Former KU coach Dick Harp revered by his players

KU head coach Dick Harp had just made history in 1957, even if his beloved Jayhawks fell one point short of North Carolina in the NCAA title game, 54-53, in a thrilling three overtimes. Harp was the first coach to ever reach the NCAA finals in his first year as head coach and the fourth first-year coach to earn a berth in the Final Four since the event started in 1939.

In the aftermath of the game, the Lawrence Journal World’s sports editor Earl Morey reported that one North Carolina reporter, basking in the glow of the Tar Heels winning it all, said that Harp will never earn recognition and fame because he isn’t the “flamboyant” and show-off type like UNC’s head coach Frank McGuire and Oklahoma City head man Abe Lemons.

A Chicago reporter countered that argument. He said that Harp had already “earned his place among the best” with his outstanding coaching acumen. He also spoke to Harp’s players, and they all admired him greatly.   

“The boys called him as fine a gentleman as they’d ever seen, a man they’d like to be someday,” the scribe said. “They say he’s a first-class person on or off the court and they respect as much as anyone they’ve ever known. I never saw kids who have so much faith and respect in a guy. They’re almost reverant when they talk about him. It’s amazing for a guy that young (39 this Thursday) to be so respected by a team. And other coaches are the same way toward him. He’s a head coach one year and already coaches are saying he’s earned his place among the best. You got to admit he did a terrific job while on a tremendous hot spot this year. So he loses to Carolina by a point. Kansas is as good as they are. Anybody can see that.”

A representative from America Illustrated, the U.S. magazine printed in Russian for publication in the Soviet Union, echoed those remarks when speaking to the criticism of the North Carolina writer.

“Harp made his name this season by doing a great job,” the America Illustrated reporter said. “Wilt Chamberlain is just a sophomore, but just look at how he’s improved under Harp. Guys who saw him the first of the season say there’s no comparison to what he is now, and that’s coaching, brother. Harp doesn’t have to worry about reputation or fame coming his way when he can do a job like he’s done this year. Phil Woolpert of San Fransisco isn’t a popoff guy, either, but he’s done a great job. Maybe recognition or fame will come a little slower since he didn’t play it sensationally, but it’ll come nonetheless. I’d a lot like rather get it that way than the other way.”

Harp actually never sought recognition or fame in life or coaching career; one of his big goals in coaching was to mold his players into fine men with the highest character who would graduate and succeed in their future endeavors. He obviously wanted to win, but had a higher calling and purpose. He developed not only their athletic skills, but also nurtured and mentored them mentally and spiritually. Harp’s values, morals and integrity were peerless in the coaching profession, and above all, with mankind.

Don Pierce, KU sports publicity director at the time, wrote a profile on Harp in the January 1958 issue of Sports Review. Pierce and Harp were close friends, although Harp’s assistant Jerry Waugh (1956-60), said they had an “unusual relationship.” Pierce wrote that “Harp demands three things from his players…1) A belief that the University of Kansas is the finest place on earth; 2) Confidence in and respect of his teammates; 3) The desire to want to play the game and the desire to become as good as his potential will permit.

“A boy much have all three things to be successful,” Harp says.

“…As for Harp, the man, even a stranger cannot help but be impressed with his honesty, sincerity and deep concern for each of his players," Pierce continues. "It is the last item which impresses most. Now and then, he will say…’Maybe we can’t make a real good basketball player out of that boy, but I think we can help him to be a better man.’

“He is so concerned about every facet of even the lowliest substitue’s well-being that a friend once told him, as he fretted over a detail…’Coach, why don’t you leave something for the parents, the Chancellor and the federal government to worry about.’”

Bob Billings, a sophomore on the 1956-57 team, spoke about Harp’s greatness as a man to Steve Bucker and Lyle Niedens in their 2002 book, Portraits of Excellence:: A Heritage of Athletic Achievement at the University of Kansas.

“Dick was very intense,” Billings said. “But he cared an awful lot about his players. He was extremely interested in what they did off the court as well as they they did on the court. Dick really was like a father to me. I have great respect for him.”

So did Monte Johnson, also a sophomore on the 1957 national runner-up KU team. Johnson later became KU athletic director in the 1980s.

