Section C·Page 6
The University Daily Kansas
Friday, February 26, 1999
Ted Owens garnered 348 wins in 19 years
Former men's coach part of Kansas tradition
By Torrie Jones
Kansan sportswriter
Lost in the Phog of four national championships, 11 Four Four appearances and numerous Hall of Fame players and coaches, Ted Owens has his niche somewhere in KU basketball lore.
Owens coached the KU men's basketball team 1964-1983, compiling 348 wins in 19 seasons, placing him second behind the legendary Phog Allen in all-time victories. Under Owens' tutelage, Kansas won six Big Eight Conference titles and qualified for NCAA postseason play seven times.
"My philosophy was, 'build the team around strong defense and rebound well because good shooting isn't always reliable." Owens said.
Owens also led the Jahawks to Final Four appearances in 1971 and 1974. The 1971 squad, led by Bud Stallworth and First team All-American Dave Robisch, stormed through conference play undefeated, reeling off 21 straight victories and a 27-1 record before losing to eventual champions UCLA.
"I would put our 1971 team up against any队 in KU history." Stallworth said.
The epic battle, played in the Houston Astrodome before one of the largest crowds ever to see a college basketball game, pitched two of the game's best players in UCLA's Bill Walton and Robbisch of
The Jayhawks were dominated early but worked a 13-point deficit down to two late in the second half. Kansas had momentum and the ball with a chance to tie the game, but Robisch was called for a controversial traveling violation. The Jayhawks lost the ball, momentum and the game, 68-60.
After that lost and two mediocre seasons, Owens once again led a talented bunch to the Final Four.
Kansas.
"The 1974 team wasn't as physical as the 1971 bunch, but as a whole we had a deeper team," Owens said. "We had six or seven players who were capable of stepping up at any given time."
Former Kansas men's basketball coach Ted Owens gives pointers to his team at halftime. Owens coached at Kansas from 1964 to 1983. Photo courtesy of University Archives
Though the team lost to Marquette in the NCAA semifinals, the 1974 squad won the Big Eight championship and compiled a 23-7 record.
Though Owens' hard-working coaching style harkens back to his upbringing, his adolescence sounds more like Huck Finn's than Pat Riley's. Owens went to a small high school in his hometown and graduated with 29 other students in his class. After high school, Owens went on to the University of Oklahoma on a scholarship that only paid for his tuition, so he worked odd jobs to pay for various
The path that led Owens to the highprofile life of coaching a major NCAA basketball program began in humble fashion. Owens was born in a small farmhouse in Hollis, Okla., where he learned valuable lessons from hard-working parents.
"We never had a lot of money, but I learned the importance of hard work, love and discipline." Owens said.
expenses, including room and board.
"By day, I went to class and practice," Owens said. "At night, I worked at a grocery store and as a sleeping fireman to put money in my pocket."
A three-year letterman at Oklahoma (1949-1951), Owens began his coaching career at Cameron State Junior College in Lawton, Okla, where he compiled a 93-24 record and advanced to the national junior college semifinals three out of four years.
Owens then accepted an assistant coaching position in 1960 with Dick Harp and became head coach in 1964. While at Kansas, Owens used the lessons learned at Oklahoma and Cameron, instilling an
offense that was geared more toward the athleticism.
"Owens was a lot more flexible than most coaches offensively, but he still preached the importance of fundamental basketball." Stallworth said.
Today, Owens is in his third year as athletics director at St. Leo's College in Florida. He is enjoying life with his wife, Michelle, and four children.
"Working as athletics director at St. Leo's has been an enjoyable experience, but I'm also interested in pursuing some business ties," he said.
Although Owens enjoys his job, he also is looking to go in a different direction.
Kansas women prefer loyal core to fair-weather fans
By Emily Hughey
Kansan sportswriter
In a university shrouded with Phog hysteria, the women's basketball team often plays in the shadows. But it doesn't mind
and that numbers were not important to her.
row of a typical men's game draws a full-capacity crowd of 16,300, the women play for only about 2,500 fans. And although they would appreciate a larger body of support, the women would not swap fans with the men if they had the chance.
Senior center and forward Nakia Sanford does not even bother comparing the women's fan turnout to the men's.
"I feel like we get 2,500 fans or so, and they're going to stay till the end, no matter if we're winning by 30 or losing by 30," Jackson said. "They never leave disappointed."
"I just don't think about it because we have so many goals we're trying to focus on," Sanford said. "And I'm sure they don't think about what we're doing."
Sophomore guard Jennifer Jackson said that she appreciated the quality of fans the women attracted
Brooke Reves, junior forward, agreed.
Brooke雷斯, please for the image.
"I think our crowds are the right type of crowd."
Reves said. "They're really loyal fans. If we were losing, they wouldn't get up and leave."
In high school, both Jackson and Reves played in gyms packed with fans, so the transition to collegiate games was one to which they had to adjust.
It was not until her freshman year at Wichita State University that Reves encountered a lack of fan support. After playing for small crowds, she said the turnout at Kansas was far better than she expected.
"I started at Wichita State where they didn't have a crowd at all," Reves said. "When I came here, it was almost overwhelming."
Reves attributed the imbalance of support in men's
and women's teams to women not dunking.
"The huge difference that I see is that men can dunk, and women just haven't mastered that yet," Reves said. "But we're going to get there."
Jackson agreed that dunking added excitement to the men's games but that the tradition of men's basketball was what really attracted fans.
"I think that the name, the tradition that Kansas basketball has, is associated with the men," Jackson said.
But what the men do not have, Jackson said, is the energy on the court that the women do.
"We have a lot of fun out there." Jackson said. "We work really hard in practice, and we go out in the games and get excited."
Both Jackson and Reves see the sport coming into its own in the near future.
"We're just watching our game develop," Reves said. "I think it's going to be huge. We're growing rapidly."
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