William D. Ridley (February 2, 1934 – September 28, 2019) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player. He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

player for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

. Ridley, a diminutive but quick

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, went to Taylorville High School in

Taylorville, Illinois Taylorville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2020 census, making it the county's largest city. History Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after J ...

While there, he was a unanimous all-state performer as a senior in 1952. He chose to play for coach

Harry Combes Harry Combes (March 3, 1915 – November 13, 1977), a native of Monticello, Illinois, served as head men's basketball coach at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois between 1947 and 1967. Biography Combes played hig ...

at Illinois as a part of a strong recruiting class that also included in-state players Bruce Brothers and twins Phil and Paul Judson. After sitting out what would have been his freshman season per

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

eligibility rules of the time, Ridley joined the varsity team for the 1953–54 season, averaging 6.0 points per game in a supporting role. He moved into the starting lineup in his sophomore season, raising his scoring average to 15.2 points per game and was named third-team All-Big Ten Conference by the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI), who also named him to their national "Small-America" team of the top players under . In Ridley's senior season, the Illini started a potent scoring lineup with Brother, Paul Judson and George Bon Salle in the

frontcourt Basketball is a sport with five players on the court for each team at a time. Each player is assigned to different positions defined by the strategic role they play. Guard, forward and center are the three main position categories. The standard ...

with Ridley running the attack from the perimeter. Ridley led the team's

fast break Fast break is an offensive strategy in basketball and handball. In a fast break, a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible, so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. The ...

, using his speed and ballhandling to push the ball ahead off of the team's strong rebounding ability. Ridley finished the year averaging 15.3 points per game and at the close of the season was named All-Big Ten and as a third-team All-American by both the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) and UPI. Following the close of his college career, Ridley's size made a

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

career difficult. He was not drafted in the

1956 NBA draft The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pl ...

and instead went into the insurance and asset management business. He died on September 28, 2019, in his post-retirement home of

Frostproof, Florida Frostproof is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The city is located in southern Polk County on the Lake Wales Ridge. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,877 at the 2 ...

References

External links

Illinois basketball HOF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Bill 1934 births 2019 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players People from Taylorville, Illinois Sportspeople from Christian County, Illinois Point guards 20th-century American sportsmen