1909	Minnesota	21–20	Win	Urbana, IL
February 13, 1909	University of Chicago	15–17	Loss	Urbana, IL
February 17, 1909	Purdue	24–18	Win	Urbana, IL
February 26, 1909	University of Chicago	10–23	Loss	Chicago, IL
February 27, 1909	Northwestern	35–4	Win	Evanston, IL
March 5, 1909	Purdue	20–28	Loss	West Lafayette, IN
March 6, 1909	Indiana	13–23	Loss	Bloomington, IN

Bold Italic connotes conference game

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