Ted Owens made his mark in 19 years as KU head basketball coach

Ted Owens, along with Dick Harp, remains extremely unappreciated among the eight men who have had the prestigious honor of serving as KU head basketball coach in the 121-year rich history of the program. While Owens had some inconsistent years, he is the second-longest tenured coach in school history (19 years from 1964-83) behind legendary Phog Allen.

That must tell you about the good job he did at Kansas.

He was the winningest coach in Allen Fieldhouse history (206 games) before Bill Self broke his mark in 2016, led two teams to Final Fours in 1971 and ‘74, won six Big Eight titles and advanced to NCAA postseason play seven times. Owens was named Big 8 Coach of the Year five times and named National Coach of the Year in 1978 by Basketball Weekly. He also coached five All-Americans, including Darnell Valentine, Jo Jo White, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth and Walt Wesley.

In this multiple part series on Owens, I examine his basketball roots, his days at Kansas, and how he opened doors for African-American athletes.

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Ted Owens had a revelation when he was just 5 years old growing up in a cotton farm in Hollis, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression.

“I took a basketball and we had an outdoor goal and I had the ball between my legs, I couldn’t push it up any other way, had it between my legs and pitched it up and it went in,” Owens told John Hendel in his 1991 book, Kansas Jayhawks: History-making Basketball. “I’ve been in the love with the game ever since. I’ve been infatuated with it.

“It wasn’t necessarily the shot heard ‘round the world, but it was meaningful in my life. I’ve just always loved the game and always wanted to be part of the game.”

Owens’ love affair with hoops kept growing, becoming a high school star before earning a scholarship to Oklahoma. He played for coach Bruce Drake and was a three-year lettermen from 1949-51. Driven by a desire to coach and help shape young men, Owens eventually served as head coach at Cameron Junior College in Lawton, Oklahoma, from 1956-60, where he recruited Homer Watkins, the first African-American player in Oklahoma junior college history in 1958, whom Owens invited to stay at his home. 

Owens signed three more black players the following year. In my 82-page honors thesis in 1988 at the University of Kansas, I related an interview from Owens in the 1980s after he was fired from KU.

I wrote that “Owens was criticized by the white players’ parents, who did not like the fact that three blacks were playing ahead of their sons. However, Owens reiterated that he did not experience much outside pressure, as ‘we just didn’t let it become a problem.’”

Owens, who believed strongly in racial equality and justice, was very successful at Cameron as his teams never won fewer than 20 games in four seasons and three times advanced to the national junior college tournament semifinals with a third-place finish in 1960. His 1958 team was ranked No 1.

Owens, the second-longest tenured coach in KU basketball history behind the legendary Phog Allen (19 years from 1964-83), compiled a glossy 93-24 record at Cameron and coached four All-Americans, while also coaching the baseball team to the National Junior College championship in 1958.

Before becoming KU head coach, he served as Dick Harp’s assistant at Mount Oread from 1960-64. Owens remains extremely grateful for everything Harp did for his life.

“I remember him as the man who gave me an opportunity to coach at this level,” Owens said during his press conference before the 60 Year Celebration of Allen Fieldhouse in 2014. “He not only was a great mentor for me in the game of basketball, but personally. He shared his faith with me, a faith I’ve carried for the rest of my life. He made an enormous impact in my life. I’m really grateful I had the opportunity to spend four years with coach and many years after that with our association when he was with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.”

Owens replaced Harp as head coach in 1964 when Harp resigned after two straight losing seasons. Owens was the winningest coach in Allen Fieldhouse history (206 games) before Bill Self broke his mark in 2016, led two teams to Final Fours in 1971 and ‘74, while his ‘71 team went 14-0 in Big Eight play.

He also won six Big Eight titles and advanced to NCAA postseason play seven times. Also, in 1968, Owens’ Jayhawks lost to Dayton in the NIT finals. Owens was named Big 8 Coach of the Year five times and named National Coach of the Year in 1978 by Basketball Weekly. He coached five All-Americans, including Darnell Valentine, Jo Jo White, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth and Walt Wesley.

His 1966 team was arguably his best team and one of the top squads in KU hoops history with the likes of White, Wesley, All-Big Eight guard Delvy Lewis, Al Lopes, Riney Lochmann and Ron  Franz, all of whom played in the NBA or ABA, except Lewis and Lopes. Reserve forward Bob Wilson also played in the ABA.

That magical team, which Owens inserted White into the starting lineup at semester break when he became eligible, went 23-4 and lost in the Midwest Regional Finals in a heartbreaking game KU appeared to have won in overtime.

White swished a 25-footer by the sideline at the buzzer that should have won the game for Kansas, but the official ruled him out of bounds.

“We were celebrating. We were out on the court, we’re on the the way to the Final Four and a chance to win the national championship and I think a very good chance to win the national championship,” Owens said. 

“The official called it pretty late. Today, with all the camera angles you have, there would be no question whether he was in or out of bounds. Based on the sequence of shots, it looks like he pivoted but his heel never came down. It was above the plane, but his heel never came down and he never was out of bounds.

“But what the sequence of shots shows clearly that Rudy March, the official, never saw. His vision was up all the time. The whole sequence of shots shows his vision. Quite frankly, I think he saw where he landed. He floated after he landed, and he called it based on that.

“You only have so many chances to win national championships,” Owens added, “and we had a really great opportunity to do that.”

Texas Western won the game in double overtime, 81-80, and eventually won the national title over Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky team  (“Rupp’s Runts”), a KU squad that would have overpowered inside.

“We felt like if we had won against Texas Western, we would have gone on and won the national championship,” Lochmann told me in 2003. “It took me about a week to get out  of shock. I was really down in the dumps afterwards, from the standpoint to being totally depressed knowing that was your last college game. You don’t dwell on those things after a while, but that was a hurtful game. We kind of left our heart and soul out on on the court.”

Franz agreed. He said that was a magical team.

“That was probably one of the better teams that Kansas has had in its history,” Franz said in a 2001 interview. “We’ve had a lot of great teams, but that team could do a lot of different things and knew the fundamentals of basketball. We could shoot from the outside, rebound, and get up and down the floor. (Don, Texas Western) Coach Haskins said that was the toughest game they played all year.”

Despite the heartbreak, Owens and KU rebounded from that loss as the Kansas coach led the ‘Hawks to another 23-4 season, a Big Eight title and a No. 3 national ranking. However, Kansas lost in the first round to Houston in the NCAA Midwest Region.

Then, in 1967-68, KU got hot at the end of the year, winning 11 of 13 games, including six straight, before falling to Dayton in the NIT finals, 61-48. KU finished at 22-8 and ranked No. 19 nationally.

After two straight seasons of again failing to win the Big Eight championship, KU had a magical season in 1970-71, posting a remarkable 27-3 record, a 14-0 record in Big Eight play and Final Four berth, where the Jayhawks lost to John Wooden’s UCLA team, 68-60. KU, which entered the Final Four at 27-1, won 21 straight games before its loss to the Bruins. Kansas then lost the Final Four consolation game to Western Kentucky

That team had great talent, size, quickness, rebounding and true chemistry, led by Robisch (19.2 ppg), Stallworth (16.9 ppg), Roger Brown (11.2 rpg), Pierre Russell (10.3 ppg) and point guard Aubrey Nash (6.7 ppg).

“We were a good team because we won tough games,” Brown told me in 2001. “We won on the road.”

“We just jelled as a team,” Brown added. “Everyone pretty much got along with one another and we wanted to win. We all played hard. Everybody seemed to be on the same page. I think our team was about business. We knew we were going to win if we went out and did what we were supposed to do. And that’s what we did.

“Everything fell into place.”

Stallworth agreed that was a very special team.

“We were awesome,” Stallworth told me during a three-hour interview in 1990. “I thought we were the best team in the country. We were the cockiest team I had been around in a while. We felt we had a legitimate shot to win it all. ... We thought we were one of the best teams KU had ever put on the floor.”

Owens was so proud of that team, especially for unifying a campus and town in Lawrence that was going through political and racial unrest.

“The 1970-71 season was incredible, with the first Final Four for members of the team and the coaches, an undefeated conference season, and a winning streak of 21 games,” Owens wrote in his 2013 book, At The Hang-Up.

“As I look back, though, the team’s most remarkable achievement was unifying a campus and city in a common cause. Our players demonstrated that people from divergent backgrounds and ethnic groups can set aside their differences and, by loving and respecting one another, can exceed expectations. Today, the team continues their special bond, and they held a touching reunion in 2011.

After two down seasons (11-15 in 1971-72 and 8-18 in 1972-73), Owens’ Jayhawks made one of the best comebacks in college basketball history by going 23-7 in 1973-74 and advancing to the Final Four again. The pieces fit, the chemistry was superb, and this was a balanced attack with no true star.

With the addition of high school All-American Norm Cook and junior college standout Roger Morningstar, they helped propel the Jayhawks to the Big Eight championship and Final Four, where they lost to Marquette 64-51. KU finished the season ranked No. 7 nationally.

Center Danny Knight led five players in double-figure scoring (12.4 ppg), followed by Morningstar (12.3), Dale Greenlee (11.8), Cook (11.4) and Rick Suttle (11.3), my first KU basketball hero who sacrificed his game as “Super Sub” after leading KU in scoring the previous year at 16.3 points per game.

After a nailbiting win over Creighton (55-54) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region, KU faced ORU on its home court, the Mabee Center. A sign painted on the court read: 

“Expect A Miracle.”

