# 1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

## Regular season

In his seventh year at Illinois, Harry Combes continued to offer the fans of the Fighting Illini a successful team that they could be follow across the country to record crowds. The 1953-54 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny "Red" Kerr. During the season, Kerr shattered Illinois’ single-season scoring record by tallying 556 points in his senior year. Kerr’s 1,299 career points in three seasons currently ranks 20th on the all-time Illinois scoring list. After his Illinois career came to an end, Kerr started a 12-year professional career followed by becoming the first head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1966.
The 1954 team added twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley as sophomores. A youth movement that helped the Illini finish in a 3rd place tie in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose 5 total games with three of the five losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain John Kerr at the center position, Jim Wright and Paul Judson at guard and Bruce Brothers and Max Hooper at the forward slots.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/1/1953* no, no | | Ohio | W 88–54 | 1-0 | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 12/5/1953* no, no | | at Oklahoma | W 86–61 | 2-0 | McCasland Field House (5,000) Norman, OK |
| 12/9/1953* no, no | No. 9 | Butler | W 80–48 | 3-0 | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 12/12/1953* no, no | No. 9 | Alabama | W 77–54 | 4-0 | Huff Hall (6,410) Champaign, IL |
| 12/19/1953* no, no | No. 4 | DePaul | W 79–65 | 5-0 | Huff Hall (2,719) Champaign, IL |
| 12/21/1953* no, no | No. 4 | No. 7 Oklahoma A&M | L 60–65 $^{OT}$ | 5-1 | Huff Hall (4,234) Champaign, IL |
| 12/29/1953* no, no | No. 8 | Utah State | W 88–61 | 6-1 | Huff Hall (2,649) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten regular season ||||||
| 1/1/1954 no, no | No. 8 | No. 6 Minnesota | L 72–84 | 6-2 (0-1) | Huff Hall (6,193) Champaign, IL |
| 1/4/1954 no, no | No. 8 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 66–65 | 7-2 (1-1) | McGaw Memorial Hall (9,253) Evanston, IL |
| 1/9/1954 no, no | No. 15 | at Michigan State | L 59–60 | 7-3 (1-2) | Jenison Fieldhouse (9,002) East Lansing, MI |
| 1/11/1954 no, no | No. 15 | Ohio State | W 90–76 | 8-3 (2-2) | Huff Hall (8,683) Champaign, IL |
| 1/16/1954 no, no | No. 19 | at Ohio State | W 82–78 | 9-3 (3-2) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (8,683) Columbus, OH |
| 1/18/1954 no, no | No. 19 | Iowa Rivalry | L 70–79 | 9-4 (2-3) | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 2/1/1954* no, no | | at DePaul | W 71–61 | 10-4 | Alumni Hall (9,678) Chicago, IL |
| 2/6/1954 no, no | | Michigan | W 87–68 | 11-4 (3-3) | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 2/8/1954 no, no | | Purdue | W 89–55 | 12-4 (4-3) | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 2/13/1954 no, no | | at Wisconsin | W 70–64 $^{OT}$ | 13-4 (5-3) | Wisconsin Field House (13,000) Madison, WI |
| 2/20/1954 no, no | | at No. 10 Iowa Rivalry | W 74–51 | 14-4 (6-3) | Iowa Field House (15,700) Iowa City, IA |
| 2/22/1954 no, no | | Wisconsin | W 66–64 | 15-4 (7-3) | Huff Hall (6,913) Champaign, IL |
| 2/27/1954 no, no | No. 20 | at Michigan | W 79–61 | 16-4 (8-3) | Yost Field House (4,500) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 3/1/1954 no, no | No. 20 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 84–82 | 17-4 (9-3) | Huff Hall (6,782) Champaign, IL |
| 3/6/1954 no, no | | at No. 2 Indiana Rivalry | L 64–67 | 17-5 (9-4) | The Fieldhouse (11,000) Bloomington, IN |
| *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 | 210 | 136 | 556 |
| Paul Judson | 22 | 92 | 62 | 246 |
| Bruce Brothers | 22 | 64 | 59 | 187 |
| Max Hooper | 22 | 67 | 34 | 168 |
| Jim Wright | 22 | 59 | 45 | 163 |
| Bill Ridley | 19 | 30 | 54 | 114 |
| Jim Dutcher | 19 | 30 | 32 | 92 |
| Ed Makovsky | 22 | 22 | 21 | 65 |
| Morris Sterneck | 16 | 17 | 9 | 43 |
| Elmer Plew | 13 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| Phil Judson | 9 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| Warren Wilkinson | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Robert Reitsch | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Earl Newman | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

* Johnny Kerr
** Helms 2nd Team All-American
** Look Magazine 3rd Team All-American
** Associated Press 3rd Team All-American
** United Press International 3rd Team All-American
** Converse Honorable Mention All-American
** Team Most Valuable Player

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Player | NBA Club | Round | Pick |
| Johnny Kerr | Syracuse Nationals | 1 | 6 |