The Chrouser Era 1940–1960
Harve Chrouser came back to his own campus in 1940 and turned a program that had never won anything into a conference power. Nine league titles in eleven seasons from 1949 through 1959, an 8–0 season in 1958, and a run of seventeen winning years in the twenty-one the era covers. Albert Graf and Carl DeVries held the job during the war while Chrouser served; DeVries went unbeaten at 3–0–3 in 1943.
Chrouser's Wheaton teams went 104–34–8 across his seventeen seasons and produced sixty All-Conference players and fifteen Little All-Americans. The 1958 team is the one people still name: 8–0, the conference won at 6–0, Elmhurst beaten 90–6 and Augustana 67–12, ten Crusaders on the All-Conference first team and All-America honors for Bob Bakke and Dick Plaep. In 1950 Chrouser also succeeded Ed Coray as athletic director and led the drive to build Centennial Gym, running the department for twenty-five years. The conference Wheaton was winning was then the College Conference of Illinois; the "W" for Wisconsin came later, which is why the record book prints it as CCIW throughout.
Head Coaches
3 coaches across 21 seasons| Coach | Years | Seasons | Record | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harve Chrouser | 1940–1960 | 17 | 104-34-8 | .740 |
| Albert Graf | 1942 | 1 | 5-3-1 | .611 |
| Carl DeVries | 1943–1945 | 3 | 11-5-3 | .658 |
Season by Season
1940–1960| Year | Record | CCIW | Honors | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 1-6-1 | Harve Chrouser | ||
| 1941 | 3-5-2 | Harve Chrouser | ||
| 1942 | 5-3-1 | Albert Graf | ||
| 1943 | 3-0-3 | Carl DeVries | ||
| 1944 | 5-1 | Carl DeVries | ||
| 1945 | 3-4 | Carl DeVries | ||
| 1946 | 6-2 | 3-1 | Harve Chrouser | |
| 1947 | 7-1-1 | 4-1 | Harve Chrouser | |
| 1948 | 6-2 | 4-1 | Harve Chrouser | |
| 1949 | 8-2 | 5-0 | CCIW Co-Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1950 | 7-2 | 5-0 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1951 | 6-2 | 3-1 | Harve Chrouser | |
| 1952 | 7-1 | 4-1 | Harve Chrouser | |
| 1953 | 8-1 | 4-0 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1954 | 6-2 | 5-1 | CCIW Co-Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1955 | 6-1-1 | 5-0-1 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1956 | 7-1 | 7-0 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1957 | 8-1 | 6-1 | CCIW Co-Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1958 | 8-0 | 7-0 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1959 | 6-1-2 | 6-0-1 | CCIW Champions | Harve Chrouser |
| 1960 | 4-4-1 | Harve Chrouser |
Turning Points
- 1943Carl DeVries goes 3–0–3 with a wartime roster — unbeaten, if not undefeated.
- 1949Chrouser’s first conference title, shared.
- 1950Outright champions; Chrouser becomes athletic director as well as head coach.
- 1955The start of five straight conference championships.
- 19588–0. Ten first-team all-conference picks and two All-Americans.
- 1960Chrouser’s last season on the sideline; he stays on as athletic director until 1975.