Illini LEGENDS, LISTS & LORE

Illini Legends, Lists & Lore

                                           Glenn Butzer

Glenn Butzer

Mar. 19, 2024

Tuesday marks the 136th anniversary of the birth of Glenn Butzer, the captain of the University of Illinois’ only undefeated and unscored upon football team.


The All-America and two-time All-Western guard was a premier defender and, in additional to being an elite blocker, occasionally served as a ball carrier for Arthur Hall. “Whist”, the nickname by which he was known to his teammates, was a native of Hillsdale, located in northwestern Illinois.


Butzer first lettered in 1908 and ’09 for the Fighting Illini, but his greatest fame was realized in 1910. That squad became only the second conference team and just the 13th in college football history to achieve a perfect record and not yield a single point to its opponents.


In succession, Illinois defeated Millikin (13-0), Drake (29-0), Chicago (3-0), Purdue (11-0), otherwise undefeated Indiana (3-0), Northwestern (27-0) and Syracuse (3-0). That 1910 season was when the University celebrated its very first Homecoming at old Illinois Field.


The three Illini teams (1908-09-10) for which Butzer lettered compiled a cumulative record of 17 victories, three losses and one tie.


After graduating from Illinois in 1911, Butzer enjoyed a respectable professional career, including a 19-year stint as the superintendent of roads in Illinois’ Livingston County. A generous man, the longtime Pontiac resident often gave summer jobs to U of I students.


A giant of a man in his day, Butzer tipped the scales at nearly 250 pounds, but his health took a fatal turn in 1933. At the age of 46, he passed away from a long bout with cancer.


                                           Abe Saperstein (left) & Wilt Chamberlain

Abe Saperstein

Mar. 15, 2024

Fifty-eight years ago today - Mar. 15, 1966 - Abraham M. “Abe” Saperstein died at the age of 63.


Though he never played varsity sports, he attended the University of Illinois during the same period of history that George Huff headed the UI athletic department.


Despite only standing slightly more than five feet tall, the British-born Saperstein competed in baseball, basketball and track as a high school student in Chicago, but was said to have never been given a tryout for Illinois’ basketball team. He later played guard for the Chicago Reds, a semi-pro team, from 1920 to 1925.


Saperstein began his role as coach and promoter in 1927 when he directed the Savoy Big Five, named after Chicago’s famous Savoy Ballroom. Renamed the Harlem Globetrotters a year later, his all-black barnstorming team initially played serious basketball and dominated games across the country, winning 397 games and losing just 32 in their first three years. When it became increasingly difficult to locate willing opponent, Saperstein conceived the idea of a fancy and comedic style of play. Basketball upheld racial barriers through the end of the 1940s and did not allow blacks to mix with whites, but because the Globetrotters were perceived by the public as entertainers and not athletes, they were able to gain entry into venues heretofore disallowed.


The demand for the Globetrotters was enormous in the 1950s and Saperstein eventually fielded three separate units in the United States, plus an all star international squad.


Saperstein was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame five years after his death in 1966.


                                           George Huff

George Huff

Mar. 13, 2024

Longtime Champaign News-Gazette sportswriter Eddie Jacquin remembered George Huff:


“’G’ Huff was just one of the folks. He was a plain man of simple habits and honest frankness. He liked the open country and in later years his greatest joy was to go with his family for a trip in the car. Persons entering his office never had to worry about their reception. He would peer over his glasses at someone waiting outside his office. ‘Are you waiting for me?’, he would exclaim, raising  his voice almost to a shout. ‘Well, come in!’, he would say, beckoning with his left hand. ‘G’ Huff never rode the fence. If a decision was to be made, he would make it. He might say, ‘Now, if I am wrong, I’ll take the blame, but that’s the way I see it.’ He didn’t believe in elaborate approaches to a subject, nor was he much for verbal perambulating. Simplicity was just a part of his nature. That seemed to have been a part of his success in coaching baseball. ‘These games are really not as hard as some of these boys make it out to be,’ he would say kindly. ‘If they would only use horse sense and do things the easy, natural way, rather than the different way.’ In his declining years, ‘G’ never missed an Illinois baseball practice when the weather was favorable and his health would permit. If it was a chilly day, he would ask to be driven close to the baseball field where he could look upon the youngsters playing the game he loved so well. He was a great lover of youngsters, and often made arrangements that boys of grade school age be permitted to see the varsity baseball games without charge.”



                                           Aerial View of 1870s University of Illinois

Happy Anniversary

Mar. 11, 2024

One-hundred-fifty-six years ago today—March 11, 1868—the Illinois Industrial University (University of Illinois) celebrated its opening of nine days earlier with inaugural ceremonies. President John Milton Gregory, both members of his faculty, 77 students and a bevy of town folk gathered in a large hall on the third floor of University Hall, known by its moniker “The Elephant.”


In “Hot Type”, a 2002 book authored by Tom Kasich, the weather outside was described as being miserable. The town’s newspaper, The Union & Gazette, colorfully described the conditions. “It seemed all the elements in nature had combined to make the day disagreeable and the occasion of a failure, for overhead it was dark and lowering, underfoot an almost unfathomable depth of mud, and between and lying loose was rain and water enough to make ducks or the student of hydraulics supremely happy.”


Inside, however the ceremonies were jubilant. Decorated in red, white and blue, a large portrait of George Washington hung over the speaker’s platform. Following a performance of the new University Anthem, speeches were presented by Gregory and Superintendent of Public Instruction Newton Bateman, then the crowd sang “America” and offered a series of toasts.


Other miscellaneous notes about the campus in 1868, plus events that were happening around the world 150 years ago:


• The University’s library opened with 1,092 total volumes, including 289 books about law and politics, 269 concerning history and biography, 240 general literature volumes, 104 books about education, 92 regarding science, 59 about philosophy, and 39 concerning agriculture.


• On May 16, 1868, then again on May 26, President Andrew Johnson was acquitted by one vote in an impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.


• On May 30, 1868, Memorial Day was first observed in the United States.


• On July 28, 1868, following its ratification by the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states, the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing to African Americans citizenship and all its privileges, was officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution.


• On Nov. 3, 1868, Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour in the presidential election.


• On Dec. 25, 1868, President Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to all Civil War rebels.


                                           Illinois' 1952 Big Ten wrestling champs

Championship Saturday - 1952

Mar. 8, 2024

Seventy-two years ago today—March 8, 1952—four University of Illinois teams ended their seasons winning Big Ten championships.

 

In Champaign, Coach Leon Johnson’s Illini track and field team stormed from behind to win the last four individual events and retain its second consecutive Big Ten indoor title. A sellout crowd of nearly 5,000 at the Armory watched freshman Ron Mitchell high jump 6-7 ¼ to break Dike Eddleman’s 1947 record.

Sophomore Henry Cryer won the half-mile race in a conference record time of 1:52.9. Other Illini titlists included Joe McNulty in the high hurdles, Dick Coleman in the pole vault and Willie Williams in the low hurdles.  Illinois scored 59.6 points, edging Michigan with 52.

 

In Ann Arbor, the Illinois wrestling team topped host Michigan, 28-21. Coach B.R. Patterson’s Illini won their first title since 1947. Illinois wouldn’t win another wrestling team championship until 2005. The only Illini titleist was 137-pounder Norton “Pete” Compton.

 

At Bloomington, Ind., Coach Charlie Pond’s Illini men’s gymnastics team topped Michigan State, 94 ½ to 85 ½, to claim their third straight conference title. Illinois individual champions included tumbling and all-around winner Bob Sullivan, and side-horseman Frank Bare.

 

And, on the basketball court, Illinois lost at Wisconsin, 58-48, but still captured the Big Ten championship. Led by Johnny “Red” Kerr, the Illini finished with a 12-2 record.


                                           Audie Matthews

Audie Matthews

Mar. 6, 2024

Forty-six years ago today – Mar. 6, 1978 – University of Illinois basketball teammates honored senior Audie Matthews by choosing him as their Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season.


That moment at the Fighting Illini basketball banquet climaxed what many 1970s recruiting experts figured would never happen in the first place: an African American star committing to play for an Illini roster that at the time was all white.


Matthews, who starred at Bloom High School and who had earned Parade Magazine first-team All-America honors alongside Moses Malone, Phil Ford and others, was being courted by more than a half dozen basketball powers, including UCLA. He ultimately pledged allegiance to new Illini coach Gene Bartow and assistant Tony Yates on May 14, 1974.


As a freshman, the 6-5 guard/forward struggled mightily, averaging just 3.8 points per game, well below the nearly 27 per game he posted a year before as a prep. Matthews was considerably more productive in his sophomore campaign, posting averages of 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. A factor in that improvement in 1975-76 was Lou Henson becoming his new head coach.


In Matthews’ third campaign, he took his game to a higher level. Despite averaging only 13 field goal attempts per game, the junior captain led the Illini in scoring (16.0 ppg). Matthews reached double figures in all but two of the 30 games he played, including five contests of 20 points or more. As a result, he was named his team’s MVP.


Matthews’ statistical numbers dipped a bit as a senior in 1977-78, primarily because of the more talented cast that surrounded him. Joining Audie in the scoring attack were Mark Smith, Eddie Johnson, Rich Adams, Neil Bresnahan, Levi Cobb, Rob Judson and Reno Gray. Starting all 27 games and averaging 12.1 points per game, Matthews was voted the squad’s best player for a second consecutive season.


He wound up his Illini career as the school’s No. 7 career scorer with 1,210 points. Only Nick Weatherspoon (1,481), Dave Scholz (1,459), Don Freeman (1,449), Dave Downey (1,360), John Kerr (1,299) and Rich Adams (1,223) tallied more. Matthews also wound up 12th on UI’s all-time rebounding list.


A sixth-round pick of the Detroit Pistons in the 1978 NBA Draft, he chose instead to play in Australia, first for Brisbane, then for Sydney. The 1980 Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee has settled in Queensland, Australia where he is a businessman and operates basketball clinics.


                                           Yoshi Hayasaki

Yoshi Hayasaki

Mar. 4, 2024

Happy 77th Birthday to longtime Fighting Illini gymnastics coach and USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer Yoshi Hayasaki.


Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1947, he journeyed to America in 1965. The experiences he endured were captured by his daughter, Erika Hayasaki, in a 2015 story she wrote for Zócalo Public Square. The former News-Gazette intern, now Associate Professor of Literary Journalism at the University of California, Irvine, titled her feature “Somersaulting Into America.”


Seventeen-year-old Yoshi was invited to America in a letter from University of Washington professor and head gymnastics coach Eric Hughes. While on sabbatical in Japan, Hughes had scouted talent and spotted the 5-foot-3 Osaka city champion. If Yoshi could earn admittance to UW, the letter stated, he would be guaranteed a scholarship and could compete on the Huskies team.


Hayasaki’s parents, Miyo and Shoichi, knew little about the United States except for the bombs it had rained on their city during World War II, reducing their home to ashes.


“Still,” wrote Erika, “the thought of America electrified my dad.”


Said Yoshi, “I saw my future. It was like a blueprint.”


The Hayasaki family couldn’t afford to send their son to his new world on an airplane, so they instead sought out a cargo ship.


“On July 30, 1965,” Erika wrote, “shortly after graduating from high school, her father boarded the S.S. Idaho, which was transporting logs from Yokohama to Longview Washington. The trip cost $300.”


Yoshi’s sleeping quarters were in the bowels of the ship, just inches from where the waves of the Pacific Ocean slammed incessantly. He was seasick for most of the 12-day voyage.


Upon reaching the U.S. mainland, Yoshi enrolled as a foreign exchange student at a high school in Issaquah, Washington, to learn English and prepare for his college acceptance tests. At night, he stood in front of a mirror, practicing English words. It took three tries to pass the exam, but he finally was able to enroll at Washington.



Despite suffering an Achilles injury early on in his collegiate career, Hayasaki’s perseverance eventually paid dividends, winning NCAA all-around titles in both 1970 and ’71.


A second Achilles tear ultimately ended his career as an athlete, so he now had the difficult decision about whether to return to his roots in Japan. Hayasaki’s future came into focus in 1973 when University of Illinois athletic director Cecil Coleman offered him the opportunity to become head coach of the Illini.


It proved to be a wise choice. Recruiting internationally, Hayasaki’s program began its upward surge. In 1981, bolstered by Brazilians Gilberto Albuquerque and Gilmarico Sanches, and Finland’s Kari Samstein, the Illini won their first Big Ten title in 21 years. Eight years later, Hayasaki’s Illini captured the NCAA crown.


He retired from the U of I in 2009 and today teaches the sport at his private gym in Champaign, the Hayasaki Gymnastics Center.


                                           1987 Illinois-Indiana program

'87 Illini upset Indiana

Mar. 1, 2024

Thirty-seven years ago today—March 1, 1987—a record 16,793 fans, all waving orange pom-pons, said goodbye to three Fighting Illini seniors and helped repel the nation’s third-ranked team.


ABC-TV, with Keith Jackson and Dick Vitale at the microphones, was in town for the Sunday afternoon clash between Coach Bob Knight’s league-leading and third-ranked Indiana Hoosiers and Lou Henson’s No. 14 Illini.


The Hoosier lineup was centered around eventual Big Ten Player of the Year Steve Alford. His supporting class included senior classmate Daryl Thomas, juniors Dean Garrett and Keith Smart, and sophomore Ricky Calloway.


Henson countered Alford with a star of his own in senior all-conference first-teamer Ken Norman. Seven-foot sophomore Jens Kujawa, seniors Tony Wysinger and Doug Altenberger, and freshman Stephen Bardo rounded out Illinois’s starting five.


The Illini had begun the Big Ten portion of their 1986-87 campaign with four consecutive wins, but it was five especially demoralizing losses in recent weeks that had placed extraordinary stress on Henson and his coaching staff. Particularly painful were a pair of massive come-from-behind overtime defeats at the hands of Gene Keady’s fifth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers and a third OT loss to Tom Davis’s No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. Those three losses came by a total of five points.


“Are you a bad coach when you lose to basketball teams ranked in the top six?” Henson asked the media at his weekly press conference.


Now came the visiting Hoosiers into Champaign-Urbana. Many Illini fans expected the worse, but their hometown favorites gave them plenty to holler about during the game’s first twenty-three minutes. Norman was Illinois’s hero in the early portion of the contest, scoring nineteen points during a 31-14 streak that turned a 26-19 deficit into a 50-40 advantage.


Predictably, Indiana rallied, leveling the score at 57-all with just seven-and-a-half minutes remaining. A “here we go again” air of despair set in with the Assembly Hall attendees, but those fears would soon turn into cheers.


As the game came down the stretch, Norman successfully stroked a 15-footer. Altenberger followed by hitting the target with a pair of three-point missiles and Kujawa converted a hook shot and two free throws to put the Illini on top, 69-65 with 1:47 remaining. IU’s Smart then slammed home an alley-oop pass from Alford to cut the lead in half.


When the Hoosiers rebounded Tony Wysinger’s off-target 16-footer, Knight called time out with :39 left to set up their final play. However, instead of going inside to the 6-foot-10-inch Garrett to tie the score, Knight daringly strategized a winning three-point shot for Alford. IU’s star successfully dribbled by Altenberger, but the 6-8 Norman alertly switched to guard Alford on his desperate heave beyond the arc. When the shot caromed off the rim, Bardo grabbed the rebound with :04 seconds left to ultimately secure the Illini’s 69-67 victory.


Said Henson afterwards, “Our seniors deserve most of the credit, but let’s not forget Kujawa’s four big points and the all-around play of Bardo.”


Illinois would go on to win in regular-season finales at Michigan and at Michigan State, but lost a one-point decision in its opening -round NCAA Tournament game against Austin Peay.


Indiana, on the other hand, wouldn’t lose again. Following its home-court victory six days later over Ohio State to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, Knight’s Hoosiers rattled off six consecutive wins in the Big Dance, including a 74-73 victory over Syracuse in the championship game in New Orleans.


                                            Rich Jones

Rich Jones

Feb. 28, 2024

Fifty-eight years ago today—Feb. 28, 1966—behind a magnificent 30 points and 20 rebounds performance from Rich Jones, the Fighting Illini defeated Purdue, 98-81. The victory lifted Illinois’ record to 7-5, just two games behind league-leading Michigan.


Said UI coach Harry Combes about his talented second-year player, “Rich improved more his sophomore year than any Illinois player in history. If he takes up where he left off, he has a brilliant future ahead.”


Unfortunately, there would be only five more Illini games in Jones’ future. On Dec. 22, 1966, UI representatives met with Big Ten and NCAA officials in Chicago regarding irregularities in the athletic department’s financial aid program.


The very next day, the Conference suspended a dozen Illini football and basketball players, one of whom was Rich Jones. An investigation showed that Jones had received payments of $35 per month from a local businessman/booster.


Facing a two-year suspension, he transferred to his hometown to play for Memphis State. Jones sat out the balance of the 1966-67 season, then led the Tigers in scoring in ’67-68 and ’68-69.


Jones’ professional career began in 1969 with the Dallas/Texas Chaparrals, but he played only two games. The 6-6 shooting forward’s career flourished in Dallas from 1970-71 through ’72-73, averaging 16 points and eight rebounds. Jones played three more seasons in the ABA, two for San Antonio and one for the New York Nets. He continued to average 16 points per game from 1973-74 through ‘75-76. Jones spent his final season, 1976-77, in the NBA with the Nets after the two leagues merged.


Last December, he turned 77 years old.



                                            Jack Robinson

Jack Robinson

Feb. 26, 2024

He was a war hero, a University of Illinois athlete and graduate, a professional wrestler, a two-sport Fighting Illini coach, and a high school Hall of Fame honoree. Born 100 years ago today was former Fighting Illini head wrestling coach and assistant football coach Jack Robinson.


A prep star at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Robinson was named to his posts in May of 1968 by then Illini director Gene Vance. Though Illinois’ wrestling program never achieved the success he had hoped for (overall dual meet record of 27-50-1), Robinson produced a number of successful athletes, including John Fregeau, Bruce Kirkpatrick, Randy Chirico, Darrell Robinson, Randy Sulaver, Mike Levanti and Andy Passaglia.


At the age of 19, Robinson enlisted in the U.S. Army’s Pathfinder School and asked to be assigned to World War II’s front line. He was sent to the Pacific and was one of the first 32 paratroopers to land in the retaking of the Philippines. Robinson also served in New Guinea and was with the first troops into Tokyo after the atom bomb was dropped.


After the war ended, he enrolled at the University of Illinois. Robinson graduated in 1950 as a physical education major and was a member of both UI’s wrestling and football squads. Immediately upon graduation, he joined Thornton Township’s faculty and coaching staff. His Wildcat wrestlers won four state championships, with more than 20 individual champions and 60 place winners. As a sideline job in the early ‘50s, Robinson was an undefeated pro wrestler who performed under the moniker “Little Samson.”


In 1960, Robinson became head football and wrestling coach at the newly opened Thornridge High school. His 1966 Falcons were undefeated and voted the mythical state champs.


Following his five years at the U of I, Robinson became defensive coordinator at Utah State, but returned to Thornridge in 1975 as athletic director. He came back to coaching in 1981 at Utah’s SkyView High School, then rejoined Utah State’s coaching staff under Chis Pella. Robinson returned to Utah’s high school ranks in 1986, leading Mountain Crest to the 3A championship, earning Coach of the Year honors. After retiring in 1987, he continued as a consultant for a short time.


In 1979, Robinson was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Hall of Fame and in 2011was honored by the IWCOA with a Lifetime Achievement Award.


Robinson died at the age of 87 in June of 2011 in Saint George, Utah.


                                            Demetri McCamey

The Final Game at Huff Gym

Feb. 23, 2024

Sixty-one years ago today, in front of a capacity crowd on a Saturday afternoon, the sixth-ranked and Big Ten-leading Fighting Illini men’s basketball team played its 417th and final game at venerable Huff Gym.


Coach John Erickson’s Badgers, led by 6-4 forward Ken Siebel, scorched the nets at a .741 clip from the field in the first half to take a 44-41 lead over Illinois. The second half was a completely different story with the Illini outscoring Wisconsin, 48-33, en route to an 89-77 victory. Four of the five Illinois starters scored 17 points or more, led by Dave Downey’s 22 points and Bill Burwell’s 21.


Eagle-eye marksmanship by the Illini from the free throw line—a Big Ten-record 19-of-20 performance—was another defining factor. Bill Small’s free throw with 24 seconds left was the final point scored at Huff by the Illini men.


Illinois’s final game of the 1962-63 season occurred nine days later when it played at the Assembly Hall for the very first time. More than twice as many fans (16,137) were able to see the Big Ten co-champions at the Hall than the 6,912 who were in attendance at the Huff finale.


Illinois men’s basketball all-time records, decade-by-decade, at Huff Gym:


25-14 (.641) -- 1920s (1925-26 through 1928-29)

75-23 (.765) -- 1930s (1929-30 through 1938-39)

99-15 (.868) -- 1940s (1939-40 through 1948-49)

106-17 (.862) -- 1950s (1949-50 through 1958-59)

34-9 (.791) -- 1960s (1959-60 through 1962-63)


339-78 (.813) -- Total



                                            Demetri McCamey

Demetri McCamey: By the Numbers

Feb. 21, 2024

Today, Demetri McCamey, who wore jersey number 32 from 2007-08 through 2010-11 for the Fighting Illini basketball team, celebrates his 35th birthday.


The name of the 6-3 guard from St. Joseph High School is mentioned throughout Illinois’s record book, including first on the lists for career games (139) and single-game assists (16). 


McCamey, a first-team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and media as a junior and a third-team all-conference pick as a sophomore and senior, might well be slighted by historians when ranking Illini guards. As evidence, we present McCamey collegiate achievements, by the numbers:


2 – McCamey’s ranking on Illinois’s career assists list. Bruce Douglas compiled 765 assists, just 32 more than McCamey.


4 – Only Eddie Johnson (1,658), Dee Brown (1,512) and Cory Bradford (1,481) attempted more field goals than McCamey (1,404).


6 – McCamey converted all six of the 3-pointers he tried against Purdue on Mar. 14, 2008. He’s tied with Doug Altenberger (6-of-6 vs. Wisconsin on Feb. 7, 1987).at the top of UI’s list in that single-game category.


16 – On Feb. 20, 2010, at Purdue , he handed out an all-time Illini single-game record 16 assists.


22 – Number of times McCamey scored 20 points or more. Four other times he scored 19 points and seven other times he scored 18 points.


31 – In his 24th career game as an Illini freshman—against Indiana on Feb. 7, 2008—he scored what would prove to be the most points he’d score at Illinois.


87 – In the all-time record 139 Illini games he played, McCamey scored in double figures 87 times.


138 – His 138 career steals fell just outside of UI’s individual career top ten.


236 – McCamey’s 236 career 3-point field goals are more than Trent Frazier (230, through last the Feb. 12 game at Nebraska) Rich McBride (216), Brandon Paul (211) and Luther Head (209).


254 – In Illini history, only Deron Williams (264 in 2004-05) had more single-season assists than McCamey did as a junior in 2009-10 (254).


.583 – Illinois basketball’s winning percentage during McCamey’s four-year collegiate career. The Illini had a .625 winning percentage in McCamey’s final three seasons.


.798 – During his Illini career, McCamey was on the floor nearly 80 per cent of the time (4,374 of a possible 5,480 minutes).


1,718 – McCamey ranks seventh among UI’s career scoring leaders with 1,718 points.


4,374 – Only Dee Brown (4,698) logged more career minutes played than McCamey’s 4,374. Demetri fouled out only twice.


                                            Howie Judson

Howie Judson

Feb. 16, 2024

Today marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of former Fighting Illini baseball and basketball star Howard “Howie” Judson.



In basketball, the Hebron High School standout used his one-hand shot to win a berth on the state of Illinois’s prestigious all-state all-star squad. Joining Judson on that unit were future Illini teammates Dick Foley (Paris), Roy Gatewood (Salem), Bob Morton (Elgin), Jim Seyler (Centralia) and Gordon Gillespie (Kelvyn Park).


Coach Doug Mills’ back-to-back Big Ten champs had lost the “Whiz Kids” to service in World War II, so he needed to restock his lineup.


“My dad got a telephone call to find out if I could come down there and play basketball,” Judson said. “I told him I’d be there as soon as I could. So I got there and looked up Doug Mills and said ‘Here I am!’”


Freshmen Judson, Morton and Gillespie advanced directly to Illinois’s starting lineup for the 1943-44 campaign. That season, in game five against Coach Adolph Rupp’s powerful Kentucky squad, Judson scored 16 of Illinois’s 43 points in a two-point victory over the eventual 19-2 Wildcats.


“Oh, yes, that was one I’ll never forget,” Judson said. “Rupp told Mills after the game, ‘My God, where’d you get that kid?!?’”


The following season, he averaged 8.5 points per game, slightly better than his 8.0 average in ’43-44.


Though he admitted that basketball was his favorite sport, Judson’s strong suit athletically was as a baseball pitcher. In 11 career Big Ten Conference games on the mound, he struck out 97 hitters in 98 innings. The 6-1 righthander posted a 5-3 record in league contests.


Following Judson’s sophomore season at Illinois in 1945, he pitched in various summer leagues, most notably for the Sycamore Sons. That August, he was drafted into service with the U.S. Navy. Judson was honorably discharged three months after World War II ended.


In the spring of 1946, Major League Baseball scouts were closely watching Judson’s progress, including Chicago White Sox manager Ted Lyons. Despite being limited to only partial vision because an infection in his left eye, the twenty-year-old Judson was signed by the Sox and pitched for Waterloo. He finished with 16 wins and a 2.58 earned run average.


Judson made his big-league debut for the White Sox on April 22, 1948 against the Detroit Tigers and a lineup that included George Kell and Hoot Evers. He suffered the loss after giving up four hits and three runs in seven innings. He got his first pitching victory against Lou Boudreau’s eventual World Series champion Cleveland Indians on May 16 that year. Judson finished the season with a 4-5 record and a 4.78 ERA.


In 1949, despite lowering his ERA to 4.58, Judson lost 14 of his 15 decisions.


His ERA dropped below 4.00 in 1950 (3.94) and he emerged as a dependable reliever. His 46 mound appearances tied for third in the America League. Records of 5-6 (1951) and 0-1 (1952) followed for Judson with the White Sox, then he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds.


Judson appeared in only ten games for the Reds in 1953 (0-1 record) but got significantly more action the following season. In 37 appearances in 1954, he posted a 3.95 ERA in slightly fewer than 100 innings.


A back injury caused Judson to return the minors, and he wouldn’t again pitch in the big leagues. Ultimately, he hung up his spikes at the age of 33. His final statistics as a Major League pitcher saw him log 615 total innings, post a lifetime record of 17-37, and a respectable 4.29 ERA.


Judson and his wife, Martha, were married for 52 years before her death in 2007.


The former Hebron star is ten years older than two younger brothers—Paul and Phil Judson—who also lettered at Illinois, and is nearly thirty-two years senior to his nephew, Rob, a four-time Illini basketball letter winner. Howie’s great niece, Kristin Judson (Rob’s daughter), played basketball at Miami University.


A longtime resident of Winter Haven, Fla., he died on Aug. 18, 2020.


                                            Dr. Jacob Kinzer Shell

Jacob Kinzer Shell

Feb. 14, 2024

Dr. Jacob Kinzer Shell, a man instrumental in the founding of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and the University of Illinois’s fourth athletic director, was born on this date in 1862 in Harrisburg, Pa.


After attending Central High School in Philadelphia., Shell became a talented football player at the University of Pennsylvania, lettering four times in the late 1870s and early ‘80s. He graduated with a degree in medicine and dentistry.


Shell was a multi-sport athlete, competing in track and field, baseball, lacrosse, golf, cricket, wrestling and boxing. He held national championships as a middleweight in the latter two sports in 1888 and ’89.


It was as a result of a boxing bout in which Shell’s opponent was given the title in an unfair decision that the AAU was formed in 1888, standing for pure amateurism against the questionable tactics of the National Athletic Association of America, then in full control of amateur athletics in the United States. For 34 years, Shell served as an official handicapper of the AAU’s Middle Athletic Association.


He initially held coaching and teaching positions at the University of Vermont, Shortlidge Academy in Concordville, Pa., and Swarthmore College. Shell coached Swarthmore’s football team from 1888-1898, compiling an overall record of 58-40-4.


On Sept. 23, 1898, Shell was hired by the U of I, being appointed director of the men’s gymnasium and professor of physical training/athletics director. In December of 1899, supervised by Shell, UI’s Athletic Association adopted a new constitution. That same month the Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, eventually known as the Big Ten, invited Indiana and Iowa to become members.


With Shell as director and George Huff as the coach, Illinois’s baseball team won its first conference championship on June 5, 1900. Just four days later, the University’s men’s gym caught fire and the Athletic Association lost a then staggering $7,000 worth of property. Among the items lost were most of the UI’s all-time championship banner and trophies.


Shell resigned his position at Illinois on May 29, 1901, to became athletics director at his alma mater. He remained in that position at the University of Pennsylvania until 1905. It is said that Shell had the record of never having missed one of the annual UP relay meets during his lifetime.


He and his wife, Emma were married for 56 years and had five children. Shell died at the age of 78 on Dec. 10, 1940, in Philadelphia.


                                            Dee Brown

Jersey No. 11

Feb. 12, 2024

Nineteen years ago today, Dee Brown hit two long three-point field goals to seal top-ranked Illinois’ 70-59 victory at the Assembly Hall over No. 20 Wisconsin.


Dee Brown's 1,812 career points currently rank fourth on UI’s all-time list.


Others who have worn jersey No. 11 include:


John Orr, 1945

Jack Burmaster, 1947-48

Don Sunderlage, 1950-51

William Ridley, 1954-55-56

Roger Taylor, 1957-58-59

Ben Louis, 1966-67-68

Bob Windmiller, 1969-70

Dave Roberts, 1973-74-75

Tom Schafer, 1983-84

Rennie Clemons, 1991-92-93

Ayo Dosunmu, 2019-21

Alfonso Plummer, 2022

Niccolo Moretti, 2024


                                            Bill Hapac

Bill Hapac

Feb. 9, 2024

Eighty-four years ago this week - Feb. 10, 1940 - Illinois defeated Minnesota, 60-31, at Huff Gym as the Illini’s Bill Hapac broke the Big Ten single-game scoring record with 34 points.


Scoring 13 field goals and eight free throws, he eclipsed the previous mark of 30 points by Indiana’s Ernie Andres (1938). Hapac’s record-breaking points came on a 35-foot bank shot. More than 100 of Hapac’s fellow townsmen from Cicero were in the crowd of 5,402.


Players who have since broken the Big Ten men’s basketball scoring record:

 

Sequence of the Big Ten men’s basketball single-game scoring marks since 1938

30 points        Ernie Andres, Indiana, 1938

34 points        Bill Hapac, Illinois, 1940

40 points        Andy Phillip, Illinois, 1943

48 points        Jerry Lucas, Ohio State, 1960

52 points        Terry Dischinger, Purdue, 1961

56 points        Jimmy Rayl, Indiana, 1962

57 points        Dave Schellhase, Purdue, 1966

61 points        Rick Mount, Purdue, 1970



                                            justin Hardee

Justin Hardee

Feb. 7, 2024

Celebrating his 30th birthday today is former Fighting Illini football star Justin Hardee. Primarily playing wide receiver throughout his collegiate career at Illinois, Hardee now is a third-year player for the NFL’s New York Jets.


Recruited by Tim Beckman’s staff out of Cleveland’s Glenville High School, Hardee played a total of 49 games for the Illini in 2012, ’13, ’14 and ’16. He had 72 catches for a total of 841 yards, twice recording games of more than 100 receiving yards. Hardee’s most memorable performance came as a senior against Northwestern when he had nine catches for 125 yards. He also stood out in the classroom his final season, winning Academic All-Big Ten honors.


Hardee earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in December of 2014, majoring in communications. He later achieved a pair of master’s degrees, one in sports management and one in education.


The NFL’s Houston Texans signed Hardee to a free agent contract in May of 2017, then he caught on with New Orleans’ practice squad in early September of that same year. Sixteen days later, he was promoted to the Saints’ active roster. In week nine of his rookie season, Hardee won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors when he blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown.


Hardee played in all 16 of his team’s games each of the next two seasons, then resigned with New Orleans in March of 2020. A groin injury last November sidelined him for five weeks, but he got back into action in time for New Orleans’ NFL Playoffs run. The Saints beat the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card game, but fell to the Super Bowl bound Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC divisional playoffs.


Hardee put his U of I degrees to work by opening a Papa John’s Pizza franchise on Tulane Avenue in New Orleans’ burgeoning medical district. He also has established a charity organization called the Hardee Cares Foundation. It supports Sarcoidosis awareness, honoring his mother who passed away from the disease.


                                            Illini football's 1992 freshman class

Football's 1992 Freshman Class

Feb. 5, 2024

Thirty-two years ago today—Feb. 5, 1992—new Fighting Illini football coach Lou Tepper celebrated the completion of his first recruiting class, a small but quality-filled 14-man group.


Announced that day by Tepper as one of the top prospects was East St. Louis High School running back Chris Moore, who had just completed a record-breaking senior campaign for the state champion Flyers. Unfortunately, Moore’s shortcomings in the classroom didn’t allow him to come to Champaign-Urbana and he instead attended NAIA member Culver-Stockton. Another Flyer, linebacker Dennis Stallings, also was signed by the Illini.


Besides Moore, two other highly acclaimed running backs who were inked by Tepper’s staff included Cincinnati LaSalle’s Ty Douthard and O’Fallon’s Rodney Byrd. Both Douthard and Byrd would go on to be four-time Illini letter winners.


Beaver Falls, Pa. quarterback Scott Weaver was the only signal caller signed by Tepper that day.


Supposedly, the final player to be offered a scholarship by Tepper that year was a Mount Carmel High School defensive lineman named Simeon Rice. Rice was influenced to join the Illini because former Caravan teammates J.J. Strong, Pete Gabrione and Charles Edwards who were already at Illinois. Rice rapidly moved up the depth chart and eventually became a four-time All-Big Ten performer, a two-time All-American, and the third pick in the 1996 NFL Draft.


Four of the 14 signees—Hazelwood East’s DeMontie Cross, Lyons Township’s Will Lepsi, Paducah, Ky.’s Saydee Mends-Cole, and Chicago Vocational’s William Morris —never lettered for Illinois. Three 1992 freshman walk-ons—Glenbard South’s Tom Claussen and Chris McPartlin, and Mount Carmel’s Don Veronesi—eventually did win monograms for the Illini.


Members of the 1992 freshman class that went on to letter for Tepper included:


Rodney Byrd (1993, ’94, ’95 & ’96) – The fullback from O’Fallon High School became an Illini co-captain in 1996 and wound up his collegiate career by playing in 44 games. Information regarding his whereabouts today is unavailable.


Tom Claussen (1996) – A defensive lineman from Glenbard South, Claussen lettered in his senior season at Illinois, accumulating 17 tackles in 10 games. No information was available as to what he’s doing today.


Ty Douthard (1993, ’94, ’95 & ’96) The former Cincinnati LaSalle running back concluded his Illini career with 1,851 rushing yards and 1,250 receiving yards. Today, he is an associate at World Financial Group in Greater Indianapolis and is a regular attender at Illini games.


Jason Dulick (1993, ’94, ’95 & ’96) A star at St. Louis University High, Dulick racked up big yardage as a wide receiver. In four seasons, he caught 169 passes for 2,004 yards and 15 touchdowns. He wound up his collegiate career as UI’s second-leading career receiver. Dulick is  now a teacher and the head football coach at Gateway STEM High School in St. Louis.


Martin Jones (1994 & ’95) After encountering minor criminal charges during his time at Illinois, the former Cincinnati Aiken standout receiver left Illinois after two letter-winning seasons. Today, he is a real estate investor for MJ Investment Group in his hometown.


Chris Koerwitz (1994, ’95 & ’96) The Oshkosh, Wis. native played center for Lou Tepper, lettering three times. A middle school principal in Riverton, his son went on to play college football at SIU.


Jay Kuchenbecker (1995 & ’96) A product of York High School, Kuchenbecker started all 11 games at right guard in 1996. He’s now a real estate broker for Compass in Greater Chicago.


Paul Marshall (1993, ’94, ’95 & ’96) The Naperville North High School standout was a defensive line starter in his final 28 Illini games, totaling 88 tackles as a senior. Marshall now serves as director of sales for Fresenius Medical Care in Greater Phoenix.


Chris McPartlin (1994) A star at Glenbard South, McPartlin lettered in his junior season as a linebacker. Today, he directs Up Campus Student Living in Greater Chicago.


Simeon Rice (1992, ’93, ’94 & ’95) Rice impressed the coaching staff from his very first practice, eventually establishing new Illini records in every category for tackles for loss and quarterback sacks. He went on to a 12-year NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. He’s now on the ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. After football, Rice began a career in the entertainment industry, directing a feature-length film in 2015. He is a member of Illini athletics’ Hall of Fame.


Dennis Stallings (1994, ’95 & ’96) Stallings enrolled at Illinois in 1992 but did not actually play until 1994. He was a sixth-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft and played three seasons for the Tennessee Oilers. Nowadays, Stallings works for Gastroenterology Care Specialists in Mount Julien, Tenn.


Don Veronesi (1993) A teammate of Simeon Rice at Mount Carmel, he lettered as a defensive back his sophomore season. Today, he owns Veronesi Carpentry Services in Crown Point, Ind.


Scott Weaver (1993, ’94, ’95 & ’96) Hailing from Joe Namath’s hometown in Beaver Falls, Pa., Weaver was an effective quarterback for Lou Tepper. In his four Illini seasons, he passed for 3,212 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s now territory manager at Electrostim Medical Services in Grand Rapids, Mich.


                                            Ray Demmitt 

Ray Demmitt

Feb. 2, 2024

Born 140 years ago on this date was University of Illinois baseball player Charles Raymond “Ray” Demmitt.


A native of Illiopolis, Ill., the 5-8, 170-pound outfielder lettered in 1905 and ’06 for coach George Huff. The ’05 Illini finished second in the Big Ten, then took the title the following season with an 8-3 league record.


Demmitt began his Major League Baseball career at the age of 25 in 1909 for the New York Highlanders (who became the Yankees in 1913). In his rookie season, he shared the outfield with Hall of Famer “Wee Willie” Keeler, batting .246 in 123 games. His four home runs in ’09 ranked sixth among American League hitters.


It was in 1909 that he appeared on one of the earliest sets of tobacco baseball cards. In mint condition today, Demmitt’s card now brings a price of more than $4,000.


On Dec. 16, 1909, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns. He only appeared in 10 games in 1910 and wouldn’t appear again on a big league roster for another four years.


In 1914 Demmitt played one game for the Detroit Tigers, then was purchased by the Chicago White Sox for $2,500. He hit .258 for the Sox, including a pair of home runs and 46 runs batted in. Demmitt only appeared in 10 games in 1915, being released early in the year. After a year in the minors, he caught on again with the Browns in 1917 and spent that year and two more in St. Louis. His 61 RBI in 1918 ranked seventh in the A.L.


Career-wise, he played in 498 big league games altogether, averaging .257 through seven seasons. Ray Demmitt died on Feb. 19, 1956 at the age of 72 and is buried in the Mount Pulaski Cemetery.


                                            Luke Guthrie 

Luke Guthrie

Jan. 31, 2024

Happy 34th Birthday to former Fighting Illini golf star Luke Guthrie.


The two-time state champion from Quincy High School is one of only 15 men in Big Ten history to win multiple individual conference titles. Besides Guthrie, three other Illini players—Richard Martin, Steve Stricker and Nick Hardy—are included in that exclusive company.


Guthries two Big Ten wins were among seven career collegiate tournaments he captured.


Through 138 career rounds as an Illini golfer, Guthrie averaged just 72.08 strokes per 18 holes. In two of his four years, he averaged less than 72 a round (71.19 as a senior in 2012 and 71.36 as a junior in 2011).


Guthrie’s Illinois squad won the Big Ten team title all four of his letter-winning seasons and finished among the top 21 team in NCAA play each time. UI’s best placing, nationally, during his collegiate stint was when it tied for fifth place in 2011.


Guthrie’s college career was sprinkled with individual honors, including twice earning All-Big Ten first team and twice winning All-America accolades, including first-team laurels as a junior. He was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in athletics and academics as a senior.


As a professional, Guthrie has won two tournaments. His victories at the Albertsons Boise Open and the WNB Golf Classic came in back-to-back September 2012 efforts. Guthrie has participated in four major tournaments, including two U.S. Opens (2013 and ’14) and the 2013 PGA Championship and British Open.


Guthrie and his wife, Kaitlyn, have a son and reside in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.


                                            Ray Eliot 

This Day in Illini History

Jan. 29, 2024

Sixty-one years ago today – Jan. 29, 1963 – University of Illinois alumni Red Grange and George Halas were among the 17 players, coaches and officials elected as charter members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This prestigious group also included Jim Thorpe, Curly Lambeau, Bronco Nagurski, Dutch Clark, Sammy Baugh and Ernie Nevers.


Other notable events on this date in Illini history:


Jan. 29, 1942: Ray Eliot was announced as Illinois’ new football coach, replacing Bob Zuppke.


Jan. 29, 1949: Illini basketball overcame a 20-7 deficit and beat Minnesota at Huff Gym, 45-44. It was the Gophers’ first loss in 14 games.


Jan. 29, 1979 – Linebacker Dick Butkus was unanimously selected as a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Others inducted that year were Johnny Unitas, Ron Mix and Yale Lary.


Jan. 29, 1981: Illinois defeated Michigan State in East Lansing for the first time in 10 years. Eddie Johnson led the Illini with 19 points.


Jan. 29, 1983: A career-high 29 points by Derek Harper led Illinois past host Michigan. It was Lou Henson’s first coaching victory at Ann Arbor in eight tries.


Jan. 29, 2003: Thirteenth-ranked Illinois beat visiting Michigan, 67-60, as Brian Cook scored 26 of his 30 points in the second half.


Jan. 29, 2005: Playing before more than 300 former players, coaches and administrators who were reuniting to celebrate the centennial season of Illinois basketball, the Illini defeated Minnesota by 23. Illinois improved its record to a perfect 21-0.


Jan. 29, 2009: No. 19 Illinois saw its 20-game winning streak against Minnesota come to an end, losing 59-36 at Williams Arena. It was the Gophers’ first triumph over the Illini since Feb. 3, 1999.


Jan. 29, 2014: Former Illini star Mannie Jackson presented a $3 million gift to the University of Illinois in support of a Basketball Hall of Fame in his name.


Jan. 29, 2021: No. 19 Illinois upset No. 7 Iowa at the State Farm Center, 80-75, in a game that featured 22 lead changes. Ayo Dosunmu (25 points) and Trent Frazier (24) paced the Illini.


Jan. 29, 2022: Da’Monte Williams’ follow-up dunk with 1:34 left put Illinois ahead of host Northwestern in a 59-56 Illini victory at Evanston.


                                Joe Rutgens

Joe Rutgens

Jan. 26, 2024

Today (Sunday) marks the 85th birthday of Joe Rutgens, one of the University of Illinois’ least publicized football stars.


Recruited by Ray Eliot in 1956 out of LaSalle-Peru High School, Rutgens was an outstanding 6-2, 245-pound tackle. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as both a junior (1959) and senior (1960) at Illinois.


Rutgens was a first-round pick in both the 1961 NFL and AFL Drafts, chosen third by the Washington Redskins and fourth by the Oakland Raiders. He chose to sign with Coach Bill McPeak’s Redskins, wearing jersey number 72 for nine seasons (1961-69).


Rutgens was chosen for the 1963 and ’65 Pro Bowls. He played for Coach Vince Lombardi in his final season as a pro.


In 2008, Rutgens was selected as one of the top 10 defensive lineman in Illinois history.


Today, he resides in Spring Valley, Ill. with his wife, Donna.

 

 

1961 NFL Draft – First Round

1. Tommy Mason, HB, Tulane                    Minnesota Vikings

2. Norm Snead, QB, Wake Forest              Washington Redskins

3. JOE RUTGENS, T, ILLINOIS                  WASHINGTON REDSKINS

4. Marlin McKeever, LB, USC                       L.A. Rams

5. Mike Ditka, E, Pittsburgh                          Chicago Bears

6. Jimmy Johnson, B, UCLA                           San Francisco 49ers

7. Tom Matte, HB, Ohio State                       Baltimore Colts

8. Ken Rice, T, Auburn                                      St. Louis Cardinals

9. Bernie Casey, B, Bowling Green           San Francisco 49ers

10. Bobby Crespino, E, Mississippi          Cleveland Browns

11. Billy Kilmer, QB, UCLA                            San Francisco 49ers

12. Herb Adderley, B, Michigan State    Green Bay Packers

13. Bob Lilly, T, Texas Christian                Dallas Cowboys

14. Art Baker, FB, Syracuse                          Philadelphia Eagles


                                Lee Eilbracht

Lee Eilbracht

Jan. 24, 2024

Seventy-two years ago today, Lee Eilbract was named acting head coach of the Fighting Illini baseball team, replacing Wally Roettger who had died the previous September.


Eilbracht lettered three years as a player (1943, ’46 and ’47). He had a celebrated career as Illinois’ head coach, compiling 515 victories against 393 losses and six ties in 27 seasons. He had 41 more wins than Itch Jones (474 in 15 years) and 201 more than George Huff (314 in 23 years).


Eilbracht’s Illini teams won four Big Ten titles. Fourteen of his Illinois players eventually went on to play Major League Baseball:


Ethan Blackaby: Milwaukee-NL (1962-64) … Career: .120 average, 0 HR, 1 RBI


Bob Burda: St. Louis (1962 & ’71); San Francisco (1965-66, 1969-70); Milwaukee-AL (1970); Boston (1972) … Career: .224 average, 13 HR, 78 RBI


John Felske: Chicago-NL (1968) and Milwaukee-AL (1972-73) … Career: .135 average, 1 HR, 9 RBI


Tom Fletcher: Detroit (1962) … Career: 1 game


Tom Haller: San Francisco (1961-67); Los Angeles-NL (1968-71); Detroit (1972) … Career: .257 average, 134 HR, 504 RBI


Jim Hicks: Chicago-AL (1964-66); St. Louis (1969); California (1969) … Career: .163 average, 5 HR, 14 RBI


Ken Holtzman: Chicago-NL (1965-71, ’78); Oakland (1972-75); New York-AL (1976-77) … Career: 174-150, 3.49 ERA


Dick Hyde: Washington (1955-60); Baltimore (61) … Career: 17-14, 3.56 ERA


Bobby Klaus: Cincinnati (1964) and NY Mets (1964-65) … Career: .208 average, 6 HR, 29 RBI


Gary Kolb: St. Louis (1960, 62-63); Milwaukee-NL (1964-65); New York-NL (1965); Pittsburgh (1968-69) … Career: .209 average, 6 HR, 29 RBI


Em Lindbeck: Detroit (1960) … Career: 2 games


Herb Plews: Washington (1956-59) and Boston (1959) … Career: .262 average, 4 HR, 82 RBI


Lou Skizas: New York-AL (1956); Kansas City (1956-57); Detroit (1958); Chicago-AL (1959) … Career: .270 average, 30 HR, 86 RBI


Ed Spiezio: St. Louis (1964-68); San Diego (1969-72) and Chicago-AL (1972) … Career: .238 average, 39 HR, 174 RBI


                                Walter Mendenhall

Walter Mendenhall

Jan. 22, 2024

During his two varsity-letter-winning seasons with the University of Illinois football team in 2005 and 2007, Walter Mendenhall didn’t establish any Illini rushing records. However, today, on his 38th birthday, no can say that his life hasn’t been a success story.


As the Executive Director of the not-for-profit Male Mogul Initiative, his Chicago-based program has changed the lives of hundreds of the Windy City’s young people.


Established in 2016, Mendenhall’s enterprise is a mentorship, leadership and entrepreneurial program that’s targeted at high school students of color. It allows participants to gain practical and applicable knowledge that can lead to success and productivity in a business, student organization or community. Mendenhall’s organization strives to build self-confidence, develop character, inspire academic excellence, and cultivate leadership skills.


“My passion is to motivate, educate and teach the youth of today how to be successful and how to discover their dreams,” Mendenhall said. “Very few people want to be on the front lines communicating and working with young people. Just knowing that there are lives and young minds that are waiting to be transformed and to be nurtured drives me. I realized that I had a gift for inspiring and motivating. The more you persevere, the more you work hard, the better you will become, and the more success you will gain.”


As a U of I junior in 2007, only receiving limited playing time, Mendenhall had sunk into a deep, dark depression.


"One night, I was laying in bed, contemplating taking my life because nothing was going right," he said. "I was like 'God, I need to know if you are really REAL right now because I don't know if I'm going to live to see tomorrow.' And, suddenly, I felt a presence and a calmness that I'd never felt before. That was when I realized that I was here for a bigger purpose and it was not necessarily to just play football.”


Mendenhall transferred from Illinois to Illinois State in 2008 in an effort to reach his athletic potential and accomplished his mission with the Redbirds, rushing for nearly 800 yards and 11 touchdowns.


Life challenged Walter Mendenhall IV from the beginning. His parents had divorced when he was a young child. His dad (Walter III) wasn't present in his life for a while and a variety of other obstacles were constantly jumping in Walt's path. With his mother (Sibyl) working as an accountant during the day and at a grocery store in the evening to make ends meet, nine-year-old Walt was often responsible for babysitting his younger brother (Rashard) and sister (Vanessa) in their tiny two-bedroom apartment in Skokie.


"I had a lot of responsibility at a very, very early age and had to grow up a lot faster than the average kid," he said. "I was mature at a very, very young age and saw the world a little bit differently than a lot of my peers."


When his mother left her accountant job to become a youth minister at a church on the far south side of Chicago, a decision was made that Walt and Rashard would spend the last two years of their Niles West High School career with their coach, Joe Galambos.


"Coach Joe helped us have an environment that was conducive for success," Mendenhall said. "He had two boys himself and showed us how a family unit is supposed to be. Coach Joe (an electrician by trade) also influenced my business mindset."

Energized by his mother's persistent message about education, Mendenhall began to build upon the sociology degree he had earned at the University of Illinois.


"The classes I took at Illinois exposed me to the way the world works in terms of capitalism, racism and classism," he said.


He completed his Master’s degree in 2013 and is now completing his Ph.D. in organizational leadership.


“My message for the youth of today is ‘Do not be the exception; change the rule’”, Mendenhall says.”


Younger brother Rashard, an Illini and NFL standout, credits Walt with “inspiring me with the leadership qualities he possesses.”


“Walt is the one who pushed me and showed me what drive was,” said Rashard.

With each individual he meets, Mendenhall quickly addresses three questions: Who are you? Why do you matter? What is your purpose?

"It's the foundation of everything I do," he explained. "When you don't know the answers to those three central questions, you're likely to make decisions that aren't conducive to your success."



                                Elwood Brown

Elwood Brown

Jan. 19, 2024

Though records aren’t conclusive, Elwood Brown might well be the only coach in Big Ten Conference history to coach a league game on the very day he was hired.


One-hundred-eighteen years ago tomorrow - January 20, 1906 – athletics director George Huff appointed the 22-year-old Wheaton College coach and Chicago YMCA employee as the University of Illinois’s first men’s basketball coach. Brown had played for Wheaton but was unable to complete his degree due to financial constraints.


Of the Conference’s seven charter members, Illinois and Chicago were the last two Big Ten schools to add basketball as a varsity sport. Leo Hana, an assistant in the UI gymnasium, was appointed by Huff in December of 1905 to issue a call for candidates for the first team. More than a hundred men came out for the initial practice and that number was eventually reduced to fifteen, nine for the varsity squad and five for a second team. One of those fifteen choices, Roy Riley from Sutton, Nebraska, assisted Hana in drilling his teammates. Then on January 20th, The Illio wrote that “a professional basketball coach (Brown) was employed for the remainder of the season.”


In UI’s very first Big Ten game, Brown started Riley at center, Floyd Talmage and Kays (first name unknown) at the forwards, and Ed Ryan and Hugh Ray at the guards. Talmage scored 16 of Illinois’s 27 points in its three-point victory over visiting Indiana. The balance of the season didn’t fare as well for Brown and his Illini team, winning only four of their last 12 and finishing with a 6-8 record.


After the season, Brown returned to Chicago to take over as the YMCA’s Physical Education Director. He followed that with a similar stint in Salt Lake City (1907-09). Brown moved to the U.S. Philippine Islands in January of 1910 to direct Manila’s YMCA. There, he introduced basketball and volleyball, and soon after set up a sports program for Filipino government employees. Brown also is credited with designing a network of public playgrounds in Manila.


In 1911 Brown became Director of Athletics of the Manila Carnival, a festival that showcased American and Philippine culture and tourism. He then used the Carnival to promote sports in Asia. The event became recognized as the “Far East Olympics”, including teams from China and Japan.


Towards the end of World War I in 1918, American General John Pershing appointed Brown as Director-General of the Inter-Allied Games. Two years later, Brown represented the International Olympic Committee in South America and helped organize the South American Athletic Federation. He became a renowned speaker and addressed the IOC at three different events.


Brown also became the Philippines first Scoutmaster, organizing the Boy Scouts in that country in 1910.


Just three weeks short of his 41st birthday, Brown died of complications from a heart attack in March of 1924 in New Jersey. He’s buried at Little Wood Cemetery in Kane County.


                                J.C. Caroline

J.C. Caroline

Jan. 17, 2024

Today would have been former Fighting Illini football Hall of Famer J.C. Caroline’s 91st birthday. He died in 2017.


Forty-three years ago (1981), Caroline was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was joined in the induction class by such former football dignitaries as Ara Parseghian, Sam Huff, Merlin Olsen and Eddie LaBaron.


Other trivia about J.C. Caroline:


•               As a sophomore in 1953, Caroline rushed for a Big Ten record 1,256 yards, shattering Red Grange’s Illini single-season record.

•               Of the myriad of stars Ray Eliot coached during his 18 years at Illinois, he rated No. 26 at the very top of his list.

•               Caroline averaged six yards every time he rushed the ball from scrimmage, totaling 1,696 yards on 287 attempts.

•               J.C. dropped out of school before his senior season at the UI to sign with Montreal of the Canadian Football League.

•               George Halas of the Chicago Bears signed Caroline as a defensive back in 1956.

•               J.C. retired as a pro player in 1965 after 10 seasons, playing with three championship teams.

•               Caroline served as assistant coach at Illinois from 1967-76, then coached briefly at Urbana High School.


                                Wayne McClain

Wayne McClain

Jan. 15, 2024

Today would have been former Fighting Illini assistant basketball coach Wayne McClain’s 69th birthday. He joined Illinois’s staff following a seven-year career at Peoria’s Manual High School where he directed the Rams to Class AA state championships in 1995, ’96 and ’97.


Then Illini coach Bill Self initially hired McClain at Illinois in 2001. He stayed with the Illini when Bruce Weber succeeded Self for the 2003-04 season and continued as Weber’s assistant through the 2011-12 campaign.


During McClain’s 11 seasons on the bench, the Illini won 261 of their 378 games, a winning percentage of .690. He died in October of 2014.



The longest-serving Illini assistant basketball coaches:

31                Howie Braun, 1937-67

17                Dick Nagy, 1980-96

15                Jim Wright, 1958-72

13                Jimmy Collins, 1984-96

13                Wally Roettger, 1937-49

11                Wayne McClain, 2002-12

9                   Tony Yates, 1975-83

9                   Mark Coomes, 1986-94

9                   Jay Price, 2004-12

7                   Dick Campbell, 1968-74


                                George BonSalle

George BonSalle

Jan. 12, 2024

On this date in 1957, the Fighting Illini basketball team won at Wisconsin, 79-63, behind a game-high 21 points by senior center George Bon Salle. A product of Chicago’s Loyola Academy, Bon Salle was an outstanding pivot man for Coach Harry Combes, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors in 1956. Here is Bon Salle’s career story, by the numbers:

 

1              Illinois’ top scorer during the 1955-56 season, averaging 19.5 points per game

 

2              Bon Salle’s two children both played college sports: daughter Jackie played volleyball at Florida State and son Andrew played basketball at American University.

 

3              Number of NBA games he played (for the NBA’s Chicago Packers during the 1961-62 season).

 

7              Seventh overall pick in the first round of the 1957 NBA Draft (by the Syracuse Nationals).

 

17.3       Career scoring average for the Illini in 56 games.

 

22           His jersey number at Illinois.

 

36           Collegiate-high points he scored against Minnesota in 1956.

 

225        Pounds he carried on his 6-foot-8-inch frame.


970        Total points he scored at Illinois, good for 49th place all-time at UI.


1959     Year he played with the U.S. Pan American Games team, winning the gold medal.


                                Simeon Rice

Simeon Rice

Jan. 10, 2024

Twenty-nine years ago today - Jan. 10, 1995 - Fighting Illini football star Simeon Rice announced that he would return to play his senior year at Illinois.


Rice went on to have a sensational senior season in 1995, being a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award. He holds the single-season record for tackles for loss (23) and Illinois’ career mark with 44.5 quarterback sacks. He also recorded five tackles for loss in four different games.


Rice was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 1996 National Football League draft, starting 15 of 16 games during his rookie season. Altogether, he played five seasons with the Cardinals, then moved on to Tampa Bay where he stayed for six seasons.


In his final season (2007), he played briefly for both the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts.


Rice played 251 career games in the NFL, notching 122 sacks and 25 forced fumbles.


                                Harry Gill

Harry Gill

Jan. 8, 2024

Born Jan. 9, 1876, in Coldwater, Ontario, Canada was Fighting Illini Track and Field Hall of Famer Harry Lovering Gill. During a 29-year coaching career from 1904-29, then again from 1931-33, his University of Illinois teams produced an amazing 22 Big Ten championships.


Today, the week of the 148th anniversary of his birth, we’ll tell Harry Gill’s story, by the numbers:


1 – From 1906 to 1915, Gill’s teams lost only one of 81 dual meets.


2 – His teams won NCAA championships in 1921 and 1927.


6 – Illini track and field squads swept all six indoor and outdoor Big Ten championship meets during the 1920, ’21 and ’22 seasons.


35 – Points scored by Gill’s Illini track athletes at the 1924 Olympic Games, more than any other nation.


79 -- Gill’s Illini teams won 79 percent of their Big Ten dual meets, compiling a record of 81 victories against only 22 losses and two ties. Including non-conference competition, the Illini had a success rate of 82 percent (111-24-2).


80 – He died on Aug. 31, 1956, at the age of 80 in Orilla, Ont. Gill had suffered a two years earlier.


1901 -- Became track and field coach at the University of Iowa, then served the following two seasons at Beloit College before joining George Huff’s Illini staff in 1904.


1903 – Won America’s professional all-around championship, clearing 6-feet-2-inches in the high jump, throwing 145 feet in the hammer, 45-8 in the shot, 30 feet in the 56-pound weight, and running 16.8 seconds in the high hurdles.


1907 – Gill’s 1907 Illini squad won its first of 22 Big Ten championships during his tenure.


1918 – He founded his own track and field equipment company 105 years ago. By 1955, Harry Gill Company manufactured 90 percent of the equipment used in the United States.


1932 -- Gill was invited to coach the Canadian Olympic Team in 1932 but declined the offer.


1977 -- When Drake University established its Relays Hall of Fame 46 years ago, Gill and fellow Illini coach Leo Johnson were among the six coaches included in his charter class.


2017 – He was one of 28 men and women selected in the charter class of the Illini Hall of Fame.


                                Stephen Steinhaus

Stephen Steinhaus

Jan. 5, 2024

Though he lettered for the Fighting Illini as a walk-on in 1994, that worthy achievement is a long way from being Stephen Steinhaus’s pinnacle career milestone. The former Addison Trail Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who celebrates his 51st birthday today, has transformed his four-year experience at the University of Illinois into becoming one of the United Kingdom’s most unique educators. He currently serves as Principal at the Solihull Academy in Coventry, an institution that serves high school level students at risk.


A 6-3, 260-pound offensive lineman who wore jersey No. 61 for Coach Lou Tepper’s Illini, Steinhaus may not have matched the athletic talent of linemates Tim Simpson and Brad Hopkins, but his brilliance in the classroom was second to none.


“I walked on as an 18-year-old with a mullet and was practicing—and getting my backside handed to me—against future pros like John Holecek, Brad Hopkins, Kevin Hardy, and Dana Howard,” Steinhaus said. “A lot of people might have walked away, but I didn’t. On a daily basis, I got to see what hard work and professional preparation looked like.”


After graduating from the U of I with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English/Language Arts Teacher Education (1995), Steinhaus earned a Master of Philosophy degree (1996) from the UK’s University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute, and a Master’s in English (1998) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.


Steinhaus has subsidized his education through a wide variety of jobs. Among his experiences, he’s been a nightclub bouncer, a performer and artistic director for an eight-piece rhythm and blues musical group called The Doctor Teeth Big Band, trained to be a professional wrestler, worked as a college counselor, taught English, and served as a drama instructor.


Steinhaus’s career path to Solihull Academy has included positions at numerous UK institutions, including Stratford-Upon-Avon College, the Alcester Grammar School, Trinity Catholic School, the Ipsley Academy, and the Whitley Academy. He’s also led three international tours for 15-18 year olds with The Comedy of the Physical project, a combination of slapstick, improv, clowning, stage combat/wrestling, and live music.


Steinhaus, his wife (Lynsey) and two sons (Isaac and Saul) currently reside in Leamington Spa, England.


                                Darryl Usher

Darryl Usher

Jan. 3, 2024

Today would have been former Fighting Illini receiver Darryl Usher’s 59th birthday.


He died on Feb. 24, 1990 in a double homicide in Phoenix, Ariz. at the age of 26.


Recruited by Coach White to the University of Illinois in 1983 from San Mateo, Calif., the 5-8, 168-pound speed-burner starred in both football and as a sprinter on the track team.


Usher played sparingly on UI’s ’83 Big Ten champs, but his strong work ethic helped him attain second-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 1987. That season, he led the Illini in receiving (43 for 723 yards and four touchdowns), kickoff returns (15 for 445 yards, 29.7 yards per return) and punt returns (37 for 308 yards, 8.3 ypr). His production earned him Illini Most Valuable Player honors.


                                George Donnelly

George Donnelly

Jan. 1, 2024

Sixty years ago today - Jan. 1, 1964 - Illinois defensive back George Donnelly picked off two interceptions as the Fighting Illini topped the Washington Huskies in the 1964 Rose Bowl, 17-7.


The 6-2, 191-pound defensive safety from DeKalb had three interceptions during Illinois’ 1963 championship season. In 1964 Donnelly won first-team All-America honors from the Football News, Time Magazine, The Sporting News and the New York Daily News. He also played in numerous all-star games, including the East-West Shrine Bowl, the Hula Bowl, the Senior Bowl and the College All-Star Game. Illini teammates Dick Butkus and Jim Grabowski also won All-America acclaim that season.


Donnelly had 13 career interceptions, including eight his senior year. He served in the Air Force prior to attending college. His sister was Illinois’ representative in the 1961 Miss Universe competition. Donnelly played three seasons (1965-67) for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, starting 18 of the 33 games in which he played. His son, Patrick Donnelly, and his nephew, Tyler Donnelly, also played for the Illini.


Donnelly in the 1965 NFL Draft:

 

1.        Tucker Frederickson (Auburn), New York Giants

2.        Ken Willard (North Carolina), San Francisco 49ers

3.        Dick Butkus (Illinois), Chicago Bears

4.        Gale Sayers (Kansas), Chicago Bears

5.        Craig Morton (California), Dallas Cowboys

6.        Steve DeLong (Tennessee), Chicago Bears

7.        Donnie Anderson (Texas Tech), Green Bay Packers

8.        Jack Snow (Notre Dame), Minnesota Vikings

9.        Clancy Williams (Washington State), Los Angeles Rams

10.      Lawrence Elkins (Baylor), Green Bay Packers

11.      Tom Nowatzke (Indiana), Detroit Lions

12.      Joe Namath (Alabama), St. Louis Cardinals

13.      GEORGE DONNELLY (ILLINOIS), SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS


                                Fred Smith

1982 Liberty Bowl

Dec. 29, 2023

The 1982 Fighting Illini football season will be remembered for many reasons.


The year began with a highly successful “Tailgreat” promotion and a big win over Northwestern in Memorial Stadium’s first-ever night game.


It was the season Tony Eason established an all-time record for passing proficiency.


And it was the year that Illinois went “Bowling” for the first time in 19 years.


Forty-one years ago today, Coach Mike White’s Fighting Illini were pitted against Alabama in the Liberty Bowl. It was a game that would turn out to be the final one for the Crimson Tide’s legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. Bryant, who won more games than any other coach in college football, announced his retirement two weeks before, making the bowl game one of the season’s top attractions.


The night was clear and the 34-degree weather favored Alabama’s wishbone attack. Illinois trailed the Tide, 7-6, at the half, as Alabama defenders repeatedly pummeled Eason with a ferocious pass rush. On three occasions, crushing Alabama tackles forced Eason from the game.


Despite a record 423 yards passing by Eason, Illinois dropped a 21-15 decision, giving the Bear his 323rd and final collegiate victory.


                                Fred Smith

Fred Smith

Dec. 26, 2023

Christened with one of the world’s most common names, today’s University of Illinois football fans are excused for not recognizing the name of Frederick Smith. He was hand-picked by George Huff to become the Fighting Illini’s sixth head football coach, but only stayed in Champaign-Urbana for one season before becoming head football and baseball coach at Fordham.


Smith’s 1900 roster included several athletes who would become Illinois legends, including future Illini coach Arthur Hall, future UI Hall of Famers Jake Stahl and Carl Lundgren, and longtime assistant coach Justin Lindgren. Compiling a 7-3-2 overall record, Smith’s squad posted seven consecutive shutouts to begin the campaign. An eighth shutout followed a few weeks later when Illinois battled Indiana to a 0-0 tie in Indianapolis.


A native of New York City, Smith was an exceptional athlete at Princeton University. The 1897 Princeton graduate earned scattered All-America honors for his play as a quarterback for the football team and all-star accolades as a second baseman and catcher for the Tigers’ baseball squad. Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Caps (later known as the Braves) offered him a contract to play, but for unknown reasons he declined to sign.


Following his single year at Illinois, Smith was hired by Fordham University in his hometown to become the Rams head football and baseball coach. In his four seasons with the football team, Fordham had a cumulative record of 17-6-3, while in five seasons as the baseball coach the Rams had a mark of 213-66. One of his Fordham players, Ed Walsh, pitched for the Chicago White Sox for 15 seasons, twice leading the American League in strikeouts. Walsh was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.


While he was coaching, Smith concurrently served as an engineer for New York City. He died in February of 1923, shortly after his 50th birthday, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.


                                1988 Illinois-LSU Basketball Game

1988 Illinois-LSU Game

Dec. 22, 2023

Thirty-five years ago today—December 22, 1988—Illinois’ Flying Illini basketball team put on a Pete Maravich-type performance, scoring a school-record 127 points in a 27-point victory against the LSU Tigers at the Maravich Assembly Center.


Coach Lou Henson’s fifth-ranked club entered the game on a scoring rampage, having averaged 96.3 points per game over its first eight contests, including 100-plus point games vs. Duquesne, Arkansas-Little Rock and Tennessee Tech.


Running Henson’s motion offense, Illinois shot 73 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, jumping off to a 61-51 lead at halftime. The Illini onslaught continued in the second half, hitting 13 of its first 16 points and reaching the 100-point mark (100-76) with 8:52 remaining. When Tigers freshman star Chris Jackson fouled out, Henson began to substitute liberally. In fact, no Illini player got more than 25 minutes of action.


Illinois starters scored at will, led by 27 from Kendall Gill, 24 from Lowell Hamilton and 21 from Stephen Bardo. Altogether, six Illini players tallied in double figures.


Wrote Bardo in his book “The Flying Illini”, “It wasn’t that LSU was bad, we were just starting to understand how good we really could be and it was one of those games when everything seemed to come together at the right time. Dale Brown, LSU’s head coach, thanked Coach Henson for not running the score up on them because we could have easily scored 150 that night.”


After the game, Brown told the media, “I think Illinois is the finest group of athletes I’ve ever seen in this gym. Lou has some wonderful thoroughbreds.”


The Illini would tally 100 points or more four additional times in 1988-89, including a 118-point gem on Senior Night at the Assembly Hall against 15th-ranked Iowa.


                                (L to R) Mark Coomes, Jimmy Collins and Dick                                          Nagy

Illini Basketball Assistant Coaches

Dec. 20, 2023

Geoff Alexander, Tim Anderson and Chester Frazier are all in their third season as full-time assistant coaches to Illini basketball head coach Brad Underwood. It’s a nice stretch of service for the Illini trio, but they’ve got a long way to go to catch up with nine other assistants who logged eight or more years as assistant coach at Illinois. Spending the most years at Illinois was Howard Braun who totaled seven seasons as an aide to Doug Mills (1937-38 through 1941-42 and 1945-46 through 1946-47), then 20 more seasons as Harry Combes’ assistant (1947-48 through 1966-67). The second-most tenured assistant basketball coach at Illinois is Dick Nagy who spent 17 seasons with Lou Henson. The list of longest-serving Illini full-time assistants:

 

27 years    Howard Braun (1937-38 through 1941-42 and                        1946-46 through 1966-67)

17 years    Dick Nagy (1979-80 through 1995-96)

15 years    Jim Wright (1957-58 through 1971-72)

13 years    Wally Roettger (1936-37 through 1948-49)

13 years    Jimmy Collins (1983-84 through 1995-96)

11 years    Wayne McClain (2001-02 through 2011-12)

9 years       Jay Price (2003-04 through 2011-12)

9 years       Tony Yates (1974-75 through 1982-83)

8 years       Mark Coomes (1986-87 through 1993-94) 



                                Dick Butkus and Kevin Hardy

History of the Butkus Award

Dec. 18, 2023

Thirty-eight years ago this week—Dec. 16, 1985—the very first Butkus Award was presented to Oklahoma sophomore Brian Bosworth.


