Al Kelley left an indelible mark in Kansas basketball and college hoops history. A member of the 1952 national championship team and national title runner-up squad in ‘53, Kelley also played on the gold-medal winning 1960 Olympic basketball team, which was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2010.
Kelley, who died at age 83 in 2016, was also a member of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.
After sitting the bench and only scoring two points his sophomore year in 1951-52, Kelley improved dramatically the following season and was the team’s second-leading scorer at 12.9 points per game.
Kelley played with his older brother Dean for two years at KU, forming one of the best sibling duos in KU history.
Above all, Kelley was a fierce competitor.
“Al was the alley fighter,” former KU player and assistant coach Jerry Waugh told the Kansas City Star in 2016 after he passed. “He was the tough guy.”
KU coach Bill Self praised Kelley as a great ambassador for the program.
“Al Kelley is Kansas basketball,” Self said. “He had a great career, which included winning a national championship at KU and a gold medal for the U.S.A. at the 1960 Olympics. He was always a pleasure when he would come to the office or a practice and was a fixture at home games.”
While a good scorer, Kelley made his name on defense.
“Al particularly was a tenacious defensive player,” Waugh said. “He had good quickness. He was a tough, ornery player.
“He was a competitor, and I don’t say that about many, but damn, he was going to fight you. He was a competitor,” Waugh added. “There were a few I played with up there (also), but he was the one. I admired that in him more than anything.”
I had a wonderful Where Are They Now? interview with Al in 2002 for Jayhawk Insider, as he spoke fondly of growing up in McCune, Kan., and playing hoops in the dirt alley behind his home with Dean and others. Here, I include Al’s childhood memories and his recruitment to KU, while also posting the Where Are They Now? story I wrote on him.
“I always wanted to play for Kansas and Phog Allen and Dick Harp. From the time I was in high school, I always wanted to play for the University of Kansas. Dean and I played together in McCune. I started as a freshman. We played three years together down there. That was always a joy. You always get a lot of help from an older bother. Number two brother always tries harder. Luckily, we didn’t have a lot (of people playing). If you could get the ball up to the goal in a a class B school, sometimes you got to play a little more. As you got to play more, I think small schools have that advantage. You get to play more and have a chance to develop, whereas if I were to been at a big school, I think I would have probably been cut and wouldn’t have the chance to play more because the competition was greater. I’ve always liked small schools. I still do.
“Of course, we had a goal out in our alley behind our house in McCune. It was dirt, and we’d go out there and shoot. Then, our junior year, they let us in the high school. We’d go down there and play on Sunday. We’d go to church, and then after church, we’d get home and we’d go down there and play Sunday afternoons. That was a lot of fun I still have a lot of friends down there in McCune. It’s a small community, but I have a lot of friends down there in Pittsburg, Parsons, and places like that . We had some players like Buddy Bull. He was from Columbus. He played at KU. I knew a fella from Pittsburg that wanted to play here, Elden Mikkelson. He recently passed away. You listened to it on radio at that time. Phog was a well-known coach, and Kansas had a winning tradition. I always wanted to play for Kansas. I always thought I’d be lucky if I could travel with Kansas. Just to travel with the team would have been an achievement for me.
“I wasn’t a highly recruited athlete. Dick Harp came down and talked to me. I had a chance to go to like Pittsburg State. My father went to K-State, but they weren’t too interested in me, really. I wasn’t highly recruited. I could (have went) to a lot of the teacher colleges. I lived with my uncle up here, Keith Kelly. He was a principal at Haskell and Dean and I both lived with him. He didn’t have any children, so Dean and I lived with him.
“ (I have) fond memories of playing in the alley. He (Dean) and I, and then we’d always invite some other guys over there. It was always a competitive game. McCune is a town of abut 600. You had a dirt road through there. We put the basket up on the garage back there. We’d play with the neighbor kids."
By David Garfield
Allen Kelley can still close his eyes and remember those childhood wonder years growing up in McCune, Kan. He’ll never forget the endless hours and battles of playing basketball with the neighbors and his older brother, Dean, in the dirt alley behind his home. When he wasn’t outside hooping, he’d go inside and listen to Max Falkenstien broadcast KU basketball games on the radio.
Kelley had a simple dream back then.
“From the time I was in high school, I always wanted to play for the University of Kansas,” Kelley said recently from his home in Lawrence.
His dream became reality when coach Phog Allen offered Kelley a scholarship. After sitting out his freshman season, Kelley became eligible for varsity competition in 1951. Part of the “splinter gang,” Kelley and the other reserves sat on the bench and watched as Clyde Lovellette and his brother Dean led KU to a magical 28-3 season and national championship.
“We enjoyed it,” Kelley said. “We got to see a lot of good games. They won decisively some times, so we’d get in the last couple of minutes and play around a little bit. That was always fun.”
Officially, Kelley played in nine games that season, made one field goal, and averaged 0.2 points per game. He would only get better. The following year, Kelley was part of what KU publicist Don Pierce called the “most astounding season in KU basketball history.” A fiery battler and quick 5-11 forward, Kelley dramatically improved his average to 12.9 points per game and helped guide KU (along with 6-9 standout center B.H. Born) to the national championship game, where the miracle Jayhawks lost by one point to Indiana (69-68).
“The competition generally pushes you to try to do your best and work hard,” Kelley said. “I think when you get a chance to play, you have to play your hardest and try to out-work and out-perform your competition.”
