kansas
Ted Owens was running errands alone in Tulsa on a sweltering July day, just days shy of his 97th birthday, when his cell phone rang. On the line was Craig Robinson, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, delivering the news that Owens had been elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
"I pulled off to the side of the road — I was by myself because nobody in my family will ride with me," Owens recalled Thursday afternoon before a packed crowd at the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City. The gathering served as a prelude to the formal induction of Owens, Jay Wright, Tubby Smith, Danny Ainge, Glen Rice, and the late Walt Hazzard, whose son represented him.
Owens immediately thought of his parents, Homer and Annie Owens. "Craig told me I was going to be inducted," Owens said, "and I immediately thought of Homer and Annie Owens, my dad and mother, and I said, 'I wish that dad and mother were still alive to see this.'" Robinson then mentioned the ceremony date: October 22. "You know what October 22 is? That's my dad's birthday," Owens noted. "So Homer Owens and Annie Owens, thank you for the guidance in my life and the foundation that you gave me. Thank you, family, for being here. Thank the University of Kansas for nominating me and the Blue Ribbon Committee for inducting me. Thanks so much."
Owens, one of eight head coaches in Kansas men's basketball history, earned the honor for his 19 seasons at the helm (1964-65 through 1982-83). A three-year letterman and team captain at Oklahoma from 1948-51, he joined Dick Harp's KU staff as an assistant in 1960 and succeeded him four years later. Owens compiled a 348-182 record (.657), ranking fourth in program history in wins behind Bill Self, Phog Allen, and Roy Williams.
Under Owens, Kansas captured six Big Eight regular-season titles, eight Big Eight Holiday Tournaments, and one Big Eight postseason tournament championship. The Jayhawks made seven NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 five times, the Elite Eight three times, and the Final Four twice (1971 and 1974). The 1971 team went 27-3 overall and 14-0 in conference play, becoming the first undefeated squad in Big Eight history while claiming both the regular-season and tournament crowns. Owens was a five-time Big Eight Coach of the Year and the 1978 national Coach of the Year (Basketball Weekly).
On Thursday, Owens' fellow inductees and emcee Fran Fraschilla listened intently as Owens, still sharp and quick with a line, mixed gratitude with humor during his remarks. "My wife Michelle says to me, 'You can remember every statistic of every game you've ever played, but you can't remember what someone said to you five minutes ago,'" Owens said, smiling. "When I'm introduced now, they introduce me: 'This guy is 97 years old and he's the oldest living Oklahoma University basketball player.' Another time they'll introduce me as the oldest living Final Four coach, and now maybe they'll introduce me as the oldest living inductee. And I think I have some time left. I think I'll live to be 100, and I'll tell you why: because I ask God every day, 'God, will you let me live long enough to see an official call traveling?'" The timing was perfect.
Then Owens turned serious, returning to a theme that ran through the afternoon. "An old friend of mine from high school in Hollis, Oklahoma — Darrell Royal was my hero then — went on to coach multiple national championships at the University of Texas," Owens said. "Darrell told one of his halfbacks one day who went across the goal line and started beating on his own chest, 'Son, why don't you wait until your teammates get there to celebrate? You didn't get there all by yourself.' And my immediate thought when Craig Robinson called me was that I didn't get there all by myself."
Owens expanded on the point later with reporters. "When I was growing up on a cotton farm during the Dust Bowl days and the Great Depression," he said, "I had some dreams, but my dreams were never big enough to imagine that I'd be able to play basketball at the University of Oklahoma and then coach at the St. Andrews of basketball at Kansas and be here. But immediately when they told me I was going to be inducted, I thought of all the people who had helped me along the way. The one lesson I've learned in life is you don't get there by yourself. God has put people in your way who have guided you and assisted you. So when I'm honored tonight, it's not just honoring me. It's honoring all of them."
Owens saluted his Class of 2026 peers, seated next to Tubby Smith: "I can't tell you how honored I am to be inducted with these wonderful men. Not only are they great coaches and great players, but they're wonderful human beings. I'm so proud to be with them."
Owens also spoke in respectful tones when referring to Phog Allen. "He was asked one time, 'Who's your greatest team? Who's your greatest player?' And Dr. Allen said, 'Let's wait 25 years and see what they've done with their lives, and then I'll tell you.' Well, if you go by that criteria, I look at my guys and what they've accomplished in life, and I'd say Dr. Allen would be very proud of them."
Current Kansas coach Bill Self, who pulled Owens into a team huddle during Wednesday's exhibition game against Louisville at Allen Fieldhouse, has long admired that quality. "He's the best," Self said. "We've been on many trips together, and we've been roommates on almost all of those trips, whether it be at Bandon Dunes in Scotland or wherever. He's 97 years old, and at 87 he was walking 18 or 36 holes a day. He's an amazing guy. And I'll say one thing about Coach: I don't know that I've ever been around a coach who keeps track of and follows his players, his ex-players, better than he does. He stays in touch with all of them, and that's not easy to do. So it's pretty impressive."
Owens served as a field officer in the U.S. Army during the Korean War in 1953 and played professionally in the National Industrial League. He then took over as head basketball and baseball coach at Cameron State Junior College (now Cameron University) in Lawton, Oklahoma. In four seasons the basketball team went 93-24 and reached the national junior-college tournament semifinals three times; the baseball team, despite having no home field, won the national title in 1958 — a story which script writers say will indeed someday be a movie.
Owens joins Danny Manning (2008), Clyde Lovellette (2012), and Paul Pierce (2014) among formally inducted Kansas players. Other KU-related Hall members include Phog Allen, Larry Brown, Paul Endacott, William Johnson, Arthur "Dutch" Lonborg, John McLendon, Ralph Miller, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, and Roy Williams.
"I just feel incredibly blessed," Owens said.
Originally reported by kansas.