1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#Not Ranked
AP	#Not Ranked
1958–59 record	12–10 (7-7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Jim Wright
MVP	Roger Taylor
Captain	Roger Taylor
Home arena	Huff Hall

1958–59 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#7 Michigan State	12	–	2	.857	19	–	4	.826
Northwestern	8	–	6	.571	15	–	7	.682
Michigan	8	–	6	.571	15	–	7	.682
Purdue	8	–	6	.571	15	–	7	.682
Illinois	7	–	7	.500	12	–	10	.545
Indiana	7	–	7	.500	11	–	11	.500
Ohio State	7	–	7	.500	11	–	11	.500
Iowa	7	–	7	.500	10	–	12	.455
Minnesota	5	–	9	.357	8	–	14	.364
Wisconsin	1	–	13	.071	3	–	19	.136

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1958–59 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

University of Illinois' head coach, Harry Combes and his Fighting Illini basketball team once again led the Big Ten in wins for a decade with a 165-64 record in the 1950s. The Illini’s winning percentage, .721, ranked 11th nationally. Additionally, 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 1958-59 team utilized several returning lettermen including the leading scorer, team "captain" and team "MVP" Roger Taylor. It also saw the return of Mannie Jackson, Govoner Vaughn, Bruce Bunkenberg, Al Gosnell, Lou Landt and Ed Perry. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing tied for 5th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 12 wins and 10 losses. During the season, the Illini would play Kentucky, the number 1 ranked team in the nation, at a Freedom Hall in Louisville. The outcome of this game would be a 75-76 loss. The starting lineup included John Wessels at the center position, Roger Taylor and Mannie Jackson at guard and Govoner Vaughn, Ed Perry and Al Gosnell at the forward slots.^[1]

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown	High School
10	John Wessels	Center	6-7	210	Junior	Rockford, Illinois	Rockford West High School
11	Roger Taylor (captain)	Guard	6–0	170	Senior	Park Forest, Illinois	Rich High School
12	Lee Frandsen	Guard	6–3	155	Junior	Davenport, Iowa	Davenport Central High School
14	Jim Dorris	Guard	6-1	185	Junior	Centralia, Illinois	Centralia High School
15	Bob Schmidt	Forward	6–5	180	Junior	Kankakee, Illinois	Kankakee High School
20	Bruce Bunkenburg	Forward	6–4	190	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Roosevelt High School
22	Ed Perry	Forward	6-5	195	Junior	Salem, Illinois	Salem High School
24	Ken Charlcraft	Forward	6–3	192	Sophomore	Maroa, Illinois	Maroa-Forsyth High School
25	John Homeier	Center	6-3	185	Sophomore	Springfield, Illinois	Feitshans High School
30	Mannie Jackson	Guard	6-3	175	Junior	Edwardsville, Illinois	Edwardsville High School
32	Lou Landt	Guard	6–3	180	Junior	Berwyn, Illinois	Roosevelt High School
33	Al Gosnell	Forward	6–3	190	Junior	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
34	Roger DeVries	Forward	6–3	175	Sophomore	Forreston, Illinois	Forreston High School
35	Govoner Vaughn	Forward	6–3	185	Junior	Edwardsville, Illinois	Edwardsville High School
40	Tom Adams	Forward	6-5	185	Sophomore	Washington, Illinois	Washington Community High School
41	John Easterbrook	Guard	5-8	150	Sophomore	Champaign, Illinois	Champaign Central High School
42	Phil Flanigan	Guard	5-8	140	Senior	Tuscola, Illinois	Tuscola High School
44	Bill Larson	Guard	6–1	170	Sophomore	Rochelle, Illinois	Rochelle Township High School
51	Bill Mohlenbrock	Guard	6-3	178	Sophomore	Murphysboro, Illinois	Murphysboro High School
52	Vern Altemeyer	Center	6-8	210	Sophomore	Scottsburg, Indiana	Scottsburg Senior High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (12th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 1, 1958	Butler	103–79	Win	Champaign, IL	6,057
December 6, 1958	Marquette	53–69	Loss	Milwaukee, WI	9,280
December 13, 1958	Pacific	85–67	Win	Champaign, IL	6,257
December 15, 1958	Iowa State	68–46	Win	Champaign, IL	6,328
December 20, 1958	New York	83–78	Win	Champaign, IL	3,401
December 23, 1958	Stanford	71–62	Win	Champaign, IL	3,203
December 30, 1958	Kentucky (#1)	75–76	Loss	Louisville, KY	18,274
January 3, 1959	Ohio State	81–80	Win	Champaign, IL	3,454
January 5, 1959	Wisconsin	77–51	Win	Madison, WI	3,618
January 10, 1959	Michigan State (#5)	96–97	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,649
January 12, 1959	Iowa	103–97	Win	Champaign, IL	6,887
January 24, 1959	Notre Dame	75–85	Loss	Chicago, IL	-
January 26, 1959	Minnesota	70–81	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	7,965
January 31, 1959	Purdue	81–102	Loss	West Lafayette, IN	10,000
February 2, 1959	Michigan	85–87	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,901
February 7, 1959	Northwestern	79–88	Loss	Evanston, IL	9,045
February 9, 1959	Indiana	89–83	Win	Bloomington, IN	9,500
February 16, 1959	Wisconsin	93–54	Win	Champaign, IL	6,067
February 21, 1959	Indiana (#19)	100–98	Win	Champaign, IL	6,712
February 28, 1959	Iowa	72–70	Win	Iowa City, IA	15,125
March 2, 1959	Michigan	95-101	Loss	Ann Arbor, MI	4,500
March 7, 1959	Northwestern	81–84	Win	Champaign, IL	6,376

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Rebounds	Points
Roger Taylor	21	158	60	68	376
John Wessels	22	126	75	205	327
Mannie Jackson	22	137	25	89	299
Govoner Vaughn	21	110	43	170	263
Al Gosnell	22	59	49	108	167
Ed Perry	22	46	22	93	114
Vern Altemeyer	21	34	25	80	93
Lou Landt	19	36	11	34	83
Bruce Bunkenburg	13	17	12	41	46
Lee Frandsen	15	12	2	14	26
John Easterbrook	12	4	5	3	13
Tom Adams	6	2	0	2	4
Jim Dorris	5	1	2	6	4
Bob Schmidt	3	0	0	2	0
Bill Mohlenbrock	4	0	0	0	0
John Homeier	2	0	0	1	0

^[3]

Awards and honors

Roger Taylor
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Roger Taylor	Syracuse Nationals	5	5

^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 1958–59 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

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
↑ 1959 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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