Sunday, April 2, 2017

KU and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

With the enshrinement of Bill Self in 2017, there are 18 former Jayhawks elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame based on their individual accomplishments.  This is more than any other school.

Year
Individuals (18)Enshrined
James Naismith1959Contributor
Forrest "Phog" Allen1959Coach*
Ernest C. Quigley1961Referee
John Bunn1964Contributor
Adolph Rupp1969Coach
Paul Endacott1972Player
Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg1973Coach (also manager of 1960 Olympic team)
William Johnson1977Player
John McLendon1979Contributor (also enshrined as a Coach in 2016)
Wilt Chamberlain1979Player
Dean Smith1983Coach
Ralph Miller1988Coach
Clyde Lovellette1988Player
Larry Brown2002Coach
Lynette Woodard2004Player
Roy Williams2007Coach
Jo Jo White2015Player
Bill Self2017Coach
Team Members
Allen Kelley20101960 Olympic team
Dean Nesmith2010Trainer of 1960 Olympic team
Other
Max Falkenstien2004Curt Gowdy Media Award
Rich Clarkson2015Curt Gowdy Media Award
*Phog Allen was originally enshrined as a Contributor in 1959.  According to Matt Zeysing, historian at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, "In the early to mid-90s, the BHOF Board reviewed Enshrinee careers. At that time a motion was made to change a few categories of Enshrinees. Phog Allen was one such Inductee. His category was changed to Coach."

In addition to the above inductees, who have strong ties to KU, three other members of the Hall of Fame have weaker ties to KU basketball.
  • Forrest DeBernardi, enshrined in 1961, was a seven-time AAU All-American in the 1920s and considered one of the greatest players of the first half of the 20th century.  He enrolled at KU in the fall of 1921 after spending two years at Westminster College.  Phog Allen was quoted at the time as calling Debernardi the "perfect basketball player".  He was already a heralded player, not only at Westminster, where he had scored 50 points in one game, but at the AAU level, having won All-American honors in leading the Kansas City Athletic Club (KCAC) to the 1921 national championship.  He joined the KU basketball team, and after sitting out the first semester as required at the time for transfer students, he appeared to be ready to step into the starting lineup in KU's first game of the second semester against KCAC, his former team.  Instead, just two days before the game, DeBernardi left KU and rejoined the KCAC team.  KCAC defeated KU by the score of 34-32, with DeBernardi scoring 17 points.  It was one of only two losses for KU that season.
  • Jerry Colangelo came to KU in the fall of 1957 and joined the Jayhawks freshman basketball team.  He scored six points while playing against Wilt Chamberlain in the annual varsity vs freshmen game.  After a short stay he left KU and transferred to Illinois, saying, "Guards at Kansas do nothing but throw to the center and forwards."  Colangelo was enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
  • John Calipari began his coaching career as a part time assistant on Ted Owens' staff during the 1982-83 season.  He became a full time assistant for Larry Brown during the next two seasons, his duties including recruiting and coaching the junior varsity team.  At KU, Calipari met his wife, Ellen, a secretary in the athletic business office.  Calipari was in the 2015 class of Hall of Fame inductees.

Inductees of select schools, based on individual accomplishments
Kansas18
UCLA12John Wooden, Ann Meyers, Bill Walton, Denny Crum,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gail Goodrich, Denise Curry,
Billie Moore, Larry Brown, Don Barksdale, 
Reggie Miller, Jamaal Wilkes
North Carolina10Ben Carnevale, Frank McGuire, Dean Smith,
Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, James Worthy,
Robert McAdoo, Roy Williams, Michael Jordan,
Sylvia Hatchell
Kentucky9Adolph Rupp, Cliff Hagan, Frank Ramsey, Dan Issel,
C. M. Newton, Pat Riley, Rick Pitino, John Calipari,
Louis Dampier
Springfield College9James Naismith, John Bunn, Luther Gulick,
Ferenc Hepp, Ed Hickox, R. William Jones, 
Arthur Schabinger, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Edward Steitz
Indiana9Branch McCracken, Harlan Page, Everett Dean, Cliff Wells, 
Bob Knight, Walt Bellamy, Isiah Thomas, Bob Leonard,
George McGinnis
Louisville3Denny Crum, Rick Pitino, Wes Unseld
Duke1Mike Krzyzewski

No comments:

Post a Comment