Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball

ISBN: 1496217055

Author: Johnson, Scott Morrow

Condition: New

Remembered in name but underappreciated in legacy, Forrest Phog Allen arguably influenced the game of basketball more than anyone else.In the first half of the twentieth century, Allen took basketball from a gentlemanly, indoor recreational pastime to the competitive game that would become a worldwide sport. Succeeding James Naismith as the University of Kansass basketball coach in 1907, Allen led the Jayhawks for thirty-nine seasons and holds the record for most wins at that school, with 590. He also helped create the NCAA tournament and brought basketball to the Olympics. Allen changed the way the game is played, coached, marketed, and presented.Scott Morrow Johnson reveals Allen as a master recruiter, a transformative coach, and a visionary basketball mind. Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Wilt Chamberlain, and many others benefited from Allens knowledge of and passion for the game. But Johnson also delves into Allens occasionally tumultuous relationships with Naismith, the NCAA, and University of Kansas administrators.Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball chronicles this complex mans life, telling for the first time the full story of the man whose name is synonymous with Kansas basketball and with the game itself.