Phog Allen

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Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen, D.O. (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American collegiate basketball coach known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching." His basketball career got off to an auspicious start as a University of Kansas letterman under James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. Allen won three college national championships in 1922, 1923, and 1952.

Born in Jamesport, Missouri, Allen coached at the University of Kansas, Baker University, Haskell Institute, and Warrensburg Teachers College.

Statue of Phog Allen in front of Allen Field House. Taken in 2003

Allen’s career in athletics began as a student at the University of Kansas in 1904, where he lettered three years in basketball under James Naismith's coaching, and two years in baseball. At Kansas he was also a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. Allen launched his coaching career at his alma mater in 1907, but took a hiatus after graduating in 1909 to study osteopathic medicine. Known as “Doc” to his players and students, he was reputed to be a colorful figure on the University of Kansas campus, coaching all sports and becoming known for his osteopathic manipulation techniques for ailing athletes. Allen was a legend in the field of treatment of athletic injuries and benefitted a long list of high-profile performers. He also had a successful private osteopathic practice, and many he treated, the famous and otherwise, contend he had a "magic touch" for such ailments as bad backs, knees and ankles. He said he applied the same treatments to "civilians" as he did to his athletes.

His forceful, yet reasonable, disposition helped him become the driving force behind basketball becoming accepted as an official sport in the Olympics in 1936. Allen would later coach in the 1952 Summer Olympics, leading the United States to the gold medal in Helsinki, Finland.

He coached college basketball for 49 seasons, and compiled a 771-233 record, retiring with the all-time record for most coaching wins in college basketball history at the time. [1] During his tenure at Kansas, Allen coached Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Dutch Lonborg, and Ralph Miller, all future Hall of Fame coaches. Among the Hall of Fame players he coached were Paul Endacott, Bill Johnson, and Clyde Lovellette. He also recruited Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas, and even coached former United States Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. Allen Fieldhouse, the basketball arena on the campus of the University of Kansas, is named in his honor. A banner that hangs in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse reads: "Pay heed all who enter, beware of the Phog." Phog Allen was enshrined as part of the inaugural class in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.

[edit] Basketball Coaching Record

[edit] Football Coaching Record

[edit] External links

• Basketball Hall of Fame profile
• "Phog" Allen's Photo & Gravesite