And KU definitely did.

KU trailed 77-68 with 4:49 left in regulation and then by seven points with 3:19 left before rallying and sending the game into overtime and a 93-90 victory. Knight led six players in double figures with 19 points, while Kansas shot a scorching 55 percent from the field.

“Teams just didn’t come back like that,” Greenlee said of the era without a time clock and no three-pointers. “I’d look at (Tom) Kivisto. He’d look at me. We’d look at Roger and Danny and Rick and Norm. We didn’t feel we were out of the game. We figured we’d do what we had to do to get back in it.”

“The Comeback Kids” had a great habit of overcoming big deficits in winning games all year.

“We pretty much had a season when we’d come back a lot,” Greenlee said.

This team had a very strong identity and what Greenlee called a “really tight group. We kind of watched out for each other. Coach once said, ‘We played like brothers.’ No one really cared who scored.”

While the Marquette loss was painful, it was a season to remember for KU and all Jayhawk fans. Kansas also lost the consolation game to UCLA after up eight points at halftime.

“They finally worse us down,” Owens wrote in his book, “and we lost the last game of a miraculous season.’

KU returned to the Big Dance the following year, winning the Big Eight yet losing in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Region to a talented Notre Dame led by superstar Adrian Dantley, 77-71.

After two more down seasons (13-13 in 1975-76 and 18-10 in 1976-77), Owens again felt the hot seat with pressure to be fired.

But John Douglas, nicknamed “The Franchise” by voice of the Jayhawks Tom Hedrick who led KU in scoring in 1977 at 19.2 points per game (he scored 46 points at Iowa State on Feb. 16, 1977, which remains the third-most points in a game by a Jayhawk behind Wilt Chamberlain and Bud Stallworth), felt this criticism was extremely unfair.

“He’s the best coach in the Big Eight,” Douglas said in a wire story. “He shouldn’t be fired.”

Darnell Valentine left his mark as one of KU’s all-time greats

Darnell Valentine culminated his magical and tremendous career in 1981 as KU’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer (1,821 points) behind Clyde Lovellete, the school’s all-time assist leader with 609, while also ranking first in steals with 336 and free throws made (541).

Thirty-nine years later, his steals and free throws made still rank No. 1, while he is No. 7 in scoring and No. 6 in assists.

Valentine’s records, indeed, have stood the test of time.

“I didn’t realize they kept records back in those days. I think that a lot of these records would certainly have been broken if guys would have stayed for the whole four years of college,” Valentine said on Jan. 1, 2005 before the KU-Georgia Tech game and his jersey retirement ceremony in Allen Fieldhouse.  

“I look at the Paul Pierces and the Drew Goodens and those guys, they had phenomenal careers. They probably would have shattered everything. The way the climate is now, guys opt to go to the big leagues and play.”

Valentine, a second-team AP All-American his senior year in 1981, averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 assists, 2.8 steals and 3.6 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game over 118 contests during his career, while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 71.8 percent at the free throw line.

He is the only player in Big Eight history to be named first-team All-League four years, while also selected as a three-time Academic All-American. He achieved a 3.3 GPA in pre-law.

Former KU coach Ted Owens marveled at Valentine’s contributions — on and off the hardwood.

“He was a complete person. He did it all,” Owens gushed.

But more than all the records was Valentine’s extreme dedication to his craft. Nobody who ever  donned a Jayhawk uniform ever worked harder or played better defense.

That was 100 percent effort each time in practice and games.

“It was a passion of mine,” Valentine said.

Owens was asked about his favorite memory of Valentine on the Jayhawk Network Crimson and Blue pregame show that special day on Jan. 1, 2005.

He didn’t hesitate with his reply.

“I think just working with him every day,” Owens said. “We’ve had some great players, some hard working players, but in four years, he never failed one day to come to the court without great motivation. He wasn’t good by accident. He was good because he worked at it every single day. Just the opportunity to work with someone with that kind of attitude really was a highlight.”

Valentine has many fond memories of his KU career.

“Coach Owens, he just created a platform for me to perform well, there were so many good memories,” he said. “I really couldn’t pick one of them. I really used to enjoy going up to Kemper Arena and having those holiday tournaments. That was jut the cat’s meow for me. I think we had a lot of success. My senior year, we were able to go up and win at the end of the year, the Big Eight Tournament there, so that was a crowning moment that really stands out.

“... I think that it’s just unreal, every day, we played so hard, we practiced so hard, that was just so much fun knowing that everyone had the same agenda, same motive to improve. Coach Owens and his direction and guidance, he just kept us growing as players. As I’m  reflecting, I just tried to do it all, and coach provided me the platform to do it.”

Valentine, a Wichita Heights prep phenom who was one of the first players in Kansas to be recruited nationally, was now asked about his legacy.

“I’m not real sure, I haven’t really though about my legacy. I’m not old enough to think about a legacy,” said Valentine, who was 45 years old at the time of his jersey retirement. “But I think one thing that was instilled in me, my mother instilled in me was the fact I had a real strong work ethic. I was dedicated to the game and I respected the game. Coming from Wichita, Kansas, a small community, just being able to blaze a trail so to speak, put a spotlight on the players that were there was a tremendous accomplishment I think, and I cherished it. Providing other opportunities for other players from the city, and then coming here and making a contribution and feeling like I did make a contribution.”

Indeed, Valentine “blazed a trail” for future high school standouts and college stars from Wichita like Ricky Ross, Antoine Carr, Greg Dreiling and Aubrey Sherrod, who were also recruited nationally.

“That was really a special time. But they’ve always had good players, even before my time,” Valentine said. “But on the national scene, it was difficult for people to believe, or have the confidence that Wichita could produce quality players that could perform on the national stage. With myself coming through there and creating so much exposure, and that was only because I went outside the system and I got exposure by going to a high school camp that was national (Howard Garfinkel’s prestigious Five-Star camp in Wheeling, West Virginia), and I did very well.”

Valentine, a muscular 6-1, 180-pound point guard with tree-trunk legs, cherished his high school days starring for Heights, where they went 23-0 his senior year in 1976-77, blowing teams out with a margin of 40 points per game in what is considered the best prep team in Kansas history. Valentine led Heights with 26.0 points per game and simply dominated on defense, just like he did at KU.

“I had the question posed to me the other day, what was the best time I had playing basketball, and I said when I played high school basketball that year,” Valentine said. “That was incredible year we had. That team was fantastic. You look at the time. I think I was the first All-American out of Wichita. And then after that, we had Antoine Carr, he and I both had reasonably good (NBA careers). I think Antoine played 17 or 18 years in the NBA (16 years). Then, we had Calvin Alexander, who was a top 10 heavyweight boxer. 

“... That was a phenomenal team. That was a family. Coach Lafayette (Norwood) was the father of the family, and the head. He gave us a lot of incredible instructions and life lessons. I think it all made a difference in our lives, his presence and that whole experience. That was a great experience.

“We were quite fortunate,” Valentine added. “I had the chance to play with Antoine Carr, Calvin Alexander, Doc Holden. I think we were a little ahead of our time. That was really a special time for us. I think that what we accomplished was pretty remarkable.”

Every KU fan knew how great Valentine was in high school and college. And they also marveled about his muscular legs, which also became his trademark in his nine-year NBA career.

David Lawrence of the Jayhawk Radio Network talked to Valentine about his legs before the KU-Georgia Tech game and his jersey retirement in 2005 on the Crimson and Blue show. Lawrence played football at Kansas during the same years that Valentine created his magic at Kansas.

“You were everyone’s favorite player, including ours,” Lawrence said, “but a lot of the guys had a hard time with you because anytime we were out on dates, our coeds would always remind us, no mater how much we lifted weights, we didn’t quite match up with Darnell Valentine.”

Valentine just smiled.

“My mom gave me these big old legs,” he said. “That’s my only forte. People don’t remember that I played a little bit. They call you the guy with the big legs. So that was my mark.”

“That was long before weights were really in vogue with basketball players,” Owens added.

Tim Jankovich, a KU assistant coach at the time, who battled against Valentine as a K-State point guard for two years, admits he was "scared" of Valentine's big legs.

Jankovich truly admired Valentine.

“I’m just glad that I’m not having to play today and he’s not guarding me,” Jankovich said. “I thought he was one of the best defensive players that I’ve ever played against. We came out the same year in high school, he was in Wichita and I was from Manhattan. We never played in high school, but I was well aware of him. Of course, playing against each other, I had a great deal of respect for him. He was a tremendous player. I though the was an even better defensive player than offensive player. He was an awfully good offensive player, and certainly well deserving of having his jersey retired.

“Darnell was way ahead of his time,” Jankovich added. “At KU, we’ve had some guys ahead of our time. We’ve had Wilt Chamberlain, who was about 50 years ahead of his time. Darnell was probably a good 20 years ahead of his time. He was rock solid. He had the biggest legs I’ve ever seen. His legs frightened me. I was scared of his legs. I didn’t want him to put a knee in my mine and break it off. He was so strong and athletic and explosive. 

“He was a heck of a player.”

Indeed, he was. Especially on defense, where he he locked up opposing team’s point guards and seemingly stole the ball at will.

