1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
"1948-49 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"
The 1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season
The 1948-49 squad, led by Dike Eddleman , Bill Erickson , and Walter Osterkorn , was Illinois’ first 20-game winner since 1908, finishing 21-4. Illinois beat Yale , 71-67, to advance to a national semifinal showdown with Kentucky at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Illini fell to the Wildcats, 76-47, forcing Illinois to defeat Oregon State , 57-53, in Seattle for third place.
Roster
1948–49 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
7
Jim Cottrell
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
167 lb (76 kg)
So
Champaign Central High School
Champaign, Illinois
F
8
Roy Gatewood
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
174 lb (79 kg)
Jr
Salem High School
Salem, Illinois
G
9
Dick Foley
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
Sr
Paris High School
Paris, Illinois
C
10
Bill Boyer
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
So
Beardstown High School
Beardstown, Illinois
G
11
Don Sunderlage
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
So
Elgin High School
Elgin, Illinois
G
12
Richard Brogren
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
So
East High School
Rockford, Illinois
C
13
Walter Osterkorn
6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)
207 lb (94 kg)
Jr
Amundsen High School
Chicago, Illinois
F
14
Burdette Thurlby
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Jr
Kirkland High School
Kirkland, Illinois
G
15
Paul Eckert
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
178 lb (81 kg)
So
Herrin High School
Herrin, Illinois
C
21
Walt Kersulis
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
197 lb (89 kg)
Jr
East St. Louis Senior High School
East St. Louis, Illinois
F
22
Van Anderson
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
Jr
Sullivan Community High School
Sullivan, Illinois
F
23
Ted Beach
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
165 lb (75 kg)
So
Champaign Central High School
Champaign, Illinois
F
24
Benton Odum
6 ft 0.5 in (1.84 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Jr
Marion High School
Marion, Illinois
F
27
Jim Marks
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
177 lb (80 kg)
Sr
Edwardsville High School
Edwardsville, Illinois
F
30
Glen Trugillo
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
160 lb (73 kg)
So
East High School
Rockford, Illinois
G
31
Bill Hoffman
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
So
Wells High School
Chicago, Illinois
G
33
Bill Erickson
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
184 lb (83 kg)
Jr
East High School
Rockford, Illinois
C
36
Al Leavitt
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
So
Sullivan High School
Chicago, Illinois
F
40
Dwight Eddleman (C)
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
189 lb (86 kg)
Sr
Centralia High School
Centralia, Illinois
C
48
Fred Green
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
208 lb (94 kg)
Sr
Urbana High School
Urbana, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule
Source[ 1]
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/3/1948 *no, no
Butler
W 67–62
1–0
Huff Hall (–)Champaign, IL
12/8/1948 *no, no
at Notre Dame
W 59–58 OT
2–0
Notre Dame Fieldhouse (–)Notre Dame, IN
12/11/1948 *no, no
vs. DePaul
L 50–60
2–1
Chicago Stadium (17,189)Chicago, IL
12/13/1948 *no, no
Oklahoma
W 73–68
3–1
Huff Hall (6,902)Champaign, IL
12/18/1948 *no, no
Pennsylvania
W 80–61
4–1
Huff Hall (3,943)Champaign, IL
12/20/1948 *no, no
DePaul
W 89–51
5–1
Huff Hall (6,013)Champaign, IL
12/21/1948 *no, no
Cornell
W 71–47
6–1
Huff Hall (3,042)Champaign, IL
12/29/1948 *no, no
Colgate
W 77–54
7–1
Huff Hall (4,541)Champaign, IL
12/30/1948 *no, no
Colgate
W 85–55
8–1
Huff Hall (3,880)Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/3/1949 no, no
Wisconsin
W 62–50
9–1 (1–0)
Huff Hall (–)Champaign, IL
1/8/1949 no, no
at Indiana Rivalry
W 44–42 2OT
10–1 (2–0)
The Field House (10,000)Bloomington, IN
1/10/1949 no, no
at Ohio State
W 64–63
11–1 (3–0)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (6,958)Columbus, OH
1/15/1949 *no, no
Creighton
W 96–30
12–1
Huff Hall (6,958)Champaign, IL
1/29/1949 no, no
No. 7
No. 4 Minnesota
W 45–44
13–1 (4–0)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
1/31/1949 no, no
No. 6
at Purdue
L 53–55
13–2 (4–1)
Lambert Fieldhouse (10,000)West Lafayette, IN
2/5/1949 no, no
No. 4
at Wisconsin
W 61–54
14–2 (5–1)
Wisconsin Field House (13,500)Madison, WI
2/7/1949 no, no
No. 4
Northwestern Rivalry
W 85–66
15–2 (6–1)
Huff Hall (12,088)Champaign, IL
2/12/1949 no, no
No. 4
No. 18 Ohio State
W 64–49
16–2 (7–1)
Huff Hall (6,905)Champaign, IL
2/21/1949 no, no
No. 4
Iowa Rivalry
W 80–49
17–2 (8–1)
Huff Hall (–)Champaign, IL
2/26/1949 no, no
No. 4
vs. Northwestern Rivalry
W 81–64
18–2 (9–1)
Chicago Stadium (17,905)Chicago, IL
2/28/1949 no, no
No. 4
Indiana Rivalry
W 91–28
19–2 (10–1)
Huff Hall (–)Champaign, IL
3/7/1949 no, no
No. 4
at Michigan
L 53–70
19–3 (10–2)
Yost Field House (–)Ann Arbor, MI
NCAA tournament
3/21/1949 *no, no
No. 4
vs. Yale NCAA tournament
W 71–67
20–3
Madison Square Garden (18,051)New York, NY
3/22/1949 *no, no
No. 4
vs. No. 1 Kentucky NCAA Tournament Final Four
L 47–76
20–4
Madison Square Garden (15,126)New York, NY
3/26/1949 *no, no
No. 4
vs. Oregon State NCAA Tournament 3rd place game
W 57–53
21–4
Hec Edmundson Pavilion (–)Seattle, WA
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
NCAA basketball tournament
Eastern
Final Four
Third-place game
Illinois 57, Oregon State 53
Rankings
Player stats
Player
Games Played
Field Goals
Free Throws
Points
Dwight Eddleman
25
130
69
329
Wally Osterkorn
25
90
81
261
Bill Erickson
25
91
79
261
Fred Green
25
65
24
154
Don Sunderlage
25
57
39
153
Jim Marks
20
53
27
133
Walt Kersulis
20
43
23
109
Burdette Thurlby
17
36
21
93
Van Anderson
23
32
8
72
Dick Foley
24
24
11
59
Ted Beach
14
13
8
34
Roy Gatewood
9
9
4
22
Richard Brogren
6
4
3
11
Glen Trugillo
10
2
2
6
Benton Odum
3
1
3
3
Jim Cottrell
5
1
1
3
Bill Boyer
2
0
0
0
[ 3]
Awards and honors
Team players drafted into the NBA
[ 5]
Rankings
References
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics