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 KU’s 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 KU’s Athletic Director.

Charles T. Black, a two-time All-American in basketball played on KU’s 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 KU’s 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 KU’s 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 KU’s 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 KU’s 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 the’20s.

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.