Coach Ted Owens, players from KU’s 1974 Final Four team honored at Saturday’s TCU game
Ted Owens, still vibrant at age 94, led members of the Kansas Jayhawks’ 1974 Final Four team onto James Naismith Court on Saturday in a halftime ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the squad’s appearance in the Final Four.
Owens also attended weekend functions that included a 1974 team gathering at a Lawrence restaurant Friday night and reception before the Saturday afternoon KU-TCU game at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’s always wonderful to be back at KU, even more special to be back with this 1974 team,” Owens said before Saturday’s tipoff. “This team was extremely close. There’s a lifetime friendship between all of us.”
Those who attended the reunion weekend and were introduced to a standing ovation at halftime included Owens, players Cris Barnthouse, Bob Emery, Dale Greenlee, Tom Kivisto, Roger Morningstar, Reuben Shelton, Tommie Smith and Donnie Von Moore. Bob Flickner, a graduate-assistant coach, and Polly Miranda, wife of late KU assistant Sam Miranda, also attended.
After being introduced, they all formed a huddle on the court before exiting through the northwest tunnel.
The 1973-74 Jayhawks went 23-7 overall and won the Big Eight with a 13-1 record.
KU fell to Marquette, 64-51, in a Final Four semifinal in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Jayhawks lost to UCLA in the consolation game, 78-61. To reach the Final Four, KU beat Creighton (55-54) and Oral Roberts (93-90) in overtime in Tulsa.
The team was well balanced. Danny Knight and Morningstar averaged 12.4 and 12.3 points a game, respectively. The next three leading scorers were Greenlee (11.8 ppg), Norm Cook (11.4 ppg) and Rick Suttle (11.3 ppg).
Kivisto went for 7.6 ppg; Smith 6.1 ppg and Dave Taynor 5.3 ppg. Knight pulled down 7.1 rebounds per contest to Cook’s 6.5. Morningstar and and Suttle averaged 5.5 and 5.3 rebounds, respectively.
“Our 1971 Final Four team, most of our offense was centered around Dave Robisch and Bud Stallworth,” Owens recalled. “This group we never knew who the leading scorer was going to be.
“We went from winning eight games the year before (against 18 losses) to reaching the Final Four. Dick Vitale I believe at that time said it was the greatest turnaround in the history of the NCAA. It was a special group.”
KU coach Bill Self said of the 1974 Jayhawks: “I know most of those guys. It’s a great group of guys. Coach Owens does the best job of anybody I know keeping in touch with his former players. Those players love him.
“He was here 19 years, won a lot of games. He’s a special person. He spoke to the team yesterday. He talked about when they get together nobody remembers who was the leading scorer or the star of the game. It’s ‘we did something special as a group.’ I think it’s a great lesson to learn.”
