3

F

Jerry Alberts

So

6'3

181

Lincoln, IL

25

C

B. H. Born *

Jr

6'9

200

4

F

Larry Davenport *

So

6'2

172

12

F-G

Everett Dye

Jr

6'3

150

21

G

Bill Heitholt *

So

6'4

195

Quincy, IL

13

G

Wes Johnson %

Jr

6'3

175

24

F-G

Allen Kelley

Jr

5'11

161

14

G

Dean Kelley ** Cpt.

Sr

6'0

170

22

G

Dean Smith *

Sr

5'10

148

6

F

LaVannes Squires

Jr

6'1

170

Wichita, KS

10

G

John Anderson

So

6'2

209

23

F

Kenneth Buller

Sr

5'11

180

7

F

Marvin Deckert %

Jr

6'1

175

Burdett, KS/Larned, KS (Transfer from Garden City Juco)

17

C-F

Eldon Nicholson

So

6'7

194

20

F

Harold Patterson

Jr

6'1

185

Rozel, KS (Transfer from Garden City Juco

9

G

Gil Reich

Sr

6'0

187

Steelton, PA (Transfer from Army)

34

C

Wes Whitney

Jr

6'3

208

8

G

Jack Wolfe %

So

5'7

135

With Lovellette gone, junior center B.H. Born emerged as the Jayhawks’ leader, and he led the Big Seven with a 22.5 point average.  Dean Kelley returned as the only starter from the 1952 team and served as captain as the Jayhawks finished 10-2 to take the conference title.  They advanced to the Southwest Regional in Manhattan, Kan., and, led by Gil Reich’s 20 points and Al Kelley’s 17, beat Oklahoma City in the first round.  That set up another meeting with Hank Iba’s Oklahoma A&M.  The Aggies were ranked sixth in the nation, a notch behind KU, and featured a typically stingy defense and ball-control offense.  KU had taken an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter when Born fouled out.  A&M took advantage of his loss and pulled to 57-55 but got no closer as KU stalled in the final minutes of the game for a 61-55 victory.  Born scored 18 points, and Dean Kelley added 16, 10 of them in the third quarter while KU built up its lead.

The Final Four in Kansas City pitted KU against the Washington Huskies, the No. 2-ranked team in the country.  Washington – led by All-American center Bob Houbregs, who averaged 25.4 points a game – was a four-point favorite going into the game.  But Ku held Houbregs to 18 as the 6-foot-9 center, hampered by four fouls from the second q         uarter on, fouled out for the first time in 58 games.  Born, fighting a cold and often double-teamed, scored 25 points.  Dean Kelley added 18 and Harold Patterson 17 as KU routed Washington 79-53 to advance to the final.

Washington coach Tippy Dye was impressed, saying the Jayhawks “work harder at winning a basketball game than any team I’ve seen.”

Hard work wasn’t enough in the final against Indiana.  KU led the game by as many as six points on two occasions, but Born fouled out with more than five minutes remaining.  Both teams missed easy shots in the closing minutes, and KU tied the game with 1:19 remaining.  But the Jayhawks fouled Don Leonard with 27 seconds remaining, and he made what was the sinning free throw.  KU’s Jerry Alberts watched his desperation shot from the corner hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.  Indiana had held on for a 69-68 victory.

But the Jayhawks had put together a stunningly successful season, and none more so than Born.  He had scored 51 points and collected 20 rebounds in the two Final Four games and was named an All-American.  Not bad for a guy who averaged 1.6 points per game the season before as a backup center.

Expectations were not high for the 1952-53 season, as the Jayhawks returned only one of the top seven players from KU’s 1952 national championship and Olympic Gold Medal team.

Senior Dean Kelley, a 6’2 guard anchored the backcourt, coupled with Gil Reich, a transfer from West Point.  B. H. Born, a 6’10 junior had the unenviable job of replacing 3-time All-American Clyde Lovellette at center.  Filling the forward spots were juniors Harold Patterson (who doubled as an end on the football team) and Al Kelley, Dean’s younger brother.

This group of over-achievers led KU to 1^st place in the Big 7 with a 10-2 record, and then to the NCAA final game where they lost to Indiana in a 68-69 thriller.  Born led the team with 18.9 points per game and the league with 280 rebounds.

Underlying the success of his 37^th season at KU, coach Phog Allen also had a banner recruiting year.  He signed seven of the top ten players of KU’s 1957 team that finished the regular season #1, and also lost the final game of the NCAA tournament (52-53 to North Carolina).  Another side  note to ’53 is that it was North Carolina coach Dean Smith’s senior year at KU.  He played in all 25 games and ended with a 1.9 ppg average.

Consecutive Titles Weren't Meant to Be - A Century of Kansas Basketball

FINAL FOUR STORY, by Dick Snider

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME STORY, by Dick Snider

1953 RECAP, Topeka Capitol-Journal

1953 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIVC5OVIet8