Looking back while waiting for the next game -

The following are members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame that have ties to our beloved alma mater.

I can only come up with the 17 members below, but thought I read somewhere that the addition of JoJo last September gave KU 18 NHoF members. Anyone know someone I have left out?

One possibility is Jerry Colangelo, who came to KU to play with Wilt, but transferred to Illinois after Wilt left for the Globetrotters. But since he did not play beyond the freshman team, and then left, I really wouldn't count him.
articles.philly.com/1999-11-05/sports/25...amberlain-big-impact



Most of the below list comes from the main Wikipedia page for KUMBB.
I added in John McLendon, who was conspicuously absent, and Lynette Woodard, who was not included because she ain't a guy and the list was on the men's team page.

PERSON, KU TIE(S)
Phog Allen, player and coach (enshrined as coach)
Larry Brown, coach
John Bunn, player and freshman team coach (enshrined as a contributor)
Wilt Chamberlain, player
Paul Endacott, player
Bill Johnson, player
Allen Kelley, player (member of the 1952 NCAA championship team, enshrined as a member of 1960 Olympic gold medal team)
Dutch Lonborg, player (enshrined as a coach)
Clyde Lovellette, player
John McLendon, graduate* (mentored by Naismith; enshrined as contributor, the father of fast break basketball, head coach for North Carolina College in "The Secret Game" against Duke, first coach to "three peat" national college titles)
Ralph Miller, player (enshrined as coach - Wichita State University and Oregon State University)
James Naismith, coach (inventor of basketball)
Ernest Quigley, player (enshrined as referee)
Adolph Rupp, player (enshrined as University of Kentucky coach)
Dean Smith, player (enshrined as University of North Carolina coach)
Jo Jo White, player
Roy Williams, coach (current University of North Carolina coach)
Lynette Woodard, player

*Most of you will recall that KU did not have black athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics back when John McLendon was at KU (1933-36, after a year at Kansas City Junior College). McLendon was fascinated with basketball and Dr. Naismith. He wanted to go to Springfield College in Massachusetts, but his family could not afford to send him. While he was at KCJC, his father learned that Naismith was just 40 miles down the road, so John headed to KU instead after his freshman year at KCJC. Here are some excerpts from "Breaking Through" for your enjoyment.

EXCERPTS
One of McLendon's favorite stories was about the first time he walked into Dr. Naismith's office in Robinson Gymnasium as as young freshman, announcing to this famous man that he was going to major in physical education, that he wanted to learn how to coach basketball, and that he understood Dr. Naismith would be his advisor. "Who told you this?" Naismith inquired. "My father, answered McLendon. "Come on in. Fathers are always right," Naismith declared. [pages 11-12]
...
"I learned my philosophy of coaching from those sessions." recalled McLendon. "(Naismith) told me never to put Xs and Os on a chalkboard. It was more important to instill positive thinking and goal orientation, to let your players know their long- and short-range objectives and to build your program step by step." "He was the man in my life," McLendon told Mike Walker. "He taught me everything I know about basketball and physical education. Everything I ever did when I was coaching, I can trace back to learning from him." [page 21]
END EXCERPTS

"Breaking Through" by Milton Katz is a great read for every fan of the sport, and especially for anyone with ties to the University of Kansas and its men's basketball program. We always hear them talk about Allen's coaching tree, but if Naismith had just Allen and McLendon in his, he would arguably have the most influential coaching tree in the history of the game. Naismith may not have had a winning record on the court, but the more I learn about the man, the clearer it becomes that he was not only a winner, he was a great, great man. And as Jayhawks I feel we need to do more to truly embrace John McLendon, as Dr. Naismith did from the beginning, as one of our own.

One last note -- There are benches and stone inlays next to the Naismith monument in Memorial Park Cemetery here in Lawrence. They are dedicated to some legendary coaches, including Phog Allen, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Dutch Lonborg, Larry Brown and Ralph Miller... and the third bench to the right of the Naismith monument (facing it from the street) is the one honoring John B. McLendon, Jr.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK KU!

Great stuff as always, my friend.

The McLendon story is one that I, too, have followed, and it makes you simply beam when thinking about Naismith and his influence. I personally always loved the fact that McLendon's family had first settled in Kansas City, Kansas (my hometown), and he attended Sumner High School, which was in the same athletics league as my high school (Schlagle High in KCK). Sumner later became a magnet school (Sumner Academy) and produced KU guard Jeff Hawkins (2001-06). McLendon's impact on the game was huge, and the only historical regret (product of the times, sadly) was that he wasn't permitted to actually play hoops at KU because the varsity team was still segregated when he was there.

One other note on the HOF list for KU: does anyone else find it incredible (laughable?) that KU has no player since the Jo Jo White (Ted Owens) era to enter the Hall? Given the fact that some of KU's finest hoops have played out from 1983 to the present (a 33-year run), you'd like to think that we'd have some more entrants from that time. It speaks to the fact that the Springfield venue looks more at a person's impact on the game beyond college (in the pros), which explains JoJo's presence (outstanding in both college and the NBA). In that vein, you'd have to think that Paul Pierce is a likely future entrant, as far as the most easily discernible candidate with KU ties. What I find a little ironic, however, is that Roy Williams is an entrant (deservedly so), and yet he has only impacted the game at the collegiate level. If the latter is sufficient criteria for entrance, then why in the world isn't Danny Manning in the Hall (since he's clearly in the Top 20 all-time for greatest college basketball players)?

Anyway, great stuff. Thanks for posting!

konza63 wrote: Great stuff as always, my friend.

The McLendon story is one that I, too, have followed, and it makes you simply beam when thinking about Naismith and his influence. I personally always loved the fact that McLendon's family had first settled in Kansas City, Kansas (my hometown), and he attended Sumner High School, which was in the same athletics league as my high school (Schlagle High in KCK). Sumner later became a magnet school (Sumner Academy) and produced KU guard Jeff Hawkins (2001-06). McLendon's impact on the game was huge, and the only historical regret (product of the times, sadly) was that he wasn't permitted to actually play hoops at KU because the varsity team was still segregated when he was there.

One other note on the HOF list for KU: does anyone else find it incredible (laughable?) that KU has no player since the Jo Jo White (Ted Owens) era to enter the Hall? Given the fact that some of KU's finest hoops have played out from 1983 to the present (a 33-year run), you'd like to think that we'd have some more entrants from that time. It speaks to the fact that the Springfield venue looks more at a person's impact on the game beyond college (in the pros), which explains JoJo's presence (outstanding in both college and the NBA). In that vein, you'd have to think that Paul Pierce is a likely future entrant, as far as the most easily discernible candidate with KU ties. What I find a little ironic, however, is that Roy Williams is an entrant (deservedly so), and yet he has only impacted the game at the collegiate level. If the latter is sufficient criteria for entrance, then why in the world isn't Danny Manning in the Hall (since he's clearly in the Top 20 all-time for greatest college basketball players)?

Anyway, great stuff. Thanks for posting!

From your mouth to the Hall voters' ears, my friend!
Preach it, Brother K, preach it!

... in myself first and foremost, but also to some extent in the RCB collective as a whole second.

Why, you ask?

As I write this it has been almost 14 hours, and there have been 86 views of my original post, and NO ONE has pointed out the GLARING OMISSION from the NHoF list.

So just WHO is it that I left off that should have been so STINKING obvious?!?

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

Naismith Memorial - Google Maps

The bench sponsored by Maupintour is the John McLendon bench.
The KU coaches bench is to the right, Ralph Miller's bench is to the left of McLendon's.
You can navigate thru the site for different perspectives.