Stallworth to be honored at halftime

By Gary Bedore, Assistant Sports Editor , Monday, January 31, 2005

Kansas University officials knew it would be appropriate to retire Bud Stallworth's No. 15 jersey at one game and one game only.  That would be today's 6 p.m. battle between KU and Missouri.  "If you know me, you know it does," Stallworth said, asked if having the Tigers in the building would make his red-letter day even more special. Against the Tigers on Feb. 26, 1976, Stallworth, a 6-foot-5 forward, exploded for 50 points off 19-of-38 shooting in the Jayhawks' 93-80 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.

It's the most points scored by a single player in any game in the 98-year KU-MU series and second-highest output by a KU player in school history. Wilt Chamberlain netted 52 versus Northwestern in 1956.  "We all recognize Bud as a great shooter, and we all think of the 50-point game," said Ted Owens, Stallworth's coach at KU. "What made that performance even more amazing is, over 10 shots he hit were beyond three-point range." But the three-point line was not in effect in those days.

"If he did it today, he'd have over 60. It was an incredible performance by an incredible shooter," Owens gushed. Stallworth remembers the game like it was yesterday.  "The way we played at Kansas, most times the big guys did a lot of scoring," said the Hartsell, Ala., native. "Unfortunately my senior year, we were a depleted team. A lot of the scoring load was gone (from Final Four team his junior year) and fell on my shoulders.

"By the end of the year, we were having a bad year," Stallworth added of a squad that finished 11-15, "but the fans were still supportive. I wanted to go out with a bang and had an opportunity to do it." Stallworth started firing away and never stopped. He finished just a bucket shy of perhaps having his name etched in the record books forever.

"Actually, I did hit another free throw and it would have been two, but somebody stepped in the lane," Stallworth said of a lane violation. "But that doesn't bother me at all. The big thing that day was we were playing Missouri and coach (Norm) Stewart as usual was looking down his nose at the KU guys. We weren't having such a good year, and they were trying to win the Big Eight championship. "After the game, it knocked them out of it. I was most happy about that."

He was more happy about his junior campaign. The Jayhawks lost one regular-season game, at Louisville, then went unscathed until losing in the Final Four semifinals against UCLA, and also dropping the consolation game to Western Kentucky.

"I tell people all the time that we don't probably get a lot of notoriety about what we accomplished," Stallworth said. "We went through the Big Eight preseason tournament and the regular season undefeated. We had the opportunity to play for the national championship. It doesn't get any better than that in college." Other starters were Dave Robisch, Roger Brown, Pierre Russell and Aubrey Nash.  "You can take the best teams that you wanted to take at the University of Kansas and say, ‘Let's go out and play.' We wouldn't be embarrassed by anybody," Stallworth said.

Stallworth -- he played in the NBA for five years, retiring in 1977 after suffering a back injury in an automobile accident -- happened to be a fan favorite at KU games. The pep band, in fact, serenaded him by playing the old Budweiser jingle.  "For them to just pick that up and do it was an honor. How many guys do you know, not just at the University of Kansas, but any school, that every time you walk on the floor they play a song and the fans sing it?" Stallworth said.

"I mean put yourself in an 18, 19, 20 year old's shoes when he rolls out there and the pep band for the university breaks out a song and the fans sing, ‘When you've say Bud; you've said it all,' It doesn't get any better than that, man."

Band is the reason Stallworth first arrived at KU. He traveled to Lawrence from Alabama for band camp the summer between his junior and senior years of high school and was discovered playing pickup ball at Robinson Gym.  "I went over to play, and I was worried about getting hit in the mouth. I played trumpet and thought it'd be tough to explain to my parents if I got hit," Stallworth said. "I played against some of the KU players. One day a counselor at camp came up to me and said a guy, Ted Owens, is calling you. My reaction was somebody thought I trashed the room or somebody was playing a joke on me. "But he said he wanted to recruit me. I guess some of the players told him about me."

Stallworth, the first black player recruited by Auburn and Alabama, chose the Jayhawks and never regretted his decision. He has regretted giving up the trumpet, however, and has decided to do something about it. "I gave it up 20 years ago and every couple of months I pick it up and get embarrassed how I sound," Stallworth said. "I made a pact with myself that I'll start playing on a regular basis again and just see what happens. I'm not under any pressure, but I want to see what I can do with that horn."

As far as hoops, Stallworth, who has lived in Lawrence since 1987 and works as assistant director of budget and support services for KU design and construction management, gave up pickup hoops last year. "I was at Horejsi playing and after we were finished, one of the guys shot the ball. Instead of letting it hit the floor, he started chasing it. He ran into another guy who ran into me and hit me in the back of my leg. It tore cartilage in my knee," Stallworth said. "I played 40 years of basketball. To get hurt just standing there ... my orthopedic doctors were all telling me to slow it down.  "The doctor said, ‘If you keep playing basketball you will have to have another knee put in there.' That was it. Enough is enough. I'll let the young guys take over now."