Game Changer New Book Illuminates Basketball Pioneer John Mclendon’S KU Beginnings
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No 3, 2015 I $5 Game Changer New book illuminates basketball pioneer John McLendon’s KU beginnings I SWARTHOUT SINGS I FERGUSON STALWART Contents | Issue 3, 2015 28 22 36 28 22 36 COVER STORY Ode to Joy The Road Ahead “That’s How You Do It” anks to a oor-to-ceiling Improving conditions in renovation that enhanced troubled Ferguson, Missouri, Hall-of-fame basketball coach Swarthout Concert Hall’s is the focus of city councilman John McLendon was a major sound quality and aesthetics, Dwayne James’ work—at city innovator on the court, and his KU’s 57-year-old music venue hall and beyond. journey began at KU, where he is once again in ne voice. learned the game from James By Heather Biele Naismith and Phog Allen By Chris Lazzarino while also breaking new ground outside the lines. By Scott Ellsworth Digital cover illustration by Susan Younger; photograph courtesy Milton Katz Established in 1902 as e Graduate Magazine Volume 113, No. 3, 2015 ISSUE 3, 2015 | 1 Lift the Chorus ’Nu said Massachusetts Street. I would get hungry about 11 p.m. and I from the KU go to Jim’s. ere I would order quarters of a million visitors a School of Business in 1957 two eggs over-easy, hash year, e Learning Studio is (which is 57 years ago) and I browns, toast and a cup of well-positioned to ensure KU look forward to every issue of coee. When I was nished students succeed academically. Kansas Alumni. Reading it late stoking my furnace, I would Librarians at KU play a vital last night, I was fascinated by pay Jim 53 cents for my late role in retention, and the the prole on Amanda breakfast. Most people who studio serves an important ompson [“Recovery from hear this story think that these cornerstone in this eort. brain injury brings career are the ravings of a lunatic, I appreciate the light Chris calling,” Class Notes, issue demented old man. Jim’s Diner Lazzarino has shed on No. 2]. was a part of my KU this topic. Her determination, positive experience. Rebecca Hurst Pruett, d’73 outlook, forthright spirit, Merle W. Jephson-King, e’59 Houston, Texas amazing attitude and decision Plainville Lively libraries to give of herself through Drumroll call speech pathology says it all! The bard of T for the thought- Harvey Bodker, b’57 ful and comprehensive cover A and Overland Park the Kaw? story on e Learning Studio blues drummer who played in Anschutz Library [“Turn the most every weekend in Kansas Thanks for the I Bill Bryson’s Page,” issue No. 2]. As incom- City during my time in book At Home (that is the ing chair of the KU Libraries Lawrence and at KU Medical memories name of the book, not where I Board of Advocates, I have Center, I immediately noticed was reading it) and saw on seen rsthand the approach a famous face in the photo of T page 381 that people in KU Libraries and its partners the Tommy Dorsey Band on one of the best alumni maga- Shakespeare’s day could wear have taken in creating this page 68 of the most recent zines ever. I have graduated velvet on doublets “so long as student-centered space. e Kansas Alumni [KU 150, issue from two other schools and the velvet wasn’t crimson or students’ enthusiasm and No. 2]. only one alumni magazine is blue—colors reserved for enjoyment in working and e drummer in the photo is comparable to KU’s. people of still higher status.” collaborating in such a the legendary Buddy Rich, one One of the rst things I read Some things never change. wonderful environment is very of my earliest heroes, still is “First Word.” e rest is Cal Karlin, c’74, l’77 evident when one visits this considered by many to be one gravy. e Class Notes section Lawrence well-planned and valuable of the best ever. is very important to me resource. David Zehring, c’63, m’67 because I can keep up with With more than three- La Veta, Colorado classmates who toot their own horns. I enjoy the lack of typo- graphical errors and consistent good grammar. Your photogra- phers produce award-winning slices of time. Altogether, you should be proud of your sta. ey turn out a ne magazine. I graduated from KU in Your 1959. If I remember correctly, opinion counts the tuition for 12 or more hours a semester in 1958 was Please email us a note $106.50. at [email protected] One of my favorite stories of to tell us what you think of your alumni magazine. Legendary drummer Buddy Rich played with the Tommy Dorsey Band in my KU days is about Jim’s Diner, on the east side of the Kansas Union in 1941. 