1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
| 1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1944–45 record | 13–7 (7–5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Douglas R. Mills |
| Assistant coach | Howie Braun |
| Assistant coach | Wally Roettger |
| MVP | Walton Kirk |
| Captain | Selected each game |
| Home arena | Huff Hall |
| 1944–45 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 11 | – | 1 | .917 | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 10 | – | 2 | .833 | 15 | – | 5 | .750 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 9 | – | 11 | .450 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan | 5 | – | 7 | .417 | 12 | – | 7 | .632 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 10 | – | 11 | .476 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 8 | – | 13 | .381 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 7 | – | 12 | .368 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 10 | – | 11 | .476 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 0 | – | 0 | – | 7 | – | 8 | .467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1944–45 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular Season
After the second worst season in Doug Mills tenure as the head coach of the Fighting Illini, the ongoing war created even more havoc with the 1944-45 season. The Illini were required to play games close to home which meant they played certain teams multiple times. For example, the team played Great Lakes three times, Chanute Field, in nearby Rantoul, Illinois, two times and George Mikan and the DePaul Blue Demons two times as well. As the season progressed, Mills experimented with several lineups, including a 19 player barrage versus Nebraska. These varied lineups allowed Mills to play an impressive freshman, Johnny Orr, playing his only season for Illinois prior to rejoining his high school coach, Dolph Stanley, at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.
The Big Ten Conference season was unusual as well. The Illini dropped their opening game to Michigan followed by a seven-game winning streak then concluding with four consecutive losses. The heaviest load fell on the hands of sophomores Walt Kirk and Howard Judson with freshman Walt Kersulis, Jack Burmaster, and Orr also being major contributors. Kirk would be named a Consensus All-American for his performance during the season.
The team completed their season with an overall record of 13 wins and 7 losses with a conference mark of 7 and 5 for a third-place finish. They finished with a 7 - 3 record at home and a road record of 5 - 4. The starting lineup consisted of Walton Kirk, Howard Judson, Johnny Orr, Jack Burmaster, Don Delaney and Walt Kersulis.
Roster
| No | Player | Position | Class | Hometown |
| 3 | Carl Bontemps | Guard | Freshman | Taylorville, Illinois |
| 4 | Vic Bubas | Guard | Freshman | Gary, Indiana |
| 5 | Jack Burmaster | Guard | Freshman | Elgin, Illinois |
| 6 | Don Delaney | Center | Junior | Sacramento, California |
| 7 | Maurice Dolan | Center | Junior | Champaign, Illinois |
| 8 | William Eddleman | Forward | Junior | Anna, Illinois |
| 9 | Leo Gedvillas | Guard | Sophomore | Spring Valley, Illinois |
| 10 | Gordon Hortin | Guard | Senior | Evansville, Indiana |
| 11 | Howard Judson | Forward | Sophomore | Hebron, Illinois |
| 12 | Walt Kersulis | Center | Freshman | East St. Louis, Illinois |
| 13 | Walt Kirk | Guard | Junior | Mt. Vernon, Illinois |
| 14 | John Larson | Center | Junior | Sioux City, Iowa |
| 15 | Roger Little | Guard | Freshman | Champaign, Illinois |
| 16 | Bob Morton | Forward | Sophomore | Elgin, Illinois |
| 17 | Walter Mroz | Forward | Freshman | Chicago, Illinois |
| 18 | Johnny Orr | Forward | Freshman | Taylorville, Illinois |
| 19 | Paul Schnackenberg | Forward | Freshman | |
| 20 | Jim Seyler | Guard | Junior | Champaign, Illinois |
| 21 | Jake Staab | Forward | Junior | Chillicothe, Illinois |
| 22 | Lee Stickler | Guard | Sophomore | Alton, Illinois |
| 23 | Joe Sulenski | Forward | Freshman |
- Head Coach: Douglas Mills (9th year at Illinois) [1]
Record
| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Location | Attendance |
| December 2, 1944 | Chanute Field | 64–25 | Win | Champaign, IL | 3,500 |
| December 8, 1944 | Great Lakes | 44–40 | Win | Chicago, IL | 9,845 |
| December 9, 1944 | Great Lakes | 56–53 | Win | Great Lakes, IL | 2,400 |
| December 16, 1944 | DePaul | 43–40 | Win | Chicago, IL | - |
| December 20, 1944 | Great Lakes | 45–52 | Loss | Champaign, IL | 4,000 |
| December 29, 1944 | Nebraska | 77–39 | Win | Champaign, IL | 2,500 |
| January 1, 1945 | DePaul | 56–63 | Loss | Champaign, IL | 4,158 |
| January 6, 1945 | Michigan | 38–43 | Loss | Champaign, IL | 4,200 |
| January 13, 1945 | Michigan | 55–37 | Win | Ann Arbor, MI | 4,000 |
| January 19, 1945 | Northwestern | 51–42 | Win | Champaign, IL | 4,210 |
| January 26, 1945 | Iowa | 43–42 | Win | Champaign, IL | 6,000 |
| February 6, 1945 | Chanute Field | 58–46 | Win | Rantoul, IL | - |
| February 10, 1945 | Minnesota | 50–32 | Win | Minneapolis, MN | 4,520 |
| February 12, 1945 | Indiana | 71–48 | Win | Champaign, IL | 4,620 |
| February 16, 1945 | Ohio State | 56-41 | Win | Champaign, IL | 7,100 |
| February 19, 1945 | Minnesota | 49–48 | Win | Champaign, IL | 4,657 |
| February 23, 1945 | Ohio State | 44–60 | Loss | Columbus, OH | - |
| February 24, 1945 | Northwestern | 45–47 | Loss | Chicago, IL | 15,862 |
| February 28, 1945 | Indiana | 55–65 | Loss | Bloomington, IN | 3,500 |
| March 3, 1945 | Iowa | 37–43 | Loss | Iowa City, IA | 14,400 |
Bold Italic connotes conference game
Player stats
| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walt Kirk | 20 | 78 | 56 | 212 |
| Howard Judson | 20 | 73 | 24 | 170 |
| Jack Burmaster | 16 | 64 | 24 | 152 |
| John Orr | 20 | 51 | 18 | 120 |
| Walt Kersulis | 19 | 37 | 16 | 90 |
| Don Delaney | 19 | 30 | 23 | 83 |
| Jimmy Seyler | 20 | 29 | 16 | 74 |
| Jake Staab | 19 | 14 | 22 | 50 |
| Robert Morton | 14 | 17 | 7 | 41 |
| Leo Gedvilas | 12 | 11 | 3 | 25 |
| Paul Schnackenberg | 7 | 6 | 3 | 15 |
| Joe Sulenski | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Carl Bontemps | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Vic Bubas | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Jack Larson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Wallie Mroz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gordon Hortin | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| William Eddleman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maurice Dolan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Johnny Orr
- Big Ten Coach of the Year (1974) Michigan
- National Coach of the Year (1976) Michigan
- Walt Kirk
- Consensus First-Team All-American (1945)
- Helms First-Team All-American (1945)
- Argosy Magazine Second-Team All-American (1945)
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American (1945)
- Team Most Valuable Player [3]
