Kansas basketball: All-time starting lineup – Wilt Chamberlain headlines

3. G Jo Jo White (1966-1969)

I opted to go with a three-guard lineup for this all-time Kansas basketball team and the third guard has to be Jo Jo White. During the late ’60s, White was a key player on several successful Kansas basketball teams.

White was nearly a March Madness hero in 1966, hitting what could have been a game-winning shot against Texas Western before the referees ruled he was out of bounds. Texas Western would go on to win the national championship, so it is fair to wonder what could have been if White’s shot had counted.

White was a two-time All-American at Kansas but he ended up starting his career a semester early, leaving the Jayhawks a tough choice to make for his senior season in 1969. Head coach Ted Owens opted to have White play in the first semester, when Kansas had 18 games scheduled as opposed to eight in the second, ending his career before one final run in the NCAA Tournament.

One other amateur highlight for White came in 1968 when he helped lead the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal finish in Mexico City. White then went on to have a distinguished professional career, winning a pair of championships with the Boston Celtics and earning the NBA Finals MVP in 1976.

It took a while, but White was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, making him one of many Kansas basketball players to be represented in Springfield. White also had his number retired by Kansas in 2003.