Bronx, NY  (Dewitt Clinton HS/Tyler (TX) Juco

Salina, KS  (South HS/Colby (KS) Community College)

Shawnee-Mission, KS  (East HS/Coffeyville (KS) Juco)

Amarillo, TX  (Amarillo HS/Amarillo (TX) Juco)

Dimmitt, TX/Amarillo (TX) Juco)

After several mediocre years, Owens will have a much-more talented team this year which should vie for the conference title and a spot in the NCAA tourney.

As had been his habit at KU, Owens again found a way to win with the Jayhawks.  He rebounded from three mediocre seasons to take KU to the NCAA Tournament and buy himself some more time with the Jayhawk faithful.  The Jayhawks returned nine lettermen for 1980-81, including All-America guard Darnell Valentine, Tony Guy, Booty Neal, John Crawford, Dave Magley, Art Housey and Kelly Knight.

The first half of the season brought only two losses (Michigan and Kentucky) as the Jayhawks rolled to a 14-2 mark before falling to Kansas State 54-43 in Manhattan on Jan. 28.  KU then went into a slump, losing four of five games, including a triple-overtime loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater.  Even with a strong finish, the Jayhawks did no better than tie for second in the Big Eight at 9-5.  KU still made the NCAA field and was sent to the sub-regional in Wichita, giving plenty of Jayhawk fans the chance to see their team in postseason.

Valentine, who had been a standout at Wichita’s Heights High School, was back in front of his hometown fans and led KU with 15 points as the Jayhawks beat Mississippi 69-66 in the first round.  Tony Guy was the star of the final game in Wichita, scoring 36 points and collecting five rebounds as KU beat Arizona State 88-71 to advance to the Midwest Regional in New Orleans.

KU’s first game in New Orleans was a matchup that Wichita State fans had waited 26 years for.  The feeling in Wichita was that the Jayhawks thought they were too good to play the Shockers.  In a game dubbed the “Battle of New Orleans,” Wichita State exacted its revenge, defeating KU 66-65.  The WSU fans in New Orleans had placed ads in the Louisiana papers asking LSU fans to cheer for them.  It worked, and the Shockers were backed by a loud contingent in the Superdome.  With six seconds remaining, WSU reserve guard Mike Jones hit a 30-foot jump shot tha put the Shockers up by one.  KU called time out, and the clock was stopped with two seconds remaining and the Jayhawks in possession of the ball under the WSU goal.

Booty Neal was set to throw the ball inbounds when Valentine tried to draw a foul on the inbounds play, but it wasn’t called.  KU called time out again to set up a full-court pass that was too long.  WSU had the victory.  “I think about 30,000 people know it was a foul, but they didn’t call it,” Owens said after the game.  “I don’t like to be unkind, but it was obviously a flagrant foul.”

The Wichita State game was Valentine’s last as a Jayhawk and had both its high and low points.  He led KU with 21 points but also missed a layup and the front end of a one-and-one during the last minute of the game.  He finished his career as the KU assist leader with 609, was an All-American and was All-Big Eight in 1978, ’79, ’80, and ’81, the first four-time selection.  He finished third on KU’s career scoring list with 1,821 points and was a member of the 1980 Olympic team that boycotted the games in Moscow.  Picked in the first round by the Portland Trailblazers, he played in the NBA until 1989.

Sixteen years after taking the head coaching position at KU, Owens won the 300^th game of his career, 81-67 against Pepperdine on Dec. 1, 1980.  Despite joining some elite coaching company, times were still rough for Owens.  When he was honored for his accomplishment before the next game, he was greeted by a mix of applause and boos from the Allen Fieldhouse crowd.

HIGHLIGHTS:

^{Arguably KU had the best guard tandem in the nation with All-American Darnell Valentine and Tony Guy, who collectively scored over 31 points per game. The Jayhawks had a seven man rotation, with 6’10 senior Art Housey and 6’9 junior Victor Mitchell double-teaming in the post, 6’7 senior John Crawford and 6’7 junior Dave Magley manning the wings, and 6’5 Booty Neal ably backing up the guards.}

^{The Jayhawks started strong, winning 15 of their first 17 games but slumped before finally finished in a three-way tie at 9-5 with K-State and Nebraska, as Missouri grabbed the conference crown. KU won the post season league tourney and landed a 7-seed. They slipped by Mississippi and then destroyed 2-seed Arizona State 88-71, leading to a memorable match with Wichita State. The two teams had not met each other in 25 years, and the feeling in Wichita was that the Jayhawks thought they were too good to play the Shockers. WSU, however, had a talented team with Cliff Livingston and Antoine Carr, previously a teammate of Valentine on Wichita’s Heights HS. In dramatic fashion, the Shocks took KU 66-65, although Valentine got a no-call as he was flagrantly clobbered on the last play of the game. That ended KU’s season at 24-8.}

^{Valentine finished his KU career with 1,821 points (now 4th all-time), and remains first all-time in steals and third on KU’s all-time assist list. He was on the 1980 Olympic team that boycotted the Moscow games and played ten seasons in the NBA.}

Source:  KJ’s BB Newsletter, March 24, 2001

Shocked, by Mark Hersey

Win #1200: Neal was hitting this time, but coach prescribes caution, December 2, 1980

Win #1200: Magley watches, waits for Wolves, December 2, 1980

Nevada-Reno

W

91-73

Nov. 29

at Reno, Nev.

Pepperdine

W

81-67

Dec. 1

at Lawrence

Michigan

L

52-64

Dec. 3

at Lawrence

Oral Roberts

W

90-66

Dec. 6

at Lawrence

Morehead State

W

90-56

Dec. 8

at Lawrence

Kentucky

L

73-87

Dec. 13

at Lexington, Ky.

Southern California

W

91-68

Dec. 20

at Lawrence

Southern Methodist

W

73-62

Dec. 22

at Dallas, Texas

Rollins

W

102-47

Dec. 30

at Lawrence

North Carolina

W

56-55

Jan. 3

at Kansas City, Mo.

Memphis State

W

59-49

Jan. 6

at Memphis, Tenn.

Iona

W

94-64

Jan. 10

at Lawrence

Iowa State

W

70-58

Jan. 14

at Lawrence

Oklahoma

W

82-78

Jan. 17

at Norman, Okla.

Missouri

W

63-55

Jan. 21

at Lawrence

Colorado

W

66-59

Jan. 24

at Lawrence

Kansas State

L

43-54

Jan. 28

at Manhattan, Kan.

Nebraska

L

54-57

Jan. 31

at Lincoln, Neb.

Oklahoma State

L

73-76

***

Feb. 4

at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma

W

96-67

Feb. 7

at Lawrence

Missouri

L

65-79

Feb. 9

at Columbia, Mo.

Iowa State

W

51-49

Feb. 14

at Ames, Iowa

Kansas State

W

58-50

Feb. 18

at Lawrence

Colorado

L

50-53

Feb. 21

at Boulder, Colo.

Nebraska

W

75-49

Feb. 25

at Lawrence

Oklahoma State

W

80-65

Feb. 28

at Lawrence

Oklahoma State

W

96-69

Mar. 3

at Lawrence

Missouri

W

75-70

Mar. 6

at Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas State

W

80-68

Mar. 7

at Kansas City

NCAA Tournament

Mississippi

W

69-66

Mar. 13

at Wichita, Kan.
(NCAA Sub Regional)

Arizona State

W

88-71

Mar. 15

at Wichita, Kan.
(NCAA Sub-Regional)

Wichita State

L

65-66

Mar. 20

at New Orleans, La.
(NCAA Regional)