Final Four notes: K-State’s Rolando Blackman, College Hall class recognized
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2015 was introduced Saturday during a media timeout in the first half of the Duke-Michigan State game, and the loudest ovation went to former Indiana star Quinn Buckner. He was a member of the 1976 Hoosiers team that went undefeated, a feat Kentucky is attempting to match.
The other members introduced: Kansas State’s Rolando Blackman, Dayton coach Don Donoher, Ohio State’s John Havlicek, Illinois coach Lou Henson, Long Beach State’s Ed Ratleff and North Carolina’s Charlie Scott.
Also part of the class is the late Zip Gayles, longtime coach at Langston in Oklahoma.
The 10th annual enshrinement ceremony will take place on Nov. 20 at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland.
The CBE Classic games involving Kansas State, Missouri, North Carolina and Northwestern will be played Nov. 23-24 at Sprint Center.
His final Final Four
Photographer Rich Clarkson, whose first Final Four was Kansas’ 1952 championship in Seattle, is shooting a Final Four for the last time.
Clarkson, 82, has worked 60 Final Fours. He grew up in Lawrence and graduated from Kansas in 1956, and it was his photograph of a young Wilt Chamberlain lacing up his shoes in the KU locker room that helped launch his longstanding association with Sports Illustrated. Clarkson submitted the photo unsolicited, and Sports Illustrated ran it full page.
As a KU student, Clarkson traveled with Kansas to Seattle for the 1952 Final Four, and he was the only photographer to capture the awards ceremony. Clarkson often traveled with the team then, and his roommate on the road in those days was the Jayhawks’ 12th man, Dean Smith.
Clarkson worked for 21 years as director of photography for the Topeka Capital-Journal and has served as director of photography for National Geographic and the Denver Post. He is the president of Clarkson Creative in Denver, a creative and advertising agency.
“Where I sit cross-legged in the corner of the court and I’m sitting there and it becomes halftime and it becomes the end of the game, it gets more and more difficult just to stand up,” Clarkson said.
This story was originally published April 4, 2015 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Final Four notes: K-State’s Rolando Blackman, College Hall class recognized."