“He was the very heart of our defense,” Owens said. “When you had to fight Darnell coming up the court and you couldn’t break him down, then the rest of us could get out and over play our men. He was incredible. I’ll never forget one night at Oklahoma, everyone got tired of him stealing the ball, so finally Oklahoma just decked him on the other end of the court. Then I did a stupid thing, got into a little conversations with (OU coach) Dave Bliss. Darnell’s mother, Rose, called me and she said, ‘I’m proud of you coach even though the Big Eight conference is after you.’”

Valentine also had few peers when it came to penetrating the lane. He was extremely quick with the dribble and could easily blow by his man and get into the paint. Valentine was often compared to Jo Jo White when he played at KU. White was also an All-American at KU and is enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame after spending most of his NBA career starring for the Boston Celtics.

“Darnell and Jo Jo have a lot of likeness. Both have a great attitude towards work and both are complete players,” Owens told The Sporting News during Valentine’s sophomore season in 1978-79. 

“But Jo Jo never penetrated like Darnell. Darnell does that better than anyone I’ve ever seen.” 

“Valentine is quicker than Jo Jo and penetrates better,” Red Auerbach, who was general manager of the Celtics at the time who drafted White out of Kansas and one of the most respected minds in basketball history, told The Sporting News after watching Valentine earn MVP honors in the 1978 Big Eight Holiday Tournament.

Opposing coaches would devise schemes to stop Valentine from penetrating. In his biography in the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame, it noted that “he was such a force as a penetrating point guard that he forced KU nemesis Coach Jack Hartman of Kansas State to create a 3-2 zone defense specially designed  just to try to stop Valentine.”

Twenty-four years after he led KU to the Sweet 16 and became an All-American, Valentine was thrilled that his No. 14 jersey was being retired and hanging in the rafters for all time. A great honor for someone who did so much for Kansas. Dressed dapper in a maroon suit and looking svelte like he could play today — “I’m still playing weight, baby” — Valentine talked before the KU-Georgia Tech game on New Year’s Day, 2005 about what an honor it was.

“This is large, this is an incredible opportunity for me just to come back,” Valentine said. “This is like the crowning moment for me. I don’t know how involved, or what my presence will be from this point forward, other than another time for them to recognize me. This is the crowning of my adult life right now.”

Asked about it taking 24 years since he left KU for his jersey to be retired, Valentine gave an eloquent reply.

“I was just looking at the media guide. There was a gentleman in 1927 whose jersey was retired in 2002. I forget this name,” Valentine said. “That was a great era. ... Jo Jo, he left here in ‘69. His jersey wasn’t retired until 2001. It seems like 24 years is a nice place. I can certainly appreciate it and I can relish that it is happening now and come back and be excited about it and fully appreciate what it means.”

However, Valentine felt slighted about it taking so long to have his jersey retired when talking previously to a Portland newspaper, his hometown where he’s lived since retiring from the NBA.

“I am excited, no question,”  Valentine said. “But they retired the numbers of so many of their recent players — Raef LaFrentz, Nick Collison, Jacque Vaughn — within a year or two after they left Kansas. I think the timing for me is a little bit off, to say the least.”

Even the great players, leaders, and tremendous people have their faults and imperfections. Valentine certainly did. He had a big ego and hurt KU basketball at times during his career. When former KU assistant and then-Knicks assistant coach Bob Hill spoke to my class at KU in 1985, I asked him who the best player he’s ever coached.

Without hesitation, Hill replied:

“Darnell Valentine.”

Hill, though, quickly added that Valentine wasn’t the most coachable player. He said that Valentine would break down plays at the end of the game and KU would lose. Hill added that everyone blamed Owens when it was Valentine’s fault.

This is painful to write, because I truly idolized Valentine growing up and he meant so much to me and I followed his NBA career so religiously and had pictures of him all over my wall as true inspiration. I put him on a pedestal; to me, he could do no wrong. He used to be my all-time favorite Jayhawk before Tony Guy replaced him in my heart.

But Guy — Valentine’s teammate for three years — told me in 1999 that Valentine was a very selfish player that was only concerned about furthering his career, instead of winning.

Guy gave an example of Ricky Ross, Valentine’s teammate in 1979-80 who was well-known to be extremely selfish with a big ego. One game, Guy told told me, Ross had a big scoring night but KU lost. Everyone was despondent in the locker room except Ross. Ricky couldn’t understand why his teammates were down after his high scoring game.

“That’s how Darnell was,” Guy said.

However, Guy greatly admired Valentine’s defense and work ethic.

“I wouldn’t say we were friends,” he said. “I had a great deal of respect for that guy. The guy was an incredible athlete, his work ethic was phenomenal.”

But?

“He was very selfish and it cost us dearly,” Guy said. “He wanted to get his. When I played, Darnell was basically allowed to do whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted to do it. And it cost us. We weren’t nearly the teams we could have been under Darnell. A tremendous basketball player, but he used all of his skills to enhance his own career. That’s all he was about.

“Darnell could have made it possible for two or three other guys to have gone to the NBA,” Guy added. “That’s how good Darnell was. That’s what Magic (Johnson) did (for Michigan State). Jay Vincent (he played nine years in the NBA) and Gregory Kelser (No. 4 overall pick in 1979 by Dick Vitale's-coached Detroit Pistons who played five years in the NBA) weren’t great basketball players. But every time time you saw them, they were dunking it. That was Magic. They were just average basketball players. Magic was about winning championships. How do you measure a great player? You measure a great player by his ability to make those around him better than they actually are. It’s about winning. Team sports is about winning

“... Darnell was a phenomenal player,” Guy continued. “Trust me, I had to play with him every day and against. The guy was incredible. There was not a guy that I played against that I had to worry about another team’s point guard. Other than one--Larry Drew (Missouri star). One of the best players that we played against. He could shoot, but more important, he used his skills to help his team win. He could have shot more than he actually shot.”

Despite these critical comments about Valentine, Guy admitted that “Darnell was a lot of fun to play with. We had a lot of laughs. Had a great time with him. But we had a lot of disappointments, too.”

Max Falkenstien was also negative of Valentine in his 1996 book, Max and the Jayhawks:

“Darnell was a fabulous player for KU, but I felt that often he tried to do too much at the expense of the team.”

While these are critical remarks, there is no question that Darnell Terrell Valentine is one of KU’s all-time greats and certainly left his mark at Kansas.

No. 14 definitely has a special place in Owens’ heart. He couldn’t have been more elated to see his jersey retired 15 years ago.

“Darnell Valentine is one of the greatest players we’ve ever had here,” Owens told the Jayhawk Radio Network on Jan. 1, 2005. 

“It’s a wonderful day. To see him honored is a blessing for all of us.”

Darnell Valentine rode KU to the Sweet 16 his senior year while becoming an All-American

Darnell Valentine got a huge and memorable opportunity by playing for the 1980 U.S. Olympic basketball team. However, it wasn’t quite a once-in-a-lifetime chance since President Jimmy Carter boycotted the games in Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Still, Valentine got invaluable experience playing against great competition and teaming with college stars Sam Bowie, Mark Aguirre, Isiah Thomas, Rolando Blackman, Michael Brooks, Al Wood, Danny Vranes, Rodney McCray, Buck Williams, Alton Lister and Bill Hanzlik. The squad, which was the youngest U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team in history, played five exhibition “Gold Medal Series” games against NBA All-Star teams while one game versus the gold-medal winning 1976 men’s basketball team in various USA cities.

Providence coach Dave Gavitt served as head coach while UCLA coach and future KU head man Larry Brown was one of the assistants.

The USA went 5-1 with its only loss a 78-76 setback to the NBA All-Stars.

Valentine, who served as Thomas’ backup at point guard, was the team’s eighth-leading scorer at 5.7 points per game while leading the squad with 14 steals and second in assists with 17. He shot 14-of-30 from the field (.467) and 6-of-8 at the free throw line, while also averaging 2.0 rebounds per game.

In KU coach Ted Owens’ 2013 book, At The Hang-up, he commented about Valentine’s experience at the Olympic workouts.

“Darnell was one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached,” Owens wrote. “He brought effort to the court in every single practice. But if he had one weakness, it was that he penetrated with his dribble so deep into the lane that he wouldn’t have many passing angles available to him. I had pointed this out, with little success. When he returned from the Olympic workouts, I asked him if he had learned anything new, and he said the coaches had told him he was penetrating too deep and didn’t have any passing angles. It was as if he had never heard such advice before. The scriptures are right: ‘A prophet is accepted in every country but its own.’”

NBA scouts and teams, who were aware of Valentine ever since he was a high school phenom, were now paying even closer attention to his game after the Olympic “Gold Medal Series” and his senior year approaching. 

One of those teams was the Portland Trail Blazers.

In legendary writer David Halberstam’s 1981 New York Times bestseller and one of the best sports books ever written, Breaks of the Game, Blazers’ astute director of player personnel Stu Inman talked about Valentine.

“What Portland needed above else was a guard,” Halberstam wrote. “Inman liked Kelvin Ransey of Ohio State. He went into scout-talk about Ransey. Good tough kid. Sturdy body. Probably won't get hurt. Played well under pressure in a good program. Excellent statistics in a top league. A Phil Ford type, but maybe a better shooter than Phil Ford. Then there was Darnell Valentine of Kansas: a kid you had to love. Very bright. Was thinking of going to law school. He had an outstanding freshman season and a good sophomore year, but had tailed off in his junior year. Inman did not know why. Perhaps personal problems. Well, Inman had a lot of friends in Wichita, Kansas, where Valentine came from, he would make a few phone calls. You had to love a kid like Darnell Valentine.”

