MULTI-SPORT
BASKETBALL ATHLETES AT KANSAS UNIVERSITY A number of KU basketball players have excelled in other
sports, including football, baseball, track and tennis.
Although there have been many more who have played more than one sport at
Kansas University, listed below are 72 athletes who are worthy of mention
because they not only made their mark on the basketball court, but also did well
in at least one other sport. It is important to note that only nine of these 72 finished
their college careers after 1960, while 19 alone graduated in the twenties.
While earlier athletes were able to play two, or even three sports while
in college, modern era academic and athletic requirements make it difficult for
an athlete to concentrate on more than a single sport.
Nonetheless, my first team consists of eight athletes who not only
starred in two or more sports at KU, but went on to excel in sports endeavors
after college. Phog Allen once said that the best all-around athlete he
ever coached was Ray Evans, an All-American in both basketball and
football. As a sophomore in 1942,
Ray quarterbacked the Jayhawks to a Big Six conference title, and was named to
the all-conference team and to the AP All-American third team.
After football, he starred in KUs cage team that went to the Final 8
of the NCAA tournament, and was named All-American.
After achieving All-American status again in basketball in 43, Ray
went into the Army for two years, and then returned to star again, earning first
team All-American in football as a halfback in 47 and starting on the
basketball team. After graduation,
he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was named to the National Football
Hall of Fame. Wilt Chamberlain was probably the most famous of all
KU basketball players. A two-time
All-American, Wilt also earned two letters in track, winning both the indoor and
outdoor high jump Big Eight championships.
He also put the shot and did the hop-step-jump.
After a 15 year career in the NBA, Wilt was instrumental in creating a
pro volleyball league and was a star spiker. Arthur G. Dutch Lonborg earned eight letters
in three sports at KU. He was
All-Missouri Valley in football three years, two at end and one at quarterback.
He also won three varsity letters in baseball.
A two letterman in
basketball, he was named All-American his junior year in 1918-19.
After graduating, he coached for 29 years, winning the National
Championship at Northwestern in 1931, and was named to the Basketball Hall of
Fame. He finished his career at KUs Athletic Director. Charles T. Black, a two-time All-American in
basketball played on KUs National Championship team of 23 and was named
the Helms Player of the Year in 24. He
was the first Kansas athlete to captain both the football and basketball teams.
He also captained the baseball team.
He earned eight varsity letters and later coached basketball at Grinnell
and Nebraska. Otto Schnellbacher not only starred in basketball
and football at KU, he later played at the pro level in both sports.
He made All-Big Six in basketball four times, and three times in football
as an end, catching Ray Evans passes. He
played one year in the NBA, and went on to become an All-pro defensive back for
the New York Giants. All-American Forest Frosty Cox was a
three-time starter and letterman on the basketball team and earned three letters
in football, earning all-conference honors in 30 as a fullback and halfback.
After serving as an assistant coach at KU in 1933-34, he coached
basketball for 20 more years at Colorado and Montana. John Bunn earned 10 varsity letters as a Jayhawk,
four in football and three each in basketball and baseball.
He later coached for 24 years, and won the National Championship at
Stanford in 1937. He is in the
Basketball Hall of Fame. Ralph Lefty Sproull was the Missouri Valley
scoring champ all three years at KU, and earned All-American in 1914-15.
He also lettered two yeas in baseball and one in track.
After graduating, he served as KUs assistant basketball coach and was
in the 1916 US Olympic trials as a sprinter. The second team are stars in their own right, but to a
slightly lesser degree. Dr. Forrest C. Phog Allen.
In addition to all his stardom as a player and coach for 39 years at KU,
including winning the National Championship three times, he also won two letters
in baseball. While James Naismith
is called the father of basketball, Allen is thought of as the father of
basketball coaching. Tommy Johnson was KUs first All-American.
He starred on the 09 and 10 teams, but was hurt in the last
football game of 1910, and was able to play in only two basketball games later
that year. He never really
recovered from the injury, and died two years later.
He lettered twice in basketball, three times in football (as a back), and
once in track (as a hurdler, pole vaulter and high jumper). Jim Bausch played only one year of basketball, but
started and earned a letter. He
earned a letter in track the same year, 1930, and won three varsity letters in
football. He was the 1932 Olympic
decathlon champion, and played pro football, being named to the National
Football Hall of Fame. Ralph Cappy Miller earned three letters in
basketball and was the conference scoring champ in 1942.
He also earned three letters in football.
He coached basketball for many years at Iowa, Wichita State and Oregon
State, and was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame. After transferring to KU from the US Military Academy, Gil
Reich played only one year --
but what a year it was! In
basketball, he started on the team that lost the national championship game to
Indiana in 1953. As an offensive
and defensive back on KUs football team, he was named All-American.
After graduation, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics, but went on to an
illustrious business career. Just preceding Reich was Charlie Hoag, who played on
KUs 1952 National Championship and Olympic teams. A halfback, Hoag was named to the All-Big Seven football team
two years, but was sidelined his senior year with a knee injury. Dave Robisch, a 1971 basketball All-American, was
all-conference three years and led KU to the Final Four.
An excellent baseball pitcher, he could have played professional
baseball, but chose the NBA and ABA, where he played eleven years. My third team of Jayhawk multiple sport athletes consists of: Robert Maney 27-29 7 Letters - Basketball, Football and Baseball. Pete Bausch 29-32 6 Letters - Basketball, Football and Track Elmer Schaake 32-33 QB, All-Conference, played pro football Albert Hicks 02-04 7 Letters - Basketball and Football Harry Allen 02-04 7 Letters - Basketball, Football and Track William Miller 05-08 7 Letters - Basketball and Football Bonnie Reber 14-16 7 Letters - Basketball, Football and Track Adrian Lindsey 15-17 7 Letters - Basketball, Football and Baseball Harold Patterson 53-54 6 Letters - Basketball, Football and Baseball Steve Renko 64-66 Lettered in Basketball, Football (as a QB), and Baseball. Pitched in the Major leagues. Tyke Peacock 81-82 Lettered in Basketball. A world-class high jumper. Clint Normore
88-89
A football player, he helped KU win the 88 Nation Championship. Forty-five other multi-sport players are worthy of
Honorable Mention. Those who
graduated before 1910 are: Willis Henderson, Herbert Avery, William Hess,
Herbert Owens, Manley Michaelson, and Ralph Bergen. Donald Martindell, Robert Heizer, Charles Greenlees and
Frank Mandeville all graduated in the teens, while Scrubby Laslett, Ernst
Uhrlaub, Marvin Harms, George Rody, Andrew McDonald, John Lonborg, Bob Mosby,
Cliff Campbell, Harold Zuber, Harold Schmidt, Glenn Burton, Gyp Hill and Leo
Dodd all graduated in the20s. Multi-sport athletes who graduated in the thirties were: Rub Thompson, Floyd Ramsey, Tom Bishop, Lee Page, Francis Kappleman, and Ray Noble. After that came George Gear, Guy Mabry, Bill Heitholt, John Anderson, John Parker, Blaine Hollinger, Eddie Dater, James Hoffman, Lee Flaschbarth, Jay Roberts, Fred Chana, Gene Elstun, Dean Wells and Vernon Vanoy, all who graduated from 49 to 68.
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