1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
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Conference Big Ten Conference
1939–40 record 14–6 (7-5 Big Ten)
Head coach Douglas Mills
Assistant coach Howie Braun
Assistant coach Wally Roettger
Captain William Hapac
Home arena Huff Hall
Seasons
« 1938–39 1940–41 »
1939–40 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
Purdue 10 – 2   .833     16 – 4   .800
Indiana 9 – 3   .750     20 – 3   .870
Ohio State 8 – 4   .667     13 – 7   .650
Illinois 7 – 5   .583     14 – 6   .700
Northwestern 7 – 5   .583     13 – 7   .650
Michigan 6 – 6   .500     13 – 7   .650
Minnesota 5 – 7   .417     12 – 8   .600
Iowa 4 – 8   .333     9 – 12   .429
Wisconsin 3 – 9   .250     5 – 15   .250
Chicago 1 – 11   .083     5 – 15   .250
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1939–40 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Doug Mills entered his fourth year as the head coach of the Fighting Illini with high hopes as well as a player with national prominence. William "Bill" Hapac was the program's first consensus first-team All-American as recognized by the NCAA. During the 1939-40 season, he became the first-ever recipient of the University of Illinois Athlete of the Year award. Hapac set the Big Ten single-game scoring record on February 10, 1940, with 34 points vs. Minnesota, a point total unheard of at that time. In addition to his success on the hardwood, Hapac also was a three-year letterwinner for the Illini baseball team. During the season, the Illini won 10 of their 11 home games only losing to conference rival Purdue on the last game of the season. Unfortunately for the Illini they finished with a 4-5 record on the road to finish in a fourth place tie overall in conference action. Mills' team featured 9 returning letterman including team captain William Hapac. The Illini also featured a starting lineup of John Drish at the center position and Harold Shapiro, Joe Frank, and William Hapac at forward and Victor Wukovits and future major league baseball player Walter Evers at the guard spot.[1]

Team

No. Player Position Class Hometown
3 Colin Handlon Guard Senior Connersville, Indiana
4 Henry Sachs Guard Sophomore Chicago, Illinois
5 Walter Evers Forward Sophomore Collinsville, Illinois
6 Robert O'Neill Center Junior Pitman, New Jersey
8 Harry Lasater Guard Junior Fairfield, Illinois
9 J. Frederick Townshend Center Sophomore
10 Norman Cusick Forward Sophomore
12 Robert Richmond Guard Junior
13 Victor Wukovits Center Sophomore Mishawaka, Indiana
14 Howard Cronk Guard Junior Anderson, Indiana
15 Rex Sherman Forward Sophomore
16 William Hocking Guard Sophomore Evanston, Illinois
17 Joe Frank Forward Senior Urbana, Illinois
18 Kenneth Brown Guard Freshman Catlin, Illinois
19 William Hapac (captain) Forward Senior Cicero, Illinois
20 Harold Shapiro Guard Junior Chicago, Illinois
21 John Drish Forward Junior Evanston, Illinois
22 Scott Gill Forward Sophomore
24 David Miller Forward Sophomore Taylorville, Illinois
28 Leonard Sharp Forward Sophomore
29 Darold Staley Forward Sophomore
30 Paul Milosevich Forward Sophomore

[2]

Schedule

Date Opponent Score Result Location Attendance
December 6, 1939 Monmouth (IL) 37–19 Win Champaign, IL 4,346
December 6, 1939 Wabash 60–21 Win Champaign, IL 4,346
December 15, 1939 Carleton 46–15 Win Champaign, IL 4,164
December 18, 1939 Princeton 41–25 Win Champaign, IL 4,346
December 27, 1939 Notre Dame 42–29 Win Champaign, IL 3,747
December 29, 1939 Drake 35-34 Win Des Moines, IA -
January 1, 1940 Butler 37–18 Win Indianapolis, IN 4,000
January 6, 1940 Indiana 36–38 Loss Bloomington, IN 6,000
January 8, 1940 University of Chicago 34–33 Win Champaign, IL 5,200
January 13, 1940 Ohio State 31–37 Loss Columbus, OH 4,046
January 15, 1940 Michigan 48–43 Win Ann Arbor, MI 4,500
February 3, 1940 Notre Dame 40–58 Loss Notre Dame, IN 5,500
February 10, 1934 Minnesota 60–31 Win Champaign, IL 5,402
February 12, 1940 Northwestern 35–33 Win Champaign, IL 5,400
February 17, 1940 Purdue 27–33 Loss West Lafayette, IN 8,800
February 19, 1940 Wisconsin 37-35 Win Champaign, IL 5,400
February 24, 1940 Michigan 51–28 Win Champaign, IL 5,692
February 26, 1940 University of Chicago 42–40 Win Chicago, IL 3,500
March 2, 1940 Iowa 47–62 Loss Iowa City, IA 7,000
March 4, 1940 Purdue 31–34 Loss Champaign, IL 7,172

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
William Hapac 18 95 54 244
Walter Evers 17 40 33 113
Victor Wukovits 19 32 28 92
Colin Handlon 19 23 23 69
Joe Frank 19 25 10 60
John Drish 18 20 7 47
Harold Shapiro 15 17 5 39
William Hocking 13 13 9 35
Henry Sachs 18 15 2 32
Robert Richmond 10 10 9 29
Robert O'Neill 10 10 6 26
Howard Cronk 10 3 2 8
Rex Sherman 4 3 0 6
Paul Milosevich 1 1 1 3
Scott Gill 1 1 1 3
Frederick Townshend 4 1 1 3
Norman Cusick 1 1 0 2
Kenneth Brown 1 1 0 2
Edward Evers 5 0 2 2
Harry Lasater 5 1 0 2
Leonard Sharp 1 0 1 1

[3]


Awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
  3. ↑ Season Stats
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