Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas men's basketball coach Ted Owens will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on October 22, 2026, in a ceremony at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today.
Owens roamed the KU sidelines as head coach for 19 seasons from 1964-65 through 1982-83, where he compiled a 348-182 (65.7%) record. Owens' 348 wins rank him as the fourth-winningest coach in Kansas basketball history behind Bill Self, Phog Allen, and Roy Williams.
Under Owens, Kansas won six Big Eight Conference regular-season titles, eight Big Eight Holiday Tournaments and one Big Eight postseason tournament. Under Owens, KU advanced to NCAA postseason play seven times. His 1971 and 1974 teams made it to the Final Four, and in 1968 the Jayhawks made the finals of the National Invitation Tournament.
"We're all so happy for Coach to receive this honor," Self said. "In my opinion, it's been overdue. Considering not only what he did for his respective employers, what he has done for the game overall has been terrific. I have become very close friends with Coach and he's one of the most unselfish leaders I've ever been around. I don't know that I've ever met a coach who is as proud of his past players as Coach is. I am so happy for him, and I can't wait to celebrate with him and his family."
Joining Owens in the Class of 2026 is Jay Wright, former head coach at Villanova and Hofstra; Tubby Smith, former head coach at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas Tech, Memphis and High Point; Glen Rice, former player at Michigan; Danny Ainge, former player at BYU; and Walt Hazzard, former player and coach at UCLA.
The NABC established the Blue Ribbon Selection Committee, which has been in existence since the inception of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. It is comprised of college basketball executives, former coaches, former players, media and respected leaders around the country. The committee meets annually to select the induction hall of fame class for the upcoming year.
Owens was a three-year basketball letterman at the University of Oklahoma (1949-51). The 96-year-old, who turns 97 on July 16, honed his coaching skills as head coach at Cameron State Junior College, now Cameron University, in Lawton, Oklahoma. In four seasons, his teams never won fewer than 20 games, and Cameron advanced to the national junior college tournament semifinals three times. At Cameron, Owens amassed a 93-24 record and boasted four junior college All-Americans. In 1958, he coached the Cameron baseball team to the NJCAA national championship.
Owens then accepted an assistant coach position under Kansas head coach Dick Harp in 1960 and was promoted to head coach when Harp resigned following the 1963-64 season.
Owens was named Big Eight Coach of the Year five times and was National Coach of the Year in 1978 by Basketball Weekly. He coached five All-Americans: Jo Jo White, Darnell Valentine, Dave Robisch, Bud Stallworth and Walter Wesley, all of whom have had their jerseys retired at Kansas.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame opened in 2006 with 11 KU-related players and coaches being part of the founding class. Owens joins Danny Manning (2008), Clyde Lovellette (2012), and Paul Pierce (2014) as formally being inducted from Kansas. Other KU-related players and coaches include: F.C. "Phog" Allen, Larry Brown, Paul Endacott, William Johnson, Arthur "Dutch" Lonborg, John McLendon, Ralph Miller, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, and Williams.