1915–16 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1915–16 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1915–16 record	13–3 (9–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ralph Jones
Captain	Ray Woods
Home arena	Kenney Gym

	Conf				Overall
1915–16 Western Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Wisconsin	11	–	1	.917	20	–	1	.952
Illinois	9	–	3	.750	13	–	3	.813
Northwestern	9	–	3	.750	13	–	3	.813
Minnesota	6	–	6	.500	11	–	6	.647
Indiana	3	–	5	.375	6	–	7	.462
Chicago	4	–	8	.333	15	–	11	.577
Iowa	2	–	4	.333	11	–	4	.733
Ohio State	2	–	8	.200	9	–	13	.409
Purdue	2	–	10	.167	4	–	10	.286

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1915–16 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1915–16 season was a follow up to an undefeated season, in which the Fighting Illini men's basketball team won both a national and Big Ten Conference championship. Coached by Ralph Jones, the Illini continued their winning ways by finishing the season with an overall record of 13 wins and 3 losses and a 9 win 3 loss conference mark. Taking second in the Western Conference to the National Champion Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team. During the season, the Illini dropped two games to Northwestern and one to eventual champion Wisconsin, but the first loss to the Wildcats was the Illini’s first-ever overtime game as Northwestern scored two points in the overtime period to beat Illinois, 23-21, February 12, 1916, at what is now the Kenney Gym Annex. The starting lineup included Gordon Otto, Dan W. Elwell and Ralf Woods rotating at the forward position, center C. G. Alwood, and guards Clarence Applegran and captain Ray Woods.^[1] Woods was named an All-American for his work during this season.^[2] Woods and Alwood were named All-Big Ten players for the season.

Roster

Player	Position	Class	Hometown
Clarence O. Applegran	Right Forward	Freshman	Chicago, Illinois
Clyde Alwood	Right Forward	Junior	Clinton, Illinois
Ray Woods	Right Guard	Junior	Oak Park, Illinois
Ralf Woods	Right Guard	Junior	Oak Park, Illinois
John B. Felmley	Left Forward	Sophomore	Bloomington, Illinois
Gordon Otto	Right Forward	Junior	Miami, Florida
Elmer T. Rundquist	Center	Sophomore	San Antonio, Texas
Dan W. Elwell	Left Forward	Junior
V. W. Dean

Head Coach: Ralph Jones (4th year at Illinois)

^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 13, 1915	Millikin University	36–16	Win	Urbana, IL	1,892
December 17, 1915	Millikin University	34–19	Win	Decatur, IL	-
January 1, 1916	Illinois Wesleyan	25–18	Win	Bloomington, IL	-
January 4, 1916	Wabash College	24–16	Win	Urbana, IL	-
January 11, 1916	Purdue	22–11	Win	Urbana, IL	2,507
January 15, 1916	Ohio State	21–10	Win	Urbana, IL	2,497
January 22, 1916	Wisconsin	27–20	Win	Urbana, IL	3,383
February 9, 1916	University of Chicago	30–17	Win	Chicago, IL	-
February 12, 1916	Northwestern	21–23(OT)	Loss	Urbana, IL	3,147
February 19, 1916	Wisconsin	14–34	Loss	Madison, WI	-
February 21, 1916	Minnesota	27–22	Win	Minneapolis, MN	-
February 26, 1916	University of Chicago	31–13	Win	Urbana, IL	3,218
February 29, 1916	Northwestern	16–25	Loss	Evanston, IL	-
March 4, 1916	Purdue	29–19	Win	West Lafayette, IN	-
March 6, 1916	Ohio State	28–22	Win	Columbus, OH	-
March 13, 1916	Minnesota	20–9	Win	Urbana, IL	-

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Ralf Woods^[4]	10	35	52	122
Gordon Otto^[5]	15	25	40	90
Clyde Alwood^[6]	15	45	0	90
Ray Woods^[7]	16	26	0	52
John Felmley^[8]	5	12	2	26
Dan Elwell^[9]	10	6	1	12
Clarence Applegran^[10]	16	3	0	6

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 1915–16 season.

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
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html
↑ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1915.html

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