With Valentine’s new penetration skills and the return of eight other lettermen, KU hoped to rebound from two disappointing seasons, including last year’s dismal 15-14 record. While Kansas lost malcontent Ricky  Ross, who dropped out of school and transferred, Owens added big 6-10 center Victor Mitchell from a junior college in Amarillo, Texas.

“Victor was (a) strong center whom we hoped would give us a strong inside presence. The key, of course, was molding the players into a cohesive and effective unit,” Owens wrote in his book.

This was Valentine’s swan song, who dearly wanted redemption after KU failed to make the NCAA Tournament the last two years. KU started the season hot at 14-2 with its only defeats a home loss to Michigan and road setback against Kentucky. The Jayhawks notched quality wins against North Carolina (56-55) at Kemper Arena in Kansas City and at Memphis State (59-49) one game later.

Kansas, which had won 10 straight games, was now 4-0 in Big Eight play and ranked No. 18 in the AP poll. But the the Jayhawks next faced a big test with four of the next five road games.

KU lost its ranking by falling in all four road contests, including three straight to KSU, Nebraska and Oklahoma State, much to Owens' chagrin, although Mitchell was a bright spot in the 76-73 triple overtime loss to OSU with a career-high 26 points and 13 rebounds. I fell in “love” with Big Vic that night listening to my favorite announcer -- voice of the Jayhawks--Tom Hedrick call the game on the radio.`

“We didn’t do what championship teams have to do: win on the road,” Owens wrote.

Senior forward John Crawford, who started the first six games before having his minutes reduced, admits he was frustrated. He decided to have a “man-to-man” talk with Owens.

“I said, ‘Coach, I don’t want to start. I just want to play more," Crawford told me in 1999. "I think I can be more effective than Victor. He’s a good player coach, but we can only do one thing with him — play zone defense and walk the ball up the floor. If you give me the same minutes that you give Victor Mitchell, I’ll give you twice as many rebounds as I get now and twice as many points.’”

The season soon turned around. Owens respected Crawford so much that he not only gave the senior additional minutes, but started him the last eight games of the season, when KU won seven straight before a season-ending Sweet 16 loss to Wichita State.

After a loss at Missouri on Feb. 9, KU notched two straight wins against Iowa State and Colorado. The Jayhawks were beginning to catch fire down the home stretch of the Big Eight race.

“The rest of the season, the team really dug in and played tremendous basketball,” Owens wrote. “With Art (Housey) now starting and Victor coming off the bench, we hit our stride. Defeating Nebraska once and Oklahoma State twice, Art went 19-of-25 from the field in the three games.”

Housey led KU in rebounding four of five games from Jan. 25 to Feb. 7, which marked KU’s win over KSU in the Big Eight Tournament championship. He exploded for a career-high 21 points and 15 rebounds in the quarterfinals of the tournament on March 3 against the Cowboys.

Housey, a 6-10 chiseled specimen from the Bronx, N.Y., had greatly improved from the raw product he was when he first arrived at Kansas last year. He added great spark to KU as a starter. Housey, who became a third-round NBA Draft pick by the Dallas Mavericks, was a very good shooter from 15 feet and a quality rebounder as well, while giving the Jayhawks an imposing presence in the middle.

KU finished the regular season strong by winning four of five games and finished Big Eight play at 9-5.

And then the joy ride was just beginning.

Owens’ starters were Crawford and David Magley at forward, Housey at center, and Valentine and Tony Guy at guard. Kansas knew it had to win the Big Eight Tournament to likely earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

After whipping Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals, 96-69, in Lawrence during Valentine’s home finale, KU then had a very impressive 75-70 victory over Missouri in Kemper Arena in Kansas City before another great win against K-State, 80-68, and winning the tournament and clinching an NCAA Tournament bid, KU’s first since 1978. Valentine led Kansas with 20 points against Missouri and 23 versus KSU.

Longtime Kansas City star reporter Blair Kerkhoff included KU’s win over KSU in his 1997 book, A Century of Jayhawk Triumphs: the 100 Greatest Victories in the History of  Kansas Basketball. 

All five KU starters played the full game.

“They were playing so well I saw no reason to change,” Owens said. “They were so motivated they didn’t become fatigued.”

KU shot a scorching 55.6 percent from the field, had only three turnovers and outrebounded K-State, 31-22.

Owens was completely elated over his team, which won the Big Eight Tournament for the first time in the last five years.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a better performance, at least in my time at Kansas, against as fine a basketball team as this Kansas State team,” Owens gushed.  

Kansas, which was 22-7, earned a No. 7 seed and a trip to Wichita for the Midwest Regional, the same site of 1971 regionals, where KU won and advanced to the Final Four. Maybe karma was on KU’s side.

While KU was hoping to create some March magic, Owens still faced criticism for his coaching. Mark Hersey wrote in “Shocked” for KUhistory.edu that “the March 1981 issue of Inside Sports ... had listed Owens as one of the most overrated coaches in college basketball. The editors of the magazine claimed that he was consistently out-coached by his conference peers, and for some inexplicable reason his Jayhawks ‘regularly lost to teams with less talent.’ To add further insult the magazine quoted NBA scouts who claimed that Owens’s system handicapped his players’ chances of being selected early in the draft. The magazine ultimately concluded that the ‘noose hangs high for Owens.’”

Owens didn’t pay too much attention to the naysayers; he was only focused on the Big Dance. The NCAA Tournament would also be a homecoming for Valentine, playing in native Wichita for the first time in his college career. The Jayhawks played Mississippi in the first round, which only went 16-13 (worst record in the field of 48) but won the SEC Tournament and gained an NCAA bid.

In a hard-fought game, KU prevailed 69-66. Ole Miss rallied from a 12-point deficit to cut KU’s lead to just 67-66. But the clutch and composed Guy made two free throws with two seconds left as KU advanced to the second round. Valentine led KU with 15 points.

It would not be easy two days later against No. 3 ranked Arizona State, who boasted four starters (Lafayette Lever, Byron Scott, Kurt Nimphius and Sam Williams who would play a combined 35 years in the NBA). KU was the heavy underdog despite playing close to home in Wichita. With the loss of No. 1 DePaul and No. 2 Oregon State, ASU was now the highest ranked team left in tournament.

But even the Sun Devils were no match for Kansas this day. Tony Guy was too great, much too great. The Towson, Maryland, native and former McDonald’s All-American exploded for a career-high 36 points on 13-of-15 shooting and 10-of-12 from the free throw line as KU crushed ASU, 88-71.

“This is the greatest moment of my life,” Guy said after his heroic game that sent KU to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1974.

He scored KU’s first points on a 12-foot jumper off the break and kept rolling from there.

“It’s kind of neat the first couple of shots you shoot, they go in, which give your teammates a little confidence,” Guy told me in 1999. “At some point, Darnell was like, ‘Hey Tone, whenever you’re open, it’s going to be there.’ And it was. I guess that’s a zone. Everything I did, I felt at ease with it. I felt comfortable with it. I felt like, ‘Yeah, this was the right decision.’

“I only took 15 shots. I didn’t take an exorbitant amount of shots, but I made most of the ones I took so that was important. For me, the highlight was it couldn’t have come at a better time. We were in the NCAA, we’re playing against the No. 3 ranked team in the country. That’s what I was about. I was about wanting to perform well against the better teams.”

Owens told the Kansas City Star after the game that Guy “saw that we weren’t doing much in the beginning and he made a response to it.”

The KU coach added in his book that Guy “played like a man possessed.”

“He was incredible,” Valentine added. “I’ve never seen him play the way he did today. All I had to do was sit back and watch.”

Guy, who wasn’t known for his vertical leap, relived one magical moment in the game to me.

“I’ll never forget, this is the funniest thing that happened to me in four years at the University of Kansas,” Guy said. “Arizona State had just scored and they were just kind of running down the court at three-quarters speed. We inbounds the ball and I’m running down the left side of the court and Darnell gets me the ball up ahead. I start dribbling and I think, ‘Hey, I can beat these guys back.’ Well, a couple of the big guys get back and I’m dribbling and I take off about a step inside the free throw line. 

“I’m not kidding you, I’m in the air and I thought to myself, ‘Tony, you’re on national TV, you’re about to fall flat on your face in front of millions of people. You took off from the free throw line, what were you thinking about?’ I’m in the air thinking all of this stuff and I just keep going and going, and thinking I’m going to get to the bucket. And I get to the bucket, and I dunk it and the place just goes off.

“My best friend, David Magley, he says, ‘Man, what were you thinking about? Hey Tone, you’re the only brother I’ve ever met in my life that can’t dunk,’” Guy added with a smile. “Physically, it was my proudest accomplishment on the basketball court for me to have dunked the basketball like that. I didn’t have a whole lot of dunks in the four years that I played. ... At the banquet at the end of the year when they showed that highlight, everybody still went off.  Everybody still couldn’t believe it. It was a lot of fun.”

Valentine complemented Guy by adding 18 points, seven assists and three steals.

And Valentine, Guy and KU were sure having a lot of fun being in the Sweet 16 with a battle with in-state Wichita State in New Orleans. WSU was especially hyped since KU had refused to play the Shockers for so many years with the last game during the 1955-56 season, Phog Allen’s last year as KU coach.

This 1981 colossal game was called the “Battle of New Orleans” in the Louisiana Superdome in front of 34,060 fans. Wichita State, the No. 6 seed, boasted one of the best frontcourts in America in Antoine Carr (Valentine’s high school teammate) and Cliff Levingston.

