Jim Bredar

James A. Bredar (October 22, 1931 – August 28, 1997) was an NCAA All-American basketball player at the University of Illinois during a career that spanned from 1949 to 1953, and then was drafted by the Ft. Wayne Pistons of the National Basketball Association in the 1953 draft

As a senior, Bredar was honored by being named the team captain for the season. After the season, he was dubbed an All-American and was also named to the All-Big Ten 2nd team. During his career as a Fighting Illini, every team had both winning conference and overall records, finishing with a combined conference record of 39–7 and an unbelievable overall record of 62–13. If it weren't for the national champion Indiana Hoosiers, Bredar would most likely have been on an Illini team that would have won three consecutive Big Ten championships.

A native of Salem, Illinois, Bredar attended Salem Community High School from 1945–46 to 1948–49. He was a 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) guard who led the Wildcats in scoring with 422 points as a senior, averaging 15.6 points per game and was named to the all-conference basketball team.

In his sophomore season of 1950–51, the Fighting Illini won the Big Ten Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Illinois would defeat Columbia (ranked #3) and North Carolina State (ranked #8) to earn a berth in the Final Four (only 16 teams played in the tournament back then), but would lose to eventual national champion Kentucky (ranked #1) 74–76 in the national semifinals. They would defeat Oklahoma A&M (ranked #14), 61–46 in the third place game held at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bredar and teammate Johnny Kerr would be named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team following the completion of the tournament. Only two other Illini players have ever been named to this team, Luther Head and Deron Williams in 2005.