1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	11–11 (5-9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harry Combes (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Howie Braun (21st season) Jim Bredar (2nd season) Jess MacLeay (2nd season)
MVP	Don Ohl
Captain	John Paul
Home arena	Huff Hall
Seasons ← 1956–57 1958–59 →

1957–58 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 12 Indiana	10	–	4		.714			13	–	11		.542
No. 17 Michigan State	9	–	5		.643			16	–	6		.727
Purdue	9	–	5		.643			14	–	8		.636
Northwestern	8	–	6		.571			13	–	9		.591
Ohio State	8	–	6		.571			9	–	13		.409
Iowa	7	–	7		.500			13	–	9		.591
Michigan	6	–	8		.429			11	–	11		.500
Illinois	5	–	9		.357			11	–	11		.500
Minnesota	5	–	9		.357			9	–	12		.429
Wisconsin	3	–	11		.214			8	–	14		.364
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

Starting his second decade as the head coach of the University of Illinois' Fighting Illini basketball team, Harry Combes and his assistant coach and top recruiter, Howie Braun, were beginning to lose some of the top recruits from the state of Illinois. Talented players, such as Tom Hawkins, Charlie Brown, McKinley "Deacon" Davis, Nolden Gentry, John Tidwell and Charles "Chico" Vaughn were lured away to play for other programs during the late 1950s, a trend that would continue for Combes during his second decade.^[1]

The 1957-58 team returned several lettermen including the leading scorer Don Ohl and team "captain" John Paul. It also saw the return of Roger Taylor and Ted Caiazza. The team also added sophomores Govoner Vaughn, Mannie Jackson, Al Gosnell, Bruce Bunkenberg and Ed Perry. The Illini finished the season with a conference record of 5 wins and 9 losses, finishing in 8th place in the Big Ten. They would finish with an overall record of 11 wins and 11 losses. The starting lineup included Govoner Vaughn at the center position, Roger Taylor and Don Ohl at guard and Mannie Jackson and John Paul at the forward slots.^[2]

Roster

1957–58 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 7 Lee Frandsen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Davenport Central High School Davenport, Iowa G 9 Jerry Riva 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Clinton High School Clinton, Illinois G 11 Roger Taylor 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Rich High School Park Forest, Illinois G 14 Jim Dorris 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Centralia High School Centralia, Illinois F 15 Bob Schmidt 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Kankakee High School Kankakee, Illinois G 16 Phil Flanigan 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Jr Tuscola High School Tuscola, Illinois F 20 Bruce Bunkenburg 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Roosevelt High School Chicago, Illinois C 22 Ed Perry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Salem High School Salem, Illinois C 24 Ted Caiazza 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Lyons Township High School LaGrange, Illinois C 26 John Homeier 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Feitshans High School Springfield, Illinois G 30 Mannie Jackson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois G 32 Lou Landt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Roosevelt High School Berwyn, Illinois F 33 Al Gosnell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois F 34 Larry Breyfogle 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois G 35 Govoner Vaughn 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois F 40 Tom Adams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Washington Community High School Washington, Illinois G 43 John Paul (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr St. Edward High School Elgin, Illinois G 44 Don Ohl 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Edwardsville High School Edwardsville, Illinois C 48 Bob Brown 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Jr DuPont High School Wilmington, Delaware F 51 Tom Haller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Lockport Township High School Lockport, Illinois	Head coach Harry Combes (University of Illinois) (11th year) Assistant coach(es) Howie Braun (University of Illinois) (21st year) Jim Bredar (University of Illinois) (2nd year) Jess MacLeay (University of Illinois) (2nd year) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Source^[3]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state[4]
Non-Conference regular season
12/2/1957*		Marquette	W 100–90	1-0	Huff Hall (5,123) Champaign, IL
12/7/1957*		DePaul	W 75–70	2-0	Huff Hall (6,263) Champaign, IL
12/11/1957*		Butler	W 91–75	3-0	Huff Hall (5,809) Champaign, IL
12/16/1957*		Colorado	W 64–46	4-0	Huff Hall (6,789) Champaign, IL
12/18/1957*		No. 14 Rice	W 85–82	5-0	Huff Hall (6,847) Champaign, IL
12/21/1957*		at Iowa State	L 60–68	5-1	Iowa State Armory (-) Ames, IA
12/28/1957*		Miami (OH)	W 93–75	6-1	Huff Hall (3,902) Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/4/1958		at Wisconsin	W 64–59	7-1 (1-0)	Wisconsin Field House (4,000) Madison, WI
1/6/1958		Iowa Rivalry	L 68–70	7-2 (1-1)	Huff Hall (5,964) Champaign, IL
1/11/1958	No. 17	at Indiana Rivalry	L 82–89	7-3 (1-2)	The Fieldhouse (10,000) Bloomington, IN
1/13/1958	No. 17	Wisconsin	L 70–71	7-4 (1-3)	Huff Hall (6,107) Champaign, IL
1/26/1958*		vs. Notre Dame	L 67–81	7-5	Chicago Stadium (16,212) Chicago, IL
2/1/1958		Northwestern Rivalry	W 102–98	8-5 (2-3)	Huff Hall (4,656) Champaign, IL
2/3/1958		at Ohio State	L 70–78	8-6 (2-4)	St. John Arena (8,867) Columbus, OH
2/8/1958		at Michigan	L 81–88	8-7 (2-5)	Yost Field House (8,200) Ann Arbor, MI
2/10/1958		Purdue	W 99–84	9-7 (3-5)	Huff Hall (6,017) Champaign, IL
2/15/1958		at No. 19 Michigan State	L 64–70	9-8 (3-6)	Jenison Fieldhouse (7,033) East Lansing, MI
2/17/1958		Minnesota	W 94–87	10-8 (4-6)	Huff Hall (5,210) Champaign, IL
2/22/1958		at Iowa Rivalry	L 79–83	10-9 (4-7)	Iowa Field House (15,003) Iowa City, IA
3/1/1958		Michigan	W 88–75	11-9 (5-7)	Huff Hall (6,588) Champaign, IL
3/3/1958		Indiana Rivalry	L 86–96	11-10 (5-8)	Huff Hall (6,757) Champaign, IL
3/8/1958		at Northwestern Rivalry	L 72–88	11-11 (5-9)	McGaw Memorial Hall (8,629) Evanston, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Field Goals	Free Throws	Points
Don Ohl	22	183	65	431
Govoner Vaughn	22	138	51	327
John Paul	21	106	85	297
Roger Taylor	20	97	68	262
Mannie Jackson	22	107	31	245
Al Gosnell	22	30	24	84
Bruce Bunkenburg	18	17	17	51
Ed Perry	19	7	8	22
Lee Frandsen	15	5	3	13
Lou Landt	12	3	2	8
Larry Breyfogle	6	2	2	6
Tom Haller	13	0	0	0

^[5]

Awards and honors

• Don Ohl
  • Converse 2nd Team All-American
  • Helms 3rd Team All-American
  • Team Most Valuable Player ^[6]
• Govoner Vaughn
  • Converse Honorable Mention All-American

Team players drafted into the NBA

Player	NBA Club	Round	Pick
Don Ohl	Philadelphia Warriors	5	5

^[7]

Rankings

Main article: 1957–58 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings