In the 1948-49 season, Eddleman would lead the basketball team to the Big Ten title, and an appearance in the NCAA Final Four. That year, he earned the "Chicago Tribune"s Silver Basketball as the conference MVP. He was named a Converse 1st team All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year and earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Eddleman served as the team captain in 1949, and was named the team MVP that year and the University of Illinois Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. In his military shortened tenure at Illinois, Eddleman scored 618 points in 55 games for an average of 11.2 points per game, however, 606 of those points were scored in his final two seasons for an average of 13.5 points per game. The Fighting Illini's record over Eddleman's three season was 50 wins and 15 losses overall and 25 wins and 11 losses in the conference.