1951–52 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

1951–52 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
1951–52 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions; Big Seven champions
National Championship Game, ; W 80-63 vs. St. John’s
Conference	Big Seven Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 8
Record	28–3 (11–1 Big 7)
Head coach	Phog Allen (35th season);
Assistant coach	Dick Harp (3rd season)
Captains	Bill Hougland; John Keller; Bob Kenney; Bill Lienhard; Clyde Lovellette;
Home arena	Hoch Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1950–51 1952–53 →

1951–52 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 8 Kansas	11	–	1	.917	28	–	3	.903
No. 3 Kansas State	10	–	2	.833	19	–	5	.792
Missouri	6	–	6	.500	14	–	10	.583
Iowa State	4	–	8	.333	10	–	11	.476
Colorado	4	–	8	.333	8	–	16	.333
Oklahoma	4	–	8	.333	7	–	17	.292
Nebraska	3	–	9	.250	7	–	17	.292

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1951–52 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1951–52 NCAA men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 54th. They were led by coach Phog Allen in his 35th season overall, 33rd consecutive. He guided Kansas to its first NCAA Tournament championship, their 3rd National Championship overall, behind center Clyde Lovellette, who scored 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in an 80–63 victory over St. John's in the title game. Lovellette became the only player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring while leading his team to the national championship in the same season. Also on the team was Dean Smith, who later went on to a Hall of Fame coaching career at North Carolina. Seven members of the team, as well as Allen, would be named to the 1952 United States men's Olympic basketball team.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	3	Jerry Alberts	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	186 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Lincoln, Illinois
F/C	25	B. H. Born	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Medicine Lodge, Kansas
F	4	Larry Davenport	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Newton, Kansas
G/F	12	Everett Dye	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	So	Independence, Kansas
G/F	21	Bill Heitholt	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	Fr	Quincy, Illinois
G/F	5	Charlie Hoag	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Oak Park, Illinois
G	17	Bill Hougland	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Beloit, Kansas
G	13	Weston Johnson	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	174 lb (79 kg)	So	Newton, Kansas
G/F	20	John Keller	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Page City, Kansas
G	24	Allen Kelley	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	So	McCune, Kansas
F	14	Dean Kelley	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	Jr	McCune, Kansas
F	9	Bob Kenney	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Winfield, Kansas
F	11	Bill Lienhard	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Newton, Kansas
C	16	Clyde Lovellette	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Terre Haute, Indiana
F	22	Dean Smith	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Topeka, Kansas

Head coach

Phog Allen

Assistant coach(es)

Dick Harp

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[2]^[3]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
December 3*		Baylor	W 57–46	1-0	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
December 8*		Denver	W 84–53	2-0	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
December 10*	No. 8	Creighton	W 65–47	3-0	Vinardi Center Omaha, NE
December 14*	No. 8	at SMU	W 74–51	4-0	Perkins Gym Dallas, TX
December 15*	No. 8	at SMU	W 58–57	5-0	Perkins Gym Dallas, TX
December 18	No. 7	vs. Rice	W 68–48	6-0	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
December 22*	No. 7	USC	W 76–55	7-0	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
December 26	No. 4	vs. Colorado	W 76–56	8-0	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
December 28	No. 4	vs. No. 8 Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 90–88	9-0	Memorial Auditorium Kansas City, MO
December 29	No. 4	vs. Missouri Border War	W 75–65	10-0	Memorial Auditorium Kansas City, MO
January 5	No. 1	Oklahoma	W 71–48	11-0 (1-0)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
January 12	No. 1	at Missouri Border War	W 60–59	12-0 (2-0)	Brewer Fieldhouse Columbia, MO
January 14	No. 1	at Nebraska	W 69–66	13-0 (3-0)	Nebraska Coliseum Lincoln, NE
January 26	No. 2	at No. 7 Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	L 64–81	13-1 (3-1)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS
January 30*	No. 4	at Oklahoma A&M	L 45–49	13-2	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK
February 2	No. 4	Iowa State	W 86–68	14-2 (4-1)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
February 4	No. 4	Colorado	W 73–68	15-2 (5-1)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
February 11	No. 6	at Iowa State	W 55–50	16-2 (6-1)	The Armory Ames, IA
February 16	No. 9	Nebraska	W 90–52	17-2 (7-1)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
February 19*	No. 7	Oklahoma A&M	W 66–46	18-2	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
February 25	No. 9	Missouri Border War	W 65–54	19-2 (8-1)	Hoch Auditoriium Lawrence, KS
March 1	No. 8	at Oklahoma	W 74–55	20-2 (9-1)	Field House Norman, OK
March 7	No. 8	No. 3 Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 78–61	21-2 (10-1)	Hoch Auditorium Lawrence, KS
March 10	No. 8	at Colorado	W 72–55	22-2 (11-1)	Balch Fieldhouse Boulder, CO
March 21*	No. 8	vs. TCU NCAA regional semifinals	W 68–64	23-2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
March 22*	No. 8	vs. No. 5 Saint Louis NCAA Regional Finals	W 74–55	24-2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
March 25*	No. 8	vs. Santa Clara NCAA National Semifinals	W 74–55	25-2	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
March 26*	No. 8	vs. No. 10 St. John's National Championship	W 80–63	26-2	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, WA
March 30*	No. 8	vs. Southwest Missouri State	W 92–65	27-2	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, MO
March 31*	No. 8	vs. La Salle	W 70–65	28-2	Madison Square Garden (III) New York, NY
April 1*	No. 8	vs. Peoria	L 60–62	28-3	Madison Square Garden (III) New York, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Awards and honors

Clyde Lovellette, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	9	Clyde Lovellette	Minneapolis Lakers

^[5]

References

^ "1951-52 Big Seven Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
^ "1952 NCAA Final Four program". March 1952. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
^ 2014-15 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball media guide. Retrieved 2015-May-22.
^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
^ "1952 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". databaseBasketball.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2009.

[1] "1951-52 Big Seven Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 5, 2022.

[2] "1952 NCAA Final Four program". March 1952. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

[KU_Media_Guide-3] 2014-15 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball media guide. Retrieved 2015-May-22.

[Tourney_History-4] "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.

[5] "1952 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". databaseBasketball.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2009.

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[5]

v t e Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Venues	Robinson Gymnasium (1907–1927) Hoch Auditorium (1927–1955) Allen Fieldhouse (1955–present)
Rivalries	Kansas State Missouri
Culture & lore	Big Jay Baby Jay Blue blood status Champions Classic "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" Jayhawkers
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics