Thursday, November 20, 2003
Four years after his death, Wilt Chamberlain has reached out and touched Kansas University.
Chamberlain's estate has donated $650,000 to endow three scholarship funds as well as a university-based Special Olympics program. Arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, Chamberlain spent three years at KU (1956-58) before turning professional.
"It reminds me of a quote out of his first book," said Monte Johnson, a Chamberlain teammate and former KU athletic director. "He said three of the best years of his life were the three years he spent at Kansas University, and that was contrary to what a lot of people thought."
After leaving KU to join the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958, Chamberlain returned to the campus without fanfare only a few times, fueling the notion he didn't want to come back.
However, Chamberlain put that speculation to rest when he returned in 1998 to have his jersey retired. At the time, Chamberlain expressed how moved he was by the genuine outpouring of emotion from the thousands who came to honor him.
Specifically, the money has been designated for:
• A men's basketball scholarship ($300,000).
• A women's basketball/volleyball scholarship. The grant will alternate annually between the two programs ($100,000).