Kelley called the 1952-53 campaign even more gratifying than the preceding championship season, just because he was a vital contributor for a team that nobody expected to do anything.
“We lost (Bill) Hougland, Lovellette, (Bob) Kenney and (Bill) Lienhard,” Kelley said. “We had my brother back. That was it, and a bunch of scrubs. We weren’t very big. We didn’t have any expectations or anything to live up to so you could go out there and lay it on the line because nobody is expecting very much. We had a tight knit group. ...The chemistry fit. You have to have good chemistry.”
Kelley made his name on both offense and in particular defense. Veteran Journal World scribe Bill Mayer said he “played defense like a Tasmanian Devil and had more steals than an Acapulco pickpocket.” He was part of a threesome with brother Dean (5-11) and Dean Smith (5-10) whom Allen called the “bandy legged roosters.” Kelley was always prepared for battle.
“When you’re small, you have to play harder,” Kelley said. “You have to play your best. You’re born with God-given abilities sometimes. That helps a lot if you’re quick. Most of the fellas I played against, a lot of them were my size or bigger. You thought you were a little quicker so you’d gamble a little more.”
The Kelley brothers formed one of the most formidable sibling combinations in Jayhawk history. Kelley said he loved playing with his older brother and that Dean always pushed him to improve.
“He was quicker than I was,” Kelley said. “He was a good leader. Playing with your brother, we got along real well. We had differences, but we’d come back the next day and everything was all right.”
With the graduation of his brother in 1953, Kelley concluded his collegiate career himself the next season by earning All-Big Seven honors for the second consecutive year (12.4 ppg). KU tied for a share of the conference title (third straight Big Seven championship), but did not advance to NCAA play.
After receiving an education degree in 1954, Kelley spent the next 45 years working for Peoria Caterpillar (he did take a leave of absence to join the Air Force in 1956 and ‘57). In addition, Kelley continued his basketball career with the AAU Caterpillar club (1955, 1958-60). His skills landed him a berth on the 1960 gold medal U.S. Olympic team in Rome.
“That was very memorable because at that time, the Cold War was still going on,” Kelley said. “It got to be more than a ball game. It got to be one culture, one economic belief against the Russians, who had a different economy and a different belief. It was very emotional, and that’s why when they play the Star Spangled Banner, it still means a lot to us.”
Kelley cherished his time at the Olympic Games, as well as the 45 years with Caterpillar. He worked in parts distribution and management in Peoria, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Denver. Kelley retired in 1999 as facility manager in Denver.
“It was a good company that treated me right,” Kelley said. “I got a lot of good friends there now. I liked my assignments. I always had different jobs. ... You meet different people and try to improve the operation. ... I think my family learned a lot from moving around.”
After retiring in 1999, Kelley and his family moved back to Lawrence. Kelley keeps busy now visiting with old friends at their regular coffee gathering, a golf group that meets and talks about health, basketball, economics, family, and “solving all the world’s problems.”
“I like the Kansas people and I love the university,” Kelley said. “We’ve been real happy here.”
Kelley recently shared good times with former teammates during the 50th year anniversary weekend of the 1952 NCAA championship squad. The surviving members were honored in Allen Fieldhouse during halftime of the KU-Colorado game on Feb. 2.
“It’s always nice to walk on the floor where some of the great Kansas players have played,” Kelley said. “It’s always fine to see and visit with all of them (teammates). You pick up where you left off, so you never seem to miss very much.”
Yes, life has turned out just fine for this small town hoopster from McCune who all he ever wanted was to play at KU.
“I always thought I’d be lucky if I could travel with Kansas,” Kelley said. “Just to travel with the team would have been an achievement for me.”
Well, Kelley got to travel and a lot more, including winning a national championship, going to two Final Fours, and playing in the Olympics.
“That was a great thrill,” he said. “You make so many friends over the years, you always run into someone you know. It’s always a good way to break the ice and start talking about roundball.”
A Closer Look at Allen Kelley:
Years at KU: 1950-54
Career Notables: Member of 1952 national championship team and ‘53 Final Four squad...Also played on the 1960 gold medal U.S. Olympic team in Rome...All Big-Seven in 1953 and ‘54...Led KU in free throw shooting (86.2 percent) in 1953-54 (ranks No. 6 all-time at KU for single season)
Education: 1954, B.S. Education.
Family: Wife, Barbara, son, Allen, 45, daughter, Kirsten, 42, and son, Jeffrey, 39. Kelley also has 10 grandchildren.
Since Leaving KU: Kelley worked for Peoria Caterpillar for 45 years before retiring in 1999 as facility manager in Denver (he took a leave of absence to join the Air Force in 1956 and ‘57). Kelley also played AAU basketball with Caterpillar in 1955, and 1958-60.
Currently: Kelley is retired and lives in Lawrence.
Hobbies: Stock market, farming, following the Jayhawks.
Favorite Memories: 1952 championship team. “We’d scrap real hard (in scrimmages), but we knew who should be starting and who should be on the bench. We gave it our best and tried to make them better.”...Lifetime friendships with teammates. “A lot of the players were quality people. They worked hard in the classroom. There wasn’t anybody ineligible because of grades, which is a tribute to the coaches.”
On the Jayhawks Today: “I think we got the finest coach in the nation. He’s awfully good to the old players. He remembers names and places, and has built quite a family. I feel real fortunate that he’s the coach at the university.”
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