“Harp’s character outshone that of most in the profession,” Johnson told Buckner and Niedens. “He was a quality person. In some ways, it wasn’t surprising that he left coaching to go into the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) because he might have been one of the better people who ever coached.”

Ted Owens fired after 19 years as KU head basketball coach

Ted Owens restored the glory to the rich Kansas basketball tradition in his first seven years from 1964-71, leading the Jayhawks to three Big Eight titles, one Final Four, and five Big 8 Holiday Tournament Championships.

Owens’ 1965-66 team and 1970-71 squad were two of the finest in KU basketball history; his ‘71 team was the first team in Big Eight history to go 14-0 en route to Owens’ first Final Four.

In seven years, Owens posted a stellar 149-43 record (.776). He had gained national respect among his peers and the future seemed very bright at Mount Oread.

But during the 1970s, his teams struggled with consistency. He and his staff were very inconsistent recruiters, as Owens found himself on the hot seat after repeated two straight down seasons, followed by a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

After the 1971 team reached the Final Four with a 27-3 record, his next two teams went just 11-15 and a dismal 8-18 (worst record in KU history). So Owens found himself on the hot seat, only to be rescued by a dramatic turnaround in 1973-74, when KU went 13-1 in Big Eight play, won the league championship, and advanced to the Final Four. Kansas won the Big 8 again the following year, yet lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Suddenly, it looked like Owens had turned the corner. But he didn’t. After losing four of his top five scorers, KU faltered to just 13-13 in 1975-76 with two sophomores and one freshman in the starting lineup. The 1976-77 team improved to 18-10, but KU just finished fourth in the Big Eight at 8-6.

Max Falkenstien wrote about Owens being under pressure in his 1996 book, Max and the Jayhawks:

“Kansas had demonstrated progress, but the memories of KU’s 13-13 record two years earlier still lingered. Fans were growing restless for another conference championship, and there was a faction of KU supporters who thought it was time for a coaching change. They made their feelings known to (athletic director) Clyde Walker.

“With his job on the line, Ted shook up his staff.”

Owens’ loyal and great longtime top assistant Sam Miranda resigned under heat.

“Ted was a super nice guy. But Ted listened to everyone,” Miranda said in Falkenstien’s book. “He would listen to all the alums who would raise hell. Clyde Walker was the athletic director at the time, and he wanted Ted out of the job. He had tried to get him earlier, but as long as Odd Williams was on the athletic board, Clyde would never be able to fire him. After the 13-13 season, Clyde wanted him gone. He couldn’t get rid of Ted. Well, the next guy down the line was me. When I coached at KU, I recruited my rear end off and coached hard. I didn’t glad-hand the alums or rub noses with them. If I had been more of a diplomat, I might still be here today. But I wasn’t. It was either I was going to resign, or be fired. So I resigned. It was strictly the alums that put the heat on Clyde, and Clyde put the heat on Ted.”

Owens replaced Miranda with new assistant coach Lafayette Norwood in a package deal to land Wichita Heights phenom Darnell Valentine, who Norwood coached in high school. Owens saved his job by going 13-1 and winning the Big Eight title, yet lost to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. KU was ranked as high as No. 5 nationally that season.

Owens then had two down years again, going 18-11 and just 15-14 in 1979-80, before climbing out of despair and advancing to the Sweet 16 in 1980-81 (24-8). That team was led by Valentine and super junior Tony Guy.

Little did Owens know that his long coaching career, where he had withstood so much heat, was soon coming to an end.

Forced to rebuild and rely too much on Guy and David Magley, Owens went just 13-14 in 1981-82 (4-10 for 7th place in the Big Eight). He followed that year with another losing season in 1982-83 (13-16 and again 4-10 and tied for 7th place in the Big 8). 

On Feb. 18, 1983, The Oklahoman’s Jim Lassiter wrote about Owens’ future with the headline: ”KU’s Owens Has Survived Some Storm-Filled Years.”

“One Jayhawker has observed that Owens may be the only coach in America who has never had next year to count on. Every December through March you can hear rumblings from the Sunflower State that Owens is history. His teams have either not won enough games, not won enough big games or not been exciting enough.

