1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	9–8 (6–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	J. Craig Ruby (4th season)
Assistant coach	Jack Lipe (2nd season)
Captain	Leonard Haines
Home arena	Huff Hall
Seasons ← 1924–25 1926–27 →

1925–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Purdue	8	–	4		.667			13	–	4		.765
Indiana	8	–	4		.667			12	–	5		.706
Iowa	8	–	4		.667			12	–	5		.706
Michigan	8	–	4		.667			12	–	5		.706
Illinois	6	–	6		.500			9	–	8		.529
Ohio State	6	–	6		.500			10	–	7		.588
Minnesota	5	–	7		.417			7	–	10		.412
Wisconsin	4	–	8		.333			8	–	9		.471
Northwestern	4	–	8		.333			5	–	11		.313
Chicago	3	–	9		.250			5	–	12		.294

Regular season

Craig Ruby began the 1925–26 season with a Fighting Illini team had eight returning letterman from a team that placed in a tie for third place a year earlier. This team finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten. Probably the greatest change for the Illini during this season was the opening of their new home, Huff Gymnasium. Originally named New Gymnasium, Huff Gymnasium was renamed in 1937 after George Huff,^[1] who was the school's athletic director from 1895 to 1935, Huff Gymnasium was home to the Fighting Illini's men's basketball program until 1963.^[2] The starting lineup included captain Leonard Haines and Kenneth Reynolds at guard, John Mauer at center and Jack Lipe, Russell Daugherity and Hollie Martin at forward.^[3]

Roster

1925–26 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 1 Leonard Haines (C) — — Sr Belvidere, Illinois F 2 John Mauer — — Sr Batavia, Illinois F 3 Russell Daugherity — — Jr Streator, Illinois F 4 Hollie Martin — — Sr Perrysville, Indiana G 5 Chas Kassel — — Jr Melrose Park, Illinois G 6 Kenneth L. Reynolds — — Jr Villa Grove, Illinois G 7 Jack Lipe — — Sr Decatur, Illinois F 8 Keston Deimling — — So Stevens Point, Wisconsin F 9 Byran Doolen — — Sr Kinmundy, Illinois F 10 Marion Leonard — — Jr Forrest, Illinois G 11 James R. "Bud" Stewart — — So Flint, Michigan G 12 Robert McKay — — Jr Champaign, Illinois F 14 Ralph Waldo Freeman — — Sr Ogden, Illinois F 15 George Rea — — Jr Urbana, Illinois G 16 Roy Mayberry — — So Norwalk, Ohio G 17 Louis Cotie — — So Muskegon, Michigan F R Werner Daib — — So Chicago, Illinois F R Arthur Osgood — — So Marseilles, Illinois G R Daniel Weeks Vittum — — So Canton, Illinois	Head coach Craig Ruby (University of Missouri) (4th year) Assistant coach(es) Jack Lipe (Player/Coach) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Source^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
12/12/1925*		Butler	W 23–22	1-0	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
12/19/1925*		at Drake	L 16–20	1-1	Des Moines Coliseum  Des Moines, IA
12/21/1925*		at Iowa Agricultural College	W 33–14	2-1	State Gymnasium  Ames, IA
1/4/1926*		Kansas Aggies	W 30–29	3-1	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/11/1926		Minnesota	W 17–8	4-1 (1-0)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
1/16/1926		at Ohio State	L 18–30	4-2 (1-1)	Ohio Expo Center Coliseum  Columbus, OH
1/18/1926		at Michigan	W 34–24	5-2 (2-1)	Yost Field House  Ann Arbor, MI
1/23/1926		University of Chicago	L 14–19	5-3 (2-2)	Bartlett Gymnasium (4,725) Chicago, IL
2/6/1926*		at Notre Dame	L 14–26	5-4	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
2/10/1926		Purdue	W 29–28	6-4 (3-2)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
2/13/1926		Ohio State	W 35–31	7-4 (4-2)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
2/19/1926		at Indiana Rivalry	W 21–20	8-4 (5-2)	Men's Gymnasium  Bloomington, IN
2/22/1926		University of Chicago	W 24–16	9-4 (6-2)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
2/26/1926		Michigan	L 24–33	9-5 (6-3)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
3/1/1926		at Purdue	L 23–28	9-6 (6-4)	Memorial Gymnasium  West Lafayette, IN
3/6/1926		Indiana Rivalry	L 25–28	9-7 (6-5)	New Gymnasium  Champaign, IL
3/8/1926		at Minnesota	L 21–28	9-8 (6-6)	Kenwood Armory  Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.