Ted Owens to enter National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026
Ted Owens will enter the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in October, adding another chapter to KU’s coaching lineage in Lawrence.
Former Kansas coach Ted Owens will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026, with the ceremony set for Oct. 22 at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City, Missouri. The honor lands in a year when the hall will welcome its 20th class, placing Owens alongside some of college basketball’s most recognizable names.
For Lawrence, the selection reaches beyond a lifetime achievement notice. Owens is already woven into KU’s identity through a 19-year run from 1964 to 1983 that produced a 348-182 record, six Big Eight Conference championships and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. He also led Kansas to Final Four trips in 1971 and 1974 and was named national coach of the year in 1978 by Basketball Weekly.
Kansas Athletics says Owens is one of only eight head coaches in Kansas basketball history, a narrow company that underscores how closely the program ties its present to the coaches who built it. He now joins Phog Allen, Larry Brown and Roy Williams, who were all part of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 2006, extending a KU coaching line that still shapes how fans in Lawrence talk about the program.
The 2026 class also includes coaches Tubby Smith and Jay Wright, along with players Danny Ainge, Glen Rice and the late Walt Hazzard. That mix of coaches and star players puts Owens in a group that spans eras and styles, but his résumé stands out for its length as much as its peaks. The numbers attached to his tenure, especially the 19 seasons and the steady run of conference and NCAA Tournament success, show a program built on durability rather than a single breakthrough year.
Owens marked the news at a Monday press conference by focusing on the people around him, saying he was most proud not just for himself but for his family, friends, players and coaching staff. That framing fits a coach whose legacy in Lawrence has always been about more than the final score. It is about the era of Kansas basketball that still echoes in Allen Fieldhouse and in the way Douglas County measures its sports history.
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