Phog Allen: Dinner and a Basketball History Lesson
On October 31, we’ll induct the legendary Phog Allen into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame in St. Joseph, MO. Through this process, I’ve been in contact with Rob Allen, the grandson of Phog Allen. On Thursday night, Dr. Jim Poteet and I were so very fortunate, as we were invited over to the Allen’s house for dinner and a tour of their basement/museum. For two basketball and history junkies, it was a real treat.
Rob and Wanda Allen were tremendous hosts.......They treated us so well, and were so kind to us........ Here’s a “selfie” of Dr. Poteet and I in the museum.....
So, for those that don’t know a whole lot about Phog Allen, well....... If you really care about the history of our great game, you should know about Phog Allen. He’s known as the “Father of Basketball Coaching”. He is the Founder of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and he was the driving force to get basketball to become an Olympic sport, and his efforts were rewarded when basketball was first played as an Olympic sport in 1936 in Berlin, Germany.
He coached a Baker University, Haskell Indian Nations, Central Missouri State Teacher’s College and eventually, Kansas University. When he finished his career, he had won more games than any collegiate basketball coach, and had won three NCAA National Championships at Kansas. In 1952, he led the Kansas Jayhawks to the NCAA National Championship AND coached the U.S. Team to the 1952 Olympic Gold Medal.
He recruited Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas, yet never got to coach him (Wilt played on the freshman team while Phog was the coach, yet KU had a mandatory retirement at age 70 at the time, so he was forced into retirement).
As many of you know, the famous Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas was named in his honor when it opened in 1955.
There is so much more......and I encourage you to take some time to learn about the Father of Basketball Coaching, Forrest “Phog” Allen.
Here’s his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phog_Allen
Here are additional articles on Phog Allen:
https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/forrest-phog-allen/16417
https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/forrest-phog-allen/16417
https://www.kshof.org/inductees/2-kansas-sports-hall-of-fame/inductees/70-allen-phog.html
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Here are a few additional photos from our tour of Rob and Wanda’s museum in their house:
Thank you to Rob and Wanda Allen for a wonderful night!
