For Al Lopes, Kansas University basketball truly is a matter of life and death.
Lopes, one of nearly 200 former KU lettermen introduced at halftime of Sunday’s KU-Iowa State game, said that if not for Ted Owens, his former coach, he might very well be dead.
Lopes, a 6-foot-5 native of Providence, R.I., played for the Jayhawks from 1964 to 66. Then in 1968, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper.
“I believe I am the only Kansas basketball player to have served in Vietnam,” Lopes said. “I was there 11 months, 29 days, 6 hours. I used to know the seconds. The last 29 days I served deep in the jungle.”
Suffice it to say, Lopes did not want to be deep in the jungle risking his life.
“I had heard there was an unwritten rule that after eight months you could submit transfer papers and get out of the field,” Lopes said. “I was stupid enough to believe that and I submitted my papers. The one (officer) in charge said, ‘Lopes, you are not going anywhere,’ and tore the papers up.”
Disappointed, Lopes continued to serve, and before Christmas of 1968, he sent cards to “everybody I could think of,” including Owens. After he’d been serving 11 months, he was stationed near Saigon and was told to report to the commanding officer.
“The colonel said, ‘Al come in.’ I thought to myself, ‘Al?'”
The officer proceeded to tell him he had seen him play basketball in Allen Fieldhouse and that Owens had been his friend since boyhood. Owens, it turned out, had put in a good word for Lopes.
“That guy cut orders to get me out of the field my last 29 days of Vietnam. Those last 29 days were some of the worst days (of the war). Until today, I’ve never said thank you to coach Owens. I should thank the colonel, but I don’t even remember his name.”
Owens remembered.
“His name was Jack Angel,” Owens said.
“He was an angel. I am telling you, the power of the Jayhawk can reach across the world,” said Lopes, now a Lawrence attorney.
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No Expectorations, Please: Owens, 73, said was asked by family members where he would like to be buried. He’s considering his native Oklahoma or possibly Lawrence where he coached for 19 years.
Owens jokingly told Roy Williams he has one reservation about Lawrence and that it has to do with former KU coaches Phog Allen and James Naismith being buried here.
“I know you go out and run to talk to Dr. Allen and Naismith. You also have a habit of spitting. I would like some assurance …,” Owens said with a laugh.
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Kivisto Proud in Oklahoma: Tom Kivisto played for Owens from 1971 to ’74, and, like Owens, lives in Tulsa where he is in the oil business.
“I am so proud to live in Oklahoma and feel the (KU) tradition,” Kivisto said. “I have gone to the playgrounds and kids there say, ‘Hey, old man, where’d you play ball?’ I say, ‘Kansas,’ and they say, ‘Gimme five.”‘
Kivisto’s father Ernie, a famed Illinois and Arizona high school coach, died last week.
“My dad always said basketball is a game of innovation and teamwork,” Kivisto said.
Kivisto is married to a daughter of Lawrence’s Bill Lienhard, a member of the 1952 NCAA championship team.
“The players today talk about the thrill running out of the tunnel onto the court,” said Lienhard, a retired banker. “We ran from Robinson Gym to Hoch (Auditorium) sometimes in a snowstorm.”
The Jayhawks didn’t move into Allen Fieldhouse until 1955.
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Kellogg in Omaha: Ron Kellogg, who played for Owens one season and Larry Brown for three in the 1980s, remains a proud Jayhawk while residing in his hometown of Omaha, Neb.
“It’s 17 years since I wore No. 44 and it seems like yesterday,” said Kellogg, who works for UPS. “You don’t know how much I enjoy Aaron Miles dishing the ball, Nick Collison crashing the boards, Keith Langford taking it to the hoop and coach Williams taking off his coat.
“I love basketball so much I don’t know how my wife puts up with me. If I’m not coaching my son or giving individual lessons … I’m playing. A friend and I will soon be starting a sports organization for youth in Nebraska. It’s a way to give back.”
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Schnellbacher Reminisces: Otto Schnellbacher, who played at KU during the 1942-43 season, then headed to war, returning to Mount Oread to continue his career from 1945 to ’48, recalled his coach.
“Phog Allen liked football players,” said the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Schnellbacher who was a football and hoops standout who grew up in Sublette. “He liked toughness, people who could knock people down. If I could jump like Langford — he’s my size — I’d still be playing. I couldn’t jump like Langford so I just got old,” he quipped.
“The players haven’t improved,” quipped Schnellbacher, who lives in Topeka, “the film has just gotten better.”
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Be Quiet: Fans who attend KU practice sessions are asked to be quiet. Some of the letterwinners and 500 visiting youths were not obeying signs asking for silence during Friday’s session.
“We had 500 youngsters there who were a little more rowdy than they should be and at a tense point of practice when I was trying to discuss something with my players, I told everybody to shut up,” Williams said, drawing laughter.
Williams learned silence is golden from mentor Dean Smith.
“He said practice was a coach’s classroom and mine was a little too loud,” Williams said.
