1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1925–26 record	9–8 (6–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	J. Craig Ruby
Captain	Leonard Haines
Home arena	Huff Hall

	Conf				Overall
1925–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Purdue	8	–	4	.667	13	–	4	.765
Indiana	8	–	4	.667	12	–	5	.706
Iowa	8	–	4	.667	12	–	5	.706
Michigan	8	–	4	.667	12	–	5	.706
Illinois	6	–	6	.500	9	–	8	.529
Ohio State	6	–	6	.500	10	–	7	.588
Minnesota	5	–	7	.417	7	–	10	.412
Wisconsin	4	–	8	.333	8	–	9	.471
Northwestern	4	–	8	.333	5	–	11	.313
Chicago	3	–	9	.250	5	–	12	.294

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Craig Ruby began the 1925–26 season with a Fighting Illini team that boasted a total of 8 returning letterman from a team that placed in a tie for third place a year earlier. Unfortunately for Ruby, though, this team did not live up the to expectations and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten. Probably the greatest change for the Illini during this season was the opening of their new home, Huff Gymnasium. Originally named New Gymnasium, Huff Gymnasium was renamed in 1937 after George Huff,^[1] who was the school's athletic director from 1895 to 1935, Huff Gymnasium would be home to the Fighting Illini's men's basketball program until 1963.^[2] The starting lineup included captain Leonard Haines and Kenneth Reynolds at guard, John Mauer at center and Jack Lipe, Russell Daugherity and Hollie Martin at forward.^[3]

Team

No.	Player	Position	Class	Hometown
1	Leonard Haines (capt.)	Guard	Senior	Belvidere, Illinois
2	John Mauer	Forward	Senior	Batavia, Illinois
3	Russell Daugherity	Forward	Senior	Streator, Illinois
4	Hollie Martin	Center	Senior	Perrysville, Indiana
5	Charles Kassel	Guard	Sophomore	Melrose Park, Illinois
6	Kenneth L. Reynolds	Guard	Junior	Villa Grove, Illinois
7	Jack Lipe	Guard	Junior	Decatur, Illinois
8	Keston Deimling	Forward	Sophomore	Stevens Point, Wisconsin
9	Byran Doolen	Forward	Senior	Kinmundy, Illinois
10	Marion Leonard	Guard	Junior	Forrest, Illinois
11	J.R. Stewart	Guard	Sophomore	Flint, Michigan
12	Robert McKay	Guard	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
14	R.W. Freeman	Forward	Senior	Ogden, Illinois
15	George Rea	Forward	Junior	Urbana, Illinois
16	Roy Mayberry	Guard	Sophomore	Norwalk, Ohio
17	Louis Cotie	Guard	Sophomore	Muskegon, Michigan
	Werner Daib	Reserve	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois
	Arthur Osgood	Reserve	Sophomore	Marseilles, Illinois
	D.W. Vittum	Reserve	Sophomore	Canton, Illinois

Head Coach: Craig Ruby (4th year at Illinois)

^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location
December 12, 1925	Butler	23–22	Win	Champaign, IL
December 19, 1925	Drake	16–20	Loss	Des Moines, IA
December 21, 1925	Iowa Agricultural College	33–14	Win	Ames, IA
January 4, 1926	Kansas Aggies	30–29	Win	Champaign, IL
January 11, 1926	Minnesota	17–8	Win	Champaign, IL
January 16, 1926	Ohio State	18–30	Loss	Columbus, OH
January 18, 1926	Michigan	31–29	Win	Ann Arbor, MI
January 23, 1926	University of Chicago	14–19	Loss	Chicago, IL
February 6, 1926	Notre Dame	14–26	Loss	Champaign, IL
February 10, 1926	Purdue	29–28	Win	Champaign, IL
February 13, 1926	Ohio State	35–31	Win	Champaign, IL
February 19, 1926	Indiana	21–20	Win	Bloomington, IN
February 22, 1926	University of Chicago	24–16	Win	Champaign, IL
February 26, 1926	Michigan	24–33	Loss	Champaign, IL
March 1, 1926	Purdue	23–28	Loss	West Lafayette, IN
March 6, 1926	Indiana	25–28	Loss	Champaign, IL
March 8, 1926	Minnesota	21–28	Loss	Minneapolis, MN

Bold Italic connotes conference game

References

↑ Fighting Illini Facilities
↑ A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.18 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