1933–34 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1933–34 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1933–34 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	13–6 (7–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	J. Craig Ruby (12th season);
Assistant coach	Leland Stillwell (1st season)
Captain	Hudson Hellmich
Home arena	Huff Hall
	Seasons ← 1932–33 1934–35 →

1933–34 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Purdue	10	–	2	.833	17	–	3	.850
Wisconsin	8	–	4	.667	14	–	6	.700
Northwestern	8	–	4	.667	11	–	8	.579
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	13	–	6	.684
Iowa	6	–	6	.500	13	–	7	.650
Indiana	6	–	6	.500	13	–	7	.650
Minnesota	5	–	7	.417	9	–	11	.450
Ohio State	4	–	8	.333	8	–	12	.400
Michigan	4	–	8	.333	6	–	14	.300
Chicago	2	–	10	.167	5	–	15	.250

The 1933–34 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

Craig Ruby entered the 1933–34 season as the winningest coach in the history at the University of Illinois with 96 wins. Ruby had 10 returning lettermen from a team that had finished tied for fifth place in the Big Ten the year before. For the third season in a row, the team went through a nearly perfect non-conference season, losing only 1 game, however, the Fighting Illini showed no improvement in conference play by finishing with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses. The team finished the season with an overall record of 11 wins 7 losses. The starting lineup included captain Hudson Hellmich at center, Jack Benyon and Albert Kamm at guard, with Fred Fencl and Alfred Kamm as forwards.^[1]

Roster

1933–34 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	4	Hudson Hellmich (C)	—	—	Sr	Webster Groves, Missouri
F	5	Harold Benham	—	—	So	Downers Grove, Illinois
G	6	Jack Beynon	—	—	Jr	Rockford, Illinois
G	7	Lester Lindberg	—	—	So	Lockport, Illinois
F	8	Frank Froschauer	—	—	Jr	Harvey, Illinois
F	9	Karl Rohlen	—	—	Jr	Chicago, Illinois
C	10	Martin Markworth	—	—	So	Cleveland, Ohio
F	11	Coke Mills	—	—	So	Galesburg, Illinois
G	14	Elbert Gragg	—	—	Jr	Denver, Colorado
F	15	Fred Fencl	—	—	Sr	Cicero, Illinois
C	18	Alfred J. Kamm	—	—	Sr	Lakewood, Washington
G	19	Albert C. Kamm	—	—	Sr	Lakewood, Washington
F	20	Roy Guttschow	—	—	Jr	Simi Valley, California
G	22	Howard Braun	—	—	So	Champaign, Illinois
F	24	Robert Wright	—	—	So	Hinsdale, Illinois
F	25	William Gates	—	—	So	Rockford, Illinois

Head coach

Craig Ruby (University of Missouri) (12th year)

Assistant coach(es)

Leland Stillwell (University of Illinois) (1st year)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/12/1933* no, no	St. Louis	L 21–22	0–1	Huff Hall (4,000) Champaign, IL
12/16/1933* no, no	Illinois Wesleyan	W 37–19	1–1	Huff Hall (4,500) Champaign, IL
12/22/1933* no, no	at Washington (St. Louis)	W 40–36	2–1	Francis Gymnasium (3,000) St. Louis, MO
12/29/1933* no, no	at Knox College	W 21–18	3–1	Auxiliary Gymnasium (3,000) Galesburg, IL
12/30/1933* no, no	at Augustana	W 21–18	4–1	Old Main Gymnasium (3,000) Rock Island, IL
1/3/1934* no, no	Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 36–24	5–1	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/7/1934 no, no	Wisconsin	W 20–17	6–1 (1–0)	Huff Hall (4,000) Champaign, IL
1/8/1934 no, no	at Purdue	L 21–36	6–2 (1–1)	Jefferson High School (4,500) West Lafayette, IN
1/13/1934 no, no	at University of Chicago	W 32–26	7–2 (2–1)	Henry Crown Field House (3,600) Chicago, IL
1/15/1934 no, no	at Iowa Rivalry	L 14–36	7–3 (2–2)	Iowa Field House (12,000) Iowa City, IA
1/20/1934 no, no	Northwestern Rivalry	W 34–20	8–3 (3–2)	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
2/6/1934* no, no	Bradley	W 38–26	9–3	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
2/10/1934 no, no	Indiana Rivalry	W 28–25	10–3 (4–2)	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
2/12/1934 no, no	University of Chicago	W 42–21	11–3 (5–2)	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
2/17/1934 no, no	at Wisconsin	L 22–28	11–4 (5–3)	Wisconsin Field House (8,000) Madison, WI
2/19/1934 no, no	at Northwestern Rivalry	L 25–32	11–5 (5–4)	Patten Gymnasium (4,300) Evanston, IL
2/24/1934 no, no	at Indiana Rivalry	L 24–36	11–6 (5–5)	IU Fieldhouse (8,000) Bloomington, IN
2/26/1934 no, no	Iowa Rivalry	W 35–31	12–6 (6–5)	Huff Hall (6,000) Champaign, IL
3/5/1934 no, no	Purdue	W 27–26	13–6 (7–5)	Huff Hall (7,000) Champaign, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[2]

Awards and honors

References

^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1933–34 pg.79, FightingIllini.com

[1] Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7

[2] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1933–34 pg.79, FightingIllini.com

[1]

[2]

v t e Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Venues	Kenney Gym (1906–1925) Huff Hall (1926–1963) State Farm Center (1963–present) Prairie Capital Convention Center (2015)
Rivalries	Indiana Iowa Missouri Northwestern
Culture & lore	Whiz Kids Flyin' Illini Orange Krush Fighting Illini Sports Network Oskee Wow-Wow Illinois Loyalty Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics