Harry Combes' Record vs. Kentucky
| Wins against Kentucky - 2 | Losses against Kentucky - 6 |
Alma Mater: Illinois [1937]
Hometown: Monticello, IL
Date Born: March 3, 1915
Date Died: November 13, 1977
Overall Record: 316-150 [20 Seasons]
12/5/1966 Illinois at Kentucky L 97 - 98 OT -
12/8/1965 Kentucky at Illinois W 86 - 68 -
12/19/1964 Illinois at Kentucky L 86 - 91 UKIT Championship
12/21/1960 Illinois at Kentucky W 83 - 78 UKIT
12/30/1958 Kentucky vs. Illinois W 76 - 75 (at Louisville, KY)
12/22/1956 Illinois at Kentucky W 91 - 70 UKIT Championship
3/24/1951 Kentucky vs. Illinois W 76 - 74 NCAA East Regional Finals (at New York, NY)
3/22/1949 Kentucky vs. Illinois W 76 - 47 NCAA Eastern Regional Finals (at New York, NY)
Obituary - Chicago Tribune (November 14, 1977)
Ex-Illini Coach Combes Dies
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Harry Combes, who coached Illinois to four Big 10 basketball titles and three NCAA tourney appearances, died Sunday after an illness of several months. He was 62.
Combes, voted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974, was all-conference as an Illini forward and guard in 1936 and 1937, scoring 363 points over three seasons, 154 of them in 1936, and winning the Conference Medal of Honor for proficiency in athletics and scholarship.
As Illinois coach from 1947-67, he compiled a mark of 316-150. His teams won titles in 1949, 1951, 1952, and tied Ohio State for the championship in 1963. He coached the Illini in three NCAA third-place tourney finishes, beating Oregon State in 1949, Oklahoma A&M in 1951, and losing to St. John's in 1952 only to bound back against Santa Clara. He left Illinois after the Slush Fund scandal in 1967.
Born in Monticello, Ill., he won seven high school athletic letters there. After graduation from Illinois, he coached at Champaign Central. His baseball teams were 103-41 and finished second in the state in 1940 with a 20-2 record, but he was better known for building a basketball powerhouse that went 254-46 over nine years, winning the state title in 1946 and runner-up in 1945 and 1947. The team appeared in seven championship tourneys under Combes.
Survivors include his widow, Rebecca Jane Austin Combes; his mother, Hester Milligan Combes of Monticello; a daughter, Jane Austermiller of Arlington Heights; a brother, Linden Combes of Monticello, and two grandchildren.