1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Helms Foundation National Champions
Premo-Porretta National Champions
Big Ten Conference Champions
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
1914–15 record16–0 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coachRalph Jones
CaptainSven Duner
Home arenaKenney Gym
1914–15 Western Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Illinois120 1.000  160  1.000
Chicago93 .750  205  .800
Wisconsin84 .667  134  .765
Minnesota66 .500  116  .647
Northwestern55 .500  118  .579
Purdue48 .333  58  .385
Ohio State39 .250  710  .412
Iowa26 .250  98  .529
Indiana19 .100  49  .308
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

Coached by Ralph Jones, the 1914–15 Fighting Illini men's basketball team became the first undefeated Big Ten champion in the history of the school as well as the fourth Big Ten National Champion.[1] That 1915 season was the third in the eight-year tenure of head coach Ralph Jones and it produced the only unbeaten season in Illini history and the first Big Ten title for the Illinois basketball program. The Illinois team was retroactively named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[2] Jones’ 1915 team scored twice as many points as its opponents and won the conference title by three games over Chicago. The arrival of the Woods brothers in 1914 had a lot to do with the success of this era. Guard Ray Woods was named first-team All-America all three years he competed (1915–17), and twin brother Ralf, a forward, led the team in scoring in both 1916 and 1917. His consistency at the free throw line led to the establishment of the Ralf Woods Award, which is still given annually to the Fighting Illini player with the best free-throw percentage. The starting lineup included Frank Bane at center, Clyde Alwood and Edward Allan Williford at the forward positions, captain Sven Duner at guard and brothers Ralf Woods and Ray Woods. Ray Woods was named an All-American during this season.[3]

Roster

"1914-15 Fighting Illini championship team photo"
1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
G Sven Duner (C)
Sr Downers Grove, Illinois
F Helmuth Kircher
Sr Kalamazoo, Michigan
C Edward Williford
Sr Binghamton, New York
G Ray Woods
So Oak Park, Illinois
G Ralf Woods
So Oak Park, Illinois
C Frank M. Bane
Sr Pontiac, Illinois
G Dudley Crane
Jr Columbus, Ohio
F Clyde Alwood
So Clinton, Illinois
G Robert William Hoffman
Sr Detroit, Michigan
C Daniel Franklin Comstock
Sr Evanston, Illinois
F Walter Boynton Erwin
Sr Chicago, Illinois
G/F John E. Davis
Fr Chicago, Illinois
F Milton Owen Jensen
Sr Kansas City, Missouri
F Raymond Adam McDermott
So Batavia, Illinois
Head coach
  • Ralph Jones (Indianapolis YMCA Training School) (3rd year)
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source[4]

Schedule

Source[5]

Date
time, TV
Opponent Result Record Site
city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/8/1914*
no, no
vs Arkansas A.C. W 52–6  1-0 (0-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
12/12/1914*
no, no
vs Illinois Wesleyan W 50–9  2-0 (0-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
12/18/1914*
no, no
vs Millikin University W 19–16  3-0 (0-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
1/2/1915*
no, no
@ Peoria YMCA W 27–14  4-0 (0-0)
Peoria YMCA 
Peoria, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/11/1915
no, no
vs Indiana
Rivalry
W 34–13  5-0 (1-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
1/16/1915
no, no
vs Purdue W 27–8  6-0 (2-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
1/23/1915
no, no
vs Ohio State W 24–17  7-0 (3-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
1/26/1915
no, no
@ Indiana
Rivalry
W 20–4  8-0 (4-0)
Old Assembly Hall 
Bloomington, IN
2/8/1915
no, no
vs Wisconsin W 39–19  9-0 (5-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
2/13/1915
no, no
@ Wisconsin W 19–17  10-0 (6-0)
University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium 
Madison, WI
2/15/1915
no, no
@ Minnesota W 20–10  11-0 (7-0)
University of Minnesota Armory 
Minneapolis, MN
2/23/1915
no, no
vs University of Chicago W 20–12  12-0 (8-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
2/27/1915
no, no
@ Purdue W 22–15  13-0 (9-0)
Memorial Gymnasium 
West Lafayette, IN
3/1/1915
no, no
@ Ohio State W 26–19  14-0 (10-0)
The Armory 
Columbus, OH
3/6/1915
no, no
@ University of Chicago W 19–18  15-0 (11-0)
Bartlett Gymnasium 
Chicago, IL
3/8/1915
no, no
vs Minnesota W 26-11  16-0 (12-0)
Kenney Gym 
Urbana, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
Edward Williford[6]123156118
Frank Bane[7]16501101
Ralf Woods[8]15351787
Ray Woods[9]1629058
Clyde Alwood[10]1119038
Sven Duner[11]168016
Dudley Crane[12]56012

Awards and honors

Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as an All-American for the 1914–15 season.

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References

  1. A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 ISBN 1-58261-793-7
  2. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  3. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  4. FightingIllini.com
  5. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1914-15 Archived 2013-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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