There was a semblance of calm pervading Kansas University’s basketball program and its fans the week prior to the KU-North Carolina battle for the national college title in 1957, but earlier employment of the race card continued to simmer below the surface.

KU officials, players and coaches refused to be drawn into a hot debate about what had happened at Dallas on March 15 and 16. But disturbed fans were still muttering after Kansas had defeated SMU and Oklahoma City to win the regional title and advance to the Final Four March 22 and 23 in Kansas City.

The Texas crowds had been ugly two nights in a row, clearly favoring all-white SMU and OCU against a Kansas team that featured two African-Americans – All-American center Wilt Chamberlain and all-Big Seven guard Maurice King.

The Kansas team had to be headquartered at the Hotel Lennox in Grand Prairie, 30 miles outside Dallas. Large Texas hotels would not accommodate the KU team with its black players. Staying in Dallas would have meant part of the team was there and the other fragment somewhere else. Traveling to and fro was inconvenient but preferable to the split for racial reasons.

Yet the lodging situation was only the beginning of what at times was a highly unpalatable, though productive, Jayhawk venture to the region.

Dallas and Texas were definitely a red-neck stronghold in 1957 and made no attempt to hide their prejudices.

SMU with Jim Krebs was the darling team of the audience, and when Krebs fouled out as Kansas won, 73-65 in overtime, on Friday night, the audience was riled by the belief that the officials were protecting the Jayhawks, particularly Chamberlain and King. It was SMU’s first defeat in 36 games at home so, to say the least, the natives were restless.

The 1957 Jayhawks pose for a quick photo before boarding a flight to Dallas for their regional contest with SMU.

The next night with Oklahoma City and all-star Hub Reed going against KU, the SMU band played Oke City tunes, the OCU players were quite aggressive, and the audience was primed for hostility.

Kansas walloped OCU, 81-61, but bad blood continued to flow. It had been heated steadily mainly by Abe Lemons, the oft-quoted coach of the Chieftains.

The gist of the thrust by Lemons, his supporters and many Texans was that the referees “protected” Chamberlain, who scored 66 points in the two games. Were the OCU players told to foul and rough up Chamberlain and King? Many observers thought so.

Coach Dick Harp felt OCU players were engaging in “nosedive” and “fall-down” or “flop” tactics to draw fouls on Chamberlain and sometimes had injury and disability on their minds. When one Chief player dived in front of Wilt and a foul was called, the spirited Harp leaped up and faced down Lemons with harsh words at the scorer’s table. Lemons said he was only talking to a referee and that Harp had yelled at him unfairly. Harp said he was concerned with the safety of his players and let Lemons and the officials know about it.

While Reed, the OCU star, went to the Kansas dressing room after the game to offer congratulations and visit with friend Chamberlain, other OCU players whose game behavior had been questionable declined such a liaison. Several sportswriters at the regional said that the OCU behavior might decimate its chances to be chosen for future NCAA Tournament play. That never occurred, but discussion was on the table for a while.

In one of the rare direct references to the KU treatment by the Texans, coach Harp said right after the hassles: “: I do feel that basketball is in danger if crowd demonstrations and behavior are not corrected. This is a dire circumstance but I want to make it clear I am not being specific about the Dallas crowd.” But his point was made.

Dallas long had campaigned for a major NCAA event but some were doubtful about its merits for a repeat session after the Kansas ruckus.

It was a hydra-headed conflict that bubbled through the coming week. KU people such as Chancellor Franklin Murphy, athletic director Dutch Lonborg, coach Dick Harp and his players held back and played it totally low-key

Remaining in the spotlight of notoriety, however, were Lemons and head referee Al Lightner, a Salem, Ore., sports editor.

Lemons constantly contended the referees had taken special care of Chamberlain. The coach said he had instructed his players they could earn foul shots by getting in front of Chamberlain when he ran down the court “because he can’t turn within 20 feet.” Abe said such calls were never made though he felt they were justified.

“We got beat up and they protected that big guy all night,” Lemons bemoaned.

Lemons added that his team was handicapped by having to play against that “seven-man zone” they threw at us, indicating the two referees had given Kansas special privileges. (Two referees were the fashion then in contrast to three in today’s games.)

Lightner was no shrinking violet and put the burden where he thought it belonged. He said that before the game Lemons had said “if that big (n-word) piles into any of my players you’re going to see big trouble.” Lightner did not backtrack when confronted with that issue and what happened in the Dallas games. The KU victory over home-standing SMU and the flames that were fanned by Lemons and the SMU and OCU fans had the crowd throwing debris, seat cushions, coins, food and such, onto the court.

KU sophomore Ron Loneski, noted as a jibester, said, “I was disappointed they threw only pennies onto the court. With all those rich Texans, I figured it would be at least silver dollars, which I’d have stopped to pick up, by the way.”

At one point during the tournament, referee Lightner went to Matty Bell, SMU athletic director, and said that if the crowd could not be brought under control the game would be forfeited to Kansas. Whether Bell factored in the proceedings or not, things cleared up enough to finish the game.

The next week in Lawrence, coach Harp, his players and other KU officials declined to be drawn into the ugly mess. They stressed their delight in winning the regional title in Dallas with no reference to the treatment they had received from the Texans and Oklahomans involved. They persistently emphasized that they were focusing on the March 22 and 23 games in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium, the first with highly rated San Francisco.

USF had won 1955 and 1956 NCAA titles and was noted for its defensive play even though K.C. Jones and Bill Russell had departed. KU was the favorite, but Frisco was given a good chance to spring an upset due to 6-9 center Art Day, who was considered a potential stopper for the 7-0 Chamberlain.

If KU could get by Frisco on Friday night, on Saturday it was to face the winner of the Michigan State-North Carolina semifinal. Unbeaten Carolina (30-0) was rated No. 1 in the nation and Kansas (24-2) second, but the Jayhawks due to Chamberlain and its familiarity with Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium were already three-point favorites if the two should collide.

By the March 22-23 weekend, the previous racial ugliness had diminished and honest-to-goodness title-contending basketball again was in prime focus for most.