“We knew we would have difficulty defending the twin towers,” Owens wrote, “so I decided to stick with our 2-3 match-up zone. While we weren’t as sharp on offense as we had been in recent games, we managed to hold a three-point lead with (56) seconds left.”

Then disaster happened. 

Valentine, one of the best clutch players in the game, missed the front end of a one-on-one, opening the door for WSU. Seldom-used backup Shockers’ guard Mike Jones then hit a bomb to cut KU’s lead to one point. On the next play, Valentine again blew KU’s chances to win the game, missing a layup.

Jones was the hero again, burying another 25-footer with four seconds remaining to give WSU a 66-65 lead. Owens then went into his bag of tricks and called a play called “Touchdown.”

“If the defense jumped the player taking the ball out of bounds (Booty Neal), the player inbounding the ball would run along the baseline and blindside the defender with a pick,” Owens wrote. “It worked to perfection as a Wichita player knocked Darnell to the ground, but the official didn’t call a foul and we lost a heartbreaker, 66-65.”

Hersey wrote that “Owens claimed that ‘30,000 people knew it was a foul except the three who didn’t call it, and Valentine asserted, ‘it was kind of obvious [that he had been fouled], but all [he] got was a stare [from the official]. Wichita State fans were quick to point out that the game was not decided solely by the “phantom foul” (as the no-call was dubbed), but by the Shockers capitalizing on their chances while KU repeatedly blew its opportunities to put the game away. Both teams had shot less than 50 percent for the game, but Wichita State had out rebounded the Kansas team 37-24.”

While KU was devastated, the Jayhawks could hold their heads high by putting Kansas basketball back on the national map. Owens couldn’t have been prouder of his team, a squad that remains one of my all-time favorite Jayhawk teams.

“I was awfully proud of a team that came so far, although I was disappointed because I thought we were playing well enough to advance far into the tourney,” Owens wrote. “Still, I never was more proud of a group of young men, and I knew that our seniors had finished their careers with honor.”

Valentine ended his remarkable career with a team-high 21 points. He was named All-Big Eight for the fourth straight year, the only Big 8 player in history to accomplish that feat. He also became a more selfless player, tying Guy with 350 field goal attempts. Guy led KU in scoring (15.8 ppg), followed by Valentine (15.6), Magley (9.5), and Crawford and Mitchell each with 8.1 points per game. Housey averaged 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 51.7 percent from the field.

KU shot an impressive 50.3 percent from the field this season with Guy shooting a career-high 53.7 percent, an outstanding percentage for a shooting guard.

Valentine also shot a career-high 50.3 percent from the field, although his free throw percentage dropped from 77.7 percent his junior year to just 68.2 percent this season. The second-team AP All-American averaged 5.3 assists and 2.9 steals in a career-best 37.1 minutes per game, finishing his career in splendid fashion as one of KU’s all-time greets.

He just wished the ride could have lasted longer. He laments his career-ending loss to Wichita State.

“It’s a game I think we really felt we should have won,” Valentine said in 2005 before his jersey retirement in Allen Fieldhouse. “There was a gentleman (Jones) that just got red hot, came out of nowhere, just shot over us. (He) made all the difference in the game. That was the game that I kind of remember.”

Valentine added to the Lawrence Journal-World at the time of the WSU loss:

“It was painful,” he said. “It’s a game I thought we were capable of winning and moving farther in the tournament.”

But for Kansas fans, they will always remember the great achievements of Darnell Valentine. For the crimson and blue faithful, every day was Valentine’s Day when D.V. took the hardwood.

Darnell Valentine again leads the Jayhawks, but KU finished the 1979-80 season at just 15-14

After two outstanding seasons at Kansas, junior point guard Darnell Valentine was eagerly looking forward to making his mark in his third year.

He had already emerged as one of the top players and best defensive players in America. So much so that he was featured in Sports Illustrated.

In the Dec. 3, 1979 SI issue, writer Larry Keith included Valentine among the nation’s best defensive wizards. The headline read: “PUTTING A LID ON THE BASKET.”

“Darnell Valentine of Kansas is so adept at defense that his coach, Ted Owens, encourages him to ‘disrupt the other team's entire offense. He's free to gamble when he wants, switch off, double-team and defend away from the ball. We want him to use his exceptional sense of anticipation to go for steals and interceptions.’ Valentine, a personable 6'2" junior enrolled in pre-law, takes to the task with gusto. ‘Defense is something you have to be determined to play every game,’ he says, ‘and a good defensive player should never have a bad one. When I take another man's rock [ball] one-on-one in the open court, that says I'm doing my job better than he is.’

“Valentine has become so proficient at making steals—he led the Big Eight with 3.1 per game last season—he has heard opponents tell him, ‘I'm not going to let you steal it from me.’ Valentine's answer is usually a swipe of the hand, a quick dribble and a layup at the other end.”

In that same issue, SI wrote again about Valentine’s superb defense with the subheadline: 

“HOLD YOUR PLACE.”

“Darnell Valentine of Kansas demonstrates the most fundamental skill of good man-to-man defense, the ability to achieve and maintain an aggressive position—one that limits an opponent's options—against the man with the ball. Valentine forces Iowa State's Andrew Parker to the right of the key (see diagram) and stops him from penetrating all the way to the basket. As a result, Parker must stop his dribble and pass to an open man.”

Valentine and KU entered the 1979-80 season trying to rebound off a discouraging 18-11 season, when the Jayhawks were picked as high as No. 2 nationally in one preseason poll. Joining Valentine in the backcourt this season was high school phenom Ricky Ross from Wichita South, who had just broken Valentine’s all-time City League scoring record with 1,669 points during his stellar three-year career.

Ross led South to two consecutive state titles his junior and senior year, while averaging 32.0 points per game his senior season. He set a City League record with 47 points against Southeast as a junior. He was named a McDonald’s All-American in one of the best high school classes of all time, which included Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy and Jon Paxson.

In a heavily recruiting battle, Ross chose KU over many other big-time programs beckoning at his doorstep.

“I’m excited about playing with Darnell,” Ross told the Lawrence Journal-World at the time. “With all the pro coaches and scouts that will be watching him the next two years, that has to be a plus for me, too.”

Ross’ high school coach Bill Himebaugh was thrilled his franchise player was going to be a Jayhawk.

“I think he had KU in his mind all along,” Himebaugh said. “He’s the type of player who can turn a program around. And that guard tandem of KU now has to be one of the best around.”

However, KU had a big problem entering the season, and that involved replacing 7-1 star center Paul Mokeski, who was a second-round draft pick by the Houston Rockets. There was a glaring hole in the middle.

KU, which entered the season ranked No. 20 in the AP poll, was picked to finish third in the Big Eight behind Missouri and Oklahoma by Street & Smith Magazine.

“Jayhawks were a disappointment last season when they started as the Big Eight favorite and finished in a second place tie with Kansas State and Nebraska,” the magazine wrote in its preseason issue. “One problem, then, lack of outside shooting, may have been solved with the recruiting of 6-5 Ricky Ross, a guard who averaged 32 points a game in leading Wichita South to consecutive state titles. But the Jayhawks have always been big-man oriented under Ted Owens and there is no apparent successor to seven-foot Paul Mokeski.

“Mark Snow, a 6-10 Californian, was recruited as Mokeski’s replacement, but he sat out his freshman year with a broken foot. Other candidates will be 6-9, 185-pound Chester Giles, who hasn’t played much, and 6-10, 225-pound juco transfer Art Housey, who the Jayhawks signed when they lost out on Sam Bowie.

“Kansas is loaded at guard. Darnell Valentine is one of the best in the game, averaging 16.1 points and leading the conference in assists and steals as a sophomore. Junior Wilmore Fowler (9.2 ppg) is experienced and Ross and another freshman, Keith Douglas, are highly touted.

“There are also plenty of seasoned forwards around, including 6-8 Johnny Crawford (10.2 ppg), 6-5 Tony guy (9.2) and 6-8 David Magley, who has had a shoulder repaired.”

Fowler, though, was no longer on the team after transferring to Georgia.

Guy had a problem about Ross taking over his position at shooting guard.

“They bring in Ricky Ross who was six foot seven and who was All-World,” Guy said in Mark Stallard’s 2005 book, Tales From The Jayhawks Hardwood. “I’m going, ‘Well, where’s Ricky going to play.’

‘Ricky is going to play big guard, Tony.’

‘”I thought I was supposed to be the big guard.’ I didn’t get to play big guard until my junior year. It’s not a coincidence that my junior year was my best year. My first two years I had to play small forward. If you don’t perform, they’re just going to recruit over you. I was performing and they still recruited over me.”

While Guy still had a good year (third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game), the lack of inside play never materialized that season and KU had bad team chemistry and poor unity. Ross had a big ego who was all about scoring points and not winning, while looking solemn when he was on the bench. KU finished at just 15-14, its worst record since 1975-76 (13-13) and 7-7 in league play for fourth place.

Coach Owens never found a consistent lineup throughout the season. A whopping 11 players had at least one start, led by Valentine (27 starts), followed by Magley (20) and Guy and Ross (17 each).

There was a glaring hole in the middle with nobody even coming close to filling Mokeski’s shoes. Giles averaged just 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds; Housey 4.1 points and 3.2 boards; Snow 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds; and freshman Kelly Knight 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

Poor rebounding also doomed the Jayhawks. Crawford led the team with just 4.8 rebounds per game, followed by Magley (4.4 rpg). KU only managed 30.0 rebounds per game.

