Building earns coaches' respect
, , Published Wednesday, March 2, 2005
LAWRENCE -- The introduction of the priority points system used to seat Allen Fieldhouse this past season displaced, discouraged and disfranchised some Kansas basketball fans. Although it didn't require a drop of paint, a plank of wood or a pane of glass, it was, possibly, one of the biggest changes ever associated with the 50-year-old building.
Yet there were some who maintained their seats in the new plan even though they couldn't attend the games. One man, in particular, spends his winters now in North Carolina, competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to give up the one perpetual link to KU basketball he could renew each season.
"I gave money like everyone else," former coach Roy Williams said. "I gave 'em a lot of money over the years. Some of it was money I gave in honor of my mom when she passed away to help build the office complex and the football locker room, training room, baseball and everything. Each year I tried to give money to the other sports to help their programs as well." Enough so that Williams and his wife, Wanda, ranked among the top 30 in the first calculation of priority points conducted last August.
That'll fetch pretty decent seats in a building, and in an atmosphere, Williams says he will always treasure. "Allen Fieldhouse was just wonderful, marvelous, outstanding ... just the best atmosphere you could have. I loved it," he said. "I loved just walking in there, because it made you feel like you were in an old gym. When I walked in there every night for 15 years, I got chills just walking in that tunnel. The pride the people have in Kansas basketball, and the pride they have in the homecourt advantage is just phenomenal."
It is hard to replicate, Williams discovered, after taking over as North Carolina coach prior to last season. "What is that old saying, that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?" Williams said. "I'm trying to make our people understand here that I want the Smith Center to be Allen Fieldhouse of the East. And that's the biggest compliment I can give."
But Williams also knows nothing can quite match the aura Allen Fieldhouse provides, while still accommodating 16,300 fans. Their devotion makes KU the undisputed attendance leader each season in the Big 12. "I know one thing. If I'd have stayed there another 50 years, I was never going to want another arena," Williams said. "That would never be driven by the coach. I don't care whether it's Bill (Self) now, or 10 coaches later, because you'd never want to lose that building."
Agreement on that issue is seemingly unanimous. Proposing a new arena is tantamount to spitting on Phog Allen's statue. Still, the fieldhouse is a fixer-upper. The approximate $8 million worth of upgrades targeted prior to next season, which will include the addition of a video board, will do the building more good than Bob Vila.
The work is not expected to dissolve KU's homecourt advantage, which Self, a basketball history buff, appreciates as much as anyone. He also happens to be the coach who now conducts practices and parades recruits through the old building, and sees first-hand the toll a half-century can bring. "So much has to be done to modernize it," Self said. "You walk into the fieldhouse when nobody is there, it's a tired building. It's not bad, but it needs to be fixed up. What we have in store with generous donations, you will see an even different fieldhouse feel. I think it will be much more vibrant beginning next year."
Don't expect every amenity. "I don't think you add air conditioning," Self said. "It's one of the beautiful things about it. You come and sweat in the building on certain days." There were times when occupants did more than just that. The facility was built, after all, as a fieldhouse, which meant it once had a dirt floor. For many years, the elevated basketball court wasn't put down until the day before practice started. Nets separated the basketball team from athletes working out in other sports.
"Four or five times during practice we'd have to sweep the floor," recalled Ted Owens, who coached the Jayhawks from 1964-83. "It was such a blessing to get rid of the dirt. I remember some cold days when football would come in. Jack Mitchell would be getting them ready for a bowl game and it was freezing out. "It was a great place for a game, but not a great practice facility, as we view them today. It was a distraction, but you do what you have to do. We had a great track program and they had a lot of pride, too, and they made it a place to work."
This season, Owens returned several times to take part in ceremonies honoring players he coached who had their jerseys retired among the 27 that now adorn the south wall of Allen Fieldhouse. Those moments allowed Owens to reflect on his days at KU. He concluded that sweeping dirt wasn't all bad.
"As I look at it," Owens said, "every day of going out there with all the history -- Dr. Naismith and Dr. Allen and all the great coaches and great players who have followed -- I sort of look at that place as a shrine for basketball. To walk out there every day and have a chance to teach those young men the game I love, that was a special moment every single day."