1914–15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
American college basketball season
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The 1914â15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
- Ralph Jones (3rd season)
| 1914â15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 16â0 (12â0 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Captain | Sven Duner |
| Home arena | Kenney Gym |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 12 | â | 0 | 1.000 | 16 | â | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago | 9 | â | 3 | .750 | 20 | â | 5 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 8 | â | 4 | .667 | 13 | â | 4 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 6 | â | 6 | .500 | 11 | â | 6 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 5 | â | 5 | .500 | 11 | â | 8 | .579 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 4 | â | 8 | .333 | 5 | â | 8 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 3 | â | 9 | .250 | 7 | â | 10 | .412 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 2 | â | 6 | .250 | 9 | â | 8 | .529 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | â | 9 | .100 | 4 | â | 9 | .308 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
Coached by Ralph Jones, the 1914â15 Fighting Illini men's basketball team became the first undefeated Big Ten champion in the history of the school as well as the fourth Big Ten National Champion.[1] That 1915 season was the third in the eight-year tenure of head coach Ralph Jones and it produced the only unbeaten season in Illini history and the first Big Ten title for the Illinois basketball program. The Illinois team was retroactively named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation and was listed as the top team of the season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.[2] Jonesâ 1915 team scored twice as many points as its opponents and won the conference title by three games over Chicago. The arrival of the Woods brothers in 1914 had a lot to do with the success of this era. Guard Ray Woods was named first-team All-America all three years he competed (1915â17), and twin brother Ralf, a forward, led the team in scoring in both 1916 and 1917. His consistency at the free throw line led to the establishment of the Ralf Woods Award, which is still given annually to the Fighting Illini player with the best free-throw percentage. The starting lineup included Frank Bane at center, Clyde Alwood and Edward Allan Williford at the forward positions, captain Sven Duner at guard and brothers Ralf Woods and Ray Woods. Ray Woods was named an All-American during this season.[3]
Roster
| 1914â15 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
Source[4]
| Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Conference regular season | |||||||||||
| 12/8/1914* |
Arkansas A.C. | W 52â6 | 1-0 |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 12/12/1914* |
Illinois Wesleyan | W 50â9 | 2-0 |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 12/18/1914* |
Millikin | W 19â16 | 3-0 |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 1/2/1915* |
at Peoria YMCA | W 27â14 | 4-0 |
Peoria YMCA Peoria, IL | |||||||
| Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
| 1/11/1915 |
Indiana Rivalry |
W 34â13 | 5-0 (1-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 1/16/1915 |
Purdue | W 27â8 | 6-0 (2-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 1/23/1915 |
Ohio State | W 24â17 | 7-0 (3-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 1/26/1915 |
at Indiana Rivalry |
W 20â4 | 8-0 (4-0) |
Old Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN | |||||||
| 2/8/1915 |
Wisconsin | W 39â19 | 9-0 (5-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 2/13/1915 |
at Wisconsin | W 19â17 | 10-0 (6-0) |
University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium Madison, WI | |||||||
| 2/15/1915 |
at Minnesota | W 20â10 | 11-0 (7-0) |
University of Minnesota Armory Minneapolis, MN | |||||||
| 2/23/1915 |
University of Chicago | W 20â12 | 12-0 (8-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
| 2/27/1915 |
at Purdue | W 22â15 | 13-0 (9-0) |
Memorial Gymnasium West Lafayette, IN | |||||||
| 3/1/1915 |
at Ohio State | W 26â19 | 14-0 (10-0) |
The Armory Columbus, OH | |||||||
| 3/6/1915 |
at University of Chicago | W 19â18 | 15-0 (11-0) |
Bartlett Gymnasium Chicago, IL | |||||||
| 3/8/1915 |
Minnesota | W 26-11 | 16-0 (12-0) |
Kenney Gym Urbana, IL | |||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. | |||||||||||
Player stats
Awards and honors
Ray Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004. Woods was also selected as an All-American for the 1914â15 season.