University Daily Kansan Thursday, Feb. 2, 1956.
RON JOHNSTON Kansas
Ron Johnston Sparks Team As 'Sixth Man'
A 6-foot 1-inch junior has worked his way up to "sixth man" on the Kansas basketball team. And a good "sixth man" he is too. He's Ron Johnston, hustling forward from Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York.
Johnston barely lettered as a sophomore last year but he's provided the spark this season that has pulled the Jayhawkers together at critical moments in games that might have gone either way.
He is falling into the same pattern which Coach Forrest C. "Phog" Allen used with Charlie Hogg, the famed "sixth man" on the 1952 NCAA champions and a member of the United States Olympic team that swept to the world championship at Helsinki.
Hoag Pulled Champs Through
As a junior, Hoag averaged only 5.2 points a game, but was instrumental in pulling the Big Seven champs through many close games during a season that saw Kansas
compile a record of 28 victories and three losses.
Johnston is averaging 5.5 points a game and has given KU added spark and incentive when entering games in which the team seemed to be lagging and headed for defeat.
His performance in the Kansas State game is an example of his value to the team. He didn't enter the game until the second half but then with the pressure on, he hit a field goal and 11 of 12 free throw attempts in helping Kansas to a 91-86 victory.
Phog Impressed
Coach Allen is full of praise over his new "sixth man."
"Every team needs a man like Johnston. Every move of his is motivated by desire. His all-around
Kovatch Joins Coaching Staff
John P. Kovateh, end coach at the University of Nebraska last season, has been appointed assistant football coach at the University. His appointment, approved last week by the State Board of Regents, fills the seven-man complement of the KU coaching staff.
He played football at Northwestern and during his senior year played on the college all-star team and also on the east team in the Shrine game. He was graduated from Northwestern in 1938 with a bachelor of science degree.
Kovatch was assistant coach at Northwestern University from 1947 to 1955. From 1942 to 1947 he was assistant coach to the late "Bo" McMillin at Indiana.
Kovatch played professional football after graduation with the Cleveland Rams, now the Los Angeles Rams.
- He was football coach at Owosso, Mich. High School in 1939 and 1940 and at Saginaw High School, also in Michigan, in 1940 and 1941. A native of South Bend, Ind., the new Kansas coach is 43 years old. He is married and has one son, Steve.
ability is sound, but the big thing is that he's a hustler and competitor always. He doesn't care how big or how good they are, he'll outhustle them."
"He has the nerve to shoot in the clutch and can absorb the contact you sometimes run into," Dr. Allen said.
Allen believes Johnston's footwork is one of the best parts of his game.
A civil engineering major, Johnston was guided to Kansas by a KU alumnus.
Aussies Set 2-Mile Record
MELBOURNE, Australia —(U.P)Miler John Landy ran 880 yards in 1:53 as part of a relay race yesterday and his winning team set a new Australian mark of 7:37.4 for the two-mile event.
THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY
Loss Of Al Oerter Dims Track Hopes
Al Oerter of New Hyde Park, N. Y., an outstanding track prospect who would have been almost a sure point-winner in the shot-put in K. U.'s indoor track schedule, did not return to the University for the second semester.
Oerter, who has been throwing the shot-put over 52 feet, is the holder of the NCAA freshman discus record set last spring.
The Kansas cage team had a defensive average of 34.3 points a game in 1943, which ranked 18th nationally.
Frosh Basketballer Now At Washburn
Roger Casida, former Ottawa High School all-state basketball selection and member of the KU freshman team during the fall semester, has left school to enroll at Washburn University in Topeka.
He has been working out with the Ichabods since finishing final examinations here and will be eligible to play for Washburn during the spring semester.
In 46 years of coaching basketball, Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Alien has had only two losing seasons. In 1929 his KU team won 3 games and lost 15. In 1948 it won 9 games and lost 15.
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ENTER
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4,1956
The Weekly Basketball Scoreguessing Contest for
Guess The Winner of These Games:
IOWA
MISSOURI
UTAH
OREGON STATE
NORTH CAROLINA
vs. WICHITA
vs. OKLAHOMA
vs. CALIFORNIA
vs. WYOMING
FORDHAM
WISCONSIN
PRINCETON
vs. DUKE
vs. VILLANOVA
GEORGIA TECH
vs. COLUMBIA
vs. NORTHWESTERN
vs. ALABAMA
Estimate the score of the following game only Kansas □ Iowa State □
Rules: (1) Clip & fill out entry blank from the Kansan. Place name and phone number on entry.
Name ...
Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
drop into ballot boxes at the Call Cafe, Rock Chalk Cafe. or Student Union Hawk's Nest before 12:00 noon Saturday
(2) Contest winners will be determined by the greatest number of winners picked and closest estimation of the Kansas game.
(3) Winner will receive a carton of Chesterfields.
(4) Sponsored by the Daily Kansan and your Campus Representatives, Ron Evans and Bob Kay.