It seems just like yesterday that Kansas was celebrating its sixth national championship.
The Jayhawk’s victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels was the biggest comeback win in NCAA title game history – and it’s a game that will live on in the minds of Kansas fans for years to come.
This year’s Kansas basketball team has a chance to make its own mark on history, as they look to win back-to-back national championships, just as the Jayhawks did 100 years ago.
Titles of the past
Prior to the first NCAA Tournament in 1939 – which was help created by KU’s Phog Allen – national champions were recognized retroactively by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
The Helms Foundation was founded in 1936 by Paul Helms and Bill Schroeder.
In the 1940s, Schroeder used different research methods to retroactively award “Helms Foundation National Championships” in college basketball (dating back to 1900-01). While the titles are not officially recognized by the NCAA, they are recognized by several individual schools – including Kansas.
The Jayhawks’ first Helms title was awarded to the 1921-22 team that finished 16-2 on the season.
The team was coached by Phog Allen and featured former Kansas greats Paul Endacott and Charlie T. Black – both of whom now have their jerseys retired in Allen Fieldhouse.
There was also a local Kansas boy on the team by the name of Adolph Rupp, who would of course go on to have a Hall of Fame coaching career at the University of Kentucky.
Kansas was named national champions by the Helms Foundation again in 1922-23.
Endacott and Black returned to lead Allen’s Jayhawks to a 17-1 record, and both were named All-Americans by the Helms Foundation. It was the second consecutive All-American nod for Endacott, who was also named the Helms National Player of the Year. (Black would win the award in 1924.)
The team also featured sophomore Arthur “Tus” Ackerman. He would later be named a Helms All-American in 1924 and 1925, and his jersey too hangs in the Allen Fieldhouse rafters.
Kansas ended up being one of three schools to be named back-to-back Helms national champions prior to the creation of the NCAA Tournament, along with the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.
Why the 2022-23 team can get it done
This year’s Kansas roster has all the makings of a team that can repeat as national champions.
They have a clear-cut leader and potential All-American in Jalen Wilson who was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
They have an experienced returning point guard in Dajuan Harris Jr., an experienced, impactful transfer in Kevin McCullar Jr., and they’ll have the services of super-senior Cam Martin who redshirted a season ago.
This team also features a loaded freshman class led by likely one-and-done prospect Gradey Dick.
And if the sophomore trio of Bobby Pettiford, Zach Clemence, and KJ Adams take their games to the next level, this Kansas team will feature depth and talent that will be difficult to stop no matter which lineup is on the floor.
The road less traveled
If the Jayhawks hope to repeat as national champions, they will have to navigate through a tough Big 12 conference that currently features five teams in the top 25.
The last team to repeat as national champions in college basketball came in 2007 when the Florida Gators went back to back under then-head coach Billy Donovan.
Prior to Florida, the last team to repeat was the Duke Blue Devils in 1992.
It’s a rare feat for a team to repeat as national champions, especially nowadays when there seems to be more coaching and player turnover than ever before.
But they say history has a way of repeating itself.
If that’s true, it could be another historic year for a Kansas basketball program that has a chance to repeat as national champions, just as they did 100 years ago.