KU, though, finished the season strong by winning five of its final seven games and advancing to the Big Eight Tournament championship, where KSU whipped the ‘Hawks, 79-58. One of those victories down the stretch was a huge upset win over No. 11 Missouri in the semifinals of the tournament, 80-71, on Feb. 28. MU had crushed KU in its earlier meeting in Columbia, 88-65, on Feb. 9.

It was truly a dismal season for Owens and KU, two straight poor seasons for a coach who was perpetually on the hot seat.

Valentine averaged a career-high 16.5 points per game and boosted his field goal percentage from 44.3 percent as a sophomore to 48.1 percent this season, while also improving his free throw percentage from 68.0 percent to 77.7 percent. But his assists dropped from 5.9 per game to 5.0, while his steals decreased from 3.1 to 2.6 per game.

Following Valentine in scoring were Ross (11.7 ppg), Guy (10.9), Crawford (7.9) and Neal (5.8)

It was easily a year to forget in KU basketball history.

While KU had a poor season, Valentine was doing his best to boost his credentials to make the 1980 U.S. Olympic team in Moscow. In the 1979-80 Street & Smith Magazine preview issue, here is what the mag said about the prospects for that team:

“Looking over the list of potential candidates for our 1980 team, (Dave, head coach) Gavitt said he sees an abundance of forwards, big and small, and shooting guards. There are some outstanding centers and point guards, but not as many. Is there a a Phil  Ford? (star point guard on the 1976 Olympic Team). ...

“One coach who believes there’s a Phil Ford-type player to be found in the present college ranks is Kansas coach Ted Owens. He’s that high on his point guard, Darnell Valentine. 

“He’s a great athlete,” observed Owens. “He wants to play on our Olympic team --it’s something we’re pointing him toward--and ultimately, he wants to play pro ball. He’s going to be a great quarterback.”

Darnell Valentine emerged as one of the best players in America as a super sophomore

After Darnell Valentine took Kansas and college basketball by storm his freshman season — leading the Big Eight in steals and assists and setting a single-season school record for most steals, assists and free throws made while leading KU to a final No. 10 ranking and 24-5 record — he entered his sophomore year with even greater hype.

Valentine, the 6-2 point guard, was named a preseason All-American by prestigious Street & Smith Magazine. Joining him on the team included Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Sidney Moncrief and Darrell Griffith. He was also part of a Sports Illustrated cover story talking about the scintillating sophomore class in college hoops with Magic donning the cover.

The headline of the SI Nov. 27, 1978 issue read:

A CLASS WITH CLASS

HERE IS THE NEW ELITE. THESE 10 DEBONAIR YOUNG GENTLEMEN ARE THE VERY UPPER CRUST OF THIS SEASON'S SOPHOMORES, A GROUP SOPHISTICATED SO FAR BEYOND ITS YEARS IT RANKS AMONG THE MOST SELECT CLASSES EVER

Sports Illustrated listed the top 10 sophomores, with Valentine making the first team, along with Magic (Michigan State), Gene Banks (Duke), Jeff Ruland (Iona) and Kelly Tripucka (Notre Dame).

“Guard Darnell Valentine has a record foes consider criminal,” SI wrote. “He's murder on offense, leading Kansas in both points and assists, and is a thief on defense, with 80 steals.”

With Valentine and 7-1 senior center Paul Mokeski returning, KU was even ranked No. 2 in one preseason poll. The AP poll ranked Kansas No. 5 while SI had KU No. 14. The consensus of preseason publications had KU repeating as Big Eight champions.

“Kansas basketball tradition is a familiar story. Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith and Wilt Chamberlain played there. James Naismith and Phog Allen coached there. The Jayhawks have won more games than any college team except Kentucky,” SI wrote. “But there is a less appreciated tradition behind the tradition—the ritual of unrealistic-expectations. Kansas is never supposed to lose, yet the Jayhawks have had three seasons of .500 or below in the past 10. Another rash of unreasonable forecasts is burdening this year's team, which has lost six veterans, including three starters, from the 1977-78 club that went 24-5. Nonetheless, one poll has Kansas second in the nation.

“That is expecting too much. For the Jayhawks to finish that high, 255-pound Center Paul (Big Mo) Mokeski will have to rampage like the Incredible Hulk. He has come close on occasion. In last season's NCAA regionals, the 7'1" Mokeski outperformed UCLA All-America David Greenwood, 18 points to 14 and 12 rebounds to 10. Unfortunately, Mokeski fouled out of that game and seven others and averaged just 23.3 minutes a start. At times this season his floormates will be four guards. Under these conditions, leading Kansas to the No. 2 spot would be a tall order, even for Mokeski. "Two things are important; that Paul get himself in terrific shape and stay out of foul trouble," says Coach Ted Owens. Mokeski wants to do more. "I'm going to have to rebound better and take over the scoring," he says. His frontcourt partners, Johnny Crawford, who averaged only 1.6 points a game last season before being declared scholastically ineligible, and Booty Neal, a 2.6 scorer, will do their best to lighten Mokeski's load. But their best is certainly going to have to improve.

“Kansas is stronger at guard. Darnell Valentine, a sophomore, led the Big Eight in steals and assists as a freshman while scoring a team-high 13.5 points per game. Wilmore (Little Mo) Fowler completes a formidable starting backcourt. Owens calls Fowler a "potential 55% shooter"; now that Little Mo has learned to pull up before taking his jumpers, he could hit his potential.

“But matching last year's record may depend mostly on freshmen. Fortunately Kansas has three of the nation's best in Tony Guy, a 51% shooter in high school; Forward David Magley, Indiana's Mr. Basketball last season; and 6'10" Mark Snow, who broke Bill Walton's shot-blocking record at Helix High in La Mesa, Calif. Only Guy is likely to help immediately. On occasion, Owens may even decide to use Valentine, Fowler, Guy and senior Brad Sanders at once, giving the Jayhawks a four-guard lineup.

“With its fast-break offense and pressure defense, Kansas will be as entertaining as ever, but success may turn more on how well the Jayhawks rebound off the defensive board. They will be tested early and often, with road games at Kentucky, Southern California, San Diego State and Michigan State. "A 20-6 record is the least we need for an at-large bid to the NCAAs," Owens said at a preseason team meeting. More likely, the Jayhawks will get an automatic bid by repeating as Big Eight champions. That is not too much to expect.”

Owens started Valentine and Fowler at guard, Guy at the three spot and Crawford at power forward, with Mokeski at center. This was a young team with three sophomores, a freshman, and one senior in the starting five. The Jayhawks would have to grow up fast to make some noise in the Big Eight and nationally.

It would not be easy, even with one of the most heralded players in the country in Valentine.

No. 5 KU won its first four games before a heavyweight showdown with No. 10 Kentucky, the defending national champions, at Rupp Arena in front of over 23,000 fans. The Jayhawks seemingly had the game won up by six points with 31 seconds left in overtime when disaster happened. KU made multiple mistakes, including calling a timeout when none were available. UK star guard Kyle Macy made the technical and the Wildcats won 67-66.

That loss would have lasting ramifications on the once Jayhawks’ promising season.

“It was an absolutely devastating loss,” Owens told John Hendel in his 1991 book, Kansas Jayhawks: History-making basketball.

“They just sobbed in the dressing room for 30 minutes after that. I couldn’t find the words to get them out of it. We were all devastated. What had looked like one of the great victories in Kansas history over a really good Kentucky team ended in a terrible defeat.

“That really hung with that young team,” Owens added. “I don’t think if it had happened to a veteran team, it would have been quite as bad, but we had a couple of freshmen in the lineup, a couple of sophomores and maybe one senior. It was a tough loss and I think it had a lot to do with the losses later in the year. I just don’t think there was that confidence factor. I just think there were too many young people and sort of that shadow of that earlier loss as Kentucky kind of was a blow to their confidence.

“It was a killer to our team.”

Valentine scored a career-high 27 points, while Mokeski grabbed eight boards.

KU then lost five of its next 10 games, including an 89-83 overtime defeat at USC on Dec. 21, 1978, when Valentine scored a new career-high 28 points. After a 66-64 overtime loss at Nebraska on Jan. 27, Kansas got hot, winning four of its next five games, including an impressive 88-85 win at Missouri on Feb. 7. The Jayhawks’ only loss during that span was at No. 14 Michigan State, which was hyped as the big nationally televised matchup with super sophs Magic Johnson and Darnell Valentine.

Magic got the better of D.V. and Kansas, winning big, 85-61. The Spartans would beat Larry Bird and Indiana State that year for the national championship. I recall Valentine stealing the ball once from Magic and how thrilled I was. 

Guy, a very good defensive player — yet only a freshman — also guarded Johnson.

“Magic was so overwhelming that I said to myself, ‘What am I doing out here?’ He was just truly incredible,” Guy told me in 1999.

Fowler led KU with 18 points, while Mokeski had eight rebounds.

The Jayhawks won four of their final six games in regular-season play, finishing in a tie for second in the Big Eight at just 8-6. Their two losses came to Iowa State and Kansas State by two points each. One of KU’s wins came at home against Oklahoma (74-62) on Feb. 10, four days before Valentine’s Day. Apparently, OU was in no loving mood for KU’s own Darnell Valentine.

