Page 16
University Daily Kansan
Friday, Nov. 9. 1956
—(Daily Kansan photo)
THE TALL AND THE SMALL—Wilt (The Stil) Chamberlain, KU's 7-foot sophomore basketball center, poses with Don Pfutzenreuter, 5-6, 153-pound senior guard on the Jayhawk football team.
Pete Elliott is Nebraska's 23rd coach since the first paid teacher was hired at NU in 1893.
Nebraska failed to score a point in ten games in 1002.
The most points Nebraska ever scored was in 1900 when the Cornbushers beat Haskell 119-0.
Nebraska has won the Big Seven football championship nine times.
Jayhawkers' Basketball Fortunes Hinge On Seven Feet Of 'Wilt'
Much of KU's hopes for a successful basketball season rests in the hands of a man who has yet to play his first varsity game. That's a tall order for a sophomore; but Wilson N. Chamberlain is a tall sophomore and is rated one of the greatest prospects in basketball history.
Chamberlain hasn't won superlatives on size alone. The 7-foot dunk shot artist scored 2,252 points in three years with a Philadelphia high school, Overbrook, that lost only one game while winning more than 70.
Over 100 colleges reportedly sought Chamberlain's services after graduation from high school. The Philadelphia Warriors scouted Chamberlain in high school and were so impressed with him that last year they got league permission to draft him after he i sgraduated from college in 1959.
Kansas fans got their first look at Chamberlain in the freshman-varsity game last fall. He led the freshmen to their first victory in the annual tilt since the series started in 1922. His 42-point game total was just two under KU's varsity record held by Clyde Lovellette and he bettered the University rebound record by five by pulling down 29.
Experts around Philadelphia voiced the opinion that the vaunted Chamberlain could step from high school ball into professional circles and push such established stars as Neil Johnston and Bob Pettit for top honors.
Picked For All-American Chamberlain has been picked on most pre-season All-American teams and Kansas has ranked first or second in the nation. All of them pick Kansas to win the Big Seven championship.
Picked For All-American
A crowd of 14,000 saw Chamberlain score two-handed dunk shots four times, each time lifting his elbows above the basket.
When asked who would be Kansas' toughest competition in league play Wilt said, "I'll pick Kansas State and then Iowa State.
Kansas State would be tough just because of the rivalry between the two schools even if they didn't have a really good ball club—but they do. That Parr and a couple of others are really going to be hard to stop.
"You know we meet both Kansas State and Iowa State in our division in the Big Seven tournament during Christmas vacation. That should tell the whole story right there."
Chamberlain rates the Big Seven the toughest conference in the nation in basketball this year.
"Not just because of a couple of clubs," he said. "There are a lot of good clubs in our league this year. The Southwest Conference will be plenty rough, too. They should be tougher than the pre-season experts seem to think."
He rates Louisville as one of the best teams and says that Temple should do better than the experts kick them to do. Temple rates eighth in most pre-season rankings.
Chamberlain, who doesn't look his 227 pounds, doesn't stop athletic competition when basketball season ends. Last spring he high-jumped 6-feet 6.
Didn't Compete For State
"That's no better than I did in high school," Chamberlain said. "I didn't have as much time as I wanted to work on high jumping. This spring I intend to work on it a lot."
Don't compete for state Chamberlain's high school team didn't compete for a state championship in spite of its excellent record.
But right now Wilt is worrying about basketball and a lot of KU's opponents are worrying about Wilt.
Pete Elliott played quarterback at Michigan and led the Big Ten school to a 49-0 win over Southern California in the 1947 Rose Bowl game.
"I've played against most of those boys on the Temple team," he said and they're plenty good."
"We had plenty of competition in he city," Wilt said. "We'd stop with the city championship playoffs between the league I was in and the Catholic League."
Kansas hasn't beat Nebraska in football since 1951 when KU won 27-7.
Pete Elliott, Nebraska's head football coach, was assistant coach at Oklahoma before going to Nebraska.
In Kansas City It's . . .
THE MINUSCULE OMEGA LADYMATIC WATCH
This petite automatic watch by Omega is no larger around than a dime. Yet the Ladymatic has sweep second hand and automatic "wind-up" just like the automatic Omegas for gentlmen. Its minuscule 14k yellow gold case is complemented by a tailored black suede band. 175.00, FTI. See the Omega Ladymatic at tivol Downtown, Altman building, Harrison 1-1888; or tivol Plaza, 220 Nichols road, westport 1-5333. Mail or telephone orders promptly filled.