ADOLPH RUPP
Adolph Rupp, known as The Baron of Basketball, is the man for which the Adolph Rupp Invitational Basketball Tournament is named.  Beginning in 1970, the tournament continues today in Rupp’s hometown of Halstead.  This is the 40th tournament honoring the Baron.

The ‘Halstead Connection’
Rupp was born just outside Halstead to Mennonite German immigrants, the fourth of six children. He grew up on a 163-acre farm which his father (Heinrich) homesteaded.  He first became interested in the sport of basketball at an early age when Halstead won the first of two consecutive Kansas State High School titles (1908, 1909).  According to interviews, he and his brothers stuffed rags into a gunnysack which his mother sewed up to use as a basketball on the family farm. Later, after growing to a sturdy 6-foot-2, Rupp starred on his Halstead High School team, averaging over 19 points a game in both his junior and senior years. Rupp also served as team captain and unofficial coach. 
After his 1919 graduation from Halstead High School, Rupp attended the University of Kansas.  Rupp was a reserve on the basketball team under legendary coach Dr. Forrest “Phog” Allen from 1919 to 1923.  In Rupp's junior and senior college seasons (1921-22 and 1922-23), KU had outstanding basketball squads. Later, both of these standout KU teams would be awarded the Helms National Championship, recognizing the Jayhawks as the top team in the nation during those seasons.

A Coaching Legacy
After graduation, Rupp looked for opportunities in banking but soon opted to take a teaching and coaching job at Burr Oak High School here in Kansas.  Disappointed in the facilities in Burr Oak, he later moved to Marshalltown, Iowa where he coached wrestling, a sport he knew nothing about at the time and learned from a book.
In 1926-29, Rupp accepted the basketball head coaching position at Freeport (Illinois) High School, where he also taught history and economics. He stayed at Freeport for four years, building a total record of 66-17 and guiding his team to a third-place finish in the 1929 state tournament.
Rupp’s destiny was fulfilled when accepted a job to coach at the University of Kentucky in 1930. His Wildcat teams won 4 NCAA National Championships (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958) and one NIT title in 1946.  His teams appeared in 6 Finals Fours, captured 27 Southeastern Conference regular season titles, and won 13 SEC tournaments. Rupp's Kentucky teams also finished ranked #1 on 6 occasions in the final AP college basketball poll.  Further, both Rupp's 1933 and 1954 Kentucky squads were awarded the Helms National Championship.  Four times he was chosen the national coach of the year.
Rupp's teams set an NCAA record by winning 129 consecutive games at home. His up-tempo style helped to revolutionize the sport, and Kentucky's success moved the game toward big-time national exposure. When Rupp retired in 1972, he had established a career record of 876 - 190, which was later broken by North Carolina's Dean Smith and Texas Tech’s Bobby Knight.  He coached 42 years at the UK, winning 82 percent of his games. 
The Adolph Rupp Trophy, named in Rupp's honor, has been awarded annually since 1972 by the Associated Press to the best player in men's college basketball.
Rupp died at age 76 in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 10, 1977, the very night UK defeated his alma mater, Kansas, at Allen Fieldhouse.  Fittingly, the game that night was promoted as "Adolph Rupp Night", in honor of Rupp.
A little more than a year before his death, the Wildcats moved from their 12,000 seat on-campus arena, Memorial Coliseum, to the (then) new 24,000 seat Rupp Arena. The arena continues to play host to Kentucky home games.  In addition, there have been numerous NCAA tournament games played in Rupp Arena over the years, including the 1985 men's Final Four.

A Tradition Continues
The 40th edition of the Adolph Rupp Invitational Basketball Tournament features perennial teams Andale (since 1995), Cheney (since 1976), Garden Plain (since 1979), Haven (since 1979), Rose Hill (since 1997), and host Halstead (since 1970).  Inman began coming to the Rupp in 2004 and Moundridge in 2008. 
On December 5, 2008, Rupp was inducted as a charter member of the inaugural Halstead High School Hall of Fame.  Several extended family members attended the Hall of Fame events, and Adolph Rupp, Jr. sent an audio taped message that evening.
Halstead High School is very proud to host the Rupp.  We believe that the communities currently in the tournament represent excellence in a variety of ways. In addition, teams are followed well by their fan base regardless of their record.  Thank you for your contribution in making this Rupp Tournament another good one. 

 

2011 RUPP

All Tournament Team                                                                      All Academic Team

Simon McKee             Halstead                                                        Cooper Wedel            Moundridge
Sean Osler                Cheney                                                          Daniel Ratzlaff           Moundridge
Trey Unrau                Moundridge                                                    Austin Shaffer            Rose Hill
Dylan Hawkins           Andale                                                           Tyler Knight               Rose Hill
Chris Sponsel            Garden Plain                                                   Chris Kerschen          Garden Plain
Luke Ropp                 Inman                                                            Paul Renyer              Garden Plain
Dylan Snodgrass        Haven                                                            Daniel Kihle              Andale
Kevin Borntrager        Haven                                                            Sean Osler               Cheney
Sam Newton              Rose Hill                                                         Andrew Pjesky          Halstead
Luke Willson              Rose Hill                                                         Jason Friesen            Inman
                                                                                                     Ridge Foster             Haven

 

MVP:  Sam Newton     Rose Hill      

 

First Round                                                                                       Three Point
                                                                                                           
Haven  47                  Cheney  45                                                      Ignacio Solis - Halstead
Inman 53                   Andale  51
Rose Hill  64               Moundridge  56
Garden Plain  50         Halstead  44

 

Semi-Finals                                                                                        Free Throw

Andale  57               Cheney  34                                                      McKial Bliss - Halstead
Moundridge  60        Halstead  57
Haven  38               Inman  35
Rose Hill  63            Garden Plain  55

 

7th Place
 Cheney  63                Halstead  43                                                    Sportsmanship Award

5th Place                                                                                              Haven
Andale  70                  Moundridge  34

3rd Place
Inman  55                   Garden Plain  46

Championship
Haven  48                   Rose Hill  41
           

Past Rupp Tournament Teams
(Tournament Champions in bold)
1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976
Cherryvale	Cherryvale	Ellsworth	Central Christian	Central Christian	Burrton	Burrton
Halstead	Halstead	Goddard	Ellsworth	Goessel	Central Christian	Central Christian
Hesston	Hesston	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Clearwater	Cheney
Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hesston	Hesston	Hesston	Halstead	Clearwater
Peabody	Peabody	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Halstead
St. John's	St. John's	Mulvane	Mulvane	Little River	Peabody	Hillsboro
		Peabody	Peabody	Mulvane	S.E. of Saline	Peabody
		Sacred Heart	Sacred Heart	Peabody	Stafford	Pretty Prairie
1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983
Burrton	Burrton	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney
Central Christian	Central Christian	Clearwater	Garden Plain	Douglass	Douglass	Garden Plain
Cheney	Cheney	Garden Plain	Halstead	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Halstead
Clearwater	Clearwater	Halstead	Haven	Halstead	Halstead	Haven
Halstead	Halstead	Haven	Hillsboro	Haven	Haven	Hesston
Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Neodesha	Hillsboro	Hesston	Hutch Trinity
Peabody	Peabody	Peabody	Peabody-Burns	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Lyons
Pretty Prairie	Pretty Prairie	Trinity	Trinity	Lyons	Lyons	S.E. of Saline
1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Cheney	Cheney	Bethel Life	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Andover
Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Cheney	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Cheney
Halstead	Halstead	Garden Plain	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead
Haven	Haven	Halstead	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven
Hesston	Hesston	Haven	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Hillsboro
Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity	Hutch Trinity
Lyons	Lyons	Lyons	Lyons	Lyons	Lyons	Lyons
S.E. of Saline	S.E. of Saline	S.E. of Saline	Ulysses	Nickerson	Nickerson	Nickerson
1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Andover	Andover	Andover	Andover	Andale	Andale	Andale
Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Andover	Andover	Cheney
Halstead	Halstead	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Cheney	Cheney	Garden Plain
Haven	Haven	Halstead	Halstead	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Halstead
Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Haven	Haven	Halstead	Halstead	Haven
Lyons	Lyons	Hillsboro	Hillsboro	Haven	Haven	Hesston
Marion	Marion	Lyons	Lyons	Lyons	Herington	Kingman
Nickerson	Nickerson	Nickerson	Nickerson	Nickerson	Nickerson	Rose Hill
1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale
Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney
Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain
Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead
Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven
Hesston	Hesston	Hesston	Hesston	Hesston	Hesston	Inman
Pratt	Nickerson	Nickerson	Kingman	Kingman	Rose Hill	Rose Hill
Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Stafford	Wichita Ind.
2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale	Andale
Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney	Cheney
Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Garden Plain	Graden Plain
Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead	Halstead
Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven	Haven
Inman	Inman	Inman	Inman	Inman	Inman	Inman
Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Moundridge	Moundridge	Moundridge	Moundridge
Wichita Ind.	Wichita Ind.	Wichita Ind.	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill	Rose Hill

2012 RUPP

All Tournament Team                                                                      All Academic Team

Hunter Knoblauch      Andale                                                        Cooper Wedel            Moundridge
Daniel Kihle              Andale                                                         Daniel Ratzlaff           Moundridge
Andrew Bergkamp    Andale                                                          Austin Shaffer           Rose Hill
Gabe Schomacker    Cheney                                                         Koal Gibson              Douglass
Ronnie Sobanek       Douglass                                                       Nick Mannebach        Garden Plain
Josh Becker             Garden Plain                                                  Gage Scheer            Cheney
Andrew Pjesky         Halstead                                                        Cash Kramer           Cheney
Luke Johnson           Haven                                                           Jed Beachy              Haven
Trey Unrau              Moundridge                                                    Ben Seiler               Andale
Luke Willson            Rose Hill                                                        Cole Meierhoff         Andale
                                                                                                             

 

MVP:  Trey Unrau      Moundridge   

 

First Round                                                                                       Three Point
Moundridge 70 – Haven 53
Cheney 63 – Halstead 48                                                                    Andrew Pjesky - Halstead
Andale 53 – Rose Hill 42
Garden Plain 53 – Douglass 51                                                                                                         

 

Semi-Finals                                                                                        Free Throw
Moundridge 64 – Cheney 62                                                              Trey Unrau - Moundridge
Andale 51 – Garden Plain 39
Haven 61 – Halstead 56
Rose Hill 61 – Douglass 58

 

7th Place                                                                                              Sportsmanship Award
Douglass 55 – Halstead 51
           
                                                                                                            Moundridge
5th Place                                                                     
Haven 50 – Rose Hill 42

 

3rd Place
Garden Plain 51 – Cheney 43

 

Championship
Andale 70 – Moundridge 57