Kansas and Kentucky say goodbye Saturday at Rupp
Phog Allen, Adolph Rupp will be watching
Adolph Rupp (pictured right alongside his college coach, Phog Allen) about his playing days at Kansas:
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I played on two national championship teams at Kansas. I was a member of what Phog called his 'meatpackers,' which meant that we got in the game when things were pretty well settled, one way or the other. I had the misfortune of playing behind two fine All-Americans, Paul Endacott and Charlie Black. When we had a class reunion many years later and were lining up for a picture, I told Paul, 'Let me hold that ball. I never got a chance to hold it while I was playing.'
The University of Kentucky basketball team's humiliating 150-95 loss to Kansas last season at Lawrence should be considered a matter of "let the dead past bury its dead" as representatives of two of the finest
		
		Russell Rice Cats' Pause Columnist
roundball traditions in the nation meet tonight in Lexington for the 20th game in a series that UK leads by an overwhelming 16-3 margin.
This 40th year since the series began with a highly publicized contest in Lexington in 1950 also could mark the end of the series for many years to come, and not because Jayhawk coach Roy Williams "poured it on" a Wildcat squad whose ranks had been depleted by NCAA sanctions.
Williams explained later that Rick Pitino's refusal to quit pressing left the Jayhawks with no choice but to keep playing at a fast pace.
In that first year as UK coach, Pitino let it be known that he would rather be playing teams in large metropolitan areas, particularly up East, than on the sparsely populated plains of Kansas.
Pitino's reasoning is simply a matter of maximum exposure in highly populated areas that by the sheer weight of numbers contain the most promising high school players.
Wildcat athletics director C. M. Newton, a former coach, echoed that sentiment recently when he stated, "From the standpoint of recruiting, it makes a whole lot more sense to go to New York City than to Lawrence, Kansas, for example. We're not recruiting anybody from Kansas."
On the other hand, we have a Kansas program that had as its first coach none other than Dr. James A. Naismith, who as a 30-year-old gym instructor invented the game of basketball at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass., in the autumn of 1891.
Naismith was succeeded as Jayhawk coach by his former pupil, Dr. Forest "Phog" Allen, who became known as the "father of basketball coaching."
The Kentucky-Kansas connection began in the fall of 1930, when the Wildcat basketball program welcomed as its new coach Adolph Rupp, a Kansas graduate who had compiled a successful (66-17) record at Freeport (111.) High School.
"I played on two national championship teams at Kansas," Rupp recalled later. "I was a member of what Phog called his 'meatpackers,' which meant that we got in the game when things were pretty well settled, one way or the other.
"I had the misfortune of playing behind two fine All-Americans, Paul Endacott and Charlie Black. When we had a class reunion many years later and were lining up for a picture, I told Paul, 'Let me hold that ball. I never got a chance to hold it while I was playing.'
"I embraced much of my basketball philosophy from Allen and Naismith, including my personal belief in regard to how I should conduct myself with my teams, the public, and others."
The 1950 Kentucky-Kansas game was the first and only time teams coached by Dr. Allen and Rupp faced each other. We have documented the details of that game here before, so we'll just mention the bare essentials before moving on to the present.
In a nationally publicized battle of All-Americans, Bill Spivey, UK's first seven-footer, completely dominated the Jayhawks' Clyde Lovellette as UK won 66-39 in
Memorial Coliseum.
Lovellette hit only four of 17 shots, scoring 10 points. Spivey hit nine of 16 and finished with 22 points. The Wildcat ace also batted 11 balls away from Lovellette.
The Wildcats finished 32-2 and were national champions that season.
We also have mentioned before how much Rupp was in awe of his old coach. While accompanying Rupp to Lawrence many years ago, we visited Dr. Allen, who was at his daughter's home recovering from a stroke.
It seemed as if the powerful Bluegrass Baron of Basketball was worshipping at a shrine.
"In a way it's too bad Adolph had to spend so much time on the bench with me," Dr. Allen said, "because he was a pretty good player.
"However, considering the way things turned out, it obviously was a blessing in disguise. He became a student of the game. He was my prize pupil."
Rupp teams defeated his alma mater in the five games played during his UK tenure. Upon succeeding Rupp
after the 1971-72 season, Joe B. Hall's UK team beat Kansas 77-71 in Lexington. However, Ted Owens and his Jayhawks got on the board, so to speak, the following year, defeating the Wildcats 71-63 at Lawrence.
Kansas got its second victory over UK, 83-66, early in the 1985-86 season at Lawrence, handing Eddie Sutton his first loss as UK coach. Sutton's Wildcats finished that season 32-4, advancing to the finals of the Southeast Regional.
SO LONG, KANSAS
So for the time being, UK says goodbye to an honored rivalry and to visits to Allen Field House on Naismith Drive in Lawrence. Perhaps the twain shall meet again in NCAA-Tournament play after UK goes off probation next season.
Meanwhile, the spirts of Rupp and Allen undoubtedly will be present at this final regular-season meeting.
Rupp once said that St. Peter had promised him that he could coach "both teams" when he got to Heaven.
Dr. Allen probably had something to say about that.