1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–6 (5–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Herb V. Juul (1st season)
Captain	Henry Popperfuss
Home arena	Kenney Gym
Seasons ← 1907–08 1909–10 →

1908–09 Western Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Chicago	12	–	0		1.000			12	–	0		1.000
Purdue	6	–	4		.600			8	–	4		.667
Wisconsin	5	–	4		.556			8	–	4		.667
Illinois	5	–	6		.455			7	–	6		.538
Minnesota	3	–	6		.333			8	–	6		.571
Indiana	2	–	6		.250			5	–	9		.357
Northwestern	1	–	4		.200			1	–	7		.125
Iowa	1	–	5		.167			8	–	7		.533

Regular season

The 1908–09 season witnessed the fourth coach in just four years to head up the university of Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. The only difference for this season, however; was that Herb V. Juul became the first coach to stay for more than one year.^[1] He also became the first former Fighting Illini player to head the Illinois basketball program, serving as captain of the 1906–07 team. The starting lineup for the team included captain H. J. Popperfuss and Carl P. Watson at the forward positions, Emmett V. Poston as the center, and a combination of Roy G. Rennacker, Louis S. Bernstein and Thomas E. Thompson at guard. The Illini finished their season with an overall record of seven wins and six losses with a conference record of five wins, six losses and a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference.^[2]

Roster

"1908-09 Fighting Illini team"

1908–09 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F Carl Watson — — So DeKalb, Illinois C Emmett V. Poston — — So Springfield, Illinois F Henry Popperfuss (C) — — Jr Tomah, Wisconsin G Roy Rennacker — — Jr Winnetka, Illinois G Thomas E. Thompson — — Jr Williams Bay, Wisconsin F Avery Brundage — — Sr Chicago, Illinois G Louis S. Bernstein — — So Niagara Falls, New York F Charles M. Bunn — — Jr DeKalb, Illinois F Chester Arthur Lord — — Jr Sioux Falls, South Dakota G David Roy Palmquist — — So Moline, Illinois	Head coach Herb V. Juul (University of Illinois) (1st year) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Source^[3]

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/22/1908*	Shelbyville Business College	W 93–19	1-0	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
12/23/1908*	at Mt. Vernon	W 47–25	2-0	Mt. Vernon High School  Mt. Vernon, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/9/1909	Indiana Rivalry	W 30–2	3-0 (1-0)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
1/16/1909	Wisconsin	W 28–19	4-0 (2-0)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
1/22/1909	at Minnesota	L 17–18	4-1 (2-1)	University of Minnesota Armory  Minneapolis, MN
1/23/1909	at Wisconsin	L 10–20	4-2 (2-2)	University of Wisconsin Armory and Gymnasium  Madison, WI
2/10/1909	Minnesota	W 21–20	5-2 (3-2)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
2/13/1909	Chicago	L 15–17	5-3 (3-3)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
2/17/1909	Purdue	W 24–18	6-3 (4-3)	Kenney Gym  Urbana, IL
2/26/1909	at Chicago	L 10–23	6-4 (4-4)	Bartlett Gymnasium  Chicago, IL
2/27/1909	at Northwestern Rivalry	W 35–4	7-4 (5-4)	Patten Gymnasium  Evanston, IL
3/5/1909	at Purdue	L 20–30	7-5 (5-5)	Lafayette Coliseum  West Lafayette, IN
3/6/1909	at Indiana Rivalry	L 12–20	7-6 (5-6)	Old Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. A Century of Orange and Blue: Celebrating 100 Years of Fighting Illini Basketball By Loren Tate, Jared Gelfond pg.20 ISBN 1-58261-793-7
2. Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
3. University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1908-09 Archived 2015-02-10 at the Wayback Machine, FightingIllini.com