SEASON SUMMARY:
Tommy Johnson, the popular KU forward who in 1909 became
the Jayhawk’s first All-American in any sport, had led KU to its third Valley
title in 1909-10. But as the team
prepared to begin games in 1911, the Jan 24 Kansas ran a story confirming that
Johnson would not play for the team that year.
It reported that Johnson had voluntarily withdrawn from athletics after
reports surfaced that he had become academically ineligible.
In fact, Johnson had become quite ill with tuberculosis.
Johnson had become involved in athletics mainly to improve his physical
condition. After spending much of
the spring and summer of 1911 in Missouri trying to regain his health, Johnson
was hospitalized back in Kansas and died on Nov 24, 1911, at the age of 24. He had captained the 1909 and 1910 basketball teams and the
1910 football team and had run the high hurdles and pole-vaulted for the track
team. He earned 11 letters at KU
and also was involved in school plays.The loss of Johnson was a blow to Jayhawk fans.
Source: The Crimson & Blue
Handbook, pages 16-17.
KU finished 12-6 overall and 9-3 in the Valley, and that
was good enough for another league crown. But
all three conference losses were against Nebraska, a fact not taken lightly in
an article in the Feb. 18, 1911 Kansan: Jayhawks are Valley Champions.
“this is the fourth time premier honors of the Valley have been won by
the Jayhawkers, but this time a stigma is cast upon the title by reason of the
fact that the Cornhuskers defeated the champions three times out of the four
games played. However, the
basketball championship is determined by the number of games won and lost by
members of the Conference and since Kansas has only three defeats in the
Missouri Valley to her credit, a record which is better than that of any other
member of the Conference, the right of Kansas to first place cannot be
disputed”.
The Jayhawks were well ahead of the game’s fashion
trends. The Kansan ran this story
on Jan. 19, 1911: “Truly the
chorus girl with the abbreviated costume and Coach Hamilton’s basket-ball
tossers have a common bond of sympathy. If
a bill passes, the garments worn by the pony ballet during its sojourn in Kansas
must reach below the patella. Dr.
James naismith has decided that the idea is a good one and has issued an edict
that all goal shooters representing the University must take precautions before
entering the game to see that their patellas are properly excluded brom the
curoius gaze of student onlookers.”
The rule allowing one man to shoot every free throw paid
off for Verne “Shorty” Long in 1910-1911.
He made 137 of the 138 successful free throws for the jayhawks that year.
Donald Dousman was the only other player to sink one from the free-throw
line.
Source: The
Crimson & Blue handbook. Pages
19-20.
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