Established in honor of University of Illinois All-America linebacker Dick Butkus, it is the seventh-oldest major college football award. Only the Heisman Trophy (1935), the Maxwell Award (1937), the Outland Trophy (1946), the Walter Camp Award (1967), the Lombardi Award (1970), and the Davey O’Brien Award (1977) are older than the Butkus.


Honoring college football’s premier linebacker, the Butkus Award was inaugurated by the Orlando (Fla.) Downtown Athletic Club. Steve Finley, DAC chairman, said “there was only one name at the top of the list. In the history of football, Dick Butkus is the contemporary linebacker.”


Said Butkus in 1985, “This is a pretty neat honor to be chosen to have an award like this named after me. I can only hope that today’s players will remember who I am.”


The Butkus Award’s initial selection panel of nine included college football announcer Keith Jackson, coaching legends Ara Parseghian and Charlie McClendon, super scout Gil Brandt, and five college football writers.


Over 39 presentations of the award, eight universities have had multiple winners. Alabama and Oklahoma have each had four winners, Notre Dame has had three, while Illinois, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio State and Florida State have each had two honorees. While Bosworth won back-to-back Butkus Awards in 1985 and ’86, the only school to have had consecutive winners with two different players was Illinois with Dana Howard in 1994 and Kevin Hardy in ’95.


Orlando’s DAC expanded the award to high school and NFL linebackers in 2008.


Among the 39 college players who have won the Butkus, nine competed for Big Ten Conference teams:


1989 – Percy Snow, Michigan State

1991 – Erick Anderson, Michigan

1994 – Dana Howard, Illinois

1995 – Kevin Hardy, Illinois

1997 – Andy Katzenmoyer, Ohio State

1999 – LaVar Arrington, Penn State

2005 – Paul Posluszny, Penn State

2007 – James Laurinaitis, Ohio State

2022 – Jack Campbell, Iowa


                                Ralph Fletcher

Ralph Fletcher

Dec. 15, 2023

The University of Illinois’s Fletcher family is legendary in Fighting Illini history and the head of the clan, Ralph Fletcher, assumes as significant a position as anyone in his tribe.


Born 125 years ago today—December 15, 1898—in Morris, Illinois, Fletcher and his younger brother, Bob, played football together for Bob Zuppke from 1918 through 1920.


As a sophomore, the versatile halfback helped the Illini win the Big Ten title. A year later, Fletcher and his Illini teammates captured both the Big Ten and national championships.


One of his most famous games was played against Chicago in 1919 at Illinois Field when he scored a touchdown, converted the point after TD, and kicked a field goal, accounting for all ten points in an Illini shutout. Two games prior to that, Fletcher place-kicked the winning field goal against Iowa in a 9-7 victory. In 1920 as a senior, his kick against Chicago was the only score in a 3-0 win.


Fletcher also lettered as a starter for Coach Ralph Jones’s Illini basketball team in 1918-19, playing in a lineup that included Burt Ingwersen and Tug Wilson.


After graduating from Illinois in 1919, Fletcher served as head football and basketball coach at West Aurora High School from 1920-28, winning three conference championships and losing in the ‘28 basketball state finals to Canton. He then coached at Waukegan for the following two years, and returned to West Aurora in 1930. Fletcher assumed a similar position at Glenbard High School in 1936 before coming back to the U of I as head freshman football coach in 1939.


Fletcher was promoted to varsity backfield coach in 1942 and also served as Illinois’s head golf coach from 1944-66.


Two of Fletcher’s sons became Illini athletes. Rod was a consensus first-team All-American basketball player for Coach Harry Combes in 1952, while his oldest son, Pete, lettered in golf in 1950.


In 1989, Ralph Fletcher was inducted into West Aurora High School Sports Hall of Fame. He died in January of 1967 at the age of 68.


                                Tonja Buford-Bailey

Tonja Buford-Bailey

Dec. 13, 2023

Tonja Buford-Bailey—an individual whom many call the University of Illinois’s greatest female athlete—celebrates her birthday today.


A four-time state hurdling champ at Meadowdale High School in Dayton, Ohio, she became the Fighting Illini’s most outstanding athlete from 1990-93, eclipsing records in track and field nearly every time she ran.


Today, she directs the Buford Bailey Track Club in Austin, Tex. and has been married to former NFL player Victor Bailey for nearly 30 years. Her son, Victor Bailey Jr.—nicknamed “VJ”—played basketball at the University of Tennessee. Her daughter, Victoria, is an outstanding volleyball player.


Tonja Buford-Bailey’s career story, by the numbers:


2              She twice was named United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Head Women's Coach of the Year.


3              Buford-Bailey competed in the Olympic Games three different times (1992, 1996 and 2000), earning a bronze medal in ’96 in the 400 meter hurdles behind Jamaica’s Deon Hemmings and American Kim Batten.


4              Named Big Ten Athlete of the Year in women’s track and field four times. In 1992, she won four events: the 100-meter dash, the 100-meter hurdles, the 400-meter hurdles, and was a member of the winning 4 x 100 relay hurdles team.


10           Earned All-America acclaim for Illinois on 10 occasions.


29           Number of Big Ten track and field individual and relay champs she tutored as an Illini head coach (13 indoors, 16 outdoors)


25           Buford-Bailey concluded her Illini career with a record 25 Big Ten individual and relay titles, two more than the previous conference record held by Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor.


28           She was a member of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame inaugural class of 28 members.



52.62    Buford-Bailey’s mark of 52.62 seconds in the 400 hurdles on Aug. 11, 1995 ranks as the seventh-best time on the all-time world list.


55.12    Her time (in seconds) when she won the 1992 NCAA title in the 400 meter hurdles.


2008     Became head coach of the Illini women’s track and field squad when Gary Winckler announced his retirement.


2012     She served as an assistant coach for Team USA’s track and field squad for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.


2016     Year she was named USATF Nike Coach of the Year at the University of Texas, becoming the first female to be honored since the inception of the award in 1998.


2018     Named interim head coach of the University of Texas women’s track and field program.


                                Don Freeman

Don Freeman

Dec. 11, 2023

Fifty-eight years ago today - Dec. 11, 1965 - Illinois’ Don Freeman scored 35 points as the Fighting Illini topped previously undefeated West Virginia, 96-86.


Among his points were 15 free throws in 16 attempts.


Freeman, a native of Madison, Illinois, wound up his three-year Illini basketball career with a school record 1,449 points, including a single-season record 668 points his senior year (1965-66). That mark still stands today.


In 72 collegiate games, Freeman averaged 20.1 points per game. The 6-3 guard played pro ball for eight different teams from 1968-76 and scored more than 12,000 points.



                                 Jeff George

Jeff George: By the Numbers

Dec. 8, 2023

Today marks former Illini all-star quarterback Jeff George’s 56th birthday. He’ll be remembered for leading Illinois to the 1988 All-American Bowl and the 1990 Citrus Bowl, then surviving in the NFL for 15 seasons. George’s career story, by the numbers:


8:        Number of NFL teams with which he played – Colts (1990-93), Falcons (1994-96), Raiders (1997-98), Vikings (1999), Redskins (2000-01), Seahawks (2002), Bears (2004) and Buccaneers (2005).


11:      His jersey number at Illinois.


78:      Total number of NFL No. 1 draft picks in history, of which he’s one.


154:    Number of passing touchdowns he threw during his NFL career.


1985:   Year he was presented the Dial Award as the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year at Indianapolis’s Warren Central High School.


1987:   Year he transferred from Purdue to Illinois.


1990:   Year he was the first draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts.


1997:   Season he led the NFL in passing yards (3,917).


27,602:   Passing yards he accumulated as an NFL quarterback.


50,000,000:     Approximately, in dollars, his career salary as an NFL player. He signed the richest rookie contract (at the time) for $15 million with the Colts in 1990.


                                 Coach Doug Mills and his Whiz Kids

The Whiz Kids Reunite

Dec. 6, 2023

Seventy-seven years ago today—Dec. 6, 1946—the Whiz Kids reunited at Huff Gym.


Wrote Daily Illini staffer (and future NBC-TV star) Gene Shalit the next day, “The Whiz Kids came back to Huff Gym last night. And before 7,785 fans—the largest home crowd in Illinois’s history—they proved that they are indeed the wizards of old. It took them only 20 minutes to humble Cornell College, 49-13, and then they retired for the night.”


The 87-39 victory was the first appearance for the Whiz Kids senior quartet of Andy Phillip, Jack Smiley, Ken Menke and Gene Vance since Mar. 1, 1943, the date they’d last played together as a unit. A call to service during World War II prompted their departure.


Coach Doug Mills’ 1942-43 Illini were a well-oiled, nearly flawless unit, having compiled a 17-1 overall record and a perfect 12-0 record in Big Ten play. Just days before the NCAA Tournament began, the Army drafted Menke, Smiley and then fellow Whiz Kid Art Mathisen, leaving only Vance and Phillips. But Mills made a decision in February of 1943 that all five supported.


“If all five guys couldn’t not get a chance to play in the tournament,” Vance told the Chicago Tribune in 2005, “then two of us shouldn’t either. So, we didn’t play. It was the right choice.”


The tournament went on without Illinois. Ultimately, Wyoming beat Georgetown in the 1943 NAA title game.


What happened during the Illini foursome’s nearly 30 months of military service took both a physical and emotional toll.


Phillip, a standout from Granite City’s 1940 state champions, had served as a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps during the war. He had seen men in his platoon at Iwo Jima die around him. According to Phillip’s former Boston Celtics teammate, the late Tommy Heinsohn, those war-time encounters strengthened him as a pro.


“Andy was tough-minded,” Heinsohn told a Tribune interviewer in Phillips’ obituary. “I think that experience in the second World War really helped build him as a player. When things weren’t going the way you’d like them to go, Andy was there to help you overcome.”


Smiley came to Illinois from Waterman High School. Serving with the Army’s 106th division as an artillery corporal, he was engaged in one of the war’s deadliest skirmishes, the Battle of the Bulge. It was written that Smiley once fired his Howitzer for 96 continuous hours. His division reported a 90 percent casualty rate during the combat. Smiley’s return to the Illini for the 1946-47 season was capped when he was named UI basketball’s Most Valuable Player.


Menke, who played for Dundee High School’s 1938 state champs, served with the Army’s 193rd Field Artillery Battalion in the European theater of operation from 1943-46.


Vance, a native of nearby Clinton, wore a U.S. Army uniform during World War II duty in Europe, then also later during the Korean conflict. He earned two Bronze stars, a decoration awarded for heroic achievement and service.


Said Vance years later of the Whiz Kids, “We just had five guys who played off each other well, didn’t have specific roles, and nobody care who scored all the points as long as we were winning.”



                                 D.A. Points

1964 Illinois-UCLA Game

Dec. 4, 2023

Fifty-nine years ago today—Dec. 4, 1964—the Fighting Illini hit a single-game percentage record of its shots and broke defending NCAA champion UCLA’s 30-game winning streak, defeating Coach John Wooden’s Bruins by a score of 110 to 83 at the Assembly Hall.


Though UCLA guard Gail Goodrich took game honors with 25 points on eight field goals and nine of 10 free throws, Illinois’ beautifully balanced attack from six individuals in double figures was the story of the day. Hitting long shots over UCLA’s deep-sag defense, Coach Harry Combes’ team cashed in on 46 of its 79 shots for a school record efficiency of 58.2 percent. UI’s previous varsity mark was 56.3 percent against Butler in 1958.


Illini center Duane “Skip” Thoren tallied 20 points to pace the home team to its Friday night massacre in Champaign. He was closely followed in the scoring ledger by Bill McKeown’s 19 points, then 17 apiece from Don Freeman and Bogie Redmon, 16 from Tal Brody, and 10 from Larry Hinton.


The Illini would go on to finish the 1964-65 season with an 18-6 record and a 10-4 mark in Big Ten Conference play.


Wooden’s Bruins seemed to miss the steady direction of graduated All-America guard Walt Hazzard that evening against Illinois, but rebounded successfully the following day to beat host Indiana State, 112-76. then rattled off 12 more wins in a row before a Jan. 29 loss against Iowa on a neutral court. After that second loss, UCLA won its last 15 straight, including a 91-80 victory over Cazzie Russell’s Michigan team in the NCAA championship game.


UCLA would “slump” to a disappointing 18-8 record in 1965-66, but amazingly went on to be crowned back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back NCAA champs in 1966-67 (30-0), ‘67-68 (29-1), ‘68-69 (29-1), ’69-70 (28-2), ’70-71 (29-1), ’71-72 (30-0) and ’72-73 (30-0).


                                 D.A. Points

D.A. Points

Dec. 1, 2023

Happy forty-seventh birthday to former Fighting Illini star Darren Andrew “D.A.” Points, currently an active participant on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour.


Born in Pekin in 1976 and the 1993 Class AA medalist at Pekin High School, Points originally chose to play collegiate golf at LSU. Following his sophomore season with the Tigers, the three-time Illinois Amateur champion decided to transfer to the University of Illinois and play for Coach Ed Beard.


The 6-1, 195-pound right-hander sparkled during his two seasons with the Illini (1998 and ’99), earning first-team All-Big Ten honors both years. Points was the medalist at three different tournaments during his Illini career and tied for twelfth place at the 1999 NCAA Tournament.


Points began competition on the PGA circuit in 2002 and has won three individual titles. His first victory was at the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, shooting rounds of 63, 70, 71 and 67. He also won the pro-am competition that year with comedian Bill Murray. Points won more than $2 million in purses that year.


His top money-earning season came in 2013 ($2.7 million) when he won the Shell Houston Open and finished thirtieth in the FedEx Cup standings.


Points’ most recent victory was in 2017 at the Puerto Rico Open. He’s had nineteen top ten finishes and fifty-four top twenty-five placings. Points’ best finish in a major tournament was when he tied for tenth at the 2011 PGA Championship. Through 18 professional seasons, his career earnings total $11.8 million.


A neck injury has limited Points to just thirteen starts in 2019.

 

He now resides in Windermere, Fla. with his wife, Lori, and his daughter, Laila Jane.


                                 Dee Brown and Bruce Weber

2005 Illini-Tar Heels Rematch

Nov. 29, 2023

Revenge was on the mind of Coach Bruce Weber’s Fighting Illini basketball team 18 years ago today – Nov. 29, 2005 – as Illinois and North Carolina met for the first time since the 2005 NCAA championship game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.


Though the rosters were a bit different than the contest played 239 days earlier, pride was on the line for the undefeated and 12th-ranked Illini (5-0) and Coach Roy Williams’ unbeaten Tar Heels (3-0). This time the game was played in Chapel Hill at the Dean Smith Center, a site where UNC had won 21 consecutive games. Angering Illinois even more was the gigantic banner that hung in the arena’s rafters, reminding the Illini of their failure on April 4.


Weber, who’d broken his ankle a day earlier working in his yard, hobbled on the sidelines with a protective boot, played the rematch with only four of the nine athletes who’d appeared in the title game (James Augustine, Dee Brown, Rich McBride and Warren Carter) while only reserves Reyshawn Terry and David Noel returned for North Carolina.


The second half of the late-night game began with the score tied at 35-all, but Illinois bounced ahead by five on a long-distance bomb from Brian Randle and a short jumper by Brown. A three-pointer by freshman Jamar Smith extended UI’s lead with 49-40 at the 14:49 mark, but over the next five minutes North Carolina whittled the margin to just three points. A 10-point burst by Illinois increased its lead to 61-48 at the 7:42 mark, but a pair of Tar Heel three-pointers and six-of-six free-throw shooting by UNC freshman Tyler Hansbrough made the score 64-62, in favor of Illinois. Now just 3:20 remaining on the clock.


After the teams traded buckets, UI’s Smith misfired on the front end of a 1-and-1 with just 17 second left, but Randle beat everyone to the rebound and quickly passed the ball to Brown, who made two crucial free throws to seal UI’s 68-64 victory.


Said Roy Williams afterwards, "That was a fun basketball game. If you didn't care who won, fans had to enjoy that.”


                                 Darrick Bownlow

Darrick Brownlow

Nov. 27, 2023

On this date 34 years ago today - Nov. Nov. 27, 1989 - Illinois linebacker Darrick Brownlow was named Big Ten football’s Defensive Player of the Year by the media, while teammate Moe Gardner was the pick of the coaches for that honor.


One week after his honor from the Conference, Brownlow finished second to Colorado’s Alfred Williams in the 1990 Butkus Award voting. He was also one of the final 10 for that award the two previous seasons.


Helping lead the Illini to a share of the Big Ten Championship in 1990, the Indianapolis native ended that season with 161 tackles and nine tackles for loss, winning first-team All-Big Ten honors for the third straight year.


Brownlow finished his Illini career with 483 tackles, second only to John Sullivan (1974-78).


He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Brownlow also played for the Tampa Bay Bucs (1992-93), the Cowboys again (1994), the Washington Redskins (1995-96) and the Chicago Bears (1997).     


                                 1990 Illini Football Media Guide

1990 Illini-Wildcats Game

Nov. 24, 2023

Thirty-three years ago today—Nov. 24, 1990—Illinois’s football team rode the broad shoulders of Howard Griffith and gained a share of their first Big Ten title in seven seasons.


Entering the regular-season finale, Coach John Mackovic’s Fighting Illini needed Lady Luck to smile upon them. Not only did Illinois need to defeat pesky Northwestern minus the services of injured seniors Moe Gardner, Curt Lovelace and Frank Hartley, they’d need some upsets to occur around the league.


Entering the weekend, Iowa (6-1) held a half-game lead over Ohio State (5-1-1) and a full one-game margin over Illinois (5-2), Michigan (5-2) and Michigan State (5-2). For the Illini to have an opportunity to tie for the conference championship, Minnesota would need to defeat the Hawkeyes in the Twin Cities and the No. 15 Wolverines would have to beat the No. 19 Buckeyes in Columbus. Fortunately for Illinois, both the Gophers (31-24) and Michigan (16-13) responded accordingly. In the latter game, a 37-yard field goal on the last play of the game was the difference. In East Lansing, MSU squeaked by Wisconsin, 14-9, to work itself into position for a co-championship.


That left it up to Illinois to take care of business. The Illini were more than ready, bolting off to a 21-0 first-quarter lead on its first three possessions. A pair of defensive interceptions by UI’s Quintin Parker on Northwestern’s first two drives resulted in short touchdown runs by Griffith and Steve Feagin. Illinois’s third drive was capped by a 14-yard touchdown toss from Jason Verduzco to Jeff Finke.


“Things were flying so fast,” said NU coach Francis Peay, “that I’m not really sure what happened.”


Two Northwestern touchdowns and a Wildcat field goal cut Illinois’s lead to 21-17 after three quarters, but Griffith’s second TD with just five-and-a-half minutes left in the fourth provided the Illini with what would prove to be the game-winning score. Final score: Illinois 28, Northwestern 23.


Griffith made his final game at Memorial Stadium a memorable one, rushing for an Illinois record 263 yards on 37 carries. That broke Jim Grabowski’s 26-year-old record (239 yards vs. Wisconsin in 1964).


In the locker room afterwards, officials from Tampa’s Hall of Fame Bowl extended a New Year’s Day game bid to Illinois. It guaranteed the first time in school history that the Illini would participate in three consecutive bowl games.


                                 Ray Gallivan

1924 Illini-Buckeyes Game

Nov. 22, 2023

Ninety-nine years ago today – Nov. 22, 1924 – Coach Bob Zuppke’s Illinois football team hosted the Ohio State Buckeyes, attempting to right the ship in a season when things had begun so promisingly. However, there was one huge problem facing the Fighting Illini this day. They’d be playing without the services of injured superstar running back Red Grange.


A week before at Minnesota, in a stunning 20-7 loss, Illinois’s famed No. 77 had suffered torn ligaments in his right shoulder when he was fallen upon—out of bounds—by an overzealous Gopher tackler. With his arm being supported by a sling and dressed in civilian clothes, Grange could only look on from the sideline. Just 35 days earlier, the Galloping Ghost had run wild against Michigan in Memorial Stadium’s dedication game, but there would be no encore performance on this cold afternoon against Ohio State.


Also injured against Minnesota was Illini junior quarterback Harry Hall, so Zup called upon a pair of lesser-used reserves—William Green from Rockford and Ray Gallivan from Urbana—to fill Grange and Hall’s respective roles.


Despite UI’s depleted ranks, the 5-1-1 Illini remained the favorite against Coach John Wilce’s Buckeyes. OSU entered the day with an unusual record of two victories, two losses and three ties, and had been particularly stingy on defense, allowing only 38 total points in their previous seven games.


As the game began, the Buckeyes appeared ready to compete. Midway through the first quarter, OSU recovered a fumble on Illinois’s 29-yard line. However, it could no advance further on its next three plays. On fourth down, the Buckeye placekicker missed a short field goal. That change in momentum allowed Gallivan to start gallivanting. He burst through the line, shed three prospective tacklers, and ran 40 yards to OSU’s 35-yard line. Two more sizable gains by Gallivan got Illinois down to the Buckeye 10, but forward progress stalled and Earl Britton missed a field goal attempt.


After OSU’s punt on the subsequent drive, Illinois regained possession. Once again, Gallivan sparkled. He caught a pass from Britton that took the pigskin to the 12-yard line. Two short Illini runs by Wallie McIllwain and Green preceded Gallivan’s plunge over the goal line. It would prove to be the only score all afternoon. Illinois won by a score of 7-0, extending its series record lead over Ohio State to 7-4-2.


Gallivan ended the day with a hundred yards rushing, allowing Illinois to keep the series trophy, a hearty, live turtle that the schools had nicknamed “Illibuck”. (Note: Illibuck ultimately died on April 14, 1926, and was replaced by a wooden replica.)


As for Gallivan, himself, he lettered twice more for Zuppke, then became a successful prep coach at Whiting High School in northern Indiana. When World War II broke out, Gallivan left his coaching position to join the United States Coast Guard. He returned to Whiting High in 1946 and retired in 1954 to become the school’s principal, then superintendent of all Whiting Public Schools.


Gallivan died on Sept. 15, 1974 at the age of 71 and is buried in Champaign’s St. Mary’s Cemetery.


                                 Action from the 2022 Illini-Wildcat game

Illini-Wildcat Season Finales

Nov. 20, 2023


For 10 of the last 11 years, including this coming Saturday’s game at Memorial Stadium, Northwestern has been the Fighting Illini football team’s regular-season finale opponent. The only time that a Wildcat-Illini match-up hasn’t happened over the last decade was the unusual COVID season of 2019.


Since Illinois football’s very first campaign in 1890, the Land of Lincoln’s intrastate rivals have previously been paired against each other in the finale a total of 56 times. In those late November matches, Northwestern holds the edge with 29 victories, 26 losses and one tie.


A review of some of Illinois’ most memorable regular-season finales against Northwestern:


Nov. 27, 2021: Illinois dominated the Wildcats from beginning to end in its 47-14 victory. In capturing the Land of Lincoln Trophy for the first time since 2014, Illinois’ individual heroes were quarterback Brandon Peters (242 yards passing) and Chase Brown (112 yards rushing).


Nov. 22, 2001: Illinois wrapped up a share of the Big Ten title for the first time since 1990 on Thanksgiving Day, then was rewarded with a sole championship two days later when Ohio State beat Michigan. As they had throughout the season, Illinois seniors played a big role in the 34-28 victory that boosted UI’s record to 10-1. Quarterback Kurt Kittner completed 33 of his 43 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns.


Nov. 18, 2000: Coach Randy Walker’s Wildcats secured a conference co-championship with its dominating 61-23 victory in Evanston. NU running back Damien Anderson scored a school-record four touchdowns in just three quarters.


Nov. 24, 1990: It was the Howard Griffith Show as No. 22 Illinois held off determined Northwestern, 28-23. The victory gave Illinois a four-way share of the Big Ten title. Griffith’s 263-yard rushing effort smashed the Illini single-game mark of 239 yards set by Jim Grabowski in 1964. Griffith also scored two touchdowns, breaking Red Grange’s career mark.


Nov. 25, 1989: Eleventh-ranked Illinois demolished host Northwestern, 63-14, then accepted an invitation to play in the Florida Citrus Bowl. UI’s offensive explosion against the winless Wildcats was the most an Illini team had scored in Big Ten play since 1908.


Nov. 19, 1983: Thousands of Illini fans turned Dyche Stadium into a sea of Orange and Blue, cheering on Illinois to an historic 56-24 victory. UI’s nine wins in a full round-robin Big Ten slate made it the winningest single-season conference team ever. Jack Trudeau’s four touchdown passes, including two to Tim Brewster, and Thomas Rooks’ 138 rushing yards topped Illinois’ individual highlights.


Nov. 21, 1953: Illinois’ 39-14 victory over Northwestern gave it a share of the Big Ten championship with Michigan State. In a vote by Big Ten athletic directors the following day, the Spartans were chosen to represent the conference at the Rose Bowl game.


Nov. 24, 1951: Sam Rebecca’s 17-yard field goal provided Illinois with the only points it needed, defeating Northwestern, 3-0. Not only did the victory give Illinois its first Big Ten title since 1946, it was UI’s first against a Wildcat team coached by Bob Voigts.


Nov. 23, 1946: Three quick touchdown strikes catapulted Illinois to its first conference title since 1928 and its first-ever Rose Bowl invitation. One of the Illini TDs was a 53-yard run by Art Dufelmeier, an ex-army air corp bombardier who had spent 11 months in a German prison camp during World War II.


Nov. 21, 1908: The first time that Illinois and Northwestern were matched against each other in the season finale occurred 114 years ago. Illini QB Pom Sinnock’s remarkable passing performance (14-of-17) resulted in a 64 to 8 victory.


                                 Andy Kaufmann

Andy Kaufmann

Nov. 17, 2023


Today marks Andy Kaufmann’s 54th birthday. He’ll be remembered in Fighting Illini basketball lore for his dramatic, last-second three-pointer that beat Iowa in 1994.


However, he initially became a legend in Illinois high school basketball at Jacksonville by leading the state in scoring in both his sophomore and junior seasons. His 3,160 points as a Crimson ranked second only to the 3,358 scored by Charlie Vaughn of Tamms High from 1954-58.


A look at Andy Kaufmann’s career, by the numbers:


1.5: Seconds remaining when he received a three-quarter-court pass from T.J. Wheeler, then hit a game-winning shot to beat No. 9 Iowa.


7: Three-pointers made vs. Missouri on Dec. 19, 1990 (14 attempts).


10: Where he ranks on Illinois’ all-time scoring list with 1,533 points.


14.9: Scoring average during his career at Illinois.


21.3: His team-leading scoring average during the 1990-91 season.


34: His jersey number at Illinois.


46:  Points he scored vs. vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 3, 1990, second-best single-game scoring mark in Illini men’s history.


660: Points he scored for the Illini during the 1990-91 season, just eight shy of Don Freeman’s Illini record in 1965-66.



918: Career number of free throws he attempted during his prep career at Jacksonville High School, a national record.



                                 Jannelle Flaws

Jannelle Flaws

Nov. 15, 2023


Illinois soccer’s career and season record-holder for goals scored, Jannelle Flaws, celebrates her birthday today.

 

The former Glenbrook South High School star’s collegiate career began slowly, redshirting her first season in 2010. Flaws was recovering from a knee injury that she’d suffered during her final high school season.


The two-time all-stater departed Glenbrook South after setting the Titans’ career records for goals (145) and points (329). As an Illini redshirt freshman in 2011, Flaws tallied three goals and three assists, but her knee injury flared up again in 2012, sending her to the training room for the entire campaign.


In 2013, Flaws started in 22 of her 23 appearances for UI coach Janet Rayfield and notched an Illinois record 23 goals. Rayfield said Flaws knew what she was aiming at the whole time.


“There were two things that would make you think that it could happen,” Rayfield said about her star. “Her greatest strength was her ability to score goals. Secondly, she cared about the stats. Jannelle knew the Illini records and the Big Ten records. She even tracked the leading goal scorers across the country every season. She was one of those athletes that saw records as something to go after, so I am not surprised she achieved that success.”


Following the 2013 season, conference coaches selected Flaws as the Big Ten Forward of the Year, while Illinois named her the Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year.


And though Flaws never reached that lofty scoring level again, she continued to pace the Illini in scoring in her junior and senior seasons, tallying 17 goals in 2014 and 11 more in 2015. That gave her an Illini record 54 career goals in 84 games, seven more than Tara Hurless had scored during her Hall of Fame career from 2001-04.


What were the characteristics that set Flaws apart from other players Rayfield coached?


“Athletically, I would say it was her ability to push herself to her limits in those competitive moments,” Rayfield said. “But that is also tied to her firm belief that she could impact the outcome. She is one of those athletes that, with the game tied, wants to take the last shot and wants the outcome to rest on her shoulders. It wasn’t just confidence because lots of athletes are confident. It was conviction. And it wasn’t ego. She wanted the ball because she wanted to win and she was willing to accept the responsibility to make that happen.”


Most recently, Flaws resided in Germany and played for SV Meppen in the German Women’s Bundesliga.


                                 Josh Whitman

This Date in Illini History

Nov. 13, 2023


Twenty-four years ago today—Nov. 13, 1999—Coach Ron Turner’s Fighting Illini football team became bowl eligible with a 46-20 victory at Ohio State, its most lopsided win against the Buckeyes in 70 years. It marked the first time in school history that the Illini had won at OSU and at Michigan in the same season. Tight end Josh Whitman (pictured) caught two of quarterback Kurt Kittner’s four touchdown passes, while fullback Jameel Cook was the recipient of 100 of Kittner’s 221 passing yards.


In the previous four meetings between the two schools, Ohio State had beaten Illinois by a combined margin of 171-9.


Other memorable moments in Illini history that have occurred on Nov. 13:


• One-hundred-eight years ago (Nov. 13, 1915), Potsy Clark and Jesse Nelson scored touchdowns in a 17-3 win against Wisconsin that improved UI’s record to 4-0-2.


• On this date in 1943, referees pulled Illini players out of the locker room after Illinois assumed that its game against Ohio State had ended in a 26-26 tie. Officials ruled that UI was offside on the final play, allowing Buckeye freshman John Stungis to kick a game-winning 23-yard field goal.


• On Nov. 13, 1965, Illinois handed Wisconsin its worst loss since 1916, shutting out the Badgers, 51-0, in Madison. While the Illini defense held UW to minus four yards rushing, UI’s Jim Grabowski ran for 196 yards on a Big Ten record 38 attempts.


• Forty-six years ago today (Nov. 13, 1977), longtime Illini basketball coach Harry Combes died at the age of 62.


• On Nov. 13, 1982, Tony Eason threw three first-half touchdown passes and Mitchell Brookins rushed for three TDs as Illinois crushed Indiana, 48-7, in the regular season finale at Bloomington.


• Clint and Susan Atkins announced a $2.5 million donation for an Illini tennis center 36 years ago today.


• Thirty-two years ago (Nov. 13, 1991), Coach Lou Henson’s basketball staff signed Richard Keene and Chris Gandy to letters of intent.


• On Nov. 13, 2010, Demetri McCamey and D.J. Richardson led No. 13 Illinois past Coach Bruce Weber’s former team, SIU, 85-63.


                                 Memorial Stadium's Colonnade

Memorial Stadium's Columns

Nov. 10, 2023


Two-hundred stately 22-foot, Doric-style columns grace each side of the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium, memorializing the 188 men and one woman who lost their lives in World War I.


In 2002, the U of I broadened the stadium's original allegiance to honor those who gave their lives in our nation's wars. The memorial honors 948 alumni, students, faculty and staff who gave their lives in the nation's wars and conflicts since 1918. Their names are engraved on an impressive limestone tablets at the passages to Memorial Stadium's east and west colonnades, alongside the names of their fallen World War I associates.


On Oct. 17, 1924, as part of the dedication exercises for Memorial Stadium, 1916 UI graduate Lewis Sarrett read his work, entitled “Ode to Illinois”. The closing stanza of Mr. Sarrett’s stirring poem:


Know that the broken hosts

Of martial-moving ghosts,

Who gave to a warring world their last full breath,

And won to immortality in death,

Hovering in stadium shaft and tower height,

In memorial court and buttressed peak,

Shall watch for you, and speak

To you of Great Moments in a Greater Fight.

O Men of Illinois, in war and peace and play,

So may we live that when the crucial fight is won,

And the long race run,

These spirits of an elder day

Shall bend to each of us and say:

Well done! Well done!

Yours is the will to win. Well done, my prairie son.


                                 Walt Kersulis

Walt Kersulis

Nov. 8, 2023


While his career may not have created many headlines, East St. Louis High School star Walter “Slip” Kersulis accomplished something only six other Illinois football players ever accomplished: lettering four times in football and four times in a second sport.


Born 97 years ago today, Kersulis is the only one of the six men who lettered, served in the military, then returned to campus to complete his collegiate career. An Army soldier during World War II, Kersulis lettered in Illini football and basketball—in 1944 and ’45 respectively—as a true freshman. Three years later, he returned to campus and lettered three more times in each sport.


Playing for Coach Ray Eliot, Kersulis was a standout receiver, leading the ’48 team in receptions for 22 for 329 yards. Career-wise, he’s believed to have finished his eligibility as UI’s all-time leading receiver with 37 catches for 532 yards and six touchdowns. Following his senior season, he was selected to play in the 1950 College All-Star Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Teaming with Eddie LaBaron. Leon Hart, Leo Nomelini, Doak Walker, Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice and others, the All-Stars stunned the Eagles, winning 17-7.


As a 6-4 forward/center, Kersulis played for Coach Doug Mills as a freshman during the 1944-45 season, tallying 90 points. but was greeted by a new coach when he returned from service. For Coach Harry Combes, Kersulis averaged four points per game from 1948 through 1950.


He played one season (1950-51) as a professional in the National Professional Basketball League for the Louisville Alumnites. He eventually became manager of the date processing department for Reynolds Metals Company in Richmond, Va.


Kersulis died on Apr. 12, 1973 at the age of 46 from a case of acute myeloid leukemia. He is buried with his wife, Jean, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Urbana.


Illini four-year football letter winners who also lettered four times in a second sport:


Don Sweney

Football: 1893-1894-1895-1897

Track & Field: 1893-1894-1895-1898


James Cook

Football: 1898-1900-1901-1902

Baseball: 1900-1901-1902-1903


Claude Rothgeb

Football: 1900-1902-1903-1904

Track & Field: 1902-1903-1904-1905


Walt Kersulis

Football: 1944-1947-1948-1949

Basketball: 1945-1948-1949-1950


Russell “Ruck” Steger

Football: 1946-1947-1948-1949

Baseball: 1947-1948-1949-1950


Forry Wells

Football: 1990-1991-1992-1993

Baseball: 1991-1992-1993-1994


                                 The 1997-98 Illini basketball poster

Revisiting the 1997-98 Big Ten Champions

Nov. 6, 2023


As Brad Underwood’s team prepares to open the University of Illinois’ 119th season Monday evening at the State Farm Center, the 2023-24 campaign marks the 26th anniversary of the school’s 1998 Big Ten championship team.


Because of the departure of three-time team Most Valuable Player Kiwane Garris and classmate Chris Gandy to graduation, Big Ten media predicted 26 years ago that the Illini would finish in the bottom half of the conference standings. Second-year coach Lon Kruger did return seven underrated seniors to his 1997-98 squad, including an upperclass quintet of Jerry Hester, Brian Johnson, Jarrod Gee, Kevin Turner and Matt Heldman that comprised the starting lineup in 31 of Illinois’ 33 games that season and accounted for 84 percent of its scoring.


The 1997 portion of UI’s ’97-98 season began slowly, losing to formidable teams from Louisville, St. John’s, St. Louis, Missouri and UCLA. Illinois was only 3-2 through its first five Big Ten contests in January, but then strung together 10 victories in its last 11 regular-season games to finish in a tie with Michigan State in the final conference standings.


Here’s a 2023 look at several of the members of the 1997-98 Illini and what they’re doing today:


COACH LON KRUGER: After departing Champaign in 2000 to take the reins of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks (2000,-03) Kruger finished his career with college stints at UNLV (2004-11) and Oklahoma (2011-21). His collegiate coaching career ended with 674 victories and 432 losses.


KEVIN TURNER: The first-team All-Big Ten selection and ’97-98 team co-MVP is now an iron worker in Chicago and has three kids, ages 16, 14 and four.


JERRY HESTER: The ’98 co-MVP and third-team all-conference pick finished his career tenth on UI’s career scoring list. He now operates the highly successful Hester Insurance Group in Chicago.


MATT HELDMAN: One of Illinois’ top three-point shooters that season, Heldman and his father, Otis, died in an automobile accident in Libertyville in October of 1999.


BRIAN JOHNSON: A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and the 1998 winner of the Kenny Battle Inspiration Award, Johnson currently is Senior Director of Engineering at Gloo in Barrington Hills.


JARROD GEE: He averaged eight points and five rebounds per game for the 1998 Big Ten champions. After a recent stint as a patrol officer in Stafford, Tex., Gee now serves as a youth intervention specialist for the Chicago Public School System.


JELANI BOLINE: A senior member and participant in 28 of Illinois’ 33 games that season, Boline resides today in Fort Worth, Tex. with his wife and two sons.


DAVID FREEMAN: The seventh senior member of the ’97-98 Illini squad and a product of Champaign Central High School now is a professional actor and producer in West Hollywood, Calif. and the strategic advisor for Mesh++.


ARIAS DAVIS: The lone junior 25 years ago for the Illini was a 2016 inductee into the Waycross-Ware County Sports Hall of Fame (Georgia).


VICTOR CHUKWUDEBE: A sophomore forward that year and a participant in all 33 games, he’s now an administrator for Success Academy in South Bend, Ind.


JEFF REICHARDT: The ’97-98 sophomore is now a project and program manager for IBM Global Business Services in Chicagoland.


SERGIO McCLAIN: McClain played in all 33 games that season and averaged three points and three rebounds. In 2011, he developed the 217309 Pipeline Foundation in honor of his father, former Illini assistant coach Wayne McClain.


AWVEE STOREY: Though his stay at the University of Illinois was brief, Storey went on to star at Arizona State and then play in the NBA (2004-08). Today, he is an assistant coach for the Maine Celtics of the NBA G League.


RICH BEYERS: A freshman on the ’97-98 Illini who eventually transferred to play at Illinois State, Rich Beyers most recently coached at Father McGivney High School in Glen Carbon, Ill.


                                 The 2019-20 Illini basketball team

Illini Basketball's Most Improved Seasons

Nov. 3, 2023


So, will the 2023-24 edition be the most improved Illinois men's basketball team ever? In terms of comparing winning percentages from one season to the next, probably not. That particular record will almost certainly remain with the 1907-08 Illini team that bettered its winning percentage from .091 in 1906-07 (1-10 record) to .769 a year later (20-6). Statistically, this year’s squad would have to win more than ninety percent of its games, so you probably can rule that out.


Here are Illinois’ eleven most improved men’s basketball teams and reasons why they got so much better from one year to the next:


1.  1-10 in 1906-07 (.091 winning percentage) to 20-6 in 1907-08 (.769) … improvement of plus .678

(Why the improvement? Coach Fletcher Lane’s only Illini squad benefitted from a 22-day Southern trip in mid-December to early January that got victories from several YMCA and club teams. It cooled off during the Big Ten season, finishing with a 6-5 conference mark. By the way, future International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage was a member of that team.)


2. 11-13 in 1967-68 (.458) to 19-5 in 1968-69 (.792) … improvement of plus .334

(Why the improvement? Harv Schmidt’s ’68-69 club won all ten of its non-conference games and nine of its fourteen league contests, thanks to the return of stars Mike Price, Dave Scholz and Jodie Harrison. The addition of sophomore center Greg Jackson’s 16.4 points per game proved to be the most legitimate spark.)


3. 12-21 in 2018-19 (.363) to 21-10 in 2019-20 (.677) … improvement of plus .314

(Why the improvement? The addition of Kofi Cockburn and the maturation of Ayo Dosunmu, Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Andres Feliz led Brad Underwood's third team to a final Associated Press ranking of No. 21.


4. 5-12 in 1927-28 (.294) to 10-7 in 1928-29 (.588) … improvement of plus .294

(Why the improvement? Veteran coach Craig Ruby added Charles “Bur” Harper and Elbridge May from ’27-28’s outstanding freshman class to returning vets Doug Mills, Ernie Dorn and Earl Drew. That helped Illinois improve its conference record from 2-10 to 6-6.)


5. 9-15 in 1960-61 (.375) to 15-8 in 1961-62 (.652) … improvement of plus .277

(Why the improvement? Four returning starters—Dave Downey, Jerry Colangelo, Bill Burwell and Bill Small—all gave Coach Harry Combes double-figure scoring in ’61-62, but the contribution from Bob Starnes (9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds) gave Illinois the extra boost it needed.)


6. 14-18 in 1998-99 (.438) to 22-10 in 1999-2000 (.689) … improvement of plus .251

(Why the improvement? Illinois’s momentum from its improbable run in the ’99 Big Ten Tournament and the addition of Frank Williams, Brian Cook and Marcus Griffin helped Coach Lon Kruger’s Illini improve by eight games in ’99-00 and finish 21st in the AP national poll.


7. 16-19 in 2007-08 (.457) to 24-10 in 2008-09 (.706) … improvement of plus .249

(Why the improvement? Senior leadership from Chester Frazier and Trent Meacham, and the double-figure scoring of Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale aided Illinois as it climbed from a tie for ninth in the Big Ten to a tie for second.)


8. 8-18 in 1974-75 (.308) to 14-13 in 1975-76 (.519) … improvement of plus .211

(Why the improvement? The change in head coaches from Gene Bartow to rookie coach Lou Henson got the proud Illini program back on the right track. The emergence of freshman forward Rich Adams also was a big plus.)


9. 13-14 in 1977-78 (.482) to 19-11 in 1978-79 (.633) … improvement of plus .151

(Why the improvement? The Illini’s 15-game winning streak began the ’78-79 season with two more victories than the year before, but a mid-season injury to Steve Lanter caused a precipitous downfall in the second half.)


10T. 15-19 in 2015-16 (.441) to 20-15 in 2016-17 (.571) … improvement of plus .130

(Why the improvement? Having injured star Tracy Abrams back in the lineup was probably the biggest reason for improvement for Coach John Groce’s ’16-17 unit. It recorded four victories in its last five Big Ten games and won two more in the NIT.)


10T. 13-15 in 1991-92 (.464) to 19-13 in 1992-93 (.594) … improvement of plus .130

(Why the improvement? Andy Kaufmann added 17.3 points per game to an Illinois lineup that it was missing from the year before. Freshman Richard Keene bombed away for 8.3 ppg more. The Illini tied for third in the Big Ten and got back to the NCAA Tournament.)


                                 President Andrew Draper

President Andrew Draper

Nov. 1, 2023

Andrew Sloan Draper served as the University of Illinois president during the some of the most formative years of the Fighting Illini athletics program.


UI’s Board of Trustees unanimously hired the 46-year-old on Apr. 13, 1894 to replace Acting Regent  Thomas Burrill. Draper had served as Superintendent of Public Instruction in Cleveland and had established a distinguished career in both law and education. A house was built for him at the northeast corner of Wright and Green streets.


During the 10-year Draper administration, the university added a library building (currently known at Altgeld Hall), agriculture, engineering and chemistry buildings, and a Women’s Building (now called Bevier Hall). Colleges in medicine, dentistry, commerce and law were established while Draper served as president, while improvements included an automated university telephone system, the installation of a centralized power plant, addition of electricity in campus buildings, and the launching of UI’s student-operated newspaper, The Illini.


Intercollegiate athletics made huge strides during President Draper’s decade of service. A major highlight included Illinois’s charter membership in the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (eventually known as the Big Ten) in 1896.


On Nov. 1, 1894—129 years ago today—President Draper asked the student body to officially accept orange and navy blue as the university’s colors.


Draper resigned from his post in 1904 to become the State of New York’s Commissioner of Education. He died nine years later at the age of 64.


                                 Mike Hatfield

Mike Hatfield

Oct. 30, 2023

Happy 67th Birthday to Mike Hatfield, a longtime member of the Fighting Illini athletics staff.


During his nearly four decades at the University of Illinois, he served as academic counselor for the Illini football and basketball teams for eight years, then directed the athletic ticket office for the following 10. “Hat’s” final 11 years with the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics were with the “I” Fund. As an Illini administrator, he held vital roles during 12 bowl games (two Rose Bowls) and 24 post-season basketball tournaments (two Final Fours). Hatfield concluded his service with the DIA in 2010 as Executive Director of the Varsity I Association.


A member of the Hoopeston Area High School Athletics Hall of Fame, Hatfield initially competed collegiately at Parkland College, earning two letters each with the Cobras’ cross country and track and field squads. He was a three-time NJCAA state champion in Region IV and six times earned All-Illinois honors. Hatfield is a member of Parkland’s Athletics Hall of Fame, inducted last February.


He transferred to Eastern Illinois University and was a member of EIU’s NCAA Division II Champion cross country team in 1977. Hatfield earned All-America honors in track and field as a steeplechase runner. His time of 8:52.0 was the nation’s best effort of 1979 and it stood as the Panthers’ record in that event for 26 years. Hatfield earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from EIU and also is a member of the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame (1997).


Hatfield served at Cal State-Fullerton just prior to joining the Illini staff.


He recently retired from a longtime appointment at UI’s St. John’s Catholic Newman Center.


                                 Marcus Liberty

Marcus Liberty

Oct. 27, 2023

One of the most decorated Fighting Illini basketball recruits of all-time, Marcus Liberty, celebrates his 55th birthday today.


A three-year regular at Chicago’s King High School, the 6-8 Liberty led the Cougars to the Class AA state championship his junior year. As a senior, his 26.5 points and 12 rebounds per game earned him the title as 1987’s “Mr. Basketball” in Illinois.


After sitting out his freshman season, Liberty became an important member of the famed Flying Illini in ’88-89, coming off the bench to average eight points and four rebounds per game. As a senior, he was UI’s second-leading scoring (17.8 ppg) and its top rebounder (7.1).


Drafted in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft, Liberty played two seasons with Denver, then split the 1993-94 season between the Nuggets and Detroit.


Today, Liberty directs his own youth program (Liberty Edge Basketball) in Sarasota, Fla. and Chicago. He also has launched a non-profit business for underprivileged kids called Sportuity. Its mission is to support, empower and motivate youth through sports and education. To donate, contact Liberty at mliberty@marcusliberty.com.


His advice to the current generation is simple.


“I tell them to come early to the gym and stay late,” Liberty said. “You have to master your skills and respect the game. And you have to put forth the effort to make your teammates better. I hope that the younger generation listens to me.”


***


Marcus Liberty recently “constructed” his ideal basketball player, identifying exceptional qualities from athletes he’s either played with or against:


BEST BALL HANDLER (Larry Smith, Illinois): “I don’t think he had a chance to showcase his ball handling as much as he could have because of the system that we had. Larry had some smooth moves and he could break you down.”


BEST LONG-RANGE SHOOTER (Glen Rice, Michigan): “Glen Rice was a helluva shooter. If you gave him any space, the ball was going up, and nine times out of ten, it’s probably going to go all net. Glen Rice was the long bomber.”


FIERCEST REBOUNDER (Nick Anderson, Illinois): “I’m going to stick with one of my teammates. At 6-5, Nick played above the rim and rebounded the ball as well as anyone.”


BEST PASSER (Steve Smith, Michigan State): “Steve was a throwback 6-8 point guard. He could pass the ball really, really well. I did play one year in the pros against Magic (Johnson), so, of course, he’d be right there, too.”


BEST DRIVER (Rumeal Robinson, Michigan): “Rumeal had a powerful body and drive through the smallest spots. You were like ‘How did he do that?’


MOST COMPETITIVE DEFENDER (Kenny Battle, Illinois): “I’ve got to go with Kenny. That’s a no brainer. He knew how to play the passing lanes really, really well, and a lot of teams didn’t figure that out. Kenny had enough speed to recover back to his man and contain him as well. He was quicker than most power forwards.”


BEST LEADER (B.J. Armstrong, Iowa): “He was one of those generals out there on the court. He could shoot the ball, too. When it was time for B.J. to score, he could score. When it was time to set the table, he could do that for his teammates. Among the pros I played against, I would have to say Magic was the best team leader.”


                                 Dave Wilson

Single-Game Passing Leaders

Oct. 25, 2023

Forty-three years ago on this date in Fighting Illini history--Oct. 25, 1980--quarterback Dave Wilson passed for 318 yards, but Illinois fell to host Michigan, 45-14. Combined with his 425-yard performance the week before vs. Purdue, Wilson’s two-game total of 743 yards sets an all-time Illini record for consecutive contests. llinois’ single-game passing leaders:


                                   YARDS          COMP-ATT        OPPONENT, DATE

1. Dave Wilson          621 yards       43-69              Ohio State, 11/8/80

2. Tony Eason            479 yards       37-51              Wisconsin, 10/23/82

3. Juice Williams        462 yards        26-41             Minnesota, 10/11/08

4. Wes Lunt                456 yards       35-50              Western Kentucky, 9/6/14

5. Juice Williams        451 yards       26-42              Missouri, 8/30/08

6. Nate Scheelhaase 450 yards       38-57              Indiana, 11/9/13

7. Jason Verduzco     431 yards       31-59              Missouri, 9/14/91

8. Jon Beutjer            430 yards       35-57             California, 9/20/03

9. Jon Beutjer            426 yards       28-38             San Jose St., 9/21/02

10. Dave Wilson        425 yards       35-58             Purdue, 10/18/80


                                 Jim McMillen

Jim McMillen

Oct. 23, 2023

One-hundred-twenty-one years ago today - Oct. 23, 1902 - former University of Illinois football star Jim McMillen was born.


Before Red Grange joined the Illini varsity squad in 1923, McMillen was the team’s star, earning All-America honors the season before. The burly all-star guard from Grayslake attended Libertyville High School before enrolling at the Champaign-Urbana campus.


During his senior season at Illinois in ’23, McMillen created the holes through which Grange ran to fame. Both of the Illini standouts earned consensus All-America honors for Coach Bob Zuppke’s 8-0 national champions.


McMillen also earned two letters in wrestling, graduating from Illinois with a degree in engineering.


He played pro football from 1924 through 1928 with George Halas and the Chicago Bears, who were world champions in McMillen’s rookie season. In 1931, Halas named his standout lineman vice president of the Bears organization.


McMillen was a famous professional wrestler from 1924 through 1950 and could have continued with football, but found that wrestling was more lucrative. One of his most famous matches occurred in 1936 when he defeated wrestling legend “Strangler” Lewis. McMillen served for the U.S. Navy in World War II as a lieutenant commander.


He was an active citizen in Antioch, Illinois, serving as chief engineer for the Lake County Forest Preserve and holding posts at the high school, on the city’s Fire Department, and later as mayor for six years.


McMillen died in January of 1984 at the age of 81.


                                 Jeff Trigger

Jeff Trigger

Oct. 20, 2023

There aren’t many folks in Champaign between the ages of 20 and 70 who aren’t familiar with Jeff Trigger. Whether you were a former Central High School football player or swimmer, a Fighting Illini football fan in the 1960s, or just sat in the front seat beside him when you were learning to drive, the personable Champaign native had relationships with a lot of people.


Growing up on Columbia Street, Trigger’s dad (Ken) was an engineering professor at the University of Illinois. As a teenager, young Jeff sold programs at Illini football games in the late 1950s and enjoyed watching all-stars named Burrell, Nitschke and Easterbrook. For Illinois games he didn’t attend, he and older brothers Jim and Tom could hear the roars of Memorial Stadium from their back yard.


Trigger eventually became a standout athlete alongside Bill Huston for Coach Tommy Stewart’s Maroons football team in the early 1960s, playing linebacker and tight end. He also was a standout swimmer at Champaign High with future Illini Kip Pope, and competed in track and field as well. The summer after Trigger graduated, UI coach Pete Elliott offered him a football scholarship to his hometown school. Wearing No. 39 for the Orange and Blue, he lettered as a linebacker for Elliott in 1966, then twice more for head coach Jim Valek in ’67 and ’68.


Trigger’s sophomore season in ’66 was particularly memorable. Illinois’s 6-4 record included a home victory over Ohio State and a road win at Michigan.


Though the 1968 Illini finished with a 1-9 record, Trigger especially remembers a narrow 31-24 loss against eventual national champion Ohio State and a 14-0 victory over an Alex Agase-coached Northwestern team.


Upon his graduation with a degree in physical education, Trigger returned to Champaign High in the fall of 1969 to teach and coach. He became the Maroons’ head swimming coach and continued in that role for 34 years. Assisted by Bob Miller, Champaign’s team finished third in the state in 1997. Among the swimmers Trigger mentored—“so many great kids, I never want to slight any of them”—included Dan Trupin, Tyler McGill, Tommy Lockman, Mark Tomlin, Tom Folts, Bill Werstler, Will Sensenbrenner and Mark Sinder.


On the football field, Trigger initially served as a volunteer coach for Stewart, then served for 14 years with fellow with Rich Wooley on Stewart’s staff.


“I always thought I had the best of both worlds because I got to play for Tommy and later, after I graduated, I got to coach for Tommy,” Trigger said. “He was such a great person and motivator. You just didn’t want to disappoint him. His philosophy was to keep things simple, though he could be very innovative, too. As an assistant coach, he would give me some freedom. It was the best situation I could hope for.”


When Wooley took over as Central’s head coach, Trigger continued as an assistant for five more seasons. 


Trigger became CCHS’s head coach in 1989 and stayed in that role for 12 seasons. He was assisted by Lou Due.  Trigger stayed one additional year as an assistant when Jeff Hasenstab took over the Maroons in 2001.


Among the hundreds of fine football athletes that Trigger helped tutor include John Levanti, Andy Dixon, Billy and Dennis Stahl, three Anastasia brothers (Derek, Mike and Dana), Ricky Aeilts, Todd Peat, Bill and Paul Hobbs, three Rogers brothers (Alex, Daryl and Elliott), Terrayel Cartmill; Dan O’Neill, John Skillings, Willie Summerville, and J Leman.


Hundreds of Champaign’s young people know Jeff Trigger as a favorite driver’s training instructor, a role he retired from in November of 2018.


Trigger and his wife, the former Carolyn Burch from Urbana, celebrated their 53rd anniversary this past summer. Their son, Jeff Jr., resides with his family in Fort Worth, Texas.


Trigger celebrates his 76th birthday on Saturday.


                                 Rich Kreitling

This Day in Illini History

Oct. 18, 2023

Forty-eight years ago today—Oct. 18, 1975—Fighting Illini placekicker Dan Beaver booted a nine-year-old Big Ten record 57-yard field goal vs. Purdue. Beaver’s kick still stands as Illinois’ record, outdistancing a 55-yarder by Doug Higgins in 1990 and a 54-yarder by Taylor Zalewski in 2012. Other memorable Illini moments on this date in history:


Oct. 18, 1913: In his first Big Ten game as Illinois’ coach, Bob Zuppke led the Illini past Northwestern, 37-0.


Oct. 18, 1919: Ralph Fletcher’s 30-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter helped Illinois top Iowa, 9-7, before a crowd of 6,470 at Illinois Field.


Oct. 18, 1941: Coach Bob Zuppke collected his 131st and final victory as Illinois’ coach, defeating Drake, 40-0.


Oct. 18, 1958: Rich Kreitling (pictured) caught touchdown passes of 83 and 66 yards from quarterback Bob Hickey, spurring Illinois to a 20-8 win vs. Minnesota.


Oct. 18, 2000: In a 70-page report prepared for UI’s Board of Trustees Judge Louis Garippo offered a summary of the history of Chief Illiniwek. Of 18,000 responses, nearly 80 percent were pro-Chief.


Oct. 18, 2003: Jessica Belter registered 12 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks in a 3-1 Illini volleyball victory over Michigan.


Oct. 18, 2008: Behind 172 rushing yards by Jason Ford, A.J. Jenkins’ 96-yard kickoff return and 130 receiving yards from Arrelious Benn, Illinois clobbered Indiana, 55-13.


                                 Hiram Hannibal Wheeler

Hiram Hannibal Wheeler

Oct. 16, 2023

Lettering in the Spring of 1904, Hiram Hannibal Wheeler was the first African American to be awarded a varsity monogram at the University of Illinois.


Born in Chicago in 1881 and the son of Lloyd Garrison Wheeler, Hiram studied agriculture at the U of I. Intellectually, he followed in the footsteps of his very successful father, the former business agent for Alabama’s Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. As a young man, Lloyd Wheeler became the first African American attorney who was admitted to the Illinois State Bar.


Hiram participated in football in 1903 and ‘04 for Coach George Woodruff, joining fellow African American Roy Young, the first black man to letter for Illini football. Wheeler lettered in as a sprinter for rookie coach Harry Gill in 1904. In a dual meet with Purdue on May 13, 1904, he became the first African American to be victorious in a track event, winning the 100-yard dash (:10.6).


After graduating university, Wheeler remained in Urbana and was employed by his alma mater as a clerk in the UI's agriculture department.


During World War I, he was training in New York as an Army soldier. In early October of 1918, Wheeler was home in Urbana with his wife and four children on a three-week furlough and was scheduled to depart for France in the capacity as an Army secretary. Unfortunately, he was a victim of the Spanish influenza pandemic and died at his home 812 West Clark Street 105 years ago today—Oct. 16, 1918—just shy of his 37th birthday.


Wheeler is buried at Urbana’s Woodlawn Cemetery.


                                 Tim Brewster

Tim Brewster

Oct. 13, 2023

Former Fighting Illini tight end Tim Brewster celebrates his 63rd birthday today.


A native of Phillipsburg, N.J., he originally enrolled at Pasadena City College. He walked onto Mike White’s 1981 team, joining a recruiting class that included quarterback Jack Trudeau.


After redshirting in ’81, Brewster set a record for receptions by a tight end with 46 catches for 550 yards. His senior season in ’83 was even more impressive, tying David Williams for the team lead with 59 grabs.


Despite only playing two seasons, Brewster finished his collegiate career in third place on Illinois’ career receptions list (105 for 1,178 yards). He tried out for both the New York Giants in 1984 and for the Philadelphia Eagles in ’85, but didn’t make the final cut either time.


Brewster began his college coaching career as a grad assistant in 1986 at Purdue under Leon Burtnett, then was hired as head coach at Lafayette, Indiana’s Central Catholic High School. In two seasons as CCHS, the team had a record of 15-8.


Brewster was an unpaid volunteer assistant for Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels in 1989 and impressed Brown so much that he became a fulltime assistant at UNC for the next eight years.


Brewster followed Brown to Texas following the 1997 season and was the Longhorns’ tight ends coach through the 2001 campaign. He decided to give the NFL a try and was hired by the San Diego Chargers in 2002. Following three seasons in San Diego, he moved to the Denver Broncos in 2005 and ’06.


On Jan. 17, 2007, Brewster was named as head coach at the University of Minnesota. In his three-and-a-half seasons with the Gophers, Brewster had only one winning record and was terminated midway through the 2010 campaign.


Over the past 13 seasons, he's held jobs at Florida State (2013-17), Texas A&M (2018), North Carolina (2019), Florida (2020-21) and Jackson State (2022).


He's currently Deion Sanders' tight ends coach for the Colorado Buffaloes.


Brewster and his wife, Cathleen, have three sons.


                                 Frank Rokusek

Frank Rokusek

Oct. 11, 2023

Born on this date 121 years ago today—Oct. 11, 1902—was 1920s Fighting Illini football star Frank Rokusek.


Captain of the 1924 Illinois team, he was a blocking end for running back Red Grange.


Said Grange of Rokusek, “I got the publicity for the long runs I made, but without ‘Roke” clearing the way, I wouldn’t have gotten loose for a lot of them.”


The three years Rokusek lettered—1922, ’23 and ’24—the Illini won the Big Ten and national championships his junior year and finished 6-1-1 his senior season. In 1927, he joined Bob Zuppke’s coaching staff, mentoring Illinois’ ends.


Rokusek eventually began a career in insurance and also held a reserve officer’s commission. In 1942, he was attached to the Third Air Force headquarters at MacDill Field in Tampa, Fla. as a special service offer.


On Oct. 15, 1944, he boarded a transport plane flight in Athens, Ga., headed to Tampa, but died when the plane crashed. Rokusek was 42 years old.


                                 1937 - Illinois vs. Notre Dame

Oct. 9, 1937 - Illinois vs. Notre Dame

Oct. 9, 2023

On this date in 1937, with Germany’s Nazi troops just weeks away from launching a takeover of Austria overseas and only a day before the New York Yankees would complete its five-game World Series conquest of the cross-town Giants, Illinois and Notre Dame met on the football field for the first time since 1898.


A section of 1,200 student soldiers were among the 45,000 spectators that came to see the battle at Memorial Stadium that would end in a 0-0 tie.


On the gridiron that day, Coach Elmer Layden’s heavily favored and Top Ten ranked Fighting Irish were stymied by Bob Zuppke’s defensive unit. Notre Dame was held to just 170 total offensive yards and 10 first downs by Illinois, as Illini left end Joe Klemp repeatedly crashed past Notre Dame blockers. Klemp was ably supported by the defensive efforts of teammates Howard Carson, Jim McDonald, John Berner and Captain Lowell Spurgeon, allowing Irish passers to complete only four of 17 pass attempts.


Illinois’ offense was even less effective than Notre Dame, managing only 89 total yards of production.


Both teams punted 12 times and neither team’s placekicker was able to convert a field goal. Illini sophomore Mel Brewer was 0-for-2 on his tries, missing from 21 and 34 yards.


Its scoreless tie 86 years ago today against the Illini marks the only time in the now 12-game series history between the two schools that Notre Dame didn’t win.


                                 Dick Butkus

Rest in Peace - Dick Butkus (1942 - 2023)

Oct. 6, 2023

Celebrating the life of the greatest linebacker in the history of football.

                                 Colleen Ward Barone

Colleen Ward Barone

Oct. 4, 2023

Celebrating her birthday today is former Fighting Illini volleyball superstar Colleen Ward Barone. An All-American in each of her two seasons—first-team in 2011 and second-team in 2010—her efforts helped lead Illinois to the national championship match during her senior campaign.


Her name is sprinkled throughout Illini volleyball’s record book and tops the list for single-match aces (9 vs. BYU in 2010).


Now married, she is a vice president at Northern Trust in Miami, Fla. 


The product of Naperville North High School and transfer from the University of Florida recalled several moments during her career and remembered many of the athletes with whom she played:


On Illinois ending Penn State’s 65-match Big Ten winning streak in 2010: “We didn’t let that intimidate us. It really fed into our competitive nature.”


On UI’s three-hour, five-set victory at PSU in 2011: “We started our season off really strong (16th consecutive win in a 20-0 start). We were ranked No. 1, but it didn’t feel like we were No. 1 at that point because we knew we had the potential to be so much better. We knew that we had to keep improving.”


On facing her former teammates, the Florida Gators, in the 2011 NCAA regional finals in Gainesville: “Knowing that I wanted to transfer to Illinois, I had the same exact feeling when we were watching the (NCAA Tournament) selection show. I just knew that we were going to end up playing Florida. Once it all came to reality, it was pretty cool to see. I really don’t remember the games very well, other than just the feeling of playing. It pretty much just went into my own little world and focused on playing the games, point to point.”


On Illinois’s legendary match vs. Southern California in the 2011 NCAA semifinals: “The coaches did a great job of preparing us for the Final Four. An early loss in one of the games wasn’t going to scare us. USC came out to play and we were the same way. Every point really mattered. The final point is something we’ll all remember forever. Very long. Very competitive. A lot of amazing saves on both sides. That spirit reflected our team a lot from that season.”


On UI’s loss in the championship match against UCLA: “Honestly, I can say going into the final that we did get a little overwhelmed. We just got a little bit out of our game and made more mistakes than we normally would, and we weren’t as aggressive as we should have been.”


Does that loss to UCLA still linger in her mind? “Oh, my god, all the time. As an athlete and as a competitive person, I wish we could play that again.”


On coach Kevin Hambly: “He was perfect for our team, such a personable coach. Once every other week each player would have a meeting with him on their own. He’d ask how our classes were going, how our life was going, or if there was anything we wanted to talk about. We felt like more of a family than just a team. All of our coaches and staff were a really unique group of people.”


                                 An early Illini baseball player

The Beginning of Illini Baseball

Oct. 2, 2023

Exactly 144 years ago today—Oct. 2, 1879—as an extension of an oratorical competition between Illinois Industrial University (University of Illinois) and Illinois College, the two institutions faced off on the baseball diamond for what history reveals was the university’s very first intercollegiate game.


Reported The Illini later that week, “The Jacksonville ball nine came to the oratorical contest and played our nine on the afternoon of October 2. The game was called at the end of the fifth inning when the score stood 5 to 12 in favor of our boys. We are sorry that you were so badly beaten, Jacksonville.”


The Illini were led by its catcher, Comma Boyd, who served as both the captain and manager of the first team. Boyd was considered by his teammates as “the Babe Ruth of his time”. After graduating, he went on to become a successful farmer and a breeder of thoroughbred Hereford cattle in Sheffield (Illinois).


Illinois’ pitcher was W.T. Andrews. The remainder of UI’s first intercollegiate squad consisted of H.A. Nelson (1B), E.L. Kelso (2B), E.H. Swasey (SS), C.R. Huntley (3B), Harry Diffenbaugh (LF), T.E. McIlduff (CF), Morton Chase (RF), and Frank White (RF).


Baseball was actually played at the U of I four years prior to that initial intercollegiate game in 1879. The Illini mentioned the game numerous times in its editions, including a report about the first contest to be played outside of the university. That occurred on Apr. 26, 1878 when “a number of boys took advantage of the excursion rates and went to Danville. A promiscuous nine was selected and a game was played against the Danville Club.” Danville scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and won by a score of 13 to 10.


In April of 1879, The Illini extended an invitation to other teams to play, writing “Our (baseball) boys are getting in trim. Let us hear from some of the neighboring colleges and we will try and give them a rub.”



                                 Avery Brundage

Avery Brundage: By the Numbers

Sept. 27, 2023

Born 136 years ago this week—Sept. 28, 1887—was Fighting Illini legend Avery Brundage.


His greatest fame came from 1952 to 1972 when his served as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).


Wrote Pulitzer Prize winning author David Maraniss in his book entitled “Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World”, “I found Avery Brundage to be one of the most contradictory characters I’ve ever written about. He was not especially likeable, yet the fact that at some points in his career nearly every faction hated him for some reason or other seemed to me like a bit of a saving grace. His devotion to the Olympic movement was greater than his belief in anything else. He truly believed that the Olympic movement was greater than any ideology or religion.”


Brundage’s noted and often controversial career, by the numbers:


3              Number of varsity letters he earned as an athlete at the University of Illinois, including one in basketball and two in track and field.


17           Age at which he began classes at the U of I.


45           His age in 1928 when he replaced General Douglas MacArthur as president of the American Olympic Association.


87           His age at the time of his death on May 8, 1975, in West Germany.


1,200    The IOC’s share (in dollars) of television rights for the 1960 Olympic Games (Rome).


1912     Year of the Olympic Games (Stockholm, Sweden) in which he placed sixth in the pentathlon and 16th in the decathlon.


1952     Year in which Brundage was selected president of the IOC, 30 votes to 17 for Great Britain’s Lord Burghley.


7,700    Number of Asian art objects he donated to San Francisco’s Society for Asian Art, estimated to be worth 50 million dollars.


350,000                Amount of money Brundage bequested to the University of Illinois to fund scholarships for students interested in competing in sports who were otherwise unfunded.


                                 Bill Burwell

Bill Burwell

Sept. 25, 2023

Though the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. is best known as the longtime home of professional baseball’s Dodgers, its most prolific contribution has traditionally come from the sport of high school basketball. Brooklyn’s Boys High School, located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, has produced an amazing collection of prep stars who went on to become world famous, including Hall of Famers Connie Hawkins and Lenny Wilkens.


Bill Burwell, another standout player from Boys High, became a prominent member of the University of Illinois’ 1963 Big Ten champions. At 6-8, 235 pounds, Burwell was by far the biggest Illini player on Coach Harry Combes’ squad. In three seasons—1960-61, ’61-62 and ’62-63—he averaged 15.3 points per game.


In fact, when Burwell graduated, he ranked as UI’s third-leading scorer of all-time with 1,119 points. His top single-game scoring effort ironically came at New York’s Madison Square Garden (26 points).


Perhaps Burwell’s most important role with the Illini came as a rugged rebounder. He averaged nearly 10 boards per game, second only to teammate Dave Downey. Today, his 9.6 rebounds per game average is sixth-best in Illinois’ record book, trailing only Nick Weatherspoon (11.3), Skip Thoren (11.2), Downey (11.0), Don Freeman (10.3) and Dave Scholz (9.7). Burwell’s 21 rebounds versus Wisconsin on Feb. 19, 1962 once tied for the school record.


The team’s overall record during Burwell’s last two seasons was a highly respectable 35-14.  


Today would have been his 83rd birthday. He died in February of 2021.


                                 Howard Griffith

Griff's Record Day

Sept. 22, 2023

September 22, 1990 is a date that is steeped in history for University of Illinois football. It was a day that Howard Griffith penciled his name into the NCAA record book beside those of Red Grange, Jim Brown and Arnold Boykin.


Not only did the illini senior gain 208 yards on 21 attempts, it was a day when an amazing 38 percent of his runs ended up in the end zone. Surprisingly, after the first quarter, Illinois trailed visiting Southern Illinois, 21-7. That’s when Griffith went into overdrive, scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter and four more in the third period.


His eighth TD came with 1:25 left in the third quarter, breaking two NCAA records. Not only did Griffith snap the national mark for touchdowns in a game—seven, by Mississippi’s Arnold Boykin in 1951—the 48 points he accounted for that day broke the immortal Jim Brown’s record of 43 points scored for Syracuse against Colgate in 1956.