“Rumors flew through Kansas like sunflower seeds in January when Kansas lost to Oral Roberts University a few days after the Titans had fired their coach in a midnight, mid-season sacking. The gossipers said that if the Hawks didn't turn around and beat Evansville, Owens would join ORU's Ken Hayes in the unemployment lines.

“The Jayhawks saved Owens that test of fire, but the rumors persist. A Denver newspaper reported last Sunday that the Kansas coach will not be around next year. The unattributed report said there is ‘racial tension’ on the squad and a ‘rift on the coaching staff.’ Reportedly, sales in Kansas of that issue of the Denver paper shot out of sight.”

Asked about the report, Owens just smiled. After all, through his 19 years at Kansas, the Kansas coach was known as “Smiling Ted.”

Lassiter soon continued:

“The Kansas coach has always felt he could count on his athletic department administration for backing. But if there's any reason to believe that Owens may truly be in trouble this time, it's because that home support has eroded. Last fall Kansas named Monte Johnson as its new athletic director. Johnson comes from Wichita. That area of Kansas has never been an Owens stronghold, as indeed, it had never been one of Don Fambrough's bases of support. To now, Johnson's most noteworthy action was to fire Fambrough, who had been at KU for 31 years.

“Without Johnson's backing, Owens has only his record and the promise of the future to plead his case. This Kansas team may be one of the youngest of all time. The Jayhawks' starting lineup includes three freshmen and two juniors and turnovers and poor shooting have made this team a chore to watch.

“It's a chore many Kansans are avoiding in record numbers. The irony of Ted Owens' most troubled season ever is that he is finally enjoying a pleasant personal life again. Three years ago he went through a messy divorce, but since then has remarried and at age 52 has started a new family. He and his wife have two babies under the age of two. One Jayhawk says he has never seen Owens happier, or seen him work any harder. The KU coach is confident this young Kansas team will get better and maybe measurably so when 6-11 Greg Dreiling joins it next season. Dreiling started his career at Wichita State, but transferred this season. In practice he has seemed to be Kansas' answer for a big man in the middle.

“After all these years, Ted Owens can't imagine Kansas not giving him the chance to develop Greg Dreiling and this team,” Lassiter added. “And reluctantly, the university will probably give him just one more season as its been doing for the last 19 years.”

Three weeks after that article was published, Owens’ Jayhawks had their game of the year when lowly KU upset heavily favored No. 19 Oklahoma, 87-77, in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament at Norman on March 8, 1983. 

Freshman guard Calvin Thompson caught fire, scoring a career-high 30 points. a KU also held OU superstar and All-American forward Wayman Tisdale to just 13 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Owens walked out of his alma mater victorious and feeling grand.

“It was a great victory, and the players carried me off the court,” Owens told Jeff Bollig and Doug Vance in their 2008 book, What It Means To Be A Jayhawk.

“As they carried me up that ramp to the dressing room, I looked up in the crowd, and there was my coach at Oklahoma, Bruce Drake, and his wonderful wife, Myrtle, smiling and waving at me. That made it an even more incredible night.”

Thompson said that was one of the most favorite memories of his KU career.

“I couldn’t miss in warm-up, and so I just knew I was going to have a good one,” he told me during a 90-minute interview at his home in 1999.

Jeff Dishman, a member of that team, also described that magical night to me in a 2003 interview.

“We kept running a play for Calvin to get open,” Dishman said. “We kept running the same play over and over again, and they never could get it stopped. And, of course, our whole deal on the other end was stopping Wayman Tisdale. I think we held him to his lowest season total. He went for 50 a couple of times that year. I remember it being a total team effort, and Calvin stepped up and hit some big shots. Carl Henry (19 points) had a pretty good game. We pretty much knew if we could close down on Wayman a little bit, we’d have a shot. Nobody expected us to do that, I didn't think, have a shot against them at that point in our season. It was a good memory.

“Calvin really played well,” Dishman added. “We had a specific play to get Carl the ball. He was our first option and Calvin was the second. They kept covering Carl, and hitting Calvin on the second option. He shot a  lot of 15-17 foot jumpers at the top of the key. He kept doing it over and over again. They never did figure it out.”

