1955–56 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Harry Combes, for the ninth consecutive year at Illinois, directed a team that would finish no worse than third place in the Big Ten. His 164 wins and 44 losses overall with a 94 and 30 record in the conference gave Combes three "Final Four" finishes as well as three conference championships. Combes' team, recruited by assistant coach Howie Braun, was exclusively recruited from the state of Illinois.

The 1955-56 team had talented lettermen return including the leading scorers George Bon Salle and team "captain" Paul Judson. It also saw the return of Bruce Brothers, Bill Ridley, Bill Altenberger, Hiles Stout, and future Illini head coach, Harv Schmidt. The team also added future NBA all-star Don Ohl as a sophomore. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 11 wins and 3 losses, finishing in 2nd place in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose four total games with two of the four coming in the final three days of the season. The Illini's final Associated Press ranking placed them at "#7", however; they maintained a "#2" natinal ranking for the final month of the regular season. The starting lineup included George Bon Salle at the center position, Bill Ridley and Paul Judson at guard and Harv Schmidt, Bruce Brothers and Don Ohl at the forward slots.^[1]

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Roster

No.	Player	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown
8	Jim Chengary	Forward	6-3	190	Senior	Chicago, Illinois/Bowen High School
10	Hiles Stout	Forward	6–4	205	Junior	Peoria, Illinois/Central High School
11	Bill Ridley	Guard	5–9	160	Senior	Taylorville, Illinois
20	Bill Altenberger	Guard	6–1	179	Junior	East St. Louis, Illinois
22	George Bon Salle	Center	6–8	215	Junior	Chicago, Illinois/Loyola Academy
24	Ted Caiazza	Center	6–7	235	Sophomore	LaGrange, Illinois/Lyons Township High School
30	Phil Judson	Guard	6-2	165	Senior	Hebron, Illinois
32	Bruce Brothers	Forward	6–5	200	Senior	Quincy, Illinois
33	Harvard Schmidt	Forward	6–6	190	Junior	Kankakee, Illinois
34	Paul Judson	Guard	6-4	172	Senior	Hebron, Illinois
35	Larry Breyfogle	Forward	6–3	165	Sophomore	Lawrenceville, Illinois
43	John Paul	Guard	6–1	175	Sophomore	Elgin, Illinois/St. Edward High School
44	Don Ohl	Guard	6–3	190	Sophomore	Edwardsville, Illinois

Head Coach: Harry Combes (9th year at Illinois)^[2]

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Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Location	Attendance
December 6, 1955	Butler	107–75	Win	Champaign, IL	4,535
December 10, 1955	Missouri	73–74	Loss	Columbia, MO	5,800
December 13, 1955	Notre Dame	103–93	Win	Notre Dame, IN	4,300
December 17, 1955	Washington (St. Louis)	75–74	Win	Champaign, IL	4,444
December 19, 1955	DePaul	97–79	Win	Champaign, IL	4,747
December 23, 1955	Oklahoma	82–58	Win	Champaign, IL	3,390
December 29, 1955	Drake	102–66	Win	Champaign, IL	3,713
January 2, 1956	Michigan State (#16)	73–65	Win	Champaign, IL	5,192
January 9, 1956	Wisconsin	96–77	Win	Champaign, IL	6,069
January 14, 1956	Indiana (#12)	96–72	Win	Bloomington, IN	10,056
January 16, 1956	Purdue	92–76	Win	West Lafayette, IN	9,500
January 28, 1956	DePaul	80–66	Win	Chicago, IL	15,254
January 30, 1956	Minnesota	95–84	Win	Minneapolis, MN	9,805
February 6, 1956	Indiana	92–89	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 11, 1956	Ohio State	111–64	Win	Champaign, IL	6,912
February 13, 1956	Michigan	89–66	Win	Champaign, IL	6,135
February 18, 1956	Michigan State	96–76	Win	East Lansing, MI	9,094
February 20, 1956	Purdue	102–77	Win	Champaign, IL	6,135
February 25, 1956	Ohio State	86–78	Win	Columbus, OH	8,539
February 27, 1956	Minnesota	97–81	Win	Champaign, IL	5,765
March 3, 1956	Iowa (#10)	72–96	Loss	Iowa City, IA	15,200
March 5, 1956	Northwestern	82–83	Loss	Evanston, IL	8,500

Bold Italic connotes conference game

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Awards and honors

Paul Judson
Bill Ridley
Bruce Brothers
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American
- Team Most Valuable Player ^[3]
Harv Schmidt
- Converse Honorable Mention All-American

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Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Paul Judson	Syracuse Nationals	2	13

^[4]

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References

^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ All-Time Illini Rosters
^ List of MVPs
^ NBA Draft

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External links

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Team	Players Assembly Hall Orange Krush

History	Braggin' Rights All-Century Team Flyin' Illini Whiz Kids Kenney Gym Huff Hall

Head coaches	Elwood Brown Frank L. Pinckney Fletcher Lane Herb Juul Thomas E. Thompson Ralph Jones Frank Winters J. Craig Ruby Douglas Mills Harry Combes Harv Schmidt Gene Bartow Lou Henson Lon Kruger Bill Self Bruce Weber John Groce

National players of the year	Ray Woods Chuck Carney Andy Phillip Dee Brown

Championships	Helm's Foundation (National) 1915 Big Ten (Regular season) 1915 1917 1924 1935 1937 1942 1943 1949 1951 1952 1963 1984 1998 2001 2002 2004 2005 Big Ten (Tournament) 2003 2005

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball seasons

1905–1925	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925

1925–1950	1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950

1950–1975	1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

1975–2000	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2000–2025	2001 2002 2003* 2004 2005* 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Bold Italic connotes national championship, Italic connotes final four appearance, underline connotes Big Ten regular season championship, * means Big Ten Tournament championship

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Last modified on 13 April 2013, at 09:51