1945–46 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1945–46 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1945–46 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	14–7 (7–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Douglas R. Mills (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Howie Braun (9th season) Wally Roettger (11th season)
MVP	Bob Doster
Captain	Walton Kirk
Home arena	Huff Hall

1945–46 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Ohio State	10	–	2		.833			16	–	5		.762
Indiana	9	–	3		.750			18	–	3		.857
Iowa	8	–	4		.667			14	–	4		.778
Northwestern	8	–	4		.667			15	–	5		.750
Illinois	7	–	5		.583			14	–	7		.667
Minnesota	7	–	5		.583			14	–	7		.667
Michigan	6	–	6		.500			12	–	7		.632
Purdue	4	–	8		.333			10	–	11		.476
Wisconsin	1	–	11		.083			4	–	17		.190
Chicago	0	–	12		.000			6	–	14		.300

Regular season

The modern era of college basketball unofficially began with the 1945-46 season and the University of Illinois was quick to offer a team that was rebuilding its post-war image to that of a contender. Future hall of fame coaches Johnny Orr and Vic Bubas left the team to join in with the war effort as did Walt Kersulis, a top 5 scorer from the previous season and Consensus First-Team All-American and team captain Walt Kirk. The addition of freshman Bob Doster and Dwight Humphrey to a lineup that included team Jack Burmaster, Robert Rowe and Walter Mroz became formidable opponents to every team they played including a no. 1 ranked DePaul. On December 29, 1945, the Fighting Illini took on George Mikan's Blue Demons, who had lost just eight games in three years, and defeated them by a score of 56-37. In the game Burmaster and Doster each scored 14 points with Mroz adding 11 in the second half. The victory proved that, even without team captain Kirk, who had gone to serve in the armed services, the young team was ready to take on all comers. The 1945 Blue Demons went on to win the 1945 National Invitation Tournament. Additionally, the 1945-46 season would be the finale for the University of Chicago as part of the Big Ten. Illinois would defeat the Maroons two times during the year, 70-28 and 85-24. Due to the departure of Chicago, the Big Ten would become the Big Nine until Michigan State joined the conference in 1950.

Mills used 31 players during the course of the season and had an overall record of 14 wins and 7 losses with a conference mark of 7 and 5, finishing in a fifth place tie in the Big Ten. The team finished with an 11 - 2 record at home and a road record of 3 - 5. Future All-American Dwight "Dike" Eddleman would appear in two games during the course of the season, as well as future North Carolina A&T Aggies, hall-of-fame men's basketball coach, Cal Irvin, would appear in one game.

David "Matt" Bullock

1946 saw the end of a 34-year career for Illini athletic trainer Matt Bullock. From 1913-47 David “Matt” Bullock saw to it that football and basketball stars like Red Grange, George Halas, Buddy Young, Ray Woods, Chuck Carney, Lou Boudreau, Andy Phillip and other Fighting Illini stayed healthy. During his long career at the University of Illinois, Bullock cared for more than 40,000 athletes.

