16B
April 8, 1988/University Daily Kansan
CHAMPS!
Wilt makes all-time Final Four team
Hall of Fame now includes Lovellette
University of Kansas Archives
By Keith Stroker
Kansan sportswriter
To some, former Kansas basketball standout Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest player in NBA history. To most collegiate fans, Chamberlain had one of the five best Final Four performances in tournament history.
In 1957, Kansas lost to North Carolina 54-53 in triple overtime in the NCAA championship game in Kansas City, Mo. Despite the defeat, Chamberlain was voted as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
USA Today, working in conjunction with the NCAA, began in February to run a balloon once a week in its paper to let fans select their top five choices for the all-time Final Four team. The paper continued its balloting into the first round of the tournament.
Chamberlain was the only player who competed in the 1940s or 1950s named to the team. He was in Los Angeles, a city, which was during the Final Four.
Joining Chamberlain on the team were UCLA center Lew Alecindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1967-69 Final Fours; Indiana State forward Larry Bird, 1979 Final Four; Michigan State guard George "Magic" Mirchiori final Fours and North Carolina guard Michael Jordan, 1982 Final Four.
Steve Wieberg, college basketball sportwriter for USA Today, was in charge of the balloting.
Clyde Lovellette
"I think the fans made some great choices for the team," Wieberg said. "Lew Alcindor was the top vote-getter of the five. It has to be quite an honor for these five gentlemen after 50 years of tournament action."
Of the five men, Chamberlain and Bird were the only two not to win a national championship. In 1979 Bird won the title to Johnson and Michigan State 75-64.
Chamberlain, the man fans know as "Wilt the Stilt," played two years of varsity basketball at Kansas, 1966-58. He played one year on the
Kansas freshman team because freshmen were ineligible at the time for varsity play.
In 1857, Chamberlain was a sophomore, and Kansas had a record of 24-3. Jerry Waugh, vice president of operations at Alvarmar Country Club, 1800 Crossgate Dr., was an assistant coach on the team.
"Wilt Chamberlain was a prodigy of the game before he even played in a game at Kansas," Waugh said. "He was a physically superior athlete and could do a multitude of things. Nobody compared to him during that time."
During the 1957 championship game, North Carolina used a packed-in zone defense on Chamberlain, making it difficult for him to get the ball. Waugh said the zones that Danny Manning had faced were nothing compared to what Chamberlain had to go through.
Kansas fell behind by 12 points early in the '57 championship game, which is something Waugh said the team could not afford to do. However, the Jayhawks fought back to tie the score at the end of regulation.
After 55 minutes of play, including three overtimes, both teams were exhausted. Waugh said the disappointing defeat was etched on Chamberlain's face.
Another recently honored former Jayhawk is Clyde Lovelieet. Loveliette, a member of the 1952 NCAA championship team,' was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. He and the rest of the 1952 Kansas team, with the Pepsi pillar-Diesels team, and the 1962 U.S. pimp basketball team. Loveliette, a center, lettered at Kansas in 1950-52.
Lovellette set many records during
his collegiate career and is the second all-time leading scorer in Kansas history with 1,888 points. Only Danny Manning has surpassed him.
Like Chamberlain, Lovellette also picked up a nickname while playing at Kansas. Fans soon dubbed him "Clyde the Glide." And with that glide, he led Kansas to its last national championship before Manning led the 1988 Jayhawks to theirs. Lovellette, like Manning, was named the tournament's most valuable player.
He and former Jayhawk Ralph Miller, played at Kansas from 1939-42, brought the total number of Kansas players inducted into the Hall of Fame to 13, making KU the school with the most inductees.
Lovellette's name was also on the ballot to be voted on for all-time Final Four honors.
Wilt Chamberlain
University of Kansas Archives
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