KU alumnus and Jayhawk enthusiast Kenn Johnson is back with even more legends and firsts. Notable coaches like Danny Manning, who won the national championship as a player in 1988 and again as part of the coaching staff in 2008, have shaped and molded the team throughout the decades. Players like Raef LaFrentz, who became the first Jayhawks player in twenty-seven years to average a double-double over an entire season, keep the fans coming back for more. From the history of the famous Allen Fieldhouse to current coach Bill Self, Johnson offers a closer look at the team's unique contribution to the sport of basketball.
Kenn Johnson is a Kansas native with a lifelong love of Jayhawk basketball. He created and maintains www.hoopszone.net, which contains information on every KU player, team and coach since the inception of basketball by Dr. James Naismith in 1898. He holds a doctorate in business and has taught for several years at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Ted Owens served as head basketball coach at KU from 1964 to 1983 (nineteen years). Both his 1971 and 1974 teams won their way to the NCAA Final Four. Overall his teams won fifteen Big Eight titles. Owens was named Big Eight coach of the year six times and is the fourth-winningest coach in Jayhawks history. In 1978 he was named the National Basketball Coach of the Year by Basketball Weekly. Owens is the author of "The Hang Up."