1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Big Ten champions
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1942–43 record	17–1 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Douglas R. Mills
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Wally Roettger
Assistant coach	Ralph Fletcher
MVP	Andy Phillip
Captain	Arthur Mathisen
Home arena	Huff Hall

	Conf				Overall
1942–43 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Illinois	12	–	0	1.000	17	–	1	.944
Indiana	11	–	2	.846	18	–	2	.900
Northwestern	7	–	5	.583	8	–	9	.471
Wisconsin	6	–	6	.500	12	–	9	.571
Purdue	6	–	6	.500	9	–	11	.450
Minnesota	5	–	7	.417	8	–	9	.471
Ohio State	5	–	7	.417	8	–	9	.471
Michigan	4	–	8	.333	10	–	8	.556
Iowa	3	–	9	.250	7	–	10	.412
Chicago	0	–	9	.000	0	–	21	.000

Rankings from AP Poll

"1942-43 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids, the team consisted of 20 year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.^[1]

The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected to Illinois' All-Century team. Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported, the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament.^[2] Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided with World War II.

Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.

The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.

Roster

No	Player	Position	Class	Hometown
3	Frank Bohac	Guard	Sophomore	Braidwood, Illinois
4	Bishop Barrick	Forward	Junior	Stillman Valley, Illinois
5	Raymond Bergeson	Center	Junior	Bridgeton, New Jersey
6	Clifton Fulton	Guard	Sophomore	Pittsburg, Kansas
7	Raymond Grierson	Forward	Sophomore	Champaign, Illinois
8	Edwin Parker	Center/Forward	Senior	Taft, California
9	Kenneth Parker	Guard	Senior	Granite City, Illinois
10	Gordon Hortin	Guard	Sophomore	Evansville, Indiana
11	John Kjellstrom	Guard	Sophomore	Hebron, Illinois
12	Ken Menke	Forward	Junior	Dundee, Illinois
13	Alton Shirley	Center	Sophomore	Edmond, Oklahoma
14	Oliver Shoaff	Forward	Sophomore	Mt. Carmel, Illinois
15	Arthur Smiley	Guard	Junior	Waterman, Illinois
16	W.L. Miller	Forward	Freshman	Chicago, Illinois
17	Herb Matter	Forward	Junior	Naperville, Illinois
19	Arthur Mathisen (captain)	Center	Senior	Dwight, Illinois
25	Ellis Vance	Guard	Junior	Clinton, Illinois
33	Charles Fowler	Forward	Sophomore	Watseka, Illinois
47	Andrew Phillip	Guard/Forward	Junior	Granite City, Illinois

Head Coach: Douglas Mills (7th year at Illinois) ^[3]

Record

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 7, 1942	Detroit	38–25	Win	Champaign, IL	5,277
December 12, 1942	Nebraska	69–27	Win	Champaign, IL	4,884
December 14, 1942	Missouri	51–30	Win	Champaign, IL	4,465
December 19, 1942	Great Lakes	57–53	Win	Chicago, IL	13,295
December 21, 1942	Camp Grant	31–41	Loss	Rockford, IL	2,200
January 2, 1943	Stanford	38–26	Win	Champaign, IL	6,835
January 9, 1943	Michigan	47–34	Win	Champaign, IL	7,188
January 11, 1943	Wisconsin	47–34	Win	Madison, WI	14,000
January 16, 1943	Iowa	61–41	Win	Champaign, IL	7,004
January 18, 1943	Iowa	66–34	Win	Champaign, IL	6,684
February 1, 1943	Northwestern	68–51	Win	Champaign, IL	6,766
February 6, 1943	Ohio State	60–48	Win	Columbus, OH	3,300
February 8, 1943	Ohio State	50–44	Win	Columbus, OH	2,900
February 13, 1943	Minnesota	56–35	Win	Minneapolis, MN	6,800
February 15, 1943	Minnesota	67–43	Win	Minneapolis, MN	5,100
February 20, 1943	Wisconsin	50–26	Win	Champaign, IL	7,102
February 27, 1943	Northwestern	68–51	Win	Chicago, IL	19,880
February 27, 1943	University of Chicago	92–25	Win	Champaign, IL	6,443

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Andy Phillip	18	131	43	305
Arthur Mathisen	18	86	51	201
Ken Menke	17	70	43	183
Jack Smiley	17	59	17	135
Gene Vance	18	56	14	126
Edwin Parker	18	12	10	34
Oliver Shoaff	14	7	3	17
Kenneth Parker	14	7	2	16
Alton Shirley	14	3	0	6
Cliff Fulton	6	1	2	4
Herbert Matter	2	1	2	4
Charles Fowler	7	2	0	4
W.L. Miller	5	1	0	2
Gordon Hortin	6	1	0	2

^[4]

Awards and honors

References

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