NCAA Basketball: Mount Rushmores for the top 25 programs of all-time

Kansas Basketball Mount Rushmore: James Naismith, Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning, Bill Self

James Naismith

James Naismith invented the sport of basketball. Does it matter that he’s the only head coach in Kansas Jayhawks basketball history to finish his tenure with a losing record? Nope, not when you’re the guy who INVENTED THE SPORT.

Naismith created the game while working at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts as a quest to give his class something to do indoors during the harsh winter months. Kansas hired him in 1898, six years after he drafted the official rules. The university has the court at Allen Fieldhouse named after him.

Wilt Chamberlain

One of the greatest players of all time, Wilt Chamberlain was the first of his kind – a skilled seven-footer who could do everything you could want from a traditional big man. That dominance was on full display during his two years playing for the Jayhawks, averaging 29.9 points and 18.3 rebounds per game for his career.

Wilt guided Kansas to the national championship game in 1957, where they lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels, but he was still named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Chamberlain went on to have one of the most illustrious careers in NBA history and still owns a number of records, the most famous is his record for most points in a game (100).

Danny Manning

Danny Manning led the 1988 “Danny and the Miracles” team to a national championship, which was the crowning achievement of his illustrious career at Kansas – and it was a career that included plenty of impressive accolades.

A three-time Big Eight Player of the Year and two-time consensus First-Team All-American, Manning was the consensus National Player of the Year in 1988. He left the Jayhawks as the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder and still holds the scoring mark (2,951 career points).

Bill Self

Bill Self’s career is far from over, but he already deserves a place on KU’s Mount Rushmore. Why? He guided the Jayhawks to 14 consecutive Big 12 titles from 2005 to 2018, which is the longest streak in college basketball history.

Self only trails Phog Allen on the all-time wins list at Kansas, but he has more career wins (counting his time at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois) and a significantly higher win percentage (.817 to .729), along with reaching the same number of Final Fours (three) and national championships (one). They won’t be changing the name of Allen Fieldhouse anytime soon, yet Self is already more accomplished.