Technically it started with Phog Allen

Posted on: January 30, 2017 at 16:20:08 CT

http://articles.latimes.com/1985-10-18/sports/sp-13550_1_wilt-chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain Says Boosters Paid Him to Play Basketball for Kansas in the 1950s

The payment system was "much more sophisticated" than just giving an athlete cash.

"The boosters were delegated by a little group," he said. "They would say, 'OK, we will allow you, A, B and C, to go out and help to recruit Wilt Chamberlain, and you become like his godfather.'

"I had two or three godfathers. That way it wasn't sure where it was coming from. Everyone was assigned at least one godfather when I was at Kansas."

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ku's first tainted national championship was due almost exclusively to Clyde Lovellete, who is still the only player in history to lead the nation in scoring and win an NCAA title in the same season. He was named National Player of the Year for the 8th ranked jayhawks and captured NCAA Tourney MOP honors by scoring 31, 44, 33 and 33 in his four games, and set tournament records for points (141), rebounds (69), field goals (53) and free throws (35). In 1948 Lovellette, who was from Indiana, had already committed to home state IU. He went home to pick up some clothes and was next seen in Lawrence signing to play for the jayhawks who were coming off an impressive 9-15 record. As told to Ted O’Leary of the KC Star by Phog Allen and detailed in the ESPN Encyclopedia of Basketball: "There was nothing irregular in my recruitment of Wilt Chamberlain. But Clyde Lovellette - well, that's another story."

Edited by FIJItiger at 16:20:25 on 01/30/17