Former Kansas Basketball Standout Bob Kenney Dies

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas men’s basketball standout Robert “Bob” Kenney, a member of KU’s 1952 NCAA National Championship men’s basketball team, died Oct. 27, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kenney was 83.
 
A native of Winfield, Kansas, Kenney played football and basketball at KU in 1949-50 and 1950-51, but turned his focus to basketball for his senior year in 1951-52. In hoops, the 6-2 forward played for head coach Forrest “Phog” Allen, winning two Big Seven Conference regular-season titles (1950 and 1952). A member of the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Kenney was KU’s second-leading scorer his junior and senior seasons, averaging 8.2 points per game in 1950-51 and 13.1 in KU’s national championship season. A team captain, Kenney earned All-Big Seven Conference First Team honors his senior year.
 
Kenney was one of seven Jayhawks selected to play on the 1952 U.S. Olympic team, which won the gold medal in Helsinki, Finland. Kenney was second on the U.S. team in scoring, averaging 10.9 points per contest. He was also a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico City, Mexico.
 
After KU, Kenney worked at Honeywell, A.B. May Co. and Hardin Stockton/Coldwell Banker real estate, where he retired as president of the Kansas City area offices. In 1995, he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.

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