A Hero on the court and afterward

As an amateur historian of KU basketball, I was particularly saddened while reading of the passing of Ted O’Leary, a star for the Jayhawks in the early 30’s.  Not mentioned in the following obituary published recently by the AP, was that O’Leary was a hometown boy from Lawrence, his father a professor at KU.  He started all 51 games KU played during the ’30, ’31 and ’32 seasons, averaging 7.5 points per game.  He was outstanding his senior year, garnering All-American honors while leading the conference in scoring with an 11.1 average.  (High scoring KU averaged 30 ppg  for the year).

On February 27, 1932, the Jayhawks and Oklahoma were tied for the Big Six lead heading into the season finale.  Incidently, the game provided coach Phog Allen with a story he would use for many seasons in motivating future Jayhawks.  Star center Bill Johnson, KU’s other All-American, was not expected to play that evening, as his father had died earlier in the week and the funeral in Oklahoma City was the afternoon of the game.  However, Johnson did get back to Lawrence and took the floor in the first quarter to great applause, providing the Hawks with a psychological boost.  When Phog told the tale, he would dramatically put his hand to his ear as if he was listening for Johnson’s plane to arrive.  But, the real hero of that game was Ted O’Leary, who finished with 14 points, leading the team to a 33 to 29 win and the conference title.

He was a hero on the court and afterward and won’t ever be forgotten by real KU basketball fans.

Source: KJ’s BB Newsletter, February 8, 2001