Phog Allen Forrest Clare " Phog " Allen ( November 18 , 1885 – September 16 , 1974 ) was an American basketball and baseball player , coach of American football , basketball , and baseball , college athletics administrator , and osteopathic physician . 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 storied history of the 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 . 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 , William Allen also had strong ties to Jamesport where he was town clerk , collector , and constable . Biographies of Allen usually refer to his birthplace as Jamesport . His family later moved to Independence , Missouri . Playing and coaching career . 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 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 . In 1905 he also played for the Kansas City Athletic Club . At Kansas he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity . Allen launched his coaching career at his alma mater in 1907 , but took a hiatus after graduating in 1909 to study osteopathic medicine at Kansas College of Osteopathy . 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 , contend 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 basketball becoming accepted as an official sport in the Olympics in 1936 . Allen later coached in the 1952 Summer Olympics , leading the United States to the gold medal in Helsinki , Finland . He coached college basketball for 50 seasons , and compiled a 746 – 264 record , retiring with the all - time record for most coaching wins in college basketball history at the time . During his tenure at Kansas , Allen coached Dutch Lonborg , Adolph Rupp , Ralph Miller and Dean Smith , all future Hall of Fame coaches . Among the Hall of Fame players he coached were Paul Endacott , Bill Johnson , and Clyde Lovellette . He also recruited Wilt Chamberlain to Kansas , and even coached former United States Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole . Allen Fieldhouse , the basketball arena on the campus of the University of Kansas , is named in his honor . A banner that hangs in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse reads : " Pay heed all who enter , beware of the Phog . " Phog Allen was enshrined as part of the inaugural class in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959 . Allen also created the National Association of Basketball Coaches , which went on to create the NCAA tournament .