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 Naismith	1959	Contributor
Forrest "Phog" Allen	1959	Coach*
Ernest C. Quigley	1961	Referee
John Bunn	1964	Contributor
Adolph Rupp	1969	Coach
Paul Endacott	1972	Player
Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg	1973	Coach (also manager of 1960 Olympic team)
William Johnson	1977	Player
John McLendon	1979	Contributor (also enshrined as a Coach in 2016)
Wilt Chamberlain	1979	Player
Dean Smith	1983	Coach
Ralph Miller	1988	Coach
Clyde Lovellette	1988	Player
Larry Brown	2002	Coach
Lynette Woodard	2004	Player
Roy Williams	2007	Coach
Jo Jo White	2015	Player
Bill Self	2017	Coach
Team Members
Allen Kelley	2010	1960 Olympic team
Dean Nesmith	2010	Trainer of 1960 Olympic team
Other
Max Falkenstien	2004	Curt Gowdy Media Award
Rich Clarkson	2015	Curt 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 Kansas 18 UCLA 12 John 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 Carolina 10 Ben Carnevale, Frank McGuire, Dean Smith, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, James Worthy, Robert McAdoo, Roy Williams, Michael Jordan, Sylvia Hatchell Kentucky 9 Adolph Rupp, Cliff Hagan, Frank Ramsey, Dan Issel, C. M. Newton, Pat Riley, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Louis Dampier Springfield College 9 James Naismith, John Bunn, Luther Gulick, Ferenc Hepp, Ed Hickox, R. William Jones,  Arthur Schabinger, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Edward Steitz Indiana 9 Branch McCracken, Harlan Page, Everett Dean, Cliff Wells,  Bob Knight, Walt Bellamy, Isiah Thomas, Bob Leonard, George McGinnis Louisville 3 Denny Crum, Rick Pitino, Wes Unseld Duke 1 Mike Krzyzewski