THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1947
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
Defense Is Major Problem In Rebuilding Cage Squad
Dr. F. C. "Phog" Allen, the University's famous basketball coach, is back at the helm after missing half of last season because of poor health, and the good doctor will have a busy autumn rebuilding his Jayhawkers into title contenders.
Relieving freshman coach Howard Engieman of varsity duties, Allen
must find replacements for such stars as Charlie "Hawk" Black, three times All-American; Ray Evans, twice All-American; Wendell Clark, tenacious guard; Owen "Canary" Peck, scat three letterman at quartierback; and Don Auten and Cliff King. These departures leave the Hawkers weak on defense, particularly rebound work. Allen's teams led the Big Six seven times in 19 years in defensive standings.
"The Hawk", now playing with the Anderson Pro Packers, was one of the best handeuffing units in the history of the sport on Mt. Oread. The 6-foot $4\frac{1}{2}$ inch center held Oklahoma's Gerald Tucker to 20 points in three meetings last year, and held all opposing centers to slightly more than five points per game. His opponents included seven centers ranging above six and one-half-feet tall. He and Evans teamed up to form the most dominant backboard keepers in the conference for years.
Kansas always has been hard to beat because of its stout defense, and Allen agrees that this department needs renovating before his cagers take the count in the opener against Emporia Teachers Dec. 13. To do his renovating he has 11 lettermen, and seven of these are freshmen or sophomores.
Otto Schnellbacher, three - time All-Big Six sharpshooter, is the only tried and true veteran on the roster, and will be the key figure in the rebuilding chore. The only other upperclassmen are Gib Stramel, Max Kissell, and guard Gene Barr, but many of the remaining lettermen played for other colleges and service teams before entering the University.
The big questionmark is, "Who will fill the quarterback slot?" A leading contender is Jerry Waugh, up from Wellington high school, another possibility is Charlie Penny, a steady performer at forward last year, who may be capable of calling the plays as the middle-man in the three-out, two-in offense.
Two comers from last year's team are lefties Jack Eskridge and Harold England, either of which might be the scoring genius on this year's quintet. Eskridge, a 6 foot, 4 incher who formerly starred for Graceland college in Iowa, potted 101 points last year. England scored 69 in 21 games, including ar. 11-point blast against Colorado in the finale.
Other contenders for the forward post beside Schnellbacher are Gib Stramcl, also a possibility at center where he subbed for Peck last year; Nissell, who will attempt a come-back after a four-year layoff; Maurice Martin, 6 foot 4 inch veteran from Topeka; Gene Anderson, a 6 foot 6 inch giant sophomore; and Guy Mabry, who paced the B team last season.
Good guard candidates are plentiful. Claude Houchin, tall, fast, and a deadly shot, climbed up from the B team to appear in 14 games and earn his letter as a freshman. He may be the man to watch this year. Bill Sapp and Sonny Enns, a pair of calm Newton boys, will also bid strong for a starting berth.
Gene Barr, a former sparkplug for ElDorado juco, is another rugged guard performer who showed well in 1946, then skipped last season. Ray Frisby, another letterman at guard in 1946, will also be in the running for a guard berth.
Returning Lettermen:
Name
Anderson, Gene, f
Barr, Gene, g
England, Harold, f
Eskridge, Jack, f-g
Frisby, Ray, g
Houchin, Claude, g
Kissell, Max, f-c
Martin, Maurice, f
Penny, Charles, f
Stramel, Gib, f
Sapp, Bill, g
Yrs. ear'd let.
1946
1946
1947
1947
1946
1947
1942, 1943
1946
1947
1946, 1947
1947
Lettermen Lost:
Don Authen, guard
Charlie Black, forward
Wendell Clark, guard
Ray Evans, guard
Clifford King, forward
Owen Peck, center
I-M Playoffs Begin Today
Independent league playoffs in intramural football will begin today when the top eight teams of the two divisions kick-off for the first round of play.
Here is the schedule: Theta Tau vs. Smith hall, field one; Navy vs. Bounders, field two; Dix club vs. Kappa Eta Kappa, field three; Law school vs. Dine-A-Mite, field four.
The Bounders tied for the division I championship wiT Dine-A-Mite. Each team won five games and lost one, but the Bounders defeated the Dine-A-Mites late in the season. In their first game, the Bounders lost 7 to 8 to the Air Screws.
Kappa Eta Kappa and Theta Tau also first division teams, finished with records of 4-2 and 3-3 respectively.
Smith hall grabbed the title in division II with six victories against one loss. Navy, Dix club and Law school all tied for second with five marks in the win column and two on the other side.
The final game of the playoffs will be played next week. The winner will meet the Fraternity "A" league champions for the intramural touch football championship crown.
Date of the championship game has not been set.
Pro Cagers Disband Loop
Drawings for the Fraternity "A" league playoffs will be held Friday and play will begin Monday or Tuesday.
Chicago-(UP)—The Professional Basketball League of America disbanded today with officials declaring that the venture of less than a year's standing was a "financial failure."
All of the circuit's 16 clubs disbanded along with the league. Players were given unconditional releases as free agents. The league's 1947 schedule was called off after last night's games.
The decision to break up was made at a meeting of league officials here last night. It was announced shortly after midnight today by James O. Brooks, commercial sport money who represented the league.
The league's disbanding threw onto the open market about 160 professional basketball players including such stars as the Chicago Gears' gigantic center, George Mikan, who made all-American at De Paul two years ago, and Bob McDermott, player-coach of the Gears who rates as an all-time all-American.
The league offices here will be abandoned as soon as all business details have been cleared.
Kappa Kappa Gamma Wins
I-M Volleyball Chanpionship
Behind 12 to 16 at halftime, Kappa Kappa Gamma rallied to win the women's intramural volleyball championship from Locksley 24 to 20.
The victorious Kappa team was sparked by Maxine Gunsolly and Jody Stuckey. Top Locksley players were Betty Van der Smissen, Joan Lippelman, and Barbara Johnson.
The league's teams were located at Chicago, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Louisville, Omaha, Kansas City, Mo., Waterloo, St. Joseph, Mo., Atlanta, Houston, Tulsa, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Springfield, Mo.
Sig Ep's Win Over Sigma Chi Reach 'B' Finals
Sigma Phi Epsilon moved up to the finals of the fraternity "B" league playoffs by winning 15 to 0 from Sigma Chi "B" "Wednesday. Phi Delta Theta and Phi Kappa Psi "B" teams battled to a six-all tie, but were unable to run off the extra period because of darkness.
The winner of the Phi Delt-Phi Psi fray will face the Sig Ep's in the final game for the "B" team championship.
Sig Ep "B" 15, Sigma Chi "B"
Scoring two touchdowns in the first period, Sig Ep added three more points in the third period with a safety to defeat Sigma Chi 15 to 0.
Jack Crawford scored the first Sig Ep touchdown when he intercepted Dick Tucker's pass and ran 15 yards into the end zone in the opening quarter. Later in the same period, Crawford again intercepted a Sigma Chi aerial to set up the second touchdown. Jack Wilson passed to Paul Stavros to give the Sig Eps a thirteen point lead in the first quarter.
Late in the third quarter, the Sig Ep's scored a safety against the Sigma Chi's when a pass from center went over Ken White's head and rolled into the end zone.
Due to darkness, the Phi Delt-Phi Psi "B" game, which ended in a 6 to 6 tie after four quarters of play, was called off and will be finished at a later date.
Paul Stavros kicked the game's only extra point. George Holden, Dick Tucker and Ken White did the ball handling for the Sigma Chi's.
WHITE HOUSE TAVERN
When teams are tied after 48 minutes of regulation play, an extra
Phi Psi "B" 6, Phi Delt "B" 6
KU Tackles Aided By Drumm Shift
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Coach George Sauer has moved to strengthen the injured Jayhawkier tackle corps by shifting reserve center Bob Drumm, 190-pounder, to the right tackle spot. Drumm is expected to back up Steve Renko, who will get the starting nod in place of injured Hugh Johnson Saturday.
Another bit of good news for the weakened Kansas line is the return of Terry Monroe to the staff. Monroe was injured recently, but will be in shape for the Aggie game.
point with both teams running four downs is played. The team gaining the most vards is given one point.
The Phi Psi's score was set up on passes from Wood to George Cox and Gene Nelson which moved the ball deep into Phi Delt territory.
The Phi Delt touchdown was set up in the second period when Don Cousins intercepted a pass from Jim Wood on the Phi Psi 18-yard line. On the next play Ed Marquis tossed to Cousins for the score. Fred Six's extra point kick was no good.
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