The 1951–52 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1951-52 Fighting Illini men's basketball team had reached a level of national prominence that was only bettered by the 1914-15 national championship team. Head coach

Harry Combes Harry Combes (March 3, 1915 – November 13, 1977), a native of Monticello, Illinois, served as head men's basketball coach at University of Illinois between 1947 and 1967. Biography Combes played high school basketball for Monticello High Scho ...

had guided his team to a

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

championship, a third place finish in the 1952 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and a final AP ranking of No. 2 in the nation. Combes was beginning to build a dynasty in

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

with 3 Big Ten Championships and 3 third place finishes in the NCAA tournament in his first 5 years at the helm. The 1951-52 season not only brought Illinois another Big Ten title, it also introduced John Kerr, a center from Tilden Tech in Chicago. He began his three-year reign as Illinois’ top scorer with a sophomore-record 357 points. The Illini recorded a 22-4 overall mark and went 12-2 in the conference. Once again, Illinois advanced to the national semifinals and ran into underdog St. John’s. The Redmen fought their way to a 61-59 victory in the NCAA’s first Final Four, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Illinois took another third-place award home after beating Santa Clara, 67-64, behind 26 points by Kerr. At the conclusion of the tournament, Kerr and James Bredar were named to the Final Four All-Tournament team. Subsequently, at the conclusion of the season, Rodney Fletcher was named a Consensus 1st team All-American. The starting lineup for the season included ''captain'' Rodney Fletcher, James Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer

Johnny "Red" Kerr John Graham "Red" Kerr (July 17, 1932 – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching an ...

at the center position. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach

Jim Dutcher Jim Dutcher (born 1943), is an American natural history, naturalist, cinematographer, director and author. He has written eight books and produced three wildlife films about wolves. Jim and his wife, Jamie Dutcher, are the creators of the two-t ...

Roster

Source

Schedule

Source , - !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;", Non-Conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;", Big Ten regular season , - !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38", NCAA tournament , - ''Bold Italic'' connotes conference game

Rankings

Player stats

Awards and honors

Irv Bemoras Irving "Irv" Bemoras (November 18, 1930 – November 1, 2007) was an American basketball player.Trevor Jensen. "Irving Bemoras: 1930–2007". ''Chicago Tribune''. 3 November 2007. He played collegiately for the University of Illinois at Urbana– ...

** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) ** United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) *

Johnny Kerr John Graham "Red" Kerr (July 17, 1932 – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching ...

NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

(1952) ** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) ** United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) ** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American (1952) *

Jim Bredar James A. Bredar (October 22, 1931 – August 28, 1997) was an NCAA All-American basketball player at the University of Illinois during a career that spanned from 1949 to 1953, and then was drafted by the Ft. Wayne Pistons of the National Basketba ...

(1952) ** United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952) ** Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1952) * Bob Peterson ** United Press International Honorable Mention All-American (1952)

Team players drafted into the NBA

1952 NBA draft

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1951-52 Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Team

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons 1951 in sports in Illinois 1952 in sports in Illinois