# 1916–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1916–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1916–17 season was the second Big Ten Conference championship for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. Coached by Ralph Jones, the Illini continued their winning ways by finishing the season with an overall record of 13 wins and 3 losses and a 10-win 2-loss conference mark. The starting lineup included E. G. McKay, J. B. Felmley and Ralf Woods rotating at the forward position, captain and center C. G. Alwood, and guards George Halas and Ray Woods. Woods was named the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year for his work this season.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/9/1916* no, no | at Millikin | W 38–18 | 1-0 | Millikin Gymnasium (-) Decatur, IL |
| 12/15/1916* no, no | Wabash College | L 26–28 | 1-1 | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 12/18/1916* no, no | Millikin University | W 38–16 | 2-1 | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 1/3/1917* no, no | Northwestern College | W 52–10 | 3-1 | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/6/1917 no, no | at Purdue | W 28–24 | 4-1 (1-0) | Memorial Gymnasium (-) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/8/1917 no, no | at Ohio State | W 38–14 | 5-1 (2-0) | The Armory (-) Columbus, OH |
| 1/12/1917 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 45–17 | 6-1 (3-0) | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 1/16/1917 no, no | University of Chicago | W 20–10 | 7-1 (4-0) | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 1/20/1917 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 14–25 | 7-2 (4-1) | University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium (-) Madison, WI |
| 1/22/1917 no, no | at Minnesota | L 11–20 | 7-3 (4-2) | University of Minnesota Armory (-) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/3/1917 no, no | at University of Chicago | W 19–16 | 8-3 (5-2) | Bartlett Gymnasium (-) Chicago, IL |
| 2/5/1917 no, no | Ohio State | W 34–21 | 9-3 (6-2) | Kenney Gym (2,315) Urbana, IL |
| 2/10/1917 no, no | Minnesota | W 18–17 | 10-3 (7-2) | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 2/17/1917 no, no | Purdue | W 27–16 | 11-3 (8-2) | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| 2/24/1917 no, no | Wisconsin | W 28–22 | 12-3 (9-2) | Kenney Gym (4,102) Urbana, IL |
| 3/2/1917 no, no | Northwestern Rivalry | W 21–12 | 13-3 (10-2) | Kenney Gym (-) Urbana, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Field Goals | Free Throws | Points |
| Ralf Woods | 16 | 54 | 70 | 178 |
| Clyde Alwood | 15 | 57 | 0 | 114 |
| Ernest McKay | 15 | 39 | 3 | 81 |
| Ray Woods | 16 | 19 | 0 | 38 |
| John Felmley | 6 | 7 | 4 | 18 |
| George Halas | 11 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| R.C. Haas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Gordon Otto | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year for the 1916–17 season.
Clyde Alwood was named a Consensus All-American for the 1916-17 season.
George Halas was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1963), for his role in the development of the National Football League as well as for his coaching and playing for the Chicago Bears.