Players

Chuck Behrends

Year Inducted: 1988

Category: Players

Schools / Organizations: Stephen Decatur High School
Western Illinois University
AAU

Biography: After starting two seasons for Decatur High School where he was All-Big 12 Conference and the team’s leading scorer as a junior as well as most valuable player, Chuck Behrends attended Western Illinois University. He was a two-year starter and received four varsity letters for the Leathernecks. Teams on which Behrends played at Western posted a 110-10 record from 1954-1958 and competed in the NAIA Tournament all four years. The Leathernecks in that span lost but one home game. Western won four IIAC championships. Behrends was a two-year starter and was named to the AII-IIAC team both seasons and its leading scorer as a senior when the team went 23-0 in regular season and was ranked No. 1 in the NAIA. The 1957-58 Behrends-led team followed a third place NAIA finish the year before with second place and the school’s best record ever of 27-1. Behrends served as captain of that team and was named to NAIA second team All-America. For three years Behrends led Western in free throw accuracy of more than 80 percent. Behrends was named the best student-athlete as a junior and senior. Elected to Western’s Hall of Fame in 1983, Behrends was a starter for the Mount Morris Cable Colts when they won the state AAU championship in 1960-61. Chuck Behrends died on September 6, 2018 at the age of 86.