Wednesday, Dec. 10, 1952 University Daily Kansan
Page 5
Newton Places Another Cage Star
The latest in a long line of Newton roundball players will go to Tulane university's center circle in New Orleans Thursday to start his first collegiate ball game and help the Jayhawks to open the 1952-53 basketball season.
Nineteen-year-old Larry Davenport will be one of three sophomores picked by Kansas' veteran cage coach, Dr. F. C. "Phog" Allen, to fill the positions vacated by the graduating starters of last year's NCAA championship outfit. Along with Bill Heitholt and Jerry Alberts, the 6-2 Davenport is being counted on to fill a big gap in the Jayhawk basketball machine.
But the Newtonian, following in the footsteps of the Railroader's Bill Lienhard, is highly rated by a year-old dean of basketball mentors.
"I think that Larry is going to have a great future," the Phogger predicted this week. "Besides being a good shooter, he's a fine passer, moves well, and is a nice rebounder for his size." he added.
Davenport, who played in 22 varsity games last year as a freshman was considered as one of the best if not the best outside shooter on the conference and national championship team. His perfectionistic finesse prompted Allen to tab Davenport "poetry in motion" before the "1951-52 season was a month old.
But despite the fact that Dave, as he is called by his teammates, made all but one of the varsity trips last year and saw considerable action, he will go into the coming season with hardly enough varsity experience to be called an old hand at college ball. And, like most other sophomores, Davenport will have a lot of game time ahead of him before he will graduate from the ranks of the green hands.
Davenport has shown continued improvement throughout fall practice sessions. While he was thought of only as a deadly-accurate shooter last season, he has shown a new
aggressiveness this fall that comes as a welcome addition to the Jayhawk talents.
He lettered three years in high school basketball and two in baseball while playing for John Ravencroft's Newton teams. The Railroaders rolled to the state class AA prep championship in basketball during his sophomore year and lost in the finals both his junior and senior years. As a senior, Davenport fired away for a 16-point season average to earn first team all-state honors.
Davenport, who is majoring in commercial art, is amazed at the big difference between high school and college ball.
"Playing in a collegiate league like the Big Seven is much rougher than I ever thought it would be," he explained. "The competition is much rougher and it takes a lot more stamina to keep going."
Dave was one of two members of last season's team who were sent to Helsinki for the Olympic games as the result of money raised by the Governor's "On to Helsinki" committee. He and Center B. H. Born were given all-expense paid trips to the games following four warm-up exhibition games played in late June at Hutchinson and Peoria, Ill.
Davenport, Born, and Heitholt all played in the exhibition games between the KU team and the Peoria Caterpillars and were alternates on the Olympic basketball team.
Leisure in Name Only
St. Louis — (U.P.) The bill that would shorten the working time of certain city employees was placed before the Board of Aldermen by the right man—Alderman Raymond Leisure.
Post-Season Athletics Ban Removed From All NCAA Sponsored Events
The KU representative said that there was little discussion of the freshman rule and that it would be considered further in the NCAA meeting next month. He explained that Gil Reich of Kansas and Bill Rowkemp of Missouri, West Point transfers, completed their eligibility in football this fall since both played freshman football at Army.
He said that they would have had another year of eligibility if they had been members of a Big Seven freshman squad, who play a two-game schedule, but were ineligible since the West Point team played a full schedule.
Elimination of the Big Seven ban upon participation in NCAA-sponsored post-season athletic events enables conference teams and individuals to compete provided they have the approval of the school president, Dean T. DeWitt Carr, KU faculty representative for the Big Seven, explained today.
he said that elimination of the platoon system would "even up competition" since big schools are able to field two fresh squads and therefore can wear down opponents without the system.
Dean Carr, of the School of Engineering, said that the ban upon post-season football bowl games is still in effect since they are not sponsored by the NCAA. He pointed out that the conference at Lincoln, Neb., last week voted to support the NCAA program and the activities which it sponsors such as basketball and baseball tournaments and track meets.
Dean Carr said that the vote to recommend abolishment of the platoon system at the NCAA meeting in Washington Jan. 8-10 was unanimous. He said that two factors led to the agreement—the increased cost which results in fielding two complete teams and the inability for a defensive player to play on the offense, and vice versa.
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