After Valentine stole the ball and sprinted downcourt for a layup, Oklahoma’s Terry Stotts “undercut him from behind, sending Valentine flying into the padded support for the goal,” reported the 1996 Crimson and Blue Handbook.

“Valentine was OK, but Owens lost his cool and rushed the Oklahoma bench. He was outraged because he believed that the KU guard had been the target of rough tactics around the league.”

According to the Wichita Eagle, the columnist wrote “the Kansas coach pushed his way into the Oklahoma bench area and was seen swinging his arm at OU coach Dave Bliss. There was some shoving before Sooners’ star John McCullough pulled Owens away. One of the officials, John Dabrow of Wichita, finally escorted Owens back to the KU bench. Owens was not dealt a technical foul. ...”

Owens relived that night on the Jayhawk Radio Network on Jan. 1, 2005 before KU’s game against Georgia Tech, when Valentine’s jersey was retired at halftime.

“I’ll never forget ... everyone got tired of him stealing the ball, so finally Oklahoma just decked him on the other end of the court,” Owens said. “Then I did a stupid thing, got into a little conversation with Dave Bliss. Darnell’s mother, Rose, called me and said, ‘I’m proud of you coach even though the Big Eight Conference is after you.’”

Valentine was unfazed. He still scored 19 points while Crawford also had 19.

After Kansas won its first two games of the Big Eight Tournament, Oklahoma blew KU out 80-65 in the championship game at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, ending the Jayhawks’ disappointing season at 18-11. So, after much hype and fanfare entering the year, Kansas was denied an NCAA Tournament bid. Hendel wrote that the Jayhawks had “seven of the losses by two points or less lost in overtime.”

It would be a long summer for Valentine and KU.

Valentine led the team in scoring at 16.1 points in 34.8 minutes per game (up from 26.2 mpg as a freshman), followed by Mokeski (14.1 ppg), Crawford (10.2 ppg), Fowler (9.2 ppg) and Guy (9.2 ppg.), who showed flashes of greatness. Valentine, who set a new school record with 91 steals (3.1 spg) and 170 assists (5.9 apg), was named first-team All-Big Eight for the second straight year and selected as a second-team Sporting News All-American.

However, he often had to do too much with this young team and his field goal percentage dipped from 48.1 percent as a freshman to just 44.3 percent this season. His field goal attempts increased from 10.2 his freshman season to 12.9 as a sophomore. Valentine’s free throw percentage, meanwhile, decreased from 74.1 percent his freshman season to only 68.0 percent as a sophomore, although his attempts increased from 4.9 as a freshman to 6.9 per game his sophomore season.

While Valentine had emerged as one of the best players in America and the best defensive guard in KU history, Guy lamented it was frustrating playing with him.

“I think that Darnell Valentine was a great basketball player, there’s no doubt about it. But Darnell did not have a lot of confidence in the guys he was playing with,” Guy told Mark Stallard in his 2005 book, Tales from the Jayhawks Hardwood.

“It was almost as if we had to prove to Darnell that we were worthy to be his teammates. I always found that interesting, in that you’re talking about a guy who was a great athlete, but he was just an okay basketball player. I thought he was a great athlete, you couldn’t help admire him as an athlete. But as a basketball player, he was just an average shooter. If you look at the overall statistics, it’s not like he lit the place up. He didn’t pass the ball a whole lot, to be totally honest. I was a shooting guard, and trying to get the ball of out of his hands was like pulling teeth. 

“It was interesting, because it was almost like we had to prove that we could play.”

Darnell Valentine led KU to a magical season as a freshman in 1977-78

Darnell Valentine, the prep phenom from Wichita Heights, took a recruiting visit to North Carolina with fellow high school sensation Al Wood from Gray, Georgia, during his senior year. Valentine could see himself playing for legendary coach Dean Smith and the Tar Heels, a school with such rich tradition that was competing with Kansas for Valentine’s services.

“I was feeling very comfortable at North Carolina, and Lafayette (Norwood, Valentine’s coach at Heights) and I said, ‘Let’s go back to Wichita and sit down and gather ourselves and make the decision,’” Valentine recalled before the KU-Georgia Tech game on Jan. 1, 2005 in Allen Fieldhouse, where his jersey was retired at halftime.

However, everything changed for Valentine and KU when head coach Ted Owens soon made Norwood his assistant coach and the first full-time African-American assistant in KU basketball history.

“A week later I believe or somewhere in that space of time, they brought him as a staff member,” Valentine said. “It certainly laid things in Kansas’ favor.”

So Valentine picked KU instead of Smith and North Carolina while Wood chose UNC. D.V., a tenacious defensive player, was expected to have an immediate and profound impact after two down seasons for Kansas (13-13 in 1975-76 and 18-10 in 1976-77).

Valentine and Norwood were — and have always been — extremely tight.

“Lafayette, I don’t know if he adopted me or I grabbed his leg, but we’re attached,” Valentine said. “His family, we’re still very close.”

A reporter asked Valentine if he would have gone to Wichita State had the Shockers hired Norwood as an assistant coach.

“That’s a good one. I think he would have done very well, but I probably would have gone to North Carolina,” Valentine said. “Oh, Dean Smith and the tradition of North Carolina and the players that were there. It’s a phenomenal program, a phenomenal program. Phil Ford (star point guard) was a senior, I would have had the opportunity to learn and expand my game. That would have been incredible.”

But Valentine certainly has no regrets about becoming a Jayhawk.

  

“It’s something that I’ve never looked back on,” he said with a smile. “I’m 300 percent sure that it was the right decision to me.”

Valentine started from day one for that great and magical 1977-78 team, which was ranked as high as No. 5 nationally and finished at 24-5, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 2 ranked UCLA. Joining Valentine in the starting lineup were senior guards Clint Johnson and John Douglas and junior Paul Mokeski and senior Ken Koenigs up front. Senior forward-center Donnie Von Moore and freshman guard Wilmore Fowler were invaluable as the team’s Super Subs. 

That squad, which had seven players average over 20 minutes per game with Douglas a team-high 27.8 mpg, had very good chemistry after some tough years, but throughout Valentine’s career, his extremely close and unique relationship with Norwood hurt team unity. Norwood once had a picture of Valentine in his office, which upset Owens. Ted told Norwood to take the picture down and told his assistant that if he’s going to have a picture, make it a team picture.

Valentine and Norwood were always inseparable at KU, apart from the other players and coaches. Max Falkenstien, the legendary KU announcer, wrote about this in his 1996 book, Max and the Jayhawks:

“In fact, it was a strange coach-player relationship. They were always together. In airports, hotels, they were generally in tandem, separated from the rest of the team. I always questioned whether this was a good situation for team unity, but we never talked much about it.”

A source inside the Kansas basketball program at the time told me Norwood’s salary was being paid by KU boosters in Wichita. This source called these boosters the “mafia.” While Norwood was taken care of, he had other issues to worry about.

“It wasn’t all peaches and cream when I took the assistant coaching job at the University of Kansas,” Norwood told the Johnson County Community College Campus Ledger on April 17, 2014. “It just wasn’t popular to always have black coaches at that level, so I ran into obstacles of opponents and even some of our own fans.”

While Norwood tried his best to do his job with fellow assistant Bob Hill and coach Owens, KU was having a dream season. This was a balanced, senior dominated team led by a freshman phenom in Valentine with four players averaging in double figures that season. KU was paced by Valentine (13.5 ppg), followed by Douglas (12.7), Keonigs (11.1) and Von Moore (10.7), while Mokeski averaged 9.3 points and Fowler 7.0 points per game.

Each player had its role and performed it to near perfection. Valentine was the playmaker, defensive stopper and scorer; Douglas, who sacrificed his game (team-high 19.2 points per game as a junior last season as an honorable mention All-American), was very athletic who could score and defend taller players; Johnson was a defensive scrapper who never saw a loose ball he didn’t like; Koenigs was a smooth shooting 6-10 forward and good rebounder; Mokeski added great size at 7-foot who could score and defend in the low post, rebound and block shots; and Von Moore was a great shooter who could rebound and block shots off the bench. Fowler, meanwhile, added outside scoring. He was a prep phenom from Palmetto, Florida, who the Detroit Pistons considered drafting out of high school.

The high-powered Jayhawks won seven of their first nine games (eclipsed century mark in three of the first four games) with only losses to No. 1 ranked Kentucky and No. 4 Arkansas. KU then caught fire winning its next 17 of 18 games with the only defeat at Nebraska (62-58).

Leading KU’s charge was Valentine. Falkenstien wrote about his great addition:

“Although he was just one year removed from high school, Valentine was an instant hero. He arrived at Kansas and played an extraordinary role from the start. He was a tremendous athlete and was impressive in all phases of the game.”

I vividly remember going to the games at Allen Fieldhouse with my dad and getting chills knowing I was watching the No. 5 ranked team in the country and watching my heroes like Valentine, Douglas and Von Moore. To this day, that squad remains one of my all-time favorite KU teams.

KU won the Big Eight title (13-1) and all roads look paved to opening the NCAA Tournament in Allen Fieldhouse, where Kansas was expected to win the Big Eight Tournament and become the automatic qualifier in the NCAA Midwest Region. All the ‘Hawks would then need was to win two games to advance to their first Final Four since 1974.

Koenigs, a two-time Academic All-American, a longtime doctor in Springfield, Massachusetts, and one of the smartest players in KU history, raved about KU’s team chemistry.

