1930–31 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

1930–31 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	Rankings from AP Poll

1930–31 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
1930–31 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1930–31 record	12–5 (7-5 Big Ten)
Head coach	J. Craig Ruby;
Assistant coaches	John P. Sabo; Carl Voyles; (Trainer);
Captain	Charles Harper
Home arena	Huff Hall
	Seasons ← 1929–30 1931–32 →

The 1930–31 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season[]

The 1930–31 season was head coach Craig Ruby's 9th at the University of Illinois, establishing the first time in the history of Illinois basketball that a head coach remained longer than 8 years. Ruby had 10 returning lettermen from a team that had finished in a fifth place tie in the Big Ten the year before. Even though they did not lose any non-conference games, the Fighting Illini showed no improvement in conference play by finishing with a record of 7 wins and 5 losses, however; the team improved to an overall record of 12 wins 5 losses. The starting lineup included captain Charles Harper, George Fencl and Elbert Kamp at forward, Elbridge May at center with Boyd Owen and Robert Kamp at the guard spots.^[2]

Roster[]

1930–31 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	3	Charles Harper (C)	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	Sr	Chandlerville, Illinois
G	4	Robert Kamp	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Jr	Mt. Carmel, Illinois
F	5	Elbert Kamp	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Jr	Mt. Carmel, Illinois
C	6	Elbridge Horace May	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Chicago, Illinois
G	8	Boyd Owen	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	So	South Bend, Indiana
G	9	Herbert R. Hill	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	Sr	Elgin, Illinois
C	10	Caslon Bennett	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Marshall, Illinois
C	11	Vernon Moore	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	156 lb (71 kg)	So	Martinsville, Illinois
F	12	Robert Y. Bartholomew	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	Jr	Peoria, Illinois
C	14	William Hagerman	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	154 lb (70 kg)	So	Champaign, Illinois
G	15	William Theobald	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	So	Du Quoin, Illinois
F	17	Paul Chervinko	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	So	Witt, Illinois
F	18	Norval Hodges	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	176 lb (80 kg)	So	Flora, Illinois
C	19	Harold Thornburg	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	Sr	Watseka, Illinois
G	20	Charles R. Canfield	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Maywood, Illinois
G	21	George S. Fencl	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	159 lb (72 kg)	Jr	Cicero, Illinois
G	22	David Tarwain	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	157 lb (71 kg)	So	Chicago, Illinois
F	23	William Fuzak	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sr	Urbana, Illinois
F	24	Charles Goldstein	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Chicago, Illinois
F	25	Marvin L. Hadam	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Sr	Chicago, Illinois
F	26	Homer Adams	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Jr	Pontiac, Illinois
G	27	John Hadley	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Frankfort, Indiana
G	28	Ralph W. Downing	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Jr	Mount Pulaski, Illinois
G	29	Henry Howard	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Sheffield, Illinois
F	30	Maurice Weintraub	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	148 lb (67 kg)	So	Chicago, Illinois
F	31	Herbert B. Scharback	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	163 lb (74 kg)	Jr	Hobart, Indiana
F	32	Thomas Plunk	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	So	Mansfield, Illinois

Head coach

Craig Ruby (University of Missouri) (9th year)

Assistant coach(es)

John Sabo (University of Illinois) (3rd year)
Carl Voyles (Oklahoma A&M) (2nd year)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

All-Time Illini Rosters Roster

Source^[3]

Schedule[]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/8/1930* no, no	DePauw	W 27–15	1-0 (0-0)	New Gymnasium (3,625) Champaign, IL
12/13/1930* no, no	Carleton College	W 23–11	2-0 (0-0)	New Gymnasium (4,879) Champaign, IL
12/19/1930* no, no	Miami	W 40–17	3-0 (0-0)	New Gymnasium (1,500) Champaign, IL
12/22/1930* no, no	Wabash	W 28–13	4-0 (0-0)	New Gymnasium (2,473) Champaign, IL
1/1/1931* no, no	Bradley	W 28–17	5-0 (0-0)	Hewitt Gymnasium (-) Peoria, IL

1/5/1931 no, no	Wisconsin	L 9–12	5-1 (0-1)	New Gymnasium (6,696) Champaign, IL
1/10/1931 no, no	Purdue	L 15–30	5-2 (0-2)	Memorial Gymnasium (-) West Lafayette, IN
1/12/1931 no, no	Northwestern	L 27–29	5-3 (0-3)	New Gymnasium (7,092) Champaign, IL
1/17/1931 no, no	Indiana Rivalry	L 34–35	5-4 (0-4)	New Gymnasium (6,807) Champaign, IL
1/24/1931 no, no	Wisconsin	L 20–30	5-5 (0-5)	Wisconsin Field House (-) Madison, WI
2/10/1931 no, no	Purdue	W 26–22	6-5 (1-5)	New Gymnasium (6,873) Champaign, IL
2/14/1931 no, no	Iowa Rivalry	W 26–23	7-5 (2-5)	Iowa Field House (-) Iowa City, IA
2/16/1931 no, no	Northwestern	W 35–28	8-5 (3-5)	Patten Gymnasium (5,000) Evanston, IL
2/21/1931 no, no	University of Chicago	W 45–22	9-5 (4-5)	New Gymnasium (6,228) Champaign, IL
2/23/1931 no, no	Indiana Rivalry	W 39-25	10-5 (5-5)	The IU Field House (4,200) Bloomington, IN
2/28/1931 no, no	Iowa Rivalry	W 31–13	11-5 (6-5)	New Gymnasium (6,267) Champaign, IL
3/2/1931 no, no	University of Chicago	W 36–30	12-5 (7-5)	Bartlett Gymnasium (1,900) Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Bold Italic connotes conference game Source^[4]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

^ National Athletic Trainer Association
^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
^ FightingIllini.com
^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1930-31 pg.76, FightingIllini.com

[1] National Athletic Trainer Association

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

[3] FightingIllini.com

[4] University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1930-31 pg.76, FightingIllini.com

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t 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
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

1930–31 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Northwestern	11	–	1	.917	16	–	1	.941
Michigan	8	–	4	.667	13	–	4	.765
Minnesota	8	–	4	.667	13	–	4	.765
Purdue	8	–	4	.667	12	–	5	.706
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	12	–	5	.706
Indiana	5	–	7	.417	9	–	8	.529
Chicago	4	–	8	.333	8	–	9	.471
Wisconsin	4	–	8	.333	8	–	9	.471
Ohio State	3	–	9	.250	4	–	13	.235
Iowa	2	–	10	.167	5	–	12	.294

Rankings from AP Poll