Griffith’s eight touchdowns:

 

1.        1st quarter – 5-yard run

2.        2nd quarter – 51-yard run

3.        2nd quarter – 7-yard run

4.        2nd quarter – 41-yard run (tied Illinois’ record for first-half TDs)

5.        3rd quarter – 5-yard run

6.        3rd quarter – 18-yard run (broke Red Grange’s UI record for single-game                   TDs)

7.        3rd quarter – 5-yard run

8.        3rd quarter – 3-yard run (broke the NCAA record for touchdowns by                           Mississippi’s Arnold Boykin & the NCAA record for total points by                           Syracuse’s Jim Brown)


                                 Bob Dintelmann

Bob Dintelmann

Sept. 20, 2023

Bob Dintelmann, former Illinois distance runner and winner of the 1957 Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor, celebrates his 88th birthday on Thursday (Sept. 21).


The Belleville native answered an ad in the Daily Illini and walked on to Coach Leo Johnson’s track and field squad in January of 1954. A few weeks later, Dintelmann placed third at the Big Ten indoor track championship. In the spring of 1957 at the Drake Relays, he ran a 4:11.5 mile, placing second behind Iowa’s Charles “Deacon” Jones who won the event in a time of 4:10.8. Dintelmann’s time would have established an Illini record, but Illinois had a rule that didn’t permit a non-winning time to be a record.


Illinois’ ’57 team captain also placed second in the Big Ten’s 880 as a senior, both indoors and outdoors. As a member of the Illini cross country team in the Fall of 1956, distance coach Ed Bernauer directed Dintelmann and teammates Tom Luker, Frank Hedgcock and Verland Sheuring to fourth place at the NCAA Championships.


After graduating from Illinois in 1957 with a degree in floriculture, Dintelmann served two years of military duty. He initially began his career in landscaping with the State of Illinois’ Department of Agriculture, then returned to Belleville to help his father and brother run Dintelmann Nursery. He retired in 1997 after 28 years with the family business.


Today, Dintelmann remains active in local community service, volunteering for the Scott Field Heritage Air Park, the Turkey Hill Grange, the Belleville Optimist Club and BEACON. He and his wife, Joyce, celebrated their 66th anniversary on Aug. 31. Their family includes five children and 15 grandchildren.



                                 FAU v Illinois

First-Time Foes at Memorial Stadium

Sept. 18, 2023

In five days (Sept. 23), Florida Atlantic makes its inaugural trip to Champaign-Urbana to take on the suddenly surging Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium.


Since the University of Illinois’ venerable football arena initially entertained gridiron events in 1923, UI has hosted a total of 56 different opponents that it had never before met. Coach Tom Herman's Owls become No. 57 on a first-battle list that stretches back 100 years.


From Nov. 17, 1923, when Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State) became UI’s original non-conference foe in Champaign, to the Fall of 2021 when the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Texas at San Antonio played at Memorial Stadium, Illini teams have racked up an impressive record of 40 victories against only 14 losses and one tie in those situations.


The list of first-time foes to play in Champaign includes:

 

• Seven in-state institutions (Bradley in 1927, DePaul in 1936, Illinois State in 1944, Southern Illinois in 1985, Northern Illinois in 1992, Eastern Illinois in 2006, and Western Illinois in 2007)


• Six future or current PAC 12 foes (Washington in 1950, Oregon State in 1965, Washington State in 1969, Oregon in 1970, Arizona State in 1987, and Utah in 1988)


• Five eventual Big 12 schools (Iowa State in 1927, Kansas State in 1948, West Virginia in 1960, Baylor in 1976, Houston in 1991)


• Three current or future ACC teams (Pittsburgh in 1943, North Carolina in 1971, and Louisville in 1986)


• Two eventual Big Ten opponents (Penn State in 1954 and Rutgers in 2005)


• And two military academies (Army in 1929 and Navy in 1979).


                                 Frederick Dodge

Tony Yates

Sept. 15, 2023

Tony Yates, one of Lou Henson’s first assistant coaches, was born 86 years ago today.


Following a spectacular prep career in Cincinnati, he served in the Air Force for four years. At the age of 23, Yates walked on at the University of Cincinnati and started at point guard for Bearcats coach Ed Jucker. The team’s most valuable defensive player, Yates helped lead UC to NCAA championships in 1961 and ’62 and a near miss of a third consecutive crown in 1963, his senior season.


During those three seasons, Cincinnati had a cumulative record of 82-7. Following his graduation from UC, Yates spent three years in business and public service, then two more scouting for the Cincinnati Royals before returning to his alma mater in 1972 to become as assistant coach.


He became Gene Bartow’s assistant at Illinois in 1974, then stayed for eight more seasons with Henson, through 1982-83. He was an outstanding recruiter for the Illini, bringing such players as Audie Matthews, Eddie Johnson, Mark Smith and Derek Harper to play for the orange and blue.


Yates became UC’s head coach in 1983, serving six seasons and winning 70 times in 170 games.


He was a member of the University of Cincinnati Athletics and Ohio Basketball Halls of Fame, and died on May 16, 2020.


                                 Frederick Dodge

Frederick Dodge

Sept. 13, 2023

On this date 129 years ago—Sept. 13, 1894—thirty-four-year-old Professor Frederick H. Dodge was introduced as the new director of athletics at the University of Illinois. He succeeded Edward K. Hall, the UI’s very first A.D., who resigned three months earlier.


An 1884 graduate of Yale University, Dodge devoted his undergraduate athletic endeavors to rowing and did not participate in any other sports. Born in 1860, the native of Bangor, Me. was first employed as the chair of physical culture at Bates College in his home state, then moved on to become director of the Chicago Athenaeum’s gymnasium for three years, located at 59 East Van Buren Street.


Three weeks after Dodge was hired at Illinois, he brought on Louis Vail from the University of Pennsylvania to coach the Illini football team. Vail’s 1894 squad, his only one, had a 5-3 record.


In Dodge’s seventh week on the job as the Illini athletics director, the school’s official colors changed from green and white to orange and blue.


Under Dodge’s direction in 1895, Illinois organized a varsity track and field program and became a charter member of the nation’s first intercollegiate athletics conference that would come to be known as the Big Ten.


When Dodge departed Champaign-Urbana in June of 1895 for New Brunswick, N.J, he was replaced by George Huff.

Dodge served as director of Rutgers University’s’ Ballantine Gymnasium and also coached the Scarlet Knights’ track and gymnastics teams.


He later was director of Wee Lah Valle Camp for boys and girls at Schoodic Lake, Me.


Dodge died in 1932 at the age of 72 and was buried in Bethel, Me.


                                 George Huff

This Date in Illini History

Sept. 11, 2023

When the clock strikes 1:30 p.m. today—Monday, September 11—it will mark exactly 101 years since University of Illinois athletics director George Huff ceremoniously broke ground for the structure that would be dubbed Memorial Stadium.


Wrote a Daily Illini reporter about the occasion, “After Mr. Huff’s spadeful of rich black dirt and grass had fallen into the empty wagon and while the band played “Fight Illini”, President David Kinley and (former Alumni Association president) Robert Carr descended from the truck (which had served as a speaking platform) to break the sod.”


Others that wielded imperious shovels include Board of Trustees member Laura Evans, Mrs. Janet Kinley (the president’s wife), Alumni president Edward Barrett, Professor James White (supervising architect of the U of I), C.J. Rosebery (secretary of the stadium committee), former Dean Eugene Davenport, W.E. Ekblaw (co-founder of UI’s Homecoming tradition), and Assistant Dean F.H. Rankin. Afterwards, all of the 500 townspeople in attendance were invited to step forward and dig.


Said President Kinley during his address, “The stadium represents a series of three thoughts. The first is to recommend physical education to the students of the University. The stadium will be a concrete expression of the opportunity it will afford for all students through intramural sports. The second is its memorial feature, showing the sacrifice of Illini in the past. The third feature is that the students have built it with contributions from alumni and friends.”


English Brothers of Champaign served as the stadium’s general contractor. They were joined in the massive project by the Barth Electric Company (electricians), Peoria’s Walsh and Slattery (plumbing), and St. Louis’s Sodeman Heat and Power Company (heating and ventilation).


The materials included 12 million pounds of cement, 45,000 tons of sand and gravel, 112,000 cubic feet of cut stone, five million cubic feet of brick, 1,600 tons of reinforcing steel and 1,600 tons of structural steel.


Other memorable football-related moments that have occurred on Sept. 11 at Memorial Stadium:


Sept. 11, 1976: Illini defenders turned two blocked punts into touchdowns and James Coleman and Chubby Phillips combined for 146 rushing yards as Illinois topped Iowa, 24-6, in the season opener.


Sept. 11, 1982: Tony Eason threw for 301 yards, including 124 yards to receiver Oliver Williams, as Illinois dispatched visiting Michigan State, 23-16. In the second quarter, Big Ten referee Rich McVay suffered a massive heart attack, eventually dying at Champaign’s Burnham Hospital.


Sept. 11, 1999: Greg Lewis, Michael Dean and Josh Whitman all caught touchdown passes from quarterback Kurt Kittner as Illinois defeating favored San Diego State, 38-10.


Sept. 11, 2010: Illinois pummeled visiting SIU, 35-3, thanks to two touchdown passes by Nathan Scheelhaase and two rushing TDs by Mikel Leshoure.


                                 Chuck Bennis

Chuck Bennis

Sept. 8, 2023

Selected in 1990 by University of Illinois fans as a member of the twenty-five-man All-Century Team was Chuck Bennis, a 1930s standout player for Coach Bob Zuppke.


The Lincoln, Illinois native was elected co-captain of UI’s 1934 squad and also lettered as an end and a guard the previous two seasons. Each of the three Illini teams he played on posted winning overall records, but the ’34 squad was clearly the best. Consecutive victories over Ohio State (14-13), Michigan (7-6) and Army (7-0) highlighted Illinois’s 7-1 record that year. Only a 7-3 defeat at Wisconsin blemished an otherwise perfect mark.


In his book entitled “Illinois, Zup and I”, Bennis said his greatest individual game was the ’34 contest at Michigan. During that one-point victory in Ann Arbor he recovered two fumbles, one on the Michigan 10-yard line that gave the Illini their first scoring opportunity. He also tackled Wolverine runners six times for losses and finished the game with 15 tackles.


Among Bennis’s Illini teammates were first-team All-Big Ten halfback Gil Berry and quarterback Jack Beynon. Bennis himself won second-team all-star honors in 1934.


He graduated from Illinois in 1935 with a degree in education, turning down an opportunity to play for the NFL’s Chicago Bears. Bennis coached at Lincoln High School, then became as assistant for Zuppke at Illinois. He got out of coaching and began work as a coal miner. From 1942-44 during World War I, Bennis enrolled with the U.S. Navy, spending nine months in the Pacific and serving aboard four aircraft carriers. His primary role was as a communications officer for two admirals.


Upon his discharge, he became president of the Pluto Corporation of French Lick, Ind. Bennis also had a stint at acting, appearing in the R.K.O. movie entitled “The Big Game.” He eventually turned to farming.


Forty-one years ago today, he became the ninth former Illini honored with the Varsity I Achievement Award, joining such illustrious individuals as Buddy Young, Ray Eliot and George Halas.


Chuck Bennis died in 2006 at the age of 95.


                                 Denise Fracaro Juriga

Denise Fracaro Juriga

Sept. 6, 2023

There was no doubt in Mike Hebert’s mind who was the University of Illinois volleyball program’s most important player in his early years as UI’s head coach. In his 1993 book entitled “The Fire Still Burns”, Hebert wrote about the young lady from Lockport named Denise Fracaro who he called “the catalyst for our success.”


Now married for 34 years to former Illini football star Jim Juriga—a former Denver Bronco who eventually became a veterinarian—Denise’s teams improved from 5-25 as a sophomore in 1983 to 39-3 as a senior in ’85.


“Denise represented the transition from the old system to the new,” Herbert wrote. “And she’d resisted it at first; she hadn’t been eager to buy into our new system. She was more comfortable doing things the old way in 1983. In 1984, she started to come around and was kind of on the fence about how we were doing things. But when she came back in ’85, she came back as our captain and had a terrific season. She was our emotional and spiritual leader, and our performance leader on the floor. More than any other player, Denise embodied the transition of the Illini program from celler-dweller to contender.”


Hebert especially remembered his senior’s efforts in a 1985 match when the unbeaten Illini (19-0) traveled to Minneapolis to play the Gophers.


“It came down to game five, and we were losing 10-2, with the winning streak on the line. Worse than that, as far as Denise was concerned, we were getting beaten up at Minnesota again. We took our second timeout and gathered around the bench. Denise came to the huddle and was absolutely possessed. I’ll never forget her words: ‘I’m a senior this year and I am not losing to this team again,’ she said. ‘I am not leaving this building without beating Minnesota.’ And she made good on her vow, bringing us back for a 16-14 victory.”


“That is my strength,” said the four-time Illini letter winner. “That’s still me. I am an emotionally charged person. I really believe that when you have your mind focused, it’s amazing what happens. It’s amazing to see the other team start to tank. When you are believing what you’re doing, you can see in their eyes that they’re starting to fold, they’re starting to back down. And then that fires you even more. You’re looking through that net and you’re like ‘Oh, yeah, this is happening.’ You’ve got to have the players, too, and we did. We had smart players, really smart. We were not the most athletic. We were not the tallest. But when you have chemistry and you’re smart … oh my gosh, it’s amazing! Fun was the key. Mike let us have a lot of fun out there.”


Denise Fracaro Juriga’s name is still prominent in the Illini volleyball record book. Thirty-five years after last wearing the Orange & Blue, she still holds UI’s single-season records for solo blocks (44 in 1985) and total blocks (227 in ’85).


She’ll celebrate her birthdaylater this week in Batavia with her husband, a daughter (Kimberly, who’s currently getting a doctorate in veterinary medicine at UIUC) and two sons (Jake, an instructor at the Naval Academy, and Luke). Following an all-star career at Western Michigan, Luke is currently a free agent center with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.


Denise’s memories of coaches, teammates and events:


ON MIKE HEBERT: “Mike knew what he wanted to establish. His attitude was ‘clean house, set the tone, and get rid of whoever couldn’t cut the mustard’. I really bought into the things he was trying to do. I didn’t care that much for volleyball until Mike came. I went to Illinois for the education and Mike made volleyball real. He made a huge impact on me.”


ON ASSISTANT COACH DON HARDIN: “I loved the combination of Mike and Don. Don had to play a role that did not make him the most liked, but he had a great way of occasionally letting you know that you really mattered.”


                                 Art Gerometta

Art Gerometta

Sept. 4, 2023

Today marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of 1943 University of Illinois football letter winner Arthur “Art” Gerometta.


Playing as a 5-foot-10-inch, 190-pound freshman guard for second-year Illini coach Ray Eliot, Gerometta starred as a prep at Gary, Indiana’s Emerson High School. He was on the UI campus for less than a full calendar year when he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy (Army) and an invitation to join Coach Earl “Red” Blaik’s Cadets’ football team.


Other than his own teammates, Gerometta’s experience as a letterman on the 1944, ’45 and ’46 Army teams is very likely unequalled by any other individual who’s ever played college football. Consider the following facts of success about those three Cadet squads and the men who comprised them:


1)   Army didn’t lose a single game (9-0 in ’44, 9-0 in ’45 and 9-0-1 in ’46).

2)   In 22 of 24 national polls, Army ranked as the No. 1 team in college football (No. 2 for two weeks).

3)   During 28 games over three seasons, the Cadets outscored their opponents by a margin of 1,179 to 161.

4)   On eight occasions over three seasons, Army defeated a Top Ten opponent, including the No. 2 ranked team three times.

5)   Two Cadet teammates (Doc Blanchard in 1945 and Glenn Davis in 1946) won the Heisman Trophy.

6)   Including Blanchard and Davis, seven Army teammates have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

7)   Four of the Army coaches for which Gerometta played are also members of the Hall of Fame.


Gerometta’s contributions expanded well beyond the gridiron, serving his country for five years. In Korea (1949-51), he fought bravely with the 1st Calvary Division, earning the Silver Star (for gallantry in action against an enemy), the Bronze Star (heroic or meritorious achievement or service) and the Purple Heart (those wounded or killed while serving).


When Gerometta returned from overseas, he became a West Point instructor in Military Topography & Graphics and helped to coach the Cadet football team. He resigned from the Army in 1954 and returned to his home in Gary to form the Gerometta Construction Company.


In 1962, Gerometta was inducted into the Gary Sports Hall of Fame and, 30 years later, became a member of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame.


He died in Portage, Ind. in 2000 at the age of 74.


                                 Albert Austin Harding

This Date in Illini History

Sept. 1, 2023

Forty years ago today (Sept. 1, 1983), the David Wilson case, a bizarre three-and-a-half year eligibility dispute that severely strained relations between the University of Illinois and the Big Ten Conference, ended when attorney Bob Auler received an out-of-court settlement check of more than $100,000. Other memorable moments on this date in Fighting Illini history:

 

1922: Champaign’s English Brothers Construction signed a contract to build Illinois’ Memorial Stadium. The stadium opened for business on Nov. 3, 1923, just 429 days afterwards.

 

1942: After carrying an “interim” tag for nearly 13 months, Doug Mills was named Illinois’ permanent athletic director.

 

1946: Illini athletic officials declared a sellout at Memorial Stadium for the Sept. 28 game vs. Notre Dame.

 

1948: Professor Albert Austin Harding (pictured), director of University of Illinois Bands, retired after a 43-year career.

 

1976: Karol Kahrs’ position as assistant director for women’s athletics became a fulltime job.

 

1984: Illinois topped Northwestern, 24-16, in its earliest football season opener ever. Jack Trudeau passed for 315 yards, including a record 208 yards to David Williams, as the Illini stretched its Big Ten winning streak to 11 in a row.

 

1994: Sixteen months after Illinois announced it was eliminating men’s varsity programs in swimming and fencing plus men’s and women’s diving, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that UI did not violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution when it eliminated the men’s but not the women’s swimming team.

 

2001: Brandon Lloyd, who was sidelined in 2000 with a broken leg, scored twice on eight catches as Illinois rolled past host California, 44-17.

 

2012: UI’s defense held Western Michigan to minus six rushing yards as Coach Tim Beckman won his first game as Illini coach.


                                 Garland "Jake" Stahl

Garland "Jake" Stahl

Aug. 30, 2023

A member of the 2020 Fighting Illini athletics Hall of Fame class, Garland “Jake” Stahl played nine Major League seasons.


Born in 1879, he was the third son of Henry and Eliza Stahl of Elkhart, Ill. Jake’s dad was a front-line Union soldier in the Civil War, surviving the Battle of Shiloh in Mississippi, a bloodbath where more than 23,000 individuals died.


After finishing tenth grade, Jake matriculated to the University of Illinois and became the school’s most celebrated athlete. He lettered four times in football (1899-1902) and three times in baseball (1901-03).


When the Major League’s Boston Americans lost its backup catcher to an injury, team owner Henry Killelea journeyed to Chicago to sign Stahl to an American League contract. Jake got into his first big league game on opening day (Apr. 20, 1903) and appeared in 40 games as a catcher, batting .239.


Stahl was dealt to the Washington Senators during the winter of 1904 and played three seasons in the nation’s capital, collecting more than 1,500 at bats. In that third season, he was promoted to skipper of the Senators at the age of 26, becoming the American League’s youngest-ever player/manager.


Following Washington’s disastrous 1906 season (55 wins and 95 losses), Stahl asked to be traded to the Red Sox. Instead, Senators management traded him to the Chicago White Sox. When Stahl refused to report, he spent the 1907 season working in his father-in-law’s bank, coaching the ’07 Indiana University baseball team, and playing semiprofessionally in Chicago.


The White Sox traded Stahl’s rights to the New York Highlanders. He spent the first 75 games of the 1908 season in the Big Apple, then was traded back to Boston to play first base.

Stahl enjoyed his best professional season in 1910, teaming with Hall of Famers Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper. Stahl tied for the A.L. lead in home runs with 10.


Amazingly, despite his long-ball success, Stahl opted to sit out the 1911 season and returned to his career as a banker at Washington Park National Bank on Chicago’s South Side.


New management in Boston convinced Stahl to come out of retirement in 1912, in part due to an offer to become a part-owner of the Red Sox. As Boston’s player-manager, the Red Sox ran away with the 1912 American League pennant, then beating Manager John McGraw’s talented New York Giants in the World Series. Stahl is said to have invested his winning World Series share in his father-in-law’s bank.


Stahl’s career unceremoniously ended in 1913 when he suffered a serious foot injury that required the removal of part of a bone in his right foot. While he continued to manage the Red Sox, he could not play first base. Following a mid-season argument with management, Stahl was released. Weeks later, the former Illini star announced that he was through with baseball.


Stahl immediately began his second career as a full-time banker in Chicago, but hard work and long hours took its toll. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1920 and was placed in a Monrovia, Calif. sanitarium. Two year later, he contracted tuberculosis and passed away in September of 1922 at the age of 43.


Nine things you didn’t not know about Jake Stahl’s Major League career:


1)   He was a member of two World Series championship teams (as player for 1903 Boston Americans, the very first Series champ) and as player/manager for the 1912 Boston Red Sox).

2)   In 1904, he led all American League first basemen with 29 errors.

3)   He led the American League by being hit by a pitch 17 times in 1905.

4)   His 41 stolen bases in 1905 ranked third in the AL.

5)   He ranked second to the immortal Ty Cobb in triples in 1908 (Cobb had 20, Stahl had 16). Stahl ranked among the AL’s top seven in triples four times.

6)   He led the AL three times in batting strikeouts (1904, 1909 and 1910).

7)   Not only did he tie for the lead in AL home runs in 1910 with 10 (one every 53.1 at bats), he led the league in putouts as a first baseman and ranked fourth with 77 RBI.

8)   He currently ranks 233rd on the Major League career triples list with 87.

9)   He received one Baseball Hall of Fame vote in both 1938 and 1939.


                                 Robert Reitsch

Dandy Defensive Debuts

Aug. 28, 2023

As a defensive specialist, Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema would love to see his team throw a shutout in next Saturday’s season opener vs. Toledo. However, in Illinois history, that’s only happened three times over the last 51 years in opening games. The last time the Orange & Blue shut out its initial foe was 30 years ago when Mike White’s 1986 Illini blanked Louisville at Memorial Stadium, 23-0. The king of Illini football shutouts in season openers is the immortal Bob Zuppke whose teams goose-egged their first opponent 15 times.


Here are a few Illini defensive players who sparkled in season lid-lifting shutouts:


•Oct. 1, 1927: Zuppke’s Illini began what would become a national championship season with a 19-0 win versus Bradley. All-America lineman Robert Reisch, Butch Nowack and Russ Crane paced UI’s defensive effort.


•Sept. 25, 1948: The Illini handed visiting Kansas State a 40-0 defeat, the Wildcats’ 27th consecutive loss. Captain Herb Siegert, Dike Eddleman and Jim Valek star on defense for Coach Ray Eliot.


•Sept. 28, 1963: Illinois defensive backs George Donnelly, Mike Dundy and Jimmy Warren held California quarterback Craig Morton to just four completions in 15 attempts for 57 years. UI beat the Bears, 10-0, in Berkley.


•Sept. 14, 1974: Four of Illini linebacker Tom Hicks’ 16 stops halted Indiana runners inside the two-yard line. UI topped the Hoosiers, 16-0, in Champaign.


•Sept. 9, 1978: In one of the most infamous season openers in Illini history—a 0-0 tie with bottom-dweller Northwestern—linebacker John Sullivan racked up 15 tackles as UI limited the “Mildcats” to just 220 total offensive yards.


•Sept. 6, 1986: Junior linebacker Jeff Markland led the Illini to a shutout victory over Louisville with a team-best 10 tackles. He performed at that position for the first five games of the ’86 season, then was moved by coaches to play fullback.


                                 Chase Brown

Memorable Opening-Game Plays

Aug. 25, 2023

Nothing helps fans enjoy games more than a memorable play, especially in a season opening contest. In Illinois’ 2000 opener, a 62-yard run by Rocky Harvey paced the Illini to a convincing 35-6 victory over Middle Tennessee. One season before that, Eugene Wilson’s 65-yard punt return led UI past Arkansas State. And, in Illinois’ 1991 season-opening win vs. East Carolina, Mike Poloskey recorded a record-tying four quarterback sacks. Here are some other big plays by the Illini in recent lid-lifters:

 

1975: Scott Studwell returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown as Illinois beat host Iowa, 27-12.

 

1980: In Mike White’s coaching debut, Illinois took advantage of a 53-yard touchdown run by Mike Holmes to defeat Michigan State.

 

1984: In the earliest season-opener ever, David Wilson’s first-quarter 33-yard reception from Jack Trudeau gave Illinois a 7-0 lead. The Illini went on to defeat Northwestern, 24-16.

 

1989: A tipped-pass reception by Shawn Wax resulted in a 53-yard touchdown, beginning Illinois’ comeback victory on national television vs. Southern California.

 

1994: It wasn’t a victory, but Simeon Rice had one of his best efforts vs. Washington State, sacking Washington State’s quarterbacks five times.

 

2001: Brandon Lloyd’s 49-yard TD catch in the second quarter helped Illinois destroy host California in the season opener, 44-17.

 

2005: It was only a two-yard effort, but Pierre Thomas’ overtime touchdown completed Illinois’ come-from-behind victory vs. Rutgers in Ron Zook’s coaching debut.


2022: In Illinois' 38-6 season-opening victory against Wyoming, the Illini opened the game with a bang on their first drive of the season. Junior Chase Brown took his first carry of the season 38 yards up the right sideline before senior Tommy DeVito connected with Brown for 14-yard touchdown pass one play later on his first pass attempt as an Illini.

                                 Basketball's Rick Howat

Illinois' Top Athletes of 1970-71

Aug. 23, 2023

Fifty-three years ago, during the 1970-71 athletics season, the University of Illinois' athletic program consisted of 11 men’s varsity teams. And while there were no conference team titles, a number of athletes had admirable performances.


The unofficial Illini Athlete of the Year—chosen by the Daily Illini in that era—was distance runner Lee LaBadie. His overwhelmingly spectacular accomplishment came on May 11, 1971, when in a dual meet against Southern Illini he became the first Big Ten Conference undergraduate to break the four-minute barrier in the mile run. That day, LaBadie ran his first 440 yards in 60 seconds, but his pace slowed to 2:03 after the first half mile. Then he began to pour on the coals, touring the next quarter mile in :57.5. LaBadie ran the final 440 yards in :58.3, finishing his record mile in an unprecedented time of 3:58.8. At the 1970 Big Ten cross country championship, he placed tenth, then won the mile run at the conference’s ’71 outdoor meet.


Seven other Illini star athletes from 1970-71:


WES DIXON: This Illini junior outfielder was a solid choice as Coach Lee Eilbracht’s Most Valuable Player in the Spring of 1971. In 18 Big Ten games, Dixon had the conference’s third-best average (.410), trailing Purdue’s Terry Wedgewood (.467) and Michigan State’s Rob Ellis (.413) in the batting race. His performance earned him second-team All-Big Ten honors.


DOUG DIEKEN: Illini football’s MVP in the Fall of 1970 was Streator senior tight end Doug Dieken, repeating the honor he’d won in ’69. For a third straight season, UI’s No. 82 led the team in receiving, this particular season with 39 receptions for 537 yards. Only John Wright ended his career with more grabs (159) than Dieken’s 89. The following Spring, Dieken was a sixth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns, spending 14 seasons in the stadium beside Lake Erie.


RICK HOWAT: The MVP of Coach Harv Schmidt’s 1970-71 Illini basketball team averaged 20.6 points per game in 23 contests and 18.7 in 14 league appearances. A second-team selection on the court, the former Downers Grove North High School guard totaled just shy of 900 career points as an Illini. Howat sparkled in the classroom as an Academic All-American.


PAUL HUNT: Just a sophomore, Hunt won the Big Ten floor exercise title in 1971 for Coach Charlie Pond. He completed the season by winning All-America laurels. The following season, Hunt won the NCAA title. He now owns a gymnastics academy in Midvale, Utah, and is widely known for his comic parodies as a women’s gymnast.


KEN BARR: Paul Hunt’s Illini teammate was a standout on the side horse (aka pommel horse), capturing the Big Ten title in that event in both 1971 as a junior and again in ’72. Barr, a product of Mt. Prospect High, became a three-time All-American at Illinois.


JOE BURDEN: Burden was a sophomore member of the All-Big Ten golf team in 1971, advancing from the team’s No. 6 player to No. 1 that Spring. A few weeks later, he began an improbable run to playing in the U.S. Open, qualifying at the Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago, then playing with the likes of Lee Trevino (the eventual champ) and Jack Nicklaus at Pennsylvania’s Merion Golf Club.



MARK KOSTER: Koster was one of Illini three titlists at the 1971 Big Ten outdoor track & field meet, capturing first place and setting a UI varsity record in the 440-yard intermediate hurdles with a time of :50.9. At the conference’s indoor championship, the Champaign High grad narrowly lost by three-tenths of a second in the 600-yard run finals.



                                 Jocelynn Birks

Jocelynn Birks

Aug. 21, 2023

Happy Birthday today to three-time Fighting Illini volleyball All-American Jocelynn Birks. The Lyons Township High School product was a third-team honoree was a sophomore (2013), second-team as a junior (2014), and honorable mention as a senior (2015). The outside hitter from Willow Springs joins Mary Eggers, Nancy Brookhart and Jordyn Pouler among Illinois’ three-time All-Americans. Birks is in her ninth season as a coach for the 1st Alliance of Chicago Volleyball Club.


Birks’ career, by the numbers:


1 - Her ranking on Illinois’ career kills and attack attempts lists (1,972 and 5,656).


2 – Twice named a unanimous All-Big Ten performer.


3 – Number of post-season NCAA Tournaments in which Birks’ Illini competed.


4 – In each of her four seasons (2012-15), Birks led the Illini in kills and attack attempts every year.


7 – Birks’ jersey number at Illinois.


8 – She is one of eight volleyball players who’ve been chosen as UI’s top female athlete, joining Mary Eggers, Laura Bush. Tina Rogers, Cristy Chapman, Colleen Ward, Jordyn Poulter and Jacqueline Quade.


9 – Birks’ ranking on UI’s digs list (1,159).


25 – Number of times an Illini team on which Birks played defeated a Top 25 opponent.


33 – Number of 20-kill matches she had during her career, second only to Laura DeBruler’s 36.


74 – Birks’ height in inches.


2016 – The year in which she shared Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year honors with wrestler Isaiah Martinez.


2,218 – Points scored during Birks’ career, a total that ranks second behind only Mary Eggers’ 2,298.5.


                                 Ken Holtzman

Ken Holtzman's 1969 No-Hitter

Aug. 18, 2023

Tomorrow, the only University of Illinois baseball alum to throw a no-hitter in a Major League Baseball game will celebrate the 54th anniversary of his legendary gem. Ken Holtzman, a 1965 letter-winning pitcher for Coach Lee Eilbracht, held the Atlanta Braves without a hit at the Wrigley Field that day in 1969, thanks significantly to a strong Lake Michigan breeze blowing over the left-field wall.


Returning to Chicago from a successful 12-game West Coast swing, the first-place Cubbies came into the Tuesday afternoon contest twenty-nine games over .500. Third-baseman Ron Santo’s three-run home run in the bottom of the first off knuckleballer Phil Niekro provided Holtzman with an early cushion.


Chicago’s 23-year-old left-hander, in his fifth season with the Cubs, breezed through the early innings, tossing strike after strike. No. 30 relied primarily on his pinpoint fastball on that 76-degree day at the Friendly Confines. In the top of the seventh, Holtzman faced eventual home run king Hank Aaron in what would prove to be the most crucial moment of the game. The Hammer hit Holtzman’s 2-2 pitch as well as he could.


“I had pitched long enough to recognize the crack of the bat and the trajectory,” Holtzman told newspaper reporters after the game. “When you throw a pitch like that, especially to a guy like Hank Aaron, I’m thinking, ‘OK, well now the score is 3-1.’

 

Initially, Cubs leftfielder Billy Williams assumed the ball was gone, too, then quickly remembered the strong wind that afternoon. He backed up into the “well” at the ivy-covered wall, then lifted his glove triumphantly.

 

Said Aaron afterwards, “It was the hardest ball I ever hit. I don’t know why or how it stayed in the ballpark. I thought for sure that I hit a home run and, sure enough, the wind blew it right back to Billy Williams. Every year at Cooperstown, Billy always reminds me about that play.”


In the top of the ninth inning, Holtzman had to face the Braves’ top of the order. Felipe Alou popped up to shortstop and Felix Millan grounded to third base. Now Holtzman’s flirtation with a no-hitter stood between only him and Aaron. When Atlanta’s future Hall of Famer grounded to Beckert at second, a wild celebration ensued, marking Chicago’s first no-hitter since 1960.

 

Unfortunately, it proved to be one of the Cubs’ last highlights of 1969. They would win only 15 of their final 40 games, finishing eight games behind the New York Mets in the National League East final standings.

 

For Holtzman, however, success continued for the most part over his final ten big league seasons. He threw a second no-hitter in 1970, this time against the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded to the Oakland A’s in 1972, joining a Charlie Finley staff that included Vida Blue, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and John “Blue Moon” Odom. During his four years in Oakland, Holtzman’s cumulative 77-55 win-loss record helped the A’s win four straight American League West Division titles and three World Series championships. His career statistics with the Cubs, A’s, Orioles and Yankees included a 174-150 and a 3.49 earned run average.

 

During his only season with the Illini (1965), Holtzman had a 6-2 record and struck out 72 hitters in 57 innings. He was Illinois’s Most Valuable Player and earned third-team All-Big Ten honors. Today, at the age of 77, Holtzman resides in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.


                                 Amos Alonzo Stagg

Illini vs. Amos Alonzo Stagg

Aug. 16, 2023

Born 161 years ago today—August 16, 1862—Amos Alonzo Stagg, the “Grand Old Man of the Midway”, played a significant role in the history of University of Illinois football.


Very few individuals over the first 100 years of the college game were more respected than the former Yale University All-American. In fact, Stagg was a charter class member of the College Football Hall of Fame (1951) as both a player and a coach.


Stagg’s counterpart at Illinois, Bob Zuppke, had high praise for the 41-year head coach of the University of Chicago Maroons.


“The name and influence of A.A. Stagg will live a long time in the Western Conference and American football,” Zuppke said. “He and Fielding Yost and George Huff are the men who made the Big Ten what it is. Through the years, I found Yost’s teams tougher defensively than Stagg’s teams at Chicago. But on offense, Alonzo Stagg had no superior. He applied imagination to his attack. Back in the days when his material was on a par with that of the other universities in the conference, it may have looked from the stands as though his teams merely used mass power to bowl over the defense. Actually, his offense was shifty and deceptive.”


Among many innovations, Stagg pioneered the man-in-motion, the fake handoff, cross-blocking, the T-formation and the quick kick.


From Stagg’s first season in 1892 through following 17 campaigns, the Maroons had their way with Illinois, posting a 9-2-2 record. One of UC’s pair of losses during that span ultimately resulted in a forfeit because of a dispute with the officiating.


Once Zuppke arrived on the scene in Champaign in 1913, UC’s long reign took a southward turn. During Stagg’s final 20 seasons in Chicago (1913-32), Zup’s Illini held a 13-5-2 edge.


Other interesting notes about Illinois’s 37 battles against Stagg and the UC Maroons:


• Illinois posted a 17-16-4 records during Stagg’s time in Chicago, including an 8-7 mark in Champaign-Urbana.


• UI and UC played twice against Stagg’s first squad (1892), a team for which he both played and coached. In the first meeting (Nov. 16), Chicago was leading 10-4 when officials called the game on account of darkness. Illinois protested and officials eventually ruled that the 4-4 halftime score would stand as the final score. Stagg himself scored the touchdown that was ultimately nullified.


• Illinois was awarded a forfeit victory over Chicago in 1894 when officiating again decided the result. When UI’s R.J. Hotchkiss ran for a 90-yard touchdown, UC’s captained claimed that he had asked for timeout. When the umpire requested the Maroons to play ball, they refused.


• On Oct. 31, 1896, the date of the Illini’s first-ever Big Ten Conference game (then officially known as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives), Chicago prevailed at Illinois Field, 12-0.


• In 1910, UC played Illinois at its first-ever Homecoming game. Otto Seiler’s 38-yard drop-kick field goal provided the Illini with a 3-0 victory.


• When Stagg and Zuppke coached against each other for the first time, host Chicago beat Illinois, 28-7.


• On Nov. 3, 1923, in a downpour at Memorial Stadium’s first game, 60,000 fans watched Red Grange score UI’s only touchdown, handing Chicago its only loss of the season.


• Stagg’s Maroons snapped a 15-game Illini winning streak in 1924 with a 21-21 tie in Chicago.



• In 70-year-old Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg’s final game against the Illini (1932), Bob Zuppke’s squad snapped a 10-game Big Ten losing streak with a 13-7 victory at Stagg Field.


                                 Clyde Alwood

Clyde Alwood

Aug. 14, 2023

Clyde Alwood, the University of Illinois’ third-ever recipient of the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for athletic and academic excellence, died on this date in 1954 in his childhood hometown of Clinton, Ill.


The three-time letter-winning Fighting Illini basketball star, whose life ended from a fatal heart attack, was only 59. Alwood was visiting his childhood home to celebrate his mother’s birthday.


The 6-foot-4-inch center was a starter for Coach Ralph Jones’ 1915, ’16 and ’17 teams, units that posted a composite record of 42 victories and only six losses. During Alwood’s sophomore campaign, Illinois’ undefeated team (16-0) not only won the Big Ten title (12-0) but was also declared college basketball’s national champion.


In Alwood’s junior season, Illinois won its first eight games to extend UI’s winning streak to a school-record 28 victories in a row. The 1916 Illini lost only three of their 16 games and finished second in the conference standings.


The club that Alwood captained as a senior regained the conference title by posting a 10-2 record. He played alongside future UI Hall of Famers Ray Woods and George Halas that season.


Academically, Alwood majored in agriculture and upon graduation began operating a small farm near Marshall, Ill. Just two months after he received his UI degree, Bloomington High School hired him as its head basketball coach. That stint lasted only one season. Though he wasn’t sent overseas to fight during World War I, Alwood served in the U.S. Army as a YMCA instructor. Alwood eventually became a civil engineer with the Illinois Central Railroad, then a salesman in Indianapolis, Rockford and Beloit, Wis.


                                 Luke Altmyer

Transfer Quarterbacks

Aug. 7, 2023

Enrolling at Illinois this past Spring is quarterback Luke Altmyer. He has three years of eligibility remaining after transferring from Mississippi. In 2022, Altmeyer played in four games, with one start at quarterback, and redshirted the season. He completed 8-of-17 passes on the season for 125 yards and two touchdowns.


Transfer quarterback starts at Illinois since 2014:


2014 – Wes Lunt started 7 of UI’s 13 games

2015 – Lunt started all 12 games

2016 – Lunt started 7 of 12 games

2017 – Only original Illini players started at quarterback

2018 – A.J. Bush started 9 of 12 games

2019 – Brandon Peters started 11 of 13 games

2020 – Peters started 5 of UI’s 8 games

2021 – Peters started 9 games, Art Sitkowski started 3 games

2022 - Tommy Devito started 13 games


                                 Matt Bullock

Matt Bullock

Aug. 4, 2023


Before Bob Nicollette, Skip Pickering, Al Martindale and Randy Ballard, David Madison “Matt” Bullock reigned over the Fighting Illini athletic training room. For 34 years, Bullock’s face was as familiar as any to the athletes of the University of Illinois. From Red Grange to the Whiz Kids, one newspaper article estimated that Bullock came into contact with more than 40,000 athletes from 1913 to 1947.


Born in Maysville, Kentucky on August 4, 1886—137 years ago today—Bullock’s professional career began as a trainer of trotting and pacing horses. Eventually, he moved to Champaign-Urbana where he worked at the UI Dairy. That’s where Director of Athletics George Huff offered him a job as custodian of the storeroom at what would come to be known at Kenney Gym. Within a few weeks, UI’s very first trainer, Willie McGill, soon had Bullock assisting him. When McGill left for a job at Northwestern in 1916, Bullock was promoted by Huff to head both UI’s training and equipment departments.


Bullock once told a reporter that a competent trainer was one having a “thorough knowledge of anatomy and physiology. He must be a student of human nature and possess a sense of humor that will enable him to cope with all students. He must be morally sound, intellectually honest, have a cool head, and an ability to be mentally alert at all times. Add to all these qualities a thorough loyalty to his organization and a mindfulness that things must be done right for safety of the participants.”


He continued, “Each time I could relieve a boy of pain, fix his bloody nose, tape his ankles, or soothe a floor burn, and send him back in to the contest with the fiery spirit to win, it was a personal thrill to me. When these boys are hurt so badly that they can’t possibly get back in the game, and I hear them talk about getting back ‘just to tackle that guy once more’ or ‘to score one more basket’, it sent a tinge down my spine.”


Bullock said that his greatest thrill came at Minnesota in 1916 when an undermanned Illini football squad defeated the Gophers’ famed “perfect team” that was otherwise undefeated and outscored the remainder of its six opponents, 339-14.


In 1962, Bullock was among twenty-six individuals initially inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation’s Trainers Hall of Fame. He and his family resided for thirty years on West Park Street in Urbana. He died in October of 1953 at the age of 67. His pall bears included Ray Eliot, Doug Mills, Bert Ingwersen and Chuck Flynn.


Said Eliot of Bullock, “I can’t think of a finer man that Matt or one who had more friends. He was a friend of everyone who came in contact with him. He was one of Illinois’s most illustrious sons.”


                                 Tony Pashos

Tony Pashos ... By the Numbers

Aug. 2, 2023


Celebrating his 43rd birthday on Thursday (Aug. 3) is former Fighting Illini football all-star Tony Pashos. Born in Palos Heights and a graduate of Lockport Township High School, his parents (Georgios and Despina) immigrated to the United States from Greece. His career story, by the numbers:


2  - Seasons he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as an offensive lineman.


3  - Number of languages Pashos speaks (English, Greek and German).


5  - NFL Draft round in which he was selected by the Baltimore Ravens.


9  - Number of varsity letters Pashos was awarded at Lockport High.


12  - Illinois’ final AP team ranking in 2001, his junior season.


47  - Consecutive career starts he made at Illinois.


79  - Jersey number Pashos wore for the Illini and for most of his NFL player.


82  - Number of career starts he made during his NFL career, including every game in 2006, ’07, ’08, 11 and ’12.


325  - His playing weight as a pro.


2002  - Season he served as an Illini co-captain and won the Bruce Capel Award as the team’s most courageous player.


                                  Dick Tamburo

Dick Tamburo

July 31, 2023

On this date 51 years ago—July 31, 1972—newly appointed University of Illinois director of athletics Cecil Coleman hired 42-year-old Dick Tamburo to be the chief assistant on his staff.


He joined the Illini after a short stint as the assistant director at Kent State. Tamburo assumed the duties previously performed by Ray Eliot, overseeing personnel and athletic facility operations. He was on the Illini staff when women’s varsity athletics was introduced at the U of I and served in that role for six years.


Tamburo was a standout athlete at New Kensington High School in Pennsylvania, about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. He and seven of his Red Raider teammates went on to college football football for Coach Biggie Munn’s powerful Michigan State football teams of the early 1950s. From 1950-52, the Spartans compiled a cumulative record of 26-1, winning the national championship each of those last two seasons. Tamburo was MSU’s Most Valuable Player and a consensus All-American in 1952.


Spartan coach Duffy Daugherty, an assistant during Tamburo’s career, said “Dick is one of the roughest and smartest linebackers I ever saw. But his most important asset was heart. The bigger and tougher the opposition, the bigger and tougher Tamburo was.”


He was selected in the fourth round of the 1953 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns and briefly played in the Canadian Football League. Following two years of service in the Army from 1955-56, Tamburo joined former teammate Frank Kush’s football staff at Arizona State (1958-66), then Ray Nagel’s staff at Iowa (1967-70).


He departed Champaign-Urbana in 1978 to become the athletic director at Texas Tech, then returned to Tempe to head up the Sun Devils’ athletic staff (1980-85). During Tamburo’s tenure at ASU, the baseball team won the 1981 NCAA title.


His final post in administration was as A.D. at the University of Missouri from 1988-92.


Following his years in Columbia, Tamburo returned to the Phoenix area and lived there until his death on Feb. 24, 2020.


                                  Tina Rogers-Smith

Tina Rogers-Smith

July 28, 2023

When Tina Rogers-Smith began with the Illini volleyball team in 1990, fans remarked about how tall she was. But when the Mt. Pulaski star graduated from the University of Illinois in 1994, everyone simply observed how good she was.


At 6-3, longtime mentor Mike Hebert called Smith “the most dominating outside hitter I’ve ever coached.”


She missed two weeks of her sophomore season following knee surgery, but a more serious injury occurred in late November of 1992 at Michigan State when she broke a joint in her ankle. Through therapy and rehab, she made it through the balance of the season, one in which Illinois won the Big Ten title and she earned second-team All-America honors.


More in-depth surgery followed and her recovery was long and hard.


“It was a long road and it troubled the beginning of my senior season,” said Smith. “That was both a physical and emotional struggle.”


Still, she fought through the pain and repeated as an All-Big Ten selection. Smith is quick to point out that Mike Hebert was much more than just her volleyball coach.


“I cannot quantify the amount of respect I have for him.”

 

Her crowning achievement came in the spring of ’94 when she was named Illinois’ Female Athlete of the Year, beating a field of stars that included Tonya Williams, Mandy Cunningham, Becky Biehl, and teammate Kristin Henriksen.

 

Most of Smith’s professional career has centered around the banking, finance and mortgage industry, and today she is a Correspondent Mortgage Banking Underwriter for the State Bank of Lincoln.


Today, Tina Rogers-Smith celebrates her birthday. Her family includes a daughter, Faith, who played basketball at Millikin University, and a son, Jaxson.


                                  Robert "Bunker" Jones

Robert "Bunker" Jones

July 26, 2023

Citizens of Champaign-Urbana from the 1940s through the mid 1970s might remember Robert “Bunker” Jones as a respected member of Champaign’s Police Department, but did you know that he once was a letter winner on Ray Eliot’s 1945 Fighting Illini football team?


Born 97 years ago today in West Frankfort, Jones was an outstanding athlete for the Frankfort Community High Redbirds. From 1942-43 through 1944-45, he led FCHS to three straight appearances to the Illinois prep championships at Huff Hall in Champaign. The Redbirds’ best chance to win the state title came in Jones’ sophomore season, but the 6-4 center was badly injured in Frankfort’s victory over Decatur. Jones teamed with future Northwestern University Hall of Famer Max Morris as the Redbirds set a school record with 32 wins.


As a senior, Jones earned All-State honors in both basketball and football. Anchored by Jones in 1944-45, FCHS tallied a school-record 35 basketball victories.


Jones was successfully recruited by Coach Eliot to play for the Illini football team and he lettered as a freshman in 1945, playing guard and serving as a placekicker. He also made Coach Doug Mills’ Illinois basketball team as a rookie, but did not letter.


Jones transferred to Southern Illinois University and lettered for the Saluki football team in 1947.


Jones returned to Champaign-Urbana in 1949 to marry Barbara Wilson of Urbana. He joined the Champaign police force and continued in that role for more than 25 years. Jones was a member of the Policemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois, the Illinois Police Association and the Varsity I Men's Association.


His family included two daughters and a son, plus five grandchildren. Bunker Jones died in 2003, just a few weeks shy of his 77th birthday.


                                  Jim Wright

Jim Wright

July 24, 2023

Though Illini fans more familiarly associate Jim Wright with Illinois basketball, few know that the longtime Urbana resident also was a two-time Big Ten pole vault champion. He contributed to UI’s 1953 outdoor track and field team title with a winning vault of 13-feet, then both he and the team duplicated those championships the following season as well.


The Lawrenceville High School graduate wore jersey number 16 for Coach Harry Combes’ Illini basketball team. Wright earned three additional varsity letters at Huff Gym. As a sophomore in 1951-52, he and his UI teammates won the Big Ten title and advanced to the NCAA’s Final Four. Illinois’ ’52-53 squad finished second in the conference standings. In 1953-54, Wright’s senior season, he became a starter alongside John Kerr, Paul Judson, Bruce Brothers and Max Hooper. Wright was the Illini’s third-leading scorer, averaging 8.4 points per game.


Following two seasons of military service, Combes brought Wright on in 1958 to become his second assistant coach. He served a total of 13 seasons for Combes, heading up Illinois’ scouting operation and coaching UI’s freshman team. Wright’s coaching highlight came in 1963 when the Illini won the Big Ten title.


When Harv Schmidt became Illinois’ coach in 1967, he retained Wright as his assistant until 1972.


Wright began his C-U based insurance company in 1954 and continued it for a total of 58 years, most recently on South State Street in Champaign. His wife, Barbara, operated Wright Real Estate for several years. They have two children, Jim, who resides in Gainesville, Fla., and Susan who lives in Jacksonville, Fla., plus five grandchildren. Jim and Barbara winter at Amelia Island in Florida.


Today, Jim celebrates his 91st birthday.



                                  Whitney Mercilus

Whitney Mercilus

July 21, 2023

Happy 33rd birthday to former Fighting Illini football star Whitney Mercilus.


Recruited to Illinois in 2008 by Coach Ron Zook, the Akron, Ohio high school star was redshirted as freshman. Following two seasons of steady but unspectacular play, Mercilus exploded onto the scene in 2011 as a junior defensive end. He led all collegiate players that season in quarterback sacks (16) and forced fumbles (9), and was a consensus All-American. Mercilus was the CFPA Defensive Performer of the Year and the winner of the Ted Hendricks Award as college football’s top defensive end. He also was the Illini’s Most Valuable Player and a team co-captain.


Mercilus was a first-round selection by the Houston Texans in the 2012 NFL Draft.  He played with the Texans for nine full seasons (2012-20) and part of a tenth. In that tenth campaign (2021), he was traded to the Green Bay Packers. However, a torn bicep in game 10 ended his year.


Career-wise, he started 102 of 138 NFL games and recorded 58 quarterback sacks.


Mercilus announced his retirement from the NFL on April 6, 2022.


He is the founder of the WithMerci Foundation, an organization that "advocates services and support for families of children with disabilities and special needs".


                                  Ralph Webster

Ralph Webster

July 19, 2023

Born on this date in 1906 was Fighting Illini wrestling’s first-ever All-American, heavyweight Ralph Webster.


A three-time letter winner from 1926-28 for Coach Paul Prehn, the Raccoon, Ind. native helped Illinois win three consecutive Big Ten championships. Webster’s Illini teams won 17 of its 19 dual meet matches during those seasons.


Though Webster never won an individual conference title, he accomplished his greatest singular fame at the first NCAA Championships in 1928, hosted in Ames, Iowa. After pinning Ralph Freese of Kansas in the semifinal match, he was pitted against Oklahoma State’s Earl McCready. Unfortunately for Webster, McCready won by fall in just 19 seconds.


Webster majored in Athletic Coaching at the University of Illinois, then became a lifetime employee of the Columbus (Ohio) Board of Education. Initially, he was a teacher and multi-sport coach at Columbus East High School. His greatest athlete at East High was Ohio State Buckeyes Hall of Famer Bill Willis, who Webster originally suggested to play for Coach Ray Eliot at Illinois. Unfortunately, OSU coach Paul Brown intervened and the rest, as they say, is Buckeye history.


Webster moved onto become the longtime athletics director of Columbus Walnut Ridge High School, retiring in 1974. He was inducted into the Ohio Coaches Hall of Fame in 1992.


Webster died on Feb. 28, 1976 in Bexley, Ohio.


                                  Johnny "Red" Kerr (#22)

Johnny "Red" Kerr

July 17, 2023

Today marks the 91st anniversary of the birth of University of Illinois basketball legend John Graham “Red” Kerr. He was a member of the second class inducted into the Illini Athletics Hall of Fame (2018).


A person living today would need to be in his mid-to-late 70s to be able to remember the incredible career Kerr enjoyed as an Illini player or to be in his 60s to be able to recall his amazing consistency as an NBA star.


Today’s Illini Legends, Lists & Lore will attempt to refresh the memory of those senior citizens and to enlighten folks younger than them as to just how outstanding a basketball career Johnny “Red” Kerr had.


Did you know ...


•An eight-inch growth spurt before and during Kerr’s senior year at Chicago’s Tilden Technical High School changed his focus from soccer to basketball. Kerr had initially intended to attend Bradley University but changed his mind to play for the Illini following a visit from Irv Bemoras. Kerr ultimately was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.


•Kerr’s senior season as an Illini player, he averaged a school-record 25.3 points per game, passing Bemoras as UI’s career scoring leaders. Kerr’s career total of 1,299 points would be eclipsed until nine years later (by Dave Downey). The Chicago Tribune selected him as the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player.


•The Syracuse Nationals chose Kerr as the sixth pick in the 1954 NBA Draft. The first five players selected included top pick Frank Selvy of Furman, then Bob Pettit, Gene Shue, Dick Rosenthal and Togo Palazzi.


•Playing the same position as Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, Kerr played in the NBA All-Star Games in 1956 (4 points/8 rebounds), 1959 (7/9) and 1963 (2/2).


•Kerr averaged 11.15 rebounds for his game, a number that ranks 27th on the current all-time list. Just ahead of him on the list in 26th place is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 11.18 per game. Immediately following Kerr on the list are Hakeem Olajuwon (11.11), Dave DeBusschere (10.99) and Shaquille O’Neal (10.85).


•His NBA career ended on Nov. 4, 1965. His final career totals as a professional player included 905 games, 12,480 points and 10,092 rebounds. Kerr currently ranks among the top 60 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.


•Kerr was a true NBA iron man, playing in a record 844 consecutive games. He held the record for 17 years, finally handing over his honor to Randy Smith on Nov. 3, 1982.


•On May 3, 1966, Kerr was named head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Though his first Bulls team had a win-loss record of 33-48, Chicago became the first expansion team to make the NBA playoffs in its inaugural season. Kerr was named NBA coach of the Year and is the only coach to receive the award after his team finished with a losing record.


•Players that Kerr tutored during his two seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls (1966-67 and ’67-68) and the Phoenix Suns (1968-69 and ’69-70) include Jerry Sloan, Bob Boozer, Gail Goodrich and Dick Van Arsdale.


•He became the Chicago Bulls’ color commentator in 1975, serving alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Durham. Kerr remained in that role through the 2007-08 season, calling all six of the Bulls’ six championship campaigns.


•Kerr passed on Feb. 26, 2009, only hours after the death of fellow Bulls legend Norm Van Lier.


                                  Ed Manley

Ed Manley

July 14, 2023

The man who coached longer at the University of Illinois than any other person died 61 years ago today at the age of 75. Ed Manley, a native St. Louisan, directed Fighting Illini men’s swimming and diving for 37 years after being hired by George Huff in 1912.


As a young man, Manley was an exceptional swimmer and water polo for the Missouri Athletic Club.


His Illini swimming teams captured Western Conference titles his first two years at Illinois and placed among the top five in the league twenty-four times. He also developed twenty conference champions in the sports of water polo, directing those teams to dual-meet victories nearly 75 percent of the time.


Manley called 1930s performer Chuck Flachmann his greatest single swimmer. Other outstanding Illini athletes he coached included Bill Vosburgh, a member of the 1912 Olympic team; John Lichter, John Griffin and Frank Taylor of the 1915-28 era; Bill O’Brien, who won a national diving championship in the 1920s; John Haulenbeeck, the 1947 Illini captain, and Bob Clemons, a 1950s star.


Manley also was the originator of the intramural sports system at the University of Illinois.


After he retired from Illinois in 1952, Manley and his wife, Cecelia, returned to St. Louis where he became the swimming pro at Westwood Country Club. He also coached at the Clayton and University City pools.


The veteran coach was honored posthumously in 1975 when the university named the historic Huff Gym natatorium the Edwin Manley Memorial Pool.


Illini coaches with longest terms of service:

37 years               Ed Manley, men’s swimming & diving (1912-17, 1920-52)

35 years               Gary Wieneke, cross country (1967-2002)

32 years               Yoshi Hayasaki, men’s gymnastics (1973-93, 1997-2009)

31 years               Maxwell Garret, fencing (1941-72)

29 years               Bob Zuppke, football (1913-41)

29 years               Gary Wieneke, men’s track & field (1974-2003)

28 years               Paula Smith, women’s golf (1978-2006)

27 years               Harry Gill, men’s track & field (1904-29, 1931-33)

27 years               Leo Johnson, men’s track & field (1938-65)

27 years               Lee Eilbracht, baseball (1952-78)

24 years               George Huff, baseball (1896-1919)

23 years               Gary Winckler, women’s track & field (1985-2008)

22 years               Leo Johnson, men’s cross country (1938-60)

22 years               Ralph Fletcher, men’s golf (1944-66)

22 years               Don Sammons, men’s swimming (1971-93)

22 years               Howard Braun, men’s tennis (1938-42, 1946-64)

21 years               Lou Henson, basketball (1975-96)

20 years               Harry Combes, basketball (1947-67)


                                  Jack Beynon

Jack Beynon

July 12, 2023

Over the years, Rockford has sent a legion of special athletes to the University of Illinois, though few measure up to the accomplishments of 1930s Fighting Illini star John “Jack” Beynon.


Beynon was a three-sport star for Rockford High School, but he was best known as the star quarterback for the Rabs’ powerhouse 1930 football team. Outscoring its opponents by a cumulative score of 279-18, the talented signal caller ran for 20 touchdowns and passed for four more, including three to Rockford captain and future Illini teammate Bart Cummings.


As a player for Coach Bob Zuppke, Beynon helped the Illini rebound from back-to-back losing seasons in 1930 and ‘31. Coordinating a flea flicker-type offense that was based on principals of laterals and reverses, Beynon’s senior squad in 1934 raced to victories in each of its first six games and ended with a 7-1 mark. The highlights included a 14-13 win at Memorial Stadium versus Ohio State.


The game-winning touchdown against the Buckeyes in ’34 was eventually dubbed by scribes as the Flying Trapeze play. Starting at OSU’s 36-yard line, Illini fullback John Theodore took the ball on a direct snap and faked a dive into the line. Just before reaching the line of scrimmage, Theodore tossed a lateral to guard Chuck Bennis. Bennis dropped back and fired another lateral to halfback Les Lindberg, who sprinted to the right, then spun and fired a 25-yard cross field lateral to Beynon. The Illini captain, who had gone into the OSU secondary as though he was a potential receiver, had backtracked behind UI’s line of scrimmage. Beynon then tossed a perfect arching pass into the hands of Gene Dykstra for the deciding 36-yard TD.


Also a two-time letter winner for Coach Craig Ruby’s Illini basketball squad, Beynon was an iron horse for Zuppke’s football team in 1934, playing an estimated 297 of the 300 minutes during Illinois’s five Big Ten Conference games. He was rewarded with first-team all-league honors and second-team All-America kudos. Beynon played in the College All-Star game on a team that included future United States President Gerald Ford from Michigan.


He rejected a $150 per game offer to play for George Halas’s Chicago Bears to instead attend law school. From 1943-46, Beynon’s legal career was interrupted by a three-year Army stint during World War II.


Beynon ultimately become Winnebago County’s very first public defender in 1966. Five years later, he was appointed as an associate judge. In 1981, he became a Circuit Court judge in Rockford’s 17th district.


Jack Beynon, who was born on July 12, 1913 in Chicago, died on Oct. 17, 1989 at the age of 76.


                                  Jack Watson

Jack Watson

July 10, 2023

John “Jack” Watson, born 130 years ago tomorrow, was the University of Illinois football team’s very first All-America center. Born and raised in DeKalb, he lettered for Coach Bob Zuppke’s first three varsity teams in 1913, ’14 and ’15.


During Watson’s junior season, the Illini compiled a perfect 7-0 record and earned Big Ten and mythical national championships.


As the center, he triggered an Illinois offense that included quarterback Potsy Clark, halfback Harold Pogue and end Perry Graves.


On defense, Watson sparkled as a tackler in the middle of the line. That 1914 Illini team outscored its opponents by 202 points (224-22).


Watson was elected UI’s captain in 1915 and Illinois repeated as conference champs, tying with Minnesota. His Illini didn’t experience a single loss in his final two seasons (12-0-2).


The 1916 graduate also was president of the UI’s YMCA. Watson’s brother, Chancey, lettered for the Illini in 1911 and ’12.


An agriculture major, Jack Watson became a farm advisory specialist. He died on Jan. 4, 1963 at the age of 69 in Santa Fe, N.M.


                                  Bob Blackman

Bob Blackman

July 7, 2023

Today marks the 105th anniversary of Bob Blackman’s birth. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Blackman served as head coach of the Fighting Illini football team for six seasons (1971-76). He died in 2000. Bob Blackman’s career, by the numbers:


6         Consecutive losses in first half dozen games at Illinois

12       Number of first-team All-Big Ten players Blackman coached at UI

29       Number of victories accumulated as Illini coach (against 36 losses and one tie)

104     Number of victories as head coach at Dartmouth (against 37 losses and three ties)

.510    His winning percentage in Big Ten Conference games (24-23-1)

.546    Blackman’s winning percentage at UI in games other than against Michigan and Ohio State (0-12 vs. those two teams)



                                   John "Rocky" Ryan

John "Rocky" Ryan

July 5, 2023

John “Rocky” Ryan, one of Fighting Illini football’s most colorful players on Coach Ray Eliot’s early 1950s teams, was born 91 years ago today.


A 1950 graduate of Tolono’s Unity High School, the Rocket football teams on which Ryan played never lost a game. He also lettered in basketball and won the state of Illinois’s pole vault championship his junior year.


At 6-2 and 190 pounds, Ryan became a record-setting receiver for the Illini. As a sophomore in 1951 for the Big Ten champs, one of his two receptions that season was a six-yard touchdown catch to close out UI’s 40-7 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford.


Statistically, Ryan’s best season at Illinois came in 1952. He caught a school-record 45 passes for 714 yards and five touchdowns, including a 78-yard TD against Washington on Oct. 11, 1952. The performance earned Ryan second-team All-Big Ten honors and honorable mention All-America laurels.


Ryan was involved in an incident following Illinois’s Nov. 8, 1952 game at Iowa. Immediately following the conclusion of the Illini’s 33-13 victory, Hawkeye fans began to throw apples at UI’s player as they were leaving the field. One unfortunate Iowa supporter’s jaw was broken by a powerful Ryan punch following the fan’s advancement on the Illini player. The episode played a role in the two schools not playing a football game against each other for 15 years.


As a senior in 1953, the big redhead helped lead Illinois to a share of the Big Ten title with 16 receptions for 308 yards and four TDs. Ryan ended his career as the Illini record holder for catches (63), receiving yards (1,041) and receiving touchdowns (9).


He was a second-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1954 National Football League Draft (21st overall pick), but his professional career was delayed by service in the United States Army.


Ryan played three NFL seasons, primarily with the Eagles, starting nine of the 28 games in which he played. Ryan’s final four pro games were as a member of the Chicago Bears. Altogether, he caught six passes for 188 yards and had two interceptions for 55 yards.


Upon retirement from football, Ryan worked in Champaign-Urbana for Illinois Bell, Prudential Insurance and JM Jones/SuperValu. He and his wife, Lucille, had four children and 10 grandchildren. Many members of the family still reside in the Twin Cities.


Rocky Ryan died on Nov. 3, 2011, at the age of 79.


                                   Zuppke Field

Bob Zuppke's Life After Coaching

June 30, 2023

After 29 years of a primarily distinguished career as head coach of the Fighting Illini football program, Bob Zuppke retired under pressure from alumni in November of 1941. Zup was provided with an eight-month severance of $6,000 (equivalent to $92,000+ today), then received a $4,000 retirement ($61,000+ today) thereafter.


Shortly after his announcement, he declined job offers from Camp Grant and Grand Rapids University, and was also approached by Yale. He did, however, accept an offer from the Chicago Tribune’s Arch Ward to coach the College All-Stars against the Chicago Bears in August of 1942.


According to author Maynard Brichford’s 2008 book entitled Bob Zuppke: The Life and Football Legacy of the Illinois Coach, the former Illini mentor nearly every morning from 1943- writing to former UI players who were fighting in World War II. Later in 1945, he served as a volunteer coach at the University of Havana in Cuba and made pencil sketches that he later turned into work as an oil painter. Occasionally, Zup fished in the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans from the yacht of one of his former players at Oak Park High School, famed author Ernest Hemingway.


An assortment of health issues, including prostate cancer, a coronary condition and high blood pressure, plagued Zuppke in his latter years and his appearances at honors ceremonies and player reunions became much less frequent. In 1949, Illinois honored the “Dutch Master” at a testimonial dinner to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Memorial Stadium. A group of 1924 of Illini stars—Red Grange, Earl Britton, Harry Hall and Wally McIlwain—reminisced about that famous game against Michigan a quarter of a century earlier.


Honors lauding his coaching achievement were bestowed upon Zuppke in 1950 (Helms College Football Hall of Fame), 1951 (National Football Foundation Hall of Fame) and 1955 (Amos Alonzo Stagg Award from the American Football Coaches Association).


In December of 1955, Zuppke suffered a major stroke, but married his longtime housekeeper, Leona Ray, nine months later. In December of 1957, he died at the age of 78. Come the spring of 1958, Zup’s ashes were buried at Champaign’s Roselawn Cemetery, adjacent to the grave of the man who originally hired him, George Huff. Zuppke’s fortune of more than $400,000 was left to his wife, nieces and nephews, various charities and the University of Illinois Foundation.


The playing field at Memorial Stadium was named Zuppke Field in 1966.


                                    Mike Durkin

Mike Durkin and the Olympics

June 28, 2023

Mike Durkin’s dream had been fulfilled when he became a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team on June 27, 1976. Now, it was time to actually wear the red, white and blue uniform at Olympic Stadium’s opening ceremonies in Montreal.


In today’s installment of Legends, Lists & Lore, the Fighting Illini icon recalls his 1976 Olympic experience, about earning a spot on America’s 1980 squad, and about his disappointment when America boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow.


(July 29, 1976 – second of five preliminary heats of the Olympic 1500 meters) “The first heat went in 3:44 and they took the top three runners and the next three fastest non qualifiers. So, three guys went with a 3:44. I had some decent runners in my heat, including (Great Britain’s) Steve Ovett. With a lap to go, I was making my move coming up the homestretch and we get out to the turn. Instead of keeping my momentum going, I decided not to run wide on the turn. I shut down slightly to get closer to the rail. When we got to the backstretch, the guys up in front just took off before I got to that point. I was just chasing the last 300 meters. I finished fifth in my heat. I ran 3:38.7 (a 3:55 mile). After that first heat, I thought I was going to be one of those qualifiers. I had the second-fastest qualifying time. John Walker, the eventual Olympic champion, was in the fourth heat. He had run the 800 earlier in the Games and didn’t do well, so he wanted to show everybody that he was in monster shape and he was 3:36 something (3:36.87) in his heat. He dragged his guys to great times, including one that was a tenth of a second faster than me. I had the tenth-fastest time in the 1976 Games, including the finals, but I didn’t make it out of the first round. I did set an Olympic record for the fastest non-qualifier in history. That’s a helluva honor to have, isn’t it?’”

(On deciding whether to train for a berth on the 1980 team) “In the Fall of ’78, I started thinking about the (1980) Olympic Games. I wanted to prove that 1976 wasn’t a fluke. That was my motivation. The plan was that my wife and I would go to Moscow. I had missed two years, so I was really behind the eight ball, really playing catch-up. Nineteen-seventy-nine had been a struggle, but I was able to break four minutes again. I was never in as great of shape as I was in ’76, but I was very competitive and ran 3:39 to make the team. It was just the opposite of what had happened to me in ’76. With a lap to go (at the 1980 Trials), I was fourth and third place was probably 20 yards ahead of me. It’s not easy to make up that ground, but I never quit. I caught that fourth-place runner with 10 yards to go and slid into third. I have a photograph on my piano at home. There were three of us—Steve Scott, Steve Lacy and me--with probably only six inches between us. But I was third and I was on that team. The difference between making the team or being forever disappointed with a fourth place was a microsecond.”


(Learning about President Jimmy Carter’s decision for the U.S. to boycott the ’80 games) “It’s seared in my mind. It was the middle of February and about 9 o’clock at night. I had passed the bar in ’78, so I was a practicing attorney at that point. It would come home from putting in a full day of work and then go out and train. On this particular night it was really cold, a lot of snow, so I was sitting in the bathtub, trying to thaw out. My wife came in and said ‘Oh my God, I just heard on the news that President Carter said we’re going to boycott the Olympics.’ I was like ‘Oh, that’s just talk. He’s just trying to pressure the Soviets. They’re never going to boycott the Olympics.’ But, as the days went on, it started becoming a reality. It was a hard pill to swallow. I predicted that in 1980 the Soviet block would boycott the ’84 Games in L.A. There’s no way the Soviet Union is going to come to America if America boycotts the Moscow Games, and that became a reality. I thought it was a futile gesture. There were a helluva lot more things the U.S. could have done to economically boycott the Soviet Union—grain shipments, etc.—everything we had in our power. But to take innocent athletes that were competing in a spirit of friendship, then to put them on the front lines and make them the only people that would sacrifice in this effort I thought was a ridiculous gesture and meaningless. You knew that the Soviet propaganda machine was just going to spin that the Americans were just afraid to come and compete against the Soviet athletes on their home ground … the weak Americans, etcetera. The irony is that I went to Europe and, a week after the Games, I raced against Soviet athletes … the way it should be.”


A member of the Rosemont law firm of Storino, Ramello & Durkin, Mike Durkin has been married to his wife, Joannie, for 46 years. They have three grandsons.



                                    Matt Lackey

2002-03 Athletes of the Year

June 26, 2023

Twenty years ago today—June 26, 2003—a trio of Fighting Illini athletes—track and field’s Perdita Felicien, tennis’s Amer Delic and wrestling’s Matt Lackey—were named Big Ten Athletes of the Year.


It was the very first time in the then 20-year history of the awards that at least one Illinois athlete had been honored. 


It also marked the first and only time in the four-decades long, year-ending selection of the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award that two male student-athletes from the same institution shared the prize in the same year.


Furthermore, it was only the second time that athletes from the same school swept both the male and female awards, joining the Michigan duo of football’s Charles Woodson and softball’s Sara Griffin of 1998.


Delic and Lackey’s primary competition from other Big Ten male athletes included Minnesota wrestler Jared Lawrence and Indiana basketball’s Kyle Hornsby.


Not quite as unprecedented but rare nonetheless was the selection of Felicien as the winner of the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year Award. She won the award over such other prominent women’s athletes as Iowa softball’s Kristin Johnson, Michigan gymnast Janessa Grieco, Minnesota track & field’s Shani Marks, Penn State soccer’s Emily Oleksiuk, and Wisconsin volleyball’s Erin Byrd.



Sketches of the Illini athletes were secured from a June 26 release issued by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.


AMER DELIC: Delic, the very first conference tennis player to win the award, helped lead the Illini to the school's first ever NCAA men's tennis team championship, while becoming the first Illinois player to ever win the singles title. Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Jacksonville, Florida junior posted a singles record of 36-5 in 2003 and was undefeated (7-0) in Big Ten play. His record included 16 singles wins against Top 125 players. As a doubles team with partner Michael Calkins, Delic was ranked No. 11 nationally, claimed a 29-9 record and advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2003 NCAA Doubles Tournament. They won 11 doubles contests against Top 51 opponents this year and advanced to the championship match of the ITA All-American Tournament and the quarterfinals of the USTA Challenger professional event last fall. Delic and Calkins also won the consolation doubles title at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship. Delic was selected as one of five men's collegiate tennis players from all levels to represent the United States and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in Tokyo that summer.


MATT LACKEY: Lackey, a senior from Moline, Illinois, became the first Illini since 1998 to finish the season with a perfect record (38-0). He won the 2003 NCAA 165-pound title in addition to the 165-pound Big Ten title for the second straight year. He was Coach Mark Johnson’s first wrestler to win both NCAA and Conference titles in the same year. A three-time All-American, Lackey defeated 16 ranked opponents en route to his 2003 NCAA crown. He finished the 2002 season as an NCAA finalist and placed third in 2001. On his career, Lackey compiled a 14-2 NCAA tournament record and was 120-14 (.896) overall, ranking fifth on Illinois' all-time wins list.


PERDITA FELICIEN: Felicien was named the 2003 United States Track & Field Coaches Association Female Track Athlete of the Year after her championship performances in 2003. It was the second time in her career that she won that award after being selected in 2001. Along with winning the NCAA title in the 100-meter hurdles this spring, she set a meet record in the semifinals of that event with a time of 12.68, also tying the Big Ten record. The 2003 Big Ten 100-meter hurdle champion clocked the nation's then-fastest time of 12.88 seconds at the Conference championship, which ranked her as the No. 1 collegiate hurdler in the country and among the top 15 hurdlers in the world at that time. Felicien also won the Big Ten indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles and was an All-American in that event along with being named an All-American in the 4x100 outdoor relay. Named the Most Outstanding Athlete at the Drake Relays for a third consecutive year, she was also named the Midwest Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year and is a three-time winner of the University's Dike Eddleman Award for Female Athlete of the Year (2001, 2002, 2003). The native of Pickering, Ontario, Canada also was a First Team All-Big Ten honoree and an Academic All-Big Ten selection.


                                    Tom Haller

Tom Haller

June 23, 2023

Former Fighting Illini three-sport athlete and longtime major leaguer Tom Haller would have turned 86 today. He died in 2004.


Besides baseball, the former Lockport High School star lettered in football and basketball, earning four total varsity monograms. Haller’s career, by the numbers:


3         Haller’s statistical ranking among Big Ten quarterbacks in 1957


12       Number of seasons he played Major League Baseball (Giants, Dodgers, Tigers)


16       Number of Illini basketball game in which Haller played and number of points he scored in 1957


134     Total home runs he hit in majors with San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit


.214    Haller’s 1957 UI batting average in conference play


.257    His career batting average through 1,294 big league games


.286    Haller’s 1962 World Series batting average vs. Yankees


542     Yards he threw for in UI’s seven conference games in ’57 (3 TDs)


.991    His 1957 fielding percentage as the Illini first baseman (one error in 113 chances)


                                     Mike Durkin

Mike Durkin & the '76 Olympics

June 21, 2023

Over the 137-year history of organized track and field at the University of Illinois, Mike Durkin’s story about he became an Olympian is as remarkable as any as the 21 Fighting Illini men and women who’ve done so.


The 47th anniversary of Durkin’s magical tale at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field will be marked this coming week—June 27, 1976.


Now an attorney in Rosemont with Storino, Ramello & Durkin, he recounted his experience after his graduation from Illinois in 1975:


“I had stopped running after the championship meets of 1975. I didn’t imagine that I would have a career running after that. I was done. Got into law school. I went to school in downtown Chicago and got a job at the Merchandise Mart after class. That scholarship didn’t carry into law school, so I had to pay the bills. I also worked two hours a night, Monday through Friday, signing up contracts for a wedding reception banquet hall. On the weekends, I worked the weddings. I had my afternoons open and started working out a little, with no intention of doing anything with it.


“In February (1976), I drove down to Champaign to watch an indoor meet at the Armory, and I caught the bug. I thought that if I could get a qualifying time for the Olympic Trials, the Olympic Committee will pay my way to Eugene. I could stay for a couple of weeks and watch the second-greatest track meet, the Olympic Trials. My goal was to get invited to the Trials. I only had 14 weeks or so, from February to June, to compress a lot of training into that time period.


“The first weekend in April, I ran a 4:10 mile in Champaign. I thought that if I could run a 4:10 mile after only a month or so of training, maybe I can get that standard. At that time, the qualifying standard (for 1500 meters) was 3:41.7, about a 3:58 mile. So I started training a little bit harder. I got down to about a second-and-a-half off the time. Suddenly, I hit a plateau during the month of May. I just wasn’t in good racing shape. I went to the Kansas Relays and the Drake Relays and I could see that my shape was coming around. I was improving, but my times just weren’t dropping.


“(Oregon distance star) Steve Prefontaine died in 1975, so they held the first Prefontaine Classic in ‘76. I borrowed $500 from my boss and flew out to Eugene. I thought I’d get the time there, but I didn’t. There was one more meet—the AAU Championships at UCLA—and I met up with Tom Bryant, a competitor from Ohio State. (His daughter, Aidy Bryant, is now on Saturday Night Live.) Tom lived in L.A. and he ran for the Santa Monica Track Club. He put me up at his place. On the Monday before the meet, I was jogging around the inside of the rail on the grass and stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle so damn bad I could barely walk on it. My dad was a podiatrist in Chicago. He gave me the name of a doctor in L.A. and he taped it up. I had to stay off it for a couple of days. By Thursday, I was able to jog, then I ran the prelims on Friday. I probably felt the best I had all year and jogged the last 50 years to qualify (for the finals). My time was a tenth of a second off the qualifying standard. I thought, that’s no problem, we’re going to kill that in the finals.

Invariably, as most championship races go, it was tactical. I finished third, about three inches behind the winner, (Villanova’s) Eamonn Coghlan and Mike Manke from Oklahoma State. I missed the qualifying standard by a tenth of a second. I was really disappointed, but I felt so good physically. All I needed was rest. The sprained ankle gave me an opportunity to rest and recover. I had compressed so much training into such a short window that I was always tired. Those few days rest had allowed me to peak.


“I was running around the infield at UCLA, pretty bummed out, and a man came up to me. It was the coach at the Santa Monica Track club, a man named Joe Douglas. (Years later, he was Carl Lewis’s agent.) Joe, in my opinion, was a coaching genius. He said, ‘Young man, you’re getting an invite to the Olympic Trials.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘They need runners to fill out the heats and since you were the second American at national championships, we’re extending an invitation to you.’ Well, that just made my whole summer. I reached my goal. I was going to the trials!


“So I stayed out in L.A. and started training with the Santa Monica Track Club runners. Joe Douglas started giving me workouts. A couple weeks later, at the Trials, my times started dropping. I was in fantastic shape. I made it through the prelims. In the semis, I ran the Olympic qualifying standard. The night before the finals, I knew that if I could finish in the top three that I could be on the Olympic team. At that point, I really believed that I had a shot. I felt confident.


“Joe gave me the race strategy the next day. He wanted me to go out and get on the leader’s shoulder, hang there, then use my speed at the end of the race. It was a strategy I had used many times. The only problem was that 1,500 meters starts on the backstretch and the first portion of the race is on a straightaway. Who had the inside lane? Me. I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to lead. I want to be second or third. So why don’t I just hesitate at the start and then I’ll move up on the outside.’ So that’s what I did.


“The gun went off, I waited a quarter second. We get down to the first turn and I’m in last place. I’m going around the turn, coming up the homestretch, and I try to move out and pass people, but I couldn’t pass anybody. I was going as hard as I can. I thought, if this is a 60-second first quarter, I’m just going to step off into the infield and admit that I don’t have it today. Sure enough, we come around to the first quarter and they’re yelling out ’51 … 52’. Well, immediately I’m thinking to myself, no wonder I’m feeling so bad. But if I’m feeling this bad, imagine how all of those guys in front of me are feeling. So, I immediately adjusted my thoughts of dropping out to just hang in there and see what happens.


“I stayed in last place for another lap, came through the half mile at about 1:54. It was a suicide pace, but I was the slowest guy at that point. So now we’re on the start of the backstretch and I started moving up through the field. I get to the turn, held my spot at about sixth or seventh place. Then on the homestretch and I set out and caught the leaders, Rick Wohlhuter and Matt Centrowitz with a lap to go. This is the honest to God’s truth. I looked over to those guys as I pulled up to them and thought ‘I don’t know how you guys feel, but I’m feeling so damn good. I knew that all I had to do was stay in third and I’d be on the Olympic team. So now we’re going down the backstretch. I didn’t want to lead, but I’m thinking, ‘C’mon guys … go faster, go faster. I don’t want to get caught.’ We get down into the homestretch and I ran that homestretch like it was a qualifying heat. I looked around and kept checking to make sure I was safe. I never went to my final gear. We all finished together. (Durkin ran the fastest 1500 of his life—3:36.72.)


“They gave me third, but I was on the Olympic team. It was the highlight of my life. It was a dream I never dreamed. Going from ‘Hey, I want to go to the Trials and see all of these great athletes to, suddenly, I was one of them on the team.’ It took a while to sink in, but I was ecstatic to say the least.”


                                     Jake Hansen

Jake Hansen

June 19, 2023

Had it not been for a torn ACL in game six of his senior season, former Fighting Illini linebacker Jake Hansen just might have concluded his collegiate career on top of Big Ten football’s list for forced fumbles.


The native of Tarpon Springs, Fla., who celebrates his 25th birthday today, was on a pace to not only leave Illinois as the school’s all-time leader in that category, but he also was just three away from tying the all-time Big Ten record. With 12 forced fumbles to his credit, Hansen needed to jar only one more ball loose from an opponent’s grasp to tie Hall of Famer Simeon Rice for the all-time Illini mark.


However, an unfortunate physical setback last year against Wisconsin wiped out all of those very realistic statistical objectives.


Among all-time Illini, Hansen was in celebrated defensive company, having notched one more forced takeaway than future NFL star Whitney Mercilus (11) and two more than former teammate Stanley Green (10).


Former Coach Bill Cubit’s staff first noticed Hansen’s potential at Florida’s East Lake High School, though Jake had already pledged his future to Iowa State. When a Cyclone coaching change took place and Lovie Smith assumed duties as the Illini head coach, the course began to shift for both Jake and his dad, former BYU star Shad Hansen.


“When you’re a defensive player—especially a linebacker—there’s no better person to play for than Lovie,” the elder Hansen remembered. “From Jake’s perspective, it was like hitting the lottery.”


Illinois’ No. 35 saw action in every game that freshman season (2016), but his spirit was deflated the following August when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in fall camp.


“I’m not a very patient person,” Hansen said, “so I had to wait for my time. It gave me a chance to see the game from a different perspective.”


Months and months of therapy got Hansen back on the field for the 2018 season opener against Kent State and he responded with an eye-popping effort, totaling a school-record-tying six tackles for loss among his 15 stops. At the season-ending banquet, Hansen was presented with the Bruce Capel Award for courage, dedication and accomplishment.


In 2019, Hansen earned All-Big Ten honorable mention from both the coaches and the media, despite missing the final four games with an injury. In the COVID season of 2020, he continued to elevate his play, leading the nation in forced fumbles (7) and graduating to second-team All-Big Ten. Figuring that his draft status was at its peak, Hansen announced plans to leave the college ranks and begin training for a spot in the NFL. A conversation with new Illini head coach Bret Bielema convinced to return to Illinois for a sixth season in 2022.


Unfortunately, in game six against Wisconsin, Hansen tore his ACL, prematurely ending his collegiate career. He continued his classwork and graduated last December with a Master’s degree in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism.

 

Hansen played last season with the NFL's Houston Texans.


Big Ten Career Leaders for Forced Fumbles


1. 15 - Chris Borland, WIS 2009-13 (40 games, .375 per game)

2. 14 - Ryan Kerrigan, PUR 2007-10 (44 games, .318 per game)

3T. 13 - Simeon Rice, ILL 1992-95 (46 games, .283 per game)

3T. 13 - Bob Sanders, IOWA 2000-03 (45 games, .289 per game)

3T. 13 - Marcus Oliver, IND 2013-16 (39 games, .333 per game)

6T. 12 - Jake Hansen, ILL 2016, 2018-21 (46 games, 0.261 per game)

6T. 12 - James Looney, PUR 1977-80 (statistical data not available)

7T. 11 - Whitney Mercilus, ILL 2009-11 (37 games, .297 per game)


                                     James "Scotty" Reston

James "Scotty" Reston

June 16, 2023

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. “Scotty” Reston is arguably one of the University of Illinois’s most influential alumni (1932), but it’s largely unknown that he was a two-sport letter winner for the Fighting Illini.


Born in Scotland, Reston’s family immigrated to the United States when he was 10 years old. The family soon settled in Dayton, Ohio, and Reston became a talented golfer, winning medalist honors at the Ohio state high school championship meet.


He played both varsity golf and soccer as a student-athlete at the University of Illinois, winning five total monograms, and served as a student assistant in UI’s sports information office and as a golf correspondent for the News-Gazette.


Following brief stints in public relations with Ohio State University and the Cincinnati Reds, Reston began his legendary career as a journalist.


A chronological history of Reston’s life:


• November 3, 1909: James Barrett Reston was born in Clydebank Scotland.


• September 28, 1920: On board the SS Mobile, he, his mother and his sister arrived at Ellis Island in New York City, eventually joining his father in Dayton.


• 1929: Reston earned his initial varsity letter in soccer for the Illini. He’d also letter in that sport in 1930 and ’31.


• 1932: He served as captain of UI’s golf team, also lettering in ’31. After graduating, Reston began his career as a reporter for the Springfield (Ohio) Daily News.


• 1933: He became sports publicity director at Ohio State University.


• 1934: Following a brief term as press agent for the Cincinnati Reds, Reston began a five-year stint as a reporter for the Associated Press.


• December 24, 1935: He married fellow UI alum Sally Fulton.


• 1939: Joined the staff of the New York Times, first as a sports reporter, then covered England’s war with Germany from the London bureau.


• 1942: Reston established the U.S. Office of War Information in London, rejoining the Times in 1945.


• 1945: He won his first of two Pulitzer Prizes for a series that detailed the establishment of the United Nations.


• 1953: He was assigned to Washington D.C. as the Times national correspondent.


• 1957: A second Pulitzer was awarded to Reston for his coverage of Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential campaign.


• 1968: He became executive editor of the New York Times and later served as a vice president.


• 1970: Reston helped create journalism’s first Op-Ed page.


• 1986: He won both the Medal of Liberty and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.


• August 2, 1987: He wrote his final column for the Times.


• 1991: Reston authored his fifth book, a memoir entitled “Deadline”.


• 1992: He was scheduled to give UI’s Commencement address, but later declined because of health issues.


• December 6, 1995: Reston died at the age of 86 following a long bout with cancer.


                                     Tony Klimek

Illini Flashback: 1950-51 Season

June 14, 2023

Today, we dial the Illini Time Machine back 70 years to a memorable 1950-51 sports campaign.


Just five years removed from the end of World War II, this was a period in American history when its troops were entrenched in the Korean conflict. In the world of pop culture, radio stars such as Steve Allen, George Burns and Frank Sinatra were all transitioning to television roles. Professional sports luminaries included New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto, running back Marion Motley of the Cleveland Browns, and Gordie Howe of hockey’s Detroit Red Wings.


On the University of Illinois campus that featured new Mechanical and Electrical Engineering buildings, George Stoddard presided over a student body that numbered approximately 19,000. Of those, about 250 were athletes on the school’s 11 varsity teams.


In a season when its teams won five Big Ten team titles, these were some of Illinois’s most notable individual sports heroes of 1950-51:


TONY KLIMEK (pictured): The Most Valuable Player of Coach Ray Eliot’s 7-2 squad was a senior end from Chicago’s Schurz High School. Klimek was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection and was chosen to play in the Blue-Gray All-Star Game.


DICK “ROCKY” RAKLOVITZ: This football and baseball standout was one of the Illini’s most versatile athletes, pacing the Orange and Blue’s 1950 gridders in rushing (709 yards) and Illinois’s 1951 baseball nine with a .387 batting average.


DON SUNDERLAGE: He was not only Illini basketball’s Most Valuable Player, but also the top star among all conference players. Sunderlage wound up as the league’s leading scorer (17.4 points per game) and the school’s all-time points leader for the conference champs and Final Four participant.


ROD FLETCHER: Though Sunderlage was officially the MVP, the junior guard from Champaign was considered nearly as indispensable. A second-team All-Big Ten on the hardcourts, Fletcher also played golf for his dad’s Illini golf squad.


DON LAZ: As versatile as any Illini athlete in 1950-51, Laz was the football team’s top punter in the Fall, then the track and field squad’s record-setting pole vaulter in the Winter and Spring. On May 25, 1951, his unusual double victory in the pole vault and the broad jump led Illinois to repeat as Big Ten’s team champion. Laz also was named winner of the Conference Medal of Honor.


CIRILO McSWEEN: UI track’s top sprinter was unquestionably the sophomore from Panama. He was the conference’s record-setter at 440 yards, a member of the league champion mile relay squad, and the Big Ten runner-up at both 100 and 220 yards.


BOB SULLIVAN: Coach Charlie Pond’s Illini gymnasts repeated as Big Ten team titlists and fell just a few points shy of winning a second-straight NCAA crown thanks in great part to the talented Bob Sullivan. He earned All-America honors as a tumbler, on the long horse and flying rings, and as an all-around performer.


DICK PICARD: The senior not only captained the Illini wrestlers, but lost only one match all season and won the Big Ten’s 130-pound title.


LEN ATKIN: In his only letter-winning season, Atkin won the Big Ten epee championship and placed third in the NCAA fencing meet, leading Illinois to its second consecutive league team crown.



                                     Duke Preston

Duke Preston

June 12, 2023

Happy 41st Birthday to Raymond Newton “Duke” Preston III, a former three-time letter-winning offensive lineman for Fighting Illini coach Ron Turner.


The all-star center from San Diego’s Mt. Carmel High School was a member of Turner’s 2000 recruiting class. Preston eventually played alongside fellow linemen Dave Diehl, Tony Pashos, Bucky Babcock, Martin O’Donnell and Sean Bubin.


As a senior in 2004, Big Ten coaches selected Preston as honorable mention all-conference. His teammates not only picked him as a team co-captain but also voted him Illinois’ Offensive Player of the Year, ahead of running backs Pierre Thomas and E.B. Halsey and quarterback Jon Beutjer. Preston, wearing jersey No. 75, yielded only one sack in his final two seasons of play and incurred no penalties as a senior.


With the 122nd pick overall and the 21st choice in the fourth round of the 2005 National Football League Draft, the Buffalo Bills selected Preston. Preston’s father, Ray, a standout collegian at Syracuse, had a nine-year NFL career with the San Diego Chargers.


Duke played in all 16 of the Bills’ games as a rookie in 2005 and was named to The Sporting News All-Rookie Team. He was a starter in eight of the 16 games in which he appeared the following season, opening holes for running back Willis McGahee who compiled nearly a thousand yards rushing.


In his third and fourth seasons—2007 and 2008—Preston became a starter and helped Marshawn Lynch rush for more than 1,000 yards each year.


Preston played just one additional season in 2009 with the Dallas Cowboys.


After retiring as a player, Preston earned a master's degree in Christian education from the Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2013, the University of Notre Dame hired him to serve as its director of player development, then he was promoted to head up UND’s student welfare and development program.


Preston left South Bend just prior to the beginning of the 2015 season to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ director of player engagement. In 2021, the Bucs promoted him to become the team’s vice president. His primary duties are aimed at character and leadership development, career development, financial education, continued education, and mental health and wellness.


Preston and his wife, Kavanagh, are the parents of four children.


                                     Al Brosky

Amazing Illini Records

June 9, 2023

Perhaps the most incredible record in Fighting Illini sports history belongs to a man that was born 95 years ago today. What Al Brosky achieved as a defensive back in the 1950s is one that has no comparison. His NCAA record of notching a pass interception in fifteen consecutive games is significantly more impressive in that opposing quarterbacks purposely threw their passes away from him. In twenty-eight collegiate games, Brosky picked off a national-record thirty interceptions, a mark that still stands 71 years later.


Other amazing Illini records, in chronological order:


• Coach Arthur Hall’s 1910 Illinois football team recorded a perfect 7-0 record. More amazingly, that squad outscored its seven opponents, 89-0. It’s a feat duplicated by only nineteen others teams in the history of college football.


• George Huff’s 1910 Illini baseball squad had a perfect 14-0 record. John Buzick, the team’s premier pitcher, completed all ten of the games he started.


• From February 21, 1914, through February 9, 1916, UI’s basketball team won twenty-five games in a row, including seventeen consecutive conference victories. The average score during this span of games was Illinois 27.5, opponents 13.8.


• On November 5, 1916, Illinois handed Minnesota’s so-called “perfect team” its only loss of the season, 14-9. In the Gophers’ other six games that year, UM outscored its foes, 339-14.


• In the dedication game of Illinois’s Memorial Stadium—October 18, 1924—Bob Zuppke’s Illini defeated mighty Michigan, 39-14. UI’s superstar running back, Red Grange, scored touchdowns the first four times he touched the ball, tallying on runs of ninety-five, sixty-seven, fifty-six and forty-four yards.


• Athletic Director Doug Mills’ teams dominated Big Ten championships from the 1950-51 season through the 1953-54 campaign, winning twenty-three of the conference’s forty-eight titles.


• On Nov. 8, 1980, Illini quarterback Dave Wilson carved up Ohio State’s vaunted pass defense, completing 43-of-69 passes, tossing for 621 yards, and completing six touchdown passes. Thirty-nine years later, Wilson’s 621-yard day remains as the Big Ten single-game record.


• As a junior in 1987, Illini baseball’s Darrin Fletcher batted a stunning .497. His slugging percentage that season was .913. Both are all-time Illinois records.


• On September 22, 1990, Illinois’s Howard Griffith became the first player in NCAA Division IA football to score eight touchdowns in a single game. Griffith scored three touchdowns [51, 7, 41] on consecutive carries and scored four touchdowns in the third quarter.


• Beginning with a season-opening win against Ball State on January 26, 2003, and continuing through an NCAA quarterfinal match versus Vanderbilt on March 25, 2004, Illinois tennis assembled sixty-four consecutive dual-meet victories.


• Illinois’ 2004-05 men’s basketball squad began the season with a perfect 29-0 record. Included among the highlights were victories over seven nationally ranked opponents, including No. 1 Wake Forest.


• Including Adrien Dumont De Chassart in 2019, Illinois men’s golfers won nine consecutive medalist awards at the Big Ten Championship from 2011 to '19.


                                     Mac Wenskunas

Mac Wenskunas

June 7, 2023

Nearly 66 years after his death in a tragic automobile accident, Georgetown, Illinois’ Michael “Mac” Wenskunas remains as his Vermilion County hometown’s most famous native son.


Born June 8, 1922, Wenskunas was a two-sport star at Georgetown High, winning all-state honors as a football halfback in his senior year (1939). He remained out of school until 1941 when he enrolled at the University of Illinois and joined Coach Bob Zuppke’s final Illini team.


Wenskunas played defensive center at just 181 pounds for rookie coach Ray Eliot’s 1942 squad, and was twice named “Big Ten Center of the Week.”  He enlisted in the Marines following that sophomore season and was sent to the University of Notre Dame for training. He eventually was commissioned as a second lieutenant at Quantico, Va.


“Old 23”, as his teammates called him, Wenskunas returned to the U of I in time for the Illini’s 1945 season. He played virtually all 60 minutes in every one of Illinois’ nine games and was named UI’s Most Valuable Player.


As UI’s senior captain in 1946, Wenskunas helped the Illini win six of their seven Big Ten games and capture the Big Ten crown. Illinois went on to defeat UCLA in the Rose Bowl, 45-14, finishing fifth in the Associated Press’s final ranking. So popular was Wenskunas that Illinois’ Oct. 5, 1946 game at Memorial Stadium was “Mac Wenskunas Day.”


A 25-year-old Wenskunas became head football coach at Quincy College in 1947. His three Quincy teams went 4-3 (1947), 7-2 (1948) and 8-1 (1949). Wenskunas was inducted into Quincy’s Hall of Fame in 1974.


In 1950, Wenskunas became head coach at North Dakota State. He was relieved of his duties after four seasons, going 11-21-1.


He then became a salesman for the Josten Jewelry Company and lived with his wife and four children in Decatur. On Aug. 3, 1957, Wenskunas, his wife, and three others were killed in a two-car collision near Boody, Ill. He’s buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Decatur.


                                     Penn State's Nittany Lion Shrine

Big Ten Welcomes Penn State

June 5, 2023

On this date 33 years ago—June 5, 1990—it was announced that Pennsylvania State University had joined the Big Ten Conference.


Just four months into his first term of commissioner of the conference, Jim Delany first seriously entertained the suggestion brought to him by then University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry, a Penn State graduate. Delany’s sister had attended Penn State as a graduate student, so he knew of PSU’s reputation as a strong academic institution and its rich history in athletics.


“The Big Ten hadn’t changed since Michigan State became a member in 1949,” said Delany, “but I thought the opportunity to expand towards the east coast was a no brainer.”


Following months of study and discussion, the process climaxed with a vote at a meeting in Iowa City. It was unanimous: Penn State was in.


“History has since proven that it was a tremendous fit for both sides,” said Delany.


                                     The Kopinski twins

Melissa and Tim Kopinski

June 2, 2023

Happy 30th Birthday today to Fighting Illini tennis twins Melissa and Tim Kopinski. The siblings from Palos Heights and graduates of Chicago’s Amos Alonzo Stagg High School were the first twins to play concurrently for Illinois’s tennis program.


Melissa and Tim are the only two children of Polish immigrants Jan and Zofia Kopinski. They began playing tennis as toddlers and also played hockey together.


“They made us pick a sport we could both play with each other so we couldn’t get bored,” Melissa told the News-Gazette in a 2014 story.


Melissa, a minute older than her “younger” brother, had a distinguished career for the Orange and Blue. As a senior in 2014-15, she was her team’s Most Valuable Player and a two-time honoree as Big Ten Player of the Week. Her other senior-season awards included All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten honors, UI’s Fighting Illini Spirit Award, and the Midwest Region ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. Kopinski compiled a 74-54 career singles record (26-15 in Big Ten matches) and an 88-42 doubles mark (24-14 Big Ten).


In 2013, she earned All-America doubles laurels with partner Rachael White, advancing to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals. They ended that season ranked 15th nationally and No. 2 in the Midwest Region.


Melissa graduated from Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in community health in 2015. Immediately afterwards, she became a volunteer coach at Texas Tech, helping the Red Raiders win the Big 12 championship in 2017. Kopinski returned to her alma mater the following season, but now is a fulltime assistant coach for the Red Raiders in Lubbock.


Tim had a similarly successful career at Illinois, winning All-Big Ten and All-America honors. Singles-wise, he was 108-56, including a fantastic 30-9 record in Big Ten matches. In doubles, he was 102-62 (27-11 Big Ten).


In his senior season, Kopinski was the Midwest ITA Senior Player of the Year and that organization’s Sportsmanship and Leadership Award winner. With partner Ross Guignon, they ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and were the 2015 National Indoor Championships runner-up. Individually as a senior, he compiled a perfect 8-0 record in Big Ten singles play. Kopinski defeated the No. 23, 34, 41 and 64 players in matches that season.


Like his twin sister, Tim also was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree, studying kinesiology. He’s in his fourth season on the professional tennis circuit and played the majority of this past season in Asia. In May of 2017, Kopinski and former Illini teammate Jared Hiltzik earned the doubles title at the Israel F6 Futures Tournament in Akko, Israel. For the past year, he's been Brad Dancer's assistant at the University of Illinois.


                                     Nancy Thies and Jhou Jiasheng

Nancy Thies (part two)

May 31, 2023

In part one of Monday's story about Urbana’s Nancy Thies Marshall and her participation in a nationally televised gymnastics exhibition between teams from the United States and the People’s Republic of China, Illini Legends, Lists & Lore recalled how a malfunctioning audio cassette tape nearly ruined her floor exercise performance. If not for a compassionate Chinese piano player (Zhou Jiasheng) who stepped in to improvise background music, Nancy’s routine would have been a disaster.


In part two, we follow up details about how that serendipitous moment blossomed into something much more and brought a family intimately closer to the people of a nation more than 7,000 miles away.


Doug Wilson, the veteran producer of ABC-TV’s Wide World of Sports, vividly recalled the scene inside Madison Square Garden some 49 years ago.


“We couldn’t believe what was actually happening in front of us,” Wilson said. “The result was extraordinary because it was as if Nancy and he had been rehearsing together for all of her life. It was a wonderful, wonderful moment where the main point was that it was not only a beautiful floor exercise to live music, but it showed how artistry and sports could override political differences.”


Marshall didn’t immediately realize how the implications of that simple act of kindness from a total stranger would eventually evolve for her and her family.


“At the time I thought, ‘Well, that was nice ... I met a new friend and we go on with life,’” she said. “And yet what happened after that is what’s so amazing, which is how it speaks to my faith and to God’s ability to transform death into life. When my music didn’t work, that was the ‘death’ of a dream and yet it was the birth of an amazing friendship with this piano player.


“When I started working for NBC Sports several years later, I went to China and we found Mr. Zhou. I asked ‘Do you know where he is? Here I am in Beijing and I would love to see him again.’  They said, ‘Of course, we know where he is.’ And someone there left and brought him back. When we saw each other, the whole room was filled with people who knew the story. It was quite a moment when we saw each other. We knew that everything that was happening in China, especially as it related to sport and gymnastics, was an out-growth of that first meeting of our two teams. We had dinner with him and his wife and his son. From then on, we had each other’s addresses and sent Christmas cards. They even sent a wedding present when Charlie and I were married in ’81. I went back two more times as a part of the NBC crew and saw him each time.


“Then we fast-forward from about 1983 to ‘89 when my sister Susie was teaching English in China,” Nancy continued. “When she went over to start that assignment, the first thing Susie did was to go to Beijing and find Mr. Zhou. His family hosted her and took her to the Great Wall. During that same year, my parents went over to see Susie and they did the same kinds of things. By this point in the cultural revolution, Mr. Zhou was teaching at a music conservatory. Now, during the revolution, anyone that was connected to culture and the bourgeoisie was sent to the countryside to farm. It was sort of this leveling of classes during the cultural revolution. Zhou’s family had been a part of that, so my parents really got to understand his story more.


“And at the end of that year (1989), as a result of the student-led demonstrations for democracy, came the Tiananmen Square incident. A huge crackdown resulted in, we think, hundreds of deaths. I received a message from Zhou, asking if there was anything we could do to help them come to the United States. We sent them a letter of invitation to our national gymnastics gathering and that letter allowed him to get a visa. For what normally takes seven years, he and his wife were able to get visas within a few months. That call to me happened in June and they were able to walk off the plane on Labor Day. Zhou had some distant family in San Diego, so they flew to California. Well, they decided to stay and he opened a piano studio there in San Diego, and they’ve been there ever since.”


The entire Thies family would soon come to understand that Nancy’s perchance friendship would eventually extend well beyond herself.


“When I was at Madison Square Garden for that (1973) meet, my parents took my siblings to New York to attend,” she said. “It was there that my family fell in love with China. It’s out of that love that my sister (Susie) was drawn to China to teach English there. Upon her arrival, Zhou’s family met her in Beijing and took her to the Great Wall. Then my parents (Dick and Marilyn Thies) traveled to China to see Susie and they met them, too. This became a family friendship.”


In 1993 the University of Illinois’ Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies established the Freeman Fellows Foundation, an entity whose mission is to facilitate the development of international understanding between the United States and countries in East Asia.


“My parents became sort of the surrogate parents for all of these people that were coming (to Champaign-Urbana),” Marshall said. “It is a wonderfully successful program. The students loved my parents and my parents loved the students.”


Additionally, Dick Thies, who was an attorney in Urbana, served as the liaison between the American Bar Association and the Chinese Law Society.


In time, Susie’s story developed a new tangent of the Thies family’s Chinese connection. Continuing to teach English, she moved to Hong Kong and met her (American) husband, Mike Harrison. They lived and taught English in the South China city for more than 30 years, but in March of 2021 relocated to Urbana. Their family includes three biological children and a fourth adopted Chinese child, Will.


“Will went to school at Asbury University (in Wilmore, Ky.) and he just graduated a year ago,” Marshall said. “He studied film production there and one of his final projects was putting this whole story together (in video form). It started out being a story about me and the event in New York in 1973, but it ends up talking about how Will’s life was changed. And it was out of that love for Chinese people that we got Will in our family. Since that meet at Madison Square Garden, our family has never been the same. It’s the most amazing new life that came out of a stupid, broken tape. But that’s the kind of God that we serve.”


                                     Nancy Thies and Jhou Jiasheng

Nancy Thies (part one)

May 29, 2023

Fifty years and eight days ago today—May 21, 1973—in one of the most impromptu scenes in sports history, 15-year-old Urbana gymnast Nancy Thies and 34-year-old Chinese pianist Zhou Jiasheng brought East and West a little closer together at New York’s Madison Square Garden.


In a ground-breaking gymnastics exhibition between teams from the People’s Republic of China and the United States, nearly 14,000 fans experienced an historic meeting between nations that hadn’t had a “friendly” competition since before World War II.


Thies, who’s been Nancy Marshall since 1981 when she married Charlie Marshall, tells the story in an interview that was conducted on April 8th:


“The meet was a direct result of the summit between Richard Nixon and Mao Tse-tung, trying to build a bridge of friendship with China, with whom we had not had formal diplomatic relations. China was premier in the world of table tennis and in gymnastics.

 

“Before the Chinese team came to New York, their first stop was Washington DC and the White House. When we met in New York, it was both a diplomatic and a security-wrapped event. We all had Secret Service pins that we had to wear. They were on one floor of the hotel and we were on another floor. We ate together in the hotel hallways because (officials) didn’t want to risk being in a restaurant. We had an event at the Chinese Embassy in New York that was attended by congressmen and senators and diplomats and ambassadors. It was pretty clear to me before I stepped on the competitive floor that this was something totally different than anything I had been a part of.

 

“At that time, gymnastics was only on TV during the Olympics, the World Championships, and maybe the National Championships. But this dual meet (between China and the United States) was televised by ABC’s Wide World of Sports. That added to the unique importance of this event. I knew this was unique. I was the highest-ranking American, but I still was only a 15-year-old at the time. I had high hopes of winning and winning on national television. Of course, those were the things that a 15-year-old gymnast thought about.

 

“The first event was vaulting. I did well and I was in the running for the all-around … and then I started to implode. I’d just won the national championships on the balance beam and I fell off on my signature stunt. And then I fell down on my dismount on bars. So then we got to the floor exercise. I was disappointed knowing that I wasn’t going to win the event, but floor ex was also my best event. I thought, ‘Well, at least I can redeem myself’.

 

“My music was 2001 Space Odyssey and the whole choreography was very dramatic to go with it. My Mom had taken a cassette tape of my music to a Radio Shack in Urbana to get a dub of it so that I could have a fresh tape.

 

“The day of the meet, I grabbed the new tape, but when they put it in (the player) it was just garbled sounds. Three times I got on the mat to start and three times it didn’t work. My coach, Muriel Grossfeld, finally told me that I wasn’t going to be able to do my routine to my music. So I could either do it to no music or have the Chinese piano player (Zhou Jiasheng) accompany me. Well, we had no idea what his capability was and I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be terrible.’ But doing a routine without music is like eating dry toast, so I had no other choice. Of course, the crowd is watching all of this, so Muriel asked him to play.

 

“Well, I’m just being an Eeyore about the whole thing. I’m doing my routine and trying to dazzle the crowd, but in my myopic mind, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, this music is so boring and everyone is falling asleep’. Then, when I finished, everyone stands up and applauds and many people in the crowd are crying. It was just this moment of total serendipity. As (ABC commentator) Gordon Maddox said on TV that day, ‘A girl from Urbana and a man from Beijing have gotten together and are making this work.’ Really, it became the story of the event … a story about friendship. I ran over and gave him a hug and, now that I understand Chinese culture it was a terrible thing to do. But, for me, it was the only thing to do. I was just so grateful, and it was such an amazing moment. So I guess we can chalk the whole China experience up to some technician at a Radio Shack in Urbana.”


(In next Sunday’s Illini Legends, Lists & Lore, Nancy reveals how this moment forever changed the lives of her and the Thies family.)


                                     1998 Illini Baseball Team

1998 Illini Baseball Team

May 24, 2023

Twenty-five years ago today - May 24, 1998 - Coach Itch Jones’s Fighting Illini baseball team needed two victories to claim a berth in the 1998 College World Series.


Illinois won the first game on the final day of the NCAA South Regional Tournament, beating Wake Forest by a score of 13-4 as freshman Jason Anderson tossed a complete-game four-hitter.


In the championship nightcap, a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning by Florida’s Derek Nicholson helped the Gators eliminate the Illini, 7-6.


Illinois ended its season with a record of 42-21. Though the 42 victories were not a single-season record, the ’98 Illini set eight different single-season records that year, including team marks for batting average, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, home runs and total bases.


                                     Al Urbanckas

Al Urbanckas

May 26, 2023

Sixty-seven years ago today - May 26, 1956 - Fighting Illini high jumper Al Urbanckas was Illinois’s only individual title winner at the 56th Annual Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championship. His effort of 6-feet-5 5/8-inches tied the bests of Michigan’s Brendan O’Reilly and U-M’s Mark Booth.


Urbanckas swept the 1957 Big Ten high jump titles, winning indoors with a jump of 6-6 7/8” and outdoors at 6-8 3/4”. The Illini junior went on to share the NCAA high jump championship later that spring. Later that year, Coach and Athlete magazine named him Midwest Track Athlete of the Year.


A product of Springfield’s Cathedral High School, the only reason Urbanckas went out for track was to stay in condition for his favorite sport, basketball. He learned to high jump from what he read in a book, implementing a style that combined a straddle and a Western roll. The Fosbury Flop wasn’t popularized until a decade later.


“(Former UI track coach) Leo Johnson helped me tremendously in both high school and college,” Urbanckas told the News-Gazette’s Lou Engel in 1986. “Though I came to the University of Illinois on a track scholarship, I also played freshman basketball.”


Urbanckas attended dental school in Chicago for a portion of his senior season in 1958 and gave up high jumping following the indoor season. He graduated from UI’s medical school in 1961, served a two-year stint in the Air Force, then began his private practice in 1963 in Springfield.


Urbanckas is a member of the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame. His daughter, Debbie, was a four-year starter in volleyball at Missouri.


Illinois’ Big Ten High Jump Champs (since 1945):


Dike Eddleman 1946 6-2 (indoors)

Dike Eddleman 1947 6-3 (indoors)

Dike Eddleman 1947 6-6 1/8 (outdoors)

Louis Irons 1949 6-3 7/8 (indoors)

Ron Mitchell 1952 6-7 1/4 (indoors)

Ron Mitchell 1952 6-5 15/16 (outdoors)

Richard Wham 1953 6-4 3/4 (outdoors)

Ronald Mitchell 1954 6-7 1/2 (indoors)

Al Urbanckas 1957 6-6 7/8 (indoors)

Al Urbanckas 1957 6-5 5/8 (outdoors)

Ernie Haisley 1958 6-8 7/8 (indoors)

Ernie Haisley 1958 6-8 1/2 (outdoors)

Ernie Haisley & Ronald Mitchell 1959 6-6 3/4 (indoors)

Gail Olson 1981 7-0 1/4 (indoors)

Jonathan Wells 2017 7-1 ½ (indoors)

Jonathan Wells 2018 7-5 (outdoors)


                                     1998 Illini Baseball Team

1998 Illini Baseball Team

May 24, 2023

Twenty-five years ago today - May 24, 1998 - Coach Itch Jones’s Fighting Illini baseball team needed two victories to claim a berth in the 1998 College World Series.


Illinois won the first game on the final day of the NCAA South Regional Tournament, beating Wake Forest by a score of 13-4 as freshman Jason Anderson tossed a complete-game four-hitter.


In the championship nightcap, a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning by Florida’s Derek Nicholson helped the Gators eliminate the Illini, 7-6.


Illinois ended its season with a record of 42-21. Though the 42 victories were not a single-season record, the ’98 Illini set eight different single-season records that year, including team marks for batting average, runs, hits, RBIs, doubles, home runs and total bases.


                                     George Walker

George Walker

May 22, 2023

On this date 75 years ago – May 22, 1948 – Fighting Illini speedster George Walker came within a whisker of a world record in one event and was victorious in two others as Illinois defeated Michigan State in a dual meet at Memorial Stadium.


The 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior from Chicago won the 100-yard dash (:09.7), the high hurdles (:14.3), and then the 220-yard low hurdles in an Illinois and Stadium record time of :22.6. Only the legendary Jesse Owens’ world record time of :22.5 was faster than Walker’s performance at that time.


Exactly one month later in Evanston, at a Big Ten-Pacific Coast Conference all-star track meet, Walker teamed with Indiana’s Tom Mitchell, Ohio State’s Dick Maxwell and Northwestern’s Bill Porter to set a new world mark in the 480-yard shuttle hurdle relay event (:56.8).


Walker, who competed for Coach Leo Johnson at Illinois from 1945-48, was an instant success for the Illini as a freshman. He won both the low and high hurdles at the 1945 Big Ten indoor meet, then the 100 dash and both hurdles events outdoors. At the NCAA meet that year, Walker captured individual titles in the 120 highs (:14.9) and the 220 lows (:24.0).


As a senior in 1948 at the NCAAs, he won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles event (:52.4) and placed sixth at 110 meters.


At the 1948 Olympic Trials at Northwestern’s Dyche Stadium, Walker barely missed qualifying for the Americans in the 400-meter hurdles.


He recorded a master’s degree from the UI in 1950, then was hired by St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, N.C. At the historically black institution, Walker served as chairman of the department of health and education and as the head track coach and athletic director. During his 11 years at St. Augustine, Walker also coached boxing and wrestling and served as an assistant coach in football and basketball.


In 1966 when his father fell ill, Walker returned to his hometown of Robbins, Ill. to become assistant principal of the Posen-Robbins School District. He served in that capacity until the late 1980s.


Walker died in October of 2003 at the age of 77.

                                     Walter Moore

This Day in Illini History

May 19, 2023

Eight years ago today, the Fighting Illini swept Big Ten baseball’s top three individual awards as the Conference named its 2015 honors. Dan Hartleb, who led Illinois to its first Big Ten regular-season championship since 2011, was named Coach of the Year. Senior first baseman David Kerian and junior left-hander Tyler Jay were respective honorees as Player and Pitcher of the Year. Besides Kerian and Jay, catcher Jason Goldstein, shortstop Adam Walton and outfielder Casey Fletcher earned first-team All-Big Ten acclaim.


Other memorable moments on this date in Illinois athletics history:


May 19, 1923: Clifford “Stonewall” Jackson scattered three hits on the mound and slammed a home run in his final Illini appearance at home as Illinois topped Wisconsin, 7-1.


May 19, 1934: John Duffner clouted a home run over the left-field fence with two outs in the ninth inning, giving Illinois a 7-6 victory over Michigan in Urbana. Duffner also tripled and singled twice.


May 19, 1951: Mount Vernon all-stater Walter Moore (pictured) announced that he would attend Illinois, thus becoming the first African-American player in Illini basketball history.


May 19, 1962: Senior golfer Mike Toliuszis fired rounds of 75, 69, 71 and 73 and earned medalist honors at the 43rd annual Big Ten Championships in Champaign.


May 19, 1985: The 4x100-meter relay team of Darryl Usher, Steve Tyson, Tim Simon and Lester Washington established UI and Big Ten records with a :39.65 time at the Big Ten meet in Evanston.


May 19, 1990: Mark Dalesandro was named Big Ten baseball’s Player of the Year. He finished his Illini career that season with a .326 batting average.


May 19, 1991: Sophomore Tonja Buford successfully defended her Big Ten outdoor titles in the 100 hurdles and 4x100 and 4x400 relay events. She also added a first-place finish in the 400 hurdles and placed second in the 100 dash.


May 19, 1995: Illinois middle-distance star Marko Koers was named Athlete of the Championships at the Big Ten meet, winning at both 800 and 1,500 meters.


                                     John Bitzer, Chief Illiniwek XX

John Bitzer

May 17, 2023

Happy 74th birthday to John Bitzer, the 20th individual to portray Chief Illiniwek, the longtime symbol of the University of Illinois.


Son of Chief IX—Robert Bitzer—the Collinsville High School grad contacted Everett Kissinger, then director of the Marching Illini, early in the summer of 1967. Influenced by his father, Bitzer immersed himself in Native America lore and dance. He explained his exuberance about filling the role in a story written a few years ago for the UI’s Beta Theta Pi website.


“Graduates from Illinois were more special than those from other schools, so I always knew I wanted to attend (the University of Illinois)”, Bitzer said. “And because (portraying Chief Illiniwek) was such an immense tradition and meant so much to so many and that my dad had done it, I knew that when I got to Illinois I would try out to be Chief.”


Winning the competition against 30 other hopefuls, Bitzer ultimately held the role for four years (1970-73), a span matched only previously by William Newton (1931-34) and Edward Kalb (1935-38). So spectacular was Bitzer’s performance in the eyes of Kissinger that the Chief’s routine remained unchanged by the next six individuals who succeeded him.


For more than 30 years, Bitzer has operated the Bitzer Law Firm in Collinsville, specializing in personal injury law.


Men and women who portrayed Chief Illiniwek prior to John Bitzer:


1926-28               Lester Leutwiler

1929-30               Webber Borchers

1931-34               William Newton

1935-38               Edward Kalb

1939-40               John Grable

1941-42               Glenn Holthaus

1943                     Idelle Stith Brooks

1944                     Kenneth Hanks

1945-46               Robert Bitzer

1947                     Robert Bischoff

1948-50               James Down

1951-52               William Hug

1953-55               Dean Spotts

1956                     Ronald Kaiser

1957-59               John Forsyth

1960-63               Ben Forsyth

1964-65               Fred Cash

1966-67               Rick Legue

1968-69               Gary Simpson

1970-73               John Bitzer


                                       Illinois' Kamm Brothers

Illinois' Kamm Brothers

May 12, 2023

Born on this date in 1911 were twin brothers Albert “Chinn” and Alfred “Jake” Kamm.


The six-foot-one-inch farm boys attended Atwood High School and led the Rajahs to a pair of Okaw Valley Conferences in both basketball and track. Atwood also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1930 Illinois High School Basketball Tournament, but lost by just two points to Peoria Manual High, the eventual champ that season. In that game, Chinn and Jake scored 12 of their team’s 16 points.


Chinn held the Atwood High record in the shot put for more than 70 years.


Though their parents—Adam and Jennie—didn’t attend college, Chinn and Jake followed their older brother and sister to the University of Illinois despite the Great Depression that enveloped America at that time. Both received a $400 scholarship to study agriculture. There they went out for Coach Craig Ruby’s Illini basketball team. Chin earned a spot in the starting lineup for the 1932-33 team and both he and his brother were starters in 1933-34. Their biggest victory in ’34 came when the Illini scored a 27-26 upset over Big Ten champion Purdue at Huff Gym in the season finale.


Chinn also lettered twice in track and field, first in 1933 for Coach Harry Gill, then again in 1934 as the team co-captain for Don Seaton. He won the Big Ten shot put competition outdoors in ’33 and finished second indoors in ‘34. Chinn also placed in the discus.


Chinn went on to a highly successful career in agriculture, serving as a high school teacher before joining the UI extension service at Saline and Piatt Counties. He was chairman of the Piatt County Zoning Board and served on the committee that formed Parkland College. Following his retirement in 1973, Chinn returned to his family homestead where he trained several field trial grand champion English pointers.  


After graduating from Illinois, Jake became a cattle farmer and was sales manager for the South Central Illinois Short Horn Breeder Association. He also worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and once served as the president of the Atwood School Board. In 1993, Jake and Chinn were co-grand marshals at Atwood’s At-the-Woods Parade.  


Chinn died in 1994 at the age of 83, while Jake died ten years later at 93. They are buried at the Mackville Cemetery in Atwood.


                                       Rick Gross

Illini Track's Oldest Records

May 8, 2023

Fifty-two years ago today – May 8, 1971 – in a dual meet victory over Michigan, University of Illinois track and field junior Rick Gross set the Illini varsity record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 8:52.3. He also triumphed that day in the three-mile run (14:22.6).


The steeplechase, which derived its name from horse racing, was first run at the University of Oxford in 1860. The 3,000-meter race is defined in the modern rule book as having 28 barriers and seven water jumps.


Gross, a native of Grosse Point Woods, Mich., a Detroit suburb, finished ninth in the 1971 NCAA cross country meet to earn All-America honors. His only Big Ten title came in the steeplechase at the 1972 conference championships that were competed in Champaign. Gross once ran the mile in a time of 4:00.4. He saw his record stand until 1983 when Tom Stevens ran the steeplechase in a time of 8:29.89. Nearly four decades later, Stevens’ performance still remains as the Illini mark.


Gross went on to have a long and very successful career at Lehman Brothers.


Illini men’s track & field’s oldest standing varsity records:


1974 … Triple Jump: Charlton Ehizuelen (55’-2 ¼”)

1975 … 5,000-meter run: Craig Virgin (13:35.02)

1975 … Long Jump: Charlton Ehizuelen (26’-11”)

1976 … 10,000-meter run: Craig Virgin (27:59.43)

1982 … Shot Put: Mike Lehmann (68’-4 ½”)

1983 … 3,000-meter steeplechase: Tom Stevens (8:29.89)

1984 … Discus: Jeff Lehmann (192’-6”)

1987 … 4x400-meter relay: Rod Tolbert, Lee Bridges, Kevin Brooks, Tim Simon (3:02.30)

1988 … 400-meter dash: Tim Simon (:44.88)

1989 … Pole vault: Dean Starkey (18’-8”)

1993 … Javelin: Brad Lawton (225’-2”)

1996 … 800-meter run: Marko Koers (3:33.05)


                                       Woodward "Red" Gunkel

This Day in Illini History

May 5, 2023

One-hundred-seven years ago today, Fighting Illini pitcher Woodward “Red” Gunkel threw a no-hitter against Ohio State, as Illinois shut out the Buckeyes, 4-0. Gunkel pitched to only 28 men in nine innings, striking out a dozen of them.


Other highlights on this date in Illini history:


·              May 5, 1923: Illinois scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat host Wisconsin, 4-1. UI pitcher “Stonewall” Jackson yielded just four Badger hits.

·              May 5, 1937: Illinois’ Ray Poat allowed only three hits and struck out 10 as the Illini beat Purdue by a score of 7-3.

·              May 5, 1951: Don Laz set a Memorial Stadium record with a pole vault leap of 14’9” in a dual meet against Northwestern.

·              May 5, 1960: UI alumnus Lou Boudreau was named manager of the Chicago Cubs.

·              May 5, 1962: Junior gymnast Harold Holmes won his fourth consecutive national AAU tumbling title in Seattle.

·              May 5, 1985: Illinois’ baseball team clinched a Big Ten West Division title with a doubleheader sweep against Northwestern.

·              May 5, 1993: Track and field’s Brad Lawton and tennis star Lindsey Nimmo earned Big Ten Medals of Honor at the 1993 UI Scholar-Athlete All-Star Banquet.


                                       Lia Biehl Lukkarinen

Lia Biehl Lukkarinen

May 3, 2023

In her eighteenth season as head coach of the women’s golf team at Western Illinois University is former Fighting Illini standout Lia Biehl Lukkarinen. An All-Big Ten performer in both 1990 and ’91, the UI captain sometimes played in the shadow of younger teammate Renee Heiken Sloan her last two seasons at Illinois. Biehl Lukkarinen also was a star in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors three times. She spent two years on the Future’s Tour where she won one tournament and placed among the top six in earnings. In 1994, she played as an exempt player on the LGPA Tour, including the ’94 U.S. Women’s Open.  Biehl Lukkarinen then began a career as an instructor, teaching at Eagle Ridge Resort in Galena, Ill. and at the Kansas City Country Club. In 2001, she returned to Illinois and served as Paula Smith’s assistant. Biehl Lukkarinen became head coach at WIU in 2005. Her Leatherneck golfers fill every spot on the top nine 18-hole rounds recorded in WIU history. She is married to Mike Lukkarinen, a professor in the RPTA department at WIU, and they have two children, a son, Connor, and a daughter, Kathryn.


                                       Baseball in the 1890s

Athletic Association History

May 1, 2023

The century-long history of the University of Illinois’ Athletic Association (AA), predecessor to the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, brimmed with highlights, but ended in tumultuous fashion in the late 1980s.


America’s interest in athletics initially formed around the end of the Civil War in 1865, concurrent to the U of I’s founding two years later in 1867. The student body’s attentiveness to physical well-being evolved from boating, racing and cycling to a new team sport called baseball which history shows originated a couple of decades earlier. It soon became the king of American sports, including Champaign-Urbana. The first record of an athletic contest at the University occurred on May 8, 1872 when a group of UI students defeated the Eagle Baseball Club of Champaign by a score of 2-1. The game eventually progressed into intercollegiate competition seven years later.


By the 1880s, athletics had eclipsed oratorical competitions as the students’ favorite non-academic diversion. On Apr. 20, 1883, UI students combined their original baseball and football organizations to form the Athletic Association, a group that was responsible for caring for the campus’s gymnasium and for organizing the annual Field Day activities. All male students were eligible for membership.


In 1891, the AA obtained land on the north end of campus, and on May 15, 1892, Athletic Park was inaugurated. Its name was changed to Illinois Field in 1896. That same year, UI trustees directed by-laws of the Association to be subject to the approval of the faculty. At the turn of the century, an Athletic Advisory Council assisted in the management of the AA and, shortly thereafter, faculty, alumni and student managers comprised an Athletic Board of Control and Athletic Council to form policy. In 1965, the AA’s by-laws were amended to transfer oversight of the intramural and recreation programs to UI’s College of Physical Education.


On the heels of Title IX legislation, the Athletic Administration assumed responsibility for administering the new women’s intercollegiate athletic program in 1974. Two years later, UI’s Board of Trustees approved plans to change the organization’s name to the Athletic Association of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. By 1982, a total of 19 board members oversaw the group.


During the decade of the 1980s, the AA experienced both triumph and tragedy. The football and basketball programs enjoyed monumental success, but overall administration of the AA began to unravel. When word leaked out to the media that embarrassing scandals and improprieties were taking place inside Director of Athletics Neale Stoner’s administrative staff, a thorough investigation by the University resulted in dissolving the Association. Stoner and two aides resigned in July of 1988 amid allegations of mismanagement and a plan to reorganize the AA was approved six months later. Chancellor Morton Weir brought the athletic department’s business within the jurisdiction of the university administration, an action with which both the state’s legislature and the Auditor General strongly concurred. By July of 1989, new athletic director John Mackovic reported directly to the chancellor, being treated similarly to deans of the engineering and business colleges.


                                       Ron Zook

Ron Zook

Apr. 28, 2023

Happy 69th birthday to former Fighting Illini head coach Ron Zook.


A product of Miami University’s famed “Cradle of Coaches”, he played for Coach Bill Mallory’s Redskins from 1973-75. During Zooks’ collegiate playing days, his teams compiled a 32-1-1 record, winning three straight Mid-American Conference championships.


Zook began his coaching career the following year as a high school coach, then started a lengthy college stint in 1978 at Murray State. He then made stops as an assistant coach at Cincinnati, Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Florida. Zook secured NFL jobs with the Steelers, Chiefs and Saints before being named Florida’s head coach in 2002.


Ron Guenther hired Zook as Illinois’s head coach in 2005. Following wins in his first two games, the Illini then lost 20 of its next 22 games. The gold star on Zook’s UI career was the 2007 season that saw the Illini go 9-4, finish second in the Big Ten, and play in the 2008 Rose Bowl Game. Results, however, were largely mediocre during his last four seasons at Illinois (22 wins and 28 losses) and he was fired following the 2011 season.


From 2014-18, Zook worked as a special teams coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, then very briefly with the Salt Lake Stallions of Alliance of American Football before it folded earlier this month.


In Ron Zook’s seven seasons as head coach, eleven different Illini players earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Here is Illini Legends, Lists & Lore’s suggestion for Zook’s all-star offensive, defensive and specialist units:


OFFENSE

OL Martin O’Donnell

OL Xavier Fulton

OL Ryan McDonald

OL Jon Asamoah

OL Jeff Allen

TE Michael Hoomanawanui

WR Arrelious Benn

WR A.J. Jenkins

QB Juice Williams

RB Rashard Mendenhall

RB Mikel Leshoure


DEFENSE

DL Will Davis

DL Corey Liuget

DL Whitney Mercilus

DL Michael Buchanan

LB J Leman

LB Brit Miller

LB Martez Wilson

DB Vontae Davis

DB Alan Ball

DB Kevin Mitchell

DB Tavon Wilson


SPECIALISTS

P Steve Weatherford

PK Derek Dimke


                                       Jimmy Collins and Dick Nagy

Jimmy Collins & Dick Nagy

Apr. 26, 2023

On the same month and day, but four years apart, two of Illinois basketball’s greatest assistant coaches were hired by Lou Henson.


On April 26, 1979, Dick Nagy joined Tony Yates as a Henson assistant, replacing Les Wothke who had left Illinois to become head coach Western Michigan. Nagy needed no introduction to Henson or his basketball philosophies. He had played for Henson at Hardin-Simmons and was the captain of Henson’s final squad in Abilene in 1996. At the time, Nagy was just three years out of high school ball in Syracuse, N.Y. From the 1979-80 season through the ’95-96 season, he helped Henson’s Illini post winning Big Ten records in 14 of those 17 campaigns. During that span, Illinois won one Big Ten title, placed second three times, and finish third four times. Nagy went on to serve as Jimmy Collins’ assistant at UI-Chicago for five additional seasons and helped the Flames achieve their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.


It was on April 26, 1983 that Collins was named to the Illini staff. Like Nagy, Collins also was a native of Syracuse and a former Henson pupil. Collins was a senior All-America guard at New Mexico State in 1970, the year NMSU made its only NCAA Final Four appearance. He then was drafted 11th overall in the 1970 NBA Draft and played two seasons. Collins joined Henson’s Aggie staff as a graduate assistant coach in ‘72, then moved to Chicago four years later. He was a probation officer in Chicago when Henson hired him to replace Tony Yates. In Collins’ very first season at Illinois—1983-84—Illinois tied for the Big Ten title. Though the Illini wouldn’t again reach that championship level over the next dozen seasons, UI placed second twice, third three times, and fourth four times. Collins became UIC’s head coach in 1996-97 and continued in that role for 13 more years. The Flames made three NCAA Tournament appearances and qualified for the NIT one other time.



Jimmy Collins and Dick Nagy’s Top Ten Memories of the 1988-89 Season


1.    Mar. 26 vs. Syracuse: The Illini earned a spot in the Final Four.

2.    Dec. 19 vs. Missouri: Kenny Battle scored 28 points as UI improved its record to 18-0. Illini overcame an 18-point deficit.

3.    Mar. 4 at Indiana: Nick Anderson hit a miracle three-pointer at IU’s Assembly Hall.

4.    Mar. 24 vs. Louisville: Illinois won its 30th game behind Anderson’s 24 points.

5.    Jan. 22 vs. Georgia Tech: Illini earned No. 1 ranking with a two-overtime victory.

6.    Dec. 22 at LSU: Illini crushed the Tigers by 27 points in Baton Rouge, scoring a school-record 127 points.

7.    Mar. 11 at Michigan: UI won a school-record 27th game at Ann Arbor.

8.    Feb. 9 vs. Ohio State: Stephen Bardo held Buckeye star Jay Burson to nine points.

9.    Jan. 25 vs. Indiana: Illini snapped league-leading Indiana’s 13-game victory streak.

10. Mar. 8 vs. Iowa: Lowell Hamilton, Battle and Anderson played their final home game. Kendall Gill returned to the Illini line-up.



                                       Ray Poat

Ray Poat

Apr. 24, 2023

Eighty-six years ago today—Apr. 18, 1937—Illini right-hander Ray Poat, a sophomore from Chicago’s Lindblom High School permitted only 28 Ohio State Buckeyes to bat in a nine-inning, 10-strikeout, 3-1 Illinois victory. Three days later, he turned in another spectacular performance against the University of Chicago, striking out a dozen Maroon batters and allowing just two hits in a 7-0 Illini win.


In his only full season with Coach Wally Roettger’s Illini varsity squad, Poat posted a perfect 9-0 record, racking up 69 strikeouts against only 12 walks in nearly 76 innings on the mound. Though he may have taken a back seat to teammate and future Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau in the newspaper clippings, it was the six-foot-two-inch Poat who earned Big Ten Most Valuable Player honors for the conference champs.


Poat’s father—Joseph Vander Poaten—had emigrated from the The Netherlands shortly before Ray’s birth on Dec. 19, 1917. Upon his arrival at New York City’s Ellis Island, United States officials shortened the family name to Poat. The family eventually settled in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood where Ray became an acclaimed hurler for the Lindblom Eagles. Once he got to the University of Illinois, he pledged to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and majored in chemical engineering.


In the early portion of his junior year (1939), Poat had season-ending surgery for a chipped bone in his right elbow, ultimately marking the end of his collegiate career. Shortly after the end of the season, he got married, hastening his urgency to sign a contract with the Cleveland Indians organization.


After posting a 15-4 record with Leaksville-Draper-Spray of the Class D Bi-State League, Poat was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Raiders. There he went 29-14 over the next two seasons, prompting his call up to the Indians in 1942, where former Illini teammate Boudreau would be his manager.


Poat made his Major League debut on Apr. 15, 1942 against the Detroit Tigers, but allowed four runs on eight hits in three innings. A week later, the Indians optioned him to Indianapolis of the American Association. At Indy, he compiled a 15-8 record and was recalled to the big club in September. Facing the White Sox on September 8 at Comiskey Park—a stadium located just a few blocks away from his childhood home—Poat got his first win, tossing a 10-0 shutout in front of friends and family.


He stayed with the Indians in 1943 and ’44 but went just 6-13. Poat took a leave of absence from baseball in 1945 to help support the World War II effort, working as a chemist in a Chicago-based government facility. He returned to pitch after the war, though at the minor league level. Two fairly successful seasons got Poat an invitation to join Manager Mel Ott’s New York Giants in August of ’47. He finished the year with a 4-3 record and a 2.86 ERA and the Giants doubled his salary to $12,000. Poat pitched another season and a half for New York before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in June of 1949. Another trip to the minors prompted Poat to end his baseball career at the age of 32 and he moved his family back to the Chicago area where he began a chemistry career with the Corn Products Refinery in Argo, Ill.


In portions of six big league seasons from 1942-49, Poat had a record of 22 wins and 30 losses in 116 appearances, striking out 178 batters in 400 innings.


He passed away in April of 1990 at the age of 72 and is buried in Oak Lawn.


                                       John DiFeliciantonio

John DiFeliciantonio

Apr. 21, 2023

Before Corey Liuget, Whitney Mercilus and Dawuane Smoot in recent years—even before Don Thorp, Moe Gardner and Simeon Rice in the 1980s and ‘90s—Big Ten quarterbacks feared a 6-3, 240-pound Illini tackling machine with a nearly unpronounceable name.


John DiFeliciantonio, a product of Bishop Neumann High School in South Philadelphia and who turns 68 today, was the man Coach Bob Blackman depended upon to pressure the opponents’ signal callers. From 1974 through ‘76, despite incurring a wide assortment of injuries, “Johnny D” made headlines for Illinois from his defensive tackle position. In each of those three seasons, No. 96 recorded double-figure tackles for loss, totaling 32 TFLs for 147 yards in losses for his career.


Teaming with Dean March, Walter Graham and others, DiFeliciantonio racked up nearly 200 tackles during his Illini career, winning second-team All-Big Ten honors after his junior year. As a senior in 1976, he was named Sports Illustrated Defensive Player of the Week for his role in Illinois’s 31-6 upset victory over sixth-rated Missouri. He eventually played in the Blue-Gray All-Star Game, but never played professional football.


As an undergrad, DiFeliciantonio drove a beer truck in Champaign-Urbana during the summer of ’76. However, it was his unusual hobby that grabbed him headlines in newspaper features: potting plants.


“My girl friend went back to Chicago for the summer and she let me take care of her flowers while she was gone,” said the amiable Italian. “She couldn’t take care of ‘em nearly as well as I do.”


Forty-seven years later, DiFeliciantonio is back in the City of Brotherly Love and his one-time hobby is now his livelihood. After getting his start on the tomato line at Procacci Brothers, he worked himself up to president of the company, building it into one of the nation’s largest wholesalers. Today, he and his wife, Michelle, and three of their four daughters operate the North American Produce Company in southwest Philadelphia. They handle hundreds of varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs.


                                       Lee Sentman

Lee Sentman

Apr. 19, 2023

Ninety-three years ago today—April 19, 1930—Lee Sentman set one world record and a quartet of other Fighting Illini athletes matched another at the Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kan.


With a crowd of 20,000 fans looking on and with University of Illinois legend Avery Brundage serving as the meet’s referee, Decatur junior Lee Sentman led off the record-setting day with an all-time mark of :14.6 in the 120-yard high hurdles. He glided flawlessly over the ten 42-inch high barriers, finishing well ahead of Iowa’s George Saling.


Later in the day, Illinois’s 440-yard sprint relay unit—made up of senior Ernest Useman, junior James Cave, junior Charles Dickinson and senior James Paterson—ran the 440 yards in an all-time college record time of 41 seconds flat. Their clocking tied the world mark.


Sentman is one of the University’s most unheralded athletes ever. In addition to his sterling performance in Kansas nearly a century ago, he also tied the collegiate record in the 220 low hurdles at the 1930 NCAA championship meet and tied the world mark at 120 yards at the 1931 Big Ten meet. When he died in 1996 at the age of 86, Sentman’s time of 7.4 seconds in the 60-yard high hurdles, set in 1931, remained as the sixth-fastest time ever recorded at an Illini athlete in that event.


Exceptional in the classroom as a civil engineering major, Sentman was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 1930. During World War II, he served as an executive officer to the chief of construction at General Dwight Eisenhower’s headquarters.


Sentman and his wife, Esther, eventually settled in Champaign where he became a renowned construction executive. Their son, Lee Sentman III, was an Illini fencer and in 1958 also was accorded the Conference Medal of Honor award.


                                       Larry Sutton

Itch Jones' Best Hitters

Apr. 17, 2023

Head coach Itch Jones mentored some of Illinois’ greatest hitters during his stint in Champaign-Urbana from 1991 through 2005. Larry Sutton batted .434 for the Illini in Itch’s first season, while Brian McClure and Tom Sinak both hit .418 for the 1996 Illini.


A list of Jones’ top 12 single-season hitters:


1.        .434    Larry Sutton, 1991

2.        .418    Brian McClure, 1996

           .418    Tom Sinak, 1996

4.        .400    Josh Klimek, 1996

5.        .394    Chad Frk, 2003

6.        .393    Chris Basak, 1999

           .393    Dan O’Neill, 1998

8.        .392    Andy Schutzenhofer, 2001

9.        .385    Forry Wells, 1993

10.      .375    Andy Schutzenhofer, 2000 

11.      .374    Ryan Rogowski, 2005

12.      .359    Chris Robinson, 2004


                                       Gordie Gillespie

Gordie Gillespie

Apr. 14, 2023

It’s a little known fact that of the three men who top college baseball’s current all-time list of coaching victories, two have ties to the University of Illinois.


One of them is Augie Garrido who coached Illini baseball for three seasons, racking up 1,975 wins in 48 collegiate seasons.


The second is a 1944 Illini baseball and basketball letterman named Gordie Gillespie. He ranks third on the NCAA’s list behind longtime Florida State coach Mike Martin and Garrido. In 1993, he passed Southern California’s Rod Dedeaux, to rank No. 1 on that ledger. Garrido passed Gillespie in 2014.


Born 97 years ago today—April 14, 1926—Gillespie graduated from northwest Chicago’s Kelvyn Park High School and was recruited to the University of Illinois by basketball coach Doug Mills and baseball coach Wally Roettger. Gillespie earned varsity letters as a center on the basketball court and as a first baseman on the diamond.


Following service in World War II, Gillespie transferred to DePaul to play basketball for Coach Ray Meyer. He won Blue Demon varsity letters in 1947, ’48 and ’49.


Gillespie’s first coaching job was at Lewis University in 1953. In 24 years, his Flyers compiled a record of 634-244, capped by three straight NAIA World Series titles from 1974-76. Gillespie also coached the Flyers basketball team for 15 years.


He moved on to take the job at St. Francis College, where eight of his Fighting Saints teams earned World Series bids. The highlight of his 19-year coaching stint in Joliet came in 1993 when that squad won 38 of its final 39 games to capture the school’s first-ever national championship in any sport.


Gillespie then moved on to Ripon College in Wisconsin where he worked with his son, Bob, the school’s athletics director. In 10 seasons, his Red Hawks put together a record of 239-130, including five league titles and six NCAA Division II playoff appearances in seven years.


