Jayhawks devastated by setback

By Bill Mayer     Mar 15, 2007

Kansas Coach Dick Harp meets the press after the Jayhawks' 54-53, triple-overtime loss to North Carolina in the 1957 national championship game.

Some stranger who didn’t know what had just happened in Kansas City might have concluded that the Kansas University basketball team had won a second NCAA championship in Kansas City on Saturday night, March 23, 1957.

A homecoming rally and dance for the Jayhawks drew more than 3,000 enthusiastic yet sympathetic people to the Memorial Union. Not many teams, victorious or vanquished, ever were serenaded by the trumpet and vocal renditions of the immortal Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong.

Earlier, KU, despite the presence of 7-foot All-American Wilt Chamberlain, had fallen to unbeaten North Carolina, 54-53 in triple overtime, in Kansas City, Mo. At one point, with a 46-45 edge and seconds to go in regulation play, Kansas had seemed near the title. UNC forged a tie, and during the 15 additional minutes of playing time the Tar Heels eked out victory to finish the season at 32-0.

The Carolinians were delirious; the Kansas players and coaches were inconsolable after coming so close. Many contend there never has been a more tearful, emotionally devastated dressing room in the history of KU sports. KU coach Dick Harp had to fight back a gush of tears to express intense pride in his team and its outstanding 24-3 season. He said his greatest regret was that there were nine seniors he never again would be able to work with on the court.

Struggling for composure and searching for words, Harp noted that Carolina outshot his team 47 to 34 percent and outrebounded the Jayhawks 42-28, with Chamberlain capturing 14 rebounds. “They (UNC) deserved to win,” Harp finally managed. “They were the better team tonight, all things considered. “But we’re easily the best No. 2 team in college history.”

Kansas' Maurice King accepts a wrist watch from KU athletic director Dutch Lonborg as a runner-up award.

“How do I feel?” he responded to a question. “Like I’ve just been through a demanding three-overtime game for the national championship. They were just a little better than we were tonight.”

The weary and battered Chamberlain, a sophomore who had been targeted for considerable contact by the Tar Heels, at first could barely gasp: “We lost : that’s all. We lost!” He then asked for privacy.

He felt he had let the team and KU down and spent many years fretful about any reception he would get here later in life. He learned in 1998 just how revered he was when he came back to a tremendous ovation as he had his jersey retired in Allen Fieldhouse. Less than a year later, he was dead due to heart problems.

Senior guard Maurice King could only reflect on how many free throws Kansas had missed (10 for the game) and wearily declared his club would have won had it done better at the foul line.

“They didn’t have much depth and we had them struggling for air for a while,” King added. “They began to foul us to get short breaks and to get the ball back. We had some players on the floor that were not very good at shooting fouls. If we had hit a majority of our free throws, and rebounded better, we might have won going away. But we got beat by a better team tonight and we can’t look for excuses.”

While the basketball entourage was suffering, proud fans back in Lawrence were preparing to greet their warriors warmly to assuage the pain. The fabled Louis Armstrong had given a concert that night and readily consented to play for a dance scheduled after the game, win or lose.

The team arrived about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 24. As the group entered the rally site, Satchmo and his group struck up “When the Saints Go Marching In.” There were women’s closing hours for organized houses at KU, and that curfew had been extended to 3 a.m. The dance had begun about midnight, and there had been plans for a parade on the campus and downtown had KU won. Police had been alerted to avert any trouble – which never surfaced.

Chancellor Franklin Murphy and coach Harp spoke briefly to the greeters. They expressed pride in the team’s efforts and gratitude for the greeting. By then, spirits had risen after a postgame letdown among the ranks of the followers. Many considered Armstrong’s willingness to perform as a move that prevented a massive collapse for the rally.

By the time the team arrived, the huge crowd was supportively primed.

The Union Ballroom floor soon was so crowded, as Armstrong played, that many went into adjacent rooms to dance. The event was phased out in time for women to meet closing hours.

Most of the downcast players soon dispersed.

Nine seniors saw their last college basketball action in the KU-Carolina game:

Gene Elstun and John Parker of Mission; Eddie Dater of Garden City; Lee Green, Harry Jett and Lew Johnson of Kansas City; Maurice King of Kansas City, Mo.; and Blaine Hollinger of Russell. Non-eligible senior Ron Johnston had been with the team on the bench. Since then, Chamberlain, Lew Johnson, Elstun, Parker and Bob Billings have died. The only living men of the seven who saw action against North Carolina are Ronnie Loneski, now of Lawrence, and King of Kansas City, Mo.

King and Chamberlain left later in the day for New York where Chamberlain was to appear on the popular Ed Sullivan television show to receive a Look Magazine All-America award. King was to play in the New York Tribune Fresh-Air Fund game. Elstun had been picked to play in the East-West Shrine game in Kansas City.

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