The 1956–57 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

Regular season

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 ...

celebrated 10 years as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team. During his ten years as coach, Combes had established the Illini as a national powerhouse with sportswriters taking note. For example, the

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began its basketball poll in 1949 with

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adding its poll in 1951 and from 1951-56 the Illini finished the season ranked in the Top 20 nationally every year. Illinois’ highest final ranking in the 1950s was second in both polls in 1952. The 1956-57 team, unfortunately, would begin a downward spiral for Combes success, sending it into a time span where his teams would finish in the lower half of the

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 ...

for four of six years. A highlight of the 1957 season would take place on December 17, 1956, when Illinois defeated

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, 62-33, snapping the Dons’ 51-game regular-season win streak. This season also marked the first time that a Fighting Illini team entered a holiday tournament. The Kentucky Invitational brought

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and Illinois to Lexington for a two-day tournament, once again matching

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

with Combes. Combes had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers

George Bon Salle George H. Bon Salle (July 1, 1935 – July 20, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. A forward, he starred at Loyola Academy in Chicago, Illinois, before playing at the University of Illinois. As a senior in 1957, Bon Salle was ...

Don Ohl Donald Jay Ohl (born April 18, 1936) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 10 seasons (1960–1970) in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nickname was ''Waxie'' because of his crew cut. College career Ohl ...

and team ''"captain"''

Harv Schmidt Harvard Schmidt (September 25, 1935 – April 7, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A , small forward from Kankakee, Illinois. Schmidt attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he played from ...

. It also saw the return of Bill Altenberger,

Hiles Stout Hiles may refer to the following locations in the United States: * Hiles, Wood County, Wisconsin, a town * Hiles (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Hiles, Forest County, Wisconsin, a town People with the surname * Barbara Hil ...

, John Paul and

Ted Caiazza TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

. The team also added sophomore

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 7 wins and 7 losses, finishing in 7th place in the

. They would finish with an overall record of 14 wins and 8 losses. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Roger Taylor and Don Ohl at guard and Harv Schmidt and Hiles Stout at the forward slots.

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 , - ''Bold Italic'' connotes conference game

Player stats

Awards and honors

** National Association of Basketball Coaches 2nd Team All-American ** Converse Honorable Mention All-American *

** Converse Honorable Mention All-American ** Associated Press Mention All-American *

** Converse 2nd Team All-American **Team Most Valuable Player

Team players drafted into the NBA

1957 NBA Draft

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1956-57 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 Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons 1956 in sports in Illinois 1957 in sports in Illinois