In 2006, at the age of 80, Gillespie returned to St. Francis to coach the baseball team for six final seasons.


Amazingly, Gillespie also had a successful coaching career in football, serving as the head coach at Joliet Catholic High School for 27 years and compiling a mark of 222-54-6. Five of his teams won Class 5A state championships (1975, ’76, ’77, ’78 and ’81).


In 1991, the Chicago Tribune honored Gillespie by selecting him as the head coach of the newspaper’s All-Time Illinois High School Football Team. Collegiate Baseball Magazine named him the NAIA Coach of the Century in 1998.


In nearly 110 seasons of coaching sports teams, Gillespie’s squads had 2,402 wins, winning nearly 70 percent of the time. His teams failed to record at least a .500 mark only eleven times.


The father of seven, grandfather of 37, great grandfather of 12 and member of 16 halls of fame died in 2015 at the age of 88.



Top Ten College Baseball Coaches (through Feb. 8, 2023):

1. 2,029 wins             Mike Martin

2. 1,975 wins             Augie Garrido

3. 1,893 wins             Gordie Gillespie



                                       Itch Jones

Illini Baseball's April 12 Highlights

Apr. 12, 2023

Since 1970, Illinois has posted a 17-6 record in games played on April 12. Here are several of UI baseball’s highlights on this date in history:


Apr. 12, 1924 – Despite 11 walks by pitcher Wally Roettger, the Illini topped Mississippi, 7-3, in Oxford.


Apr. 12, 1933 – Illinois collected eight doubles among its 12 hits in beating Illinois Wesleyan, 13-1.


Apr. 12, 1941 – Paul Milosevich’s three singles drove in four runs as the Illini beat host Indiana, 10-7.


Apr. 12, 1947 – In only its second and third games of the season, Illinois swept a doubleheader at Indiana, 4-0 and 10-3, then went on win the Big Ten title.


Apr. 12, 1990 – The Illini hit an Illinois Field-record 10 doubles in a 22-9 victory over Eastern Illinois.


Apr. 12, 1995 – Coach Itch Jones (pictured left) collected his 900th career victory as UI topped Indiana State, 9-3.


Apr. 12, 2000 – In his career’s first complete game performances, sophomore Andy Dickinson struck out eight in an 8-2 win vs. Indiana State.


Apr. 12, 2003 – Drew Davidson scored all the way from first base on Chad Frk’s game-winning seventh-inning single, propelling Illinois past host Michigan, 8-7.


Apr. 12, 2013 – Illinois scored eight runs in the first inning and had a season-best 20 hits on its way to a 17-12 victory over Purdue.


Apr. 12, 2015 – Pitcher Drason Johnson retired the last 12 Boilermaker hitters he faced to lead No. 12 Illinois past Purdue, 5-1.


                                       Illinois' Judson Twins

Phil & Paul Judson

Apr. 10, 2023

Born 70 miles away from the old Chicago Stadium and on the exact day that the Chicago Blackhawks won their very first Stanley Cup—April 10, 1934—the identical twins of Clarence and Jessie Judson made their world debut. Twins Phil and Paul Judson, key members of Hebron High School’s legendary 1952 Illinois state championship team, celebrate their 89th birthday today.


The future Illini basketball players were preceded in life by older brother Howie, a sibling who would pitch seven seasons in the Major Leagues for the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds.


The Judson home on Maple Street, adjacent to the intersection of Highway 173 and Route 47 in Hebron, featured a cement driveway where the twins played hoops from dawn to dusk. When the sun disappeared, the young teenage boys all went to the lighted court of childhood friend and future high school teammate Don Wilbrandt.


Explained Phil, metaphorically, “Our drive was the district … then we’d play in Kenley Spooner’s driveway like it was the regional … Don’s drive was like the sectional … then we’d play up in the hayloft of the barn across the street like it was the state tournament at Huff Gym.”


Of course, that dream to achieve a championship would eventually play out in real time at Hebron High. Phil and Paul are probably most recognizable for their prep careers in McHenry County. During their senior year at Hebron in 1952, the duo had only 16 other classmates—nine girls and seven boys—among the total student enrollment of 60.


The starting lineup for coach Russ Ahearn’s Green Giants consisted of 6-foot-2-inch Phil at forward, 6-2 Paul at guard, Spooner at the other guard, Wilbrandt at the other forward, and big 6-10 junior Bill Schulz at center.


The quintet sailed through their junior campaign, accumulating 26 victories in 28 games, setting the stage for their storybook senior season.


“The coach put together a very good schedule for us,” Phil Judson said. “The UP (United Press) had us rated fourth in the state and the AP (Associated Press) had us rated eighth at the start of the season. We went to the Kankakee Christmas Tournament and beat (No. 4) Danville by 13 points and the very next week we were rated No. 1, going past West Rockford, Centralia and Danville. We were the first team in our district to ever be rated No. 1.”


Hebron lost to Crystal Lake midway through the year, prompting a slight fall in the polls to No. 2. However, following a 20-game winning streak, Hebron regained its No. 1 ranking.


“I remember Coach Ahearn saying to us at one point, ‘Okay, win the next 11 games and you’ll be champions,’” Judson said. “Well, that didn’t mean much to us at the time. When he said champions, he meant that we’d be champions of the state tournament.”


In the district and regional tournament games, opponents used slow-down tactics to try to throw off the high-scoring Giants, but Hebron’s talent ultimately prevailed. A game against Elgin High determined which team would advance on to Champaign. The Maroons had beaten Hebron the year before in the Woodstock Regional but Judson and his teammates successfully achieved revenge and a trip to Champaign-Urbana for the state championships took place the following week.


“I remember us driving down to Champaign on a Thursday morning in four cars; Coach drove one and parents drove the others,” Judson said. “Really, it still hadn’t sunk in that we were going to the state tournament. We played Champaign that afternoon, winning by nine points, even though they outscored us in three of the four quarters.”


Hebron then got past Lawrenceville, then Rock Island (which had upset Thornton in the first game).


“Rock Island was very tall (6-6 and 6-7),” Judson said. “I remember the papers saying that the Hebron players would be bouncing off of the Rock Island players for the rebounds.”


A victory against Rock Island set up a March 22, 1952 title game against a more athletic Quincy team …the first IHSA championship broadcast on television. The contest was nip-and-tuck  throughout, finally leading to an overtime stanza. Over the final three minutes, the Judson boys out-scored Quincy, 5-1, and victory belonged to Hebron.


It wasn’t until about 11:30 that night that the victors climbed into their automobiles for the 200-mile ride home.


“When we got to Morton, they wanted us to get on the fire truck and ride around town,” Judson recalled. “We had to go around the Woodstock Square twice and, finally, we got to Hebron. It was a lot of fun.”


Every one of Hebron’s five starters got the opportunity to play Division I college basketball. Phil and Paul Judson, of course, wound up playing for the University of Illinois, rejecting offers from Wisconsin, Bradley and St. Louis. The Illini had successful seasons during their three varsity years from 1954 through ‘56, winning 52 of their 66 games overall. In Big Ten play, Illinois had a highly respectable 31-11 cumulative record, but never was able to claim a conference title.


“Sure, it was disappointing that we didn’t win a title, but the Big Ten had some really good teams,” Judson said. “The first year Indiana beat us and they went on to win the national championship that year. Our junior year, we lost a tough game in overtime game at Minnesota. And then Iowa beat us our senior year, and they went on to the national championship game.”


After two years in the Army, Phil got his first coaching job at age 25 at North Chicago High School. He coached there for 10 years (freshman team for four, sophomore team for six), but the head coach wasn’t planning to leave so Phil took a high school coaching job at Adrian, Mich. Following a very short stint as the freshman coach at Adrian College, Zion-Benton High called. Judson stayed for 20 years, coaching his son, Rob, in his final prep season.


A lengthy career as a basketball referee capped off his working days.


“Lots and lot of great memories,” Judson said. “I’ve had a very blessed life.”


So, nowadays, how often is Judson reminded about the ’52 Green Giants?


“Every week … almost every day,” he said with a laugh.


                                       Bob Richmond

Illini Basketball MVPs

Apr. 7, 2023

Forty-three years ago today, at the 58th Annual Men’s Basketball Banquet, junior forward Eddie Johnson was named Most Valuable Player of the Fighting Illini. Of the 39 players who preceded him as MVPs, he was only the 15th underclassman to be honored. Johnson’s 610 points during the 1979-80 campaign were the second highest ever by an Illinois player and his 310 rebounds were third highest. He was a repeat MVP the following season (1980-81) as a senior.


Other trivia about Illini men’s basketball MVPs:


• UI’s first official basketball MVP was senior Bob Richmond (pictured) in 1941.


• Seniors James Griffin and Perry Range were the first to share the award (1982). The prize has been shared just six other times.


• The only time the MVP was given to three different players was in 2005 when juniors Dee Brown and Deron Williams, and senior Luther Head won the honor for UI's 37-2 national runner-up.


• Cory Bradford (1999) and Tracy Abrams (2012) are the only two freshmen to have won MVP awards. Bradford was also the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Abrams is the last UI MVP who didn’t also lead the team in scoring.


• Neither Andy Kpedi nor Larry Smith, co-MVPs in 1991, won Illinois’s scoring title that season. Andy Kaufmann was UI’s top scorer.


• Andy Phillip was Illini MVP in 1942 and ’43, but did not earn that honor as a senior in 1947 when he returned from service in World War II.


• The first three-time Illini MVP was Dave Downey. He captured the prize 1961, ’62 and ’63. Deon Thomas (1992-93-94) and Kiwane Garris (1995-96-97) are Illinois’s only other players to be honored three years in a row.


• 1984 co-MVP Quinn Richardson (with Bruce Douglas) finished as Illinois’s fifth-leading scorer that season (7.7 ppg).


• Current NBA pro, Meyers Leonard of the Portland Trail Blazers, did not win Illini MVP laurels.


• UI’s 1967 MVP, Jim Dawson, also was the Big Ten MVP. As a team, the Illini tied for seventh in the Big Ten standings.


• Only one Illini MVP—Rod Fletcher in 1952—is a native of Champaign-Urbana. He attended Champaign Central High School.


• Only one former Illini Most Valuable Player—Harv Schmidt in 1957—eventually returned to become Illinois’s head coach. (Note: Doug Mills and Harry Combes likely would have also joined Schmidt in this category, but the award wasn’t officially in place when they competed.)


• No MVP award was given to either 2008 or 2018.


                                       1918 Pandemic Scene at the U of I

1918 & The University of Illinois

Apr. 5, 2023

Both world war and a health crisis enveloped the University of Illinois during the turbulent calendar year of 1918. With Edmund Janes James presiding over a student body of about 3,000, a great many of whom were men in military uniform.


By May of 1917, a thousand men had withdrawn from the University to fight in World War I. They joined nearly 2,000 other UI alumni who were already engaged in battle.


Director of Athletics George Huff oversaw the Athletic Association’s four active sports—football, basketball, baseball, track & field. Five other sports—swimming, gymnastics, wrestling, fencing and tennis—were on hiatus due to the war.


While 1918’s headlines were dominated by the war against Germany, millions of other non-combatants back home were being assaulted by a deadly virus that became known as the Spanish flu.


Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of University of Illinois campus life and American events in 1918:


Jan., 1918 – Against his mother’s wishes, twenty-two-year-old former Illini sports star George Halas enlisted in the U.S. Navy.


Mar. 4, 1918 – First recorded case of Spanish flu at Funston Army Camp in Kansas.


July, 1918 – First lieutenant Ralph “Slouie” Chapman, a former Illini All-America football player, was erroneously reported to have been killed in battle in France. He ultimately survived his machine-gun wounds and years later served as vice president of the UI Foundation.


August, 1918 – The University announced that the campus would host a large battalion of men from the War Department’s Student Army Training Corps (SATC).


Sept. 27, 1918 –The first reported case of influenza was diagnosed by University of Illinois Health Services officials.


Oct. 1, 1918 – More than 3,400 men were inducted into the War Department’s SATC. Fifteen hundred of them were housed on the second floor of UI’s Armory.


Oct. 3, 1918 – The day UI classes began, thirty-seven campus students, faculty and staff cases of influenza had already been diagnosed.


Oct. 6, 1918 – Eighty-one campus individuals were diagnosed with the flu. Statistically, it would prove to be the single-highest day of cases cited at the University.­­


Oct. 13, 1918 – One week after UI flu cases spiked, an additional 352 cases were diagnosed. Only two men had died thus far.


Oct. 22, 1918 – Nine campus deaths were among the more than 1,000 cases.


Oct. 26, 1918 – In a spectator-less game at Illinois Field, Illinois hosted the U.S. Naval Reserve School at Municipal Pier (Chicago). Only George Huff, UI Dean Thomas Arkle Clark and a handful of military officers were allowed inside the gates to watch.  At this point, a total of 758 campus cases had been diagnosed.


Oct. 31, 1918 – The Spanish flu killed 21,000 Americans in a single week.


Nov. 11 – The armistice was announced and World War I officially ended. Many celebrators went out into the street without their masks, leading to a small resurgence of campus influenza cases from Nov. 20-Dec. 11.


Nov. 16, 1918 – Coach Bob Zuppke’s Illini football team defeated Ohio State, 13-0, before a crowd of 2,786 at Illinois Field.


Dec. 21, 1918 – SATC students at U of I were decommissioned.


Jan 1., 1919 – Statistics in the City of Champaign Township revealed more deaths (310) than births (301) in 1918. All told, 19 UI students died among the 2,500 who had been infected.


                                       Jim Spreitzer

Jim Spreitzer

Mar. 31, 2023

Sixty-one years ago today—March 31, 1962—Fighting Illini swimmer Jim Spreitzer won the NCAA men’s 220-yard freestyle championship, the last of seven NCAA titles captured by University of Illinois swimmers.


Swimming from lane three, the St. George, Illinois native and Evanston High School grad covered the distance in a time of 2:00.9, just three-tenths of a second slower than the NCAA mark set by Murray Rose of the University of Southern California a year earlier. Spreitzer edged out Dennis Ronsavelle of USC and Mike Wood of Michigan State for the championship.


Spreitzer, who placed sixth in that same race a year ago and also no better than sixth in the Big Ten meet a month earlier, broke his personal record by eight-tenths of a second.


A day later, the Illini junior placed third in the 100-yard sprint with a time of :49.5.


The NCAA meet, held at Ohio State University’s Natatorium in Columbus, saw the Illini finish in tenth place as a team and fifth among Big Ten schools.


As a senior in 1963, Spreitzer missed his third and final season at Illinois due to a rib fracture he suffered in a tobogganing accident. He ended his Illini career as the school record holder in the 100 and 200 freestyle, and in the 440-yard medley relay. He was selected as UI’s most valuable swimmer in 1962.


Spreitzer, now 81 years old, lives in Lebanon, Missouri with his wife, Mary.


Illinois’ men’s swimming NCAA champions:

1926 – William O’Brien, 1-meter diving

1934 – Charles Flachmann, 50 freestyle

1935 – Charles Flachmann, 50 freestyle

1935 – Charles Flachmann, 100 freestyle

1953 – Robert Clemons, 100 butterfly

1958 – Joe Hunsaker, 200 individual medley

1962 – Jim Spreitzer, 220 freestyle


                                       Robert Archibald

Robert Archibald

Mar. 29, 2023

Today would have been former Fighting Illini basketball star Robert Archibald’s 43rd birthday. He died suddenly on January 23, 2020.


Born in Paisley, Scotland, he was the son of Scottish legend Bobby Archibald. Robert began his basketball career with Queen Anne High School, but concluded his prep years at Wildwood, Missouri’s Lafayette High School when his father relocated the family to the United States.


Coach Lon Kruger recruited the 6-foot-11-inch Archibald to Illinois, but success came slowly. In his first two seasons—1998-99 and 1999-2000—Archibald scored in double figures only three times in 62 games. As a junior, his skills sharpened significantly and he became Illinois’s leading scorer (7.2 points per game) and rebounder (4.5 rebounds per game) off the bench. He also averaged 1.13 blocked shots in Big Ten games, ninth best among conference players. By far, Archibald’s greatest highlight that third season came in the team’s final game of the year. He scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Arizona in the NCAA Midwest Regional Finals and was named to that region’s all-star team.


Archibald’s senior campaign was clearly the best of his career, averaging 10.6 ppg , 5.5 rpg, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks for the 2002 Big Ten co-champs. League coaches named him to their third-team all-conference unit and the media gave him honorable mention.


The Memphis Grizzlies selected Archibald in the second round of the 2002 NBA Draft, becoming the first Scot ever to be chosen. After appearing in only 12 games as a rookie, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. In December of 2003, within the course of a week, Archibald was dealt to the Orlando Magic and then to the Toronto Raptors.


In 2004, he transferred his professional game to Europe, performing over eight seasons in Spain and Ukraine. Perhaps Archibald’s premier basketball moment came in 2012 where he played for Great Britain at the London Olympics. The Brits lost consecutive games against Spain (79-78), Brazil (67-62), the Russian Federation (95-75) and Australia (106-75).


He returned to the state of Illinois and, benefitting from the economics degree he earned from the University of Illinois, became an agent for State Farm Insurance in Elmhurst.


Following his death, his family created the Robert Archibald Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Fund.



Archibald’s Basketball Milestones

First Illini game: Nov. 10, 1998 vs. Wake Forest (two points)

First starting assignment: Nov. 20, 1998 vs. St. Louis (four points)

Final Illini game: Mar. 22, 2002 vs. Kansas (15 points & 10 rebounds)

First NBA game: Nov. 9, 2002 vs. Denver Nuggets (one point)

Career-high points: 25 vs. Arizona (3/25/01) and 25 vs. Penn State (2/20/02)

Career-high rebounds: 13 vs. Northwestern (2/23/02)



                                       Kenneth "Tug" Wilson, Big Ten Commissioner

Tug Wilson's Years as Commissioner

Mar. 27, 2023

Kenneth “Tug” Wilson was an outstanding Illini athlete who went on to compete in the Olympics, a successful coach and a renowned scholastic administrator, but his highest profile in nearly 83 years of life was as the second Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference.


Born in Atwood, Ill., on this date in 1896, it was in March of 1945, following the death of Major John Griffith, when Wilson was elevated from his role as Northwestern University’s Director of Athletics to one of college athletics’ most prominent positions.


Wilson was attending a meeting of the ten athletic directors at Chicago’s Sherman Hotel where the conference’s office was located. In the 1967 book entitled The Big Ten that he authored with Jerry Brondfield, Wilson described the scene he encountered.


“The scheduled December meet in 1944 was a dramatically sad one,” Wilson wrote. “Major Griffith had not been in the best of health, but insisted on conducting the meeting, and at the end of the day the directors were going to join the faculty representatives at the University Club for dinner. L.W. St. John (Ohio State’s athletic director) and I were waiting in the (hotel) lobby for the Major to come downstairs. After a long wait, Saint asked me to go up and see what was keeping him. The Major’s door was open. I walked in and found him dead on the floor. It was a terrific shock, for he had been my best friend through many years. The meetings were cancelled and the following Monday the ten directors carried Major Griffith to his grave.”


Shortly after Griffith’s funeral, athletic directors St. John, Guy Mackey of Purdue and Doug Mills of Illinois proposed that Wilson be promoted to replace Griffith as head of the conference. League faculty representatives approved the directors’ recommendation the following March and Wilson assumed the role two months later.


Under Wilson’s direction of the Big Ten from 1945 to 1961, he guided the league out of World War II and into the modern era. These were some of the moments the conference experienced during Wilson’s commissionership:


1945-1961: Big Ten teams dominated the NCAA swimming and diving championships, winning 14 of the 17 team titles during Wilson’s period as commissioner.


1946: The University of Chicago formerly withdrew from the Conference.


1946: Big Ten officials voted to enter an agreement with the Pacific Coast Conference to establish an annual match-up in the Rose Bowl football game. Illinois defeated UCLA in the first meeting (Jan. 1, 1947).


1946 and 1947: Illinois won NCAA titles in track and field (followed by Minnesota in 1948).


1947 and 1948: Michigan football was the national champion.


1948: It was voted that Michigan State College be admitted to conference membership.


1952: Michigan State football was the national champion.


1953: Michigan won the Big Ten’s first NCAA title in baseball. (followed by Minnesota in 1956 and 1960).


1954: Ohio State football was the national champion.


1957: Michigan won the conference’s first NCAA title in tennis.


1959: A new recruiting regulation is enacted to allow member schools to pay travel expenses for a prospect’s campus visit.


1960: Led by Jerry Lucas, Ohio State won the NCAA basketball title.


                                       1990 Illini Women's Gymanstics Team

1990 Women's Gymnastics

Mar. 22, 2023

Thirty-three years ago this weekend—March 23-24, 1990—the Fighting Illini women’s gymnastics team won the Big Ten team championship, something it had never achieved before nor has accomplished since.


Entering the season, Coach Bev Mackes said that her squad, comprised solely of freshmen, sophomores and juniors, would need to work together, show gradual progress and peak at the right time. She also faced the question of whether or not two of her best athletes would rebound from injuries. Two weeks before the 1989 Big Ten meet, reigning conference all-around champ and co-Gymnast of the Year Heather Singalewitch had blown out her knee, while classmate Denise Lamborn spent the entire ’88-89 season in a back brace.


As the ‘89-90 campaign progressed, both athletes recuperated successfully and so Mackes’s Illini entered the Big Ten meet at Ann Arbor as the favorite to win it all.


On opening night, Illinois responded perfectly in the team competition, posting a UI and Big Ten record score of 188.750 to edge runner-up Michigan State by one and a quarter points. Only four points separated the first- and last-place teams.


The following evening, the Illini continued their individual mastery. Lamborn won the vault with a 9.8 score, Peggy Pullman and Laura Knutson tied for the balance beam title at 9.65, and Singalewitch tied with two other floor exercise competitors to share that championship. All four ladies won All-Big Ten honors while Mackes was singled out as the Big Ten Coach of the Year.


Said Illini co-captain Susan Adams afterwards, “We worked so hard all year and we finally got what we wanted. We couldn’t have done it if we weren’t together as a team.”


Dr. Beverly Mackes Stevens is now retired from Illinois State University. Her husband, Michael, directed the master’s program in counseling psychology at ISU.



                                        Bob Norman

Bob Norman

Mar. 22, 2023

Sixty-five years ago today—March 22, 1958—heavyweight Bob Norman became only the second Fighting Illini wrestler to win back-to-back NCAA individual championships. What’s even more amazing is that he achieved his accomplishments in his only two varsity letter-winning seasons at Illinois.


As a scrawny 125-pound freshman in 1946 at Cicero’s Morton High School, Robert James Norman originally planned to be a swimmer, but his times weren’t good enough to make the team. A friend suggested that he go out for wrestling. A significant growth spurt between his freshman and sophomore years—12 inches and 50 pounds— and the expert tutelage of Morton coach Bill Vohaska, a former Illini two-sport star, transformed Norman into the school’s first-string heavyweight and a starting lineman with the football team.

 

Upon his graduation from high school, Norman enlisted with the Marine Corps, training in Quantico, Va.

When his service ended, the 22-year-old enrolled at the U of I to study agriculture. Norman played briefly for Coach Ray Eliot’s Illini football team, but a serious knee injury abruptly ended his gridiron career.

 

Norman recuperated for the next several months and eventually knocked on the door of Illini wrestling coach Buell “Pat” Patterson to offer his services. Fortunately, this meeting precipitated Norman’s pathway into three different Halls of Fame.


He sparkled early and often for the 1957 Illini, capturing his first Big Ten title in the conference meet in Evanston. At the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, Norman rumbled to the heavyweight finals with convincing victories against opponents from Kent, Oklahoma A&M and Maryland. He faced future Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Henry Jordan of Virginia in the title match and triumphed again, this time by a 6-1 score.

 

Norman’s 1958 performance was equally brilliant. Shortly after winning his second consecutive conference crown in Champaign, he took an unblemished 17-0 record to the NCAA Championships in Laramie, Wyo. Consecutive wins over foes from Utah State, Oklahoma State and BYU placed Norman against Oklahoma’s Gordon Roesler, the 1956 national champ. In that match Norman won by a score of 7-4.


The 27-year-old Illini senior finished with a career collegiate record of 36-0-1, including a phenomenal 22 pins.


Norman was voted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1978. He was inducted into the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame last year.


Norman went on to work as a state highway engineer and as the owner of a carpentry business. His son, Tim, lettered three times with the Illini football team (1977, ’78 & ’80) and his grandson, Jake, lettered for UI’s wrestling team from 2007-10. Now 88 years old, Bob Norman resides in Delavan, Wis.


                                        Dean Brownell

Illini Defeat Unbeaten Columbia

Mar. 20, 2023

It was a winning streak that stretched 32 games and 398 days, but it all ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the world’s most famous arena, and at the hands of the Fighting Illini basketball team, 72 years ago today—Mar. 20, 1951.


The Columbia Lions, playing under 29-year-old acting head coach Lou Rossini, were one of the hottest of the 16 teams selected for the national collegiate playoff. Not only did the Lions stand at No. 3 in the Associated Press rankings, they entered the tournament as the school’s only undefeated team (23-0) and the first Ivy League team to finish its regular season unbeaten (12-0). Their average margin of victory was slightly more than 20 points per game.


Coach Harry Combes’ Illini club was ranked fifth by AP and 14 of its last 15 regular season games but had lost at Kansas State six days earlier in what Illinois’ record book refers to as an NCAA “warmup” game.


Predictably, the crowd of 17,107 at Madison Square Garden—located just four miles from Columbia’s campus—was overwhelmingly pro Lions. The majority of the fans cheered wildly as the first half ended in a 45 to 38 Columbia lead. The Lions maintained their lead until less than 10 minutes remaining when Illinois finally slipped ahead, 59-57. A final Lions’ scoring drive pulled them within two points at 73-71, but UI guard Rod Fletcher’s drive to the basket gave Illinois a bit of breathing room en route to a 79-71 final score.


Don Sunderlage’s brilliant ball handling helped him score a game-high 25 points for the Illini and Ted Beach added 22 more on 10-of-17 long-range shooting.


Two nights later, the Illini defeated North Carolina State, 84-70, setting up a match against top-rated Kentucky on Mar. 24. In that one, UI fell to the Wildcats in the final 12 seconds, 76-74, ending the Illini’s dream for a national title.


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                                        Dean Brownell

Dean Brownell

Mar. 15, 2023

Ninety-eight years ago today—March 15, 1924—University of Illinois pole vaulter Dean Brownell had a world record-setting performance at the Fourteenth Annual Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Evanston.


With the bar set at 3.98 meters, a crowd of more than 6,000 at Patten Gymnasium watched Coach Harry Gill’s junior become the first athlete in the world to clear the then magic 13-foot height, exceeding it by five-eighths of an inch.


Brownell’s record performance broke the previous mark of 12-feet-10 ¾-inches, set a year earlier by Chicago’s Laddie Myers and the Illinois A.C.’s Eddie Knourek.


Born and raised in Champaign, Brownell remained the world record holder for nearly two more years. That mark was reset by Charles Hoff on Feb. 4, 1926 when the Norwegian cleared 3.985 meters.


Brownell became a plumbing and heating salesman in Champaign after he graduated from the University of Illinois, but died about a month after his fortieth birthday on Sept. 6, 1940. He is buried at Champaign’s Mt. Hope Cemetery.


Men’s Pole Vault Indoor World Record Progression

Mark, Athlete, Date

First to top 13 feet

3.98m (13 ft-.0577 in), Dean Brownell, 3/15/24

First to top 14 feet

4.195m to 4.29m, Sabin Carr, 2/14/27 to 2/25/28 (broke record twice)

First to top 15 feet

4.42m to 4.79m, Cornelius Warmerdam, 2/11/39 to 3/20/43 (broke record six times)

First to top 16 feet

4.83m to 4.89m, John Uelses, 1/27/62 to 2/3/62 (broke record three times)

First to top 17 feet

5.19m to 5.33m, Bob Seagren, 3/5/66 to 2/8/69 (broke record eight times)

First to top 18 feet

5.46m to 5.49m, Steve Smith, 1/20/73 to 1/26/73 (broke record twice)

First to top 19 feet

5.71m to 5.80m, Billy Olson, 1/29/82 to 2/4/84 (broke record seven times)

First to top 20 feet

5.81m to 6.15m, Sergey Bubka, 1/15/84 to 2/21/93 (broke record 18 times)

Current world record holder

6.17m to 6.18m (20 ft-.2756 in), Armand Duplantis, 2/8/20 to 2/15/20 (broke record twice)




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                                        Mike Lehmann

Mike Lehmann

Mar. 13, 2023

Forty years ago today—Mar. 13, 1982—at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., Fighting Illini athlete Mike Lehmann captured the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships title in the shot put, tossing the 16-pound spherical ball 67-feet-7 ¾-inches. At that time, he joined long jumper Charlton Ehizuelen (1976 and ’77) as the only University of Illinois athletes to accomplish an NCAA indoor individual championship.


The 6-1, 265-pound Lehmann’s primary competition that day was Ohio State superstar Kevin Akins, who stood 6-5 and tipped the scale at 350 pounds. Still, Lehmann was convinced that he could win, primarily because of how he’d been performing in his preparation.


“In practice that week or two before, I was throwing ridiculous distances,” he said, “so my confidence was high.”


At the Silverdome, he added psychological warfare to his repertoire to try to gain an advantage.


“I was prancing around, hooting and hollering, and getting myself psychologically prepared for the upcoming throws,” Lehmann said. “Kevin may have been intimidated a bit by what I was doing. In the heat of the moment, you’re trying to do anything and everything just to get ahead. Basically, it really all came down to technique.”


As a youngster, Lehmann was an aspiring football player at Oak Lawn Community High School, despite the fact that as a freshman he was only 5-7 and 135 pounds.


“After football season was over, my buddies and I wanted to get ourselves bigger, so we got involved with track and field and coach George Dunn’s weight-lifting program,” Lehmann said.


A broken wrist in the first game of his sophomore season ended his football career, so he decided to turn his full attention to becoming a shot putter.


“I remember I threw the shot 33 feet as a freshman,” he said. “Then I gained another 30 pounds as a sophomore and my throw distances kept increasing. By my junior year, things finally started happening. I was determined to work hard and keep getting stronger every year.”


Lehmann placed fourth in the state as a junior but was just an inch and a quarter short of the title winner. By his senior year, he had grown to 6-1 and 200 pounds.


“I was working like a psychopath, but I never thought much about it because that’s just how my parents brought us up,” Lehmann said. “There are always going to be people out there who are more talented, but if they don’t want to work as hard, they may not achieve the goals that they want. I used that work ethic to my advantage.”


West Point recruited him initially, then Kentucky. Shortly after he returned from his recruiting visit to Lexington, Lehmann got a call from Illini coach Gary Wieneke.


“My father absolutely loved Gary Wieneke, so we went down to Champaign for a visit,” he said. “Kentucky was offering a full ride and Illinois not so much, but my father finally convinced me about the advantages that Illinois offered.”


Lehmann excelled at Illinois in track and field, even though he didn’t have a mentor who specialized in throwing weights. He credits his former high school coach, now 91, for his success.


“Thankfully, Coach Dunn had given me the knowledge to put my own pre-season training program together,” Lehmann said.


Four decades after his last collegiate competition, Lehmann continues to be on top of Illinois’ shot put records list, both indoors (69-2 3/4) and outdoors (68-4 ½). Number two on both Illini ledgers is his younger brother, Jeff. Post collegiately, Mike eventually eclipsed the magic 70-foot mark.


Lehmann earned his degree in engineering at Illinois but discovered that “it wasn’t my cup of tea.” He eventually took a job at Chicago’s Mercantile Exchange.


“I discovered that I like the financial side of things because I’ve always been a person who’s enjoyed numbers,” he said.


Lehmann returned to Champaign-Urbana about 35 years ago and established his own investment and insurance company, LaSalle St. Securities, LLC, in the late 1990s.


His family includes his wife of 36 years, Cheryl, three sons and a daughter. All of Lehmann’s children—Christopher, Courtney, Blake and Clayton—attended Champaign Central High School and several of them competed in collegiate athletics. Courtney now is head coach for girls and boys swimming at Centennial High and her father serves as her assistant in charge of weightlifting.


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                                        Bo Batchelder

Robert "Bo" Batchelder

Mar. 10, 2023

Celebrating his 78th birthday today is Robert “Bo” Batchelder, a member of the fraternity of former Fighting Illini football captains.


The Peoria Richwoods standout, singled out by his coach Bob Baietto as “one of the greatest Knights athletes ever”, wasn’t eligible to play as an Illini freshman for Coach Pete Elliott in 1963. Batchelder saw his first varsity action a sophomore end in 1964, a year after the school’s Rose Bowl season, playing both offensively and defensively.


His finest individual game came during the 1965 season when the Illini shut out Purdue. Against Boilermaker quarterback Bob Griese, Batchelder intercepted two passes and recovered two fumbles, including one that he returned 63 yards to set up Illinois’s final touchdown. That effort earned him National Lineman of the Week honors from AP, UPI and Sports Illustrated. At the end of the season, Batchelder was second-team All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America.


As a senior in 1966, he and Kai Anderson were named Illini co-captains.


“For me, and I believe for Kai also, being co-captains of the Fighting Illini was the highest and greatest honor I received at the University of Illinois,” Batchelder said. “I won some other awards and he did, too, but I believe we both felt the same way. We were humbled and we were honored to be co-captains.”


Batchelder was president of UI’s Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He used his bachelor’s degree in marketing to become a highly successful businessman. Batchelder operated his own food service company in Peoria throughout much of the 1970s, then became executive vice president of marketing for the Hardees restaurant chain. From 1988 through 2015, he owned and operated several Hardees and Taco Bell franchises.


Today, Batchelder & Associates is an authorized distributor of the Tersano Lotus Cleaning System, a company that produces ozone water machines that sanitize and deodorize entire facilities, including the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) on the University of Illinois campus.


Batchelder resides in in Raleigh, N.C. with his wife Judy, three children and seven grandchildren.


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                                        1952 Big Ten Wrestling Champs

Big Day for Big Ten Titles

Mar. 8, 2023


Seventy-one years ago today—March 8, 1952—four University of Illinois teams

ended their seasons winning Big Ten championships.

 

In Champaign, Coach Leon Johnson’s Illini track and field team stormed from

behind to win the last four individual events and retain its second consecutive

Big Ten indoor title. A sellout crowd of nearly 5,000 at the Armory watched

freshman Ron Mitchell high jump 6-7 ¼ to break Dike Eddleman’s 1947 record.

Sophomore Henry Cryer won the half-mile race in a conference record time of

1:52.9. Other Illini titlists included Joe McNulty in the high hurdles, Dick

Coleman in the pole vault and Willie Williams in the low hurdles. Illinois

scored 59.6 points, edging Michigan with 52.

 

In Ann Arbor, the Illinois wrestling team (pictured left) topped host Michigan, 28-21. Coach B.R. Patterson’s Illini won their first title since 1947. Illinois wouldn’t win

another wrestling team championship until 2005. The only Illini titleist was

137-pounder Norton “Pete” Compton.

 

At Bloomington, Ind., Coach Charlie Pond’s Illini men’s gymnastics team topped

Michigan State, 94 ½ to 85 ½, to claim their third straight conference title.

Illinois individual champions included tumbling and all-around winner Bob

Sullivan, and side-horseman Frank Bare.

 

And, on the basketball court, Illinois lost at Wisconsin, 58-48, but still

captured the Big Ten championship. Led by Johnny “Red” Kerr, the Illini finished

with a 12-2 record.


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                                        Matt Sylvester

This Date in Illini History

Mar. 6, 2023


Eighteen years ago today, with just a flick of a wrist, Fighting Illini basketball’s 29-game winning streak came to and end.


Illinois led 64-58 after James Augustine’s layup with 3:23 remaining, but host Ohio State was not intimidated. The Buckeyes tallied the next four points on two-point buckets by Terence Dials and Matt Sylvester. Illinois had good looks on its next two possessions, but OSU recovered the ball and called timeout with 12 seconds left.


Coach Bruce Weber and his staff pondered what Buckeye mentor Thad Matt’s strategy might be. With the clock winding towards zeroes and the Illini leading by two, Je’Kel Foster inbounded to Brandon Fuss-Cheatham who then passed the ball to Sylvester who was open at the right wing. The Buckeye senior never hesitated, lofting a long three-pointer with five seconds left. It hit the target and the Illini were no longer perfect, losing 65-64.


Other memorable moments in history on March 6th:

 

•               Mar. 6, 1937: Illinois earned a Big Ten co-championship with Minnesota by defeating Northwestern at Evanston, 32-26.

 

•               Mar. 6, 1954: Individual titles by Willie Williams, Ralph Fessenden, Gene Maynard, Will Thomson, Abe Woodson and Ron Mitchell led Coach Leo Johnson’s track and field team to the Big Ten indoor title at the Armory.

 

•               Mar. 6, 1983: Illinois knocked Indiana out of first place with a 73-61 victory, led by Kendra Gantt’s 28 points.

 

•               Mar. 6, 1986: Host Iowa beat Illinois, 57-53, but senior Efrem Winters breaks Eddie Johnson’s career rebounding record.


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                                        "Illinois Loyalty"

Debut of Illinois Loyalty Song

Mar. 3, 2023


One-hundred-seventeen years ago today, a song that fans and alumni have heard hundreds of times debuted before the University of Illinois student body.


“Illinois Loyalty” was a work that composer/lyricist Thatcher Howland Guild began when he was a student at Brown University. Hired by the U of I as a 27-year-old English instructor, Guild perfected the melody of the tune with fellow cornet player and future band director Albert Austin Harding. It was at Harding’s very first concert program on March 3, 1906 that “Loyalty” was debuted. 


The Illini, UI’s student-published newspaper, described the event that night at what is now recognized as Kenney Gym:


The large and formal audience that filled the Armory last night was many times stirred to great enthusiasm by the numbers rendered at the annual band concert. It was a gala night. Society turned out in full force to hear the program given by the large band of fifty pieces. It was a program that contained not only old and worn pieces, but numbers which made their first public appearance. There were several times when the audience gave vent to their enthusiasm most freely. Works by two local composers, Mr. T.H. Guild and Mr. B.E. McCoy, were among the principal selections that received a large share of applause. Mr. Guild’s song, “We’re loyal to thee, Illinois”, was a work which deservedly demanded a good reception. The main theme is indeed pleasing, and the spirit of the music and words is the spirit of Illinois. It is a song that could well be included among the few songs that Illinois can call her own. It should undoubtedly be included on the repertoires of future bands and glee clubs just as Illinois now is. Mr. Guild has produced a work which ”takes”, and it will certainly find a place in our college music.


Guild would enjoy his personal fame as the composer of “Illinois Loyalty” for only eight more years, dying from a heart attack during a summer tennis match at the age of 35 in 1914. The song wouldn’t actually be recorded until November 1, 1925 when, the day after Illinois’s football game at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Harding took his band to a studio at the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey.


At last count, thirty-six high schools around the nation use the melody of “Illinois Loyalty” as their school song.


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                                        The 1987 game program for Illinois and Indiana

1987 Illini Upset Indiana

Mar. 1, 2023


Thirty-six years ago today—March 1, 1987—a record 16,793 fans, all waving orange pom-pons, said goodbye to three Fighting Illini seniors and helped repel the nation’s third-ranked team.


ABC-TV, with Keith Jackson and Dick Vitale at the microphones, was in town for the Sunday afternoon clash between Coach Bob Knight’s league-leading and third-ranked Indiana Hoosiers and Lou Henson’s No. 14 Illini.


The Hoosier lineup was centered around eventual Big Ten Player of the Year Steve Alford. His supporting class included senior classmate Daryl Thomas, juniors Dean Garrett and Keith Smart, and sophomore Ricky Calloway.


Henson countered Alford with a star of his own in senior all-conference first-teamer Ken Norman. Seven-foot sophomore Jens Kujawa, seniors Tony Wysinger and Doug Altenberger, and freshman Stephen Bardo rounded out Illinois’s starting five.


The Illini had begun the Big Ten portion of their 1986-87 campaign with four consecutive wins, but it was five especially demoralizing losses in recent weeks that had placed extraordinary stress on Henson and his coaching staff. Particularly painful were a pair of massive come-from-behind overtime defeats at the hands of Gene Keady’s fifth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers and a third OT loss to Tom Davis’s No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes. Those three losses came by a total of five points.


“Are you a bad coach when you lose to basketball teams ranked in the top six?” Henson asked the media at his weekly press conference.


Now came the visiting Hoosiers into Champaign-Urbana. Many Illini fans expected the worse, but their hometown favorites gave them plenty to holler about during the game’s first twenty-three minutes. Norman was Illinois’s hero in the early portion of the contest, scoring nineteen points during a 31-14 streak that turned a 26-19 deficit into a 50-40 advantage.


Predictably, Indiana rallied, leveling the score at 57-all with just seven-and-a-half minutes remaining. A “here we go again” air of despair set in with the Assembly Hall attendees, but those fears would soon turn into cheers.


As the game came down the stretch, Norman successfully stroked a 15-footer. Altenberger followed by hitting the target with a pair of three-point missiles and Kujawa converted a hook shot and two free throws to put the Illini on top, 69-65 with 1:47 remaining. IU’s Smart then slammed home an alley-oop pass from Alford to cut the lead in half.


When the Hoosiers rebounded Tony Wysinger’s off-target 16-footer, Knight called time out with :39 left to set up their final play. However, instead of going inside to the 6-foot-10-inch Garrett to tie the score, Knight daringly strategized a winning three-point shot for Alford. IU’s star successfully dribbled by Altenberger, but the 6-8 Norman alertly switched to guard Alford on his desperate heave beyond the arc. When the shot caromed off the rim, Bardo grabbed the rebound with :04 seconds left to ultimately secure the Illini’s 69-67 victory.


Said Henson afterwards, “Our seniors deserve most of the credit, but let’s not forget Kujawa’s four big points and the all-around play of Bardo.”


Illinois would go on to win in regular-season finales at Michigan and at Michigan State, but lost a one-point decision in its opening -round NCAA Tournament game against Austin Peay.


Indiana, on the other hand, wouldn’t lose again. Following its home-court victory six days later over Ohio State to clinch a share of the Big Ten title, Knight’s Hoosiers rattled off six consecutive wins in the Big Dance, including a 74-73 victory over Syracuse in the championship game in New Orleans.


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                                        Artist depicts the construction of Huff Gym

Gymnasium Named for George Huff

Feb. 27, 2023


On this date in 1937 at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees unanimously recommended that the Men’s Gymnasium be named in honor of former director of athletics George Huff. He had passed away on Oct. 1, 1936, from uremic poisoning at the age of 64.


Charles Adam Platt, a distinguished architect during the American Renaissance movement, and University of Illinois architect James McLauren White are credited with designing the Georgian-Revival style structure. Ground was broken on June 7, 1924, and it was built over a span of 18 months at a construction cost of $772,000 by Champaign’s English Brothers. The building is located at 1206 South Fourth Street on the UI campus.


Featuring red brick that was manufactured at Danville’s Western Brick Company, the original structure was 211 feet long, 189 feet wide, and 66 feet high. The original concrete balconies featured 4,000 opera chairs.


Then UI sports information director L.M. “Mike” Tobin’s historical notes of May 7, 1924, said: “New offices for the athletic department will be located on the first floor, together will supply rooms, training quarters and locker rooms. Additional offices and classrooms will be located on the second floor. A wing to be built at a later time will provide for a swimming pool and additional locker space. The basketball floor will be lighted by three large skylights and ventilation will be supplied by a system of fans.


“When the new building in completed,” Tobin continued, “Illinois will have an athletic (plant) probably second to none in the country, excepting possibly Michigan.”


An eight-foot-deep, 25-yard swimming pool was added in 1927.


Illinois’ new gymnasium was dedicated on Dec. 12, 1925, with a basketball game that saw the Illini top visiting Butler, 23-22. Some 6,100 fans were in attendance.


During its 38 years as the home of Illinois men’s hoops, Illini teams compiled a record of 339 victories against only 77 losses, a winning percentage of .815. More than 2.2 million fans attended Illini games and hundreds of thousands more watched Illinois High School Association boys basketball tournament games every March from 1926 to 1962. From the 1970s through the mid ‘90s, hundreds of Illini women’s basketball games were played there as well.


The facility was rechristened as George Huff Hall in 1990 and it became the home to Illini volleyball. It also has hosted Illinois’ wrestling and men’s and women’s gymnastics teams.



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                                        Feb. 24, 1998 - Illini vs. Hoosiers

This Date in Illini History

Feb. 24, 2023


Twenty-five years ago today - Feb. 24, 1998 - Illini seniors Jerry Gee, Matt Heldman and Kevin Turner each scored 16 points and Jerry Hester tallied 15 as No. 22 Illinois defeated host Indiana, 82-72, at Bloomington’s Assembly Hall.


Building upon a 33-28 lead at the intermission, Coach Lon Kruger’s squad scored the first nine points of the second half to mount a 14-point margin. With 9:37 remaining, Illinois’ Sergio McClain was called for a technical foul after he hung on to the rim while trying to block a Luke Recker layup. As an injured Recker laid on the floor, Hoosier coach Bob Knight argued a little too vociferously with referee Ted Valentine and was tossed out of the game. Three resulting free throws by Heldman and nine-of-twelve charity stripe shooting in the final two minutes gave Illinois its tenth victory in the last 11 games, catapulting the Orange and Blue to a Big Ten title.


Other memorable Illini events on this date in history:


Feb. 24, 1917: In his last game on Illinois’s home court, Ray Woods’ long basket gave UI a 20-17 win over Wisconsin.


Feb. 24, 1951: Don Sunderlage scored an Ohio Field House record 34 points as Illinois defeated host Ohio State, 89-69.


Feb. 24, 1968: Dave Scholz scored 42 of UI’s 62 points in a one-point victory over Northwestern at Champaign.


Feb. 24, 1973: Thirty-two points and 15 rebounds from Nick Weatherspoon led the host Illini past Michigan State, 81-71.


Feb. 24, 1979: Illinois’s women’s gymnastics team won its first-ever IAIAW state title.


Feb. 24, 1996: Following a victory over Iowa, Lou Henson announced his retirement in a postgame press conference.


Feb. 24, 2000: On Senior Night, UI’s Susan Blauser capped her Illini career with a season-high 30-point effort against Wisconsin.



Feb. 24, 2007: Shaun Pruitt and Warren Carter combined for 47 points on 20-of-29 shooting as the Illini bested Penn State, 68-50.


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                                        Taylor Mason

Taylor Mason

Feb. 22, 2023


Taylor Mason, a 1978 Fighting Illini football letter winner, capitalized on an unfortunate knee injury his junior season to launch his now 40-plus-year career as a comedian, musician and entertainer.


A walk-on middle guard from Ottawa High School, he played alongside such Illinois defensive stalwarts as John Sullivan, Jerry Ramshaw and Dennis Flynn.


Mason majored in agriculture and communications, following in the footsteps of his father, Bill, who broadcast farm news at WGN Radio.


Taylor began performing around campus as a disc jockey and ventriloquist. In 1980, he worked at Morton’s in Chicago as a pianist. Mason joined the Second City Touring Company as a musical director and in improvisation.


While continuing to work, he earned a Master’s Degree in advertising from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. By the end of 1983, Mason was working fulltime at Zanies Comedy Club and Second City. From 1986-89, he emceed at New York City’s Catch a Rising Star.


By 1990, Mason was appearing on a wide variety of television comedy shows. He also was the grand-prize winner on Ed McMahon’s Star Search that year. In 1995, Mason and his family moved from southern California to New Jersey, picking up steady work in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and various other locations. Christian songwriter-singer-performer Bill Gaither invited Mason to play at his Praise Gatherings and with his Homecoming Concert Tour. He’s worked extensively for the Disney Cruise Line.


Today, Taylor Mason celebrates his 67th birthday.


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                                        Craig Tucker

This Date in Illini History

Feb. 20, 2023


Forty-six years ago today, first-time starter Dennis Pace tallied a career-high 17 points as the Fighting Illini basketball team won at Michigan, 72-64. Defensively, Randy Crews came up with a huge effort and held Wolverine All-American Rudy Tomjanovich to only eight points.


Elsewhere on this date in Illinois athletics history:

 

*1922: Chuck Carney outscored Ohio State’s entire team in a 41-22 victory. The Illini All-American scored a season-high 23 points as Illinois improved its record to 13-2.

 

*1943: UI’s Jack Smiley hand-cuffed Wisconsin All-American and Big Ten MVP John Kotz to four points in the Illini’s 50-26 win at Huff Gym.

 

*1954: Johnny “Red” Kerr’s game-high 26 points led Illinois to a stunning 74-51 win at Iowa.

 

*1965: Illinois beat host Michigan State, 113-94, to set numerous scoring records, including the most ever at Jenison Field House. Skip Thoren (26 points), Tal Brody (26) and Bogie Redmon (23) led the Illini.

 

*1974: Harv Schmidt was fired as head coach of the Illini basketball team.

 

*1982: Thirty-two points by Craig Tucker (pictured left), the most by an Illini player in four years, helped Illinois beat Minnesota, 77-65.

 

*1988: The Illini fencing team finished the dual meet season with a perfect 25-0 record.

 

*1993: Deon Thomas and Rennie Clemens combined for 48 points in Illinois 74-66 triumph at Penn State.

 

*1999: UI’s men’s tennis team upset top-ranked Stanford


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                                        Ira Carrithers

Ira Carrithers

Feb. 17, 2023


On this date sixty-four years ago, Ira Carrithers, one of the University of Illinois’s most prominent athletes of the George Huff coaching era, died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at the age of 70.


The stocky and powerfully built athlete of the early 1900s was a native of Pontiac, Illinois. Carrithers played halfback for the football team, threw the shot put for Harry Gill’s exceptional track and field squad, and patrolled the outfield for Huff’s baseball team. He served as captain in each sport and three of the five Illini units on which he lettered won Big Ten championships.


Carrithers also was very active on campus, serving as vice president of the YMCA and carrying memberships in both the Phoenix Senior Society and the Philomathean Literary Society.


He would have signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox when he graduated from Illinois, but his devoutly Presbyterian parents discouraged him from doing so when they learned that Major League teams played on Sundays.


Carrithers’ first job was at Alma College in mid-Michigan as coach and athletic director, then he returned to the state of Illinois to coach football and basketball at Knox College for two seasons and for another year in the same roles at Lake Forest.


He made his biggest impact at Coe College, directing the basketball and baseball squads, and assisting with the football team. His term as Coe’s athletic director from 1915-24 covered an era when many of the Kohawk teams made national headlines.


Carrithers left athletics to build an extremely successful career in life insurance, remaining in Cedar Rapids for the balance of his life. When he wasn’t selling insurance, he officiated sports in the Big Ten, Big Six and Missouri Valley conferences.


Carrithers was a posthumous member of the Coe College Athletics Hall of Fame’s charter class in 1973. He and his wife, Winifred had three children.



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                                        Dan Hartleb

Dan Hartleb

Feb. 15, 2023


University of Illinois baseball coach Dan Hartleb celebrates his 57th birthday today. He soon will begin his 17th season as head coach and his 32nd year on the Fighting Illini coaching staff.


Hartleb ranks among the winningest coaches in school history, as he enters 2023 with a career record of 507-371-1 (.576). The D1Baseball.com Big Ten Coach of the Decade for the 2010s has won a pair of Big Ten titles (2011, 2015) and owns a conference record of 241-182 (.569).


The complete list of Illini head baseball coaches:


1892-94             E.K. Hall

1896-1919         George Huff

1920                   George “Potsy” Clark

1920-34             Carl Lundgren

1935-51             Wally Roettger

1952-78             Lee Eilbracht

1979-87             Tom Dedin

1988-90             Augie Garrido

1991-2005        Richard “Itch” Jones

2006-present   Dan Hartleb




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                                        John Blair

John Blair

Feb. 13, 2023


John Blair, who on this date in 1980 was named as the University of Illinois volleyball program’s head coach, had a distinguished career in that sport as a player.


A native of Tennessee and an outstanding athlete at Bearden High School in Knoxville, Blair became an all-star performer for the University of Tennessee’s club sport. He played in the World University Games in 1973 and was a member of the U.S. national training team the following two years.


Blair was Chris Accornero’s chief assistant at Illinois in 1979, then took over directorship of the Illini the following season. His 1980 team was an AIAW nationals qualifier. Though Blair’s teams were competitive, they had consecutive losing records of 22-32, 17-27 and 17-20 from 1980-82. When he was replaced by Mike Hebert prior to the ’83 season, Blair returned to UT and served as an assistant with the Lady Vols’ women’s program. UT captured the ’83 and ’84 Southeastern Conference championships.


The University of Mississippi hired Blair as its head coach in 1985 and he remained in that role for 16 years, compiling a 210-284 overall record. During that span, he coached six All-SEC players while 70 others made the SEC Academic Honor Roll.


Blair then became the head coach at Tennessee Tech in 2003 and guided the Eagles to a share of the Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2008. He was named OVC Coach of the Year that season. Blair retired from coaching following the 2012 campaign.


He now resides in Hermitage, Tenn. and is a mentor for the Alliance Volleyball Club in Nashville.


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                                        Michelle Bartsch-Hackley

Michelle Bartsch-Hackley

Feb. 10, 2023


Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, a 2020 inductee into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame, celebrates her birthday on Sunday (Feb. 12).


Bartsch-Hackley earned AVCA Third-Team All-America honors in 2010 and 2011 and Honorable Mention recognition in 2009. She also was selected to the Volleyball Magazine All-America First-Team in 2011.


Bartsch-Hackley was named First-Team All-Region and All-Big Ten in 2010 and 2011, was named the AVCA Mideast Region Freshman of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year and placed on the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2008, and was honorable-mention all-conference in 2009.


She helped lead Illinois to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen from 2008-10 and to the national championship match in 2011


Bartsch-Hackley has been a U.S. National Team member since 2016 and is currently playing professionally in Istanbul.


She started every match on the Gold Medal-winning U.S. Women's Volleyball team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was named Co-Best Outside Hitter of the Olympics.


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                                        Brian Randle

Brian Randle

Feb. 8, 2023


Celebrating his 38th birthday today is University of Illinois basketball alumnus Brian Randle.


A product of Notre Dame High School in Peoria, he finished fourth in 2003 Illinois Mr. Basketball balloting behind Proviso East’s Shannon Brown.


After seeing action in 32 games as a true freshman, Randle took a medical redshirt during Illinois’ historical 2004-05 season after breaking his hand just before the campaign began. He bounced back in 2005-06, becoming a member of the Big Ten All-Defensive team and ranking ninth among conference players with a field goal percentage of .519.


Groin surgery and plantar fasciitis limited his participation in 2006-07 to just 23 games, but Randle surged as a senior co-captain, averaging 9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and nearly two assists per contest.


He wrapped up his Illini career with 844 points, 547 rebounds, 135 assists, 85 steals and 55 blocked shots.


Leaving Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in agri-finance and a master's in sports management, Randle began his professional basketball career in Israel. He played several seasons overseas.


Randle now serves as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns.



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                                        Stu Levenick

Stu Levenick

Feb. 6, 2023


A walk-on who became one of the most unheralded offensive linemen of the 1970s celebrates his 70th birthday today.


Stu Levenick, who measured 6-feet-3, 247 pounds as a senior guard for Coach Bob Blackman in 1975, came to the University of Illinois from Washington, Ill. as a non-scholarship 180-pound quarterback. It’s a bit surprising that Levenick didn’t instead head north to Madison, Wis. to play for the University of Wisconsin. That’s where his grandfather played baseball and an uncle and cousin played for the Badgers. His younger brother, Tom, eventually became an Ohio State Buckeye.


"I wanted to play football, and I thought I'd go to Wisconsin, but my Dad worked for Caterpillar in Peoria and so I grew up in Illinois and naturally that's the direction I went when it was time to go to school," Levenick told an interviewer in 2018.


Blackman foresaw Levenick’s potential and offered him a scholarship. That’s when Stu jumped into UI’s starting line alongside Revie Sorie and Joe Hatfield, blocking for a bevy of running backs that included Lonnie Perrin, Steve Greene and Chubby Phillips. Levenick was so respected by his teammates that they elected him to serve as Illinois’ offensive co-captain with defensive lineman Dean March.


Though the Illini weren’t particularly impressive during Levenick’s two letter-winning years in 1974 (6-4-1) and 1975 (5-6), they did post a cumulative record of 8-7-1 in Big Ten play. Four of UI’s seven losses those two seasons came at the hands of the conference’s “Big Two”, highly ranked Ohio State and Michigan.


Levenick was considered as a decent NFL prospect and was chosen in ninth round of the league’s 1976 draft by the Baltimore Colts. Instead, he chose to take advantage of his education. Levenick originally studied engineering, but when he suffered a knee injury at the beginning of the 1973 season, he chose to discover business-type electives, taking classes in investment banking and insurance. Upon graduation, he joined his father at Caterpillar. Levenick steadily rose through the ranks to a position of Group President. He retired from Caterpillar in 2015 after 37 years.


In 2017, UI’s College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences presented him with its Career Achievement Award. He presented a $5 million gift towards the construction of the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Performance Center in 2018.


"I was a product of a great institution, a great program and a lot of people helped me along the way and maybe in some small way I'm returning the favor here,” he said. 


Levenick and his wife, Nancy, are now part-time residents of Naples, Fla., where he continues to serve as an advisor for various corporate boards.


Illinois’ most decorated offensive linemen of the 1970s:


Larry McCarren, center (1st team All-Big Ten, 1972)

Revie Sorey, guard (1st team All-Big Ten, 1973)

Stu Levenick, tackle (2nd team All-Big Ten, 1975)

Jerry Finis, tackle (2nd team All-Big Ten, 1976)

Kevin Pancratz, guard (2nd team All-Big Ten, 1976 & 1977)

Gary Jurczyk, guard (2nd team All-Big Ten, 1977)


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                                        Derek Holcomb

Derek Holcomb

Feb. 3, 2023


The 1975-76 Illinois Coach Basketball Association All-State Team was an amazing collection of future collegiate stars. Lawrenceville’s Jay Shidler (who would sign with Kentucky) and East Leydan’s Glen Grunwald (Indiana) were two of the crown jewels of the class, but Eldorado’s Mike Duff (Evansville) and St. Laurence’s Steve Krafcisin (Iowa) also received ample acclaim.


Four all-staters—Morgan Park’s Levi Cobb, Mascoutah’s Steve Lanter, Oak Park Fenwick’s Neil Bresnahan and Zion-Benton’s Rob Judson—would eventually sign with Coach Lou Henson’s Fighting Illini. Illinois, however, initially missed out on a fifth prospect, Derek Holcomb. The 6-11 center from Peoria’s Richwoods High School envisioned himself as Kent Benson’s heir apparent, and signed with Coach Bob Knight’s reigning national champion Indiana Hoosiers.


“Indiana was coming off its undefeated season but had lost most of its players to graduation,” Holcomb said. “I saw a great school, a great record and playing time. It was a high bar that had high expectations.”


Holcomb would play in 22 of IU’s 27 games as a freshman, but underwent surgery during the summer of 1977 as doctors removed the sesamoid bones from both of his feet.


“The prognosis from the doctors wasn’t necessarily sunny because they never done that kind of surgery on an athlete before,” he said. “There was even some talk that I might not ever play again. I wanted to transfer and I was definitely sentimental over Illinois. And with (former Richwoods teammates) Mark Smith and Kevin Westervelt joining Illinois, there was a real gathering of the Knights.”


NCAA regulations forced Holcomb to set out the 1977-78 season, but he retained three years of eligibility. As a redshirt sophomore, he averaged 7.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and nearly three blocked shots per game, the latter an Illini record. His high-water mark for blocks came on December 8, 1978 when he swatted away 11 South Carolina shots, a mark that still stands today. As a team, Illinois won its first 15 games in 1978-79, but struggled through the second half of the season due to some crucial injuries.


Holcomb’s junior team (1979-80) made it to the National Invitational Tournament semifinals in New York, then his senior-year Illini (1980-81) earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Holcomb wound up his UI career with a school-record 174 blocks.


After graduating in 1981 from Illinois, “Dr.” Holcomb went on to earn Master’s and PhD degrees from Southern Illinois. He began his career at South Florida as a visiting professor, worked at Purdue for five years, and has been at Eastern Kentucky since 2000 where he teaches health classes.”


“Human behavior and health have always been interests of mine,” Holcomb said. “EKU has been a really good fit for me. While many universities have been shrinking in terms of a health program, we’ve added a master’s program and several pre-med classes. Our students will eventually work at public health departments, in health promotion at businesses and, with a Master’s of Public Health degree, they can become hospital administrators.”


Holcomb and his wife live near Richmond, Kentucky. He celebrates his 65th birthday today.


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                                        Joseph Sternaman

Joseph Sternaman

Feb. 1, 2023


Born 123 years ago today was Joseph Theodore Sternaman , a 1920s Fighting Illini football letter winner who eventually became the first-ever quarterback of the Chicago Bears.


He and his older brother, Edward—better known as “Dutch”—both played for Bob Zuppke at Illinois, then for George Halas with the Bears. Dutch Sternaman and Halas were hired to run the Decatur Staleys in 1920 and the franchise was moved to Chicago the following year. The Chicago Staleys finished first in the league and captured their first league championship. “Joey” Sternaman and his brother accumulated 73 of the 123 points the team scored.


In 1922, the team’s name was changed to the Bears to reflect baseball's Chicago Cubs, the team's host at Wrigley Field.


Extremely strong and powerful for a man who weighed just 135 pounds, Joey also was a runner and drop-kicker. In a story written about Sternaman in 1980 by Jeff Lyon of the Chicago Tribune, it is said he originated the bootleg play.


“The man he faked to the most was Red Grange, whose reputation as a broken-field runner at Illinois so preceded him that the other teams keyed on (Grange) like a swarm of bees. That left Sternaman with an open field.”


Joey played for and coached the Duluth (Minn.) Kelleys in 1923, then came back to the Bears the following season. In 1924, he led the NFL in scoring with 75 points. In 1926 he played for and was a part owner of a new team, the Chicago Bulls, in a new league, the American Football League. The league folded after one season and Joe again returned to the Bears.


After an eight-year career in professional football, he owned and operated the Sternaman Cast Iron Smoke Pipe Company, which made and installed pipe for incinerators and furnaces.


Sternaman died on March 10, 1988.


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                                        Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor

Jan. 30, 2023


Most likely, the name Roger Taylor won’t register with University of Illinois basketball fans as being among the best who’ve worn the orange and blue.


Born 86 years ago today—Jan. 30, 1937—Taylor captained the 1958-59 Fighting Illini, leading the team in scoring with 17.9 points per game. He averaged even more points in Big Ten play that season with 20.3 points per game, ranking 11th among conference players.


Coach Harry Combes recruited the six-foot guard from Park Forest’s Rich East High School to replace Bill Ridley and Paul Judson, immediately inserting Taylor into Illinois’ starting lineup. In each of Taylor’s first two seasons, he averaged 11.1 and 14.7 points per game against conference competition. The Associated Press and United Press International responded by according him honorable mention on the Big Ten all-star teams. He gained second-team All-Big Ten honors in ’58-59.


Taylor was the teammate of a multitude of Illini stars, including Don Ohl, Harv Schmidt, George BonSalle, Govoner Vaughn and Mannie Jackson, often setting them up with scoring opportunities.


During his three-year career, Taylor scored 20 points or more 11 times, topped by a 32-point effort against Michigan in 1959. In 63 career games, he tallied 866 points, averaging 13.7 points. Taylor was particularly adept as a free throw marksman, converting nearly 81 percent of his shots and 83 percent in Big Ten games.


The lifelong Chicagoland resident retired in 1997 following a long career with AT&T and passed away on Sept. 9, 2021 at the age of 84.



Top Illini Scorers in Big Ten Games (1950s decade)

25.9 ppg, John Kerr, 1953-54

22.9, George BonSalle, 1955-56

21.1, Don Ohl, 1957-58

20.3, Roger Taylor, 1958-59

18.8, Don Sunderlage, 1950-51

18.1, Paul Judson, 1954-55

17.8, Don Ohl, 1956-57

17.6, Wally Osterkorn, 1949-50

16.9, John Kerr, 1952-53

15.3, John Kerr, 1951-52


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                                        Johnny Karras

Johnny Karras

Jan. 27, 2023


 “An elusive, will-o-the-wisp who always was a threat anytime he had the ball.” That was the description of Fighting Illini running back Johnny Karras by his coach, Ray Eliot.


The famed “Argo Express” was born 95 years ago today. He died in 2008.


During his three letter-winning seasons from 1949 through 1951, Karras rushed for a University of Illinois record 2,077 yards, six more yards than his idol, Red Grange, but in 15 more attempts. His 826 yards as a sophomore in ’49 was his best single-season effort, including a Big Ten record 732 yards in conference games. He was the team MVP that season.


Though his production tailed off a bit during his last two seasons, Karras led the Illini to a spectacular 16-2-1 cumulative record over that span, including a nearly perfect 9-0-1 mark in 1951 when Illinois topped off its season by defeating Stanford in the Rose Bowl.


He played one season in the NFL with the Chicago Cardinals.


In 1990, Karras was selected by fans as a member of Illinois’ All-Century Team.


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                                        Stephen Bardo

Stephen Bardo

Jan. 25, 2023


Thirty-three years ago today - Jan. 25, 1990 - Stephen Bardo sank two free throws with 18 seconds left to lead the University of Illinois basketball team past Wisconsin, 66-63, at Madison.


Bardo was recruited by Lou Henson’s staff out of Carbondale where he earned all-state honors. He started all four years at point guard, averaging more than 26 minutes per game in 129 collegiate contests. Though Bardo only averaged 7.0 points, he also contributed 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists.


His prowess as a defender earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1990. He led the Fighting Illini to four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths and a Final Four appearance in 1989.


After graduating from Illinois, Bardo was drafted by Atlanta but never played for the Hawks. Instead, he played his rookie season in the CBA. One year later, he earned a roster spot with the Dallas Mavericks. He also played with the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs, and overseas in France, Italy, Japan, Spain and Venezuela.


He's now a basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and FS1, appearing in both studio shows and game broadcasts. 


His Illini statistics:

1986-87          31 games       3.8 ppg           3.0 rpg            2.7 apg

1987-88          33 games       6.5 ppg           4.2 rpg            3.8 apg

1988-89          36 games       8.1 ppg           4.0 rpg            4.1 apg

1989-90          29 games       9.7 ppg           6.1 rpg            4.7 apg

Career            129 games     7.0 ppg           4.3 rpg            3.8 apg


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                                        Kurt Kittner

Kurt Kittner

Jan. 23, 2023


Happy 43rd birthday today to former Fighting Illini quarterback Kurt Kittner. Last season, the Schaumburg native returned with his teammates to the University of Illinois campus to celebrate the 2001 Big Ten champions’ 20th anniversary. That team rebounded from a disappointing 5-6 record in 2000 to post a 10-2 record and No. 12 final national ranking.


Kittner’s senior season performance (2001), including a record 27 touchdown passes, is considered by historians to be one of the greatest of all time.


Career-wise, Kittner still ranks first in the Illini football record book for pass attempts (1,264), second in passing yardage (8,722) and third in completions (682).


The NCAA passing efficiency formula is somewhat complicated, with four different components considered: a) completion percentage times 100; b) yards per attempt times 8.4; c) touchdowns per attempt times 330; and d) interceptions per attempt times minus 200. The four components are then added. The career passing efficiency record is held by Boise State’s Ryan Dinwiddie who compiled a mark of 168.9 between 2000 and 2003. Tony Eason (1981-82) holds that distinction among all-time Illini quarterbacks at 133.8.



Career Passing Efficiency for Illini Quarterbacks

1.    133.8    Tony Eason (1981-82)

2.    130.4    Jack Trudeau (1981-85)

3.    130.2    Nathan Scheelhaase (2010-13)

4.    130.0    Jason Verduzco (1989-92)

5.    126.8    Jon Beutjer (2002-04)

6.    124.8    Kurt Kittner (1998-2001)

7.    122.8    Jeff George (1988-89)

8.    122.7    Brandon Peters (2019-21)

9.    122.1    Reilly O’Toole (2011-14)

10. 121.1    Juice Williams (2006-09)



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                                        Rob Mango

Rob Mango

Jan. 20, 2023


As a 14-year-old freshman at Tinley Park High School, future University of Illinois star Rob Mango was focused on two things: running and visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. Following weekend track meets, his parents would shuttle him to 111 South Michigan Avenue where he attended classes and devoured the paintings of Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso.


Mango credits his mother for creating his passion for literature and fine arts.


“Every morning my mother prodded me in the direction of literature and the American poets and authors who she was most familiar with,” he said.


Once Mango arrived at the University of Illinois on a partial track scholarship, the middle-distance ace trained with long-distance teammates Lee LaBadie, Mike Durkin and a young Craig Virgin. He endured extreme pain when, during the six-to-twelve-mile runs, they would ratchet up the pace.


“To survive the experience,” said Mango, “I would visualize my paintings, usually works in progress, but also new pictorial hallucinations as my mind would fill with fragments from my subconscious.


“My life was a composition of training and distance running and studying art and creating,” he continued. “I found out what oxygen debt meant; when you’re not breathing in enough air to supply to your muscles for the speed that you’re running. Something happens to your brain. You’re looking straight ahead and your mind is gushing forward ideas and images. You’re seeing them in your eye. I was seeing rectangles with pieces moving. Different forms of symmetry started entering my mind … bilateral, radial, rotational symmetry … really just the contents of the human psyche, which we all have. But I was able to excavate them and use them as a motif format to create paintings.”


Running long distances turned out to be a highly successful for Mango, as he would finish his career with two Big Ten individual championships (880-yard run in 1972 & ’73) and one conference relay title (one-mile relay in 1970).


At the NCAA meet in 1972, Mango anchored the two-mile team of Dave Kaemerer, Ron Phillips and LaBadie that captured first place. Individually, Mango also finished second in the 1973 NCAA 880-meter run.


He was a 1972 Olympic Trials finalist and won the 1973 Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in the classroom and in athletics.


