The 1938–39 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.
Regular season The 1938–39 season was year number three for head coach Doug Mills. Overall the team regrouped from a miserable eighth-place finish in the Big Ten a year earlier by winning nine of their ten home games only losing to conference rival Indiana. Unfortunately for the Fighting Illini they finished with a 5–5 record on the road to finish in third place overall in conference action. Mills' Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team featured only five returning letterman. Along with team captain Tom Nisbit, the Illini also featured a starting lineup of Lewis Dehner at the center position, John Drish, Joe Frank and William Hapac at forward and George Wardley, and Colin Handlon at guard.Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC
Roster
Schedule
!colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season
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!colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season
Source
Awards and honors Louis Dehner Madison Square Garden 1st team All-American Converse 3rd team All-American
References