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Wednesday. August 21. 1974
University Dally Kansan
Owens in 11th Year with KU
By MIKE FITZGERALD Kansan Staff Reporter
To Ted Owens, University of Kansas basketball coach, basketball was a sport in which he became so involved at an early age that he never thought of doing anything
Next season will be the eleventh year at Kansas for Owens. For his first 10 years as head coach, Owens has a .714 winning percentage in Big Eight games and has gone to the NCAA national championships four times and to the NIT playoffs twice.
Owens received his introduction to the
game from his family. His father had set up a basketball goal in the backyard for Owens' two older brothers, who, according to Owens, were good players.
From this beginning, Owen went on to
guard for his high school in Holls,
Ohio.
"For our little town, she said recently, 'we had some good talent—Darrrell Royal University of Texas football coach) came with a big and excellent football as well as basketball."
Owens received a half-scholarship at the University of Oklahoma to play football.
didn't begin to play basketball at OU until his second year.
Because Owens received only a half-scholarship, he got a job at the local grocery store.
Owens continued to play guard at Oklahoma and in 1951, his senior year, the Sooners beat KU at Hoch Auditorium. The win knocked KU out of the conference race. In 1982 the Kansas team won the Big Eight championships, and the NCAA national championships.
After playing basketball for Oklahoma,
Owens spent the next year at OU as an
assistant to Head Coach Bruce Drake. The
Army and the Korean have postponed
the training session.
After his return from the Army, Owens played pro basketball for the Houston Ada Oilers in the National Industrial Basketball League.
Kansan Photo
"In those days, the Industrial and AAU leagues were not like the pro leagues of today," he said. "A couple of the better teams, the Philips 66 Oilers and the Peoria Caterpillars."
Owens Diagrams Strategy at NCAA Regional
Following his one season in pro basketball, Owens became head coach at Cameron Junior College in Lawton, Okla. He coached there for four years, and his teams won many games. He then moved to Cameroon where Cameroon went to the semifinals in the National Junior College Tournament.
In 1958, Cameron was the first team in the tournament's history to enter it undefeated. Owens' team won 27 games in a row before losing in the semifinals. Owens turned out one All-America player each year at Cameron, and his overall record was 93-24.
In 1960, Dick Harp, then KU's coach,
hired Owens as his assistant. In 1964, Harp
retired and Owens took over the head
coaching job.
What could it be about throwing a ball through a hoop that demands such deduction?
“It’s a combination of things,” he said. “Basketball is a very artistic game. There’s the beautiful flow of a fast break and the execution of plays. It’s graceful with the fierce competition aspect of it. It’s the entire game itself.
“It’s also a continuous action sport. One thing that Phog Allen once said was that in basketball there’s no time for appreciation of great plays. One of the main reasons I like the game is simply I enjoy working with young people.”
With all but two players from last year's Big Eight Championship team returning and having some excellent recruits, Owens looks forward to the coming season. He said he thought, however, that KU wouldn't dominate the league.
Owens said he thought that the Big Eight wasn't weaker than last year. He said Kansas State, Missouri and Oklahoma had been successful but always managed to have a good team.
"Last year we went 13-1 but won quite a few close games," he said. "We were down by eight against Oklahoma State and down by five at Oklahoma near the end of the game and won both. We won out at Colorado on a 20-foot jumper at the buzzer. When you play as many this close, they can go either way."
Sports Important in Walker's Life
The greatest change Clyde Walker has seen in sports during his lifetime is an increased interest in individual sports, such as tennis and golf, rather than team sports.
Walker, who is University of Kansas athletic director, said recently that sports had been an important part of his life. He was involved in sports since high school.
By DONNA HOWELL
Kansan Staff Reporter
Individual sports, such as golf, can be played for a longer part of a person's life
"When I was coming along, people were more interested in competitive team spirit than playing."
There has been an increase in spectator enthusiasm. Walker said, although ssec-
tators seem to be more interested in winners.
"As long as you have a winner, there will be more spectacles," he said.
Spectator enthusiasm, he said, could be attributed to people having more leisure time and more money to spend. Television also helped people become aware of sports.
Tennis, golf and water skiing are some of the sports in which Walker enjoys participation.
"Golf is the toughest sport, from the standpoint of accomplishment," he said.
He said that he could play tennis easily after not playing for awhile but that he couldn't play golf under the same circumstances.
Walker has had his share of team sports.
also. While in high school in Norfolk, Va., he played baseball, football and basketball. During his senior year he was captain of all three teams and named to the All-America baseball team.
As a young man, he wanted to be a professional baseball player. He was offered a professional contract while he was in college, but he didn't accept it because he didn't think he was good enough to play in the major leagues.
Walker Became Athletic Director Last Year
Kansan Photo
His athletic career continued in college. He played football, baseball and basketball during his two years at Mars Hill Junior College in North Carolina. He was the captain of the football team and was named to the all-conference team.
As a junior, majoring in physical education, he transferred to Catawba College, Salisbury, N.C., where he played football and baseball.
He spent six years at the University of North Carolina, where he first had a position on the football staff and later became assistant athletic director.
Walker was hired as KU athletic director a year ago. Finances, as such scholarship money and financing of facilities, he said, constituted the major problem.
After graduation, Walker began coaching high school football in North Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University.
Walker is in the process of reorganizing the athletic department.
Something new in the department is a women's athletic program. Funds for this program will come from the state legislature and student activity fees. Recently, he hired Marian Washington as women's athletic director.
When the program is completed, he said, women's scholarships may be offered. There will be women's intercollegiate competition in softball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track and field, gymnastics, field hockey, basketball and swimming.
Riding Class Considered
If financial problems are solved, University of Karsas students may be able to enroll next spring in a horseback riding course.
KU's department of physical education wants to offer a horsemanship class, according to Wayne Ossman, chairman of the department. The department is seeking an instructor to provide an introductory accredited course at a reduced rate, Ossman said recently.
Osmess that Carole Zebas, acting assistant professor of physical education, was to check the facilities at the University Horse and Training Center (UHTC), located 2% miles west of Lawrence. The center isn't affiliated with KU.
at the UHTC's regular charge of $7 an hour, the cost would be about $224 per student for two hours of riding each week for the semester.
"The department would never buy that," Osness said.
The University offered a horseback riding course in the early 1960s, but the course was cancelled.
Omiss said the department had checked several stables in the area, but had found no evidence of theft.
The department is looking for an operation that would satisfy several criteria, Omaha, Nebraska.
provide quality instruction that could be monitored by the department. A stable would have to provide rentals and teaching services at a modest price and leave the University in a position of limited liability in case of accident.
Oness said that 12 to 15 students had already requested such a course.
More than half of the Big Eight schools, including Kansas State University, offer beginning horseback riding courses, he said.
The course won't be offered this fall, but Ossess said it might be offered in the spring. In addition to solving the financial problems of such a course, the program would also be served by the physical education department faculty and the University administration.
Three Haskell American Indian Junior College students and the school's athletic coach, Wayne Postak, are taking a horseback ride for one hour academic credit this summer.
The course is being taught at UHTC. The class meets three times a week. The students ride twice a week and are in a theory class one hour a week.
The cost of the course is prohibitive, and it probably will not be offered by Haskell in the fall.
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