Roster

1945–46 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 7 Hal Craig 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Decatur High School Decatur, Illinois G 9 Jimmy Seyler 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois F 10 Jake Staab 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Chillicothe High School Chillicothe, Illinois F 11 Leo Swinford 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Paris High School Paris, Illinois G 12 Leo Gedvilas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Hall High School Spring Valley, Illinois G 13 Walt Kirk (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Mt. Vernon High School Mt. Vernon, Illinois G 14 Arthur Smiley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Waterman High School Waterman, Illinois C 15 Robert Menke 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Elgin High School Elgin, Illinois F 16 Robert Doster 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Decatur High School Decatur, Illinois G 17 Joseph Rodriguez 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Niagara Falls High School Niagara Falls, New York G 18 Paul Eckert 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Herrin High School Herrin, Illinois C 19 Robert Rowe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Warren High School Warren, Illinois F 20 Walter Mroz 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 145 lb (66 kg) So Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois F 22 Dean Meador 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 140 lb (64 kg) Fr Patoka Senior High School Patoka, Illinois G 23 William Eddleman 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Anna-Jonesboro Community High School Anna, Illinois F 24 Van Anderson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Sullivan Community High School Sullivan, Illinois G 26 George Leddy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois F 27 Ray McClure 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 156 lb (71 kg) Fr Galesburg High School Galesburg, Illinois F 29 Dwight Humphrey 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 138 lb (63 kg) Fr Moline High School Moline, Illinois C 30 Robert Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Frankfort Community High School West Frankfort, Illinois C 31 William Edwards 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Fr Staunton High School Staunton, Illinois G 33 Robert Olson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr St. Elmo Junior-Senior High School St. Elmo, Illinois G 38 Jack Burmaster 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Elgin High School Elgin, Illinois F 40 Dwight Eddleman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois G 41 Jack Pierce 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Pontiac Township High School Pontiac, Illinois C 48 Fred Green 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Urbana High School Urbana, Illinois Bob Dannehl — — Fr Onarga High School Onarga, Illinois Cal Irvin — — Fr Orange High School East Orange, New Jersey Tony Esposito — — Fr Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois Russell "Harold" Strange — — GS Mount Pleasant High School Mount Pleasant, Michigan Al Leavitt — — Fr Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois	Head coach Douglas Mills (University of Illinois) (10th year) Assistant coach(es) Wally Roettger (University of Illinois) (11th year) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (9th year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1945* no, no	Wright Field	L 52–56	0–1	Huff Hall (4,291) Champaign, IL
12/2/1945* no, no	St. Louis	W 54–46	1–1	Huff Hall (3,766) Champaign, IL
12/8/1945* no, no	Naval Training Station Great Lakes	W 58–41	2–1	Huff Hall (4,995) Champaign, IL
12/8/1945* no, no	Great Lakes Hospital	W 51–23	3–1	Huff Hall (4,995) Champaign, IL
12/11/1945* no, no	Detroit	W 51–34	4–1	Huff Hall (4,475) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
12/15/1945 no, no	Ohio State	L 46-50	4–2 (0–1)	Huff Hall (5,640) Champaign, IL
12/18/1945* no, no	Drake	W 64-42	5–2	Huff Hall (5,640) Champaign, IL
12/20/1945* no, no	at Nebraska	W 62–51	6–2	Nebraska Coliseum (3,000) Lincoln, NE
12/22/1945 no, no	at Iowa Rivalry	L 39–41	6–3 (0–2)	Iowa Field House (14,300) Iowa City, IA
12/29/1945* no, no	DePaul	W 56–37	7–3	Huff Hall (5,079) Champaign, IL
1/1/1946 no, no	at Wisconsin	W 38–31	8–3 (1–2)	Wisconsin Field House (8,000) Madison, WI
1/5/1946 no, no	at Michigan	L 48–49	8–4 (1–3)	Yost Field House (7,000) Ann Arbor, MI
1/12/1946 no, no	at Ohio State	L 35–41	8-5 (1–4)	Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,800) Columbus, OH
1/14/1946 no, no	Northwestern Rivalry	W 45–38	9–5 (2–4)	Huff Hall (6,310) Champaign, IL
1/19/1946 no, no	at University of Chicago	W 70–28	10–5 (3–4)	Henry Crown Field House (1,500) Chicago, IL
1/26/1946* no, no	at Great Lakes	L 42–67	10–6	Great Lakes Gymnasium (2,500) Great Lakes, IL
2/4/1946 no, no	University of Chicago	W 85–24	11–6 (4–4)	Huff Hall (3,616) Champaign, IL
2/9/1946 no, no	Michigan	W 49–44	12–6 (5–4)	Huff Hall (7,005) Champaign, IL
2/16/1946 no, no	at Northwestern Rivalry	L 43–48	12–7 (5–5)	Chicago Stadium (20,442) Chicago, IL
2/18/1946 no, no	Wisconsin	W 72–53	13–7 (6–5)	Huff Hall (5,992) Champaign, IL
2/23/1946 no, no	Iowa Rivalry	W 57–51	14–7 (7–5)	Huff Hall (7,214) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Bob Doster	20	107	59	273
Jack Burmaster	20	15	4	173
Wallie Mroz	17	53	20	126
Robert Rowe	20	26	16	68
Bob Menke	17	25	17	67
Dwight Humphrey	20	26	16	20
Jimmy Seyler	16	23	17	63
Fred Green	4	16	9	41
Ray McClure	16	17	4	38
Jack Smiley	4	13	8	34
Hal Craig	12	14	6	34
George Leddy	19	5	16	26
Leo Gedvilas	17	9	1	19
Van Anderson	7	9	1	19
Robert Olson	7	5	7	17
William Edwards	8	4	4	12
Dean Meador	6	3	0	6
Dwight Eddleman	2	3	0	6
Bob Dannehl	2	2	1	5
Cal Irvin	1	2	0	4
William Eddleman	3	2	0	4
Jack Pierce	1	2	0	4
Tony Esposito	1	2	0	4
Jake Staab	3	0	2	2
Harold Strange	1	1	0	2
Al Leavitt	3	1	0	2
Paul Eckert	1	0	1	1
Robert Jones	3	0	1	1
Joe Rodriguez	5	0	1	1

Awards and honors

• Jack Burmaster
  • Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American (1946)
• Bob Doster
  • Sporting News Honorable Mention All-American (1946)
  • Team Most Valuable Player