Still Going Strong--
Page 5
Dean of American Coaches Celebrates 68th Birthday
By DON TICE
Sixty-eight years ago today, in Jamesport, Mo., Forrest Clare Allen was born to William T. and Alexine Allen. He was then just another squalling baby. Today he is the foremost basketball coach in America.
His life has been full of sparkling achievements in the playing and coaching fields. Since 1908, when he accepted his first coaching posi- tion of diversity, he has been in the eyes of thousands of American sports fans.
It all began when Dr. Allen, then a student at the University, received a letter wanting him to coach at Baker. Dr. James Nalsimith, originator of the game and the coach at Kansas at that time, laughed at the bright young man.
68 YEARS YOUUNG—Phog Allen, Jayhawk basketball coach who is celebrating his 68th birthday today, is shown with his arm around his assistant, Dick Harp, at one of last year's games. That winning smile probably will be seen around Mt. Oread for many more years, as the coach who has been here 36 seasons adds to his already massive total of cage victories—most any coach has won
"Why you can't coach basketball," Dr. Naismith said. "You just play it."
If Dr. Naismith were here now, he would probably admit his mistake with no qualms, because Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, beloved to Kansas fans, ridiculed by Eastern sports writers, but respected by all, has come to be known as the "dean of basketball coaches." And well he should be.
In 1951 when his Kansas Jayhawks beat Colorado, 58-56, he became the second coach in history to win 500 contests at one school. In addition to this, "Phog" is listed as the winningest coach in basketball history with a record of 729 victories against 209 defeats in 46 seasons.
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 1953 University Daily Kansan
During his 36 years at Kansas,
Coach Allen has won 23 championships.
In addition, during a 7-year
coaching stint at Central Missouri
Teachers college at Warrensburg,
Mo, he had seven basketball crowns,
seven football championships, and
three baseball titleholders.
During his phenomenal coaching reign here at the University, Dr. Allen has turned out 14 all-Americans. Two of them, Clyde Lovelletta and last year's Helms award winner B. H. Born, in the last two seasons.
In 1850 Dr. Allen was named Basketball's Man of the Year by his fellow coaches for his "unselfish effort and contribution to the game over a long span of years."
In 1951 he was chosen to coach the West team in the first annual Shrine East-West All-Star game, and guided that team to victory.
Along with Dr. Naismith, Coach Allen was responsible for the including of basketball in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He was chairman of the Olympic committee that same year.
Forrest Allen began setting basketball scoring records in college, when he set a Kansas basketball scoring record of 26 points in a single game in 1906. That record stood until 1939 when one of his pupils, Howard Engleman scored 27.
Dr. Allen first coached at Kansas in 1908-09, when he piloted his teams to two Missouri Valley championships. During 1909 he also coached Baker university and Haskell institute. Baker's record was 22-2 and Haskell's was 19-5.
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He became athletic director at Kansas in 1919, and in 1920 he coached the football team and organized a drive to raise money for a football stadium, which collected $660,000.
In 1923 when the Kansas Relays were founded by Dr. Allen, dressing rooms were added to the stadium project. The stadium was completed in 1927 to be the first completed stadium west of the Mississippi river.
pation in the basketball field, Dr. Allen has written three books, "My Basketball Bible," "Better Basketball," and "Phog Allen's Sports Stories." His barbed comments about rules committees and sports writers make him a constant target for that latter group.
Just recently he let loose another blast at the basketball rules committee, of which he was a member for a number of years, taking issue with the two-for-one free throw rule.
In the last two seasons, he has coached the Jayhawks to a first and a second in the NCAA tournament, and two years ago acted as assistant coach for the victorious American team in the Olympics.
In his usual sarcastic manner, he suggested an alternate board made up of Abbott and Costello. Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Ed Wynn, and the three Marx brothers. He said this group couldn't make any more ridiculous rules than the present committee, and they would at least be funnier.
In addition to his active partici-
IDEAL AS A XMAS GIFT.
As example, there are fellows playing in the tough pro league from such schools as McMurry, Youngstown, John Carroll, La Crosse State, Abilene Christian and Grambling. What do you suppose the odds are against, say, a guard from Grambling, making the all-American team in his own home town newspaper?
Somewhere they're gonna blow one and who is to say that even Sunflower or Turkey Trot Tech every once in a while doesn't come up with a guard or a tackle fit to play in anybody's league?
But you aren't gonna catch old fearless out of line. No sir! Like my brother selectors, I done picked a team and here it is:
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New York—(U.P.)—Stop holding your breath, men, the time finally has arrived today to announce Fearless Fraley's "I ain't seen none of them" 1953 all-American football team.
By OSCAR FRALEY
First All-American Team Picked By 'Armchair' Fraley
Even in this bright new age of television, it still is impossible to see every team in the nation on the few football Saturdays available. I doubt rather seriously whether there is a man alive who has seen every college in action in his whole lifetime, be he Amos Alonzo Stagg or Pop Warner.
End-Don Dohoney, Michigan State.
Tackle—Jim Smith, Baylor.
Guard—Crawford Mims, Mississippi.
Center—Larry Morris, Georgia Tech.
Guard—J. D. Roberts, Oklahoma
Tackle—Art Hunter, Notre Dame
End—Carlton Massey, Texas.
Back—Paul Gill, Minnesota.
back- J. C. Caroline, Illinois.
Back- Paul Cameron, UCLA.
Back- Johnny Lattner, Notre
Dame.
Nebraska has not beaten OU since 1942.
Kansas end Coach Hub Ulrich said Monday that Missouri has a better team than Oklahoma A&M. and "We're in for a long day Saturday if we don't play better than we did last week."
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