THURSDAY. MAY 11,2006
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5B
Stallworth
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4B
With a victory, Norm Stewart's Tigers could take the league crown and become eligible for NCAA tournament play. The day of the game Stallworth had read in a local newspaper that Stewart believed his star player, John Brown, should win conference player of the year honors, despite the fact Stallworth led the league in scoring.
"I took that personally." Stallworth said. "At that time my ego said I'm the best player in this conference, bar none."
Motivated by Stewart's comments, Stallworth lit up the Tigers for 50 points in one of the greatest individual performances in Kansas basketball history.
When the final buzzer sounded, students celebrated by mobbing Stallworth at halfcourt.
Frederick said had the three-point line been in existence, Stallworth would have had well over 60 points.
A career cut short
In 1972 Stallworth was drafted as the seventh pick of the first round by the Seattle Supersonics and would later play for the New Orleans Jazz. Stallworth competed against 27 of the league's 50 greatest players.
Stallworth, who was Pistol Pete's teammate in New Orleans, that he often matched up with legends like George "Iceman" Gervin, Walt Frazier and "Doctor" Julius Erving.
Stallworth's career would be tragically cut short in 1977, when a cab he shared with some teammates ran a red light and broadsided another vehicle. The accident left Stallworth with a herniated disc in his lower back. Stallworth would go to several doctors but because of the nature of the injury he was forced to retire.
Contributed photo
Classroom initiative.
Father knows best
After a stint as a restaurant owner in Hawaii, Stallworth returned to Lawrence in 1987 to work at KU Design and Construction Management. He oversees the budget for construction projects and was in charge of 1996's $40 million Crumbling
In his Carruth O'Leary office, you will find a wall of note books filled with construction documents, a radio playing songs from Magic 107.3 and picture after picture of his wife and five sons in their 20s: Jonathan, Ijon, Isaac III, Christian and Jehren.
Stallworth, whose proudest achievement is being one of only three Kansas players to earn All-America honors on the court and in the classroom, made sure his children put as much emphasis on their school work as they did in their athletic and social endeavors.
Bud Stallworth goes up for a jumper in front of a packed house. Stallworth led the Big 8 Conference in scoring his senior year, averaging 27.9 points per game in 1972 in conference play. The shorthoot's ability to get his shot off quickly made him a threat from anywhere on the court.
Son Jonathan said his father made sure academics was his first priority.
Playing Through Pain
When Stallworth isn't busy looking over budgets or spending time with his family, you can find him on the golf course or riding horses at his farmland property on the outskirts of Jefferson County.
Because surgery would leave him unable to participate in these activities, Stallworth chose to forge it, against doctors' wishes. For over 50 years Stallworth has gone through a regimen of daily therapy. Some days he is forced to wear a back brace, and on the "bad days," he takes prescribed anti-inflammatory pills.
"It's like playing Russian Roulette," he said. "In another 20 years, who knows the consequences, but I might not be around, so right now I'm going to live."
His Passion
Over the last 15 years Stallworth has been involved with charity organizations. By bringing in friends like NBA legends Jo-Jo White and George Gervin to the "Slice of Life" charity benefit, Stallworth has helped raise nearly $400,000 for the Kansas Area Medical Foundation.
This May he served as chair of the 2006 Rock Man Celebrity Classic, a benefit for the Sunshine Center of Independence, Mo., which helps children with special needs.
When Stallworth talks about his charity work he gets the same twinkle in his eye as when
he talks about his days as a basketball star. Being intricately involved with local charities has become his "passion," he said.
Stallworth's charity work and the man he has become.
said although Stallworth would always be remembered as a KU basketball legend and owned records that may never be broken, he was more proud of
Former coach Ted Owens
Owens said. "Let me wait 15 years and I'll tell you."
"It's like Doctor Allen used to say when someone asked him who his best players were,"
- Edited by John Jordan
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