1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#Not Ranked
AP	#Not Ranked
1956–57 record	14–8 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Jim Bredar
Assistant coach	Jess MacLeay
MVP	Harv Schmidt
Captain	Harv Schmidt
Home arena	Huff Hall

1956–57 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Indiana	10	–	4	.714	14	–	8	.636
#11 Michigan State	10	–	4	.714	16	–	10	.615
Minnesota	9	–	5	.643	14	–	8	.636
Ohio State	9	–	5	.643	14	–	8	.636
Purdue	8	–	6	.571	15	–	7	.682
Michigan	8	–	6	.571	13	–	9	.591
Illinois	7	–	7	.500	14	–	8	.636
Iowa	4	–	10	.286	8	–	14	.364
Wisconsin	3	–	11	.214	5	–	17	.227
Northwestern	2	–	12	.143	6	–	16	.273

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

Regular season

Harry Combes celebrated 10 years as the head coach of the University of Illinois' Fighting Illini basketball team. During his ten years as coach, Combes had established the Illini as a national powerhouse with sportswriters taking note. For example, the Associated Press began its basketball poll in 1949 with United Press International adding its poll in 1951 and from 1951-56 the Illini finished the season ranked in the Top 20 nationally every year. Illinois’ highest final ranking in the 1950s was second in both polls in 1952.

The 1956-57 team, unfortunately, would begin a downward spiral for Combes success, sending it into a time span where his teams would finish in the lower half of the Big Ten for four of six years. A highlight of the 1957 season would take place on December 17, 1956, when Illinois defeated San Francisco, 62-33, snapping the Dons’ 51-game regular-season win streak. This season also marked the first time that a Fighting Illini team entered a holiday tournament. The Kentucky Invitational brought Southern Methodist, Dayton and Illinois to Lexington for a two-day tournament, once again matching Adolph Rupp with Combes. Combes had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle, Don Ohl and team "captain" Harv Schmidt. It also saw the return of Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, John Paul and Ted Caiazza. The team also added sophomore Roger Taylor. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in 7th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 14 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Roger Taylor and Don Ohl at guard and Harv Schmidt and Hiles Stout at the forward slots.^[1]

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown	High School
10	Hiles Stout	Forward	6–4	205	Senior	Peoria, Illinois	Central High School
12	Roger Taylor	Guard	6–0	160	Sophomore	Park Forest, Illinois	Rich High School
14	Jim Chengary	Forward	6-3	190	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Bowen High School
20	Bill Altenberger	Guard	6–1	179	Senior	East St. Louis, Illinois	Senior High School
22	George Bon Salle	Center	6–8	225	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Loyola Academy
24	Ted Caiazza	Center	6–7	235	Junior	LaGrange, Illinois	Lyons Township High School
30	Billy Bolk	Guard	5-11	175	Junior	Terre Haute, Indiana	Terre Haute High School
32	Harvard Schmidt (captain)	Forward	6–6	195	Senior	Kankakee, Illinois	Kankakee High School
33	Al Gosnell	Forward	6–4	190	Sophomore	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
34	Larry Breyfogle	Forward	6–3	165	Junior	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
40	Lloyd Eggers	Forward	6-3	185	Sophomore	Toledo, Illinois	Toledo High School
42	John Paul	Guard	6–1	175	Junior	Elgin, Illinois	St. Edward High School
44	Don Ohl	Guard	6–3	180	Junior	Edwardsville, Illinois	Edwardsville High School
48	Bob Brown	Center	6-7	196	Sophomore	Wilmington, Delaware	DuPont High School
52	Tom Haller	Forward	6-3	180	Sophomore	Lockport, Illinois	Lockport Township High School
54	Bernie Thompson	Forward	6-2	175	Sophomore	Fairmont, West Virginia	Fairmont Senior High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (10th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 5, 1956	Butler	98–81	Win	Champaign, IL	6,240
December 8, 1956	Oklahoma	69–58	Win	Norman, OK	3,000
December 15, 1956	Loyola (New Orleans)	83–72	Win	Champaign, IL	6,128
December 17, 1956	San Francisco (#2)	62–33	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
December 21, 1956	Dayton	82–65	Win	Lexington, KY	7,000
December 22, 1956	Kentucky (#7)	70–91	Loss	Lexington, KY	9,500
December 28, 1956	Princeton	108–87	Win	Champaign, IL	2,559
January 5, 1957	Minnesota (#19)	88–91	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	14,062
January 7, 1957	Iowa	81–70	Win	Champaign, IL	3,390
January 12, 1957	Wisconsin	79–63	Win	Madison, WI	4,000
January 14, 1957	Indiana	112–91	Win	Champaign, IL	6,899
January 26, 1957	Notre Dame	99–81	Win	Chicago, IL	15,678
February 2, 1957	Purdue	74–85	Loss	West Lafayette, IN	10,000
February 4, 1957	Ohio State (#11)	96–89	Win	Champaign, IL	6,189
February 9, 1957	Michigan State	64–70	Loss	East Lansing, MI	7,394
February 11, 1957	Northwestern	104–97	Win	Champaign, IL	6,899
February 16, 1957	Michigan	89–102	Loss	Ann Arbor, MI	6,800
February 18, 1957	Michigan State	83–89	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,800
February 23, 1957	Purdue	80–78	Win	Champaign, IL	6,850
February 25, 1957	Ohio State	79–72	Win	Columbus, OH	13,380
March 2, 1957	Minnesota	75–86	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,251
March 4, 1957	Indiana (#10)	76–84	Loss	Bloomington, IN	10,000

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Harv Schmidt	22	156	102	414
Don Ohl	22	145	53	343
George BonSalle	14	104	69	277
Hiles Stout	21	77	88	242
Roger Taylor	22	88	52	228
Bill Altenberger	18	72	26	170
John Paul	21	49	18	116
Ted Caiazza	18	8	14	30
Tom Haller	16	3	10	16
Larry Breyfogle	15	6	1	13
Jim Chengary	4	0	2	2

^[3]

Awards and honors

George Bon Salle
- National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd Team All-American
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American

Don Ohl
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Associated Press Mention All-American

Harv Schmidt
- Converse 2nd Team All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
George Bon Salle	Syracuse Nationals	1	7
Harv Schmidt	Minneapolis Lakers	2	3

^[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
↑ 1957 NBA Draft

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)

Rivalries	Indiana 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 Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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