KU, though, stumbled the next night against Oklahoma State, which featured a point guard named Bill Self (3 points), losing 90-83. Kelly Knight led KU with 26 points and 14 rebounds.

The long season, was at last, over.

There was hope for the future, though, with three talented freshmen in Thompson, Kerry Boagni and Ron Kellogg, and former McDonald’s All-American Dreiling, a 7-foot center with huge potential, was redshirting after transferring from Wichita State.

Owens and lead recruiter, assistant coach Jo Jo White, had also secured a verbal commitment from Curtis Aiken, a great shooter and one of the top high school guards in the country.

The past two years were more seasons of turmoil and losing, and new athletic director Monte Johnson, who had just been on the job for four months and already had fired the loyal Jayhawk football coach Fambrough, had a big decision to make regarding Owens, the second-longest tenured KU basketball coach in history behind Phog Allen of 19 years.

Owens recalled what transpired in his 2013 book, At The Hang-Up.

“Feeling that we were positioned to be a dominate force in the following season, I hoped that the new athletic director, Monte Johnson, would honor the remaining year on my contract and allow me to coach the team,” Owens wrote.

Before Johnson went on vacation with his son to Florida for a week, he called Owens into his office and “wanted me to prepare an evaluation of my program compared to the history of Kansas basketball. ... It was the longest week of my life. ... In my time as head coach at Kansas, we had won 15 Big Eight titles (a combination of regular-season and tournament titles) and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1971 and 1974. Fitting Dr. Allen’s criteria for a successful team, the players’ graduation rate was high and they had gone on to successful careers.

“Monte must have known that if he was going to make a change, the timing was ideal, since we were coming off of two seasons that were below the Kansas standards in terms of wins and losses. It was a perfect time to give a new coach the reins to a talented team and allow him to become immediately successful. And that was the decision Monte made.”

So, after 19 years, winning six Big Eight Conference championships, eight Big 8 Holiday Tournament titles, one Big Eight Tournament championship, advancing to the NCAA Tournament seven times, earning Big Eight Coach of the Year five times and named National Coach of the Year in 1978 by Basketball Weekly, Owens was fired.

The embattled KU coach had simply run out of lives. He left KU as the second winningest coach in school history behind the legendary Allen with a record of 348-182 (.657).

Owens was candidly bitter by his firing at the time. But as the years passed, he’s now at peace with himself.

But not then.

“I was absolutely devastated,” he wrote in his book. “I had hoped Chancellor Gene Budig would block the move, but he had been at the university for only the last two years, when our teams weren’t as strong as in previous years. Years later, at the 2009 memorial service for longtime KU athletic director Bob Frederick, Gene told me that if he had taken the time to look at my overall record, he wouldn’t have allowed me to be removed as head coach. Even if it was far too late to change matters, I respected Gene and felt good about what he had said.

“...I fault no one, and I take full responsibility for the decline of the program during the two years that followed our NCAA regional participation in 1981. In the spring of 1983, I had felt that we were positioned to restore the program to its rightful place as a conference power and national-title contender, had they decided to honor the last year of my contract. But we can only speculate about what might have been, and those who have followed me--Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self--have certainly done great things at the helm of Jayhawk basketball.”

Owens would deeply miss coaching at Kansas, where he formed lifelong relationships and friendships with his players and staff.

“So after 23 years, I was no longer a part of Kansas basketball. Those years were a wonderful time in my life. I loved every minute of it, from the joy of successes to the pain of disappointments. I dearly loved the University of Kansas, and I continue to do so today.”

Owens then wrote sentimentally and emotionally:

“I did something some say a coach shouldn’t do. They’ll say that a coach shouldn’t fall in love with the fans and the players. But I did. I loved the University of Kansas. I loved my players. My biggest fault was that I didn’t want to disappoint people. When we lost a game or experienced failure, I was really hard on myself. I never blamed anyone else.”

At the postseason banquet that year after he was fired, Owens spoke from the heart while also able to deal with his pain by cracking a joke about he and his wife being late that evening.

“We went down to pick up our unemployment checks and the line was a little longer than we expected,” Owens said.

“I won’t say there’s no anger and bitterness — honestly it come and goes, but there is so much to be grateful for,” Owens added. “I have four wonderful children and a wife who supports me. That’s what really matters. Only history will determine what kind of job we did here, but know this ... no one loves this place more than I do.”

