A KU HERO DEAD AT 90

As a Kansas basketball fan and amateur historian, it was with a great deal of sadness that I read of Ted O’Leary’s death last Sunday.

O’Leary was believed to be KU’s oldest living letter winner, and was one of the last links to basketball inventor James Naismith.  Naismith taught physical education at KU for almost 40 years and O’Leary was one of his students.  O’Leary played for Phog Allen, lettering three years (1930-32).  He started all 51 games KU played then, with a career average of 7.5 ppg.  He came on strong his senior year, garnering All-American honors, leading the Big Six in scoring with 11.1 ppg.  To put that in perspective, KU averaged 30 points per game that year, on their way to a 13-5 overall record and first in the league.  He was also the No. 1 player on KU’s tennis team and earned a Phi Beta Kappa key for academic excellence.

On February 27, 1932, the Jayhawks and Oklahoma were tied for the league lead heading into the season finale that evening at Hoch Auditorium.  Star center Bill Johnson wasn’t expected in the lineup, as his father’s funeral was set in Oklahoma City that afternoon.  Coach Allen used the story of this game as a motivational tool for many years thereafter.  The Jayhawks were trailing when (and Phog would put his hand cupping his ear, as if hearing the drone of the incoming plane carrying Johnson to the game), his arrival inspired the team to eventually win, capturing the conference crown.  In replaying the game, Phog never mentioned that Johnson had actually fouled out in the first half.  Actually, the real hero of the game was O’Leary, who scored a game-high 14 points.

O’Leary was a hometown boy from Lawrence and his father, R. D. O’Leary, was dean of the English department at KU.  Following graduation, he compiled a 26-9 record in two years as head basketball coach at George Washington University.  Declaring that “coaching wasn’t for me,” O’Leary returned to work as a reporter for the Kansas City Times, served as a midwest correspondent for Sports Illustrated, reviewed books for the Kansas City Star and edited a hobbyists’ magazine.  He was also an accomplished handball player and was named to the National Handball Hall of Fame.

Bill Mayer, Lawrence Journal-World contributing editor, was a longtime acquaintance of O’Leary.  “Ted was a sensational athlete - basketball, handball, tennis - and had on the fiercest competitive spirits you ever saw.  He refused to accept defeat,” Mayer said.  “But he was so much more that that.  Ted was an amazing intellectual with an incredible range of interests.”  Kansas University Athletic Director Bob Frederick called O’Leary “a great gentleman.  He lived 90 really productive years.  It was great to be around a person who knew James Naismith.  We will all miss him greatly.”

A renaissance man. A hero on and off the court. Real Kansas fans will never forget him.

Ken Johnson 2/8/2001