JUNCTION CITY — The recruitment of Wilt Chamberlain to the University of Kansas by legendary coach Phog Allen, the challenges with segregation Chamberlain encountered when he arrived in Lawrence, and the triple-overtime matchup with North Carolina in 1957 are among the highlights of the movie, “Jayhawkers” — produced by Junction City native Kevin Willmott.
Willmott brought the movie to the C. L. Hoover Opera House where a large audience saw the show Saturday night. Willmott called the experience Saturday evening awesome.
“So good to see so many old friends, and see the film warmly received,” he said.
Willmott came up with the idea to do a film on Chamberlain after the former basketball star died several years ago, but fundraising was a challenge. Eventually, the focus of the movie shifted the challenges with segregation in Lawrence during Chamberlin’s time at KU and how he had a positive impact toward integration in the Lawrence community.
Current Kansas Jayhawk basketball player Justin Wesley portrayed Wilt Chamberlain.
“Justin is just an incredible young man,” Willmott said. “I think he was kind of made to play this part in so many ways. ”
Wesley is 6-foot-9, but that’s still more than 3 inches shorter than Chamberlain. In many of the scenes, Wesley had to stand on crates to reach the appropriate height.
Veteran actor Kip Nevin had a prominent role in the show in the role of Phog Allen, who recruited Chamberlain to KU, but never got to coach him on the varsity because he was forced to retire at the age of 70.
Geary County Commissioner Larry Hicks said the movie accurately depicted the challenges confronting African-Americans in the mid-1950s.
“It’s good to know that the time that Mr. Chamberlain was living was a time in which he was moving in terms of making some of those changes that were needed,” he said.
Willmott expects the movie to be available on DVD in the near future.