Local Sports Hero:: The Untold Story of the University of Kansas Sports and Wesley B. Walker

By Jesse Newman

This book is an easy read (I deliberately chose a large font). Wesley Walker graduated high school right on the cusp of integration. Wilt Chamberlain was being aggressively recruited by the legendary Phog Allen that year. Walker, despite being a highly talented player, never played high school basketball. In the local city leagues, where he was omnipresent, he truly shined. He cosistently scored high, was a positive team player, and is fondly remembered by many from that time for generously sharing his acumen for the game. He was recruited by the Harlem Globe Trotter's farm team, the Jesters. If he had been properly "groomed" by good coaches, or recruited by the University of Kansas at that time, he might have played with Wilt Chamberlain. He should have been recruited at least by one of the Black colleges.The game was changing to a fast break one, and Walker played that kind of game. However, he went into the army instead. There he developed into quite a boxer. His development was cut short by a tragic car wreck, in which he almost lost a leg. Walker fought back, and became a wheelchair champ. In later years, he opened a local gym, and is beloved today by many who personally felt his influence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 8, 2009
• ISBN: 9781438997186

Jesse Newman

It all began simply enough. I was provoked by a newspaper claim about who was our best local sport figure. Why wasn't my cousin among the named? I recalled watching my cousin play years ago. We thought he was pretty good.  Further investigation proved our earliest impressions right. What began as a simple question in my mind turned into this book.  I have long been interested in history of all kinds, picking up a degree at the University of Kansas, in Japanese History. I had also written books before (one, an essay about humanity and history, published back in 1968, two others, unpublished). However, these books concerned history I had studied, rather than what I had lived. I went to visit my cousin, and discovereed he had saved newspaper clippings from high school to 1973. Looking through these delapidated scrap books, I decided to copy them for our local history  museum. They took a five hour long oral history from him, and it began to answer my questions. There followed this exploration. I am so glad it came now, while he is still alive.

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© 2009, 2012 Jesse Newman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 4/24/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4389-9718-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4389-9720-9 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009905948

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Table of Contents

Foreword from Jerry Waugh

Acknowledgements

Note from the Author

Born Battler

What If?

Before His Time

The Good Samaritan

Epilogue

Walker’s Statistics

Letters

Newspaper Clippings/Articles

Walker’s Work History

Bibliography

Foreword from Jerry Waugh

I arrived in Lawrence in the summer of 1954 to continue work on my master’s degree and to assume a new job as teacher and basketball coach at Lawrence High School. On my way to work, I noticed a young man hanging around the gym, shooting and playing pick-up games. He had exceptional skills as a shooter and in handling the ball. I experienced a small rush thinking this young man might be the cornerstone of my new team. I found his name to be Wesley Walker, a member of last year’s senior class—rush over.

The big question was, Why had I not heard of him? I had been in the coaching profession for three years; I knew of good teams and their outstanding players. Wesley should have been one of those outstanding players. He possessed exceptional skills; better than any of my players at Emporia who had gone to the state finals that past year.

What crack had he fallen into? Lawrence was moving out of its segregated past. I was a young teacher, and I was not aware of past Lawrence history. How did this excellent basketball player get lost along the way? Could he have played at the collegiate level? Were opportunities not available to him? Why did he not share in these missed opportunities?

We have all missed out on something, sometime. We have often benefited also from shared opportunities that helped us as a community, as a school system, as a teacher, and as striving individuals.

It is human nature to be uneasy with change, but thankfully, Lawrence, the university, and most of us as individuals, have made great strides in racial relations. Is there room for improvement? Certainly. History can make us wiser. Wesley Walker’s struggle to achieve is but one example to instruct us about that past, and hopefully, direct us toward a brighter future.

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(Jerry Waugh was a KU basketball player from 1947 to 1951, and went on to become a KU coach under Dick Harp from 1956 to 1960.)

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Acknowledgements

I received a lot of help from many people getting this manuscript ready. My special thanks and praise goes to Rebecca Altenbernd for taking my thoughts, research, and writings, putting them into better sentence structure. It was she who suggested that footnotes would allow me to make relevant comments without losing my subject matter, thus keeping the flow of my narrative. I kept finding new aspects of the story, and Becca found a place for each one.

The original reason for this story was to have all of Wesley B. Walker’s accomplishments