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

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player. He was an All-American and All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

player for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic facili ...

. Ridley, a diminutive but quick point guard, went to

Taylorville High School Taylorville Senior High School is a four-year public high school located in Taylorville, Illinois. The mascot is Tommy Tornado. The school colors are purple and gold. THS is part of TCUSD #3 which also includes a middle-school, three elementary ...

in Taylorville, Illinois 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 between 1947 and 1967. Biography Combes played high school basketball for Monticello High Sc ...

at Illinois as a part of a strong recruiting class that also included in-state players Bruce Brothers and twins Phil and

Paul Judson Paul B. Judson (April 10, 1934 – June 5, 2023) was an American basketball player. He was selected as the twelfth pick in the 1956 NBA draft, but did not play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Basketball In high school, he helped ...

. After sitting out what would have been his freshman season per

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

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 ...

(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 George H. Bon Salle (July 1, 1935 – July 20, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. A forward, he starred at Loyola Academy in Chicago, Illinois, before playing at the University of Illinois. As a senior in 1957, Bon Salle w ...

in the

frontcourt In the sport of basketball, there are five players play per team, each assigned to positions. Historically, these players have been assigned, to positions defined by the role they play on the court, from a strategic point of view. The three main ...

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 non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

(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 sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

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 p ...

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. The population was 2,992 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 3, ...

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 Point guards