Bill ‘Skinny’ Johnson’s jersey No. 33 to hang in Allen Fieldhouse rafters Monday night

Former University of Kansas basketball center Bill “Skinny” Johnson, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 and National Collegiate Basketball Hall in 2006, will be honored by his alma mater at halftime of Monday night’s KU-Cincinnati game.

Tipoff is 8 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse with a live telecast on ESPN.

Johnson — he died in 1980 at the age of 68 — will have his jersey No. 33 hung in the south rafters of the fieldhouse in a halftime ceremony attended by his son, Bill Johnson Jr., his daughter JoAnn Johnson Trenary, and other family members.

Johnson, a 6-foot-4 native of Oklahoma City, referred to as “rail-thin” in his Naismith Hall of Fame profile, led the Jayhawks to three-consecutive Big Six Conference titles under legendary KU coach Phog Allen.

He was first-team all-Big Six Conference in 1932 and 1933 and second team in 1931. He helped KU to a 41-12 record during his three seasons at KU, including a 22-8 mark in Big Six games.

In 1932-33, he led the team with a 10.7 scoring average

“William ‘Skinny’ Johnson was an athletic big man of the early 1930s who was nicknamed due to his thin physique. A giant in basketball of his era, Johnson was a great leaper who helped his team control the game by winning a majority of the center jumps that took place after each basket was scored,” reads a description of Johnson at hofbbplayers.com. “Skinny was also a scorer, averaging over 10 points per game one season back in the early days of basketball when scores were very low.”

The rule requiring jump balls after every basket was changed in 1937.

After college, Johnson played AAU basketball, leading Southern Kansas to the AAU championship each year from 1934-1936. As a coach, Skinny led Cleveland Chiropractic College to a 16-2 record and the Naismith Industrial League and Kansas City Independent Tournament titles.

Johnson served in the U.S. National Reserve from 1943-1946. Hoopszone.net related a story KU coach Allen used to tell all the time regarding the devotion of Johnson to the KU team in showing up for a key game on the final Saturday of the 1932 Big Six season.

KU was scheduled to meet Oklahoma in Lawrence and on the same night Missouri was to meet Kansas State in Manhattan. If Oklahoma defeated Kansas and Missouri won at Kansas State, the Big Six would finish in a tie.

Johnson’s dad died in Oklahoma City four days before the big game. Skinny Johnson on Wednesday night promptly boarded a train to attend his dad’s funeral to take place on the day of KU’s conference finale.

The funeral for Johnson’s father, according to hoopzone.net, was set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The KU-OU game was scheduled for an 8 p.m. Saturday tip.

All day Saturday, it was believed Johnson would miss the game.

However, an hour before tipoff, KU coach Allen received a telephone call informing him Johnson had landed at an airport 30 miles away in Ottawa and was en route via taxi to Hoch Auditorium for the game.

“About 10 minutes before game time, walking into Hoch Auditorium, who would show up but Bill Johnson. All at once, bedlam broke loose, and the crowd of 3,500 Kansas rooters went wild when Johnson appeared on the floor,” wrote hoopzone,net.

“Kansas players, stunned at first, showered their teammate with adulation. At the end of the half, radio reports announced that Missouri had won at Manhattan, so the next 30 minutes would tell if KU or OU would win the undisputed conference crown, and KU was enjoying a 14-point lead, 20-6.

“OU stormed out in the second half scoring the first 10 points, but the Sooners met Kansas on a night when Kansas’s fighting morale was heightened and KU won in a driving finish, 31-27.”

Hoopzone.net wrote that “Phog made this game a part of his storytelling repertoire, dramatically putting his hand to his ear as if listening for the droning plane carrying Johnson to Ottawa. He not only had a good story with which to motivate future Jayhawks, he had his 10th conference title in 15 seasons coaching at Kansas.”