Mango continued to study painting after graduating in 1973, first at the University of New Mexico, then back at Illinois where he received his Master of Fine Arts for sculpture.


Then, Mango said, New York began calling his name.


“It was the home of the beatnik poets and it was the city where the art world was and the people I admired. Painting became the essence of my being.”


Since November of 1977, Mango has operated his own gallery and studio in Tribeca on Lower Manhattan. For more than 40 years, he has been an internationally exhibited painter and sculptor. Mango’s work has been extensively collected in both the private and corporate spheres. He has participated in several solo exhibitions across the United States and Europe. Mango and his artwork have been featured in such publications as The New York Times, Art in America, and Art News. He’s also written a book entitled 100 Paintings: An Artist’s Life in New York City. 


Mango’s family includes his wife, Helena, and two children. Today, he celebrates his 72nd birthday.


To view his work, go to www.robertmango.com.


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                                        Ensign George Halas

George Halas

Jan. 18, 2023


On January 18, 1918, University of Illinois senior George Halas fulfilled his patriotic aspirations and enlisted for service in World War I at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station as a Carpenter’s Mate Second Class.


Unbeknownst to Halas, two other collegiate stars of that time—Notre Dame’s Charlie Bachman and Northwestern’s John “Paddy” Driscoll—also entered Officer Candidate School at the same time. They worked together and, three months later, were commissioned as ensigns. They all expected to be sent into battle against the German navy, but Halas was instead assigned to become Great Lakes’ recreation officer and a member of GL’s 1918 football team.


It was a talented squad, one that also featured Driscoll and Washington University’s Jimmy Conzelman, both future Pro Football Hall of Famers. Great Lakes rolled to six regular-season victories, including a 7-0 win over eventual Big Ten champion Illinois, and a pair of ties against Northwestern and Notre Dame.


Two week before its last game, the Great War ended in Europe. Great Lakes continued to play and its biggest game came on Jan. 1, 1919, when it was invited to play the Mare Island Marines in the Rose Bowl. GL went on to win, 17-0, and Halas was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. It would be his final football game as a player. Altogether, Halas spent 14 months of active duty and was discharged from Great Lakes in February.


Later that month, upon an invitation from the New York Yankees, he reported to spring training in Jacksonville, Fla. He won a spot on the Yankees’ roster and headed north for the 1919 baseball season. (NOTE: Despite Halas leaving the University with four months of classes remaining, the U of I remained true to its promise and presented him with his bachelor’s degree.)



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                                        Preston Pearson

Preston Pearson: By the Numbers

Jan. 16, 2023


Preston Pearson, former University of Illinois basketball star and the answer to several sports trivia questions, celebrates his 78th birthday on Jan. 17.


At 6-2, he was a prep all-state selection at Freeport High School, chosen to the same all-Illinois all-star team that featured Dan Issel from Batavia.


A three-sport star at Freeport, Illini basketball coach Harry Combes recruited him to Illinois. Pearson eventually became a part-time starter, sharing the court with such Illini as Jim Dawson, Don Freeman, Skip Thoren, Tal Brody, Rich Jones and Dave Scholz. His basketball career was mostly unspectacular, averaging five points and three rebounds through 62 games.


However, in the 1967 National Football League Draft, Coach Don Shula’s Baltimore Colts saw promise in the powerfully built Pearson and made him a late-round selection. With that break, Pearson’s career as a professional athlete took off. He began his career as a defensive back, but was eventually moved to running back where he excelled. Pearson played for Shula’s Colts from 1967-69, then Chuck Noll’s Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970-74, and finally for Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys from 1975-80.


He played in five Super Bowl games and is the only player to have done it with three different teams: the Colts of 1969, the Steelers of 1975 and the Cowboys of 1976, 1978 and 1979.


Upon his retirement from the game, Pearson established a sports marketing company called Pro-Style Associates.


His career, by the numbers:

3         - Super Bowl III was won by the New York Jets over the Preston’s Colts, 16-7.


9         - Pearson’s Steelers won Super Bowl IX over the Minnesota Vikings, 16-6.


10       - Preston’s Cowboys dropped a 21-17 decision to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl X.


12       - Super Bowl XII was won by Pearson’s Cowboys over the Denver Broncos, 27-10.


13       - The jersey number Pearson wore for the Freeport Pretzels.


26       - Number of passes he caught for the Cowboys in 1979, 23 of which either resulted in a touchdown or a first down.


33       - Number of NFL touchdowns he scored during his career.


2,801    - NFL career kickoff return yardage.


3,095    - NFL career receiving yardage.


3609     - NFL career rushing yardage.


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                                        Sergio McClain

This Day in Illini History

Jan. 13, 2023



Twenty-two years ago today, Illinois basketball’s Sergio McClain tallied a triple-double in the Fighting Illini’s 80-51 victory over Michigan. McClain scored 10 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 11 assists, joining Mark Smith as the only Illini player in history to register double-figures in three different statistical categories. No. 7 Illinois also got 17 points and Brian Cook and 15 points from Cory Bradford. Other memorable moments on this date in Illini history:


Jan. 13, 1923: Nine of Wally Roettger’s 15 points came via free throws and captain Swede Hellstrom added 10 points as Illinois defeated visiting Indiana, 31-22.


Jan. 13, 1930: Illinois held Michigan to just four field goals en route to a 24-18 basketball victory at Ann Arbor.


Jan. 13, 1944: Longtime Illinois sports information director L.M. “Mike” Tobin died at the age of 64.


Jan. 13, 1968: Dave Scholz capped a spectacular 26-point performance by drilling a 20-foot jumper with just five seconds left as Illinois topped host Minnesota, 61-60.


Jan. 13, 1973: Jed Foster sank two free throws with just 11 seconds left to help Illinois defeat Iowa, 80-78.


Jan. 13, 1979: Ohio State handed Illinois’ men’s basketball team its first loss in 16 games, 69-66 in overtime, denying the Illini of a probable No. 1 ranking. Just two days earlier, Illinois beat top-ranked Michigan State at the Assembly Hall.


Jan. 13, 1981: NCAA members vote to begin holding women’s championship meets.


Jan. 13, 2001: Three Illini women’s track standouts broke school records in a meet at UI’s Armory. Perdita Felicien set a new mark in the 60-meter hurdles, Angela Hilgers broke Illinois’ pole vault record, and Adeoti Oshinowo broke the school record in the 20-pound weight throw.


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                                        John Wright, Sr.

John Wright, Sr.

Jan. 11, 2023


Celebrating his 77th birthday today is former Fighting Illini football and track and field standout John Wright.


On the gridiron, the graduate of Wheaton High School played three seasons for Coach Pete Elliott (1964-66) and one year for Coach Jim Valek (1967). Entering his senior campaign, Wright already had broken Rex Smith and Rocky Ryan’s respective Illini career records for receptions and receiving yardage, and also owned UI’s single-season and single-game marks. As a senior, Illinois’ ’67 MVP had 52 of his team’s 93 receptions and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.


When Wright graduated in 1968, his 159 career grabs and 2,284 yards far exceeded everyone else’s totals. John’s excellence extended to the classroom, too, and he was a First-Team Academic All-American.


On the cinder track at Memorial Stadium, he was an excellent hurdler for his father and coach, Bob Wright.


On Jan. 30, 1968, John was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons chose him with the 53rd overall selection. Incidentally, the 52nd pick was future Hall of Fame quarterback Kenny Stabler while future Hall of Famers Charlie Sanders (74th), Elvin Beathea (77th) and Art Shell (80th) were selected after Wright in the ’68 draft. He was traded to the Detroit Lions in his rookie season and became a starter for the Lions the following year, sharing passes from Bill Munson and Greg Landry with Sanders and Earl McCullough. Wright sustained a career-ending Achilles tendon injury in his third season.


Today, he is CEO and former managing partner of the Wright Financial Group, a member of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Wright also is a performance coach for numerous professional athletes. Additionally, he’s a popular speaker by both corporate leaders and was voted the top speaker at the NFL National Rookie Symposium six times. His estate in St. Joseph has become a renowned training center for a variety of Fortune 500 CEOs, professional athletes and others. John and his wife of more than 45 years, Deanna, have two children, Johnny and Ashley. They also have eight grandchildren.


John and Johnny are the only father-son duo in NCAA football history to have earned First-Team Academic All-America laurels.


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                                         Howard Braun

Howard Braun

Jan. 9, 2023


Howard Braun’s legacy as a student-athlete and coach at the University of Illinois is a complicated one. He was loyal to the Fighting Illini athletic program his entire life yet was implicated as one of the central figures in an episode that remains as an enduring stain on University of Illinois history.


Braun was an outstanding athlete at Belleville Township High School, excelling and lettering in each of the five sports in which he participated. He was the leading scorer in the 1931 Southwestern Illinois Basketball Conference and an undefeated singles player as a senior on the tennis court. Braun also starred as a halfback on the Belleville football team, averaged .300 as a shortstop for the baseball squad, and competed as a miler for the track and field team.


Illini coach Craig Ruby recruited Braun to play basketball for Illinois and he lettered from 1934 through ’36. He also played tennis at Illinois but did not letter.


After coaching at Fairfield High School for one year, Braun returned to the University of Illinois in 1937 as head tennis coach and assistant basketball coach. He served in those capacities until 1942 when he was commissioned as a lieutenant for the U.S. Navy. After the conclusion of World War II, Braun returned to the Illini athletic staff and reassumed his previous duties.


As the director of Illinois’ tennis program, Braun’s Illini teams won 68 percent of their dual meet matches and placed among the Big Ten’s top five teams in 19 of Braun’s 24 conference tournaments. His 1946 club was undefeated and captured the league title.


Braun was more visible as Illini basketball’s chief assistant coach. He is credited with being the primary recruiter of 16 men whose individual banners now hang in the rafters of the State Farm Center. That group of Braun recruits includes Don Freeman, Jim Dawson, Skip Thoren, Dave Downey, Mannie Jackson, Govoner Vaughn, John Kerr, Don Sunderlage, Dike Eddleman, Gene Vance and Andy Phillip. During Braun’s active tenure as an assistant, Illini basketball won six Big Ten titles. Yet another championship was captured by Illinois in 1943 while Braun was serving as a Naval officer.


In December of 1966, University of Illinois President David Dodds revealed to Big Ten Commissioner William Reed that he had discovered the existence of a “slush fund” (totaling about $21,000) which was being used to support the football and basketball programs as well as the athletic director. On Feb. 19, 1967, Big Ten athletic directors unanimously voted to declare five Illini football and basketball players permanently ineligible and two others to be banned from competition for one or two years. Furthermore, they agreed that Illinois should immediately fire head football coach Pete Elliott, head basketball coach Harry Combes and Braun.


On March 20, 1967, Elliott, Combes and Braun all reluctantly resigned, exclaiming in a statement, “We emphatically believe that the final decision in this matter must be made by the conference rather than the university and consider the (Big Ten’s) announcement as that final decision.”


After he left the University, Braun eventually became public relations director of Champaign Commercial Bank and president of Worden Martin Leasing.


He died at the age of 83 on Jan. 9, 1996, 27 years ago today.


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                                         John Depler

John Depler

Jan. 6, 2023


Athlete … coach … team owner … restaurateur … hotel operator … journalist. Former University of Illinois football great John “Jack” Depler was all of these during his life that began 124 years ago today—January 6, 1899.


A consensus All-American for Coach Bob Zuppke’s Big Ten champions in 1918, Depler centered an Illinois line that also featured an all-star cast of Burt Ingwersen, Albert Mohr and Clarence Applegran. The following season, the Illini went 6-1 en route to the school’s fourth conference crown and second national championship.


Depler’s senior campaign in 1920 saw him named team captain. The three Illini teams on which the Lewistown (Illinois) native played accumulated 16 victories and only five losses.


After graduating from Illinois in 1921, Depler played one season for the Hammond Pros in the National Football League, then became an assistant football coach at Columbia University in New York City. One of Depler’s most famous pupils during his eight seasons with the Lions was Lou Gehrig, a strapping running back who made an even bigger name as a baseball player for the Yankees.


In 1929, Depler rejoined the NFL as a player-coach with the Orange Tornadoes, a club based in Orange, New Jersey. The following season, with the help of Bill Dwyer, an early Prohibition gangster and bootlegger, Depler bought the Dayton Triangles and relocated the team to Brooklyn, New York, taking most of the Tornadoes players with him. Depler’s new Brooklyn Dodgers had success in that first season, 1930, going 7-4-1. However, the Dodgers struggled mightily in 1931 and Depler stepped down as head coach.


Depler transitioned his career into the operation of restaurants and hotels, operating in Oakland, California, and then Chicago. He and his wife, Celeste, settled in Paxton in 1955, owning the Middlecoff Inn. In their latter years, the Deplers moved back to Lewistown. In retirement, he authored a newspaper column for the for the Fulton County News and was presented with the Illinois State Historical Society’s “Individual Award for Regional History Writing.”

 

When Depler died in 1970 at the age of 71, his body was donated to the University of Illinois College of Medicine for medical research.


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                                         Mike White

Mike White

Jan. 4, 2023


Celebrating his 87th birthday today is former Fighting Illini football coach Mike White. Illinois fans remember him as the man who led the Orange & Blue to the 1984 Rose Bowl, but here are some other facts that you might not know about Coach White:

 

·      Mike White’s middle name is Kavanaugh.

·      He was born in Berkeley, Calif., the same city that’s home to the university he eventually attended (University of California).

·      As a letter-winning wide receiver for the Cal Bears from 1955-57, he played with future NFL quarterback Joe Kapp.

·      In addition to football, White also lettered on the track as a high hurdler and high jumper, and lettered in rugby.

·      He earned a pair of junior varsity letters at Cal for Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell in basketball.

·      White was offered both the Stanford and Cal head coaching positions in 1972, choosing to coach at his alma mater.

·      As California’s head coach from 1972-77, his players included College Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Bartkowski and fellow Cal Hall of Famers Ted Albrecht, Jim Breech, Wesley Walker and Chuck Muncie.

·      White appeared frequently in a 2014 documentary about former Cal star Joe Roth, the Bears’ quarterback he coached who died at age 21 of melanoma. Roth’s number 12 is the only retired jersey in Cal history.

·      White now lives on Balboa Island, Newport Beach, Calif.



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                                         Bob Richards

Bob Richards & The Sullivan Award

Jan. 2, 2023


Seventy-one years ago today—Jan. 2, 1952—former University of Illinois track and field star Bob Richards became the first—and heretofore only—Fighting Illini athlete to win the James E. Sullivan Memorial Award as America’s amateur athlete of the year.


A 1944 graduate of Champaign High School and a two-time Illini letter winner (1946 and ’47), the then 25-year-old Richards easily outdistanced tennis standout Maureen Connolly, 1,283 points to 903. Richards had 174 of the 487 first-place votes, while Connelly had 115.


Earlier in 1951, Richards had become the second pole vaulter in history to clear 15 feet and won the national decathlon championship. The best vault of his career at that point was 15-feet-4 ¾-inches, less than four inches beneath Cornelius Warmerdam’s world record. Richards’ best effort in the 10-event decathlon was 7,834 points, exceeded only by Bob Mathias’s 8,042 points mark (in 1948) and Glen Morris’s 7,254 points (1936) in Olympic competition.


At the time he won the Sullivan Award, Richards was an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and an instructor in religious philosophy at California’s La Verne College. A member of Richards’ congregation at that time was future tennis star Billie Jean King.


Richards’ training regimen was unlike other athletes.


In a 1952 Associated Press article, Richards told a writer, “I have to train much of the time at night. I usually teach in the morning, have business affairs to care for in the afternoon, preach at night, and then comes my training.”


Richards would go on to win Olympic gold medals as a vaulter, capturing first place in both 1952 at Helsinki, Finland and 1956 at Melbourne, Australia. He earned a bronze medal in 1948 at the London Games. He is the only vaulter to win more than two Olympic medals.


The longtime spokesman for Wheaties cereal will celebrate his 97th birthday on Feb. 20 at his ranch near Gordon, Tex.



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                                         Arrelious Benn in 2008 Rose Bowl

Rose-Petalled Touchdowns

Dec. 30, 2022


Seventeen University of Illinois players have scored a touchdown in the Rose Bowl game. Who's the only Fighting Illini to score more than one TD? That would be Buddy Young.


  1. Julius Rykovich (one-yard TD, run, 1947)
  2. Buddy Young (two-yard TD, run, 1947)
  3. Paul Patterson (four-yard TD, run, 1947)
  4. Perry Moss (one-yard TD, run, 1947)
  5. Buddy Young (one-yard TD, run, 1947)
  6. Ruck Steger (68-yard TD, interception return, 1947)
  7. Stan Green (81-yard TD, interception return, 1947)
  8. Pete Bachourus (six-yard TD, run, 1952)
  9. Bill Tate (five-yard TD, run, 1952)
  10. John Karras (seven-yard TD, run, 1952)
  11. Bill Tate (eight-yard TD, run, 1952)
  12. Don Stevens (seven-yard TD, run, 1952)
  13. John Ryan (six-yard TD, pass from Don Engels, 1952)
  14. Jim Warren (two-yard TD, run, 1964)
  15. Jim Grabowski (one-yard TD, run, 1964)
  16. Thomas Rooks (five-yard TD, pass from Jack Trudeau, 1984)

 17. Rashard Mendenhall (79-yard run, 2008)

 18. Arrelious Benn (56-yard TD, pass from Eddie McGee, 2008)


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                                         Darrick Brownlow

Darrick Brownlow

Dec. 28, 2022


Happy 54th Birthday to former Fighting Illini football star Darrick Brownlow.


The linebacker from Indianapolis was a high school teammate of Moe Gardner at Cathedral High School.


Following his freshman season at Illinois in 1987, Brownlow’s teammates voted him captain of UI’s special teams. He enjoyed a sensational sophomore campaign, leading the Big Ten in tackles with 155 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the first of three times. As a junior, Brownlow was a Butkus Award semifinalist and ranked third among conference tacklers with 127. His senior effort was so extraordinary that he finished a very close second in Butkus balloting to Colorado’s Alfred Williams. Both men earned six first-place votes, but Williams edged Brownlow in total votes, 31-28.


Brownlow finished his career with 483 tackles, second only to John Sullivan (501, 1974-78).


He was selected in the fifth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. His blocked punt helped the Cowboys upset the Chicago Bears in a NFL Wild Card Playoff victory. Brownlow spent the 1992 and ’93 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He resigned with Dallas in 1994 and led the Cowboys in special team tackles with 27. His final NFL season was in 1995 with the Washington Redskins.


Upon retiring from the NFL, he earned an MBA degree from Indiana Wesleyan in 2001.


For the past several years, Brownlow has been a coach at Indianapolis Cathedral High School. His wife, Eleanor, is a circuit court judge. They have three children.


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                                         Fred Smith

Fred Smith

Dec. 26, 2022


Christened with one of the world’s most common names, today’s University of Illinois football fans are excused for not recognizing the name of Frederick Smith. He was hand-picked by George Huff to become the Fighting Illini’s sixth head football coach, but only stayed in Champaign-Urbana for one season before becoming head football and baseball coach at Fordham.


Smith’s 1900 roster included several athletes who would become Illinois legends, including future Illini coach Arthur Hall, future UI Hall of Famers Jake Stahl and Carl Lundgren, and longtime assistant coach Justin Lindgren. Compiling a 7-3-2 overall record, Smith’s squad posted seven consecutive shutouts to begin the campaign. An eighth shutout followed a few weeks later when Illinois battled Indiana to a 0-0 tie in Indianapolis.


A native of New York City, Smith was an exceptional athlete at Princeton University. The 1897 Princeton graduate earned scattered All-America honors for his play as a quarterback for the football team and all-star accolades as a second baseman and catcher for the Tigers’ baseball squad. Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Caps (later known as the Braves) offered him a contract to play, but for unknown reasons he declined to sign.


Following his single year at Illinois, Smith was hired by Fordham University in his hometown to become the Rams head football and baseball coach. In his four seasons with the football team, Fordham had a cumulative record of 17-6-3, while in five seasons as the baseball coach the Rams had a mark of 213-66. One of his Fordham players, Ed Walsh, pitched for the Chicago White Sox for 15 seasons, twice leading the American League in strikeouts. Walsh was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.


While he was coaching, Smith concurrently served as an engineer for New York City. He died in February of 1923, shortly after his 50th birthday, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.


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                                         James Augustine (left) and Jerrance Howard got Braggin' Rights in 2003

This Date in Illini History

Dec. 23, 2022


On a day that began with the gloomy announcement that the University of Illinois had suspended a dozen football and basketball players, Coach Harry Combes’ Fighting Illini cagers stepped up with a 97-87 overtime victory over California at Chicago Stadium. That morning, 54 years ago today, Big Ten Commissioner Bill Reed confirmed that illegal funds within the UI athletic department did exist. The University followed up by releasing Rich Jones, Ron Dunlap and Steve Kuberski from the basketball team. Later that day, Jim Dawson (24 points), Deon Flessner (23) and Dave Scholz (22) combined for 69 points. Other memorable moments on this date in Illini history:


• Dec. 23, 1941: Sophomores Andy Phillip and Ken Menke each scored 15 points as Illinois’ basketball team defeated Notre Dame, 48-29, at Huff Gym.


• Dec. 23, 1947: Dike Eddleman hit nine of 20 field goal attempts and scored 20 of Illinois’ 59 points in a 17-point victory over Washington State.


• Dec. 23, 1955: Illinois jumped off to a 21-1 lead and cruised to an 82-58 victory over Oklahoma at Huff.


• Dec. 23, 1969: Howard Green, the co-writer of “Hail to the Orange, died.


• Dec. 23, 1974: Julius Rykovich, the first Illini player to ever score a touchdown in the Rose Bowl (1947), died.


• Dec. 23, 1978: Illinois’ Neil Bresnahan, who scored only 10 points in two games but collected 28 rebounds, was named MVP of the Kentucky Invitational. 


• Dec. 23, 1988: John Mackovic was named Illinois’ director of athletics, replacing Neale Stoner.


• Dec. 23, 2003: No. 21 Illinois beat No. 11 Missouri, 71-70, in Bruce Weber’s first game as coach in the Braggin’ Rights Classic.


• Dec. 23, 2017: For the fifth consecutive year, Illini basketball topped Mizzou. Trent Frazier had a career-best 22 points.


• Dec. 23, 2020: Ayo Dosunmu scored 21 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to lead No. 18 Illinois past host Penn State.


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                                         Matt Heldman

Matt Heldman

Dec. 21, 2022


Twenty-six years ago today - Dec. 21, 1996 -  Illinois’ Matt Heldman had a career-high five three-pointers and a game-high 19 points as he led the Fighting Illini past No. 24 UCLA at Chicago’s United Center.


Heldman was a four-year letter winner at Illinois from 1995-98 and started all 33 games in 1998 when the Illini won a share of the Big Ten Championship. As a senior, he averaged nearly a school-record 36.5 minutes per game. Heldman also contributed 11 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals per game in his final season.


He lit up the scoreboard at Libertyville High School when he was a basketball star in the early 1990s.


Heldman was known for his incredible hustle and his legend lives today in Illinois’ basketball program in the form of the “Matto” Award. The award is given to the Illini player who accumulates the most "Matto" points (charges taken, steals, deflections, etc.) during the season.


Heldman graduated in 1998 from the University of Illinois with a degree in business and played professionally in Finland.


On October 11, 1999, at the age of 23, he and his father Otis were killed in a two-car, head-on collision in their hometown of Libertyville.



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                                         Rayvonte Rice's 2014 dagger

Braggin' Rights Trivia

Dec. 19, 2022


Historically, 1920s and ‘30s Illini coach Craig Ruby is most likely the key individual figure who should be credited with the beginning of the Illinois-Missouri basketball series. Ruby, a 1920 Mizzou grad and a two-time Tiger All-American, coached his alma mater from 1920-22, then took over as Illini coach the following year and continued in that role through UI’s 1935-36 season.


Prior to the schools playing against each other for the very first time on Dec. 21, 1932 in Columbia—a 36-24 Illinois victory—Ruby was honored at a dinner by his former teammates.


Ruby resigned from Illinois after the 1936 season to become personnel manager for Hallmark Cards Inc., working at the Kansas City based company for 10 years, then operating gift shops in that area until his retirement. He died in September of 1980 at the age of 84.


Here are some other things you may have never know about the Illini-Mizzou series:


• In games played in the Gateway City against Missouri, Illinois has 25 and 14 losses. In the Illini’s victories, its average winning margin is 9.6 points. Missouri’s wins have been by an average margin of 8.9 points.


• The very first Illini-Tiger game played in St. Louis took place at the St. Arena, then known as the Checkerdome. New Illini athletic director Neale Stoner and his counterpart at Mizzou, Dave Hart, agreed to try a neutral site game on a trial basis for two years. Tickets sold for $8.50 apiece. The schools did not play in 1982, but renewed the series the following year.


• The only game that wasn’t played in St. Louis, Champaign or Columbia came in 1946 when the contest was competed in Kansas City. Mizzou surprised a highly regarded Illini “Whiz Kids” squad, 55-50, besting a lineup that included Andy Phillip, Ken Menke, Gene Vance and Dike Eddleman.


• Coaches Lou Henson and Norm Stewart agreed to renew a 21-year dormant series in 1976 when Illinois traveled to the Hearnes Center in Columbia for the four-team Show-Me Classic. Mizzou won the game, 76-75.


• The Dec. 19, 1988 game at The Arena is generally regarded to be the most compelling in the rivalry. In that one, fifth-ranked Illinois, battling back from an 18-point first-half deficit, rallied to edge 10th-ranked Missouri, 87-84. Kenny Battle’s 28 points, including what proved to a pair of game-winning free throw with 26 seconds left.


• Five of the 51 Illinois-Missouri games have gone to overtime. Mizzou won the first three extra-session contests, while the Illini have won each of the last two. In 1995, a Missouri state-record 21,901 fans saw Kiwane Garris atone for his most embarrassing game two years earlier (1993) when he missed two free throws at the end of the second of a three-time overtime game. In ‘95, Garris sank 15 of his 16 free throws to end with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The other Illini overtime victory against Missouri came in 2000, halting the Tigers’ three-game winning streak in the series. Including his jumper with 38 seconds left that sent the game to OT, sophomore Frank Williams fueled the Illini down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 18 points in the last 1:17 of regulation plus the extra five-minute period.


• In 2005, the 25th anniversary of the Braggin’ Rights battles, fans participated in a poll to choose the greatest performers in the series. Chosen No. 5 among Illinois’ best players in the series was Brian Cook, an individual who won three of the four games in which he participated. No. 4 was Kenny Battle who saw his team win both of his Braggin’ Rights games. Frank Williams was ranked No. 3 in the fans’ balloting. He scored 51 points in his three games against Missouri, including 22 in the 2001 contest. Kendall Gill was voted as Illinois’ second-best player in these magical December matchups, winning all four of his Braggin’ Rights games. The top vote getter among Illini players was Dee Brown. Like Gill, he never lost a game against Mizzou.


• While there have been eight games in the series that have been decided by a single point, one of the most memorable buzzer beaters came in 2014. After Mizzou tied the game with 17.8 seconds remaining, Illinois put the ball in the hands of Rayvonte Rice. The Champaign native dribbled for several seconds before stepping up at the key and drilling a fade-away shot over defenders at the horn. Rice watched the shot fall before getting mobbed by teammates.


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                                         Cory Bradford

That's a Three ... Cory Bradford!

Dec. 16, 2022


Twenty-two years ago today, fifth-ranked Illinois defeated seventh-ranked Arizona, 81-73, in a battle royale at Chicago’s United Center. Five near skirmishes between the Illini and the Wildcats resulted in 53 total fouls. A crowd of 19,533 saw Cory Bradford break the NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-pointer. His trey late in the first half was his 74th in 74 career games, breaking Wally Lancaster’s 14-year-old record. Bradford would go on to sink three-point field goals in 14 more games, setting a record that still stands today.


A review of his “trey-mendous” streak:


*First game with a “three”: Nov. 11, 1998 vs. Wake Forest

*Last game with a “three”: Feb. 10, 2001 vs. Purdue

*Game in which his streak ended: Feb. 13, 2001 vs. Wisconsin

*When his first “three” came in overtime: Dec. 9, 2000 vs. Seton Hall

*Game in which the NCAA record was tied: Dec. 9, 2000 vs. Seton Hall

*Game in which the NCAA record was broken: Dec. 16, 2000 vs. Arizona


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                                         Mike White

Mike White's Illini Coaching Career

Dec. 14, 2022


Forty-three years ago today, Mike White was named head football coach at the University of Illinois.


White’s wide-open passing style was just what the Fighting Illini needed at the time. His teams rewrote the Illinois record books in nearly every passing department.


White’s best squad was the 1983 Illini, a team that is the only one in Big Ten history to have defeated all nine conference opponents in the same season.


White’s eight-year record vs. Big Ten and non-conference foes:


Team                          W       L         T

Vs. Indiana                 6         2         0

Vs. Iowa                      4         3         0

Vs. Michigan              1         6         1

Vs. Michigan State    6         1         1

Vs. Minnesota           5         1         0

Vs. Northwestern     6         2         0

Vs. Ohio State           2         6         0

Vs. Purdue                 4         4         0

Vs. Wisconsin            6         1         0

Vs. Non-Conference  7      12        1

Vs. Bowl opponents  0        3       0

TOTAL                       47       41       3



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                                         Alfonso Plummer

Top Free Throw Shooters

Dec. 12, 2022


Though he played only one season with the Orange and Blue, Alfonso Plummer departed the University of Illinois atop one of Illini basketball's single-season shooting lists: free throw percentage.


Last year, the guard from Fajardo, Puerto Rico successfully sank a record 87.4 percent of his shots from the charity stripe.


Single-Season Free Throw Percentage Leaders:

.874       Alfonso Plummer, 2022

.873       Brian Cook, 2002

.865       Govoner Vaughn, 1960

.864       Bill Small, 1962

.862       Kipper Nichols, 2018

.862       Kiwane Garris, 1996

.860       Matt Heldman, 1998

.844       T.J. Wheeler, 1992

.840       Roger Taylor, 1958

.839       Mike Tisdale, 2010

.833       Kiwane Garris, 1997

.833       Andy Kaufmann, 1991

.833       Craig Tucker, 1982



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                                         Kevin Hardy and Dick Butkus

This Date in Illini History

Dec. 9, 2022


Twenty-two years ago today, Illinois’ ninth-ranked men’s basketball team fought back from a 21-point deficit to beat No. 10 Seton Hall in overtime, 87-79. Marcus Griffin tied his career high with 24 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds, while Frank Williams had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists.


Other highlights on this date in Fighting Illini athletics history:


Dec. 9, 1925: Red Grange, in Boston for another in the long line of professional exhibition games, showed his displeasure after someone suggested that he had already made a fortune. Said Grange, “A fortune? I haven’t seen a dollar of real money yet! Would you call if fun going all over the country, no sleep, playing every day? People asking you a lot of fool questions? I never realized what an awful job pro football is. I’m sick of it already, I tell you!”


Dec. 9, 1966: Illinois and Illinois-Chicago Circle met each other in gymnastics, the first athletic event ever played between the sister institutions.


Dec. 9, 1967: Elvin Hayes scored 25 points to lead highly ranked Houston past Illinois, 83-51, in Coach Harv Schmidt’s Assembly Hall debut.


Dec. 9, 1994: Dana Howard won the Butkus Award as college football’s best linebacker.


Dec. 9, 1995: Kevin Hardy made its two Butkus Awards in a row for Illinois by winning the honor in Orlando, Florida.

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                                          2004-05 Illini Basketball Team

Illinois' Best in Big Ten Home Games

Dec. 7, 2022


On Saturday, the home portion of the Big Ten men’s basketball season opens for the Fighting Illini against Penn State. History tells us that when Illinois takes care of business at home, their season-ending results rise dramatically. To be sure, road victories are important, but limiting losses in Champaign ensures the Illini of a much higher finish in the Conference race.


Since the Whiz Kids teams of the early 1940s, a total of fourteen Illini basketball teams have triumphed over every one of their league foes in Champaign. In fact, eleven of those fourteen squads went on to either tie for or win outright Big Ten crowns.


The last Illini unit to post a perfect record at home in Big Ten play was the 2004-05 team with Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Roger Powell Jr., Luther Head and James Augustine. That squad posted a perfect 9-0 record in Conference games played on their own home court.


The remaining three undefeated Illini teams in home Conference games all placed second.


Over the last 80 seasons, seventeen other Illini teams lost just one Conference home game in their respective seasons. Of the seventeen one-loss homecourt squads, three of them—1997-98 (7-1), 2001-02 (7-1) and 2003-04 (7-1)—either tied for or won outright Big Ten titles. The other Illini one-loss teams finished in second place three times, third place six times, fourth place four times, and one wound up fifth in the final league standings.


Illinois’s fourteen undefeated teams in Conference home games, where they ultimately finished, and who coached them (since 1941-42):


1941-42 (8-0), first place (Doug Mills)

1942-43 (6-0), first place (Mills)

1948-49 (6-0), first place (Harry Combes)

1950-51 (7-0), first place (Combes)

1951-52 (7-0), first place (Combes)

1955-56 (7-0), second place (Combes)

1962-63 (7-0), first place (Combes)

1968-69 (7-0), second place (Harv Schmidt)

1983-84 (9-0), first place (Lou Henson)

1984-85 (9-0), first place (Henson)

1988-89 (9-0), first place (Henson)

2000-01 (8-0), first place (Bill Self)

2002-03 (8-0), second place (Self)

2004-05 (8-0), first place (Bruce Weber)



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                                           George BonSalle

This Date in Illini History

Dec. 5, 2022


Memorable events on this date in Illini history:


Dec. 5, 1956: George BonSalle (pictured)  scored 28 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, and teammates Harv Schmidt and Don Ohl combined for 41 more points as Illinois topped Butler in the season opener at Huff Hall, 98-81.


Dec. 5, 1981: The Illini basketball team avenged the loss that knocked it out of the previous season’s NCAA Tournament by defeating visiting Kansas State, 55-49. Playing all 40 minutes, UI’s Craig Tucker scored eight of UI’s 21 points in the second half.


Dec. 5, 1983: At Illini football’s annual postseason banquet, defensive lineman Don Thorp was named his team’s Most Valuable Player.


Dec. 5, 1987: Illinois topped Mississippi Valley State, 111-73, scoring its most points in two years. Five Illini starters scored in double figures, accounting for 75 percent of their team’s points.


Dec. 5, 1990: The Associated Press named linebacker Darrick Brownlow and nose tackle Moe Gardner to its second-team All-America squad.


Dec. 5, 1998: At Chicago’s United Center, Cleotis Brown’s 16 points guided Illinois past Bradley, 53-48. Former Kansas State teammates Lon Kruger and Jim Molinari coached against each other.


Dec. 5, 2005: Freshman Jamar Smith hit six three-pointers and had a career-best 23 points to lift No. 11 Illinois past Arkansas-Little Rock.


Dec. 5, 2009: In the final game of a 3-9 season, Illinois lost to Fresno State, 53-52, when a Bulldog offensive lineman caught a deflected two-point conversion in the final seconds. Quarterback Juice Williams finished his career with a record 10,594 total yards.


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                                           Ron Dunlap

Ron Dunlap

Dec. 2, 2022


Today (Dec. 2) would have been Illini basketball alum Ron Dunlap's 76th birthday.


Though he never realized his basketball potential with the Fighting Illini, Ron Dunlap wisely used his education to learn a lesson from what is considered to be one of the darkest periods in University of Illinois history.


The 6-foot-8-inch junior center from Chicago’s Farragut High School appeared to be blossoming into an outstanding player in December of 1967. After five games, Coach Harry Combes’ Illini had compiled a 4-1 record, including a 98-97 overtime victory over powerful Kentucky in Lexington. Dunlap was averaging 15 points and 12 rebounds per game, but his dream season almost instantly turned into a nightmare. What would infamously become known as the "slush fund scandal” exposed that seven Illini athletes, including Dunlap, had been provided with small monthly stipends to assist them in school. At the time, the just-turned-21-year-old Dunlap was married and was the father of a daughter at the time.


Dunlap later told The News-Gazette’s Loren Tate that "It hadn't really occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. When you're young, you respect your elders."


Ultimately, a trio of Illini coaches—Combes, assistant basketball coach Howie Braun and head football coach Pete Elliott—resigned under pressure, and the athletes lost their remaining eligibility to play in the Big Ten.


Several college coaches called upon Dunlap, but he decided to instead continue his scholarship and ready himself for his future. He graduated in 1968 from the U of I with a teaching degree.


Dunlap was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 1968 NBA Draft. He also played briefly for the Phoenix Suns and the New York Nets, the later in the ABA with the Rockford Royals and with Israel in the European Leagues.


Following his brief basketball career, Dunlap spent several years teaching in his native Chicago. To supplement his family’s income, he began a long career as an umpire in Chicago’s famed 16-inch softball leagues, eventually being inducted into that association’s Hall of Fame.


Dunlap became principal of Lincoln Elementary School in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1990. In 2011, he left his principal’s position and became minority services coordinator for the Appleton Area School District. He and his wife, Yvette, had two children and one grandson.


Dunlap died in October of 2019 at the age of 74.


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                                           Coach Charlie Pond

Charlie Pond

Nov. 28, 2022


In the history of Big Ten men’s gymnastics, no team has been more dominant than Coach Charlie Pond’s Fighting Illini were from 1950 to 1960. Illinois’ 11 consecutive titles are nearly double more than the next longest streak and Ponds was clearly the reason for UI’s success.


Born 107 years ago today—Nov. 28, 1915—Pond was a native of Dallas, Tex. and a star athlete at Woodrow Wilson High School. He became an all-around performer at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, participating not only in gymnastics, but also in football and as a cheerleader.


Three years after graduating from Hardin-Simmons in 1939 and at the height of World War II, Pond enlisted with the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1943, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, serving with the First Marine Parachute Regiment in the South Pacific. Pond saw action in the British Solomon Islands Possessions on the islands of Guadalcanal, Vella la Vella and Bougainville. In 1945, he received his honorable discharge with the rank of Major.


UI athletic director Doug Mills promoted Pond to replace Hartley Price as Illini head coach in 1948. In his first season, Illinois finished just one point shy of the Big Ten title, finishing the championship meet with 51 points to Minnesota’s 52. After that—for the next 11 years—Pond’s Illini dominated the league, winning by margins that ranged from nine points (twice) to as many as 92 points in 1956. Also in ’56, Pond was an associate men’s coach and assistant women’s coach for the U.S. Olympic team.


Only two Big Ten men’s gymnastics coaches—Chicago’s D.L. Hoffer and Michigan’s Newt Loken—won more team titles in that sport than Pond’s 11 championships. His athletes during that successful span included conference all-around champs Frank Dolan, Bob Sullivan, Don Tonry, Abe Grossfeld and Ray Hadley.


Pond’s development of the Pond Twisting Belt, a piece of equipment that harnesses gymnasts and safely teaches them aerial twists and flips, is still utilized in gyms worldwide.


Following his retirement in 1973 after 25 years as the Illini coach, Pond became very active in the sport of freestyle snow skiing, while also staying involved with gymnastics. He was appointed as the U.S. National Freestyle Snow Skiing Coach for the National Freestyle Team in 1976 and served two seasons as executive director of the U.S. Freestyle Skiing Federation. In 1996, Pond was elected vice president of the World Acrobatics Society.


Charlie Pond was inducted into both the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame (1966) and the University of Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame (2018).


In his later years, he and his wife (Pamela) resided in Dewey, Ariz. Pond, who passed in 2003 at the age of 88, was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix.


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                                           Thomas Rooks

Thomas Rooks

Nov. 26, 2022


Happy 59th Birthday today to former Fighting Illini running back Thomas Rooks.


During his collegiate career at Illinois, Rooks was a multi-talented player and a key member of Illini teams that compiled a cumulative record of 30-16-1 from 1982-85 when he lettered.


A graduate of Lutheran North High School in St. Louis, Rooks played sparingly as an Illini freshman, then exploded onto the scene in 1983 as a sophomore. His 842 rushing yards and 178 receiving yards led all Illinois running backs during the team’s Big Ten championship season. In 1984, No. 42 again led the Illini in rushing (1,086), earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. He then added another 718 rushing yards during his senior season, finishing his career as Illinois’ record holder.


Rooks was drafted in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, but did not play professionally. The nephew of Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock and NFL veteran Marv Woodson, Rooks’ daughter, Taylor, is currently a broadcaster for SportsNet New York.


In 2008, when Illinois celebrated Memorial Stadium’s renovation, Rooks was included among the school’s 10 greatest running backs. Only Robert Holcombe compiled better statistics than Rooks in terms of combined career rushing and receiving:


Combined Yardage         Player (Rushing Yards, Receiving Yards)

4,724 yds                               Robert Holcombe (4,105 rush, 619 rec)

3,935 yds                               Thomas Rooks (2,828 rush, 1,107 rec)

3,190 yds                               Howard Griffith (2,485 rush, 705 rec)

3,103 yds                               Rashard Mendenhall (2,539 rush, 564 rec)

3,022 yds                               Jim Grabowski (2,878 rush, 144 rec)

2,485 yds                               John Karras (2,135 rush, 350 rec)

2,324 yds                               Red Grange (2,071 rush, 253 rec)

1,760 yds                               J.C. Caroline (1,696 rush, 64 rec)

1,326 yds                               Bobby Mitchell (1,109 rush, 217 rec)

*1,296 yds                             Buddy Young (1,296 rush)

*receiving statistics not available



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                                           1963 Big Ten battle

JFK and a Big Ten Title

Nov. 23, 2022


Fifty-nine years ago today, the University of Illinois and Michigan State University were scheduled to do battle at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, but the game was unexpectedly postponed due to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination the day before in Dallas.


In an eleventh-hour decision by Michigan Governor George Romney, the game between the eighth-ranked Illini and the fourth-ranked Spartans was called off and moved to the following Thursday, Thanksgiving Day 1963.


The Illini defense, led by linebacker Dick Butkus, stifled Spartan All-America running back Sherman Lewis, causing three MSU fumbles and intercepting four Spartan passes. UI’s offensive attack was led by sophomore fullback Jim Grabowski, who rushed for 85 yards against the heretofore impenetrable Spartan defense. The triumph gave Illinois its 12th football championship and its third trip to the Rose Bowl.


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                                            Jason Heggemeyer

Jason Heggemeyer

Nov. 21, 2022


Among the seven men and two women who have preceded him, only one person has served in the role as Fighting Illini ticket director longer than Jason Heggemeyer.


Now in his 18th year with Illinois athletics and celebrating his 48th birthday today, Heggemeyer is a native of Sterling Heights, Mich. He admits to growing up as a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. The graduate of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo first joined the Broncos’ athletic staff as an undergraduate accounting major, then received his first experience in the ticket office while pursuing his M.B.A. degree.


In 1998, Heggemeyer landed his first position as a ticket manager at the University of Missouri, a school where his grandfather played baseball for the Tigers. He worked at the University of Pittsburgh from 2001-04, then returned to Columbia for one additional season. He says that Illinois’ annual December basketball battle with Mizzou in St. Louis is one of his favorite events.


“I love that event and I love being part of it,” Heggemeyer said. “When I was hired at Illinois, I told people that I was looking forward to winning Braggin’ Rights games, because at that point in time, the Illini were dominating the series. It’s a one-of-a-kind event that makes college athletics so special. There aren’t many of those true neutral site games anymore that are attended as well as Braggin’ Rights.”


Heggemeyer says that the ticket manager job is “an unsung position where there’s not a lot of glory or where you get accolades or recognition.”


“The ticket office is a lot like campus parking,” he said. “No one ever goes there and says ‘thank you, you’re doing a great job.’ If you’re not buying something, you’re almost always upset when you’re calling. My (strategy) has been to make sure that I provide the best service possible, to try to identify problems before they happen, and also to solve things at a local level so that the athletic director can do his job without being distracted by any kind of customer service issues. It’s hard to raise money when people are upset about their tickets.”


A valuable piece of advice that Heggemeyer received from his mentors was ‘don’t make too many friends.’


“’Can you help me get a ticket’ is often followed up by ‘where will it be?,’” he said. “Never ask a ticket manager that question. That’s a common occurrence in ticketing. I’m very quick to tell people that they’re going to have to pay for something when they call me because it’s not in my ability to comp people.


“Mine is a job that has an awesome amount of responsibility,” Heggemeyer continued. “I have found that if you’re going to be good at it, you have to be very transparent and treat everyone fairly, then do what you say you’re going to do. At the core of what we do, when the ticket-buying experience is good, it allows the doors on other things to open with fundraising.”


In recent years, the biggest evolution in the ticket business has been going from “hard” tickets to mobile ticketing.


“It’s a huge pendulum swing,” Heggemeyer said. “Sometimes, it’s more challenging because not everyone has the same aptitude in using their phone. People are aware that we’re doing mobile ticketing, but a lot of them don’t try to figure it out until the week before they need to use it. As we’ve progressed through the football season, each game has gotten a little bit better. Once people do use it, they tell us how much they love it. But there’s definitely a gap right now in educating people.”


Heggemeyer’s family in Champaign includes his wife, Amy, and two children (Laney and Mackenzie).


Illini athletics ticket managers through the years

1924-27               L.M. “Mike” Stohrer

1927-42               Charles “Chilly” Bowen

1942-47               Clyde “Bud” Lyon*

1944-46               Jane Geiler (acting)

1947-75               George Legg

1976                       Paul Foil

1977-89               Paul Bunting

1989-98               Mike Hatfield

1999-2005         Cheryl Cain

2005-present   Jason Heggemeyer


*on leave of absence for war service from 1944 to 1946


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                                            Craig Virgin

Virgin Completes Big Ten Sweep

Nov. 18, 2022


Today marks the 46th anniversary of Craig Virgin’s completion of the Big Ten cross country grand slam.


The native of Lebanon, Illinois was virtually unbeatable during his running career with the Fighting Illini, particularly in cross country. Though Indiana’s Bob Kennedy and Michigan’s Kevin Sullivan eventually matched his record of four individual conference titles, Virgin remains the only Big Ten athlete to turn the trick in four consecutive seasons.


Other multiple winners in Big Ten cross country history:


Three- and Four-Time Big Ten Cross Country Champions (Men & Women):


4 titles            Craig Virgin, Illinois, 1973-74-75-76

                       Bob Kennedy, Indiana, 1988-89-90-92

                       Kevin Sullivan, Michigan, 1993-94-95-97

3 titles            F.O. Watson, Minnesota, 1913-14-15

                       Garry Bjorklund, Minnesota, 1969-70-71

                       Tim Hacker, Wisconsin, 1981-84-85

                       Simon Bairu, Wisconsin, 2003-04-05




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                                            In 1945, Ray Eliot took his "Flying Illini" to Ohio State

The Original Flying Illini

Nov. 16, 2022


The very first “Flying Illini” team took to the airways 77 years ago today when Coach Ray Eliot’s football squad chartered a flight from its University of Illinois Airport to Ohio State. Eliot and 19 of his top players departed Savoy at 1 p.m., landing an hour and a half later in Columbus in their TWA airliner.


It was the first large passenger takeoff from the new airport, dedicated just three weeks before. Illinois’ starting left tackle, Bill Kolens, a navy fighter pilot, voluntarily gave up his seat on the plane to let someone else experience his first flight. The balance of the Illini football team road a New York Central train for seven hours to the Ohio capital city.


The entire squad returned to Champaign via the railways following its 27-2 loss to the ninth-ranked Buckeyes.


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                                             Juice Williams vs. Michigan in 2010

Illini Heroes at Michigan

Nov. 14, 2022


Although the Illinois-Michigan football series has been dominated by the Wolverines—71-23-2—the Fighting Illini have had their share of gridiron heroes in the longtime series.


In 2008, Illinois scored 45 points against Michigan, the most the Illini have put up against the Wolverines in school history. Illini quarterback Juice Williams passed for more than 300 yards and rushed for over 100, marking the first time for the accomplishment in school history. Juice's total offense of 431 yards set a Michigan Stadium record.


Other Illinois heroes in games at Michigan:


Nov. 6, 2010 (Michigan 67, Illinois 65, 3 OT): In the longest game in Illini football history, Mikel Leshoure rushed for 120 yards and five touchdowns.


Oct. 23, 1999 (Illinois 35, Michigan 29): Rebounding from a 27-7 deficit, Rocky Harvey’s 106 yards on the ground and 61 yards through the air helped Illinois beat Michigan, 35-29.


Oct. 23, 1993 (Illinois 24, Michigan 21): Jim Klein became an unlikely hero by catching a 15-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds to lead the Illini past Michigan.


Nov. 5, 1966 (Illinois 28, Michigan 21): A 98-yard interception return for a touchdown by Bruce Sullivan resulted in a seven-point Illini victory.


Nov. 8, 1958 (Illinois 21, Michigan 8): Quarterback John Easterbrook threw two long TD passes to Rich Kreitling and Illinois topped Michigan by 13.


Nov. 1, 1952 Illinois 22, Michigan 13) Illinois’ rode Tommy O’Connell’s two TD runs to a nine-point win over the Wolverines.


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                                               Bruce Capel

Illini Veterans

Nov. 11, 2022


Observed annually on November 11, Veterans Day (known as Armistice Day until 1954) was initiated by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, exactly one year after World War I ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.


Military training has been part of the University of Illinois curriculum for its entire history. Prior to UI instituting its Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program in 1917, the 1862 Morrill Act obligated land-grant universities to instruct its male students in military tactics.


UI students have faithfully answered the call into the nation’s armed forces. More than 9,000 Illini served in World War I and more than 20,000 entered service in World War II.


Altogether, 1,121 UI students have died in service, including 184 during World War I, 844 during World War II, 22 during the Korean War, 64 during the war in Viet Nam, and seven in other world hostilities.


Hundreds of Illinois’s student-athletes have been in uniform and at least five letter winners have been killed. The list of honored Illini athletes includes:


EDWARD WALLACE: Wallace lettered in baseball in 1911 for Coach George Huff and graduated in 1913. He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant in the Army and served with the 146th Field Artillery Regiment, 41st Division. Wallace died on Sept. 13, 1918, at the age of 28, just two months before the end of World War I. He is buried at Suresnes American Cemetery in France, Plot B, Row 16, Grave 6. His name is on one of the columns at Memorial Stadium.


HOMER WAHLSTON DAHRINGER: A native of Waukegan, Dahringer lettered in basketball in 1912 and ’13, and served in World War I. After taking artillery instruction at Samur, France, Lt. Dahringer was assigned to the First Aero Squadron. While on an observation mission, he died at the age of 28 on Sept. 17, 1918, just four days after Wallace’s death. His name is etched on one of the columns at Memorial Stadium and he is buried at Pineview Memorial Park in Lake County, Illinois.


ROBERT FERN RICHMOND, JR.: A letter winner in 1939 and ’41 for Coach Doug Mills’ Illini basketball team, Richmond was an African invasion veteran for the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. On May 16, 1944, he died at the age of 24 in a Navy plane crash in Virginia. Richmond is buried at the Lakeview Cemetery in Johnston City, Ill.


ANTHONY JAMES BUTKOVICH: A star running back for Coach Ray Eliot in 1941 and ’42, he was transferred for military training to Purdue University. In 1943, he led the Boilermakers and the nation in rushing in with 833 yards, scoring a record 16 touchdowns. Butkovich was a first-round selection in the 1944 National Football League Draft, but instead enlisted in the U.S. Marines. As a Corporal with the 6th Marine Division, 29th Regiment, he was killed in action on Apr. 18, 1945 at Okinawa. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Canton, Ill.


JOHN BRUCE CAPEL: A three-time letter winner in the 1960s, Capel played on Illinois’s 1963 Big Ten and 1964 Rose Bowl championship team. He enlisted with the Marine Corps at age 23 and was sent to Vietnam in 1966. That year, on May 12, Lt. Capel died in combat when he was leading a 14-man patrol which was ambushed southwest of Da Nang by a large force of Viet Cong. Each year since 1967, the Illini football team recognizes their most courageous player with the Bruce Capel Award. He’s honored on Panel 7E, Line 51, of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. The Glen Ellyn native is buried at his hometown’s Forest Hill Cemetery.




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                                                Larry McCarren

Larry McCarren

Nov. 9, 2022


Larry McCarren, a first-team All-Big Ten center for the University of Illinois in 1972, celebrates his 71st birthday today.


A letter winner from 1970-72 for Coach Bob Blackman, the Park Forest native is considered to be one of the best Fighting Illini offensive linemen of all time.


He had a 12-year NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, starting 162 consecutive games for the Packers, the fourth-longest such streak in team history. He played in two Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Packers' Hall of Fame in 1992.


McCarren has teamed with Wayne Larrivee as the color commentator on the "Packers Radio Network" since 1995. He was named the Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year in 1994, 1996, 2002, and 2007 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.



He continues to host Packers Live with Larry McCarren and Total Packers With Matt LaFleur which airs on WGBA-TV in Green Bay and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee during football season. McCarren was also elected to the Board of Directors of Green Bay Packers, Inc. in 2015 and served in that role until his mandatory retirement from the Board at age 70 in 2022.



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                                                Nathan Scheelhaase

Nathan Scheelhaase

Nov. 7, 2022


Happy 31st Birthday on Tuesday (Nov. 8) to former Fighting Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase. He’s often overlooked when examining Illinois’ most proficient QBs, but the signal caller from Rockhurst High School in Kansas City measures up well in comparison to the others who preceded him. For example …


• Following his senior season in 2013, only Jack Trudeau (8,725 yards) and Kurt Kittner (8,722) compiled more passing yards than Scheelhaase’s 8,568 from 2010-13.


• Only Trudeau completed more passes during his career than Scheelhaase (797 to 775) and only Trudeau had a better career completion percentage (64.0% to 62.96%).


• In terms of career touchdown passes, only Kittner (70) and Juice Williams (56) connected more frequently on scoring plays than Scheelhaase (55).


• Scheelhaase finished his Illini career No. 1 in total offensive yardage with 10,634, 40 more yards than Williams.  When his eligibility expired after the 2013 campaign, Nate’s total ranked seventh best in Big Ten history. He is one of only two Big Ten players in history to pass for more than 8,000 yards and rush for more than 2,000 yards.


• Scheelhaase exceeded 300 yards passing on six occasions, including bests of 450 yards (vs. IU) and 416 yards (vs. SIU).


• As a running quarterback, Scheelhaase rushed for a four-year total of 2,066 yards, second only to Williams’ 2,557 yards. His 868 yards rushing as a freshman in 2010 still tops the all-time single-season Illini list among QBs.


• A four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, Scheelhaase is the only quarterback in UI history to lead the Illini to bowl victories in back-to-back seasons. He won the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 2014, joining only Peter Freund (1989) among Illini QBs to earn the prestigious award for proficiency in athletics and academics.


In 2022, Scheelhaase is wrapping up his fifth season on Iowa State’s football coaching staff. He tutors Cyclone running backs and wide receivers.


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                                                1916 Illini Football Team

This Date in Illini History

Nov. 4, 2022


One-hundred-six years ago today, the 1916 University of Illinois football team registered perhaps the biggest upset in school history.


Coach Bob Zuppke’s squad was the defending Big Ten champ, but had lost most of its greatest stars to graduation, including Ralph Chapman, Harold Pogue and Potsy Clark.


UI entered the game at Minneapolis with a modest record of 2-2 while the powerful Gopher squad had an unblemished mark of 4-0, having rolled over its competition by a points margin of 236 to 14.


The Illini, who played the entire game with the same 11 men, jumped out on top of Minnesota, 14-0, then withstood a furious Gopher comeback. Illinois captain Bart Macomber admitted years later that he had purposely used stall tactics in the closing minutes, untying his shoes, breaking the string on his shoulder pads, losing his head gear, and miscalling signals in order to kill time.


Other than its 14-9 loss that day to Illinois, Minnesota outscored its other six opponents 337-14.


Other unlikely Illini victories:


Nov. 18, 1950:           Illinois 14, No. 1 Ohio State 7

(OSU outscored its other eight opponents, 279-97)


Nov. 5, 1955:             Illinois 25, No. 1 Michigan 6

           (UM outscored its other eight opponents, 173-69)


Oct. 27, 1956:            Illinois 20, No. 1 Michigan State 13

           (MSU outscored its other eight opponents, 226-67)


Oct. 1, 1983:              Illinois 33, No. 4 Iowa 0

           (Iowa outscored its other 11 opponents, 362-156)



Oct. 23, 1993:            Illinois 24, No. 13 Michigan 21

           (UM outscored its other 11 opponents, 321-136)



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                                                Atkins Tennis Center

This Date in Illini History

Nov. 2, 2022


Fifty-nine years ago today, Illinois’ Jim Grabowski rushed for three touchdowns as the Fighting Illini blew out Purdue, 41-21. It was UI’s top scoring outburst in 10 years. The second-ranked Illini improved their record to 5-0-1, as the defense held the Boilermaker offense to just 48 yards rushing.


Other Illini highlights on this date:


*         Nov. 2, 1918: Illinois defeated host Iowa, 19-0, in a game that would ultimately prove to be the Hawkeyes’ only loss that season.

*         Nov. 2, 1923: UI high jumper Harold Osborne broke the world’s record at Illinois Field, jumping 6-feet-7-and-7/16-inches.

*         Nov. 2, 1946: Freshman Ruck Steger scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to spark Illinois to a 7-0 victory over Iowa.

*         Nov. 2, 1985: Illinois and Michigan played to a 3-3 tie at Memorial Stadium as the Wolverines deflected Chris White’s field goal attempt as time ran out.

*         Nov. 2, 1990: Illinois’ 25-man All-Century team was announced. Not surprisingly, Red Grange and Dick Butkus led the balloting.

*         Nov. 2, 1991: The $2.5 million Atkins Tennis Center was dedicated.

*         Nov. 2, 2018: At Columbus, the fourth-ranked Illinois volleyball team defeated Ohio State, 3-1, to improve its season record to 21-3.


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                                                Brad Underwood

Best Three Consecutive Seasons

Oct. 31, 2022


Coach Brad Underwood’s Fighting Illini program has been the Big Ten most successful basketball unit over the last three seasons in conference play, posting a cumulative record of 44-16 (.733). UI went 13-7 in league action three years ago, 16-4 two seasons ago, and 15-5 this past season.


Here are UI basketball’s best of the best over three consecutive seasons:


1.    1915-16-17 (31-5 for an .861 winning percentage—12-0/9-3/10-2, coached by Ralph Jones)

2.    1951-52-53 (39-7, .848 pct.—13-1/12-2/14-4, coached by Harry Combes)

3.    1941-42-43 (32-7, .821 pct.—7-5/13-2/12-0, coached by Doug Mills)

4.    2004-05-06 (39-9, .813 pct.—13-3/15-1/11-5, coached by Bruce Weber)

5.    1954-55-56 (31-11, .738 pct.—10-4/10-4/11-3, coached by Harry Combes)

6.    2020-21-22 (44-16, .733) pct.—13-7/16-4/15-5, coached by Brad Underwood)

7.    2001-02-03 (35-13, .729 pct.—13-3/11-5/11-5, coached by Bill Self)

8.    1987-88-89 (39-15, .722 pct.—13-5/12-6/14-4, coached by Lou Henson)

9.    1984-85-86 (38-16, .704 pct.—15-3/12-6/11-7, coached by Lou Henson)

10.  1934-35-36 (23-13, .639 pct.—7-5/9-3/7-5, coached by Craig Ruby)


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                                                The debut of Chief Illiniwek

Chief Illiniwek's Debut

Oct. 28, 2022


On Oct. 30, 1926, the University of Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek made his debut.


The Champaign News-Gazette described the event this way: “The climax of the University band’s performance came when Lester Leutwiler, son of Prof. O.A. Leutwiler, attired in a brilliantly colored Indian suit, led the band onto the field between halves. From Penn’s stands came a Quaker costumed gent. Greetings were extended between the two, and they promenaded across the field, to the east stand. At this point the Indian surprised all by giving a clever war dance.”


Details about the first costume:


The head dress of brilliant colors was made up of 35 eagle features which Mr. Leutwiler gathered in Colorado.


The trousers were made of red flannel, with beaded stripes down each side.


The shirt was made of black satin with Indian decorations.


The breach cloth had a buffalo picture, an arrow and buffalo tracks made in beads.





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                                                Phil Knell

October-best

Oct. 26, 2022


Many of Illinois football’s greatest individual performances have happened during the month of October. There was J.C. Caroline’s fabulous 205-yard rushing performance versus Minnesota on Oct. 17, 1953. How about Dike Eddleman’s 89-yard punt return against the Gophers on Oct. 18, 1947? Or what about Bill Burrell’s 26-tackle effort versus Purdue on Oct. 31, 1959? And those weren’t even the top performances ... take a look at these October-bests: 

     

•Single-game rushing: Chase Brown, 257 yards vs. Charlotte, 10/2/2021

•Single-game passing: Tony Eason, 479 yards vs. Wisconsin, 10/23/82

•Single-game receiving: A.J. Jenkins, 12 catches for 268 yards vs. Northwestern, 10/1/2011

•Single-game scoring: Red Grange, 30 total points vs. Michigan, 10/18/24

•Single-game field goals: 5 by four players, the last being Doug Higgins vs. Michigan    State, 10/20/90

•Single-game punting: Ralph Ehni, 635 yards on 15 punts (42.3 avg.) vs. Southern Cal,  10/14/39

•Single-game punt returns: Red Grange, 125 yards on four returns (31.3 avg.) vs. Nebraska, 10/6/23

•Single-game kickoff returns: Red Grange, 126 yards on three returns (42.0 avg.) vs.      Michigan, 10/18/24

•Single-game tackles: John Sullivan, 27 tackles vs. Syracuse, 10/1/77

•Single-game interceptions: Phil Knell, 3 interceptions vs. Purdue, 10/29/66




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                                                Earl  Britton

Earl Britton

Oct. 24, 2022


Former Fighting Illini football star Earl Britton, who played in the shadow of teammate Red Grange, died on this date in 1973 at the age of 70. On nearly the same date, 50 years earlier, Britton kicked the first 50-yard field goal in Illinois history.


In a Sports Illustrated story about the Galloping Ghost, Grange remembered Britton’s 1923 kick as his “biggest thrill in football.”


“It was our sophomore year,” said Grange, “our first big game before a big crowd at Iowa city, 35 or 40,000 people. I held for him, and I just sat there watching the ball go. I knew immediately that he had it. We won the game nine to six. What a player Earl was … the best blocker I ever saw.”


Britton, a native of Elgin, stood 6-3 and weighed nearly 220 pounds, a mammoth size at that time. He played basketball for the Illini, helping lead Coach Craig Ruby’s team to a share of the Big Ten title.


As a football pro, he played for six different teams: the Chicago Bears (1925), the Brooklyn Lions (1926), the Frankford Yellow Jackets (1927), the Dayton Triangles (1927 and ’28) and the Chicago Cardinals (1929).


The succession of Illinois’ record-breaking field goals:



Distance      Player/Opponent/Date

50 yards      Earl Britton at Iowa, 10/20/23

51 yards      Dan McKissic vs. Purdue, 11/4/67

52 yards      Lonnie Perrin vs. Penn State, 10/7/72

57 yards      Dan Beaver vs. Purdue, 10/18/75

57 yards      James McCourt vs. Eastern Michigan, 0/14/19




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                                                Frank Williams

Frank Williams: By the Numbers

Oct. 21, 2022

Twenty-five years ago today - Oct. 21, 1997 - Peoria Manual High School’s Frank Williams committed to play basketball for the University of Illinois. He joined former prep teammates Sergio McClain and Marcus Griffin, then helped lead the Fighting Illini to three sensational seasons from 1999-2000 through 2001-02.


The basketball career of Frank Williams, by the numbers:


2         Number of times Williams was named Illini MVP

4         Ended his UI career in fourth place with 212 steals

5         Illinois’ fifth player to win the Big Ten Conference’s Silver Basketball Trophy

11       With 1,440 total points, he finished in 11th place on the Illini’s career scoring list

14.3       His points-per-game average at Illinois

20       One of 20 players named to Illinois All-Century Team

25       Williams was the No. 25 pick in the first round of the 2002 NBA Draft

30       Williams’ jersey number at Illinois

75       Illinois’ total victories during Frank’s three seasons

432     Total number of assists Williams had for Illini



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                                                1987 Illini-Spartan Tie

Memorable Illini Ties

Oct. 19, 2022

Forty-eight years ago today, Red Grange returned to Champaign for the 50th anniversary celebration of Memorial Stadium’s dedication. Anticlimactically, the Fighting Illini and Michigan State battled to a 21-21 tie.  College football rules legislation ended the possibility of tie games beginning in 1996.


Today, we review some of Illinois football’s most famous ties:

 

Oct. 12, 1892: The first tie game in Illini football history happened on this date against Northwestern (16-16).

 

Nov. 26, 1896: In only its third game as a member of the newly formed Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (a.k.a The Big Ten Conference), Illinois and Purdue tied, 4-4, in West Lafayette.

 

Nov. 15, 1902: Ohio State and Illinois tied in their first-ever football game, 0-0.

 

Oct. 15, 1927: Bob Zuppke’s Illini won the national championship with a 7-0-1 record. The only flaw was a 12-12 tie with Iowa State.

 

Oct. 9, 1937: Illinois battled Coach Elmer Layden’s heavily favored Notre Dame squad to a 0-0 tie.

 

Oct. 11, 1947: Fifth-ranked Army and No. 6 Illinois fought to a 0-0 tie at Yankee Stadium.

 

Nov. 17, 1951: A perfect Illini season is ruined with a 0-0 tie at Ohio State, as the Buckeyes intercepted four passes.

 

Sept. 9, 1978: Northwestern and Illinois tied 0-0 in the season opener. Joked one sportswriter, “If a tie is like kissing your sister, tying Northwestern is like kissing your ugly sister.”

 

Nov. 2, 1985: Michigan blocked Chris White’s field goal as time expired, salvaging a 3-3 tie with the Illini.

 

Oct. 24, 1987: Scott Davis blocked Rose Bowl-bound Michigan State’s last-second field goal, ending the game in a 14-14 tie.

 

Oct. 29, 1988: Doug Higgins kicks a 44-yard field goal as time expired, tying Minnesota, 27-27.

 

Nov. 25, 1995: Wisconsin and Illinois deadlocked at 3-3, the last tie in college football history.


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                                                A parade before 1924 dedication ceremonies for the new Memorial Stadium

Dedication Ceremonies for Memorial Stadium

Oct. 17, 2022

Ninety-eight years ago today—Oct. 17, 1924—the University of Illinois canceled classes and closed its offices so that it could host dedication ceremonies for its new $1.5 million football stadium.


Led by former World War I servicemen, the celebration began with a parade. It ended with a program that included more than 15,000 students, graduates and visitors.


Said UI President David Kinley in his address, “Dedication of the stadium is our eternal rejection of the philosophy of brute strength. This stadium is a memorial to those of the university who died in the world war. We are dedicating it to them. We cannot hallow it by our words, but they have hallowed it by their deaths in defense of ideals and principles in which they believed. It is up to us to keep it hallowed by living those principles. The uses to which this great structure are put must be ones which exemplify those principles.”


“We speak much of ‘Illinois Spirit’,” Kinley continued. “What does it mean? It is more than a shouting, occasional enthusiasm. It means right living. It is thought by some that the primal instincts of man are wholly physical. This view has become the basis of a philosophy of life that is becoming widespread. That philosophy is that, since our instincts, however brutal, however low, are physical, it is proper and natural that we should give free play to their expression. I would challenge that philosophy in the name of our dead and in the name of our institutional ideals. Man makes progress not by giving way to his brutal impulses but by controlling and repressing them; by directing the energy behind them to attainment of better habits, better control and higher ideals.”


“By our use of this great monument will be determined from year to year whether we are keeping on the high plane of ethical aspiration and conduct that our beloved and honored dead built for us,” he concluded.


The next afternoon at 2 p.m., Red Grange lifted the spirits even higher with his history-making performance against the University of Michigan.


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                                                 Tony Parrilli

Tony Parrilli

Oct. 14, 2022

On this date 61 years ago—October 14, 1961—Illini senior linebacker Tony Parrilli recorded 22 tackles, but he and his team fell by a score of 44-0 to host Ohio State in both team’s Big Ten season opener at Columbus. The Buckeyes went on to an 8-0-1 record and finished second in the national rankings.


Parrilli, a 5-11, 217-pound graduate of Proviso East High School, performed so spectacularly in his final collegiate season that his teammates selected him as the team’s Most Valuable Player. United Press International additionally selected him to its 1961 first-team All-Big Ten squad and as an honorable mention member of its All-America unit. He later played in the East-West Shrine Game and in the Hula Bowl. Altogether, Parrilli lettered for the Illini in 1959, ’60 and ’61.


Parrilli was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the eleventh round of the 1961 National Football League Draft. He was released by the 49ers prior to the beginning of the 1962 season, then was signed by the Chicago Bears as a free agent. In 1963, Parrilli signed with the Washington Redskins, but released before the season due to a shoulder injury.


On New Year’s Eve, 1963, Parrilli attended a party at a bowling alley owned by former Bears teammate Mike Ditka. According to a Chicago Tribune article, Parrilli was accidentally but fatally shot by a police officer who was attempting to break up a restroom scuffle in which Parrilli and two others were involved. The officer later was placed on two years probation after being charged with reckless conduct.


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                                                 1914-15 Illini Basketball Team

Unbeaten and No. 1

Oct. 12, 2022

Eighteen years ago, Coach Bruce Weber’s 2004-05 team went 37-2, won the Big Ten title and played in the national championship game.


Thirty-eight years ago, Lou Henson’s ’84-85 squad compiled a 26-9 record and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament.


Eighty-eight years ago, Coach Craig Ruby’s ’34-35 club won the Big Ten crown and 15 of its 20 games.


But the best Illini team that played in season ending with a “4” and a “5” might have been Coach Ralph Jones’ 1914-15 unit. Named No. 1 in the country by the Helms Foundation, it recorded the only perfect season (16-0) in University of Illinois basketball history.


Led by brothers Ray and Ralf Woods, the Illini’s march to their first-ever Western Conference (Big Ten) title was nearly up-ended in its next-to-last game at Chicago. With only 30 seconds left on the clock and UI trailing by one, senior Frank Bane wove through the Maroon defense for the winning basket in a 19-18 victory.


