Friday Nov. 18, 1955. University Daily Kansan I
Phog Begins 39th Season At KU; Holds Fabulous Victory Record
Assistant Coach Dick Harp and Coach F. C. "Phog" Allen
By JOHN MCMILLION Kansan City Editor
For the past 38 years KU has been the home of one of the most colorful and outspoken characters in the athletic world. This year, the dean of American basketball coaches, Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, embarks on his 39th year at KU and his 46th year of coaching.
The record amassed by Dr. Allen over this long span is unequal by any other coach in the country. As head basketball coach at Baker, Haskell, Warrensburg State Teachers College, and Kansas, Dr. Allen has compiled a fabulous record of 757 wins against 224 losses for a percentage of .771. No other active coach is within 100 games of this total of games won.
In addition, Allen's teams have won or shared 31 conference championships, 24 of which have been won at Kansas. With this amazing total, Allen-coached clubs have captured over half the league crowns of the Missouri Valley, Big Six, and Big Seven conferences.
31 Championships
During his career at Kansas, Dr. Allen has produced 15 separate All-Americans and eight of these were repeaters. In 1952 he was selected as Helms Foundations Coach of the Year after his championship team captured the NCAA crown and placed seven players on the Olympic team.
Dr. Allen was also selected Coach of the Year in 1950 in a poll of his fellow coaches. He is a charter member of the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame and in 1953 was voted into the Missouri Hall of Fame, being a native of that state.
It will be climaxed tonight by the game between his varsity team and Dick Harp's talent-loaded freshman five. Dr. Allen says he has planned some tricks to combat the freshman's height advantage, which is bolstered considerably by Wilt Chamberlain's height of seven feet.
Born on Nov. 18, 1885 Dr. Allen celebrated his 70th birthday today.
"We'll get murdered if we use our present offense," Dr. Allen said. "That Chamberlain is out of this world in a game. The extra length of his arms makes a great deal of difference. He can jump too, and clear the rim of the basket with his fingers by 21 or 22 inches. This gives him about a 20 inch advantage over our center, Lew Johnson."
Arm Length Hurts
There has been some talk that the main reason for Dr. Allen's acquisition of Chamberlain is to enable him to remain at Kansas after this year. According to the University retirement ruling Dr. Allen will be forced to retire at the end of this season as he will have reached the age of 70.
"I brought Chamberlain to Kansas with no other aim in mind except for the betterment of KU basketball." Dr. Allen said. I first started to think about acquiring Wilt four years ago when Don Pierce, our sports publicity man, walked in and handed me a clipping about the boy. I kept that picture tacked on
Lovellette vs. Chamberlain
the door of my office until I finally got Wilt out here."
Dr. Allen thinks Chamberlain will get his real test in April when the varsity will play the alumni. Among the alumni expected to be on hand is Clyde Lovellette, now playing center for the Minneapolis Lakers of the professional basketball world. The 6 feet 9 inch Lovellette was no slouch for Kansas, being named twice to All-American honors and breaking every scoring record in the books throughout the season and in the NCAA plays.
Dr. Allen doesn't think the chances for this year are as bright as depicted. "I don't see how anyone can make us a favorite," he said. Either their mathematics or their logic is terribly out of order. If we win we will have to have someone accomplish the impossible.
Known now for his handling and development of players, Coach Haep hasn't always watched the game from the bench. In 1940, he was co-captain of KU's NCAA runnersup, playing at guard. In the championship game that year, Harp and teammates fell before Indiana, the first of two Hoosier teams to outlast KU for the NCAA crown. The next time was 1953 by a 60 to 59 score. Harp was again involved, but this time in his present capacity as assistant coach.
The 1940 Jayhawkers got into the national finals the hard way, beating Oklahoma A & M 54 to 53, in an overtime playoff game, and upsetting Southern California, 43 to 42, in the Western finals. Harp, called "a great competitor when the chips were down" by Phog Allen, had a major hand in both victories, scoring the winning goal against A&M in the waning seconds, and holding USC's all-American forward, Ralph Vaughn, to two field goals.
Dick is held in the highest esteem by Dr. Allen, dean of America's basketball coaches."Dick characterizes the best in teacher-coach traditions,"said Allen.
Unsung, but nevertheless a man who's had much to do with recent Kansas basketball success is Dick Harp, right-hand man of Phog Allen, and coach of the KU freshman team.
Harp joined the coaching staff in 1948 after a two-year coaching tenure at William Jewell College as basketball coach and football assistant. Since then, Kansas cage teams have won or shared four Big Seven championships, won one NCAA title and missed a second national title by one point.
Four Teams Undefeated
- Four of Dr. Allen's teams went through the season undefeated.
These were the 1923 team, headed by Paul Endacott, Waldo Bowman, Charley Black (the first one), Tusten Ackerman, Andrew McDonald, and John Rogers (the 1934 squad which boasted such stars as Pralle, Ray Noble, Milton Allen, Paul Rogers, Ray Ebling, and Francis Kappleman, and the war-interrupted teams of 1943 and 1946 which were spearheaded by Ray Evans, Otto Schnellbacher, Armin Dixon, John Buescher, Max Kissell, and the second Charley Black.
Dick Harp Plays Big Part In KU Basketball Success
Well Thought Of
Tonight is a big night for Dick. His freshman crew plays the varsity at Allen Field House. It's no secret that he's happy about this year's frsh crop. "We possibly have as much over-all promise as any freshman squad we've had," said Harp.
Thrilled By Winning Goal
"Perhaps, we won't have four individual players as good as the 1952 foursome of Clyde Lovelette, Bill Lienhard, Bob Kenney and Bill Hougland, but I think it's conceivable that we have seven or eight boys of varsity caliber."
Dick said his biggest thrill, as a player, was a tosusp between his winning goal against the Aggies and KU's victory over highly-favored Southern California. As a coach, his highlight was his experience with the KU national championship team of 1952, which went on to help the United States capture the Olympic cage crown. The 1953 Kansas team, NCAA runnersup, was a close second.
As a football player at Kansas Dr. Allen was an end and a guard but during the first year he broke his elbow and concentrated his activities on basketball. He lettered two years at all three positions. While at KU he studied law.
In 1908 and 1909 he was a seasonal coach in basketball. In 1909 he left KU to study osteopathy. He finished in 1912 and went to Central Missouri State Teacher's College in Warrensburg, Mo. where he coached all sports and also taught.
Dick was graduated from Rosedale High School in Kansas City, Kan., in 1936 and received his B. A. from the University in 1940.
(Continued on Page 12B)
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