At the Hang-Up

Book excerpt: This book is about the life of Ted Owens - still the coach with the most wins in the history of Allen Fieldhouse - from growing up as a boy on a cotton farm in southwestern Oklahoma during the Great Depression to eventually coaching at the highest levels of the college basketball world. "At the end of each day on the farm, we would figure the total weight of the cotton we had pulled. We called it the "hang-up," says Owens. One day, in a competition to see who could pull the most cotton, Owens was leading his father, who then he gave him the greatest life lesson: "It's not what you have now that is important, it's what you have at the hang-up." He always reminded Ted that regardless of your station in life, whether encountering difficulties or enjoying success, you should never lose sight of your ultimate goals. The book is a story of the survival of a family built upon love, sacrifice, and the importance of family strength.At the age of 5, Owens made his first basketball goal. It was at that moment that basketball became his first love. He went on to play at the University of Oklahoma for Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Bruce Drake, and he witnessed the rise of national championship programs led by football coach Bud Wilkinson, wrestling coach Port Robertson and baseball coach Jack Baer. The book shares the ups and downs of building a coaching career. Owens' teams won 206 games in Allen Fieldhouse, a number that still leads today. He coached some of the era's greatest players while leading the Jayhawks against Hall of Fame coaches. The book offers little-known--and even unknown--insights into the personalities of these basketball giants.Playing now in the fourth quarter of his life, Owens shares what he has learned, passing on his lessons for life and wonderful, never-before-told stories of his time as a Kansas Jayhawks head basketball coach, a high-pressure job as there is in American sports, one that only eight men have held.