If you are “snoop”ing around for a Roo reason to cheer for Kansas over UNC in Monday’s NCAA title game, I’ve got one for you “dogg.”
Austin College Hall of Honor member Larry Tidwell’s tenure includes a stint as assistant coach for the Kansas Jayhawks Women’s basketball team. Yup, Coach Tidwell has paced the sidelines of the legendary Allen Field House in Lawrence, KS. At AC, Tidwell was a starting quarterback for Coaches Larry Kramer & Bill Snyder. Larry Tidwell was inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
My favorite Larry Tidwell story? Larry told it to me in person at Legends a few years back. I’m a little hazy on the details, as adult beverages were involved.
Former KU coach James Naismith is better known as the founder of the game of basketball. Before his arrival at KU, Naismith famously wrote down his “13 rules of basketball” in 1891. The documents are prominently displayed under lock & key at Allen Field House. Today, these artifacts are a must see for all fans of basketball who attend a Jayhawks home game.
Decades earlier, however, the “13 rules of basketball” documents were less prominent & simply prized family possessions for the descendants of the Naismith family. According to Larry, one of those descendants dropped by for a visit to his house with the “13 rules” in tow. He later departed, and forgot to take the documents with him. As Tidwell told me at Legends, “the founding document of the game of basketball accidentally spent a weekend in my kitchen.” Now that sounds very Roo Tale to me.
“One, two, three and to the four. There’s a Rock Chalk Roo Tale behind e-var-y door.” – Rapmaster Marky Marc
