# 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1952–53 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

## Regular season

Under the leadership of Harry Combes and coming off consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA Tournament, the Fighting Illini men's basketball program had become one of the most powerful in the nation. The 1952-53 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny Kerr. It also returned United Press honorable mention all-American guards Irv Bemoras and Jim Bredar.
Unfortunately the Illini would lose 4 conference games during the Big Ten season which would give them a second-place finish. Three of the four losses came at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain Jim Bredar and Irving Bemoras at guard, Clive Follmer and Max Hooper at the forward slot with Robert Peterson and, future hall of famer Johnny "Red" Kerr at the center position. The team also included former University of Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/10/1952* no, no | | Loyola (Chicago) | W 71–57 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 12/15/1952 no, no | | Michigan | W 96–66 | 2-0 (1-0) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 12/20/1952* no, no | No. 3 | Butler | W 75–58 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 12/23/1952 no, no | No. 2 | at No. 17 Minnesota | L 73–77 | 3-1 (1-1) | Williams Arena (16,878) Minneapolis, MN |
| 12/27/1952 no, no | No. 2 | Ohio State | W 87–62 | 4-1 (2-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 12/30/1952* no, no | No. 4 | St. Mary's | W 94–65 | 5-1 | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/5/1953 no, no | No. 4 | at Purdue | W 87–71 | 6-1 (3-1) | Lambert Fieldhouse (-) West Lafayette, IN |
| 1/10/1953 no, no | No. 4 | Wisconsin | W 71–61 | 7-1 (4-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/12/1953 no, no | No. 4 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 83–58 | 8-1 (5-1) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 1/17/1953 no, no | No. 4 | at No. 6 Indiana Rivalry | L 70–74 $^{2OT}$ | 8-2 (5-2) | The Fieldhouse (10,000) Bloomington, IN |
| 1/19/1953 no, no | No. 4 | at Michigan State | W 76–64 | 9-2 (6-2) | Jenison Fieldhouse (-) East Lansing, MI |
| 2/2/1953* no, no | No. 6 | DePauw | W 93–50 | 10-2 | Huff Hall (4,002) Champaign, IL |
| 2/7/1953 no, no | No. 6 | at Wisconsin | W 65–61 | 11-2 (7-2) | Wisconsin Field House (13,500) Madison, WI |
| 2/9/1953 no, no | No. 6 | at Michigan | W 92–62 | 12-2 (8-2) | Yost Field House (6,000) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/14/1953 no, no | No. 5 | Iowa Rivalry | W 80–63 | 13-2 (9-2) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/16/1953 no, no | No. 5 | Purdue | W 93–67 | 14-2 (10-2) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/21/1953 no, no | No. 5 | at Iowa Rivalry | L 62–67 | 14-3 (10-3) | Iowa Field House (14,000) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/23/1953 no, no | No. 5 | Minnesota | W 83–82 | 15-3 (11-3) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 2/28/1953 no, no | No. 10 | No. 2 Indiana Rivalry | L 79–91 | 15-4 (11-4) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 3/2/1953 no, no | No. 10 | Michigan State | W 66–53 | 16-4 (12-4) | Huff Hall (6,905) Champaign, IL |
| 3/7/1953 no, no | No. 10 | at Ohio State | W 93–74 | 17-4 (13-4) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (5,242) Columbus, OH |
| 3/9/1953 no, no | No. 10 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 86–70 | 18-4 (14-4) | McGaw Memorial Hall (9,700) Evanston, 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 |
| John Kerr | 22 | 153 | 80 | 386 |
| Irv Bemoras | 22 | 119 | 84 | 322 |
| Jim Bredar | 22 | 106 | 50 | 262 |
| Clive Follmer | 22 | 82 | 86 | 250 |
| Max Hooper | 21 | 73 | 45 | 191 |
| Bob Peterson | 22 | 53 | 54 | 160 |
| Jim Schuldt | 19 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
| Jim Wright | 17 | 15 | 7 | 37 |
| Max Baumgardner | 9 | 13 | 10 | 36 |
| Ed Makovsky | 16 | 9 | 15 | 33 |
| Elmer Plew | 13 | 12 | 6 | 30 |
| Jim Dutcher | 10 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
| Morris Sterneck | 9 | 1 | 4 | 6 |

## Awards and honors

* Irv Bemoras
** Converse 2nd team All-American
** Look Magazine 2nd team All-American
** Helms 2nd team All-American
** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player
* Jim Bredar
** International News Service 2nd team All-American
** Converse 2nd team All-American
** Look Magazine 2nd team All-American
** Helms 2nd team All-American
** Associated Press 3rd team All-American
* Johnny Kerr
** Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American
** International News Service Honorable Mention All-American
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
* Clive Follmer
** Big Ten Medal of Honor

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club |
| Jim Bredar | Ft. Wayne Pistons |