“I think we all got along well,” he told me in a 2001 interview. “That whole season kind of fell into place. There were some good guys on that team.”

But heartbreak happened in the semifinals of the Big Eight postseason tournament in Kansas City at Kemper Arena, when K-State upset KU 87-76. Kansas had already beaten the Wildcats three times that season, but on this night, the fourth win was not the charm.

“It is very tough to beat your arch rival four times in a row, especially in that day and age,” Keonigs said.

So instead of being the automatic qualifier and having homecourt advantage in Allen Fieldhouse, the 24-4 Jayhawks were shipped to Eugene, Oregon, for a first-round matchup against heavyweight UCLA in the West Region.

It would be a tough test to get out of the first round. But KU held a 10-point lead in the second half with nine minutes left and seemed in command when Valentine picked up his fourth foul. Owens then had a huge decision to make.

“Ordinarily, I would have substituted for him, but the momentum was ours and I couldn’t allow the UCLA guards to take over the game,” Owens wrote in his 2013 book, At the Hang-Up. “I decided to leave him in the game...and on the very next possession of the ball, he was called for a charge. I must have looked like the dumbest coach in America--and I might have been. But if I had to do it over, I would do the same.”

Without Valentine in the game, the Bruins rallied and won 83-76. And just like that, KU’s magical season — a year where the Jayhawks had the talent to make the Final Four — was now over.

“I thought it was a great season,” Koenigs said. “It kind of ended abruptly.”

Valentine finished the season against UCLA with 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting and 1-of-2 from the free throw line in 29 minutes. He added six assists, three rebounds and one steal. Mokeski led KU with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Von Moore, who posted eight points and four boards in 21 minutes, was so disgusted in the loss that he went to California with Clint Johnson and spent two weeks with Johnson’s brother before returning to Lawrence.

That loss still pains Von Moore all these years later.

“Especially after we were killing them, it was disaster,” Von Moore told me in a 2000 interview. “All those seniors. ... We lost to UCLA and had to go home.”

Von Moore was angry at Valentine and Owens. He implied D.V. was a very selfish player.

“Darnell got something he didn’t deserve. He was one of the reasons we lost the UCLA game,” Von Moore said. “He tried to have a personal one-one-one contest with Hamilton (Roy, star UCLA point guard). Darnell had two or three charges trying to take the man. Ted let him do it. It changed whole momentum and led them back in. (He got in) foul trouble. (It was) stupid, so pissed off. We could have went somewhere with all the players we had.  

“They put the game in (Valentine’s) hands,” Donnie added. “Other than Darnell bringing the ball up the court, no shot. Had no jumper, no real overall game. He was just Darnell Valentine who had the ball all the time.”

While Von Moore’s college career came to a bitter end, Valentine’s magical career was just getting started. He had an outstanding season and established himself as one of the best freshmen in the country with the likes of Michigan State’s Magic Johnson and Duke’s Gene Banks. 

The star point guard was named first-team All-Big Eight (along with Koenigs) and set a school record for steals (80), free throws made (106) and assists (130) in a season. His 13.5 points per game was also the highest of any freshman in KU history.

While Von Moore was extremely critical of Valentine, Koenigs loved playing with him.

”I think he was one of the final steps that helped us set it over,” Koenigs said. “His addition to that team was big. It was kind of a key issue and a key component. He blended in pretty well. Obviously, Darnell brought a lot to the table and helped finish off the picture and make a great contribution.”

Former KU All-American Darnell Valentine had a legendary high school career at Wichita Heights

In two previous blog posts, I wrote about Darnell Valentine’s Allen Fieldhouse jersey retirement ceremony and his NBA career. Now, I revisit Valentine with this in-depth and multi-part series on his high school, college and NBA career.

...

Darnell Valentine first became a magical name at Wichita Heights, where he was one of the first Kansas high school players to be recruited nationally. He was invited to the prestigious Howard Garfinkel Five-Star camp the summer after his junior year in Wheeling, Virginia, where he exploded on the national scene.

In an AP story on Feb. 14, 1977, the reporter wrote that “Garfinkel was so impressed that he calls Valentine the greatest guard in the history of the camp, which graduated such guards as Phil Sellers of Rutgers and Butch Lee of Marquette.”

The ultimate praise, indeed, for this Wichita native.

Valentine continued to excel at Heights, averaging 26.0 points per game as a senior leading his team to the state championship (23-0 record) in what is considered the greatest Kansas team in prep history. Along with Valentine, who played nine years in the NBA, that squad included Antoine Carr, who played 16 years in the NBA, Doc Holden, who played at Cincinnati, and Calvin Alexander, who became a great heavyweight boxer.

Heights, who was coached by future KU assistant Lafayette Norwood, blew out opponents by an average of 40 points per game. That was the margin of victory in the state title game against Wyandotte, where Heights opened with a 25-0 lead and won 92-52.

In that AP story, the headline wrote: “Valentine continues to wow ‘em in Wichita.” 

The lead paragraph: “Darnell Valentine is his name, basketball his game. And college coaches who seen the affinity of the two consider him to be the finest high school player to come out of Kansas in more than a decade.”

The story wrote that his “aggressive style and jumping ability make an inside threat beyond his size.

“Nearest thing to a can’t miss prospect from Kansas since UCLA plucked Lucious Allen out of Kansas City Wyandotte 12 years ago.”

KU coach Ted Owens, who was in hot pursuit over this phenom, gushed over hs play.

”They used to ask me the same things about JoJo White (former KU All-American and Naismith Hall of Famer) and I gave them the same answer. His great strength is he has no weakness. He has all the physical tools to be a complete player,” Owens said.

Owens continued:

“I don’t think scoring will be Darnell’s strength in college. I think he’ll be a Phil Ford (North Carolina star point guard) type of player. He plays great defense and he finds the open man. He’ll be a great player wherever he goes to college.”

Valentine, who was named to the first McDonald’s All-American team in 1977, talked about his recruitment.

“Coach (Norwood) doesn’t want them to pressure me or my mother much, so they all talk to him first and then if I want, I talk to them,” Valentine said.

Valentine insisted he wants to “go to a place where freshman can start and play a strong schedule.”

“The main thing is that I don’t want to go somewhere where I’ll lose,” he said. “I won’t go anywhere that I’m going to lose.”

He certainly hardly ever lost at Heights. Valentine loved his time there and cherished playing with his beloved teammates and friends.

"These guys are my history," he told KWCH in 2016. "They're the guys who have gone through the times that I know they have always supported me and we have a kinship and truly, when I'm happy, they're happy for me. And when they're happy, I'm truly happy for them."

Former longtime writer and columnist Bob Lutz with the Wichita Eagle, has seen his share of Wichita City League greats since the early 1960s. He raved over Valentine’s extraordinary skills.

“I wanted the world to witness Darnell Valentine playing basketball. So in my early years at The Eagle, I told all of my friends about what a marvel he was,” Lutz wrote in 2017.

“My father, who introduced me to City League basketball in the 1960s by taking me to tripleheaders at the Roundhouse, was an easy target. I remember him being with me when Heights, Valentine’s team, played at Winfield during Valentine’s junior season. Also in the stands that night was then-North Carolina assistant coach Eddie Fogler, whom I had come to know a little bit because of his determined recruitment of Valentine, who ultimately ended up at Kansas.

“Valentine was 6-foot-1 of pure muscle. He could run and jump like no athlete I had ever written about. He was so strong, so athletic, and he took over games defensively, at the point, with sheer intimidation.”

In 2012, Lutz ranked Valentine the No. 2 City League player he had ever seen behind fellow KU teammate Ricky Ross, who was also a McDonald’s All-American two years after Valentine.

“It’s tough to rank Valentine, who could take over a game as a point guard, second in anything. Watching him intimidate his opponents was one of the most enjoyable parts of my job during my early years at The Eagle, “ Lutz wrote. “Anybody who played against Valentine in those days knew they were in for one of the longest 32 minutes of basketball in their lives. He was so physical and so strong with thighs the size of tree trunks. And while nobody wanted to give Valentine much credit as a shooter, he was much better than average. I still get chills thinking of him locking down a poor, unsuspecting opponent.”

After his legendary and memorable career ended at Heights in 1977, Valentine was chosen to the  McDonald’s All-American team. They didn’t play the official game that year, but instead competed in the Capital Classic in Washington, D.C., versus the Capital Classic All-Stars. The U.S. All-Stars won 112-92. According to the Capital Classic website, the “1977 US All-Star team is deemed the most powerful visiting squad ever assembled for the Capital Classic. In all, nine of twelve US players went on to play for NBA teams. The US All-Star cast included Earvin “Magic” Johnson (Los Angeles Lakers), Gene Banks (Chicago Bulls), Darnell Valentine (Cleveland Cavaliers), Albert King (Washington Bullets) and Jeff Ruland (Detroit Pistons). The team boasted quickness, speed, power, and finally out ran their local counterparts 112-92.” 

“We made them struggle for three and a half quarters, then they just ran away,” offered Capital All-Star Coach Red Jenkins of W.T. Woodson High School. “I didn’t think they would be that much tougher than us on the boards, it wasn’t a matter of hustle, it was a matter of size.”

Banks led the U.S. team with 22 points, followed by Valentine, Ruland and Ray Tolbert with 12 points each. Valentine shot 5-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, while Magic scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

Valentine and Magic would go on to have some hotly contested rivalries in college and the NBA.