1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Helms Foundation National Champions; Premo-Porretta National Champions; Big Ten Conference Champions
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	16–0 (12–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ralph Jones;
Captain	Sven Duner
Home arena	Kenney Gym
	Seasons ← 1913–14 1915–16 →

1914–15 Western Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Illinois	12	–	0	1.000	16	–	0	1.000
Chicago	9	–	3	.750	20	–	5	.800
Wisconsin	8	–	4	.667	13	–	4	.765
Minnesota	6	–	6	.500	11	–	6	.647
Northwestern	5	–	5	.500	11	–	8	.579
Purdue	4	–	8	.333	5	–	8	.385
Ohio State	3	–	9	.250	7	–	10	.412
Iowa	2	–	6	.250	9	–	8	.529
Indiana	1	–	9	.100	4	–	9	.308

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[edit]

Coached by Ralph Jones, the 1914–15 Fighting Illini men's basketball team became the first undefeated Big Ten champion in the history of the school as well as the fourth Big Ten National Champion.^[1] That 1915 season was the third in the eight-year tenure of head coach Ralph Jones and it produced the only unbeaten season in Illini history and the first Big Ten title for the Illinois basketball program. The Illinois team was retroactively named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.^[2] Jones’ 1915 team scored twice as many points as its opponents and won the conference title by three games over Chicago. The arrival of the Woods brothers in 1914 had a lot to do with the success of this era. Guard Ray Woods was named first-team All-America all three years he competed (1915–17), and twin brother Ralf, a forward, led the team in scoring in both 1916 and 1917. His consistency at the free throw line led to the establishment of the Ralf Woods Award, which is still given annually to the Fighting Illini player with the best free-throw percentage. The starting lineup included Frank Bane at center, Clyde Alwood and Edward Allan Williford at the forward positions, captain Sven Duner at guard and brothers Ralf Woods and Ray Woods. Ray Woods was named an All-American during this season.^[3]

Roster[edit]

1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	Sven Duner (C)	—	—	Sr	Downers Grove, Illinois
F	Helmuth Kircher	—	—	Sr	Kalamazoo, Michigan
C	Edward Williford	—	—	Sr	Binghamton, New York
G	Ray Woods	—	—	So	Oak Park, Illinois
G	Ralf Woods	—	—	So	Oak Park, Illinois
C	Frank M. Bane	—	—	Sr	Pontiac, Illinois
G	Dudley Crane	—	—	Jr	Columbus, Ohio
F	Clyde Alwood	—	—	So	Clinton, Illinois
G	Robert William Hoffman	—	—	Sr	Detroit, Michigan
C	Daniel Franklin Comstock	—	—	Sr	Evanston, Illinois
F	Walter Boynton Erwin	—	—	Sr	Chicago, Illinois
G/F	John E. Davis	—	—	Fr	Chicago, Illinois
F	Milton Owen Jensen	—	—	Sr	Kansas City, Missouri
F	Raymond Adam McDermott	—	—	So	Batavia, Illinois

Head coach

Ralph Jones (Indianapolis YMCA Training School) (3rd year)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source^[4]

Schedule[edit]

Source^[5]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/8/1914* no, no	Arkansas A.C.	W 52–6	1-0	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
12/12/1914* no, no	Illinois Wesleyan	W 50–9	2-0	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
12/18/1914* no, no	Millikin University	W 19–16	3-0	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
1/2/1915* no, no	at Peoria YMCA	W 27–14	4-0	Peoria YMCA Peoria, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/11/1915 no, no	Indiana Rivalry	W 34–13	5-0 (1-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
1/16/1915 no, no	Purdue	W 27–8	6-0 (2-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
1/23/1915 no, no	Ohio State	W 24–17	7-0 (3-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
1/26/1915 no, no	at Indiana Rivalry	W 20–4	8-0 (4-0)	Old Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
2/8/1915 no, no	Wisconsin	W 39–19	9-0 (5-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
2/13/1915 no, no	at Wisconsin	W 19–17	10-0 (6-0)	University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium Madison, WI
2/15/1915 no, no	at Minnesota	W 20–10	11-0 (7-0)	University of Minnesota Armory Minneapolis, MN
2/23/1915 no, no	University of Chicago	W 20–12	12-0 (8-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
2/27/1915 no, no	at Purdue	W 22–15	13-0 (9-0)	Memorial Gymnasium West Lafayette, IN
3/1/1915 no, no	at Ohio State	W 26–19	14-0 (10-0)	The Armory Columbus, OH
3/6/1915 no, no	at University of Chicago	W 19–18	15-0 (11-0)	Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL
3/8/1915 no, no	Minnesota	W 26-11	16-0 (12-0)	Kenney Gym Urbana, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats[edit]

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Edward Williford^[6]	12	31	56	118
Frank Bane^[7]	16	50	1	101
Ralf Woods^[8]	15	35	17	87
Ray Woods^[9]	16	29	0	58
Clyde Alwood^[10]	11	19	0	38
Sven Duner^[11]	16	8	0	16
Dudley Crane^[12]	5	6	0	12

Awards and honors[edit]

Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as an All-American for the 1914–15 season.

References[edit]

^ A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 ISBN 1-58261-793-7
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ FightingIllini.com
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1914-15 Archived 2013-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
^ "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[1] A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 ISBN 1-58261-793-7

[2] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[3] Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7

[4] FightingIllini.com

[5] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1914-15 Archived 2013-12-17 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com

[6] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[7] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[8] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[9] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[10] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[11] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

[12] "FIGHTINGILLINI.COM - Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

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v t e 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 Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of 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 1999–2000 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 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics