Jayhawkers (film)

Written byScott Richardson
Kevin Willmott

Produced byChris Blunk
Scott Richardson
J.S. Hampton

StarringKip Niven
Justin Wesley
Blake Robbins
Trai Byers
Jay Karnes

Jayhawkers
Film poster
Directed by	Kevin Willmott
Written by	Scott Richardson Kevin Willmott
Produced by	Chris Blunk Scott Richardson J.S. Hampton
Starring	Kip Niven Justin Wesley Blake Robbins Trai Byers Jay Karnes
Cinematography	Matt Jacobson Jeremy Osbern
Edited by	Stephen Deaver
Production companies	Audax Films Through A Glass Productions
Release date	March 7, 2014 (2014-03-07)^[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million

Jayhawkers is a 2014 American sports drama/biographical film directed by Kevin Willmott, following the life of Wilt Chamberlain, Phog Allen, and the 1956–57 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team. Former Kansas basketball player Scot Pollard portrays B. H. Born in the film.

The film, which was shot entirely in black and white, depicts Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen's recruitment of Wilt Chamberlain, the dedication of Allen Fieldhouse, and Allen's forced retirement. The film also follows Chamberlain's adjustment to life in Lawrence and his battle to help end segregation in the city, as well as the racism he experienced traveling for road games. The film depicts the Jayhawks triple overtime loss in the 1957 National Championship Game to North Carolina.^[2]

Cast

Kip Niven – Forrest "Phog" Allen
Justin Wesley – Wilt Chamberlain
Blake Robbins – Dick Harp
Jay Karnes – Chancellor Franklin Murphy
Trai Byers – Nathan Davis
Joseph Lee Anderson – Maurice King
Walter Coppage – Langston Hughes

Additionally, former Kansas basketball player Scot Pollard makes a brief appearance as fellow former Kansas basketball player B. H. Born.

Production

A portion of the budget was raised through the crowd-funding site Kickstarter, with over $54,000 raised.^[3] Shot in Lawrence, Kansas, Topeka, Kansas, and Leavenworth, Kansas,^[4] the film stars then-current Kansas Basketball player Justin Wesley as Chamberlain.^[5] The 6-foot-9 forward was recommended for the role by KU coach Bill Self to Willmott.^[6]

A teaser trailer was shown at Late Night in the Phog 2012,^[7] The film premiered in Lawrence, Kansas, on February 14, 2014, and made its public debut on February 28, 2014 at Liberty Hall near the University of Kansas campus.^[8]

Willmott, a film professor at the University of Kansas, cast multiple alumni of the school in the film, including Kip Niven, Jay Karnes, Trai Byers, and former basketball players Scot Pollard and Justin Wesley.

v t e Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Venues	Robinson Gymnasium (1907–1927) Hoch Auditorium (1927–1955) Allen Fieldhouse (1955–present)
Rivalries	Kansas State Missouri
Culture & lore	Big Jay Baby Jay Blue blood status Champions Classic "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" Jayhawkers
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Helms and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Jayhawkers (film)

Cast

Production

Reception

References

External links

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