That narrow margin was one of the only close games in ’14-15, as the Illini averaged double the points of their Big Ten foes, 28 to 14. Illinois’ 16 victories that season made up a major portion of the school-record 25 consecutive wins it registered over a three-year period.


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                                                 Kofi Cockburn

Dominating Double-Doublers

Oct. 10, 2022

In basketball lingo, a double-double is a performance in which a player amasses ten or more in two of five statistical classifications: points, rebounds, steals, blocked shots and assists.


The most typical double-double effort by non-guards is 10-plus points and 10-plus rebounds. Over the slightly more than six decades that Big Ten basketball statisticians have officially kept track of rebounds, the man who previously reigned as the Fighting Illini’s double-double king was Duane “Skip” Thoren. Chosen as a member of UI’s All-Century Team, 6-foot-8 ½-inch center from Rockford East High School held both the Illini single-season record (20 double-doubles in both 1963-64 and 1964-65) and career mark (41).


Last season, Illini center Kofi Cockburn broken Thoren's career mark. With 17 double-doubles in 2021-22, the Jamaican junior wound up with 45 career double-doubles.


Big Ten “Big Men” Career Double-Doubles (points & rebounds, all games)*


78           Jerry Lucas, Ohio State (1960-62)

59           Walt Bellamy, Indiana (1958-61)

59           Herb Williams, Ohio State (1978-81)

58           Bill Buntin, Michigan (1963-65)

56           Archie Dees, Indiana (1955-58)

54           Terry Dischinger, Purdue (1960-62)

53           Phil Hubbard, Michigan (1976-79)

53           Joe Barry Carroll, Purdue (1977-80)

52           Ethan Happ, Wisconsin (2016-19)

51           Jim Brewer, Minnesota (1970-73)

51           Bill Hosket, Ohio State (1966-68)

51           Luke Witte, Ohio State (1971-73)

50           Rudy Tomjanovich, Michigan (1968-70)

45           Kofi Cockburn, Illinois (2019-22)


*Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State and Rutgers’ record books do not include their career double-doubles leaders


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                                                  Bob Wright

Bob Wright

Oct. 7, 2022

Robert “Bob” Wright, patriarch of the University of Illinois’ Wright family, was born on this date 93 years ago.


The native of Roodhouse, Illinois was a football letter winner for Coach Bob Zuppke’s Fighting Illini in 1935. He also was a track and field standout for Coach Don Seaton’s 1936 Illini squad.


Perhaps his greatest individual athletic success came as head coach of Illinois’ track and field team from 1965-74. His 1972 squad finished second at both the Big Ten indoor and outdoor meets, tying for seventh at the NCAA Championships.


Among his greatest athletes were Rich Brooks, Mike Durkin, Charlton Ehizuelen, Ed Halik, Lee LaBadie, Rob Mango, Craig Virgin, and his own son, John Wright.


Bob’s grandson, John, also excelled as an Illini athlete, starring as a receiver on the football team. His wife, Mary, also was one of Champaign-Urbana’s most beloved citizens.


Bob died on Nov. 4, 1996, at the age of 82.


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                                                  Pramod Dabir

Pramod Dabir

Oct. 5, 2022

Happy 38th Birthday to former Illinois tennis star Pramod Dabir, a member of the 2003 NCAA championship team.


Choosing Craig Tiley’s Illini over Michigan, Harvard and California, Dabir led Saratoga, California’s Monta Vista High School to the Northern California Championship. As an Illini  freshman in 2002-03, he compiled a 12-0 dual record and was 6-0 in Big Ten singles matches.


As a sophomore, Dabir won his first six matches of the season, extending his singles winning streak to 27, the longest in Illinois history.


When he graduated with a Master’s degree in electrical engineering, Dabir had compiled impressive records in both singles (81-30, 22-5 Big Ten) and doubles (67-24, 27-4 Big Ten) competition. The Illini team won three Conference titles and, at one point, put together a record 64-match winning team, the longest in NCAA history.


His post-tennis career began as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco. Shortly afterwards, he founded a company called Boutine, a social commerce platform that allowed women to build their own online boutique.


Today, Dabir heads up West Agile Labs, a premier design and development agency that’s headquartered in San Francisco, with additional offices in Ukraine and India.



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                                                  Ron Guenther

Ron Guenther

Oct. 3, 2022

Ron Guenther, the University of Illinois’ longtime athletic director, celebrates his 77th birthday today.

Here’s a timeline of his life, his career and his accomplishments:

 

1945: Born approximately two months after the end of World War II

 

1963: Graduated from York High School in Elmhurst, Illinois

 

1966: Selected as Illinois football’s Most Valuable Player

 

1967: Earned Bachelor of Sciences degree from UI

 

1968: Awarded Master’s degree from UI; began duties as teacher and coach for Evanston Township and Glenbard High School systems

 

1971: Named offensive line coach at Boston College

 

1975: Began eight years of service at North Central College

 

1983: Named UI assistant athletic director for Chicago operations

 

1988: Named UI’s Interim Director of Athletics for External Operations

 

1992: Named Director of Athletics for University of Illinois

 

1996: $7.2 million Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building opens

 

1997: Women’s basketball team wins first-ever Big Ten title; women’s soccer makes its varsity debut; Irwin Academic Services Center opens

 

1998: $5.5 million Richard T. Ubben Basketball Practice Facility opens

 

2000: $12.5 million Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility opens; women’s softball makes its varsity debut


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                                                  Chuck Boerio

Chuck Boerio

Sept. 30, 2022

Chuck Boerio was a key defender for Coach Ray Eliot’s unbeaten Illini national and Big Ten championship team in 1951.


At just 5-11 and 187 pounds, the U.S. Air Force veteran spent his summers as a young adult working in the coalmines near his southern Illinois home in Kincaid. The intensely competitive Boerio became a central character in Eliot’s memorable speech to a group of fellow coaches called “The Proper State of Mind.”


The moment came in game two of the ’51 season when 15th-ranked Wisconsin, featuring All-America fullback Alan Ameche, visited Memorial Stadium to face No. 8 Illinois. Eliot tells the tale:


“The state of mind … the proper state of mind. When you can get the boys to the proper state of mind, you’ve got a winner. You’ve got a winner! I think of the game down in Champaign not so long ago, the year we won a championship. That Wisconsin team with their All-America fullback (Ameche) outweighed us 21 pounds to a man. I had a young linebacker named Boerio. Now, don’t get me wrong, when I give you these stories, you’ve got them, too, in your universities and in your coaching experience. And you know how far one yard is? Thirty-six inches … three feet? The shortest darn thing when you’ve got to defense it and the longest darn thing when you’re trying to get it. One yard. (Quarterback) Johnny Coatta took his Wisconsin team back in the huddle and as Johnny was about to enter the huddle, this kid Boerio of mine, a 187-pound linebacker, hollered at Johnny, ‘Hey, Johnny … send Ameche at me! Send Ameche at me!’, he said. Can you see the audacity of the guy? Do you get the impact of this, sir? Do you get the impact? ‘Send Ameche at me!’ Seventy thousand people looking at us, one yard away (from a touchdown). And Johnny sent him, and Chuck got him back for a three-yard loss. And when the four downs were over, instead of crossing that one-yard stripe, the ball rested on the six-yard line. Gentlemen, one yard from the winning of the game … one yard from the Big Ten championship … one yard from the Rose Bowl championship … one yard from success or failure … one yard from distinction or nothing! And, in the game of life that you play, that could well be one inch … or not turning the right corner … or not having the guts to open the right door … or pitying yourself by saying ‘I can’t go on.’ One yard, how can I do it? Yes, one yard from being somebody!”


Illinois’s gutsy 14-10 victory that afternoon over the Badgers proved to be the difference between a title and a runner-up finish. The Illini ended the season with a conference record of 5-0-1 and went on to defeat Stanford in the Rose Bowl, 40-7. Wisconsin finished 5-1-1, allowing a total of only 33 points in its remaining seven games.


When individual honors were announced, Boerio was named first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-America, and was selected by his teammates as Illinois’s Most Valuable Player for 1951.


Boerio went on to coach at Colorado from 1959-61 and retired as a teacher from the Boulder (Colo.) Valley School District. He died on September 30, 2011, at the age of 81.


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                                                  Avery Brundage

Avery Brundage

Sept. 28, 2022

Longtime International Olympic Committee (IOC) President and 1909 University of Illinois graduate Avery Brundage was born on this date 135 years ago today. He progressed from being an Illini athlete to a being an Olympic competitor, then from being a highly successful leader in the corporate world to becoming involved in amateur athletic administration. Brundage first governed America’s Olympic efforts, then rose to his post as the IOC’s top man in 1952.


A timeline of his remarkable career:


1905: Graduated from Chicago Crane Tech High School.


1909: Received honors degree in civil engineering from U of I.


1912: Participated in the Summer Olympic Games (sixth in pentathlon & 16th in decathlon).


1928: Elected President of the American Olympic Association, American Olympic Committee and American Athletic Union.


July 30, 1936: Became member of the IOC.


1946: Named First Vice President of the IOC.


Aug. 15, 1952: Became President of the IOC.


1960: His personal fortune is estimated at $25 million.


Sept. 11, 1972: Retired from the IOC.


May 8, 1975: Died at the age of 87, leaving the U of I his papers and memorabilia


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                                                  Tommy O'Connell

Tommy O'Connell

Sept. 26, 2022

University of Illinois quarterbacks have often occupied prominent rankings in the Big Ten’s football record book. Illini fans are undoubtedly familiar with Dave Wilson, Jack Trudeau , Kurt Kittner, Juice Williams and Jeff George, but have you ever heard of Tommy O’Connell?


Born on this date 92 years ago, McConnell made quite a splash during the 1951 and ’52 seasons as Illinois’ signal caller.


He grew up a star athlete in Chicago’s Olympia Park area played for the city‘s prep championship for former Illini letterman Clarence Applegran at South Shore High School. The immortal Frank Leahy originally convinced O’Connell to play at Notre Dame, then O’Connell was attracted to Illinois so that he could play with former prep teammates Rex Smith and Pete Bachouros.


O’Connell waited out a two-year transfer rule before becoming eligible for the Illini varsity in 1951. He sparkled as Coach Ray Eliot’s that first season, leading Illinois to the ’51 Big Ten title and a convincing victory over Stanford in the ’52 Rose Bowl. Individually, O’Connell completed 50 per cent of his passes for 692 yards and six touchdowns.


Though the team stumbled to a 4-5 record in 1952, O’Connell compiled record-setting statistics, establishing 11 Big Ten marks that season. His 306 passing yards against Iowa wiped out Otto Graham’s 10-year-old conference mark and his 1,308 Big Ten passing yards were nearly 300 yards more than Wisconsin Johnny Coatta’s previous record.


O’Connell remained as Illinois’ career passing leader for 20 years and its single-season record holder for 28 years.


As an NFL rookie for the Chicago Bears in 1953, the 21-year-old played behind George Blanda for most of the year.  O’Connell spent the following two years in military service, then briefly rejoined the Bears. Midway through the ’56 season, Coach Paul Brown signed him to play for the Browns as a back-up quarterback for Babe Parilli. However, when Parilli suffered a shoulder separation, O’Connell was inserted into the starting lineup. He stayed as Cleveland’s starter in ’57 and he and rookie running back Jim Brown helped lead the Browns to the NFL’s Eastern Conference title. In the next to last game of the season, O’Connell fractured his fibula. Unbelievably, he played most of the first half against Detroit in the championship game.


In 1958, McConnell retired from the NFL and joined Ray Eliot’s Illini staff. In 1959, he served as Drake University’s head coach, but the Bulldogs suffered through a 2-7 season. McConnell rejoined the NFL in 1960 and played two seasons for the Buffalo Bills.


After retiring for a second time, O’Connell became involved with establishing indoor ice rinks in Massachusetts. All five of his sons were hockey players, including Mike who was a starting defenseman for the Boston Bruins.


Tommy O’Connell died in 2014 at the age of 83 in Delray Beach, Fla.


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                                                    Erin Borske Gray

Erin Borske Gray

Sept. 23, 2022

Twenty-seven years ago today—September 23, 1995—sophomore Erin (Borske) Gray shattered Illini volleyball’s record for single-match kills, hammering 44 winners in 92 swings in Illinois’s near upset of sixth-ranked Penn State.


Though she only played two seasons in Champaign-Urbana, Gray plastered her name throughout UI’s record book. The product of Stagg High School in Palos Heights quickly made an immediate impact, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 1994, amassing 478 kills and 355 digs. More than two decades later, her sophomore season total of 714 kills still stand as UI’s record. That earned her first-team All-America honors


Of Illinois’s top 10 single-game performances for kills, Gray holds the top two marks in that category (44 vs. Penn State and 41 vs. Minnesota) plus three others.


When her Illini coach, Mike Hebert, announced that he was leaving Illinois for Minnesota following the 1995 season, Gray announced her intentions to also leave the program.


"He was really the reason I was at Illinois," she said. "I respected him a lot and enjoyed playing for him. I didn’t really feel connected to the program if he wasn’t there."


Gray’s hopes to transfer to Arizona State never materialized, so she instead pursued a professional career in beach volleyball. She was Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year on the EVP Tour in 1998 and ’99, respectively. Gray retired in 2015 following several years on the circuit.


Today, she resides in Redondo Beach, Calif. and serves as assistant coach for that city’s sand beach team. Gray and her husband have five children.



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                                                    E.K. Hall

This Day in Illini History

Sept. 21, 2022

On this date 76 years ago, Illinois’ football team kicked off a highly successful season with a 33-7 season opening victory over the Pitt Panthers. A Illini squad with war veterans found Pittsburgh’s Pitt Stadium considerably friendlier than Iwo Jima and Okinawa and ruined rookie coach Wes Fesler’s Panther coaching debut. Buddy Young and Art Dufelmeier scored key touchdowns among Illinois 26-point second half.


Other moments in Illini history on this date:


1889: Future Illini Olympian Frank Murphy was born. In 1912, he won a bronze medal in the pole vault event.


1892: E.K. Hall is named the University of Illinois first Director of Athletics.


1968: Memorial Stadium’s Zuppke Field debuted its new digital score board, but Bobby Douglas and Kansas crushed UI, 47-7.


1974: Chubby Phillips scored three touchdowns and rushed for 125 yards in the Illini’s 41-7 rout of No. 19 Stanford. Defensive back Mike Gow intercepted a school-record four interceptions.


1991: Illinois routed Houston, 51-10, at home while amassing 645 yards in total offense. QB Jason Verduzco outshined David Klingler.


1996: Robert Holcombe gained 151 yards on the ground, scoring three TDs, as Illinois topped Akron, 38-7.


2002: Jon Beutjer hit Aaron Moorehead for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 1:21 to go, but San Jose State kicked a game-winning field goal on the final play of the game to win 38-35.


2012: Taylore Peterson scored the game’s only goal in the 68th minute, leading Illinois past Ohio State, 1-0.


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                                                    Blake Hayes

Illini Punting Kings

Sept. 19, 2022

Statistically speaking, it’s not a stretch to call former Illini Blake Hayes the University of Illinois’ greatest punter ever.


Last season, Hayes passed Steve Weatherford as Illinois’ career punting average leader by the slimmest of margins: 43.8 yards to 43.534.


Hayes had 326 career punts for 14,275 yards. From 2002-05, Weatherford punted the ball 193 times for 8,402 yards.


In terms of punts that were downed inside the 20-yard line, Hayes had 125. Weatherford had 51.


Regarding total punts that sailed 50 yards or more, Hayes totaled 71 of those. Weatherford had 57.


As a professional punter, Weatherford sparkled. Through 10 NFL seasons (2006-2015), he averaged 44.5 yards per punt for the Giants, Saints, Jets, Jaguars and Chiefs. Just one of his 678 career punts was blocked. Weatherford’s 30,159 career punting yards puts him in 63rd place on the NFL’s all-time list.


Illini Career Punting Average Leaders (through 2021):

1.    43.8 yards per punt - Blake Hayes, 2017-21

2.    43.53 – Steve Weatherford, 2002-05

3.    41.68 - Steve Fitts, 1998-2001

4.    41.62 - Justin DuVernois, 2011-14

5.    40.92 – Ryan Tabloff, 1996-97

6.    40.84 – Anthony Santella, 2007-10

7.    40.25 – Bill Brown, 1958-60

8.    40.12 – Ryan Frain, 2012-16

9.    39.65 – J.C. Caroline, 1953-54

10.  39.51 – Brett Larsen, 1992-95


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                                                    Sellouts were the norm in 1983

Memorial Stadium Sellouts

Sept. 16, 2022

On this date in 1983, one day before Illinois’ home opener against Stanford, Fighting Illini Director of Athletics Neale Stoner announced that every ticket to every UI home football game had been sold.


Attendance at Memorial Stadium began its record-setting crescendo in 1981. Coach Mike White’s second team drew an average of 62,365 fans per game, setting an all-time UI record. In 1982, four of Illinois’s six home games were sellouts, pushing the average to 70,785, another record. During the magical 1983 season, UI’s venerable football arena averaged nearly 104 percent of capacity (73,871).


Stanford was the ’83 season’s first home game and the attendance was boosted by the immensely popular Tailgreat promotion. Tailgreat committee chairman Jim Fink estimated that around 35,000 of the 72,852 that attended the game that day actually participated in pregame festivities.


The crowds continued to grow in home games two (vs. No. 4 Iowa, 73,351) and three (vs. No. 6 Ohio State, 73,414), then exploded in game four when No. 8 Michigan came to town. The 76,127 fans that watched Illinois beat the Wolverines, 16-6, broke Memorial Stadium’s all-time single-game record.


Memorial Stadium’s season-by-season average attendance from 1976 through 1988:


1976 – 50,503* (Bob Blackman’s sixth and final season, 70.9% of capacity)

1977 – 53,371* (Gary Moeller’s first season, 74.9%)

1978 – 46,678* (Moeller’s second season, 65.5%)

1979 – 45,005* (Moeller’s third and final season, 63.2%)

1980 – 51,849* (Mike White’s first season, 72.8%)

1981 – 62,365* (White’s second season, 87.6%)

1982 – 70,785* (White’s third season, 99.4%)

1983 – 73,871* (White’s fourth season, 103.7%)

1984 – 76,400** (White’s fifth season, 108.3%)

1985 – 76,273** (White’s sixth season, 108.1%)

1986 – 73,874** (White’s seventh season, 104.7%)

1987 – 64,471** (White’s eighth and final season, 91.4%)

1988 – 57, 750*** (John Mackovic’s first season, 83.5%)


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                                                    Jason Verduzco

Top Big Ten Passers Through the Mid '90s

Sept. 12, 2022

During its first 80-plus years, Big Ten football was known for its “three yards and a cloud of dust” type of offense. However, during the decades of the 1980s and ‘90s, Conference quarterbacks took the ball away from their tailbacks and put it in the hands of their receiving corps. As of the mid 1990s, Illinois quarterbacks claimed four of the top 10 spots on the Big Ten’s all-time single-season passing list, led by Tony Eason’s fabulous 1982 campaign.


Here’s the way the Top Ten list stood as of 25 years ago:   

     

1.        3,672 yards   Tony Eason, Illinois, 1982

2.        3,589 yards    Jim Everett, Purdue, 1985

3.        3,530 yards    Chuck Hartlieb, Iowa, 1988

4.        3,331 yards   Tony Eason, Illinois, 1981

5.        3,321 yards   Jack Trudeau, Illinois, 1985

6.        3,269 yards    Bobby Hoying, Ohio State, 1995

7.        3,207 yards    Jim Everett, Purdue, 1984

8.        3,172 yards    Chuck Long, Iowa, 1985

9.        3,026 yards    Mark Herrmann, Purdue, 1980

10.      2,983 yards     Jason Verduzco, Illinois, 1991


 

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                                                    Tony Eason

This Date in Illini History

Sept. 12, 2022

Forty-one years ago today, Dave Wilson’s “replacement” as the Illini quarterback led Illinois to a 27-17 victory at Michigan State in the 1981 Big Ten opener. Junior signal-caller Tony Eason directed the Spartan Stadium visitors to 534 yards in total offense, including an impressive 294 yards and two touchdowns through the air.


After the game, reporters in the Illini locker room insisted on comparing Eason with his predecessor.


“I don’t really feel any pressure as far as filling Dave’s shoes,” Eason said. “I just go out there and play the best I can. However that lines up with Dave is fine with me and I’ll live with it. I judge how well I play by how consistent I am on my throws and how the automatics and reads go. Today went super in all those aspects.”


Illinois’ defense shown as bright as Eason, intercepting four Spartan passes and holding MSU runners to just 15 rushing yards.


Other memorable moments in Illini history on Sept. 12:


Sept. 12, 1962: Former Illini pitcher Tom Fletcher made his only appearance in a Major League game. Pitching two innings for the Detroit Tigers, the 20-year-old lefthander struck out one Red Sox batter, walked two and yielded two Boston hits.


Sept. 12, 1987: A crowd of 70,060, the last of 28 consecutive sellouts at Memorial Stadium, saw Illinois get beat by Arizona State, 21-7. Ken Thomas’s 57-yard touchdown run was the day’s only Illini highlight.


Sept. 12, 1992: Lou Tepper’s Illini football team jumped off to a 24-0 lead, then held on to beat Missouri in Champaign, 24-17. Running back Darren Boyer was named ABC-TV’s Player of the Game after rushing for 92 yards and scoring twice.


Sept. 12, 1998: Despite trailing 20-7 at the end of the first quarter, Illinois snapped its 18-game losing streak with a 48-20 win versus Middle Tennessee State. Illini freshman running back Rocky Harvey gained 215 yards rushing while Steve Havard ran for 175.It was Ron Turner’s first Illini coaching victory.


Sept. 12, 1998: Coach Don Hardin’s Illini volleyball team ran its record to 6-1 with a 3-2 upset victory over No. 7 Texas at the Chicago Challenge.


Sept. 12, 2009: Jason Ford ran for 137 of Illinois’ 384 rushing yards as Illini football dispatched visiting Illinois State, 45-17.


Sept. 12, 2015: Illini football recorded its first shutout in three seasons, a 44-0 victory over Western Illinois at Memorial Stadium. Coach Bill Cubit’s squad improved its record to 2-0.

 

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                                                    Jim Grabowski

Grabo and the Big Ten

Rushing Leaders of 1965

Sept. 9, 2022


Jim Grabowski, one of Illinois’ all-time great running backs, celebrates his 78th birthday today. The former Chicago Taft High School standout finished his career in 1965 as the most prolific runner in Big Ten Conference history, gaining 2,878 yards in three seasons. As a senior, he rushed for 996 yards in seven Big Ten games, tops in the league.


Grabowski and the list of Big Ten rushing leaders of 1965:


1.        Jim Grabowski, Illinois, 996 yards

2.        Clinton Jones, Michigan State, 538 yards

3.        Bob Apisa, Michigan State, 486 yards

4.        Carl Ward, Michigan, 475 yards

5.        Tom Barrington, Ohio State, 473 yards

6.        Willard Sander, Ohio State, 449 yards

7.        Bob McKelvey, Northwestern, 432 yards

8.        Dave Fisher, Michigan, 430 yards


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                                                    Lou Tepper

Lou Tepper's Memorable

Illini Victories

Sept. 7, 2022


Lou Tepper served as Illinois’ 20th head football coach from Dec. 31, 1991 through Nov. 25, 1995. His first game directing the Illini came on New Year’s Eve at the John Hancock Bowl in El Paso, Tex., taking over for John Mackovic who, just a few weeks before, had been named head man of the Texas Longhorns.


Though his overall winning percentage was less than .500 (25-31-2), Tepper did lead Illinois to a number of landmark victories, including a pair of wins over Ohio State, and a victory and a tie at Michigan.


He also coached consecutive Butkus Award winners in Dana Howard (1994) and Kevin Hardy (1995).


After coaching stints at Edinboro and Indiana of Pennsylvania, Tepper finished with a record of 101-75-2 as a head coach. His final coaching duties were as defensive coordinator at the University at Buffalo (2012-14).


Tepper celebrates his 77th birthday today. His most memorable games as head coach at Illinois:


• Sept. 12, 1992: Illini jumped out to a 24-0 lead, then held on to top Missouri in Champaign, 24-17. Tepper was 2-1 against the Tigers.


• Oct. 10, 1992: Illinois won its fifth consecutive game vs. Ohio State. The 18-16 triumph was its third straight win at Columbus.


• Nov. 14, 1992: The underdog Illini battled third-ranked Michigan to a 22-22 stalemate. UM salvaged the tie on a field goal with just 16 seconds left in the game.


• Oct. 23, 1993: Illinois won at No. 3 Michigan, 24-21, its first victory at Ann Arbor since 1966. The winning score came on a fourth-down, 15-yard pass from Johnny Johnson to Jim Klein in the final seconds.


• Oct. 8, 1994: Backing up his prediction earlier in the week, linebacker Dana Howard willed the Illini past Ohio State, 24-10, its fourth straight victory at Columbus.


• Dec. 31, 1994: On New Year’s Eve in Memphis, Illinois shut out East Carolina, 30-0, in the Liberty Bowl.


• Sept. 16, 1995: Led by Simeon Rice’s defensive effort, Illinois topped No. 17 Arizona, 9-7, at Memorial Stadium.


• Oct. 5, 1996: In the first overtime game in Big Ten history, the Illini dispatched Indiana, 46-43, in Champaign. It was Tepper’s final victory at Illinois.


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                                                    2021 action - Illinois at Virginia

Illini vs. The ACC

Sept. 5, 2022


Thirty-five years ago today—Sept. 5, 1987—the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference battled each other on the gridiron as host North Carolina defeated Illinois in the rain at Chapel Hill, 34-14.


After Jeff Markland’s 10-yard touchdown run had given the Fighting Illini a 7-3 lead with just three minutes remaining in the first half, the Tar Heels burned Illinois’ defensive unit with a 57-yard run on a blown punt attempt by Carolina’s Ken Miller. UNC followed that up with a short TD sprint to take a 10-7 lead into intermission.  In the second half, Carolina tallied three consecutive touchdowns and a field goal to run away from Coach Mike White’s Illini. UI limped through the ’87 campaign with a 3-7-1 record, prompting a coaching change.


This coming Saturday, the Illini face an ACC opponent for the 11th time, hosting the Virginia Cavaliers. Before last season, the Illini had enjoyed nothing but success against UVA, defeating the Cavs in a pair of bowl games during the 1990s. On New Year’s Day 1990 at the Florida Citrus Bowl, 9-2 Illinois beat 10-1 Virginia, 31-21, to end a 26-year bowl victory drought. Nearly 10 years later—Dec. 30, 1999—the two schools met for a second time, this time at the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami. In a game that pitted two 7-4 squads, the Illini dominated with 611 yards of total offense and nine touchdowns, winning 63-21.


Illinois football games against ACC competition:


2021 - at Virginia (UVA 42, UI 14)

2016 – NORTH CAROLINA (UNC 48, UI 23)

2015 – at North Carolina (UNC, 48, UI 14)

1999 – vs. Virginia (UI 63, UVA 21), Micronpc.com Bowl, Miami, Fla.

1991 – vs. Clemson (CU 30, UI 0), Hall of Fame Bowl, Tampa, Fla.

1990 – vs. Virginia (UI 31, UVA 23), Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Fla.

1987 – at North Carolina (UNC 34, UI 14)

1971 – NORTH CAROLINA (UNC 27, UI 0)

1965 – DUKE (UI 28, DU 14)

1958 – at Duke (DU 15, UI 13)


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                                                     Red Grange stars in "One Minute to Play"

This Date in Illini History

Sept. 2, 2022


On this date in 1926, the Champaign News-Gazette reported on the premiere of “One Minute to Play,” starring former University of Illinois football player Harold “Red” Grange. A packed house at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall is on hand, as are Grange and his manager, Champaign businessman C.C. Pyle. The “Galloping Ghost” portrayed the character Red Wade. His leading lady, Mary McAllister, played the role of Sally Rogers. “King Tut”, Red’s stage dog, played himself. The News-Gazette’s film critic wrote that “Mr. Pyle’s opinion of Red’s art, both from the abstract and box-office viewpoints, is conveyed in the laconic announcement, ‘He will act in several more pictures.’”


Other memorable moments on this date in Illini history:


  • Sept. 2, 1989: Coach John Mackovic and his Illini football team toured the Rose Bowl upon arrival in California for their game against Southern California on Labor Day night.
  • Sept. 2, 1995: Host Illinois, ranked 25th in the country, lost at home to the Top Ten Michigan Wolverines, 38-14, in the season opener. UM running back Tim Biakabutuka scored three touchdowns.
  • Sept. 2, 2000: No. 21 Illinois opened its football season with a 35-6 victory over Middle Tennessee, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half. Receiver Greg Lewis caught touchdown passes of 24, 10 and seven yards, while quarterback Kurt Kittner threw for 185 yards on 18 of 26 passing. Antonio Harris (128 yards and one TD) and Rocky Harvey (112 yards and one TD) both topped the century mark. Illinois’ defensive unit was dented for 469 yards and 26 first downs, but didn’t allow a touchdown. A crowd of 35,032 watched the game in 94-degree weather, while the temperature on the AstroTurf field was measured at 128 degrees.
  • Sept. 2, 2006: The three-headed Illini running tandem of Pierre Thomas, Rashard Mendenhall and E.B. Halsey combined for 283 yards and five touchdowns in UI's 42-17 win over Eastern Illinois.
  • Sept. 2, 2017: After being sidelined for 981 days due to injuries, Mikey Dudek sparked his Illini teammates to a 24-21 win over visiting Ball State. As the clock wound down to five seconds, Ball State lined up for what it was hoping to be a game-tying 54-yard field goal ... but Jamal Milan blocked the kick and victory belonged to Illinois.



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                                                     Jason Verduzco

Jason Verduzco

Aug. 31, 2022


Thirty-one years ago today, Jason Verduzo passed for 352 yards to lead Illinois’ football team past East Carolina by a score of 38-31. The junior quarterback completed 25 of his 36 passing attempts and threw for three touchdowns. Verduzco, recruited by then head coach John Mackovic, finished within the Fighting Illini’s top three in several career passing categories, including yardage (7,532), completions (678), attempts (1,083), TD passes (42) and passing efficiency (130.0).


Verduzco’s top ten single-game passing performances:


431 Jason Verduzco at Missouri, 9/14/1991 (58-31-1-1)

358 Jason Verduzco vs. Iowa, 11/3/1990 (51-32-0-4)

352 Jason Verduzco vs. E. Carolina, 8/31/1991 (36-25-0-3)

341 Jason Verduzco vs. Houston, 9/21/1991 (22-16-0-3)

329 Jason Verduzco vs. Purdue, 10/13/1990 (34-21-1-2)

272 Jason Verduzco vs. Ohio St., 10/12/1991 (41-28-2-0)

258 Jason Verduzco at Ohio St., 10/6/1990 (31-22-1-2)

255 Jason Verduzco at Arizona, 9/8/1990 (39-25-2-1)

255 Jason Verduzco at Purdue, 11/9/1991 (25-20-1-3)

252 Jason Verduzco at Michigan St., 11/23/1991 (45-29-3-3) 



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                                                     John Mauer

John Mauer

Aug. 29, 2022


It’s doubtful that former Illini letterman John Mauer’s name is even remotely familiar to the most fervid fans of Fighting Illini basketball fans, but his career story is filled with fascinating facts about his connections to American sports history.


Among the most remarkable features of Mauer's career is that he is the only man in Southeastern Conference basketball history to head programs at three different member schools.


Born 121 years ago this coming Sunday—Sept. 4, 1901—in Aurora, Mauer’s early life was difficult. Parentless by the time his was 13, he was raised by an older sister. Mauer was aided by the financial assistance of a local businessman so that he could attend Batavia High School.


When he got to the University of Illinois in the Fall of 1922, Mauer played for the Illini freshman football and basketball teams. As a sophomore for Coach Bob Zuppke, he found himself playing as Red Grange’s backup, but he sparkled on the basketball court for Coach Craig Ruby.


Said Ruby, “Mauer is one of the most tenacious fighters I have ever seen. At times it seemed that he would collapse from exhaustion, but each time he would regain the needed strength. It was merely sheer courage that kept him going.”


Following that sophomore season in 1923-24, Mauer was named as a varsity team captain for the following season. He remained in Ruby’s starting lineup for the rest of his Illini career. Following his graduation with an athletic coaching degree in 1926, Mauer coached Batavia High School for one season, then was hired as head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.


Inheriting a club that went just 3-13, Mauer led the Wildcats to banner performances three straight seasons and a cumulative record of 40-14. He also served on UK’s football staff.


In his book, Kentucky Baseball’s Big Blue Machine, author Russell Rice said of Mauer: “UK’s school newspaper described Mauer as the “Moses” of Kentucky basketball, calling him ‘a roundball prophet who had led the game out of its slam-bang, hit-and-miss style of former years and developed it along the line of the machine-like precision of football.’ He changed the Wildcats from doormat to drawing card and his influence was felt throughout the South, where coaches had begun to adopt his style of play. Mauer seemed destined to go down in Southern basketball annals as the pioneer of a new system, the father of Dixie basketball.”


However, it turns out that Kentucky was paying Mauer less than $3,000 per year and he resigned his post in Lexington in March of 1930 to become head coach at Miami University (Ohio). Mauer’s successor at Kentucky was the immortal Adolph Rupp.


From 1930-31 through ’37-38, Mauer’s Redskin teams struggled to a 46-80 record. However, a sub-.500 record in Ohio didn’t stop the University of Tennessee from snatching Mauer at its head basketball, head baseball coach and assistant football coach in 1938. Between 1938 and ’47, Vols basketball enjoyed significant success under Mauer, winning two Southeastern Conference championships (1941 and ’43) and making it to the quarterfinals of the then prestigious National Invitation Tournament (1945). UT’s cumulative record under Mauer was 127-41.


From 1947 to ’51, Mauer coached U.S. Military Academy’s basketball team and assisted immortal Army coach Red Blaik in football. The University of Florida called Mauer in April of 1951 and signed him to head up the Gator basketball program and serve as an assistant for the football squad. He retired from that position after nine seasons and returned to Knoxville to assist future Hall of Fame coach Bowden Wyatt’s Tennessee’s football team. In 1964, he accepted an offer from Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi to become an NFL talent scout in the Southeastern Conference. That assignment capped Mauer’s memorable career in sports.


He died on Dec. 20, 1978 in Knoxville.


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                                                     Ken Norman

Ken Norman

Aug. 26, 2022


On this date in 1983, Ken Norman bypassed his second season of eligibility at Wabash Valley Community College to enroll at the University of Illinois. He played for Coach Lou Henson’s Fighting Illini from 1984 through 1987, scoring 1,393 points in 92 games.


“Snake’s” best season came as a senior in 1986-87 when he averaged 20.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors and second-team All-America laurels.


The 6-8, 215-pound product of Chicago’s Crane High School was the 19th overall pick in the 1987 NBA draft, chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers. Norman played 10 seasons in the NBA, also wearing the jerseys of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks. It is estimated that he earned nearly $22 million in salary over that 10-year span.


Norman’s season-by-season statistics in the NBA:


Season … Team … Points per game, Rebounds per game

1987-88 … L.A. Clippers … 8.6, 4.0

1988-89 … L.A. Clippers … 18.1, 8.3

1989-90 … L.A. Clippers … 16.1, 6.7

1990-91 … L.A. Clippers … 17.4, 7.1

1991-92 … L.A. Clippers … 12.1, 5.8

1992-93 … L.A. Clippers … 15.0, 7.5

1993-94 … Milwaukee Bucks … 11.9, 6.1

1994-95 … Atlanta Hawks … 12.7, 4.9

1995-96 … Atlanta Hawks … 8.9, 3.9

1996-97 … Atlanta Hawks … 3.8, 1.8


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                                                     Al Brosky

Longest Standing Illini Football Records

Aug. 24, 2022



During his brilliant collegiate career, Illinois’ Al Brosky intercepted an NCAA record 29 passes in just three seasons. He averaged just more than an interception per game from 1950 through 1952, including at least one pick in an unbelievable 15 consecutive games.


Still, Brosky’s record isn’t the longest-standing mark in the Illini record books. That belongs to Red Grange who, in 1924, had 402 all-purpose yards vs. Michigan.


A list of some of the oldest-standing Illini individual football records:


98 years         Red Grange’s 402 all-purpose yards vs. Michigan in 1924

97 years         Red Grange’s 30.2 career kickoff return average from 1923-25

88 years         Les Lindberg’s 18 punts vs. Army in 1934

78 years         Buddy Young’s 93-yard rush vs. Great Lakes in 1944

75 years         Dike Eddleman’s 92-yard punt return vs. Western Michigan in 1947

74 years         Dike Eddleman’s 88-yard punt vs. Iowa in 1948

70 years         Al Brosky’s 29 career interceptions from 1950-52

70 years         Tommy O’Connell’s 308.9 pass efficiency vs. Washington in 1952

64 years         Rich Kreitling’s average of 41.5 yards per reception vs. Minnesota in 1958



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                                                     Jeff Brohm

Illini Launching Pad

Aug. 22, 2022


Historically, the University of Illinois’ football program has been a launching pad for future head football coaches. Former Fighting Illini assistant coaches who left Champaign-Urbana to seek head coaching jobs include Glenn Mason, Lloyd Carr, Joe Novak and Bob Sutton who all served as key aides to Gary Moeller during the late 1970s. Dick MacPherson, who was a graduate assistant coach on Ray Eliot’s 1959 squad, went onto success at UMass and Syracuse, then had a two-year stint as head coach of the New England Patriots. Besides MacPherson, four other former Illini assistants—Sean Payton, Bill Callahan, Leslie Frazier and Brad Childress—also eventually became NFL head coaches. Eliot and Lou Tepper, both Illinois assistants who subsequently became Illini head coaches, also are among the men on this top ten list in terms of victories:


123        Glenn Mason (123-121-1 at Kent St., Kansas & Minnesota)

122        Lloyd Carr (122-40 at Michigan)

111        Dick McPherson (111-73-5 at UMass, Syracuse and New England Patriots)

101        *Lou Tepper (101-75-2 at Illinois, Edinboro and Indiana-Pa.)

83           *Ray Eliot (83-73-11 at Illinois)

80           Sean Payton (80-48 at New Orleans Saints)

69           Walt Harris (69-85 at Pacific, Pitt and Stanford)

63           Joe Novak (63-76 at Northern Illinois)

62           Dee Andros (62-80-2 at Idaho and Oregon St.)

58            Jeff Brohm (58-39 at Western Kentucky & Purdue)

44           Bob Sutton (44-55-1 at Army)

*Includes coaching victories as head coaches at Illinois




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                                                     Jeff Brohm

Illini Launching Pad

Aug. 22, 2022


Historically, the University of Illinois’ football program has been a launching pad for future head football coaches. Former Fighting Illini assistant coaches who left Champaign-Urbana to seek head coaching jobs include Glenn Mason, Lloyd Carr, Joe Novak and Bob Sutton who all served as key aides to Gary Moeller during the late 1970s. Dick MacPherson, who was a graduate assistant coach on Ray Eliot’s 1959 squad, went onto success at UMass and Syracuse, then had a two-year stint as head coach of the New England Patriots. Besides MacPherson, four other former Illini assistants—Sean Payton, Bill Callahan, Leslie Frazier and Brad Childress—also eventually became NFL head coaches. Eliot and Lou Tepper, both Illinois assistants who subsequently became Illini head coaches, also are among the men on this top ten list in terms of victories:


123        Glenn Mason (123-121-1 at Kent St., Kansas & Minnesota)

122        Lloyd Carr (122-40 at Michigan)

111        Dick McPherson (111-73-5 at UMass, Syracuse and New England Patriots)

101        *Lou Tepper (101-75-2 at Illinois, Edinboro and Indiana-Pa.)

83           *Ray Eliot (83-73-11 at Illinois)

80           Sean Payton (80-48 at New Orleans Saints)

69           Walt Harris (69-85 at Pacific, Pitt and Stanford)

63           Joe Novak (63-76 at Northern Illinois)

62           Dee Andros (62-80-2 at Idaho and Oregon St.)

58            Jeff Brohm (58-39 at Western Kentucky & Purdue)

44           Bob Sutton (44-55-1 at Army)

*Includes coaching victories as head coaches at Illinois




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                                                     Bill Ridley

The Tiny Illini

Aug. 19, 2022


Seventy-one years ago today—August 19, 1951—little 3-foot-9-inch Eddie Gaedel came up to bat for the St. Louis Browns against the Detroit Tigers. Bill Veeck’s smallest Brown walked on four pitches.


Today, we feature the shortest Fighting Illini men’s basketball players of the last 50 years. The tiny Illini:


5’7”    Seymour Gantman, Chicago, 1952

5’8”    Phil Flanigan, Tuscola, 1959

5’8”    John Easterbrook, Champaign, 1960

5’8”    Bob Meadows, Collinsville, 1965

5’9”    Bill Ridley, Taylorville, 1956

5’9”    Halim Abdullah, Jersey City, N.J., 1997

5’10”  Tony Wysinger, Peoria, 1987

5’10”  P.J. Bowman, Champaign, 1990

5’10”  Jelani Boline, Chicago, 1998



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                                                     Dee Brown

Dee Brown: By the Numbers

Aug. 17, 2022


Happy 38th Birthday today to Daniel "Dee" Brown, one of the most popular and influential athletes in University of Illinois history. In 2004-05, he joined Bill Hapac, Andy Philip, Walt Kirk and Rod Fletcher as the only Illini basketball first-team All-Americans. As a senior in 2005-06, he earned second-team All-America honors and won both the Bob Cousy Award (nation’s top point guard) and the Naismith Award (nation’s top senior, six-feet and under).


As a professional, he played for the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns, and for eight seasons overseas. He retired in September of 2015. This past June, Brown became the head coach at Roosevelt University in Chicago.


Dee Brown’s Illini career, by the numbers (reflecting his totals following the 2005-06 season):



3    “Dee for Three” finished his career third on Illinois’ all-time scoring list


8    Number of three-point field goals converted vs. Purdue (10 attempts) on 3/3/05, tying Kevin Turner’s 1997 record


13    Dee handed out a personal-best 13 assists vs. Longwood in 2004


34    His career-best single-game points total vs. Michigan State in 2006


37    Season victories his 2004-05 Illini recorded in 2004-05


114    Dee and James Augustine played in a record 113 Illini victories


136     Career starts he made, more than any other player


179        Points Dee totaled in NCAA Tournament games, topping Luther Head by 17


231     Career steals he recorded in four seasons at Illinois, second to Bruce Douglas (324)


299    Total three-pointers Dee hit during his Illini career, second only to Cory Bradford (327)


674    Career assists he distributed at Illinois, finishing second to Bruce Douglas (765)


.781    Illinois’ winning percentage in Big Ten games during Dee’s career (50-14)


4,698    Total number of minutes he played as an Illinois, tops in UI history



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                                                     Dean March (left) and Stu Levenick

Musical Illini

Aug. 15, 2022


Fifty-three years ago today, the legendary Woodstock Music Festival began in New York State. As a tribute to Woodstock, we salute former Fighting Illini athletes who have musical names, such as swimming’s Annette Musick, soccer’s Louis Piano, football’s Charles F. Major and these others:

 

Kenneth Song, fencing

R.B. Singer, gymnastics

Earl Medley, wrestling

Rachel Bass, track and field

John Horn, football

Lawrence Staff, track and field

John Counts, football

Sarah Sharp, basketball

James Minor, football

Dean March, football

J.H. Rapp, track and field

Mark Funk, swimming

Clarence Twist, baseball




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                                                     2001 was a special season for Illini football

2001 Illini Odyssey

Aug. 12, 2022


Highlighted by victories over three Top 25 teams and a perfect 6-0 record at home, Big Ten Coach of the Year Ron Turner and the Fighting Illini football team made school history in 2001, qualifying for their first-ever appearance in the Bowl Championship Series. A record-setting offensive effort and a surprisingly stingy defense yielded Illinois’ first Big Ten title since 1990 and a 10-1 regular-season record. Spoiled only by a game-four loss at 17th-ranked Michigan, the Illini swept the remaining seven games of their schedule, averaging more than 34 points per game.


Besides the men’s basketball team’s Big Ten title and NCAA No. 1 seed, other highlights of 2001 in Illini history:

 

•              Illinois’ wrestling team finished fifth at the NCAA Championships, thanks to individual title efforts by Adam Tirapelle and John Lockhart.

 

•              It was a world record-setting performance for four Fighting Illini women’s track hurdlers at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa on April 27. The 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay quartet of Jenny Kallur, Camee Williams, Susanna Kallur and Perdita Felicien streaked around the track in al all-time best clocking of 52.85 seconds.

 

•             Within a 105-day span, Illinois lost three of its most legendary athletes with the deaths of Andy Phillip (April 28), Dike Eddleman (Aug. 1) and Lou Boudreau (Aug. 10).

 

•             On Oct. 22, 2001, the Chicago Bears and the University of Illinois announced that the NFL team would play its 2002 schedule at UI’s Memorial Stadium.



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                                                      Isaiah Williams

Pass Receiving Dominators

Aug. 10, 2022


Fighting Illini wide receiver Mike Dudek made the college football world sit up and take notice in 2014 as a freshman. The product of Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville obliterated Illinois’ single-season record for rookies, catching 76 passes for 1,038 yards. The previous freshman record was established by Arrelious Benn’s 2007 numbers, 54 catches and 676 yards.


Though it may have seemed at times that No. 18 was the only receiver Illini quarterbacks noticed, he did wind up with nearly 32 percent of the team’s total receiving yards. Impressive, to be sure, but not even close to John Wright’s nearly one-man show in 1966. Wright secured more than 59 percent of Illinois’ total catches for Coach Pete Elliott’s ’66 club.


As a comparison, in 2021, Isaiah Williams caught 28.48% of UI's 165 total receptions.


UI’s most proficient single-season receivers:


Largest Percentage of Team’s Total Receiving Yardage:

1.    59.27%        John Wright, 1966 (831 of 1,402 total team yards)

2.    53.34%        A.J. Jenkins, 2011 (1,276 of 2,392)

3.    40.83%        David Williams, 1984 (1,278 of 3,130)

4.    38.64%        David Williams, 1985 (1,156 of 3,393)

5.    32.82%        Mike Martin, 1982 (1,068 of 3,677)

6.    32.64%        Arrelious Benn, 2008 (1,055 of 3,232)

7.    32.22%        David Williams, 1983 (958 of 2,973)

8.    31.97%        Mike Dudek, 2014 (1,038 of 3,247)

9.    31.92%        Brandon Lloyd, 2001 (1,062 of 3,327)

10.  31.42%        Jason Dulick, 1996 (614 of 1,954)

11.  31.21%        Mike Bellamy, 1989 (927 of 2,970)


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                                                      Lloyd "Tiny" Burdick

Lloyd "Tiny" Burdick

Aug. 8, 2022


This marks the 114th anniversary of the birth of former Fighting Illini football and wrestling standout Lloyd “Tiny” Burdick.


A letter winner on the Illinois gridiron from 1927-29, the 6-4, 248-pound product of Morgan Park High School went on to play football with Red Grange for George Halas’s Chicago Bears championship team of 1932. Burdick also played for the now defunct Cincinnati Reds football team.


He also was a top-notch wrestler at Illinois, losing in the 1930 NCAA heavyweight finals. Burdick coached football at Knox College in 1934, but it was anything but successful as the Galesburg 11 lost eight games without scoring a single point.


He then went into the construction business, serving as a principal inspector of heavy-duty construction equipment on the Alcan and highway projects in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, as well as Alaska. The Alcan Highway began in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and ran all the way to Delta Junction, Alaska. Completed in 1942, it was 1,390 miles long.


Burdick died tragically in 1945 at the age of 37. A train on which Burdick was a passenger collided with another in North Dakota. Thirty-one others also were killed in the collision.




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                                                      Dr. David Chicoine

Dr. David Chicoine

Aug. 5, 2022


Thirty-three years ago today, Dr. David Chicoine assumed duties as the University of Illinois’ co-Faculty Representative for athletics.


For 11 years he served as faculty athletic representative to the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA. He was in that role for numerous milestone events, including Illinois basketball’s NCAA sanctions and Penn State’s admittance to the Big Ten.


An accomplished applied economics scholar with more than 100 scholarly publications, Chicoine most recently served as UI’s senior officer for technology commercialization and economic development. He served all three of UI’s campuses and was on the University’s agricultural economics faculty since 1979.


Chicoine was President of South Dakota State University from 2007 through 2017. Dr. Chicoine and his wife, Marcia, are both alumni of South Dakota State University, where David received his B.S. He also holds an M.S. from the University of Delaware, an M.A. from Western Illinois University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.



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                                                      Matt Bullock

Longest Serving Illini Athletic Trainers

Aug. 3, 2022


Born on this date 136 years ago—August 4, 1886—was David M. “Matt” Bullock, a man who served as the University of Illinois’ athletic trainer for 32 years.


Bullock served three different athletic directors—George Huff, Wendell Wilson and Doug Mills—and two different head football coaches—Bob Zuppke and Ray Eliot.


Ranking second and third among Illinois’ longest-serving athletic trainers are former staffers Karen Iehl-Morse and Al Martindale.


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                                                      101 years ago, George Huff and Bob Zuppke launched
                                                      a Western states fund-raising jouney.

Memorial Stadium Construction Sparked

Urbana's Growth a Century Ago

Aug. 1, 2022


One-hundred-one years ago today – Aug. 1, 1921 – Fighting Illini athletics director George Huff and football coach Bob Zuppke launched a Western states swing to raise funds for the University of Illinois’ mammoth new stadium.


Accompanied by their wives, the quartet made nearly a dozen stops, including meetings with alumni in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Salt Lake City, Denver and Omaha. In Santa Monica, 200 enthusiastic UI graduates, students and former students gathered for the biggest Illini meeting ever held West of the Mississippi. Following the picnic, 100 percent of the attendees pledged their support.


The Huffs and Zuppkes returned to Champaign on Sept. 2, in time for the coach’s preparation for the 1921 football season.


Their initial pitch for donations—targeted at $2.5 million—had initially begun the previous April with mass meetings on campus with U of I students.


An economic group in the city of Urbana, chaired by Professor R.M. Story, recognized that the new stadium would bring transient travel to the Twin Cities.


“From this, Urbana may profit financially if she prepares to do so,” said Story, the newly elected councilman of the fourth ward. “The Twin Cities cannot make money without spending it, that is investing it in fitting herself to be hostess to the guests that the stadium will bring. The housing, feeding and ministering of these can become an important factor in our municipal economy. A community as fortunately located to the University of Illinois will profit socially, economically and intellectually from the University in proportion to its willingness and enthusiasm towards University projects.”


An advertising campaign was subsequently launched in both the News-Gazette and Urbana Courier newspapers, urging citizens to get involved.


Commented M.W. Busey in one of the ads, “The stadium is the biggest boost for the University ever attempted. We ought to be for it on that account alone.”


A drive in 1921 for a new 100-room Urbana hotel, designated to be located at the northwest corner of Green and Market Streets and designed by architect Joseph Royer, was projected to carry a price tag of $350,000. The Tudor Revival building opened as the Urbana-Lincoln Hotel in 1923.


Besides the hotel, Urbana also invested in a golf course in 1922 (Urbana Country Club), a new 50-bed hospital (Mercy) that opened in 1923, and a number of downtown businesses.


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                                                      Perry Range

Perry Range

July 22, 2022


Perry Range, a four-year Fighting Illini basketball letter winner, celebrates his 62nd birthday today. Many call the 6-4 guard from South Beloit one of the greatest defensive players in Illinois history.


Range saved his best season for last, averaging 12.9 points per game in 29 starts and scoring at least 10 points in all but five games. He had a career-high 28 points vs. Long Island in the opening round of the 1982 NIT.


Range just missed being a member of the 1,000 points club at Illinois, scoring a total 941 points. He was the first player in Illini basketball history to shoot 50% or better from the field for four consecutive seasons.


The Illini had a cumulative four-year record of 80 victories and 43 losses during Range’s career, a .650 winning percentage.


Range was picked in the seventh-round of the 1982 NBA Draft by the then-Kansas City Kings and played in six preseason games before being cut.


An options trader for 25 years with the Chicago Board Options Exchange, he has recently been a fitness trainer and yoga instructor in Oak Park with a second home in Cherry Valley.


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                                                      Angelina Williams

Angelina Williams, By the Numbers

July 20, 2022


Celebrating her birthday on July 21st is Fighting Illini women’s basketball standout Angelina Williams. When she left Illinois, she was one of only two players—Karisma Penn is the other—who ranked among Illinois’ top ten in career points, steals & blocked shots. A four-year letter winner for Coach Theresa Grentz, Williams became the first-ever Illinois star to play in the WNBA. Her career story, by the numbers:

 

1              She’s the only Illini player who’s won a WNBA title (2006 with the Detroit

                Shock).


2              Selected by Phoenix in the second round (18th overall) in the 2005 WNBA                        Draft.

 

3              Number of seasons she led the Illini in scoring (2002-03 thru 2004-05).

 

4              Finished her career as Illinois’ No. 4 all-time scorer with 1,639 points.

 

31           Her career-high scoring game was vs. Michigan in 2004.

 

112        Total number of blocked shots ranked sixth best.

 

201        Career steals she accumulated for Illini rank No. 8 all-time.

 

521        Number of career rebounds she grabbed at UI ranks 20th best, even though                   she never led the team in that category during any single season.

 

533        Her points total in 2004-05 ranked 14th among Illini single-season

               performances.

 

.857       Her 6-of-7 three-point shooting effort vs. Auburn in 2002 (.857) ranks as

               UI’s second-best single-game percentage ever.


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                                                      William "Billy" May

Illinois' First Olympians

July 18, 2022


The names William May and Wilbur Burroughs likely aren’t familiar to fans of the Fighting Illini, but the truth is that they stand alone in their uniqueness. One-hundred-thirteen years ago, this highly anonymous pair was the first with University of Illinois ties that competed in modern Olympic Games.


The 1908 Olympic Games—originally scheduled to be held in Rome but relocated to England following the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius—were held at London’s White City Stadium, a facility with a capacity of 68,000. The events featured more than 2,000 athletes (including 37 women) from 22 National Olympic Committees. Held four years before the appearance of Native American superstar Jim Thorpe, the ’08 competition was dominated by Great Britain’s team which won 146 total medals, including 56 golds and 51 silvers.


Both of the University of Illinois’ 1908 Olympians competed in track and field.


Burroughs, a native of Edwardsville, was a two-sport star for the Illini, lettering in football from 1904-06 and in track and field from 1905-07. His specialty was throwing weights and he was among 12 American athletes who competed in events that included the shot put, discus throw, hammer throw and Greek discus. Burroughs did not earn a medal at the Olympics, but placed eighth in Greek discus, ninth in the shot, and tenth in the discus. He also competed for America’s tug-of-war unit, a fifth-place finisher.


Burroughs studied engineering at the University of Illinois and was a co-founder of UI’s Triangle Engineering fraternity. He eventually became a teacher, coach and principal, first in Moline, then in the Detroit (Mich.) Public Schools system, working for more than 30 years in those capacities. Burroughs also refereed high school and college sports, including Big Ten sanctioned events. He and his wife, Elizabeth, returned to their hometown of Edwardsville in 1947, but tragically died together in an automobile accident on Illinois State Route 111 in 1960. Burroughs was 76 years old when he passed.


May, nicknamed Billy, was born in St. Paul, Ill. in 1887. An outstanding athlete in Rochelle High School, lettered for the Illini track team from 1906-09 as a sprinter and captaining Coach Harry Gill’s squad as a senior. The Illio, UI’s Yearbook, described the 5-foot-8 ½-inch, 161-pound May as “the best piece of sprinting machinery the West has ever produced and one of the most consistent sprinters on the American continent.”


At the Olympic Games, May placed first in his opening 100 meters heat, then second in the seminal round with a time of 11.0 seconds but did not advance to the finals. In the 200, May placed second in heat 11 but did not advance any further.


In 1917, during World War I, May enlisted in the Army, becoming a 1st Lieutenant in light field artillery. He served during a conflict with Mexico, then stayed on as a trainer at Camp Grant. Following his service, the UI graduate in business worked many years as a buyer for Montgomery Ward, a prominent department store. May began his career in Chicago, then finished in New York City. He died in November of 1979 at the age of 92.


The University of Illinois’ first 10 Olympians (all in track and field):

1908 – Wilber Burroughs

1908 – William May

1912 – Avery Brundage

1912 – John Case

1912 – Edward Lindberg (gold and bronze medalist)

1912 – Frank Murphy (bronze)

1920 – Milton Angier

1920 – Basil Bennett (bronze)

1920 – Bob Emery

1920 – Kenneth “Tug” Wilson


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                                                      Wendell "Weenie" Wilson

Wendell "Weenie" Wilson

July 15, 2022


Eighty-one years ago today — July 15, 1941 — the University of Illinois Board of Trustees retained Illini football coach Bob Zuppke but dismissed athletic director Wendall "Weenie" Wilson.


The board renewed Wilson's contract for a year but granted him a one-year leave of absence before his official retirement in 1942.


In deciding to retain Zuppke, the trustees attached a condition that Zuppke must retire at age 65. The board admitted that this was only a temporary settlement for the dispute that had revolved around Zuppke since 1938, when his feud with Wilson began.


The Milwaukee Journal reported that Trustee Chester Davis said the controversy could not be settled permanently now "because it runs deeper than personalities."


The Journal reported that following the unanimous vote, the athletic board members all submitted their resignations in a move to aid in restoring harmony.


Around that time, Wilson joined a couple of other investors to found Teton Valley Ranch Camp, a boys' ranch in Kelly, Wyo. He and his wife, Mary Ellen, dreamed of a place where children could learn about the American West and themselves through a program based upon ranching heritage and respect for self and others. The Wilsons continued in that role until 1970, when they retired as camp directors.


Wilson died in 1990 at the age of 85. In 2001, the Wilson family decided to put the 2,400-acre ranch on the market for $50 million.



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                                                      Rayvonte Rice

Rayvonte Rice

July 13, 2022


Rayvonte Rice, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Thursday, had a fabulous first season as an Illini in 2013-14. Starting all 35 games last season, he topped Illinois in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game, including a total of 10 games of 20 points or more.


The native of Champaign had a history of being a prolific scorer. At Centennial High School, Rice averaged 16.8 ppg as a junior in 2009 and 23.9 ppg his senior season. He ended his prep career as the all-time leading scorer in Champaign-Urbana history, tallying 1,810 points.


As a rookie at Drake, he set the Bulldogs’ freshman scoring record with 428 points (13.8 ppg), then followed that effort up with a team-leading 16.8 average as a sophomore.


As impressive as Rice’s initial season was at Illinois, it only ranks eighth in the history of Illini first-season performances in terms of scoring average:


Illini First-Season Scoring Average Leaders

20.478 ppg     Dave Scholz, 1966-67

18.625 ppg     Jeff Dawson, 1972-73

16.750 ppg     Dave Downey, 1960-61

16.565 ppg     Nick Weatherspoon, 1970-71

16.417 ppg     Greg Jackson, 1968-69

15.928 ppg     Kiwane Garris, 1993-94

15.909 ppg     Nick Anderson, 1987-88

15.857 ppg     Rayvonte Rice, 2013-14

15.636 ppg     Kenny Battle, 1987-88

15.438 ppg     Cory Bradford, 1998-99


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                             Kevin Anderson (left) and Roger Federer

Kevin Anderson v. Roger Federer

July 11, 2022


Four years ago today, for a total of four hours and 14 minutes, the tennis world was captivated by the 2018 Wimbledon quarterfinals dogfight between Fighting Illini alumnus Kevin Anderson and Roger Federer.


Predictably, experts pointed to past statistics and predicted that the match at the All England Club wouldn’t be close. After all, Federer hadn’t lost a single set in more than two year—34 in a row—and Anderson had never taken a set off of Federer in any of their four previous matches.


In the first set, Federer breezed past his six-foot-seven-inch opponent, winning 6-2. He dismantled Anderson’s typically stellar service game with three service breaks and held his own serve to love. In just 26 minutes, Federer disarmed both Anderson’s serve and his wicked forehand stroke.


Despite being schooled in set one, Anderson told the media corps afterwards that he just “tried to keep fighting. I kept telling myself that I have to keep believing that today is going to be my day.”


The lanky South African displayed remarkable resiliency in the second set, breaking Federer’s serve for the first time in a year and charging off to a 3-0 lead. However, the Swiss star managed to gather himself at the changeover and rallied for a 7-6 victory to take a 2-0 lead.


Except for Anderson himself, nary a soul expected that the former Illini star would rally against Federer. Yet Kevin remained quietly confident.


“Down two sets to love, I really tried my best to just keep fighting,” he said. “If you go out there with doubts, it’s not going to go your way.”


In set three, Federer held a match point with Anderson serving at 4-5. Kevin attacked with his forehand and got a huge break with Federer mishit a backhand passing shot. That play and a few unreturnable serves resulted in a 7-5 Anderson victory.


Said Federer after the match to the press, “I’m up two sets to one and so I wasn’t thinking of losing.”


But the quietly confident Anderson wasn’t about to concede anything either and he continued to play with a nothing-to-lose attitude. In fact, he was playing the best tennis of his life, making Federer play much faster than his normal pace. Anderson’s 6-4 victory the match at two sets apiece.


It would prove to be a legendary fifth set, staying even at 4-4, 8-8 and 10-10. At 11-11, Federer suffered a deadly error, making his first double fault of the match to give Anderson a break point. Anderson launched a 128 miles per hour serve to Federer’s backhand and the return sailed well out of bounds. Kevin Anderson humbly approached the net to shake Federer’s hand. The king of grass graciously patted Anderson’s chest in defeat and victory belonged to the former Illini.


“In the fifth set, I was really in the flow of the match,” Anderson said. “Beating Roger Federer here at Wimbledon will definitely be one that I’ll remember, but now I’ve got to get ready for my next match.”

Anderson, the eighth seed, made it past American John Isner in the semifinals. That match lasted more than six hours an included a 26-24 final set.


“I’m definitely not feeling as fresh now as I was coming into the week,” said Anderson in a major understatement.


Unfortunately, Anderson’s luck ran out in the Wimbledon finals, losing in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6.


“Novak beat up on me pretty bad in those first two sets,” Anderson told the crowd in his post-match address at Center Court. “I came within a point or two of pushing it to a fourth set, but Novak is the true champion of our sport. Hopefully, within the next 20 years, another South African will be standing here saying that they saw me playing here and that I served as an inspiration for them.”


Said Djokovic after the final match, “Kevin has had an incredible run. In today’s third set, he was the better player.”


Without question, the five-day period from July 11 through 15, 2018 will go down as the finest moment in Kevin Anderson’s career.


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                             Franklin "Pitch" Johnson

Franklin "Pitch" Johnson

July 8, 2022


Letterman, captain, record-holder, Olympian, Hall of Famer … Franklin Pitcher “Pitch” Johnson was all of these during a storied career that began with Coach Harry Gill’s University of Illinois track and field team.


Ninety-eight years ago today—July 8, 1924—Johnson enjoyed one of his proudest moments, racing by himself at the Stade Olympique near Paris, France. The unusual circumstance occurred in the seventh qualifying heat of the 110-meter hurdles of the Olympic Games when every other competitor except the native St. Louisian scratched. Qualifying for the semifinals with a run of :16.6, Johnson then participated in the first of three heats, but his time of :15.8 ultimately wasn’t good enough to make the finals.


A letter winner at Illinois in 1922, ’23 and ’24, Johnson captained the Illini during his senior season, leading the Orange and Blue to a sweep of the Big Ten indoor and outdoor championship meets. He equaled the world record in the 110 hurdles that season, posting a time of 14.8. The Illini also swept the conference crowns in Johnson’s sophomore season.


Upon returning from Paris, Johnson assisted Gill in coaching the 1924-25 Illini. In 1928, he became head coach at Drake University. He led the Bulldogs to ten conference championships and ultimately was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame. Johnson moved on to become Stanford’s head coach from 1941-43. When World War II ended in 1945, he went to the Philippines and Japan for the U.S. Army to organize and conduct the Pacific Army Olympics. Johnson entered private business in Southern California in 1947. In 2009, 42 years after his death in 1967, he was selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for that organization's hall of fame.


Johnson and his wife, Mary, had two sons, Franklin Jr. and Martin, both of whom competed in track at Stanford. Pitch Jr. was a pioneer in Silicon Valley venture capital and became a multi-millionaire through his company, Asset Management Company.



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                             Lou Boudreau

Lou Boudreau & His All-Star Games

July 6, 2022


Eighty-nine years ago today—July 6, 1933—the Yankees’ Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the very first Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and the American League topped the Nationals, 4-2, at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.


Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau was the University of Illinois’ most frequent All-Star Game participant, appearing in five of the Mid-Summer Classics, all as a member of the Cleveland Indians.


His highlight came in the 1942 game at New York’s Polo Grounds when he led off the game with a home run, sparking the American League to a 3-1 victory.


Boudreau’s All-Star Game statistics:


Year   AB        R        H        RBI      Result                Starter/Sub

1940    0         0         0         0         NL won, 4-0      Subbed for Luke Appling at SS

1941    2         0         2         1         AL won, 7-5      Subbed for Joe Cronin at SS

1942    4         1         1         1         AL won, 3-1      Starter

1947    4         0         1         0         AL won, 2-1      Starter

1948    2         0         0         1         AL won, 5-2      Starter

Total   12       1         4         3         Won 4, Lost 1


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                             Steve Lanter

Steve Lanter

July 1, 2022


Former Fighting Illini basketball star Steve Lanter celebrates his 64th birthday today.


A two-time letter winner at Illinois, the Mascoutah High School graduate was part of a Lou Henson recruiting class that included Rob Judson, Levi Cobb and Neil Bresnahan. As a freshman in 1976-77, Lanter started 25 games and set a school record with 103 assists. He missed all of the ’77-78 campaign with a knee injury, then came back to play in ’78-79. The most memorable of his 52 assists that season was to Eddie Johnson, who hit a jumper in the final seconds to beat top-ranked Michigan State at the Assembly Hall.


As the CEO and founder of Lanter Delivery Systems in St. Louis, Lanter has been extremely successful during his career in transportation.


On July 7, 2021, he donated $2.5 million to the Ubben Basketball Complex expansion and renovation project. 


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                             Dick "Rocky" Raklovitz

Dick "Rocky" Raklovitz

June 30, 2022


Born 94 years ago today was former University of Illinois baseball and football star Dick “Rocky” Raklovits.


On his 23rd birthday, he was selected as the third baseman on the 1951 American Baseball Coaches Association All-America team. The shortstop on that all-star squad was future Pittsburgh Pirates standout Dick Groat, who then played for Duke.


Raklovits was an all-state football and baseball player at Chicago’s Fenger High School. As a safety and running back in 1949 for Coach Ray Eliot, he played principally on defense, but also averaged 5.5 yards per rush in limited carries. Raklovits reached football stardom in 1950, earning first-team All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America laurels. He led the conference in rushing with 709 yards and paced the Illini in scoring with eight touchdowns. Twice during his gridiron career, Raklovits rushed for 100-plus yards, including a career-best 122 yards vs. Michigan in 1950. The Detroit Lions offered him a contract, but he turned it down to pursue a career in baseball, which he considered his stronger sport.


For the Illini “9” in 1949, he led the team in runs scored, thanks to a UI single-season record seven home runs. Raklovits had a sensational senior campaign on the diamond in 1951, leading the Illini in hits, runs, steals and average (.387). He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers after graduating from Illinois and played with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association.


After a stint in the service, Illinois hired him as an assistant football coach and as freshman baseball coach. Western Michigan hired Raklovits as its assistant football coach in 1957 and he continued in that role with the Broncos for 17 years. After leaving the football staff, he served as an instructor at WMU in health, physical education and recreation.


Raklovitz died at the age of 89 in November of 2017.



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                             John Felmley

John Felmley

June 27, 2022


The list of Fighting Illini alumni who’ve gone on to fame in life beyond the athletic fields and arenas is long and distinguished. Former Normal University High School basketball standout John Felmley definitely belongs on the University of Illinois’ honor roll for career achievement.


Born on this date 127 years ago—June 27, 1895—he was the son of David and Auta Felmley. His father served as the president of Illinois State Normal University from 1900 until his death in 1930.


After graduating from high school, John matriculated to the University of Illinois. He lettered in 1917 for Coach Ralph Jones’ Big Ten championship-winning Illini basketball team, but then was called to military service in the Navy during World War I. He came back to letter again in 1920 as a forward, but it was a rocky season for him health-wise. UI’s yearbook, The Illio, reported that Felmley’s illness from the Spanish flu sidelined him at mid season and caused the 1920 Illini to fall off sharply after a 5-0 start and finish 9-4. His basketball teammates included legendary stars Chuck Carney, Tug Wilson and Burt Ingwersen. Felmley also served as captain of Illinois’ tennis team.


Following his graduation from Illinois in 1920 with a degree in architectural engineering, Felmley joined Bloomington’s Simmons-Dick Company. He was vice president and secretary of the J.L. Simmons Company from 1926-35.


In 1936, Felmley formed his own company and constructed numerous building throughout central Illinois. He was joined in business by Champaign’s Ray Dickerson in 1952 and the company changed its name to Felmley-Dickerson.


Tragically, Felmley’s life ended on April 11, 1958 when he drowned in a boating accident in South Carolina. Police reported that Felmley was making an adjustment to his boat’s outboard motor when he lost his balance and fell into 50 feet of water. He and his wife had traveled to South Carolina to attend the wedding of their son.


Felmley-Dickerson was eventually joined in business in 1947 by Felmley’s nephew, James Meek, a UIUC civil engineering graduate. Other administrators who joined the company included former Illini basketball alum Richard Foley in 1943, UIUC grad and current company chairman John Meek in 1973, Missouri Western University grad Jason Brewer in 2001, and Purdue University graduate James Meek II in 2009. The latter now serves as the company’s president.