The former KU coach had a message at the banquet for the returning Jayhawks.

“I hope you’ll have a great team,” he said. “I hope you’re almost as good as you could have been if we had been there with you.”

KU went 22-10 in 1983-84 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with new coach Larry Brown, who Johnson lured from his previous job as New Jersey Nets head coach.

Owens' former players would miss him being a part of KU basketball. They were quite fond of him, including guard Lance Hill, who played at KU from 1981-83.

“He opened the door for a lot of players here,” Hill told the Lawrence Journal-World. “I won’t forget what Tony Guy said at last year’s banquet. ‘He was a father to me.’”

Finally, Owens looked like a prophet when he said these words at the banquet:

“This team has laid the foundation for greatness in Kansas basketball.”

Indeed, it did.

Al Donaghue was a star high school player and key member of Jayhawks' teams

Al Donaghue was a superstar player at powerhouse Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, leading his team to two state championships while a two-time Kansas player of the year. Heavily recruited, Donaghue narrowed his choices to K-State and KU. While he admits to being a big KSU fan growing up, this all changed when KU’s Phog Allen and Dick Harp made an in-home recruiting visit. Allen, who had just retired (Harp was now head coach), made a huge impression on Al’s parents. 

After Allen’s amazing recruiting pitch, Al’s mother asked her son: “‘You are going to Kansas, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ That’s where she wanted me to go, and that’s what I wanted to do after meeting Phog Allen and Dick Harp.”

Al,  nicknamed “Sam” by Harp, never looked back. He played a key role on Jayhawk teams loaded with talent, including Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Bridges and Wayne Hightower. He improved his scoring average from 5.0 points per game his sophomore year to 10.6 ppg as a junior before a career-high 10.9 points per game his senior season. Al, who was part of KU’s co-Big Eight championship team in 1959-60, finished his standout career with averages of 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He scored 566 points in 65 games.

A very versatile player, Donaghue could score, rebound, defend and pass, the consummate team player ever squad needs.

The 6-5 forward loved playing for Harp and credits him for his great improvement.

“Dick was a fine man,” Al told me in the early 2000s during a Where Are They Now? interview for Jayhawk Insider. “He probably was a better human being than he was a coach. When you say that, that’s not to diminish his coaching ability. He was an excellent coach, but was just a very saltable, God fearing, very moral gentleman. Great guy to play for. I enjoyed playing for him. He probably did a lot for me in terms of helping me grow and develop, and was instrumental in my development.”

Al was a loyal Jayhawk throughout his life, attending all KU basketball games after moving back to Kansas City in 1980 and served with coach Roy Williams on the Jayhawks’ mentoring program.

His death in 2007 shook his family and Jayhawk Nation hard. The Lawrence Journal-World’s Bill Mayer paid tribute to Al in his July 20, 2007 column.

“The recent death of Al Donaghue, a Kansas University basketball player of note in 1958-60, left a sense of loss and grief in many a life, particularly those in his family,” Mayer wrote. “He had a tough battle with lymphoma, and I can only hope he's comfortable and enjoying himself again. Al, nicknamed ‘Sam’ while playing under Dick Harp, brought a lot to the table in many venues. One of his best contributions was the loyalty and love he displayed as a KU product, especially as a basketball alum. I'm sad that his passing will take away a little more of the warmth that the KU sports program seems to be losing in today's dash for dollars.

“Al and his wife, the former Mary Susan Eggleston, were constant attendees at Jayhawk basketball games, and they and a number of friends helped create one of those pods of camaraderie and delight that were so typical of KU fandom over the years. People who had adjoining seats for the game got to know each other, relished those associations and focused their pride on Jayhawk achievements.”

“... Al, a one-time Wilt Chamberlain teammate, and his clan stuck with KU and each other through thick and thin for years, and his loss creates just one more gap in the Crimson and Blue fabric of devotion and affection.”

I, too, was very sad to hear about his death, but comforted knowing our paths crossed that evening in the early 2000s during our phone conversation, where Al was so full of life, his robust voice reveling in talking about his favorite KU memories, his devotion to KU, and his great experience playing at Wyandotte with best friend Monte Johnson, also a fellow Jayhawk teammate and former Kansas athletic director.

