William John "Wild Bill" Hapac (January 26, 1918 – March 9, 1967) was the first consensus All-American to play for the University of Illinois men's basketball team when he garnered the recognition during his senior season of 1939–40. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Hapac was an all-state player for J. Sterling Morton High School East in 1935.
Hapac would star for the Fighting Illini before playing in the National Basketball League from 1940 to 1948. He set a then-unheard of Big Ten Conference single game scoring record of 34 points against Minnesota on February 10, 1940. His senior year, he was honored as a Consensus NCAA First Team All-American and was the first ever recipient of the University of Illinois' Athlete of the Year award. In addition to basketball, Hapac also lettered for three years while playing for the school's baseball team.
Hapac played professionally for the Chicago Bruins for the 1940–41 season, followed by four years of military service. He returned to the NBL in 1945, playing for the Chicago American Gears for the 1945–46 season, the Anderson Packers for the 1946–47 season and the Oshkosh All-Stars for the 1947–48 season. Hapac finished his professional career by playing for an independent league team, the Chicago Ingots, for the 1947–48 season.ProBasketballEncyclopedia.com
Military and beyond Hapac was pursued by the Detroit Tigers, but while waiting for spring training to begin, he was inducted into the US Army, eventually earning him the rank of captain. Hapac coached basketball with fellow Illini player, Jim Vopicka, at Morton East from 1952 until his death in 1967 at 49 years of age of an undisclosed rare disease. Shortly after his death, the newly constructed gymnasium at Morton East was dedicated to his memory.PeachBasketSocietyMorton201.org
Honors
1940 – Consensus All-American 1940 – First-team All-Big Ten 1940 – University of Illinois Athlete of the YearDike Eddleman AOTY Award 1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.IBCA Hall of Fame September 13, 2008 – Honored jersey which hangs in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.
Statistics College SeasonGamesPointsPPGBig Ten RecordOverall RecordPostseason1937–38181106.1 –1938–39221014.6Big Ten All-Conference 2nd team1939–401824413.6Consensus All-AmericanTotals584557.8
NBL
Legend GP Games played MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high
Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1940–41 Chicago 24 – – .626 – – 9.5 1945–46 Chicago 19 – – .573 – – 5.5 1946–47 Anderson 41 – – .678 – – 6.8 1947–48 Oshkosh 47 – – .621 – – 6.8Career 131 – – .634 – – 6.4
Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1940–41 Chicago 1 – – .333 – – 5.0 1945–46 Chicago 4 – – .333 – – 1.5 1946–47 Anderson 2 – – .615 – – 6.0 1947–48 Oshkosh 4 – – .688 – – 5.8Career 11 – – .579 – – 4.2Basketball-Reference.com
References
External links
NBL stats