1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#16
AP	#18
1954–55 record	17–5 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
MVP	Paul Judson
Captain	Morris Sterneck
Home arena	Huff Hall

	Conf				Overall
1954–55 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#5 Iowa	11	–	3	.786	19	–	7	.731
#18 Illinois	10	–	4	.714	17	–	5	.773
#11 Minnesota	10	–	4	.714	15	–	7	.682
Michigan State	8	–	6	.571	13	–	9	.591
Northwestern	7	–	7	.500	12	–	10	.545
Purdue	5	–	9	.357	12	–	10	.545
Michigan	5	–	9	.357	11	–	11	.500
Wisconsin	5	–	9	.357	10	–	12	.455
Indiana	5	–	9	.357	8	–	14	.364
Ohio State	4	–	10	.286	10	–	12	.455

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1954–55 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Head coach Harry Combes, in his eighth year at Illinois, directed a youthful team with only three returning seniors, none of which were regular players. Combes' team, once again, was primarily made of sophomores and juniors recruited from the state of Illinois.

The 1954-55 team had some talented juniors including the return of twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley. It also added sophomores George Bon Salle, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. Exactly like the previous season, the Illini finished with a conference record of 10 wins and 4 losses, finishing in a 2nd 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 George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Bill Altenberger at guard and Bruce Brothers and Paul Judson 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	175	Senior	Salem, Illinois	Salem High School
9	Elmer Plew	Guard	6-0	170	Senior	Paris, Illinois	Paris High School
10	Hiles Stout	Forward	6–4	205	Sophomore	Peoria, Illinois	Central High School
11	Bill Ridley	Guard	5–9	160	Junior	Taylorville, Illinois	Taylorville High School
16	James Burks	Center	6–8	210	Sophomore	Horse Cave, Kentucky	Horse Cave High School
20	Bill Altenberger	Guard	6–1	175	Sophomore	East St. Louis, Illinois	Senior High School
22	George Bon Salle	Center	6–7	215	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Loyola Academy
27	Jim Dutcher	Forward	6–3	185	Senior	Downers Grove, Illinois	Downers Grove High School
30	Phil Judson	Guard	6-2	165	Junior	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School
32	Bruce Brothers	Forward	6–5	200	Junior	Quincy, Illinois	Quincy Senior High School
33	Harvard Schmidt	Forward	6–6	190	Sophomore	Kankakee, Illinois	Kankakee High School
34	Paul Judson	Guard	6-3	170	Junior	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (8th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 2, 1954	Butler	88–34	Win	Champaign, IL	4,566
December 4, 1954	Missouri	77–69	Win	Champaign, IL	4,766
December 11, 1954	Oklahoma A&M (#11)	59–53	Win	Stillwater, OK	8,200
December 15, 1954	Miami (OH)	97–72	Win	Champaign, IL	4,898
December 18, 1954	Notre Dame (#20)	66–57	Win	Champaign, IL	6,804
December 21, 1954	Rice	86–53	Win	Houston, TX	3,300
December 22, 1954	Loyola (New Orleans)	66–72	Loss	New Orleans, LA	-
January 1, 1955	Wisconsin	64–79	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,912
January 8, 1955	Indiana	99–75	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
January 10, 1955	Purdue	83–73	Win	West Lafayette, IN	9,700
January 15, 1955	Ohio State	86–78	Win	Columbus, OH	6,154
January 17, 1955	Iowa (#19)	80–92	Loss	Iowa City, IA	15,000
January 29, 1955	Loyola (Chicago)	95–69	Win	Chicago, IL	12,181
February 5, 1955	Northwestern	104–89	Win	Champaign, IL	5,844
February 7, 1955	Michigan	81–80	Win	Ann Arbor, MI	-
February 12, 1955	Minnesota (#12)	71–78(OT)	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	11,879
February 14, 1955	Michigan State	90–72	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 19, 1955	Wisconsin	99–71	Win	Madison, WI	12,100
February 21, 1955	Iowa (#15)	70–89	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 26, 1955	Ohio State	85–77	Win	Champaign, IL	5,829
February 28, 1955	Michigan	81–75	Win	Champaign, IL	4,366
March 5, 1955	Northwestern	81–69	Win	Evanston, IL	9,765

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Paul Judson	22	139	85	363
Bill Ridley	22	123	88	334
George BonSalle	20	98	67	263
Bruce Brothers	22	93	55	241
Bill Altenberger	22	91	25	207
Hiles Stout	16	40	44	124
Harv Schmidt	21	36	28	100
Phil Judson	22	35	22	92
Jim Dutcher	13	20	20	60
Morris Sterneck	12	4	1	9
Elmer Plew	12	3	3	9
James Burks	7	2	2	6
Dick Rapp	2	0	0	0
William Bosnak	2	0	0	0

^[3]

Awards and honors

Paul Judson
- International News Service Honorable Mention All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]
Bill Ridley
- Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
George Bon Salle
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
No Player Drafted

^[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
↑ 1955 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