# 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1942–43 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois. The Illinois Fighting Illini finished the season with a record of 17 wins and 1 loss. The season was cut short as three of the five starters headed off to active duty in the armed forces. Illinois won the Big Ten Conference Title and had finished the regular season as the nations' top ranked team. Paced by a group of players known as the Whiz Kids, the team consisted of 20-year-old All-America forward Andy Phillip and teenagers Ken Menke, Gene Vance, Jack Smiley and team captain Art Mathisen. These players were so dominant in the Big Ten, that only Northwestern's Otto Graham could crack the all-conference team.
The Army drafted Mathisen, Menke and Smiley. That left only Vance and Phillip, both good enough to be selected to Illinois' All-Century team. Head coach Doug Mills made a decision in February 1943 that all five always supported: the club did not participate in either the NCAA or NIT tournament. Wyoming's NCAA championship that season may not have happened had Illinois’ season not coincided with World War II. The team was retroactively named the national champion by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.
Four of the five, minus Mathisen, returned to Illinois and tried to recapture the glory for one more season in 1946–47 after the war ended, but the chemistry had changed as well as their talent. Illinois went 14–6.
The final living Whiz Kid, Gene Vance, died in 2012.

### Roster
## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/7/1942* no, no | Detroit | W 38–25 | 1–0 | Huff Hall (5,277) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1942* no, no | Nebraska | W 69–27 | 2–0 | Huff Hall (4,884) Champaign, IL |
| 12/14/1942* no, no | Missouri Rivalry | W 51–30 | 3–0 | Huff Hall (4,465) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1942* no, no | at Great Lakes | W 57–53 | 4–0 | Chicago Stadium (13,295) Chicago, IL |
| 12/21/1942* no, no | at Camp Grant | L 31–41 | 4–1 | Camp Grant Y.M.C.A. (2,200) Rockford, IL |
| 1/2/1943* no, no | Stanford | W 38–26 | 5–1 | Huff Hall (6,835) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/9/1943 no, no | Michigan | W 47–34 | 6–1 (1–0) | Huff Hall (7,188) Champaign, IL |
| 1/11/1943 no, no | at Wisconsin | W 47–34 | 7–1 (2–0) | Wisconsin Field House (14,000) Madison, WI |
| 1/16/1943 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 61–41 | 8–1 (3–0) | Huff Hall (7,004) Champaign, IL |
| 1/18/1943 no, no | Iowa Rivalry | W 66–34 | 9–1 (4–0) | Huff Hall (6,684) Champaign, IL |
| 2/1/1943 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 68–51 | 10–1 (5–0) | Huff Hall (6,766) Champaign, IL |
| 2/6/1942 no, no | at Ohio State | W 60–48 | 11-1 (6–0) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (3,300) Columbus, OH |
| 2/8/1943 no, no | at Ohio State | W 50–44 | 12–1 (7–0) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (2,900) Columbus, OH |
| 2/13/1943 no, no | at Minnesota | W 56–35 | 13–1 (8–0) | Williams Arena (6,800) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/15/1943 no, no | at Minnesota | W 55–29 | 14–1 (9–0) | Williams Arena (5,100) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/20/1943 no, no | Wisconsin | W 50–26 | 15–1 (10–0) | Huff Hall (7,102) Champaign, IL |
| 2/27/1943 no, no | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 68–51 | 16–1 (11–0) | Chicago Stadium (19,880) Chicago, IL |
| 3/1/1943 no, no | University of Chicago | W 92–25 | 17–1 (12–0) | Huff Hall (6,443) Champaign, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||
Source

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
| Andy Phillip | 18 | 131 | 43 | 305 |
| Arthur Mathisen | 18 | 86 | 51 | 201 |
| Ken Menke | 17 | 70 | 43 | 183 |
| Jack Smiley | 17 | 59 | 17 | 135 |
| Gene Vance | 18 | 56 | 14 | 126 |
| Edwin Parker | 18 | 12 | 10 | 34 |
| Oliver Shoaff | 14 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
| Kenneth Parker | 14 | 7 | 2 | 16 |
| Alton Shirley | 14 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Cliff Fulton | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Herbert Matter | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Charles Fowler | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| W.L. Miller | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Gordon Hortin | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Andy Phillip
** National Player of the Year
** Consensus All-American
** Converse 1st team All-American
** Helms 1st team All-American
** Pic Magazine 1st team All-American
** Look Magazine 1st team All-American
** Sporting News 1st team All-American
** Associated Press 1st team All-American
** United Press International 1st team All-American
** National Enterprise Association 1st team All-American
** Big Ten Player of the Year
** Team Most Valuable Player
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Gene Vance
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Fighting Illini All-Century team (2005)
* Jack Smiley
** Converse 3rd team All-American
* Art Mathisen
** Converse Honorable mention All-American