Alltime Best For Kansas' top 50 homegrown sports figures, go to SI.com/50
BARRY SANDERS, Football player
One of the most dazzling running backs ever, the 5'8" Wichita
native won the 1988 Heisman at Oklahoma State after setting 13
NCAA single-season records. He played 10 seasons for the Detroit
Lions, rushing for 15,269 yards (third-most alltime) before
retiring in 1998 at age 30.
DEAN SMITH, Basketball coach
The winningest college hoops coach in history (879 victories),
Smith led North Carolina to 23 consecutive NCAA tournament
appearances and two national titles (1982 and '93). He grew up in
Emporia and won an NCAA title in 1952 as a reserve guard at
Kansas.
WALTER JOHNSON, Baseball player
The Big Train won 417 games--second on the alltime list to Cy
Young--despite pitching for generally mediocre Washington
Senators' teams for 21 seasons. Armed with a wicked fastball, the
righthander from Humboldt had an ERA of 2.36 and 110 shutouts,
the most ever.
ADOLPH RUPP, Basketball coach
The Halstead native and Phog Allen disciple coached at the
University of Kentucky from 1930 to '72, guiding the Wildcats to
an 876-190 record, four NCAA championships and an NIT title. He
held the career wins mark until Dean Smith eclipsed it in 1997.
JIM RYUN, Middle-distance runner
The first high schooler to run a sub-four-minute mile, he made
the 1964 Olympic team while still at East High in Wichita. The
Kansas alum held world records at 880 yards, a mile and 1,500
meters, and won Olympic silver in the 1,500 in '68. He is now a
U.S. Congressman.
MAURICE GREENE, Sprinter
The Kansas City native and Kansas City Kansas Community College
alum set the world record in the 100 meters (9.79 seconds) in
1999 and earned two gold medals at the 2000 Olympics, in the 100
and the 4x100 relay. He's also a three-time world champ in the
100.
COLOR PHOTO: DOUG PENSINGER/ALLSPORT /GETTY IMAGES (SANDERS)
COLOR PHOTO: BILL FRAKES (SMITH)
THREE B/W PHOTOS: AP (JOHNSON, RUPP, RYUN)
COLOR PHOTO: CHRISTOPHE BAUDRY/DPPI/ICON SMI (GREENE)