Felmley-Dickerson’s major projects in Bloomington have included the State Farm Insurance buildings, Wesley Methodist Church, Illinois Wesleyan University’s Memorial Center, and Bloomington High School. A Bloomington newspaper article in 1958 reported that the company’s Dickerson projects had totaled more than $75 million worth of construction. 


Because of Felmley’s association as an alumnus of the University of Illinois, the company also had a major hand in numerous UIUC campus projects, including the iconic Assembly Hall. A list of some of Felmley-Dickerson’s most notable construction at the Urbana-Champaign campus:


•Noyes Lab/Chemistry Building (1939)

•Electrical Engineering Building (1949)

•Bevier Hall/Home Economics Building (1957)

•Peabody Drive Residence Halls (including Scott, Snyder and Weston) (1961)

•Assembly Hall (1963)

•South addition of the Illini Union Building (1963)

•Roger Adams Laboratory renovation (1971)

•McKinley Health Center renovation (2002)

•Law Building classroom revitalization (2020)

•Education Building’s O’Leary Learning Center (2020)

•Carle/Illinois College of Medicine renovation (2021)


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                             Leslie Bryan

Leslie Bryan

June 24, 2022


Thirty-seven years ago today—June 24, 1985—longtime University of Illinois faculty representative Leslie Bryan died at the age of 85.


From 1959-68, he represented the university and its faculty in the UI’s relationships with the NCAA and the Big Ten, and also chaired UI’s Athletic Council, the faculty’s voice on issues of academic policy related to student-athletes.


In November of 1966, Bryan was called upon to fill in as Illinois’s interim Director of Athletics when Doug Mills was forced to give up his post due to the Big Ten investigation known as the “Slush Fund.” Bryan yielded the interim A.D. title in 1967 when Gene Vance was named to the position.


A native of southern New York State, Bryan served as an infantry lieutenant during World War I in France, became a pilot and later rose to colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He later served as director of the New York State Bureau of Aviation and was a Civil Air Patrol commander in that state.


Shortly after UI’s Willard Airport was dedicated in 1945, the former Syracuse University professor and president of the Seneca Flying School joined Illinois’s faculty. Bryan observed the university’s fleet of training planes and proposed that the University initiate a college curriculum as a preparation for the business side of air transportation. In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower presented Bryan the Frank G. Brewer Trophy, awarded by the National Aeronautical Association for contributions to the field of flying. Bryan’s national reputation as an aviation expert resulted in an invitation by the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1958 to participate in the development of the Washington National Airport. A year later, he received the President's Award of the American Association of Airport Executives for service to the profession.



Upon Bryan’s retirement in 1968, United Airlines gave the University a 64-passenger, four-engine airliner in his honor.


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                              Terri Sullivan

Terri Sullivan

June 23, 2022


Twenty-three years ago today, Terri Sullivan was announced as the first Fighting Illini softball coach. She came to Illinois after seven seasons as associate head coach at UI Chicago where the Flames had compiled an impressive 381-126 record.


During her 16 seasons in Urbana-Champaign, Sullivan’s Illini have posted a 488-369-12 mark. Though Illinois didn’t won a regular-season Big Ten title, it won nearly 60 percent of its games under Sullivan’s tutelage.


The team’s best back-to-back seasons came in 2009 and ’10 when Illinois had a cumulative record of 74-25 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.


Sullivan’s Illini had 37 victories over ranked teams, highlighted by a win over sixth-ranked UCLA in 2008. Three different Illini players have earned All-America honors a total of four times.


Alex Booker, Sullivan’s standout left fielder in 2013, became the 39th Illini player to have been accorded All-Big Ten honors.

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                              Louis Muegge

Louis Muegge

June 20, 2022


A former football and wrestling letter winner, University of Illinois athlete and graduate Louis Muegge gained his greatest fame as a successful high school in Cape Girardeau, Mo.


Born 118 years ago today in Medford, Wis., Muegge was the son of an Evangelical Lutheran minister named Julius Muegge. Consequently, he spent his childhood in several sites around the Midwest, including Holland, Ia. and Lena, Ill. Louis was a star athlete at Sparta Township High School.


As a sophomore for Coach Bob Zuppke’s 1925 Illini, Muegge played guard and tackle, opening running paths for senior running back Red Grange. He was injured as a junior, but returned in 1927 for his senior year, a season that saw Illinois capture both the Big Ten and National Championships.


Muegge studied in UI’s unique physical education and athletic coaching school, a curriculum established by athletic director George Huff. He was a member of Illinois’ 1928 class.


Muegge was immediately offered the coaching job at Cape Girardeau’s Central High School, tutoring the Tigers for three seasons. His 1929 team was undefeated and unscored on. He departed Missouri to take a job in Pennsylvania for three years, but returned to the Cape and completed 21 more seasons. Muegge eventually became the Tigers’ basketball coach as well, qualifying seven time for the state tournament, winning third place in 1942 and the state title in 1954. He wound up his prep hoops career with a record of 361 victories and 144 losses. Muegge also coached baseball, winning six conference titles and taking first in state play once.


A heart attack claimed Muegge’s life in 1955 at the age of 51. His pall bearers were members of his ’54 Cape Girardeau basketball state champs.


Upon his death, a St. Louis Globe-Democrat tribute called Muegge “one of the finest men in the business.”


“Lou Muegge had the respect and the friendship of every coach and every official with whom he came in contact. His teams, in their performance, not only were always excellent and well coached but showed the good sportsmanship that only a Lou Muegge could teach.”


Lou Muegge Field at Cape Girardeau’s Junior High School is named in his honor.


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                              1921 National Champs

1921 Illini: NCAA's First Outdoor Track Champs

June 18, 2022


One-hundred-one years ago today, Coach Harry Gill’s Fighting Illini track and field team out-distanced Notre Dame by three-and-a-half points to win the first ever NCAA Outdoor Track Championship.


Performing in front of several of their fans at the University of Chicago Stagg Field, Illinois won the team crown without claiming a single individual title.


Gordon McGinnis (mile run), Dewey Alberts (high jump), Harold Osborn (running broad jump) and Russell Wharton (two-mile run) all were runners-up in their respective events, while Phil Donohoe (440 dash) and John Weiss (shot put) each placed third.


Of the 11 athletes on the UI travel roster, eight of them contributed points toward their team’s victory. It was the first of two national team championships for Coach Gill, who six years later led the Illini to the 1927 title.


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                              Fred Wham

Fred Wham

June 15, 2022


Born on this date 138 years ago was former University of Illinois football star Fred Wham.


A letter winner for Coach Fred Lowenthal in 1905 and for Coach Arthur Hall in 1907 and ’08, the native of Carter, Ill. obtained his law degree in 1909. He initially practiced law in Fort Smith and Fayetteville, Ark., and worked in the solicitor’s office of the United States Department of Agriculture from 1915 to 1917.


He moved to Centralia, Ill. to set up law practice with his brother, Charles, but more known for his interest in education. He was a member of the Centralia Board of Education and also served as a trustee of the U of I. In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Wham to fill a void on the U.S. District judicial bench in East St. Louis. At that time, bootleggers in southern Illinois supplied a major portion of Judge Wham’s time. Though was a teetotaler and a layman in the Presbyterian Church, he was not portrayed to be a fanatical prohibitionist.


Off the bench, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 1967 that Wham was quiet and unassuming, and that his manner bordered on the timid. On the bench, however, he was a stern defender of federal laws . He brought unimpeachable integrity to the post, due to his strong belief that laws were made to be obeyed.


Wham retired as judge of the Eastern District in March, 1956 and died 11 years later at the age of 82 in Centralia.


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                              Ray Eliot (right) and J.C. Caroline

Raymond Eliot Nusspickle

June 13, 2022


Today marks the 117th anniversary of the birth of the man known as “Mr. Illini”—Ray Eliot.


The only child of emigrants Adolph and Anna Nusspickel, Raymond Eliot Nusspickle was born on June 13, 1905, in a home on West 99th Street in New York City. He was his family’s first member to be born in America. When Ray was only six, his father died, so he and his mother moved to a small town outside of Boston where “Annie” cleaned homes, including that of Adolph Zukor, the president of Paramount Pictures. 


Fenway Park was just a trolley ride from Brighton, so young Ray often frequented Red Sox baseball games, further encouraging his career as an athlete. Football also became one of young Nusspickle’s favorite sports.


He eventually attended a preparatory school in Maine, starring on the athletic fields and serving as his junior and senior classes’ president.


As the fame of Red Grange spread Eastward, the then 23-year-old Nusspickle became mesmerized about this faraway university in Illinois. Upon his acceptance, he hitched rides all the way to Champaign-Urbana, arriving with his canvas-covered cardboard suitcase and $6.83 in his pocket. Nusspickle soon found housing in the attic of a house on the corner of Fourth and Green Streets in Urbana. To pay his rent, he worked the breakfast and dinner shifts as a nearby restaurant, attended classes from 8 until 3 in the afternoon, then went to football or baseball practice. During Nusspickle’s senior year, he earned his way by helping with the upkeep of UI’s athletic fields.


After lettering twice for Zuppke in football and once for Carl Lundgren in baseball, Nusspickle began his coaching career at Illinois College. In 1937, following five years in Jacksonville, Zuppke hired the newly named Ray Eliot as an Illini assistant. By that time, Zuppke’s success at Illinois had waned, primarily because he refused to recruit or give scholarships. When Zuppke begrudgingly resigned after the 1941 season, Illini players banded together and encouraged athletic director Doug Mills to hire Eliot. The 35-year-old coach signed a one-year contract for $6,000. From 1942 through 1959, Eliot’s Illini went on to win three Big Ten titles (1946, ’51 and ’53) and a national championship (’51).


Eliot died in 1980 at the age of 74.


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                              George Huff

George Huff

June 10, 2022


One-hundred-fifty years ago this week - June 11, 1872 - George Huff, the father of Fighting Illini athletics, was born. When he entered the University of Illinois as a student in 1887, little did he know how much of an impact he would make upon his hometown of Champaign over the next half century.


Highlights of his career:


•          Lettered twice in football as the team’s center and three times as a multi-position player in baseball.

•          A member of UI’s first-ever football team in 1890, “G” eventually become head coach.

•          As skipper of the Illini baseball squad, Huff won nearly 70 percent of the 544 games he coached from 1896-1919. UI won 11 Big Ten championships.

•          As UI’s athletic director from 1901-36, Huff hired such Illini coaching legends as Bob Zuppke, Carl Lundgren, Craig Ruby and Harry Gill.

•          He directed the construction of Memorial Stadium and the gymnasium that would eventually be named in his honor, Huff Gym.

•          Huff died on October 1, 1936 at the age of 64.



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                              Brian Scott

Brian Scott

June 8, 2022


Happy 45th Birthday to Fighting Illini football alum Brian Scott. The 1996 graduate of Urbana High School played for Coach Mason Minnes’ Tigers football squad, earning Big 12 All-Conference honors on both offense and defense.


When Illini coach Lou Tepper invited him to walk-on at Illinois, Scott became the first Urbana player to wear the Orange & Blue since linebacker Sam Ellsworth in 1987. He endured a broken knee late in UI’s ’96 season as a freshman, then broke his arm in the ’97 spring drills.


As a senior offensive lineman in 1999, Scott was awarded a scholarship and became a valuable backup to Mark Butkus at center. The ’99 Illini compiled an 8-4 record, including victories at Michigan (35-29), at Iowa (40-24) and at Ohio State (46-20). Illinois finished the season with a 63-21 victory over Virginia at the Micronpc.com Bowl in Miami where Scott made the final snaps of the 20th century for the Illini.


He earned a degree from the College of Applied Life Sciences in kinesiology, finishing with a grade point average of 3.2. Scott became a trooper for the Illinois State Police in 2001 and is now in his 13th year on the force, working out of District 10 in Tolono.


On March 25, 2013, Trooper Scott was in the ninth hour of what would eventually become a 12-1/2-hour shift, at which time he was dispatched to a spot on Interstate 57, approximately five miles north of Rantoul, where several vehicles had left the highway due to slippery wintry conditions. One driver, among several, had gotten out of his car, waving at Scott for assistance from across I-57. As Trooper Scott was about to leave his car, another vehicle spun out and struck that individual, pinning him underneath on his back, with just his legs sticking out from under the car. Scott dashed across the drifted, snow-filled median to assist. Enlisting the help of two other men, they lifted the 3,000-pound vehicle just high enough so that the injured man could be pulled to safety, undoubtedly saving his life.


Brian, his wife Stacey, and their three sons—Camren, Caden and Charlie—currently reside in Tolono.



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                              Frank Froschauer

Frank Froschauer

June 6, 2022


One of the University of Illinois’ greatest all-around athletes of the 1930s was born on this date in 1912.


From September 1932 through March 1935, the name Frank Froschauer frequented stories that covered Fighting Illini football and basketball.


As a member of Coach Bob Zuppke’s football team from 1932 through ’34, the Lincoln, Ill. native was a prominent contributor from his halfback position. Racking up a 7-1 overall record and finishing 4-1 in Big Ten Conference play, Froschauer’s senior-year team was Zuppke’s last great club. It defeated Ohio State, Michigan and Army in succession, outscoring its eight foes 103-43.


On the basketball court, the 6-1 Froschauer was even more proficient, leading the team in scoring in each of his three varsity campaigns from 1933-35. He averaged eight points per game in an era when the entire Illini squad typically scored only thirty points per contest. With Froschauer as captain, Illinois’ ’34-35 club won the Big Ten championship with a 9-3 conference record, claiming the school’s first basketball title in 11 years.


The Phi Sigma Kappa member graduated in 1935 with a physical education degree. Just a month later, Harvey, Ill.’s Thornton Township High School named Froschauer as assistant coach. He later became a head coach and wound up a 37-year career at Thornton’s athletic director in 1972. Froschauer hired Ron Ferguson as Thornton’s basketball coach and the school’s ’72 team, led by Quinn Buckner, won the state title.


Froschauer was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame as a player in 1976. He retired in Green Bay, Wis. and died in April of 1985 at the age of 72. 


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                              Arthur Hall

Arthur Hall

June 3, 2022

June 4 marks the 153rd anniversary of the birth of former Fighting Illini athlete and coach Arthur Hall. He was the architect of the University of Illinois’ first-ever Big Ten football title in 1910. Other highlights of “Artie” Hall’s career:


•          1898: The native of East Lynn, Illinois first lettered for Coach George Huff’s football squad as an end.

•          1900: As a senior captain under Coach Fred Smith, Hall and the Illini compiled an overall record of 7-3-2. 

•          1907:  Athletic director Huff named Hall as Illinois’ 11th head football coach. UI placed third in the Big Ten standings, its best finish ever.

•          1910:  Hall’s Illini became only the second conference team, and just the 13th in college football history, to be undefeated and unscored upon. At 7-0 overall and 4-0 in league play, Hall directed Illinois to its first Big Ten title.

•          1912: Hall coached his sixth and final Illini football squad. Huff replaced him with Bob Zuppke.

•          1954: Hall retired as Vermilion County probate court judge, a post he held for more than 40 years. He was instrumental in developing the state of Illinois’ “hard road” system.

•          1955: Hall died at the age of 86.   


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                              Kevin Turner

Tom Dedin

June 1, 2022

Forty-four years ago today - June 1, 1978 - Tom Dedin was named head baseball coach at the University of Illinois. He joined the Fighting Illini following two exceptional seasons at Lewis University, his alma mater.


In nine years with the Fighting Illini, Dedin’s teams posted a mark of 274-230-5, qualifying for the Big Ten playoffs three times. Among the players he coached at Illinois were Darrin Fletcher, Donn Pall and Tim Richardson.


Upon departing Champaign-Urbana, he took over as baseball coach and athletic director at Regis University in Denver and eventually servedf as associate A.D. at Regis.


A native of Joliet, Dedin played basketball and baseball at Joliet Catholic High School. He is a member of the Lewis University Athletic Hall of Fame and of the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.


Today, Dedin works one-on-one with Denver local players, instructing them fundamentals in the areas of pitching, catching and hitting. 


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                              Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner

May 30, 2022

Turning 46 today is former Fighting Illini basketball star Kevin Turner. Averaging 21 points per game as a senior at Simeon High School, the 6-3 guard chose Lou Henson’s program over Eastern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Indiana State.


When Lon Kruger replaced Henson following the 1995-96 season, Turner admitted that the coaching change was “like a fresh start” for him.


“Lou Henson was a great coach, but Lon Kruger was more of a guards coach,” Turner said. “He suited my game more and that’s why I had more success under Coach Kruger. I was excited from the first day he was hired.”


As a junior in Kruger’s first season (1996-97), Turner started 20 of 32 games and averaged 10.1 points per game.


His biggest highlight came as a senior in 1997-98 when he was one of five seniors in the starting lineup that shared the Big Ten title.


“You probably won’t see that again in this era of basketball because some of the kids are only staying for a year or transferring,” Turner said.


Of Illinois’ five starters—Turner and Matt Heldman in the backcourt, Jerry Hester and Brian Johnson at the forwards, and Jerry Gee at center—they started all but one game in ’98 and scored nearly 85 percent of the team’s points.


Turner led the way by averaging a team-best 17.7 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals. He was rewarded at the end of the campaign when he was selected as Illinois’ co-MVP and as a first-team All-Big Ten selection.


He is now an iron worker in Chicago and has three kids, ages 15, 13 and three.


Other Kevin Turner observations:


ON HIS CAREER-BEST 35-POINT PERFORMANCE AGAINST INDIANA IN THE BIG TEN OPENER: “The game before that I had scored 32 against UCLA. Personally, I never thought that I would be able to play as well as I did. It was a great experience … a great feeling.”


ON ILLINOIS’ FEB. 12 VICTORY OVER NO. 13 MICHIGAN STATE: “That Michigan State game was a big one for us. It was always exciting to beat them. We had blown the game earlier in the season at their place, but that night we were just locked in and focused. Coach Kruger and his coaches had a great game plan, both offensively and defensively”


ON UI’S SENIOR NIGHT VICTORY OVER IOWA: “Playing our last game at home was very emotional. We didn’t know what was going to happen next in our career or life in general. In a quick moment, the whole four years went by so fast. It just seemed like we were freshmen one day and then we were ending our career. Our senior class was there together for the entire time, so it was very emotional.”


ON THE REGULAR-SEASON FINALE AT INDIANA: “When the first half ended, I remember Bobby Knight going the opposite way from his locker room. He (purposely) walked across the court to bump into Teddy Valentine. But we stayed focused and locked in. Coach Kruger and the other coaches stayed on top of us and told us not to let that detract us from what we were there to do. That was a big win for us.”


ON JERRY HESTER: “Him coming back for a fifth season was definitely a plus for us. Jerry was one of those guys who would push you in practice. With his size and length as a guard, he made us better. He was a great all-around teammate, on and off the court.”


ON JERRY GEE: “Jerry may not have been that big in height, but he was an ox. He was one of the strongest players in the Big Ten. That year, every piece we had just molded together. Everyone contributed and everyone played a role. “


ON BRIAN JOHNSON: “B.J. pushed all of us. It didn’t matter who you were. B.J. would challenge you. If you didn’t work, he would play in place of you. He did all of the little things—rebounded, set screens, drew offensive charges. He was a big part of our success that year.”


ON MATT HELDMAN: “Matt was tough and gritty; he wouldn’t back down to anyone. He was the glue for our team. He ended up playing fulltime point guard our senior year and handled that so well. Matt did everything that he was supposed to do. We were roommates on the road our freshman year. It was heartbreaking to hear what happened to him.”


ON WINNING THE BIG TEN TITLE: “I still talk about that championship today. All of us are very proud of that. We weren’t expected to end up as champions, so that meant a lot to us.”


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                              Dwight Follett

Dwight Follett

May 28, 2022

Dwight Follett, former University of Illinois athlete and chairman of the Follett Bookstore chain, was born 119 years ago on this date.


A Maywood, Illinois native and a graduate of Proviso High School, Follett was a letter-winning end on Coach Bob Zuppke’s 6-1-1 football team of 1924, starring the legendary Red Grange.


Dwight was the son of C.W. Follett, who in 1918 took over management of the company. C.W. was eventually joined in the business by sons Dwight, Bob and Garth. In 1925, 22-year-old Dwight founded the Follett Publishing Company. When the elder Follett passed away in 1952, Dwight succeeded his father as chairman of the burgeoning book publishing and distribution company.


Follett died in 1993 at the age of 90.


Today, Follett Corporation is the world's largest single source of books, entertainment products, digital content and multi-media for libraries, schools and retailers. The company maintains an eye on the future, focusing on e-commerce, digital offerings and text rental in addition to its core areas of expertise.


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                              Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson

May 23, 2022

Happy 40th Birthday to former Fighting Illini men’s tennis star Brian Wilson. His collegiate career’s highlight came on May 26, 2003, just three days after his 21st birthday when the Illinois junior and freshman Rajeev Ram teamed up to beat San Diego State’s Oliver Maiberger and Ryan Redondo by scores of 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.


Wilson and Ram’s doubles victory completed a rare sweep for the Illini, winning the team championship, the singles championship (Amer Delic) and the double championship.


"It doesn't get any better than this," said Coach Craig Tiley following Wilson and Ram’s win. "Never in my wildest dreams did I see us pulling off a sweep like this. Now our players can be talked about along with players like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Todd Martin and Mal Washington. It's an unbelievable feat to win all three.”


Unseeded in doubles, Wilson and Ram began their run in the Round of 32 with a 7-5, 6-3 straight set victory over Arizona State’s doubles team of Olivier Charroin and Chris Stewart. Their success continued with a stunning 6-3, 6-4 win over Duke’s third-seeded duo of Phillip King and Michael Yani in the Round of 16.


Wilson and Ram had to come from behind in the quarterfinals to defeat Tulsa’s Ryan Livesay and Dustin Taylor, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.


Their semifinal match against Rice’s top-seeded team of twins Richard and William Barker. Surprisingly, Wilson and Ram advanced to the finals with a 7-6, 7-5 victory.


Their triumph in the finals gave them a 24-5 record, making it the winningest pairing (.828) in Illini history.


Months later, Wilson and Ram teamed up at the 2003 U.S. Open, but they were beaten in the first round by Robby Ginepri and Bobby Reynolds.


From 2000 through 2004, Wilson posted an overall doubles record of 89-25, including a 33-8 mark during the 2003 campaign.


Following a brief career in the ATP, Wilson now serves as a coach for the Online Tennis School. He resides in Las Vegas, Nev.


It’s a limited list of universities that have swept the NCAA Men’s Division 1 team, singles and doubles titles in the same season (since 1960):


2003      Illinois

2001      Georgia

1998      Stanford

1992      Stanford

1974     Stanford

1973     Stanford

1971      UCLA

1969      Southern California

1968      Southern California

1967      Southern California

1965      UCLA

1964      Southern California

1963      Southern California

1962      Southern California

1960      UCLA

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                              Daniel Barker hauled in Brandon Peters' winning TD pass in 2019

The Illini & The Spartans

May 20, 2022

In 1946, when the University of Chicago eliminated its varsity football program and withdrew its membership from the Western Conference (now known as the Big Ten), Michigan State University President John Hannah began his petition for the Spartans to take Chicago’s place as the league’s tenth member.


MSU’s quest was vehemently challenged by its “sister” school, the University of Michigan, but Hannah was not deterred, forging relationships with the balance of the Big Ten Conference presidents, including the University of Illinois’s Arthur Willard, and another Illini grad, Kenneth “Tug” Wilson, then the Commissioner of the league.


After more than three years of deft politicking by Hannah, it became official 73 years ago today – May 20, 1949: Michigan State was a member of the Big Ten.


Since beginning Big Ten competition in September of 1950, Spartan and Illini teams have had numerous memorable meetings and events:


• 1953: Illinois and Michigan State tied for the Big Ten football title. The Spartans were selected to be the conference’s representative in the January 1, 1954 Rose Bowl game.


• Oct. 27, 1956: The unranked Illinois football team beat No. 1 MSU at Memorial Stadium, 20-13.


• 1958: The Illini and Spartan gymnastics teams tied for the NCAA title.


• Nov. 28, 1963: In a football game moved to Thanksgiving Day due to the assassination of President John Kennedy, Illinois prevailed over Michigan State to win the Big Ten and claim a berth in the Rose Bowl.


• Jan. 11, 1979: Eddie Johnson’s baseline jumper with just seconds remaining helped the Illini beat Magic Johnson’s top-ranked Spartans.


• Oct. 24, 1987: Illinois blemished the MSU football team’s otherwise perfect Big Ten record by tying the Spartans, 14-14, at East Lansing.


• 1990: Coach John Mackovic’s Illini shared the Big Ten football title with Michigan State, Iowa and Michigan.


• 1997: Illinois, Michigan State and Purdue tied for the Big Ten women’s basketball championship.


• 2005: The Illini and Spartan basketball teams were Final Four participants in St. Louis.


• March 29, 2015: Michigan State spoiled Illinois baseball’s otherwise flawless Big Ten record (21-1) with a 5-2 victory at Kobs Field.


• Nov. 9, 2019: In the largest comeback in Illini football history, Illinois overcame a 25-point deficit to beat host Michigan State at Spartan Stadium, 37-34.


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                              Ed O'Bradovich

Ed O'Bradovich

May 18, 2022

A veteran of 124 National Football League games is former Fighting Illini player Ed O’Bradovich.


From 1962-71, he played with and against many of professional football’s greatest stars. As a rookie, O’Bradovich joined a Chicago Bears team that included three future Pro Football Hall of Famers: Doug Atkins, Mike Ditka and Bill George.


In 1963, his second season and Coach George Halas’s final campaign, the Bears rolled to an 12-1-2 record, including a14-10 NFL championship victory over the New York Giants. In a key play during the title game, “OB” intercepted a short pass thrown by Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle and rumbled down the field for a touchdown. He was a talented pass rusher on coordinator George Allen’s stingy defensive unit, a squad that yielded an average of just 10 points per game.


An all-state fullback at Proviso High School, Coach Ray Eliot eventually moved him to an end position where he flourished. In 1990, Illinois football’s centennial season, OB was among 25 men chosen to the school’s All-Century Team.


He continued to have a close relationship with the Bears and was asked by both Ditka and Dan Hampton to present their induction speech at the Pro Hall of Fame ceremonies.


O’Bradovich will celebrate his 82nd birthday on Saturday.



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                               Jamie Fairbanks

Jamie Fairbanks

May 16, 2022

Twenty-nine years ago today—May 16, 1993—Champaign’s Jamie Fairbanks became the eighth Fighting Illini men’s golfer in history to win medalist honors at the Big Ten Championships.


Playing at Indiana University’s course, the Centennial High School graduate’s four-round total of 286 was one stroke better than Iowa’s Jon Frommett, Michigan State’s Heath Fell and Wisconsin’s Jason Fitchett.


What turned out to be his winning round, a 68, came on Friday. Fairbanks remembers it well.


“I had a stretch where I got hot with the putter—20-25-30-foot birdie putts—and made four in a row,” he said. “It switched a round into something that was going to benefit me a lot.”


In Sunday’s final-day competition, he shot a 73, a round that included bogies on the 17th and 18th holes.


“I remember that I was upset and disappointed at the end of that round because I thought that I might have blown the tournament,” Fairbanks said. “I missed a four-or five-footer for par on the last hole. It’s not like today where they have scoreboards that told us what was going on. There were rumors of a guy who was a few under on the back nine, but I did not know for sure what I needed to do. Then to finish bogie-bogie, I felt like I might have blown the tournament. I finished earlier than many of the others and some of those who were close behind me still had several holes to play. My coach (Ed Beard) and my parents were trying to settle me down. To finally find out that I had won by one shot was exhilarating. Winning the Big Ten Tournament was the highlight of my college career.”


Fairbanks’ individual victory gave Illinois men’s and women’s golf a sweep of medalist honors in 1993. Just a week before, his good friend Renee Heiken, had won the ladies’ Big Ten Tournament.


“It was a great week for Illinois golf,” he said.


Suffice it to say, Illini golf’s facilities have changed dramatically since Fairbanks lettered from 1991-94.


“It’s a night-and-day difference from what the kids have today,” he said. “I’m embarrassed to say it, but I’m proud of it as well. In the wintertime, in the dungeon of Huff Hall, we had a dark, tiny room set up where we could hit balls into a net. You could barely fit into the room to swing. I went down there hour after hour in the wintertime and hit ball after ball into a hitting net. There were no simulators, no heated bays, we weren’t hitting at a target … we were just thumping a ball into a net. Surprisingly, you could tell how you were hitting the ball just from the feel of the club. It was you, by yourself, in a dark room underneath Huff Hall. Today’s kids have equipment that measures their swing speeds and their arc angles and trajectories and spin rates. Honestly, when I played, Illinois golf was not on the radar anywhere. We ran three days a week at the Armory and we hit five days a week at Huff. Any day that we could get outside to play on the Orange and Blue (at Savoy) was special. There were a lot of cold, windy days out on that range, hitting it out toward the corn field. When you finally got to your first tournament down South, it was always a bit of an adventure.”


Now, nearly three decades since he last played for the Illini, Fairbanks is a very proud alumnus.


“I’ve gotten to see the whole transition,” he said. “I came to Illinois when the team was starting to make a name for itself. Steve Stricker was the start of it. I was happy to continue a little bit of the success by winning a Big Ten championship. It’s incredible the job that Mike (Small) has done. The status of the program today certainly makes me proud to say that I was a Fighting Illini golfer. Nowadays, when you look at how good these kids are, I’m not sure if I could be a member of the team.”


Today, Fairbanks and his wife, Yolanda, operate Champaign Urbana Home Rental, renting single-family homes in the area. Their five children range from 10-years-old to 20-year-old daughter Miranda, a junior at Indiana University.


“So, two or three times a semester, I get to pass the golf course where I won the Big Ten championship,” he said. “And every single time I drive by it, I look at it with fond memories.”


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                               Josh Klimek

Josh Klimek

May 13, 2022

Josh Klimek, whose name is most closely associated with home runs in the Fighting Illini baseball record book, set a Big Ten record in another category 26 years ago today. In a May 20, 1996 game against Chicago State, Cougar pitchers wisely avoided the UI slugger by walking him an Illinois Field record four times.


This, of course, occurred during a season in which Klimek would slam a record 26 home runs, seven more than the 19 that Forry Wells had hit in 1994 and the 19 that Scott Spiezio belted in 1992.


A multi-sport star at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis, Klimek had baseball scholarship offers from Michigan State, Clemson and UCLA, and a combined baseball/soccer offer from St. Louis University.


During his big season in 1996, Klimek said he remembered no one particular home run above the other.


“What stood out to me were the hot streaks I got in,” he said. “ I think I had a stretch of six or seven games where I hit at least one. I was always more of a gap-to-gap hitter with some decent power, but never hit with this much power in one season.”


In eight minor league seasons, primarily spent with the Milwaukee Brewers organization, Klimek hit 80 home runs but, at age 28, decided to leave baseball before he was able to reach the majors.


“Once you start reaching that certain age and haven't made it yet, your chances diminish,” he said. “I could have continued to play but I had a semester at the U of I to complete in order to graduate. It was something I really wanted to do and it was going to be easier the younger I was.”


Klimek was able to complete his degree in sports marketing. He's now in charge of deposit operations for Midwest Bankcentre in St. Louis.


Klimek’s favorite home run hitters:


1. Darryl Strawberry – “He was my guy growing up. Smooth swing with power.”

2. Ken Griffey Jr. – “Sweet lefty swing.”

3. Albert Pujols – “Best all around hitter of my generation. Consistent.”

4. Mark McGwire – “Pure power, with or without help.”

5. Barry Bonds – “Great short swing.”

6. Stan Musial – “I admired the way he modestly played the game.”

7. Fred McGriff – “Nice lefty swing.”

8. David Ortiz – “His massive hack/swing and glowing personality.”

9. Chipper Jones – “Great switch hitter with power from both sides of the plate.”

10. Alex Rodriguez – “Great all around hitter.”

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                               Gene Kenney

Gene Kenney

May 11, 2022

Celebrating his 94th birthday next Sunday (May 15) is former Fighting Illini wrestler Gene Kenney. Born and raised in Urbana, he’s the son of legendary wrestling coach Harold “Hek” Kenney, namesake of Kenney Gym on Springfield Avenue and an Illini Hall of Fame inductee.


Gene was a 1950 letter winner and graduated that year. He got his first job at the University of North Carolina as assistant wrestling coach. Kenney received his first experience in coaching collegiate soccer when the Tar Heel head soccer coach became ill.


He then spent two years in Korea as an Army officer, where he coached several service soccer teams. After service in the armed forces, he got a job at Michigan State, initially coaching wrestling and teaching physical education.


When MSU’s club soccer team achieved varsity status in 1956, Spartan athletic director Biggie Munn named Kenney as the squad’s head coach. At one stretch during Gene’s 14 years with MSU soccer, the Green and White competed in eight straight NCAA championship tournaments (1962-69). His ’64 and ’65 teams took second place to St. Louis University, and captured co-championships in ’66 and ‘67. Kenney was named National Collegiate Soccer Coach of the Year that latter season. Through 14 years, his teams compiled a record of 120-13-13, a career winning percentage of .866, second best in NCAA history.


Munn named Kenney assistant athletics director for facilities in 1970 and Gene served in that role for five MSU athletic directors. During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of Munn Ice Arena and the Breslin Student Event Center. He also founded and directed the Summer Sports School, the nation's first of its kind.


Kenney retired from MSU in 1994 and, 11 years later, was inducted into Michigan State’s Athletics Hall of Fame.


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                               Hiles Stout

Hiles Stout

May 9, 2022

Today, Illini Legends, Lists & Lore acknowledges the 87th anniversary of the birth of Hiles Stout, a six-time Fighting Illini letter winner in football and basketball. Born May 10, 1935, the former Peoria Central High School star was a standout athlete for both Ray Eliot and Harry Combes in the mid 1950s.


Very few prep performers in the state of Illinois were as acclaimed as the 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pounder. He played quarterback in football, center in basketball, and first base in baseball for the Lions. Stout’s 1,546 career points were an area basketball record. That included a Peoria single-game school record of 48 points against Spalding. Stout ultimately chose to attend the University of Illinois over Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, Georgia and Kansas.


In 1954 and ’55, for Eliot’s Illini football team, Stout served as the back-up quarterback to Em Lindbeck. As a senior in ’56, he led all Illini QBs with 278 yards passing, boosting his career total to 1,042 yards.


On the hardcourt, Stout primarily served as Combes’ most prominent reserve player in Illini lineups that featured George Bon Salle, Paul Judson, Bill Ridley, Don Ohl and Harv Schmidt. In 59 career appearances, Stout averaged 8.1 points per game.


Upon graduating in 1957, Stout first worked for Caterpillar as a sales representative, then served for several years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then helped form the Hecht-Stout Insurance Agency in Peoria.


Stout co-founded and chaired Peoria’s St. Jude Tennis Classic, raising more than $1 million over 26 years with that charity.


He was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1974, then the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.


Stout died in 2016 at the age of 81.

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                               Bogie Redmon

Bogie Redmon

May 6, 2022

Recipient of the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor in 1965, Bogie Redmon would have turned 79 on May 7.


Coach Harry Combes recruited the Collinsville all-stater to the University of Illinois after Redmon helped lead Virgil Fletcher’s 1961 team to a 32-0 season and the state championship. Redmon was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.


At 6-feet-5-inches and 225 pounds, Redmon first appeared as a sophomore with the Illini’s Big Ten champs in 1963. He averaged 9.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a junior, though Illinois slumped to an overall record of 13-11. Success returned for the 1964-65 Illini behind the starting lineup of Redmon (15.2 points per game), Skip Thoren (22.2), Tal Brody (19.3), Don Freeman (18.3) and Bill McKeown (11.0) which averaged 86 of the team’s 92.2 points per game. Though Illinois finished third behind Michigan, starring Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin, it won 18 of its 24 games. Perhaps the most impressive of the Illini victories that year came in the opener when it defeated defending NCAA champion UCLA, 110-83.


Redmon also starred for the Illini track and field squad as a weights thrower, earning three varsity letters. In 1965, his senior season, he was the Big Ten discus champion, hurling the 4.4-pound circle 167-feet-3 ½-inches.


Bogie was a tenth-round pick in the 1965 NBA Draft, but the prospect of a $12,000 contract wasn’t enough to encourage him to pursue a professional career. Instead, the UI marketing major chose to join his father, Gant, in his State Farm Insurance business. Redmon ultimately took over the Collinsville business. The agency has since expanded to Edwardsville.


Bogie Redmon died in February of 2021.


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                               Mannie Jackson

Mannie Jackson

May 4, 2022

Former Fighting Illini basketball star Mannie Jackson celebrates his 83rd birthday today. Born in Illmo, Mo., a dozen members of his family lived in a converted railway boxcar until he was three years old.


He entered a newly integrated Edwardsville High School in 1952, combining with a group of talented teammates, including future NBA player Don Ohl and Govoner Vaughn. During Jackson’s senior season, Edwardsville lost to West Rockford, 67-65, in the finals of the IHSA basketball tournament.


Jackson and Vaughn were the first African-American players to start for the University of Illinois basketball team. In his three letter-winning seasons—1958-59-60—he averaged 13.8 points per game, including 16.4 points as a senior.


After failing to make the New York Knicks roster, Jackson tried out for the Harlem Globetrotters, a team owned and run by fellow Illinois graduate Abe Saperstein. He left the ‘Trotters in 1964, settling in Detroit where he worked at General Motors and at Honeywell, eventually rising to the senior vice president at Honeywell. Jackson became the majority owner of the Globetrotters in 1993.


In 2017, he was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and also to the Illini Hall of Fame.

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                                 Lynnette and Lisa Robinson

Today in Illini Athletics History

May 2, 2022

Forty-four years ago today—May 2, 1978—Lisa and Lynette Robinson of Annawan, Ill. sign National Letters of Intent to play basketball at Illinois. Four years later, they ended their careers as Illinois’ top two career basketball scorers of all time. By the time Lisa and Lynette played their final games in Illini uniforms, the twins ranked as UI’s Nos. 1 and 2 career scorers and Nos. 1 and 4 career rebounders, respectively.


Elsewhere on this date in Fighting Illini history:



May 2, 1923: Illini baseball crushed Chicago, 16-3, as Swede Hellstrom, Cliff Happenny and Les Schlapprizzi each smacked home runs.


May 2, 1925: Illinois dedicated its new Memorial Stadium track by defeating Notre Dame. Illini athletes won 10 different events that day.


May 2, 1941: Paul Milosevich’s two home runs drove in six runs and Boyd Bartley went 4-for-5 as Illinois baseball embarrassed Chicago in the Windy City, 22-4.


May 2, 1952: Rookie coach Lee Eilbracht got a complete-game performance from pitcher Jerry Smith and Illini shortstop John Davis went 4-for-5 as Illinois topped Purdue, 11-6. UI went on to tie for the Big Ten title.


May 2, 1983: All-star Illini guard Derek Harper announced that he would forego his senior year of eligibility to turn pro.


May 2, 1993: UI’s women’s tennis squad placed third at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind., its best finish ever. UI’s Lindsey Nimmo was named the conference’s Player of the Year.


May 2, 1998: Illini baseball improved its Big Ten record to 17-5 and Brett Weber became the first UI pitcher to win a game in every conference series as Illinois swept Purdue. Coach Itch Jones’ Big Ten champs finished 19-5.


May 2, 1999: Coach Craig Tiley’s Illini tennis team captured its third straight Big Ten title, marking the first time in history that had happened at Illinois.


May 2, 2010: Nipping runner-up Iowa by three strokes at the course in Independence, Minn., Illinois’ men’s golf squad won back-to-back Big Ten titles for the first time since 1940 and ’41.


May 2, 2015: Illinois baseball battled back twice to win its school-record 20th consecutive game, a 6-5 victory over No. 23 Ohio State. Closer Tyler Jay got his ninth save by retiring the Buckeyes’ last seven hitters.


May 2, 1996: Malcolm Hill was named Most Valuable Player of the 2015-16 Illini basketball team.


May 2, 2017: Illini golf swept virtually every honor it could as the Big Ten handed out its postseason awards. Mike Small was named the conference’s Coach of the Year for the third straight season, while junior Dylan Meyer earned the league’s Player of the Year honor and rookie Michael Feagles was named Freshman of the Year.


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                                 Leo Johnson

Illini in Drake Relays Hall of Fame

Apr. 29, 2022

On this date 45 years ago—April 29, 1977—Fighting Illini track and field legends Harry Gill and Leo Johnson were among six charter class members inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame. They joined Wisconsin’s Tom Jones, Texas’s Clyde Littlefield, Drake and Kansas’s Bill Easton, and Drake’s Major John Griffith. Griffith would later serve as the first Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference (1922-24).


Gill, a native of Orillia, Ontario, Canada, came to the University of Illinois from Beloit College. He guided Illini track and field fortunes from 1904-29, then again from 1931-33. In 1921 he organized the very first NCAA championship in any sport, and his Illini won the inaugural event in addition to a second title in 1927. Gill died in 1956 at the age of 80.


Johnson, Illinois’ head coach from 1938-65, was a football and track star at Decatur’s Millikin College, then returned to serve as head coach of all of Big Blue sports in 1923. He guided Fighting Illini teams to 17 Big Ten titles and three national championships. Johnson died in 1982 at the age of 88.


The complete list of eleven Illini coaches and athletes in the Drake Relays Hall of Fame (established in 1959):


1959 - Harold Osborn, High Jump and Decathlon

1959 - Dwight “Dike” Eddleman, High Jump

1963 - Lee Sentman, Illinois, Hurdles

1966 - George Kerr, Illinois, 880

1967 - Milton Angier, Illinois, Javelin

1977 - Harry Gill, Illinois, 1904-33

1977 - Leo Johnson, Illinois, 1938-65

1987 - Charlton Ehizuelen, Illinois, Long Jump/Triple Jump

1991 - Gary Wieneke, Illinois, 1975-2003

2010 - Perdita Felicien, Illinois, 100mH/Relays

2010 - Gary Winckler, Florida State/Illinois, 1982-2008


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                                 Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson

Apr. 27, 2022

Former Fighting Illini quarterback Dave Wilson celebrates his 63rd birthday today.


Coach Mike White’s first quarterback transferred to Illinois from Fullerton (Calif.) Junior College. His one and only campaign in 1980 produced record-setting statistics for both a single-season and a career. Completing 245 of 463 passes for 3,154 yards, Wilson far surpassed Mike Wells’ previous Illini mark of 2,750 yards.


Topping the list of his memorable single-game performances was his 621-yard classic at Ohio State on Nov. 8, 1980, still an Illini and Big Ten record. That day against the Buckeyes, Wilson threw six touchdowns in a 49-42 loss.


He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the NFL’s 1981 supplemental draft. From 1981 through 1990, Wilson threw for 6,987 yards. 



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                                 1915 Illini Basketball Team

Illini Basketball's Perfect Team

Apr. 25, 2022

The sport of basketball was only in its tenth year at the University of Illinois in 1914-15. While Bob Zuppke’s football teams dominated the campus headlines in the sporting world, the unequalled success of Coach Ralph Jones’s Fighting Illini hoopsters put them on a par with its gridiron counterparts during that particular athletic year. 


Illinois raced through the conference portion of its season, clobbering its first five opponents—Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Indiana and Wisconsin—by an average score of 29 to 12.


Illinois’ biggest challenge came in its 11th Western Conference game against the University of Chicago. The host Maroons held an 11-9 edge at halftime, then traded baskets with the Illini for most of the second half. When Chicago star George Stevenson threw in a field goal with a minute left on the clock, Maroon fans prematurely began to celebrate. However, the UC gym was hushed a few seconds later when senior Frank Bane wove his way through the Chicago defense for the game-winning basket. The Illini’s 19-18 victory over Chicago improved its league record to 11-0 and clinched the school’s first-ever title. Two days later, Illinois’ 26-11 win over Minnesota wrapped up its perfect 16-0 season.


The stars of the 1914-15 Illini:


CLYDE ALWOOD - sophomore forward from Clinton.


FRANK BANE - senior center from Pontiac. Second-team All-Big Ten in 1915.


SVEN DUNER - senior guard from Wheaton. Second-team All-Big Ten in 1915.


EDWARD WILLIFORD - senior forward from Nokomis. Second-team All-Big Ten in 1915.


RALF WOODS - sophomore guard from Evanston. Third-team All-Big Ten in 1915.


RAY WOODS - sophomore guard from Evanston. First-team All-Big Ten and first-team All-America in 1915.


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                                 Scott Spiezio

Scott Spiezio

Apr. 22, 2022

Twenty-nine years ago today - Apr. 22, 1993 - Scott Spiezio became University of Illinois baseball’s career home run leader, swatting out his 41st and 42nd round-trippers against Eastern Illinois in the Illini’s 17-8 victory.


He wound up his UI career with 48 homers from 1991-93, eight more than Sean Mulligan (1989-91).


Spiezio, a two-time All-Big Ten selection from Morris, Illinois, played big league baseball from 1996 through 2007 for the Athletics, Angels, Mariners and Cardinals.


Spiezio’s Major League career statistics:

Games … 1,274

At Bats … 3,899

Runs … 517

Hits … 996

Doubles … 225

Triples … 27

Home Runs … 119

RBI … 549

Batting average … .255



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                                 Illini Baseball Slugfests

Baseball's Highest Scoring Games

Apr. 20, 2022

Thirty years ago today, Illinois won its 14th consecutive non-conference game, scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, to defeat 19th-ranked Notre Dame, 13-12, at Illinois Field. While 25 total runs is a substantial amount of scoring, it pales in comparison to some of the slugfests during the Itch Jones/Dan Hartleb eras in Champaign-Urbana. A list of the highest scoring contests (30 or more total runs) since 1991:


1.        45 runs           Illinois 28, Illinois-Chicago 17, 4/30/91

2.        41 runs           Illinois 28, Rutgers 13, 5/10/15

41 runs           Illinois 31, Portland 10, 3/13/96

4.        40 runs           Illinois 24, Western Illinois 16, 4/7/99

5.        37 runs           Illinois 26, Pace 11, 3/11/96

           37 runs           W. Michigan 22, Illinois 15, 4/6/05

           37 runs           Northwestern 19, Illinois 18, 4/14/06

8.        36 runs           Illinois 27, Illinois-Chicago 9, 4/2/96

           36 runs           Illinois 22, Bradley 14, 3/23/94

10.      35 runs           Illinois 30, Western Michigan 5, 3/18/94

11.      34 runs           Illinois 19, Michigan State 15, 3/28/99

12.      33 runs           Bradley 17, Illinois 16, 4/3/96

13.      32 runs           Illinois 22, Michigan State 10, 5/14/95

           32 runs           Illinois 32, St. Joseph’s 0, 5/8/00

           32 runs           Illinois 21, Eastern Illinois 11, 4/20/99

           32 runs           Illinois 19, Georgia State 13, 2/15/14


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                                 Jim Dawson

Jim Dawson

Apr. 18, 2022

Fifty five years ago this coming week—April 23, 1967—University of Illinois senior Jim Dawson joined Dike Eddleman (1949), John Kerr (1954) and Don Sunderlage (1951) as the only Fighting Illini basketball players to win the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Basketball Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference.


Dawson edged out Minnesota’s Tom Kondla by a single vote for the honor, one that has been awarded annually since 1946. Under the rules of the balloting, two points are given for a first-place vote and one for a second place. Dawson was accorded nine of the 23 first-place votes and two runner-up ballots for a total of 20 points. Kondla was given six first-place votes and seven runner-up votes for a total of 19 points. Indiana’s Butch Joyner and Michigan State’s Matthew Aitch also received votes. Dawson’s selection as conference MVP broke a string of seven years in which either an Ohio State or Michigan player had won the trophy.


As the team captain, Dawson served as an inspirational leader for an Illini club that battled through the intense scrutiny of an illegal funds investigation that infamously came to be known as the “slush fund”. The guard from Elmhurst’s York High School placed second in the Big Ten scoring race with an average of 25.5 points per game. He wound up ninth on UI’s all-time points list with 976 points.


Said UI coach Harry Combes, “What Jim Dawson contributed to his team makes him in my book one of the most valuable men of any team I have been associated with.”


Dawson was stunned when he heard he’d been named Big Ten basketball’s MVP.


“I was surprised,” he said. “A friend’s father called my mother with the news that he’d heard it on the radio and so that’s how I found out. It was a privilege and an honor to be named by the Tribune. When you look at the list of players who had been named before me, it’s a ‘Who’s Who’ of great, great players … Cazzie Russell, Jerry Lucas, John Kerr, etc. That said, (teammate) I believed that Rich Jones would have been first-team All-America, plus we had Steve Kuberski, Ron Dunlap, Dave Scholz … we had a heck of a team. I’d much rather have won the national championship.”


Dawson maintains that Illinois’ 1966-67 club was derailed in December by the “slush fund” from becoming one of the school’s most successful teams.


“We were really on the path to becoming a great team that season,” Dawson said. “We started with a great win at Kentucky (98-97 on Dec. 5) when they were ranked No. 2 in the country. We had great senior leadership with Deon Flessner, Preston Pearson, Bob Johansen and Jerry Mettille. We won six of our seven Big Ten home games and wound up 12 and 12 for the year. With the support of the fans, we were able to beat (Big Ten co-champ) Indiana in our last home game. To me, it was a tribute to the character of the people on the team and the coaching staff to be able to get through a season that was very difficult.”


Dawson spoke about the three players the Illini lost due to the Big Ten’s sanctions.


“As I said before, Rich Jones was on his way to being a first-team All-American,” he said. “Ron Dunlap had made tremendous improvement and probably would have been All-Big Ten. And, of course, Steve Kuberski went on to a great career with the Boston Celtics. With those three, we had a lot of talent. I remember Loren Tate writing an article after the Kentucky game, saying that we had a chance to go to the Final Four.”


“There was a lot of news in the media about the Big Ten’s decisions,” Dawson continued, “but the team itself had a lot of pride in what we accomplished.”


Following a one-year stint with the American Basketball Association’s Indiana Pacers, Dawson used his determination and skills to become very successful in business, working in Indianapolis, New York, California and, in 1982, to a securities position in Winnetka. Today, with a banner in the rafters of the State Farm Center, Dawson is now retired and residing in Savannah, Ga.


He celebrates his 77th birthday today.



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                                 Titanic

"Titanic" Illini

Apr. 15, 2022

One hundred ten years ago today, shortly before midnight, the British passenger ship “Titanic” struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and sank within three hours. Of the 2,224 people aboard, 1,513 died. As a tribute to the 110th anniversary of this historic event, we present our “Titanic Illini”:


*         Glen SEAMAN (men’s swimming, 1977-78

*         Tom BOATMAN (men’s tennis, 1960-62)

*         Ronald SHIPka (fencing, 1958-59)

*         Kristi “Ice” BERG (women’s swimming, 1993)

*         Thomas HULL (baseball, 1942)

*         John ORR (basketball, 1945)

*         Joseph ENGLAND (men’s golf, 1960-62)

*         Edward Smith* (men’s track, 1983-84)

*         Sonya “Icy” WATERS (women’s basketball, 1989-92)

*         Julian FISH (men’s track, 1914)

*         Jeff “Jack” DAWSON (men’s basketball, 1973-74)

*         Jerry ROSE (football, 1968)


*Edward Smith was the name of the captain of the Titanic


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                                 William "Buster" Fuzak

William "Buster" Fuzak

Apr. 11, 2022

Ninety one years ago today (Apr. 11, 1931) in Illini baseball’s Big Ten opener, senior William “Buster” Fuzak’s explosive bat led Illinois to a 15-4 home-field victory over Northwestern.


Fuzak, playing first base for the first time, hit for the cycle. He rapped out a home run, two triples, a double and a single in five trips to the plate, accounting for six of Illinois’ 15 runs against the Wildcats, scoring three times and batting in three. A crowd of 3,858 watched the game at Illinois Field. The Illini went on to capture the Big Ten championship with an 8-2 record, a half-game better than Chicago.


A letter winner in 1930 and ’31, Fuzak ranks as one of Illini baseball’s best all-time hitters. In approximately 40 career games, he accumulated a .385 average, batting .326 as a junior and .417 as a senior. Fuzak’s final season included four doubles, six triples and three home runs.


He was an even more impressive hitter in Big Ten Conference play. Fuzak’s 1931 league statistics included a .487 average (19 hits in 39 at bats), tops among all Big Ten players.


Fuzak served in the Navy during World War II, then joined the Veterans Administration afterwards. From 1950 to 1971, he was director of organization and personnel for the Atomic Energy Commission operation in Chicago.


His younger brother, John (known as “Jack”), also was an athlete at Illinois, participating in football, basketball and baseball. Later in his career, from 1959-79, Jack was Michigan State University’s Faculty Athletics Representative.


William “Buster” Fuzak died in 1997 at the age of 86 in St. Petersburg, Fla.


Illini players’ best Big Ten averages:

1.    William “Buster” Fuzak (1931) ….. .487

2.    Lee Eilbracht (1946) …………………. .484

3.    Dave Payton (1987) ………………….. .460

4.    Tom Sinak (1994) …………………….. .458

5.    Kevin Rudden (1998) ……………….. .430

6.    Mark Dalesandro (1990) …………... .427

7.    Luke Simmons (2001) ………………. .426

8.    Dave Kerian (2015) ………………….. .424

9.    Brian McClure (1996) ………………. .417

10. Larry Sutton (1991) …………………. .413


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                                 Kendra Gantt

Kendra Gantt

Apr. 8, 2022

From Kansas City to Peoria to Kuwait City … that’s been the trajectory of former Illini women’s basketball player Kentra Gantt’s life through her first 55 years.


Recruited to the University of Illinois in 1981 by Coach Jane Schroeder, the former Peoria Richwoods High School all-star flourished from 1981-85.


Gantt averaged 10.4 points and 7.5 rebounds as a freshman, 21 points and 8.6 rebounds as a sophomore, 13.8 points and 6.0 rebounds as a junior, and 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds as a senior. She finished with 1,526 points and 803 rebounds, both ranking second on Illinois’s career lists.


One Illini record Gantt still holds today is the single-game mark for points. As a sophomore on January 3, 1983, against Kent State, she scored 32 points in the first half on 15-of-17 shooting, then tallied 17 more in the second half for a record 49 total points.


“Everything I threw up went in,” Gantt remembered. “I could have done back flips and cartwheels, and the ball still would have gone in.”


She graduated from Illinois with degree in speech communications, but fulfilled her lifelong fantasy in January of 1987 by enlisting in the Army.


“I always wanted to wear a maroon beret and jump out airplanes,” Gantt said.


Her unit helped capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, then she served as the only female in an all-male platoon in Operation Desert Storm, better know as the first Gulf War. Gantt was a member of the Air National Guard from 1992-95.


She began a five-year career as a professional wrestler in 1995, training at one point with the Ultimate Warrior.


In 2000, Gantt was employed by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs in Fayetteville, North Carolina, then became an independent government contractor three years later, moving to Iraq. There she served as a bodyguard, protecting workers who were reinstalling power and lights in the dangerous, war-torn country.


Following a year’s respite in Peoria in 2004, Gantt was employed by URS Corporation in Kuwait City, specializing in logistics. She’s been based for the last 14 years at Camp Arifjan, a U.S. installation that serves the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.


Today is her birthday.

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                                 The University of Illinois' WILL Radio

100th Anniversary of WILL Radio

Apr. 6, 2022

Exactly 100 years ago today, WILL-AM Radio—then known as WRM—first signed on, broadcasting from the University of Illinois’ Electrical Engineering Laboratory.


Just 18 months before, the first American radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, had signed on the air. Using a 400-watt transmitter, WRM (which stood for “We Reach Millions”) possessed the only two vacuum tubes on campus. The tubes were so fragile, it was said “they had to be cooled by blasts of an electric fan to avert disaster.”


In 1926, the station moved to a site now occupied by the Beckman Center, complete with a 1,000-watt transmitter and tower. Two years later, the call letters were changed to WILL. In 1929, Frank Schooley became the station’s first full-time employee, eventually becoming its director of broadcasting.


It wasn’t until 1946 that WILL began broadcasting Illini athletic events, just in time for Illinois’ Big Ten football championship and its first appearance in the Rose Bowl.


The original WILL radio booth used to stand at the top row of Huff Hall where Schooley, Jim Turpin and others used to call Illini games. In 1954, WIUC changed its call letters to WILL-FM and moved to its present frequency, 90.9. A year later, WILL-TV began broadcasting from improvised studios under the stands of Memorial Stadium. Seven years afterwards, it went on the air from Main and Goodwin Streets in Urbana.


More than 77 years after WILL first went on the air, thanks to a $5 million donation from Robert & Alice Campbell, the University of Illinois dedicated Campbell Hall, Richmond Studio and Swanson Center on Sept. 24, 1999.


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                                  The 2005 Final Four pennant

2005 NCAA Title Game: By the Numbers

Apr. 4, 2022

Seventeen years ago today – Apr. 4, 2015 – Illinois and North Carolina met in the NCAA Tournament’s championship game.


We remember the game, by the numbers:



1 – The 2005 national championship was played between two No. 1 seeds for the first time since 1999. It was Coach Roy Williams’ first NCAA title.


2 – Illinois’ 75-70 loss was only its second of the season (37-2).


2.5 – North Carolina entered the game as a 2.5-points favorite.


5 – Five-year-old Ayo Dosunmu watched the game from his home in Chicago.


6 – Number of championship game players who, 85 days later, were chosen at the June 28, 2005 NBA Draft. UNC’s Marvin Williams was the second overall pick, followed by UI’s Deron Williams (3rd), UNC’s Raymond Felton (5th), UNC’s Sean May (13th), Rashad McCants (14th) and UI’s Luther Head (24th).


9 – Due to early foul trouble, Illini starter James Augustine only logged nine minutes of playing time.


14 – The game-high number of rebounds corralled by UI’s Roger Powell Jr. Eight of the 14 were offensive rebounds.


15.0 – While the Nielsen TV Rating for the Illinois-North Carolina game was outstanding, it fell nine points shy of the 24-point viewer rating that watched the 1979 title game between Michigan State’s Magic Johnson and Indiana State’s Larry Bird.


21 –UNC’s Sean May celebrated his 21st birthday on game day by scoring 26 points, the exact total his father Scott had scored in leading Indiana to the 1976 NCAA championship. Twenty-one was also the Illini-high point total of Luther Head.


30 – Jack Ingram came off the bench and, in his 30 minutes of playing time, had 11 points and seven rebounds.


37 – Illinois’ 37 victories in 2004-05 tied the record set by 1998-99 national runner-up Duke.


40 – Number of 3-point field goals launched by the Illini against North Carolina. Thirty-four of the 40 long bombs came from UI’s guard triumvirate of Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams.


137 – Beginning with UI’s 87-67 season-opening victory over Delaware State on Nov. 19, 2004 through the NCAA championship game on Apr. 4, 2005, Illini fans enjoyed a total of 137 days of jubilation.


2014 – In 2014, Sports Illustrated voted the 2004-05 Illini team as the best ever to not win a title.


20,000 – Estimated crowd at Memorial Stadium that greeted the Illini when they arrived home the next day in Champaign.


47,262 – The championship game attendance inside the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.


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                                      Rick George

Rick George

Apr. 1, 2022

Celebrating his 62nd birthday on April 3 is former Fighting Illini football letterman Rick George.


A three-sport star at Collinsville High School, he was an all-star defensive back and offensive end for the Kahok football team, started at guard for a basketball team that played third in Illinois’s prep tournament, and played baseball.


George was inserted into the special teams lineup as a freshman in 1978 by UI coach Gary Moeller, then earned a starting job in the defensive backfield as a sophomore. He stayed in the starting lineup under Mike White, starting 27 games altogether.


George is one of only two Illini players who has been a two-time recipient of the school’s Bruce Capel Award, given for dedication and courage.


Wearing jersey number six for Illinois, George recorded 174 tackles in four seasons, including 120 in his final two campaigns. He also intercepted four passes and blocked three kicks.


So impressed with George as a player was his coach that White named him to his administrative staff. When White was fired following the 1987 season, George became Colorado’s football recruiting coordinator. Twenty-six years later, the Buffaloes athletic department hired him as the director.


In his eight years at Colorado, George initiated a $156 million athletic complex expansion that has had overwhelmingly positive results, helping 13 of the Buffaloes’ 16 teams advance into the nation’s top 25 rankings.


He and his wife, Nancy, have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.


Rick George’s career timeline:

• 1982 – Graduated from the University of Illinois in 1982 with Bachelor of Arts degree

• 1982 – Named UI’s assistant director for player personnel

• 1983 – Became UI’s all sports recruiting coordinator

• 1987 – Hired as University of Colorado’s football recruiting coordinator

• 1989 – Promoted by CU as assistant athletic director for football operations

• 1991 – Named by Vanderbilt University as associate athletic director for external operations

• 1998 – Served as President and CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation

• 2003 – Named President of PGA’s Champions Tour

• 2009 – Became Chief Operating Officer of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers

• 2013 – Appointed athletic director at the University of Colorado



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                                      Lou Boudreau

Lou Boudreau Trivia

Mar. 30, 2022

Eighty five years ago tomorrow--Mar. 31, 1937--Lou Boudreau made his debut with the Fighting Illini baseball team. In Illinois’ 9-2 victory over Bradley, the sophomore shortstop collected only one hit, but scored three runs.


Boudreau is the only Illini player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here’s more trivia about Illinois’ greatest baseball player:


July 17, 1917:  Louis Boudreau was born in Harvey, Illinois


May, 1937:  Hit .347 and led the Illini baseball team to the Big Ten title.


Mar. 1938:  Named to All-America basketball team.


Aug. 7, 1939:  Cleveland added Boudreau to its major league roster.


July, 1940:  In his first full season in the majors with the Cleveland Indians, was selected to the American League All-Star Team.


July 17, 1941:  Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak came to an end when The Yankee Clipper grounded out to Boudreau.


Nov. 26, 1941:  At age 24, became the youngest man ever to manage a major league team.


Sept. 1944:  Won the American League batting title with a .327 average.


July 5, 1947: Under Indians Manager Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby became the first African American to play in the American League.


Oct. 1948: As Most Valuable Player of the American League, Boudreau led the Indians to a pennant and a World Series victory over the Boston Braves.


Feb. 1958: Boudreau was named to the broadcast team for the Chicago Cubs.


July 27, 1970: Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.


Jan. 1988: Boudreau stepped down as Cubs broadcaster.


Apr. 18, 1992:  The University of Illinois retired baseball jersey No. 5 in Boudreau’s honor.


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                                      Illinois Gymnastics - 1942 NCAA Champs

Illini Gymnastics' Powerful Legacy

Mar. 28, 2022

Because of its past several years of phenomenal success on the links, the University of Illinois has been somewhat sarcastically labeled by its alumni as a “golf school”. But during a dominant stretch from the late 1930s through the 1950s, it could have been similarly stated that Illinois was very much a “gymnastics school.”


From the time the very first NCAA gymnastics meet was held in 1938 and throughout the next two decades, Fighting Illini tumblers won eight titles and placed runner-up six times.


On this date 80 years ago—March 28, 1942—Coach Hartley Price’s Illini brought the NCAA championship trophy home to Champaign-Urbana for a record fourth consecutive time, defeating second-place Penn State by nine points, 39-30, in Annapolis, Md.


Victory for the Illini was accomplished when three Illini athletes placed among the top six finishers for the all-around individual title.


Junior Caton Cobb was clearly Illinois’ best individual performer in ‘42, successfully defending his national side horse crown. And though Cobb was dethroned from his title a year earlier on the parallel bars, he did place second on that apparatus. He also finished second in all-around competition and fourth on the long horse.


Other high placers among Illini athletes included Louis Fina—second on long horse, fourth on rings and fourth in all-around—and Jack Adkins, fifth on long horse and sixth in all-around. A fourth Illini gymnast, Oliver Phillips, placed sixth in the tumbling competition.


Cobb, a native of Ohio, chose not to return to Illinois for a fourth year, opting instead to enlist in World War II service with the Marine Corps paratroopers the following January.­ He died in 1974 at the age of 65.


These are Fighting Illini men’s gymnastics teams that either won or placed runner-up in NCAA competition:


1938 – 2nd to Chicago, 22-18

1939 – 1st over Army, 21-17

1940 – 1st over Navy and Temple, 20-17

1941 – 1st over Minnesota, 68.5-52.5

1942 – 1st over Penn State, 39-30

1950 – 1st over Temple, 26-25

1951 – 2nd to Florida State, 26-23.5

1953 – 2nd to Penn State, 91.5 to 68

1954 – 2nd to Penn State, 137-68

1955 – 1st over Penn State, 82-69

1956 – 1st over Penn State, 123.5-67.5

1957 – 2nd to Penn State, 88.5-80

1958 – 1st (tie) with Michigan State over Penn State, 79-72.5

1959 – 2nd to Penn State, 152-87.5

1988 – 2nd to Nebraska, 288.150-287.150

1989 – 1st over Nebraska, 283.400-282.300

2006 – 2nd to Oklahoma, 221.400-220.975

2012 – 1st over Oklahoma, 358.850-357.450


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                                      Deron Williams and his magical jumper

Illinois' Most Exciting Game Ever

Mar. 25, 2022

Tomorrow marks the 17th anniversary of what most Fighting Illini basketball fans refer to as the most exciting game ever.


On March 26, 2005, with a berth in the Final Four on the line, top-ranked Illinois and No. 9 Arizona battled in a game for the ages at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.


Trailing 75-60 with four minutes left, Illinois staged an improbable 20-5 run, sending the game into overtime. In OT, a combination of two three-pointers by Deron Williams and one two-pointer by both Roger Powell and Luther Head accounted for one point more than Lute Olson’s squad, with the Illini prevailing by a score of 90-89.


As one sportswriter wrote afterwards, “Keep the bus running, and point it toward St. Louis.”  The Illini heroes, in no particular order, included:


Roger Powell—scored 16 points, including a huge dunk in overtime.


Luther Head—despite a sore hamstring, he tallied 20 points, including five three-pointers, and made four crucial steals.


Deron Williams—hit a game-tying three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining in regulation, ending with a team-high 22 points and 10 assists.


Jack Ingram—made two game-changing steals, including one that led to Williams’ electrifying game-tying shot.


Dee Brown—among his game statistics were 15 points, seven assists and three steals.


James Augustine—scored only four points, but his defensive play in the middle was a key to the victory.


Rich McBride—hit one of his two three-point tries.


Warren Carter—made both of his free throw attempts and grabbed two rebounds in just three minutes of play.


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                                      Jon Davis

Illinois' Best Milers

Mar. 23, 2022

Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute barrier in the mile, was born 93 years ago today. The Englishman’s time of 3:59.4 was set on May 6, 1954.


The current world record of 3:43.13 was established by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerroui in 1999.


The best time ever recorded in the mile by a University of Illinois current athlete or alumnus came in Aug. 30, 1996 when Marko Koers ran a time of 3:53.47 in Berlin, Germany.


Top nine mile run performances (indoors) by Illini undergrads:


3:58.06 - Jon Davis, 2019

4:00.17, Graham Morris, 2013

4:00.56, Len Sitko, 1991

4:00.68, Tom Stevens, 1982

4:00.70, Mike Durkin, 197

4:00.94, Greg Domantay, 1983

4:01.49, Jon Schmidt, 1982

4:01.98 - Jesse Reiser, 2019

4:02.30, Mike Patton, 1985


 


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                                      Ernest Benion

Ernest Benion

Mar. 21, 2022

Twenty five years ago today, Ernest Benion became the winningest wrestler in University of Illinois history with a victory at the NCAA Championships. The win helped him capture third place at the tournament, giving him a final career record of 121 victories against 40 losses, besting the record of former teammate Steve Marianetti.


Benion, a Class AA state titlist from Romeoville, Illinois, was recruited to the Fighting Illini wrestling program by then rookie coach Mark Johnson. After red-shirting his first season to gain strength, Benion eventually became the school’s first black NCAA wrestling champion in 1995.


Coincidentally, Johnson was initially coached at Romeoville High School by Simon Roberts, the first-ever black NCAA champion.


Benion, a three-time All-American, finished first, second and third at the national meet. He also won the 1997 Big Ten championship at 158 pounds.


Benion was named the Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year in 1997. He also earned the athletic department's Spirit Award in both 1995 and 1997 for his involvement on and off campus.


The likeable Benion was a talented singer and sang the national anthem at numerous UI athletic events.


Today, he is the Director of Retail Sales and Training at Relax The Back in metropolitan Los Angeles.

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                                      Rajeev Ram

Rajeev Ram

Mar. 18, 2022

Happy 38th Birthday to former Illini tennis and current ATP World Tour standout Rajeev Ram.


He achieved a doubles career-high No. 4 world ranking after winning 2021 US Open title with Joe Salisbury in his 21st consecutive appearance at event (11 different partners).


Altogether, the Denver-born Illinois alumnus has won 24 ATP World Tour titles—22 in doubles and two in singles.


Rajeev began playing the sport at age four with his dad, Raghav, now an intellectual capital manager for Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis. The Ram family moved to Carmel, Indiana and Rajeev eventually became the state’s singles title champion at Carmel High School. He also traveled around the world, winning nine national titles and participating in all four Grand Slam junior events.  Ram and partner Brian Baker were junior doubles finalists at Wimbledon in 2002.


Coach Craig Tiley recruited Ram to the University of Illinois in 2002 when the 18-year-old was regarded as college tennis’s top recruit. Ram delayed his enrollment at Illinois until the second semester so that he could continue playing as an amateur in professional tournaments. He was nearly unbeatable during the spring of 2003, accumulating a 26-4 record in singles play, including a perfect 8-0 mark at No. 1 singles. As a doubles player, Ram’s record was 28-5. He and Brian Wilson teamed up to win the NCAA doubles title that year.


In addition to his career as a professional tennis player, Ram is active with his foundation, EntouRaj for Kids. His philanthropic mission is to promote the development of young tennis players by funding tennis grants and programs that produces winning attitudes in young players.


He and his wife, Zainab, split their time between homes in Indiana and California.

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ILLINI LEGENDS, LISTS & LORE

Since 1996, featured every Sunday in the Champaign News-Gazette since.  Available at www.IlliniHQ.com.

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