1940-41
OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL Big Six
CONFERENCE
PLACE CONF. TOURNEY POST-SEASON
12-6 7-1 5-5 0-0 7-3 1st (tie)    

ROSTER:

NO. POS. NAME CLASS HGT. WGT. Hometown (Previous School)
    RETURNEES:        
9 C Bob Allen ** Cpt. Sr. 6'0 168 Lawrence, KS
3 F Howard Engleman ** Cpt. Sr. 6'0 170 Arkansas City, KS
20 F William Hogben * % Sr. 6'1 167

Kansas City, MO (Southwest HS)

5 F-G T. P. Hunter * Jr. 6'3 165 Oklahoma City, OK  (Central HS)
 F/GBob Johnson Jr.6'0 164 Kansas City, KS  (Shawnee-Mission HS)
16 G John Kline ** Cpt. Sr. 6'2 195 Hutchison, KS (Transfer from Hutchison Juco)
  NEW FACES:       
7 G Jim Arnold Sr. 6'3 185 Downs, KS
10 F John Buescher So. 6'2 160

Beardstown, IL

 G Edward Hall Jr.     Sublette, KS
12 F Vance Hall So. 6'0 166 Downs, KS
 FDick Miller So.6'1 174 Chanute, KS
4 F Norman Sanneman Jr. 6'1 172 Topeka, KS  (Topeka HS)Transfer from Washburn U.
 GMarv SollenbergerSo.6'1 184

Hutchison, KS (Transfer from Hutchison Juco)

8G Charles Walker Jr. 6'2 170 Hutchison, KS
  REDSHIRT:      
 FRalph Miller Jr.6'1   Chanute, KS

          * Varsity letter     Cpt. = Captain    # = Walk-on     % = Nonletterman

HEAD COACH:

Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, 24th year

Mitt Allen, Freshman Coach, 1st year
Gordon Gray, 32nd year
Elmer Schaake, Assistant Coach, 1st year
 

LOSSES FROM LAST YEAR ('40 stats):

PLAYER LOSSES Class Hgt. POS. G/GS PTS PPG STATUS
Ralph Miller So.   F 25/ 228 9.1 Med. Redshirt
Don Ebling Sr.   F 25/ 174 7.0 Graduated
Dick Harp Sr.   G 25/ 123 5.9 Graduated
Bruce Voran Sr.   G 24/ 75 3.1 Graduated
Bruce Reid Sr.   F/G 11/ 41 3.7 Graduated
Jack Sands Sr.   C 10/ 4 0.4 Graduated
Jack Engel     F        
TOTALS       25 645 25.8  

 

PRESEASON OUTLOOK:
An extensive rebuilding job confronts Dr. F. C. Allen as he begins the 1940-41 campaign.  Gone are four of the seven men who carried Kansas to the finals of the National Collegiate tournament. The Jayhawks are missing last year's starters Don Ebling, Dick Harp, and Ralph Miller, who decided to give in to his balky knee and undergo surgery in 1941.  But incoming sophomores John Buescher , Vance Hall and Marv Sollenberger appear to be adequate replacements.

Piloting the team for the third year will be Bob Allen, a remarkable ball handler and passer.  Allen-coached teams have the center as a "quarterback" to run the quintet on offense and it would be hard to find a better man for this job than the youngest son of the KU coach.Biggest problems the team faces are the dearth of experience and the lack of height.
Source: Basketball at the University of Kansas, 1940-1941.

 

 

SEASON SUMMARY:
“On a yearly basis, Phog (Allen, KU’s coach) seemed to have a tougher time at Iowa State than any place in the league, something of a surprise because the Cyclones’ coach for 18 years (1929-47) was Louis Menze, who played for Phog at Central Missouri State.  Menze was Phog’s best friend in the league but that didn’t stop the rude treatment at Ames.  During a 1941 game, fans flung a dead chicken on the floor in front of the Jayhawk’s bench.”  - Phog Allen, p. 156-7.

As far as Phog was concerned, a tie for the conference championship was as good as having solo honors in 1941:  “The doctor was jubilant today altho some of the rabid fans were nursing headaches after watching Oklahoma trim the Jayhawks, 45 to 37, last night.  “I’m so pleased that we got as far as we did that the offsets everything else, he continued.  We have a tie for first, and all along I thought we’d get fourth.  The future looks good, too; maybe that’s why I’m happy….  I’m very happy we aren’t eligible for the NCAA play, Allen said.  Iowa State is a swell team and will go farther that we would have in the play-offs – if she is chosen by the committee.  Yes sir, I’m a very relieved man.  My team is too small and too tired to partake of any post-season play, and besides, I want nothing to do with the NCAA.
Source:  Lawrence Journal-World, March 8, 1941.

1941  FINAL TEAM STATISTICS (Team highs in bold):

CATEGORY

KU

OPP

DIFF

Engleman, Howard Allen,
Bob
Hall, Vance Buescher, John Kline, John Hunter, T.P.

Games Played/Started

18 18   18/ 18/ 18/ 14/ 18/ 15/

Points

734 716 18 290 170 65 49 56 34

    Per Game

40.1 39.8 0.3 16.1 9.4 3.6 3.5 3.1 2.3

FG -Attempts

                 

       Made

277     114 63 20 18 23 13

       Percent

                 

FT-Attempts

303     89 69 35 25 30 12

     Made

178     62 44 25 13 10 8

     Percent

59.7     69.7 63.8 71.4 52.0 33.3 66.7

Statistics, Cont'd

CATEGORY Sollenberger, Marv Hogben, Bill Johnson, Bob Sanneman, Norm Hall,
Ed
Walker, Hutch Arnold, Jim Miller, Dick
Games Played/ Started 15/ 8/ 6/ 8/ 6/ 14/ 7/  
Points 31 12 7 7 4 6 1 0
   Per Game 2.1 1.5 1.2 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.0
FG - Attempts                
         Made 11 5 3 3 2 2 0 0
         Percent                
FT - Attempts 17 9 4 5 4 3 1 0
        Made 9 2 1 1 0 2 1 0
        Percent 52.9 22.2 25.0 20.0 0.0 66.7 100.0 0.0

Source: 

GAME-BY-GAME

Texas W 35-27   Dec. 9 at Lawrence
Texas W 48-45   Dec. 10 at Lawrence
Fordham L 42-53   Dec. 28 at New York, N.Y.
Temple L 35-40   Dec. 30 at Philadelphia, Pa.
Loyola (Ill.) W 41-40   Jan. 2 at Chicago, Ill.
Oklahoma L 31-42   Jan. 8 at Norman, Okla.
Iowa State W 44-41   Jan. 13 at Lawrence
Missouri W 48-41   Jan. 16 at Lawrence
Kansas State W 46-41   Jan. 20 at Manhattan, Kan.
Wichita W 54-39   Feb. 3 at Wichita, Kan.
Nebraska W 44-38   Feb. 10 at Lawrence
Oklahoma State L 26-30   Feb. 17 at Stillwater, Okla.
Missouri W 35-24   Feb. 21 at Columbia, Mo.
Kansas State W 50-45 * Feb. 25 at Lawrence
Nebraska W 55-53   Mar. 1 at Lincoln, Neb.
Iowa State L 29-41   Mar. 3 at Ames, Iowa
Oklahoma L 37-45   Mar. 7 at Lawrence
Oklahoma State W 34-31   Mar. 11 at Lawrence
 

Link to National Statistics for

Link to Big  Conference for