Gene Vance

Ellis Eugene Vance (February 25, 1923 – February 16, 2012) was an American basketball player who competed in the Basketball Association of America and NBA with the Chicago Stags and Tri-Cities Blackhawks/Milwaukee Hawks. At the University of Illinois, he was a key member of the "Whiz Kids" alongside Andy Phillip, Art Mathisen, Ken Menke, and Jack Smiley — a group considered among Illinois' all-time greats, with Vance and Phillip later named to the program's all-century team. He left basketball in 1943 to serve in World War II, was drafted by the Stags in 1948, and played five professional seasons. He later served as athletic director at the University of Illinois from 1967 to 1972.