Wilton Norman Chamberlain was an American professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons and is widely regarded as one of the sport's greatest players. Chamberlain was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978 and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. Following his professional basketball career, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association (IVA). He served one term as league president and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame. Renowned for his strength, he played the antagonist in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became well known for his claim of having had sex with 20,000 women.
Lawrence Harvey Brown is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach of 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.
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the most prolific scorers and all-around players in basketball history. He is the only one to lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ABA, and NBA in points per game in a season. He ranks as the all-time ABA scoring leader in regular season and postseason (33.5) play, while his 36.3 points per game are the most in the NBA Finals history. Barry was also the only player to score at least 50 points in a Game 7 of the playoffs in either league until Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum both reached that mark in 2022. He is one of only four players to be a part of a championship team in both leagues.
Brent Robert Barry, also known by the nickname "Bones", is an American basketball executive, broadcaster and former player. He is the current vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs. The shooting guard played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning two league championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007, and also won the Slam Dunk Contest in 1996. He is the son of former NBA player Rick Barry.
The center (C), or the centre, also known as the five or the pivot, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well. In the NBA, the center is typically close to 7 feet (2.13 m) tall. They traditionally play close to the basket in the low post. The tallest players to play the position in NBA history are Manute Bol and Gheorghe Mureșan, both of whom stood at 7 feet 7 inches (2.31 m) tall.
Billy Eugene Self Jr. is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 20 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to 17 Big 12 regular season championships, including an NCAA record 14 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships, some of which were shared (2005–2018). He has also led the Jayhawks to three NCAA Final Four appearances, the 2008 NCAA championship and 2022 NCAA championship. Self was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. At the end of the 2021–22 season, Self had the 18th most wins among Division I coaches in NCAA history and 4th among active head coaches. He is the second-winningest coach in Kansas history, behind only Hall of Famer Phog Allen and is the only coach in Kansas history to lead Kansas to multiple NCAA Tournament National Championships.
Clyde Edward Lovellette was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to play on an NCAA championship team, Olympics gold medal basketball team, and NBA championship squad.
Daniel Ricardo Manning is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville. 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.
Mitchell James Richmond III is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and Kansas State University. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Team member, and a former NBA Rookie of the Year. In 976 NBA games, Richmond averaged 21.0 points per game and 3.5 assists per game. Richmond was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. His jersey No. 2 was retired in his honor by the Sacramento Kings, for whom he played seven seasons.
The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a member of the Big 12 Conference. KU athletic teams have won twelve NCAA Division I championships: four in men's basketball, one in men's cross country, three in men's indoor track and field, three in men's outdoor track and field, and one in women's outdoor track and field. KU basketball also has two Helms Foundation National Titles.
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. 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.
The USC Trojans men's basketball program is a college basketball team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, representing the University of Southern California.
Alexander "Sasha" Olegovich Kaun is a Russian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball in the United States for the University of Kansas for four seasons, where he won an NCAA championship in 2008 before being selected with the 56th overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2008 NBA draft. He played seven seasons in Russia for CSKA Moscow. In 2015, he returned to the United States and played his only NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he won an NBA championship in 2015–16. Kaun became one of the first Russians, along with Timofey Mozgov, in NBA history to win an NBA championship. He also represented Russia in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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.
Maurice E. King was an American professional basketball player who played for the NBA Champion Boston Celtics in the 1959-1960 season.
Leonard Earl Gray was an American professional basketball player.
Jerod Albert Haase is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Stanford Cardinal men's team of the Pac-12 Conference. Haase played college basketball at the University of California, Berkeley from 1992 to 1993, and then transferred to the University of Kansas to play under Roy Williams from 1994 to 1997. Haase was a Naismith and Wooden Award candidate while at Kansas. At Kansas, he only missed two games out of 101 and averaged 12.5 points per game, scoring 1,246 points over the span of his career. He was a member of the Big Eight all defensive team as a junior, and played at the World University Games in 1995. He then spent 13 years as an assistant under Williams at both Kansas and North Carolina before starting his own head coaching career.
The 2017–18 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 120th basketball season. The Jayhawks, were members of the Big 12 Conference and played their home games at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. They were led by 15th year Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self.
Quentin Marshall Grimes is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and the Houston Cougars.
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.
