Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. He received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, tied with Ben Wallace and Rudy Gobert for the most awards. Mutombo led the NBA in blocked shots three times, led the league in rebounds twice, and was named to eight All-Star teams. On January 10, 2007, Mutombo reached second place on the list of NBA career leaders in blocked shots. Outside of basketball, he is well known for his humanitarian work.
Lawrence Harvey Brown is an American basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers. Brown is the only coach in basketball history to win both an NCAA national championship and an NBA title. He has a 1,275–965 lifetime professional coaching record in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is the only coach in NBA history to lead eight teams to the playoffs. He also won an ABA championship as a player with the Oakland Oaks in the 1968–69 season, and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1964. He is also the only person ever to coach two NBA franchises in the same season. Before coaching, Brown played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally in the ABA.
Daniel Ricardo Manning is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Colorado. Manning played high-school basketball at Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks, and played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years. After retiring from professional basketball Manning became an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He won the national championship with the Jayhawks in 1988 as a player, and again as an assistant in 2008. He is the all-time leading scorer in Kansas basketball history with 2,951 points. The next closest player to his point total is Nick Collison, who is 854 points behind Manning.
Raef Andrew LaFrentz is an American former professional basketball power forward and center who played for the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born and raised in Iowa, LaFrentz attended the University of Kansas and was drafted in 1998 by the Denver Nuggets. He was known for his perimeter shooting and his shot blocking abilities. In 2019–20 LaFrentz became an assistant basketball coach at Decorah High School in Decorah, Iowa.
Lafayette "Fat" Lever is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He later served as the director of player development for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA as well as an analyst for Kings radio broadcasts.
Rex Andrew Walters Sr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, he was the associate head coach at Wake Forest University under Danny Manning. Prior to Wake Forest, he spent time at Nevada under Eric Musselman. He has made head coaching stops with the Grand Rapids Drive, the University of San Francisco and Florida Atlantic University.
The Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Kansas. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas is considered one of the most prestigious college basketball programs in the country with six overall national championships, as well being runner-up six times and having the most conference titles in the nation. The Jayhawks also own the NCAA record for most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with 28 consecutive appearances. Since the 1984 tournament, the Jayhawks have only missed the tournament twice and both times were due to disciplinary action from the NCAA; they were ruled ineligible for the 1989 tournament and had their 2018 appearance was vacated. They have not missed the tournament strictly due to on the court performance since the 1983 tournament. They were also, along with Dartmouth, the first team to appear in multiple NCAA Tournaments after making their second appearance in the 1942 tournament. The Jayhawks had been ranked in the AP poll for 231 consecutive polls, a streak that had stretched from the poll released on February 2, 2009, poll through the poll released on February 8, 2021, which is the longest streak in AP poll history. Of the 24 seasons the Big 12 conference has been in existence, Kansas has won at least a share of 19 regular-season conference titles.
Walter Roger Brown was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) basketball player.
Adonis Adelecino Jordan is an American former professional basketball player. An All-Big Eight guard who played collegiately at the University of Kansas, Jordan was the starting point guard during the school's 1991 and 1993 Final Four appearances. Together with shooting guard teammate Rex Walters, the two established Kansas as having one of the top backcourts in the NCAA during the 1992–93 season. He was later drafted in the 1993 NBA draft but only appeared in only 10 career games in the league. He spent the bulk of his professional career playing overseas with various basketball clubs.
Darrin Hancock is a retired American professional basketball player. In high school and college he was known for his strong offense, while his quick and agile moves to the basket drew comparisons to the likes of Dominique Wilkins. A Parade Magazine and McDonald's All-American standout at Griffin High School in Griffin, Georgia, Hancock was ranked among the country's best high school basketball players in the late 1980s. He played his first two college seasons at Garden City Community College, where he was considered one of the top junior college recruits in the nation before transferring to the University of Kansas. There he was the starting small forward on the Kansas Jayhawks' Final Four-bound squad in the 1993 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Hancock left college after his junior year to play professional basketball and eventually found success in United States semi-pro basketball leagues after several uneventful stints in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is considered to be among the best all-time Georgia high school basketball players in the state's history.
Brandon Leray Rush is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers on draft day, after playing for Kansas for three seasons, including the 2008 championship season. He was selected as a Wooden Award All-American in both 2007 and 2008 as a Jayhawk. Rush has also played for the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, and Minnesota Timberwolves, winning an NBA championship with the Warriors in 2015.
Darrell Antwonne Arthur is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks for two seasons where he was part of the 2007–08 national championship team. He was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets in the 2008 NBA draft but after two trades, he ended up with the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he signed on July 8, 2008. He is listed at 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m), 235 lb (107 kg) and played the power forward position.
John David Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the San Diego Clippers.
The 1990–91 NBA season was the Warriors' 45th season in the National Basketball Association, and 28th in the San Francisco Bay Area. The trio of Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and second-year star Tim Hardaway were given the name "Run TMC" during the season. In the opening game, the Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 162–158, the highest-scoring regulation game in NBA history. Despite their scoring prowess, the Warriors were limited defensively. The team got off to a solid start winning seven of their first nine games, but later on played around .500 along the way. On February 26, 1991, they lost 131–119 to the Orlando Magic despite the Run TMC trio each scoring more than 30 points. At midseason, the team signed rookie guard Mario Elie after a brief stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Warriors held a 26–20 record at the All-Star break, and won their final five games of the season, finishing fourth in the Pacific Division with a 44–38 record.
Thomas Earl Robinson is an American-born naturalised Lebanese professional basketball player who last played for Pelita Jaya Bakrie of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL). A consensus All-American at the University of Kansas, Robinson was drafted fifth overall in the 2012 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings.
Chavano Rainer "Buddy" Hield is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners and was named the Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, he received four major national player of the year awards: the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, Sporting News Player of the Year, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Hield was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and was traded to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins in 2017. He was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in a package for Domantas Sabonis in 2022. In February 2024, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. In July 2024, Hield was involved in a 6-team trade that involved him getting traded to the Golden State Warriors.
Monté Robert Morris is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones.
Devonte' Terrell Graham is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks. He played high school basketball for Needham Broughton High School.
Ochai Young Agbaji is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a senior at the University of Kansas, Agbaji was named a consensus first-team All-American and voted the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2022. He led the Jayhawks to a national championship and was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player (MOP).
Christian Nicholas Braun is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at the University of Kansas and was a starter on the team that won the 2022 NCAA championship. In 2023, he contributed to the Nuggets winning their first NBA title, becoming the fifth player in basketball history to win NCAA and NBA titles in back-to-back seasons.
