1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
1947–48 record	15–5 (7–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Wally Roettger
MVP	Jack Burmaster
Captain	Jack Burmaster
Home arena	Huff Hall

	Conf				Overall
1947–48 Big Nine Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Michigan	10	–	2	.833	16	–	6	.727
Iowa	8	–	4	.667	15	–	4	.789
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	15	–	5	.750
Wisconsin	7	–	5	.583	12	–	8	.600
Purdue	6	–	6	.500	11	–	9	.550
Minnesota	5	–	7	.417	10	–	10	.500
Ohio State	5	–	7	.417	10	–	10	.500
Indiana	3	–	9	.250	8	–	12	.400
Northwestern	3	–	9	.250	6	–	14	.300

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1947–48 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

After 11 seasons that included three Big Ten Conference championships and a trip to the NCAA tournament, Doug Mills would remove himself as head coach of the Fighting Illini, however; he would remain as the University of Illinois athletic director until 1966. Replacing Mills would be a former Illini player, Harry Combes. Ironically, Combes was a senior during Mills' first season with the Fighting Illini, a team that would win the conference championship. During Combes' 20 years as head coach, the Illini would win 316 games while losing only 150, a .678 winning percentage. During conference play, his teams would win 174 times while only losing 104 games. Combes still owns several Illini coaching records including winning 4 conference championships. Combes most significant feat over his 20 years would be his back-to-back NCAA tournament third place finishes in 1951 and 1952. Combes came to Illinois after spending five seasons at Champaign High School where he served as boys basketball and baseball coach. While at Champaign High School, from 1939 to 1947, he compiled an impressive of 254-46 record in basketball and an equally substantial baseball record of 70-26-2 (.724) over a five-year period (1937–1942).

With the 'Whiz Kids' gone, a fresh start with a couple of All-American athletes would be the focus for the new head coach. Bill Erickson, Dwight Eddleman, Jack Burmaster, Wally Osterkorn, Fred Green, Burdette Thurlby and Jim Marks would return from a team that finished with an overall record of 14-6, placing second in the Big Ten.

Roster

No	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown	High School
7	Robert Menke	Center	6' 3"	185	Junior	Elgin, Illinois	Elgin High School
9	Dick Foley	Guard	6' 0"	160	Junior	Paris, Illinois	Paris High School
11	Jack Burmaster (captain)	Forward	6' 2"	188	Senior	Elgin, Illinois	Elgin High School
13	Walter Osterkorn	Center	6' 4"	205	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Amundsen High School
14	Burdette Thurlby	Forward	6' 2"	180	Sophomore	Kirkland, Illinois	Kirkland High School
16	Bob Doster	Forward	6' 1"	170	Junior	Decatur, Illinois	Decatur High School
17	Joseph Rodriguez	Guard	5' 10"	165	Senior	Niagara Falls, New York	Niagara Falls High School
19	Bob Rowe	Center	6' 7"	200	Junior	Warren, Illinois	Warren High School
21	Walt Kersulis	Center	6' 4"	190	Sophomore	East St. Louis, Illinois	East St. Louis Senior High School
22	Van Anderson	Forward	6' 2"	190	Sophomore	Sullivan, Illinois	Sullivan Community High School
24	Benton Odum	Forward	6-1/2	175	Sophomore	Marion, Illinois	Marion High School
26	Stanley Fronczak	Guard	6' 2"	200	Senior	Brooklyn, New York	Brooklyn High School
27	Jim Marks	Forward	6' 1"	175	Junior	Edwardsville, Illinois	Edwardsville High School
29	Dwight Humphrey	Forward	5' 9"	145	Junior	Moline, Illinois	Moline High School
33	Bill Erickson	Forward	6' 1"	174	Sophomore	Rockford, Illinois	East High School
40	Dwight Eddleman	Forward	6' 2"	190	Junior	Centralia, Illinois	Centralia High School
48	Fred Green	Center	6' 7"	206	Junior	Urbana, Illinois	Urbana High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (1st year at Illinois) ^[1]

Record

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 5, 1947	Coe	67–27	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 8, 1947	Notre Dame	40–38	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 13, 1947	Pittsburgh	70–33	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 20, 1947	Penn	70–44	Win	Philadelphia, PA	2,500
December 22, 1947	Washington State	71–35	Win	Champaign, IL	5,196
December 23, 1947	Washington State	59–42	Win	Champaign, IL	4,142
January 1, 1948	Harvard	77–41	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 3, 1948	Wisconsin	47–52	Loss	Madison, WI	13,000
January 5, 1948	Northwestern	52–47	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 10, 1948	Ohio State	61-58	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 17, 1948	Minnesota	51–59	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	16,690
January 19, 1948	Indiana	46–45	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 24, 1948	Wisconsin	57–36	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 28, 1948	Marquette	88–66	Win	Milwaukee, WI	5,200
February 7, 1948	Michigan	57–66	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,905
February 9, 1948	Iowa	61–70	Loss	Iowa City, IA	16,048
February 14, 1948	Ohio State	50–57	Loss	Columbus, OH	4,449
February 21, 1948	Purdue	98–54	Win	West Lafayette, IN	6,905
February 28, 1948	Northwestern	60–43	Win	Chicago, IL	17,680
March 1, 1948	Indiana	52–51	Win	Bloomington, IN	10,500

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Dwight Eddleman	20	115	47	277
Jack Burmaster	18	72	34	178
Bill Erickson	18	55	37	147
Wally Osterkorn	15	48	45	141
Fred Green	18	43	21	107
Jim Marks	15	33	18	84
Burdette Thurlby	17	28	18	74
Walt Kersulis	15	25	18	68
Van Anderson	14	21	8	50
Stan Fronczak	17	21	7	49
Dick Foley	16	13	6	32
Bob Doster	7	3	4	10
Cliff Fulton	5	3	0	6
Benton Odum	2	2	0	4
Joe Rodriguez	2	1	1	3
Tom Gallagher	6	1	0	2
Bob Menke	1	1	0	2
Robert Rowe	1	0	0	0
Dwight Humphrey	5	0	0	0

^[2]

Awards and honors

Dwight Eddleman
- Associated Press 2nd team All-American (1948)
- Converse 3rd team All-American (1948)
- True Magazine 3rd team All-American (1948)
- Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)

Jack Burmaster
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1948)
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[3]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2	-	Jack Burmaster	St. Louis Bombers

^[4]

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