Former Kansas University basketball standout Bud Stallworth, who has worked part-time as a radio talk-show host in Lawrence the past several years, spoke eloquently Thursday about his fellow Jayhawk inductees in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012.
“David Jaynes … I thought he was the next Joe Willie in the making. I grew up watching Joe Namath, and he came out on the field with white shoes. I said, ‘Oh, that’s Joe Willie here (at KU),'” Stallworth said of former KU football quarterback Jaynes, a Bonner Springs native who earned All-Big Eight and All-America honors in 1973, finishing with 35 career touchdown passes and 5,132 passing yards.
“David … he’s Hollywood,” Stallworth added of the 59-year-old Jaynes, who now lives in Los Angeles.
Of Leavenworth native Wayne Simien, another Jayhawk who today will be inducted in the state of Kansas shrine during 4 p.m. ceremonies at the Wichita Boathouse, Stallworth said: “He’s one of the greatest basketball players from the state of Kansas who overcame some injuries and had a great career at KU. Going in the same class with Wayne and one of the great football players during my time at KU is just great,” added Stallworth, like Simien a first-team hoops All-American.
Stallworth, a 62-year-old Hartselle, Ala., native who also earned Academic All-America plaudits, averaged 25.3 points a game en route to being named 1972 Big Eight Player of the Year. The 19th leading scorer in KU history scored 50 points in a victory over Missouri in Allen Fieldhouse his senior year, which stands as most points by a Jayhawk in a conference game.
“This is right up there with having your jersey retired,” said Stallworth, a member of KU’s 1971 Final Four team who had his jersey hung in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse in 2005. “For me, being part of the KU basketball program, that is kind of like the top of the mountaintop. But going into the Kansas state Hall of Fame with all the great players out of the University of Kansas and the other schools is a great honor as well.”
Simien, the 13th leading scorer and seventh leading rebounder in KU history and a member of KU’s 2002 and ’03 Final Four teams, had his jersey hung in the fieldhouse rafters in 2011.
“It’s an honor to go in with Bud,” Simien said of his friend, who like Simien, lives in Lawrence. “Bud certainly deserves the recognition for all he’s accomplished. I think he probably has the most interesting journey to the University of Kansas being recruited after coming to band camp (as a high school senior).
“When you are able to see the names inducted in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame … to be mentioned with them is such a big honor,” the 29-year-old Simien added. “I’ve had so many people help me get to that achievement. It will be a great opportunity to thank and honor them as well.”
Other inductees in the Class of 2012: Kansas State quarterback Michael Bishop, Oklahoma State basketball coach Kurt Budke (deceased), Wichita State Olympic trackster Harold Manning (deceased), K-State basketball player Willie Murrell, Arizona and Texas tennis coach David Snyder and Emporia State softball pitcher Brenda Stolle.
