1985 TO 1995 BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS AND JACK WEINSTEIN
The 1985-1995 years brought many new traditions to Kansas basketball and Allen Fieldhouse. Among them
The year 1988 is significant for several more reasons in Jayhawk lore. The second-longest homecourt winning streak in school history was broken. The 55-game streak was stopped by Kansas State, led by Mitch Richmond's 35 points. Duke and Oklahoma also defeated Kansas in the fieldhouse that same year, giving seniors Danny Manning and Chris Piper the only losses on their home court. "Danny and the Miracles" would later average the losses
The creation of traditions was rampant in the late 1980s. The banner that hangs in the south end of the fieldhouse reading "Pay Heed, All Who Enter: Beware of 'The Phog' was created by a team of students working on a canvas of 10 stolen shower curtains from McCollum Hall in 1988. They finished painting the sign in time for the Feb. 20 game against Duke. Kansas has amassed a 215-19 record at the fieldhouse since the sign was hung.
was "Late Night with Larry", the first practice of the season. A crowd of 6,000 was in attendance to witness the inaugural event. The "Late Night" concept had actually been around since the 1955-1956 season, when Phog Allen's freshman team had squared off against the varsity squad. The first practice had been open to the public periodically until Late Night's official start in 1985.
In the mid-1990s, the Athletics Department changed the camping policies because it was worried about excessive electrical use and fires. Campers were then only required to be present at the fieldhouse from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., rather than all 24 hours of the day.
Camping also gained great acclaim during this decade, as student seats were in high demand because of the success of the program. Concerned about the students' safety in the cold winter months, Kansas officials rolled extension cords out for the students so they could plug in heaters. But instead of heaters, students hooked up televisions and Nintendos.
by beating those three teams en route to the National Championship.
On April 4, 1988, Larry Brown announced from Allen Fieldhouse that he would not leave to take the head coaching position at UCLA. Shortly after, amid controversy of NCAA recruiting sanctions, Brown left to coach the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. Brown was 135-4刃 in five seasons as coach of the Jayhawks, 71-5 in the fieldhouse, including three undefeated seasons from 1984-1985 through 1986-1987. His teams went to two Final Fours, winning the National Championship in 1988.
Athletics Director Bob Frederick hired North Carolina assistant Roy Williams. Williams' first victory in Allen Fieldhouse came Dec. 1, 1988. Kansas, led by 31 points from Mark Randall, beat Seattle 98-65. In Williams' first season, he led Kansas to a 19-12 record, including 10-4 in the fieldhouse. His teams would never lose more on their home court than they did in his first season.
First-year Kentucky coach Rick Pitino came to Lawrence on Dec. 9, 1989. With 31 points by Terry Brown, the Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats 150-95 in the highest scoring game in Allen Fieldhouse history.
While the fieldhouse's current scoreboard looks ancient by modern Jumborron standards, the box is just 14 years old. It was installed before the Jan. 16, 1991, game.
While jersey retirement ceremonies have become commonplace to current students, the honor began just before the 1992 season. The original class of seven inductees included Paul Endacott, Charles T. Black, Clyde Lovellette, B.H. Born, Wilt Chamberlain, Lynette Woodard and Danny Manning. Chamberlain was the only one of the original inductees who didn't have his jersey retirement celebration in 1992.
From 1985-1995, Kansas finished with a record of 136-14 at Allen Fieldhouse, which included four undefeated seasons. Williams won four Big Eight titles in his first six years and led Kansas to the Final Four in 1991 and 1993. Every season has been sold out in Allen Fieldhouse since the 1985-86 season. $\star$
December 9, 1989 Kansas vs. Kentucky
MAX'S MEMORIES
Kentucky and Kansas played regularly throughout the '70s but the series stopped in the early '80s. It was revived in the late 1980s, and the first match-up was between what would turn out to be two of the best coaches in college basketball. Rick Pitino was in his first year at Kentucky and Roy Williams was in his second year at Kansas.
At the end of the game, most of the Kentucky players had fouled out and Kentucky ran out of timeouts. When Kansas broke Kentucky's press and didn't have any timeouts left, Roy looked down the bench at Pitino and asked "Do you want me to call a timeout?" Pitino used some profanities and Roy didn't call the timeout. It was the most points that Kansas ever scored in one game.
Roy had some inexperienced players, like Terry Brown. We called him "Downtown Terry Brown" because in high school he had hit 12 three-pointers in one game. In this game, Kansas scored 80 points in the first half. The final score was 150-95. It was one of the most memorable games of the decade. The two teams set an NCAA record for most three-point attempts with 57.
Final 4 is 2 big steps away
03.03.1986
"KU head basketball coach Larry Brown gets the last strand of the net with help from Calvin Thompson and Ron Kellogg. Saturday's victory extended Ku's winning streak at Allen Field House to 33 games."
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