1927–28 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1927–28 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Indiana	10	–	2	.833	15	–	2	.882
Purdue	10	–	2	.833	15	–	2	.882
Wisconsin	9	–	3	.750	13	–	4	.765
Northwestern	9	–	3	.750	12	–	5	.706
Michigan	7	–	5	.583	10	–	7	.588
Chicago	5	–	7	.417	8	–	9	.471
Iowa	3	–	9	.250	6	–	11	.353
Ohio State	3	–	9	.250	5	–	12	.294
Illinois	2	–	10	.167	5	–	12	.294
Minnesota	2	–	10	.167	4	–	12	.250

The 1927–28 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

The 1927-28 season produced the only losing campaign in the 14 year tenure of head coach Craig Ruby at the University of Illinois. Having only one returning senior on a team predominantly consisting of Juniors, Ruby entered his 6th season as head coach of the Fighting Illini with an overall record of 50 wins and 33 losses. This season also produced the Ruby's only losing season in the Big Ten with a conference record of 2 wins and 10 losses. The starting lineup included captain Everett Olson at center, Ernest Dorn and Earl H. Drew at the forward slot. The guards were, future head coach, Douglas R. Mills, Keston J. Deimling and Andrew R. Solyom.^[1]

Team

No.	Player	Position	Class	Hometown
3	Forrest H. Lindsay	Center	Junior	Tulsa, Oklahoma
4	Huber Hughes Edwards	Forward	Junior	Newton, Illinois
5	Ernest Dorn	Forward	Junior	Chicago, Illinois
6	Fremont G. Cann	Guard	Junior	Oregon, Illinois
7	Douglas R. Mills	Guard	Sophomore	Elgin, Illinois
8	Andrew R. Solyom	Center	Sophomore	Hammond, Indiana
9	Omar C. Lee	Forward	Senior	West Frankfort, Illinois
10	John D. How	Forward	Senior	Lakeville, Indiana
11	E.H. Johnson	Guard	Sophomore	Batavia, Illinois
12	C.Donnelly Gamble	Guard	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
14	Keston J. Deimling	Guard	Junior	Stevens Point, Wisconsin
15	James W. Lewis	Guard	Sophomore	Waukegan, Illinois
16	Robert C. Greene	Guard	Junior	Renovo, Pennsylvania
17	Carl H. Bergeson	Guard	Sophomore	Batavia, Illinois
18	Robert Eugene Fisher	Guard	Sophomore	Champaign, Illinois
19	Edwin J. Simionich	Guard	Junior	Joliet, Illinois
20	William Lincoln Julian	Forward	Junior	Grant Park, Illinois
21	Vance Cummins	Forward	Junior	Joliet, Illinois
22	Everette Olson (capt.)	Forward	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
23	Lee Hickox	Center	Sophomore	Evanston, Illinois
24	Herbert Gustave Lind	Guard	Junior	Chicago, Illinois
25	William E. Short	Forward	Sophomore	Frontenac, Kansas
26	H. Smock	Reserve	Sophomore	Moweaqua, Illinois
27	William R. Bunn	Forward	Senior	Byron, Illinois
	Earl H. Drew	Forward	Junior	Champaign, Illinois
	Henry Thomas Winterbauer	Reserve	Sophomore	Athens, Illinois
	Richard Anthony Floberg	Reserve	Sophomore	Rockford, Illinois
	Rufus Glass	Center	Junior	Kokomo, Indiana
	Harry Lambert Logan	Guard	Junior	Salem, Illinois
	D.O. Overpeck	Reserve	Sophomore	Clinton, Indiana
	John H. Pribble	Reserve	Sophomore	Salem, Illinois
	Ernest W. Schultz	Reserve	Senior	Geneseo, Illinois
	Roland S. Wachob	Reserve	Junior	Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania

Head Coach: Craig Ruby (6th year at Illinois)

^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 10, 1927	Knox	22–18	Win	Champaign, IL	6,007
December 17, 1927	Bradley	41–35	Win	Champaign, IL	6,149
December 27, 1927	Washington	23–34	Loss	Seattle, WA	-
December 29, 1927	Washington	34–24	Win	Seattle, WA	-
December 30, 1927	Washington	26–32	Loss	Seattle, WA	-
January 7, 1928	Purdue	24–30	Loss	Champaign, IL	7,176
January 13, 1928	Iowa	30–36	Loss	Iowa City, IA	-
January 16, 1928	Wisconsin	34–33	Win	Madison, WI	-
January 21, 1928	Indiana	29–44	Loss	Bloomington, IN	-
February 8, 1928	Northwestern	32–20	Win	Champaign, IL	6,675
February 14, 1928	Purdue	14–40	Loss	West Lafayette, IN	-
February 17, 1928	University of Chicago	26–52	Loss	Chicago, IL	-
February 24, 1928	Iowa	27–41	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,359
March 1, 1928	Northwestern	31–39	Loss	Evanston, IL	-
March 3, 1928	University of Chicago	18–19	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,457
March 6, 1928	Indiana	23–27	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,737
March 9, 1927	Wisconsin	22–32	Loss	Champaign, IL	5,642

Bold Italic connotes conference game

Awards and honors

References

^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ All-Time Illini Rosters

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

[2] All-Time Illini Rosters

[1]

[2]

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	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