Deaths: William 'Bill' Schulz, Member of Hebron 1952 State IHSA Basketball Champs-- Part 3:

Bill then received a scholarship to play basketball for Northwestern University.  he was co-captain of the team his senior year and a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.  he met his wife, Karin, at  Northwestern, and they married August 31, 1957.  

After living in Evanston for two years, they moved to Northbrook, Illinois, and lived there for 56 years.

Bill never waned in his support of Northwestern teams.  He was a loyal fan and season ticket holder for NU football and basketball game and he and Karin traveled to cheer the NU football teams in several bowl games.

Bill joined Motorola in 1957 and stayed with its Quasar  division after it was sold to Panasonic.

In 1987, he became the proud owner of a True Value Hardware store.

Quite a Man.  

What was That David vs. Goliath Stuff.  Hebron vs. Quincy.

Deaths: William 'Bill' Schulz, Member of IHSA 1952 State Basketball Champs-- Part 2

By the 1951-1952 basketball season, Bill Schulz stood at 6-foot-10 and played center for the Alden-Hebron Green Giants.  That school had just 98 students and just five players on its basketball team.

That year, the team went 35-1 and won the 1952 IHSA Basketball Tournament by beating Quincy in overtime 64-59, with Bill as the leading scorer.

Alden-Hebron is the smallest school ever to win the IHSA (Illinois High School Association) Tournament in the old one-class system where all schools are in the same class regardless of size.

In 2017, Bill was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame.  Today, the Hebron water tower is painted to look like a basketball in honor of the 1952's team accomplishments.

(Today, Quincy, Illinois, has a population of 40,000 and Hebron 1,200.)

Deaths: William Schulz, Member of Illinois 1952 Basketball Tournament Champs, Hebron ( a 'Hoosier' Moment')

From the January 30, 2021, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Illinois).

WILLIAM SCHULZ

Born:  November11, 1934

DIED:  January 21, 2021

A well-known Illinois high school basketball player, F. William "Bill" Schulz, 86, of Kenilworth, Illinois, passed away due to complications related to leukemia on January 21, 2021, with his family by his side.

He was born on November 11, 1934, in Harvard, Illinois.

Raised on a dairy farm in Hebron, Illinois, Bill attended Alden-Hebron High School (98 students) where as a lanky 6-foot-five freshman, he was recruited by Coach Russ Ahearn to play on the Green Giants basketball team.  Before this time, Schulz had never played basketball and had to ask his father's permission to be released from his after-school farm chores.

He worked hard to develop his skills, and by his junior year, he had grown to 6-foot10 and played center for Hebron's varsity team which only had five players.

And, Then.....   It was the movie "Hoosiers" all over again.

High School Basketball 100 Years Ago

From the March 28, 2018, MidWeek   "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago

"Saturday night the Waterman basketball team came down and played the Rollo team."

I didn't know that high schools had teams playing the sport 100 years ago.

--CootBBall

March Madness Began in Illinois-- Part 2

In the 1940s, "March Madness" became the state's nickname for its basketball tournament.  This would include when the team from little Hebron, Illinois, won the championship in 1951.  In 1977, the IHSA made it official, licensing the phrase to companies like Pepsi and Wilson Sporting Goods.  Other states could use it for a $10 fee.

Henry V. Porter, who started his career as teacher and coach at Athens High School in central Illinois, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 and died in 1975.

This week, the IHSA announced that it had discovered in Porter's personal collection thee earliest video of the IHSA boys basketball tournament, including action from the 1932-1936 state finals.

How It Came to Mean College Next.  --Cooter

March Madness Began in Illinois-- Part 1

From the March 15, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Chicago Sports Flashback: Phrase's popularity truly poetic justice" by Tim Bannon.

Tim Bannon seems to get any history sports articles in the Tribune.  he also did the recent one on Cubs and Sox Spring Training in French Lick, Indiana.

"For more than 40 years, 'March Madness' was confined to Illinois.  The state's high school basketball tournament started in 1908 (Peoria Rock Island 48-29 for the title) and continued for three decades without a catchphrase.

"Then in 1939, Henry V. Porter, an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) official, wrote an article for the IHSA magazine.  It was titled 'March Madness.'

"'A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel,' he wrote.

"Three years later, he punctuated his poem with a poem, 'Basketball Ides of March,' which included these lines: 'The Madness of March is running.  The winged feet fl, the ball sails high.  And field goal hunters are gunning.'"

So. That's the Guy.  Sorry NCAA.  --Cooter