1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 11
1952–53 record	18–4 (14-4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
Assistant coach	Cal Luther
MVP	Irv Bemoras
Captain	Jim Bredar
Home arena	Huff Hall

1952–53 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#1 Indiana	17	–	1	.944	23	–	3	.885
#11 Illinois	14	–	4	.778	18	–	4	.818
Minnesota	11	–	7	.611	14	–	8	.636
Michigan State	11	–	7	.611	13	–	9	.591
Wisconsin	10	–	8	.556	13	–	9	.591
Iowa	9	–	9	.500	12	–	10	.545
Ohio State	7	–	11	.389	10	–	12	.455
Northwestern	5	–	13	.278	6	–	16	.273
Michigan	3	–	15	.167	6	–	16	.273
Purdue	3	–	15	.167	4	–	18	.182

Rankings from AP Poll

"1952-53 Fighting Illini men's basketball team"

The 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Regular season

Under the leadership of Harry Combes and coming off consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament, the Fighting Illini men's basketball program had become one of the most powerful in the nation. The 1952-53 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny Kerr. It also returned United Press honorable mention all-American guards Irv Bemoras and Jim Bredar.

Unfortunately the Illini would lose 4 conference games during the Big Ten season which would give them a second-place finish. Three of the four losses came at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain Jim Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer and Max Hooper at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer Johnny "Red" Kerr at the center position. 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	6–0	170	Sophomore	Salem, Illinois	Salem High School
9	Elmer Plew	Guard	6-0	170	Sophomore	Paris, Illinois	Paris High School
16	Jim Wright	Guard	6–0	165	Junior	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
19	James Bredar (captain)	Guard	5–10	170	Senior	Salem, Illinois	Salem High School
22	Johnny Kerr	Center	6–9	215	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Tilden High School
24	Ed Makovsky	Forward	6–5	205	Sophomore	Cicero, Illinois	Morton High School
25	Robert Peterson	Center	6–8	250	Senior	Wayne, Illinois	Elgin High School
26	Irving Bemoras	Guard	6–3	188	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Marshall High School
27	Jim Dutcher	Forward	6–3	188	Sophomore	Downers Grove, Illinois	Downers Grove High School
29	Max Baumgardner	Forward	6-5	195	Senior	Sterling, Illinois	Sterling High School
33	Clive Follmer	Forward	6-4	198	Senior	Forrest, Illinois	Forrest High School
47	Max Hooper	Forward	6–5	200	Junior	Mt. Vernon, Illinois	Mt. Vernon High School
48	James Schuldt	Guard	6–0	193	Senior	Dundee, Illinois	Dundee Community High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (6th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 10, 1952	Loyola (Chicago)	71–57	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 15, 1952	Michigan	96–66	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 20, 1952	Butler	75–58	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 23, 1952	Minnesota (#17)	73–77	Loss	Minneapolis, MN	16,878
December 27, 1952	Ohio State	87–62	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
December 30, 1952	St. Mary's	94–65	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 5, 1953	Purdue	87–71	Win	West Lafayette, IN	-
January 10, 1953	Wisconsin	71–61	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 12, 1953	Northwestern	83–58	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
January 17, 1953	Indiana (#6)	70–74	Loss	Bloomington, IN	10,000
January 19, 1953	Michigan State	84–62	Win	East Lansing, MI	-
February 2, 1953	DePauw	93–50	Win	Champaign, IL	4,002
February 7, 1953	Wisconsin	65–61	Win	Madison, WI	13,500
March 12, 1952	Michigan	92–62	Win	Ann Arbor, MI	6,000
February 9, 1953	Iowa	80–63	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
February 14, 1953	Purdue	93–67	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
February 21, 1953	Iowa	62–67	Loss	Iowa City, IA	14,000
February 23, 1953	Minnesota	83–82	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
February 28, 1953	Indiana (#2)	79–91	Loss	Champaign, IL	6,905
March 2, 1953	Michigan State	66–52	Win	Champaign, IL	6,905
March 7, 1953	Ohio State	66–52	Win	Columbus, OH	5,242
March 3, 1953	Northwestern	86–70	Win	Evanston, IL	9,700

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
John Kerr	22	153	80	386
Irv Bemoras	22	119	84	322
Jim Bredar	22	106	50	262
Clive Follmer	22	82	86	250
Max Hooper	21	73	45	191
Bob Peterson	22	53	54	160
Jim Schuldt	19	14	11	39
Jim Wright	17	15	7	37
Max Baumgardner	9	13	10	36
Ed Makovsky	16	9	15	33
Elmer Plew	13	12	6	30
Jim Dutcher	10	7	9	23
Morris Sterneck	9	1	4	6

^[3]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club
Jim Bredar	Ft. Wayne Pistons

^[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
↑ 1953 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 2016–17

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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