It was truly a very enjoyable and memorable interview!

...

“I went to Wyandotte High School. Monte Johnson was one of my closest friends. Monte was best man at my wedding. Monte and I go back to Wyandotte, when he was playing there and have been friends since, oh Lord, 1953, I guess, and have maintained that friendship over the years. I first started playing organized basketball in junior high school in Kansas City, Kansas. So that was about the seventh or eight grade, I guess, other than playing in the playground. In the old days, you played everything out in the playground. You played baseball in the summer and you played football in the fall and basketball in the winter. That’s how kids grew up. Kansas City, Kansas, Wyandotte High School had a great program back in those days. It was started by Walt Shublom, who was the head coach at Wyandotte. He was there from 1960; in the 18 years he was there, he either won or finished second in the state every year. He won like 14 championships out of 18 years. We had a very good team, but it was a program in Kansas City, Kansas, that was pretty much developed. All the junior high schools ran the same kind of program that fed into Wyandotte. In junior high school, I was running the offense that Wyandotte High school was using. We were very successful. We won the state tournament two of my three years in high school, and lost it my senior year. We lost one game, and that was in the finals of the state tournament. We had a very good program-- it was a good school, some great players had come out of Wyandotte to play in colleges and the pros, some to KU. Some went to other schools. Wyandotte developed some nice players over the years from Kansas. Nolen Ellison, he was a sophomore my senior year. He was an outstanding, outstanding player. 

"Harry Gibson, who lives now there in Lawrence, played at Wyandotte. A guy named Pierre Russell played at Wyandotte. Cal Thompson, later. There were some great players that came out of Wyandotte and went to the University of Kansas. I was very highly recruited. I was voted for two straight years the player of the year in the state of Kansas. I could have gone a lot of places. Dick Harp, of course, did lot of recruiting. Phog Allen was forced to retire when he turned 70. My senior year of high school was his last year in coaching. I was kind of torn between KU and K-State, quite frankly. One of the in-home visits, Dick brought coach Allen to our house; he impressed my mother and father dramatically to the point that when they left, my mom said: ‘You are going to Kansas, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ That’s where she wanted me to go, and that’s what I wanted to do after meeting Phog Allen and Dick Harp. With Chamberlain there, it was a nice chance for all intents and purposes to play for a national championship each year.

“Tex Winter, who was the coach at K-State in those days; he was a great recruiter. They had an excellent program at K-State. I was pretty much torn between KU and K-State. I grew up as a K-State fan because they had some great players. As I got to know more and more people (from KU), there was a gentleman with the name like Roy Edwards in Kansas City, who the Edwards campus at the junior college is named after. Roy was a very strong alum. He and I got to be very good friends. You start to change your allegiance as you meet more and more fine people from the University. I had a chance to meet Paul Endacott, who was president of Phillips. It was nice to finally make a decision. I made the right decision. After I met Dr. Allen in our home and my mom and dad met him, it was kind of a foregone conclusion that’s where we were going. It was a toss-up, they were both good schools, I know they both had good programs, I had to pick out the school I wanted to go to.

“As I said, I think KU was the best choice for me at that time, and I’m glad I went. I didn’t have an overwhelming desire when I was a kid growing up to go to KU because I really liked K-State when I was a young  man. You got to realize, K-State had a great basketball program back in those days. They were very, very strong. If you go back and look at some of the old archives, KU and K-State pretty much dominated the Big 7 in those days. KU would win it a year, and K-State would win it the next year. They were great schools, great competition and a great rivalry that went on. ... (Growing up), I was short; I was very small. I was the shortest guy on our junior high school team, so I played guard. I didn’t get a growth spurt until I was probably a  sophomore in high school. I went from about 6-0 to 6-5 in basically a year and a half. With it came the clumsiness. I think the chance to play guard as a young man helped overcome some of those difficulties. I could go out and pretty much do everything a guard could do, which helped in those days to be 6-5 and to do that. Six-five was big in those days, now it’s small. I started as a sophomore in high school, which was kind of unusual. That’s when I really became good. We won the state tournament my sophomore year. We had good seniors.  We won it my my junior year with Monte, and then my senior year, we were undefeated until the finals. I guess my sophomore year is when I really started to develop myself as a player.” 

