Interesting tidbit punctuating KU's historical status

I had a friend over the other night. He's a big Duke fan, even though he didn't go to the school. We were talking over a couple beers, and the tourney came up. He said he had picked KU to be in the final, including beating Duke. I told him I was surprised he would go with his head over his heart.

A bit later, he shifted the topic and asked me: "Do you know how many players Duke has in the National Basketball Hall of Fame?" I said "Well, first, I know Coach K is in, but as a coach. As for players, let me think a minute." I did so...a long minute. I told him I honestly couldn't think of a single player that I believed qualified or had been entered, with the exception of the one I'd just heard of recently: Grant Hill.

His response: "Bingo." No players, only Coach K, up until now.

That's pretty interesting, since Duke has such a high accomplishment stature among many who have only been tuned in the past decade to 3 decades. But even with all those great teams (and several rings), Hill is the first player going into the Big Hall. And even that is dubious, if you ask me, if Danny Manning isn't in the Hall. Like Manning, Hill earned a national championship. Also like Manning, Hill's NBA career was cut short by injuries. But very much unlike Hill, Manning won NPOY in college and was a superstar on a team of lesser role players (Hill was on stacked Duke teams). I think the Hill vote is a semi-sentimental one given that he went on to announcing and so forth (and he's a Dookie).

But regardless, the larger point stands: Duke has only 1 coach and (soon) 1 player in the Hall. KU has 4 coaches and 6 players in the hall, and that's not including EIGHT MORE individuals that were associated with the University of Kansas but were not enshrined solely for that reason:

John Bunn, former player and freshman team coach, enshrined as a contributor
Dutch Lonborg, former athletic director, enshrined as a coach
John McLendon, Kansas alumni, enshrined as a contributor and as a coach
Ralph Miller, former player, enshrined as a coach
James Naismith, former coach, enshrined as the inventor of basketball
Ernie Quigley, former player, enshrined as a referee
Adolph Rupp, former player, enshrined as a coach
Dean Smith, former player, enshrined as a coach

I am pretty sure that KU has lapped not only Duke, but also the other bluebloods on this front. (No time to fully verify all the numbers at present...if someone else has those or the time, feel free to weigh in)

Just another clear indicator of our great program's exalted historical status...

Konza, your post got me wondering how many schools have HOF members from both the men’s and women’s programs?

Going solely by memory, the only KU person you did not list — and understandably so as you were discussing the men’s program — was all-time great women’s hoopster Lynette Woodard.

Yep, couldn't agree more, Rainyhawk. We loved that aspect, to be sure. And also the fact that, when you enter the actual "Ring of Fame" with all the inductees, the first two people you see together at the beginning are Doctor Naismith and Phog!

Love it...