Friday, February 15, 2008
More than 1,900 victories speak to Kansas’ success on the basketball court. And an all-time winning percentage better than .700 points to a rich tradition of excellence. But the most telling number of all could be eight. In 110 years, Kansas has employed just eight full-time men’s basketball coaches. Some stuck around for less than a decade, one for 39 seasons. The continuity enjoyed by Kansas coaches is
1. James Naismith (1898-1907)
indicative of the impressive pedigree the program has maintained for the past century and beyond.
Naismith’s .478 winning percentage is the lowest of any Kansas coach, but he still tops the list. After all, he did invent basketball. While working as a physical education teacher in Massachusetts, Naismith took inspiration from football and rugby to create basketball.
Seven years later, in 1898, Naismith became a Kansas faculty member and the school’s first basketball coach. The Jayhawks struggled to seven losing seasons in his nine years as coach, but without “The Father of Basketball”, Kansas might not have had a basketball program at all.
2. “Phog” Allen (1908-09, 1918-56)
Forrest C. Allen, nicknamed “Phog,” built an impressive resume during 39 years of coaching Kansas. Allen, who also served as athletics director and football coach at times during his lengthy stint at Kansas, won a school-record 590 games and 24 conference championships.
Allen’s most famous team was the 1952 squad that finished 28-3 and won the NCAA Title. The legacy of Kansas’ winningest coach lives on through Allen Fieldhouse, where the Jayhawks have played for the past 53 years.
3. Larry Brown (1984-1988)
Larry Brown’s tenure at Kansas was short but very sweet. The sixth Kansas coach led all of his five teams to the NCAA Tournament and piled up a 135-44 record.
His greatest contribution to Kansas before he left for a job with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs was an improbable national championship run in 1988. The 1988 team, dubbed “Danny’s Miracles” in honor of star forward Danny Manning, finished third in the Big Eight Conference with a 9-5 record but made a remarkable 6-0 run through the NCAA Tournament and captured the national title by defeating Oklahoma, 83-79.
4. Roy Williams (1989-2003)
Williams stayed at Kansas for three times as long as Brown and won more than 80 percent of his contests, but he could never seal the deal and bring a national championship home to Lawrence.
During his 15 seasons, Kansas was a behemoth of a program. The Jayhawks lost more than 10 games just three times and won nine conference titles.
In 2002, Williams led a star-studded group to a 16-0 conference record but fell short in a 97-88 loss to Maryland in the Final Four. After the next season, Williams took the head coaching job at North Carolina, his alma mater.
5. Bill Self (2004-present)
Like Williams, Self has proven himself in the regular season but has repeatedly fallen short in the postseason. Self (123-29) has compiled the best winning percentage of any coach in school history (.809) through his four-plus seasons at the helm. Self, an Okmulgee, Okla., native, has brought top-flight recruits to Kansas each season and has led this season’s team to one of the best starts in Kansas history despite injuries to Sherron Collins and Brandon Rush.
Coaches in Kansas' basketball history
The coaches in 111 years of Kansas basketball.
Profiling the legends: Owens and Brown
A brief synopsis of Ted Owens and Larry Brown's tenures at Kansas.
Self wins Naismith Coach of the Year
Kansas coach Bill Self joins rank of elite coaches
Blog: Top ten Border War moments
Sam Kovzan breaks down his 10 favorite border war moments
The march to 2,000 victories
As the Jayhawks approach the historic mark, The Wave takes a closer ...
Live Blog: No. 1 Kansas moves to ...
Bill Self picks up his 400th career victory over the Iowa State ...
110 years of basketball celebrated
Wayne Simien and the 1988 national championship team are among the visitors ...
The march to 2,000 victories
As the Jayhawks approach the historic mark, The Wave takes a closer ...
Wheeler: Self knows how to win
Fans, players and coach Bill Self all have high expectations for the ...
Big 12 men's basketball standings
With four weeks left until "Selection Sunday," how many teams from the ...
FINAL: No. 6 Kansas gets past Arizona
Derrick Williams had 27 points for the Wildcats, but Kansas closed the ...
The Best of the Best
From Clyde Lovellette to Danny Manning, Kansas has had its own team ...
Breckunitch: 2000s’ best basketball games
Highlights include two showdowns with Durant, two games from 2003 tournament The ...
Fusco: Legacies, committed fans keep tabs on ...
Kansas fans are always there to prove their dedication to the tradition ...
Wheeler: More than enough coincidence to go ...
The similarities between the Jayhawks’ 1988 and 2008 NCAA Tournament cannot go ...
The tradition, history of KU men’s basketball
The Late Night at the Phog gives fans an insight to the ...
Brown officially named SMU coach
After a week of speculation, Larry Brown will coach his 13th team ...
No. 3 Kansas sets Bear trap at ...
Jayhawks ride Sherron Collins' 28 points to a narrow victory over the ...
Jayhawks pass road test at No. 18 ...
Kansas thumps No. 18 Temple while Marcus Morris shines in return to ...
No. 1 Jayhawks hold off Texas A&M
Kansas faces off against a Texas A&M team that has yet to ...
Manhattan here we come
Big 12 Women's Basketball Power Rankings
Andrew Wiebe evaluates the Big 12's women's basketball teams
Former Jayhawk hired at San Francisco
Michael Lee is one of three USF coaches with direct ties to ...
‘Kansan’ picks players for own honor roll
Starting the new Kansas baseball season
A breakdown of the players for the new baseball season.
Kansas tramples Missouri in Border Showdown
No. 2 Kansas rolled over the Missouri Tigers in commanding fashion, 84-65.
Live Blog: Top-ranked Kansas wins Big 12 ...
Kansas and Kansas State met up for the third time in the ...
'A Long Story,' but told so well
Announcer Max Falkenstien was courtstidefor 60 of Kansas basketball's 110 years.
Nothing like Kansas basketball
Unique traditions add to the experience of watching a Kansas basketball game ...
Kansas fends off North Dakota State
Bison guard Ben Woodside scored 37 points, but the Jayhawks held on ...
Goble: Rock chalk reminiscence
Take some time out of your day to remember your favorite men’s ...
Men’s basketball makes the grade
Mark Dent hands out report cards to the 2008 national champions.
Brew: Highlights from season outshine championship loss
Self winning Naismith Coach of the Year award, Robinson becoming Big 12 ...
Blog: Top seed Kansas defeats No. 16 ...
Marcus Morris finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the ...
Live from Press Conference: Xavier Henry declares ...
Kansas' wunderkind freshman and second-leading scorer announced his intentions to enter the ...
Kansas pulls away from Colorado in the ...
Kansas' athleticism prevailed in a 73-56 victory as Colorado gradually succumbed
Why 2K: Next victory a milestone for ...
Kansas might join Kentucky and North Carolina with 2,000 all-time victories if ...
Live Blog: No. 4 jayhawks roll Tigers, ...
The No. 4 Jayhawks held a two-point lead at the half against ...
Paying tribute to James Naismith, the man ...
It wasn’t long before he ended up in the Midwest, where James ...
Kansas cruises to 78-67 victory
Four Kansas players scored at least 12 points and Cole Aldrich pulled ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID