Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching," he served as the head basketball coach at Baker University (1905–1908), the University of Kansas (1907–1909, 1919–1956), Haskell Institute—now Haskell Indian Nations University (1908–1909), and Warrensburg Teachers College—now the University of Central Missouri (1912–1919), compiling a career college basketball record of 746–264. In his 39 seasons at the helm of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball program, his teams won 24 conference championships and three national titles.
The Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively recognized Allen's 1921–22 and 1922–23 Kansas teams as national champions. Allen's 1951–52 squad won the 1952 NCAA tournament and his Jayhawks were runners-up in the NCAA Tournament in 1940 and 1953. His 590 wins are the most of any coach in the history of the storied Kansas basketball program.
Allen attended the University of Kansas, having already acquired the nickname "Phog" for the distinctive foghorn voice he had as a baseball umpire.
He lettered in baseball and basketball, the latter under James Naismith, the inventor of the game. Allen served as the head football coach at Warrensburg Teachers College from 1912 to 1917 and at Kansas for one season in 1920, amassing a career college football record of 34–19–3. He also coached baseball at Kansas for two seasons, in 1941 and 1942, tallying a mark of 6–17–1, and was the university's athletic director from 1919 to 1937.
Allen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1959.The home basketball arena at the University of Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse, was named in his honor when it opened in 1955. His final season at Kansas was the first full season the Jayhawks played at Allen Fieldhouse.
In addition to coaching basketball, baseball, and American football, he was a college athletics administrator and osteopathic physician.
Early life
Allen was born in the town of Jamesport, Missouri. His father, William Allen, was among the 30 people who originally incorporated Jameson, Missouri in 1879 and the doctor who delivered Allen lived in James. However, he had strong ties to Jamesport where he was town clerk, collector, and constable. His family later moved to Independence, Missouri.
Playing career
Allen began classes at the University of Kansas in 1904, where he lettered three years in basketball under James Naismith's coaching, and two years in baseball. Unlike his time as a coach, the Jayhawks struggled on the court. In his three seasons as a player, the team only had one winning season. He was a player for the team for the Jayhawks' first games in their rivalries against Kansas State and Missouri. In 1905 he also played for the Kansas City Athletic Club. At Kansas, he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.
Coaching career
Basketball
Allen coached at William Chrisman High School (then known as Independence High School) in Independence, Missouri, the University of Kansas, Baker University, Haskell Institute, and Warrensburg Teachers College in Warrensburg, Missouri.
Allen launched his coaching career at his alma mater in 1907, but took a hiatus after graduating in 1909 to study osteopathic medicine at Central College of Osteopathy in Kansas City, Missouri. Known as “Doc” to his players and students, he was reputed to be a colorful figure on the University of Kansas campus, coaching all sports and becoming known for his osteopathic manipulation techniques for ailing athletes.
Allen was a legend in the field of treatment of athletic injuries and benefited a long list of high-profile performers. He also had a successful private osteopathic practice, and many he treated, the famous and otherwise, contended he had a "magic touch" for such ailments as bad backs, knees and ankles. He said he applied the same treatments to "civilians" as he did to his athletes.
His forceful, yet reasonable, disposition helped him become the driving force behind the acceptance of basketball as an official Olympic sport at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. Allen later worked as an assistant coach in the 1952 Summer Olympics, helping to lead the United States to the gold medal in Helsinki, Finland.