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SPORTS / FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
The road to 2,000 victories ...
Photos are provided by the Spencer Research Library
Coach James Naismith, top right, led the first team in Kansas history to a 7-4 record. The 1898-99 Jayhawks scored more than 30 points just once and twice scored only five.
FIRST GAME
Under the direction of their first coach James Naismith, the Jayhawks suited up to play their first game against the Kansas City, Mo., YMCA on Feb. 3, 1899. William Sutton made the first basket in KU's history. Kansas lost that first game 16-5 but won its next six contests.
The 1922 and 1923 KU teams were retroactively given the Helms Foundation National Championship in 1936. Dr. Forrest C."Phog" Allen led the teams as coach.
FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 1922-23 Kansas team went 17-1 overall and recorded a perfect 16-0 conference record.
500th VICTORY
On Jan. 19, 1939, Kansas defeated Missouri to notch its 500th victory just 40 years after the Javahawks first win.
Coach "Phog" Allen, center in suit, led Clyde Lovellette, center, and the Jayhawks to their first NCAA National Championship. Lovellette led Kansas with 28.6 points per game that season.
FIRST NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
In the 1952 final Kansas defeated St. John's 80-63 for its first NCAA National Championship, and Allen's third national championship as a coach.
A NEW HOME
On March 1, 1955, Kansas christened the brand new Allen Fieldhouse in a game against the Kansas State Wildcats. The Jayhawks won their first game in the historic arena 77-67.
A technician sits on the court and works on Kansas' first scoreboard in its new arena. The first game in Allen Fieldhouse, a 77-67 victory against Kansas State, drew an overflow crowd of 17,228.
AMES NAISMITH
"PHOG" ALLEN
W. O. HAMILTON
DICK HARP
TED OWENS
LARRY BROWN
ROY WILLIAMS
BILL SELF
The history of Kansas coaches
In its 111 year history, Kansas basketball has had coaches ranging from the notable (James Naismith, inventor of basketball) to the not-so-notable (Karl Schlademan, who coached just one game in his entire career). The following is a chronological list of every coach who ever coached a game for the crimson and blue.
DR. JAMES "DOC" NAISMITH
Even though he remains the only coach in Jayhawk history to finish his career with a losing record, Naismith laid the foundation for Kansas basketball in his nine years at the school. Naismith, who invented basketball in 1891, helmed just one program in his life, starting Kansas basketball in 1898. Naismith lost his first game, but won his second. In the crowd for that first victory in Kansas history was a young man by the name of Forrest Clare Allen.
1898-1907; 55-60, .478 win percentage
DR. FORREST CLARE "PHOG" ALLEN
"Phog" Allen's name has lived long past the man as it now adorns the arena Kansas basketball calls home. In 39 years as Kansas' coach Allen went 590-219, ending his career with a 729 winning percentage. Allen took over the program in 1907, coached two seasons and then took a decade-long hiatus before returning in 1919 to coach the Jayhawks for the next 37 seasons. He won two Helms Foundation National Championships in 1922 and 1923 and an NCAA title in 1952. In his 39 years, he had just two losing seasons. Allen coached more consensus All-Americans than any other Kansas coach with nine, including most notably Clyde Lovellette.
W.O. HAMILTON
1909-1919; 125-59, .679 win percentage
Hamilton took the helm at Kansas during Allen's 10-year break from coaching, leading the Jayhawks to a 125-59 record in his time as head coach. Hamilton coached two consensus All-Americans in Dutch Lonborg and Ralph Sproutl. His first season he coached the Jayhawks to an 18-1 record and the first of his three Missouri Valley Conference titles.
KARL SCHLADEMAN
1919; 1-0, 1.000 win percentage
Schlademan supplanted "Phog Allen" for just one game in the 1919 season and picked up a victory. Schlademan went on to coach Washington State for two years, amassing an 18-27 record.
HOWARD ENGLEMAN
1946-1947; 8-6, .571 win percentage
Engleman, like Schlademan, took over for Allen when he took a brief hiatus in 1946-1947. A consensus All-American under Allen in 1941, Engleman went 8-6 in 14 games as his replacement.
1956-1964; 121-82, .596 win percentage
Harp was the coach in what was likely the most heartbreaking loss in Kansas history; a triple-overtime defeat to North Carolina in the 1957 NCAA title game. That was also the signature game in the collegiate career of the greatest player in Kansas history: Wilt Chamberlain.
TED OWENS
1964-1983; 348-182, .657 win percentage
Owens presided over the last losing season in Kansas basketball history in his 1982-1983 campaign. Owens' best years came early in his career when he coached All-American Jo Jo White and the Jayhawks to consecutive NCAA tournaments in 1966 and 1967.
Brown's reign was brief but undeniably successful. He won the 1988 National Championship with current assistant coach Danny Manning in the starring role before leaving to coach the San Antonio Spurs. Brown uttered the famous lines that open Kansas' pregame video: "There's no better place to coach. There's no better place to go to school. There's no better place to play."
LARRY BROWN
ROY WILLIAMS
1983-1988; 135-44, .754 winning percentage
Williams presided over one of the most successful stretches in Kansas basketball history, taking the Jayhawks to the NCAA tournament in every season save his first, when they were banned from postseason play due to recruiting violations committed under Brown. Williams' departure for his alma mater caused a little drama in Lawrence, but there's no questioning his role as one of the best to coach at the school.
1988-2003; 418-101, .805 winning percentage
BILL SELF
2003-current; 170-40, .810 winning percentage
Self has become a beloved figure since taking over the Kansas program in 2003 following Williams' contentious exit. In his seven years at the helm, Self has amassed the highest winning percentage in school history (minimum two games coached). He also won the school's fifth and most recent National Championship and has the Jayhawks primed as the favorites to win another this year.
Tim Dwyer
Freshman guard Xavier Henry battles through traffic in the lane against Texas Tech. In his 32nd game as a Jayhawk, Henry scored 13
points and
.