 In 1955 , Chamberlain joined KU . At KU , Chamberlain became a player for the Kansas Jayhawks freshman team under coach Phog Allen , whom he admired , and also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity , where he was the president of his pledge class . Announced as " looking lighter than his 240 pounds , [ able to ] reach 9 ' 6 " up in the air [ flatfooted ] , and [ with a wingspan of ] 7 ' 2 " , his debut was highly anticipated , and he delivered : in Chamberlain 's debut game for the freshman squad , the freshman Jayhawks were pitted against the varsity Jayhawks , who were favored to win their conference that year . Chamberlain dominated his older college mates by scoring 42 points ( 16 – 35 from the field , 10 – 12 on free throws ) , grabbing 29 rebounds and registering four blocks . Chamberlain 's prospects of playing under Allen ended , however , when the coach turned 70 shortly after and was forced to retire by KU regulation . Chamberlain had a bad relationship with Allen 's successor , Dick Harp , fueled by resentment and disappointment : Cherry has doubted whether Chamberlain would have chosen KU if he had known that Allen was going to retire . 