Here is my Where Are They Now? story on Al Donaghue.

...

Al Donaghue scored. He passed. He defended. Donaghue, quite simply, did it all for Wyandotte High School in Kansas City. He led Wyandotte to two state championships, while culminating his scintillating high school career in 1956 as a two-time Kansas player of the year.  

Recruited nationally by big-time colleges, Donaghue was “pretty much torn between KU and K-State.” He actually grew up cheering more for the purple Wildcats than the crimson and blue Jayhawks. This all changed, though, when KU made an in-home recruiting visit his senior year with former head coach Phog Allen (he had just retired due to mandatory age requirement) and current head man Dick Harp.

“He (Allen) impressed my mother and father dramatically,” Donaghue said, “to the point that when they left, my mom said, ‘You are going to Kansas, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ That’s where she wanted me to go, and that’s what I wanted to do after meeting Phog Allen and Dick Harp.”

Donaghue had another important reason for choosing Kansas. It seemed there was a pretty talented freshman 7-footer already making a name for himself at Mount Oread.

“With (Wilt) Chamberlain there, it was a chance for all intents and purposes to play for a national championship each year.”

So yes, after becoming eligible his sophomore year, Donaghue got the prized opportunity to play with Chamberlain in 1957-58. It was the season after KU lost the national championship to North Carolina in triple overtime, and expectations were sky high with Chamberlain and fellow junior Ron Loneski returning. However, Chamberlain became injured and missed a couple of key games, as Kansas (18-5) finished second in the conference to K-State. 

“It was a disappointment not going to the tournament,” Donaghue said.

But Donaghue (6-5 forward), who was a part-time starter, still relished his time on the court with the “Big Dipper.” The two actually roomed together during road trips and maintained a friendship over the years.

“He was a unique player, probably the greatest athlete I had ever been around and probably the greatest basketball player in college that ever lived,” Donaghue said. “The rules of the game were changed to accommodate him, the dunking rules, things like that. He was an awesome athlete, the strongest man I ever met.”

Chamberlain (30.1 ppg), of course, was a dominant force in the paint.

“Knowing that you got the best player in the college game with you, you passed to him a lot,” Donaghue said. “There’s no doubt about that. You didn’t work offensively for your own shots as much as you were looking for him to pass to. That was smart. I think all of our players realized they had to do that. Our coach (Harp), he was a smart man in the fact that he came to all the players and said, ‘We’ve got two rules. We have a rule for the team, and we have a rule for Chamberlain. You need to understand that.’ He actually said, ‘You guys can vote on it.’ We all voted that Chamberlain could kind of, if he wanted to miss a practice, could miss a practice. He didn’t very often, but he could if he wanted to.”

A rugged rebounder and defensive stopper, Donaghue (5.0 ppg) was an invaluable supporting player to Chamberlain, and in ensuing years to stars Bill Bridges and Wayne Hightower. Donaghue loved playing defense.

“I wasn’t real fast, but I was smart and I worked hard at it,” he said. “I wasn’t a great player. I was just a good contributor. I rebounded fairly well and passed fairly well. I was a good team person.”

When Chamberlain left KU after his junior season to join the Harlem Globetrotters, there was a huge void in the middle. With Bridges the tallest player at 6-6, Kansas struggled and went 11-14. Donaghue, though, improved his scoring average to 10.6 ppg and pulled down 5.0 rebounds a game as well.

“As you get older and become used to the system, sure you get better,” he said. “My senior year (10.9 ppg), the same thing. You mature, your body matures, and you’re a better player.”

As the 6-8 Hightower joined the 1959-60 Jayhawks (19-9), an inspired Kansas team received some much-needed height and won a share of the conference title. The Jayhawks won their last 10 of 11 games before falling to No. 1 Cincinnati in the Midwest Regional finals. Unfortunately, Kansas didn’t have the services of Donaghue, who became academically ineligible after semester break.

“In those days, we didn’t have an academic program that they have now where you knew where you stood all the time,” Donaghue said. “You just didn’t know. It was very sad. In fact, Dick Harp used to say if the unfortunate things hadn’t happened to me, we might have won the whole thing.”

