# 1920–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1920–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

## Regular season

The 1920–21 season began a new era for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. New head coach Frank Winters was coming to the University of Illinois after five successful years as head coach of Rockford Central High School in Rockford, Illinois. During his tenure in Rockford, he guided his Rabs teams to three round of 16 finishes, one quarterfinals finish and one team finished its season as state champions. Winters inherited a team whose best player, Chuck Carney, severely injured his knee in the last football game. The team went on to an overall record of 11–7. The Big Ten record for the Illini, at the conclusion of the 1920–21 season was seven wins five losses and a tie for fourth place. The starting lineup included All-American Chuck Carney, Laurie Walquist and Norton Hellstrom at forward, Henry Reitsch at center, and Charles Vail, John Sabo and Walter Collins as guards.

### Roster
## Schedule

Source
| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||
| 12/8/1920* no, no | Millikin University | L 24–29 | 0-1 | Kenney Gym (2,994) Urbana, IL |
| 12/20/1920* no, no | at Illinois Normal | W 32–21 | 1-1 | John W. Cook Hall (-) Normal, IL |
| 1/1/1921* no, no | Nebraska | L 25–30 | 1-2 | Kenney Gym (441) Urbana, IL |
| 1/3/1921* no, no | Nebraska | W 26–24 | 2-2 | Kenney Gym (3,044) Urbana, IL |
| 1/10/1921* no, no | Illinois Normal | W 42–17 | 3-2 | Kenney Gym (2,759) Urbana, IL |
| 1/14/1921* no, no | at Millikin University | W 26–20 | 4-2 | Millikin Gymnasium (-) Decatur, IL |
| Big Ten regular season |||||
| 1/18/1921 no, no | University of Chicago | W 33–29 | 5-2 (1-0) | Kenney Gym (4,233) Urbana, IL |
| 1/22/1921 no, no | at Wisconsin | L 18–23 | 5-3 (1-1) | University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium (-) Madison, WI |
| 1/24/1921 no, no | at Minnesota | W 23–22 | 6-3 (2-1) | University of Minnesota Armory (-) Minneapolis, MN |
| 2/5/1921 no, no | at Purdue | W 39–26 | 7-3 (3-1) | Memorial Gymnasium (-) West Lafayette, IN |
| 2/7/1921 no, no | Ohio State | W 46–11 | 8-3 (4-1) | Kenney Gym (4,272) Urbana, IL |
| 2/12/1921 no, no | Minnesota | W 24–20 | 9-3 (5-1) | Kenney Gym (4,272) Urbana, IL |
| 2/19/1921 no, no | Wisconsin | W 17–9 | 10-3 (6-1) | Kenney Gym (4,283) Urbana, IL |
| 2/22/1921 no, no | Purdue | L 19–29 | 10-4 (6-2) | Kenney Gym (4,283) Urbana, IL |
| 2/26/1921 no, no | at Michigan | L 18–24 | 10-5 (6-3) | Waterman Gymnasium (-) Ann Arbor, MI |
| 2/28/1921 no, no | at Ohio State | W 35–32 | 11-5 (7-3) | Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (-) Columbus, OH |
| 3/5/1921 no, no | at University of Chicago | W 35–32 | 11-6 (7-4) | Bartlett Gymnasium (3,260) Chicago, IL |
| 3/7/1921 no, no | at Michigan | L 26–28 | 11-7 (7-5) | Kenney Gym (4,294) 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 |
| Henry Reitsch | 18 | 55 | 0 | 110 |
| Charles Vail | 18 | 22 | 59 | 103 |
| Julian Mee | 15 | 24 | 26 | 74 |
| Laurie Walquist | 18 | 36 | 1 | 73 |
| Norton Hellstrom | 13 | 25 | 4 | 54 |
| Charles Carney | 8 | 19 | 0 | 38 |
| Walter Collins | 14 | 12 | 0 | 24 |
| John Sabo | 14 | 6 | 0 | 12 |

## Awards and honors

Chuck Carney was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Carney was also selected as the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year for his play during the 1921–22 season.