University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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by CHARLES HYDEMAN With the coming of the first signs of winter, the doors of Allen Field House will swing open along with the record books as KU ' s 1956-57 basketball team takes to the hardwood. Gene Elstun and John Parker will lead this year ' s senior-sophomore laden squad as co-captains and will be supported by eight other lettermen. Coach Dick Harp will take over his first season as head vai ' sity mentor after being assistant to Dr. Forrest Allen since 1949. Jerry Waugh, former head basketball coach at Lawrence High School, is Harp ' s new assistant coach. Elstun and Parker were also co-captains at Shawnee-Mission High School, where they played the same roles as they have as Jayhawkers. Elstun has always ranked high among the team ' s top scorers and Parker has been the calm floor general. Another pair of senior lettermen who played together in high school are Lew Johnson and Lee Green. They both have good height — Johnson is 6-6; Green 6-5 — and both can score well. Also from Kansas City is the hard driving, ball- hawking Maurice King. Maurice was among the top scorers in the league last year, and pulled down a lion ' s share of the rebounds for Kansas. Eddie Dater, Blaine HoUinger, Harry Jett, and Ron Johnston are also senior lettermen. John Cle- land is the only junior letterman on the squad. From last year ' s freshman team comes one of the most promising groups of players ever to play at KU. Leading this group is Wilt Chamberlain, the seven-foot giant from Philadelphia, Pa. Last year Wilt scored 42 points against the varsity team in the annual varsity-freshmen game. Backing Chamberlain up in that game with fine support were Ron Loneski, Bob Billings, Gary Thompson and Monte Johnson. All of these boys have the potential to add great strength to the team this year. The toughest competition will come prior to the Big-Seven Tournament and the schedule is one of the roughest KU has ever played. Northwestern has practically its entire squad back from last season, and Washington and California from the West Coast are both favored to win their leagues. Lew Johnson Lee Green Wilt Chamberlain

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Head coach Dick Harp fieldhouse preview Assistant coach Jerry Wough

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Maurice King Ron Johnston In the Big Seven, Iowa State and Kansas State should put up the biggest battles but none of the teams will be pushovers. The entire nation will be watching as the Jay- hawkers take to the floor. In pre-season polls Kl has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation. Can a senior-sophomore combination do it? Wait and see. Eddie Dater Harry Jett