Despite not winning a national championship, it was indeed a memorable career for Donaghue. In addition to the games, he loved competing against the likes of Bridges and Chamberlain in practice.

“Bridges was probably the most intense rebounder I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Donaghue said. “He was just an animal. I use that as a lovable form. He was just great on the court as an intense rebounder. Chamberlain was just big and very powerful. If Wilt wanted the ball, he just went up and got it. He had a tremendous height advantage over we little people. It was a real treat to battle against them in practice. They made you better.”

After graduating from KU in 1960, Donaghue, 65, spent a year and a half in the Air Force before working for two years in sales with Phillips Petroleum Co. The former Jayhawk then joined Johnson and Johnson in 1964, a large pharmaceutical company on the East Coast. Donaghue lived all over the United States while working for Johnson and Johnson, and finished there in 1979 as director of field sales in New Brunswick, NJ. He then accepted a job with Russell Stover candies in Kansas City, and retired as vice president of sales and marketing in 1996.

Donaghue said he was fortunate for the opportunity to return home to Kansas City in 1980.

"It gave me a chance to reactivate myself with the university (Donaghue spent time serving with KU basketball coach Roy Williams on the Jayhawks’ mentoring program) and our kids had a chance to grow up in Kansas City and become reacquainted with their grandparents, which was important to us,” he said.

In all, it was more than 30 great years in the business world for Donaghue. He credits Harp, in large part, for his success and the lessons he gained playing basketball for Kansas.

“I think a lot of that can be related back to some of the things I learned as an athlete,” Donaghue said. “Some of the work ethic I learned being an athlete, the goals you set for yourself, the things you do to achieve those goals. I think that was all very important. I maintain that the University of Kansas had a great deal to do with it in developing me as a person  It was a wonderful experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

Currently, Donaghue lives a rich and satisfying life in retirement. He spends his free time socializing with friends, golfing, walking and traveling. And when Donaghue reflects back to those KU wonder days of yesteryear, he remains forever grateful for the recruiting pitch Allen made in his home nearly 50 years ago. 

For this one-time K-State booster, there is now no question where his allegiance lies.

“I’m a loyal Jayhawk,” Donaghue said. “I bleed blue.”

A Closer Look at Al Donaghue

Years at KU: 1956-60

Career Notables: Member of Big Eight conference co-champions in 1959-60 and Big Seven Holiday Tournament champs in 1957-58...Averaged a career-best 10.9 ppg in 1960...Career-high 27 points versus Colorado on Jan. 31, 1959.

Family: Wife, Susan, and two children — Amy, 36, and Paul, 33.  Donaghue also has two grandkids.

Education: 1960. B.S. Education

Since Leaving KU: Donaghue spent a year and a half in the Air Force before going to work in sales for Phillips Petroleum Co. in 1964. He spent the rest of his business career with Johnson and Johnson (pharmaceutical company) and Russell Stover candies. He retired from Russell Stover in 1996 as vice president of sales and marketing.

Currently: Donaghue is retired and lives in native Kansas City.

Hobbies: Golf, cooking, reading, walking, traveling.

Favorite Memories: “Off the court, obviously is the chance to get an education at the University of Kansas. The campus, the people I met, the friends I met and developed, it was awesome.”... Scoring a career-best 27 points at home versus Colorado in the first nationally televised game on Jan. 31, 1959. “Of course, all my relatives around the United States got a chance to see it. It wasn’t a good memory to lose, but it was a good memory to be on the first national televised basketball game.”... “I guess the thing I’m proudest of is the fact that in the three years I was there, we never lost to Missouri. That was always nice to say.”... Playing with Chamberlain. “He was a very quiet man. He broke a lot of the racial barriers in the Midwest in those days. There had been other black players before Wilt at KU, but he was the first true star. ... I could see that he faced a great deal of discrimination from the fans and media in those days, which was unfortunate. But that was the time we lived in. Thank God, times have changed now.”

On the Jayhawks today: “I’ve enjoyed them this year. I’m at every home game, so my wife and I still support the university very much. They’re fine young guys. They’re the kind of young guys you want representing your university. Roy runs the right kind of program.”