1955–56 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1955–56 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 7
1955–56 record	18–4 (11-3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes
Assistant coach	Howie Braun
MVP	Bruce Brothers
Captain	Paul Judson
Home arena	Huff Hall

1955–56 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
#4 Iowa	13	–	1	.929	20	–	6	.769
#7 Illinois	11	–	3	.786	18	–	4	.818
Ohio State	9	–	5	.643	16	–	6	.727
Purdue	9	–	5	.643	16	–	6	.727
Michigan State	7	–	7	.500	13	–	9	.591
Indiana	6	–	8	.429	13	–	9	.591
Minnesota	6	–	8	.429	11	–	11	.500
Michigan	4	–	10	.286	9	–	13	.409
Wisconsin	4	–	10	.286	6	–	16	.273
Northwestern	1	–	13	.071	2	–	20	.091

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1955–56 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Harry Combes, for the ninth consecutive year at Illinois, directed a team that would finish no worse than third place in the Big Ten. His 164 wins and 44 losses overall with a 94 and 30 record in the conference gave Combes three "Final Four" finishes as well as three conference championships. Combes' team, recruited by assistant coach Howie Braun, was exclusively recruited from the state of Illinois.

The 1955-56 team had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle and team "captain" Paul Judson. It also saw the return of Bruce Brothers, Bill Ridley, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. The team also added future NBA all-star Don Ohl as a sophomore. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 11 wins and 3 losses, finishing in 2nd place in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose four total games with two of the four coming in the final three days of the season. The Illini's final Associated Press ranking placed them at "#7", however; they maintained a "#2" national ranking for the final month of the regular season. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Paul Judson at guard and Harv Schmidt, Bruce Brothers and Don Ohl at the forward slots.^[1]

Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown	High School
8	Jim Chengary	Forward	6-3	190	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Bowen High School
10	Hiles Stout	Forward	6–4	205	Junior	Peoria, Illinois	Central High School
11	Bill Ridley	Guard	5–9	160	Senior	Taylorville, Illinois	Taylorville High School
20	Bill Altenberger	Guard	6–1	179	Junior	East St. Louis, Illinois	Senior High School
22	George Bon Salle	Center	6–8	215	Junior	Chicago, Illinois	Loyola Academy
24	Ted Caiazza	Center	6–7	235	Sophomore	LaGrange, Illinois	Lyons Township High School
30	Phil Judson	Guard	6-2	165	Senior	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School
32	Bruce Brothers	Forward	6–5	200	Senior	Quincy, Illinois	Quincy Senior High School
33	Harvard Schmidt	Forward	6–6	190	Junior	Kankakee, Illinois	Kankakee High School
34	Paul Judson	Guard	6-4	172	Senior	Hebron, Illinois	Alden-Hebron High School
35	Larry Breyfogle	Forward	6–3	165	Sophomore	Lawrenceville, Illinois	Lawrenceville High School
43	John Paul	Guard	6–1	175	Sophomore	Elgin, Illinois	St. Edward High School
44	Don Ohl	Guard	6–3	190	Sophomore	Edwardsville, Illinois	Edwardsville High School

Head Coach: Harry Combes (9th year at Illinois)^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 6, 1955	Butler	107–75	Win	Champaign, IL	4,535
December 10, 1955	Missouri	73–74	Loss	Columbia, MO	5,800
December 13, 1955	Notre Dame	103–93	Win	Notre Dame, IN	4,300
December 17, 1955	Washington (St. Louis)	75–74	Win	Champaign, IL	4,444
December 19, 1955	DePaul	97–79	Win	Champaign, IL	4,747
December 23, 1955	Oklahoma	82–58	Win	Champaign, IL	3,390
December 29, 1955	Drake	102–66	Win	Champaign, IL	3,713
January 2, 1956	Michigan State (#16)	73–65	Win	Champaign, IL	5,192
January 9, 1956	Wisconsin	96–77	Win	Champaign, IL	6,069
January 14, 1956	Indiana (#12)	96–72	Win	Bloomington, IN	10,056
January 16, 1956	Purdue	92–76	Win	West Lafayette, IN	9,500
January 28, 1956	DePaul	80–66	Win	Chicago, IL	15,254
January 30, 1956	Minnesota	95–84	Win	Minneapolis, MN	9,805
February 6, 1956	Indiana	92–89	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 11, 1956	Ohio State	111–64	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 13, 1956	Michigan	89–66	Win	Champaign, IL	6,135
February 18, 1956	Michigan State	96–76	Win	East Lansing, MI	9,094
February 20, 1956	Purdue	102–77	Win	Champaign, IL	6,135
February 25, 1956	Ohio State	86–78	Win	Columbus, OH	8,539
February 27, 1956	Minnesota	97–81	Win	Champaign, IL	5,765
March 3, 1956	Iowa (#10)	72–96	Loss	Iowa City, IA	15,200
March 5, 1956	Northwestern	82–83	Loss	Evanston, IL	8,500

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
George BonSalle	22	156	118	430
Paul Judson	22	160	84	404
Bill Ridley	21	109	104	322
Harv Schmidt	22	113	69	295
Bruce Brothers	22	51	58	160
Don Ohl	22	57	33	147
Hiles Stout	22	35	42	112
Bill Altenberger	18	19	15	53
Ted Caiazza	5	8	4	20
Phil Judson	6	7	4	18
Jim Chengary	9	7	0	14
Larry Breyfogle	9	5	1	11
John Paul	12	5	0	10

^[3]

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Paul Judson	Syracuse Nationals	2	13

^[5]

References

↑ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
↑ All-Time Illini Rosters
↑ Season Stats
↑ List of MVPs
↑ 1956 NBA Draft

Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)

Rivalries	Indiana Missouri

Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek

People	Head coaches NBA draftees Consensus All-Americans

Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

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