1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#12
AP	#19
1953–54 record	17–5 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
MVP	John Kerr
Captain	John Kerr
Home arena	Huff Hall

	Conf				Overall
1953–54 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#4 Indiana	12	–	2	.857	20	–	4	.833
#13 Iowa	11	–	3	.786	17	–	5	.773
#19 Illinois	10	–	4	.714	17	–	5	.773
Minnesota	10	–	4	.714	17	–	5	.773
Wisconsin	6	–	8	.429	12	–	10	.545
Northwestern	6	–	8	.429	9	–	13	.409
Ohio State	5	–	9	.357	11	–	11	.500
Michigan State	4	–	10	.286	9	–	13	.409
Michigan	3	–	11	.214	9	–	13	.409
Purdue	3	–	11	.214	9	–	13	.409

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

Regular season

In his seventh year at Illinois, Harry Combes continued to offer the fans of the Fighting Illini a successful team that they could be follow across the country to record crowds. The 1953-54 team returned one of the most dominate players in the NCAA, Johnny "Red" Kerr. During the season, Kerr shattered Illinois’ single-season scoring record by tallying 556 points in his senior year. Kerr’s 1,299 career points in three seasons currently ranks 20th on the all-time Illinois scoring list. After his Illinois career came to an end, Kerr started a 12-year professional career followed by becoming the first head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1966.

The 1954 team added twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley as sophomores. A youth movement that helped the Illini finish in a 3rd place tie in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose 5 total games with three of the five losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain John Kerr at the center position, Jim Wright and Paul Judson at guard and Bruce Brothers and Max Hooper at the forward slots. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher.^[1]

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown	High School
7	Morris Sterneck	Guard	6–1	170	Junior	Salem, Illinois	Salem High School
9	Elmer Plew	Guard	6-0	165	Junior	Paris, Illinois	Paris High School
11	Bill Ridley	Guard	5–9	152	Sophomore	Taylorville, Illinois	Taylorville High School
12	Warren Wilkinson	Guard	5–11	160	Sophomore	West Frankfort, Illinois	Frankfort Community High School
14	Robert Leigh	Guard	6–1	170	Sophomore	East Lynn, Illinois	East Lynn High School
15	Doyle Glass	Guard	5–11	180	Sophomore	Pekin, Illinois	Pekin High School
16	Jim Wright	Guard	6–0	165	Senior	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
22	Johnny Kerr (captain)	Center	6–9	215	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Tilden High School
24	Ed Makovsky	Forward	6–5	205	Junior	Cicero, Illinois	Morton High School
25	Robert Reitsch	Forward	6–3	185	Sophomore	Rockford, Illinois	Rockford West High School
27	Jim Dutcher	Forward	6–3	188	Junior	Downers Grove, Illinois	Downers Grove High School
30	Phil Judson	Guard	6-2	170	Sophomore	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School
32	Bruce Brothers	Forward	6–5	200	Sophomore	Quincy, Illinois	Quincy Senior High School
34	Paul Judson	Guard	6-3	195	Sophomore	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School
47	Max Hooper	Forward	6–5	195	Senior	Mt. Vernon, Illinois	Mt. Vernon High School
48	Earl Newman	Forward	6–3	220	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Marshall High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (7th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 1, 1953	Ohio	88–54	Win	Champaign, IL	6,913
December 5, 1953	Oklahoma	86–61	Win	Norman, OK	5,000
December 9, 1953	Butler	80–48	Win	Champaign, IL	6,913
December 12, 1953	Alabama	77–54	Win	Champaign, IL	6,410
December 19, 1953	DePaul	79–65	Win	Champaign, IL	2,719
December 21, 1953	Oklahoma A&M (#7)	60–65	Loss	Champaign, IL	4,234
December 29, 1953	Utah State	88–61	Win	Champaign, IL	2,649
January 1, 1954	Minnesota (#6)	72–84	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,193
January 4, 1954	Northwestern	66–65	Win	Evanston, IL	9,253
January 9, 1954	Michigan State	59–60	Loss	East Lansing, MI	9,002
January 11, 1954	Ohio State	90–76	Win	Champaign, IL	8,683
January 16, 1954	Ohio State	82–78	Win	Columbus, OH	8,683
January 18, 1954	Iowa	70–79	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,913
February 1, 1954	DePaul	71–61	Win	Chicago, IL	9,678
February 6, 1954	Michigan	87–68	Win	Champaign, IL	6,913
February 8, 1954	Purdue	89–55	Win	Champaign, IL	6,913
February 13, 1954	Wisconsin	70–64	Win	Madison, WI	13,000
February 20, 1954	Iowa (#10)	74–51	Win	Iowa City, IA	15,700
February 22, 1954	Wisconsin	66–64	Win	Champaign, IL	6,913
February 27, 1954	Michigan	79–61	Win	Ann Arbor, MI	4,500
March 1, 1954	Northwestern	84–82	Win	Champaign, IL	6,782
March 6, 1954	Indiana (#2)	64–67	Loss	Bloomington, IN	11,000

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
John Kerr	22	210	136	556
Paul Judson	22	92	62	246
Bruce Brothers	22	64	59	187
Max Hooper	22	67	34	168
Jim Wright	22	59	45	163
Bill Ridley	19	30	54	114
Jim Dutcher	19	30	32	92
Ed Makovsky	22	22	21	65
Morris Sterneck	16	17	9	43
Elmer Plew	13	7	6	20
Phil Judson	9	4	5	13
Warren Wilkinson	5	2	1	5
Robert Reitsch	9	1	2	4
Earl Newman	4	0	2	2

^[3]

Awards and honors

Johnny Kerr
- Helms 2nd Team All-American
- Look Magazine 3rd Team All-American
- Associated Press 3rd Team All-American
- United Press International 3rd Team All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Johnny Kerr	Syracuse Nationals	1	6

^[5]

References

↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
↑ Season Stats
↑ List of MVPs
↑ 1954 NBA Draft

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