2 | KANSAS ALUMNI Issue 3, 2015 Florida 15 February 2012 64 Publisher Kevin J. Corbett, c’88 Editor Jennifer Jackson Sanner, j’81 2 Lift the Chorus Creative Director Susan Younger, f’91 Letters from our readers Associate Editors Chris Lazzarino, j’86 Steven Hill 5 First Word Editorial Assistant Karen Goodell e editor’s turn Photographers Steve Puppe, j’98 Dan Storey 6 On the Boulevard Graphic Designer Valerie Spicher, j’94 KU & Alumni Association events Communications Coordinator Heather Biele 8 Jayhawk Walk Advertising Sales Representative Pianos on parade, a safer spring break, David Johnston, j’94, g’06 silver-plated dining and more Editorial and Advertising Oce KU Alumni Association 10 Hilltopics 1266 Oread Avenue News and notes: College debuts online degree; Lawrence, KS 66045-3169 785-864-4760 new CSA brings organic veggies to Mount Oread. 800-584-2957 www.kualumni.org 18 Sports [email protected] Streaking soball rides a familiar ace; rebuilding KANSAS ALUMNI MAGAZINE (ISSN 0745-3345) is published by the football stresses relentless special teams. KU Alumni Association six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November. $55 annual subscription includes member- ship in the Alumni Association. Oce of Publication: 1266 Oread 40 Association News Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3169. Periodicals postage paid at Reunions, Rock Chalk Ball channel alumni spirit. Lawrence, KS. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kansas Alumni Magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3169 © 2015 by Kansas Alumni 44 Class Notes Magazine. Non-member issue price: $7 Proles of a gridiron recruiter, a foster care champion and a winning dad Letters to the Editor: 60 In Memory Deaths in the KU family Kansas Alumni welcomes letters to the editor. Our address is Kansas Alumni magazine, 1266 Oread Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045-3169. Email responses may be sent to 64 Rock Chalk Review the Alumni Association, [email protected]. “Last Supper” paintings ponder death penalty; Letters appearing in the magazine may be edited for space mother-daughter team studies weather phobia. and clarity. For letters published, we’ll send a free gift of KU Campus Playing Cards, a $5 value. 68 KU 150 Scenes from the sesquicentennial ISSUE 3, 2015 | 3 by Jennifer Jackson Sanner First Word coaching legend in his own right as one of the innovators of the fast break, the rst black coach in U.S. professional sports and the coach of championship teams at all levels. Ultimately McLendon SUSAN YOUNGER SUSAN was inducted into the hall of fame that bears the name of his early KU mentor. Our cover story is an excerpt from e Secret Game, a new book by journalist and historian Scott Ellsworth, who paints vivid portraits of the players and coaches who dared to compete in a momentous matchup—the rst integrated collegiate basketball game, played at great risk in 1944 in North Carolina. McLendon coached one of the teams, the Eagles of the North Carolina College for Negroes. For the magazine, we’ve chosen one of the book’s early chapters, in which Ellsworth describes McLendon’s quiet activism as a he School of Journalism’s annual William Allen White KU student. In an era when African-American students struggled Tcelebration is always a high holy day for Jayhawk journalists, against many overt and subtle biases on campus, McLendon especially when one of our own receives the William Allen White began to change the culture, displaying the innate leadership National Citation for extraordinary achievement. Bob Dotson, that helped him excel in the national arenas of civil rights j’68, returned to the Hill April 23 to accept the citation and share and basketball. his insights from 40 years at NBC News, where he has become As the nation continues to struggle with issues of race, many revered for his stories of folks he describes as “seemingly ordinary stories focus on strife in the streets, especially in communities like Americans.” eir tales fascinate Dotson—and fans of his Ferguson, Missouri, where violence erupted last summer. But long broadcasts and books—because, as he explains, “Names we don’t before Ferguson made headlines, Dwayne James, e’94, was quietly know, and should know, are why our country not working as a city only survives but thrives.” council member and Kansas Alumni has followed Dotson’s career advocate for the town’s since 1985, when he visited campus on a national teenagers. As new sta tour for his rst book, In Pursuit of the American member Heather Biele Dream. Last month, as I listened to his William reports, James vows to Allen White lecture, it occurred to me that many continue striving to of the Jayhawks we have featured in this magazine OF JOURNALISM SCHOOL COURTESY heal his community through the years have shared the characteristics and bring hope to its Dotson says are common to the protagonists of youth.