Coaches
Stanley Redwine
Stanley Redwine has been the head coach of the KU track and cross country men’s and women’s teams since 2000. In 2013, the women’s track team won it’s first NCAA national championship. For the 2020 Tokyo games, Redwine served as an assistant coach for the distance events. In March 2024, Stanley Redwine was named the head coach of the men's US team for the Paris Olympics.
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Rupp, KU class of 1923, was a member of the KU men’s basketball teams that were awarded back-to-back Helms Athletic Foundation national championships for 1922 and 1923. Rupp would go on to coach the University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team 1930-1972, winning four NCAA national championships. After winning the national championship in 1948, Rupp was selected to be an assistant coach for the men’s Olympic team.
Forrest C. “Phog” Allen
KU Legend Forrest C. “Phog” Allen, considered the father of basketball coaching, was the head coach of KU men’s basketball team 1907-1909 and 1919-1956. Allen was one of the leaders in making basketball an official Olympic sport in 1936. After leading the Jayhawks to the 1952 national championship, Phog was an assistant coach for the men’s Olympic team.
John McLendon, Jr.
Coaching legend John McLendon, Jr. was the first African American to earn a degree in physical education at KU in 1936 under the mentorship of James Naismith. McLendon would go on to have a successful coaching career at both the college and NBA ranks and pioneered the fast break, full-court press, and four corners offense. John McLendon was selected to serve as an assistant coach on the 1968 and 1972 men’s Olympic basketball team.
Dean Smith
Dean Smith played varsity basketball at KU 1951-1953. He was a member of the 1952 national championship team and also served as an assistant coach for the 1953 KU freshman team. However, Smith is best known for his tenure as the head coach of the North Carolina Tarheels basketball team from 1961-1997. In 1976, Dean Smith was the head coach of the US gold medal Olympic team.
Marian Washington
Marian Washington, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, played an historic and pivotal role in the development of women’s athletics at KU. She served as an assistant (1972-1973) and head coach (1973-2004) of the women’s basketball team, while also serving as the Women’s Athletic Director 1974-1979. Washington was an assistant coach for the US women’s basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Larry Brown
Larry Brown, a player on the 1964 men’s basketball Olympic team. Brown coached the Jayhawks from 1983 to 1988, winning the national championship in 1988, before going on to coach in the NBA. Brown served as the head coach for the US bronze medal basketball team in the 2004 Olympics.
