LaVannes C. Squires (1931 – February 19, 2021) was the first African-American to play basketball at the University of Kansas during the 1951-1954 seasons, which made him a part of the 1952 National Championship team.
[1] During the 1940s, Squires looked youthful, stood barely over six feet tall, and weighed about 180 pounds; however as a teenager he was very meager.
At the time of his senior year at Wichita East High School, LaVannes was still very small but a good athlete; he earned the nickname “Felix the Cat” from his peers due to his quickness and slender appearance.
If he continues to improve as he has in the past few weeks he’ll play a lot for us.” According to Coach Allen, he was well-liked by the team and the crowd also.
[2] As Coach Allen had stated in the LJWorld, the media guide for the 1951-1952 Basketball season backed him up, it said that Squires was a better than average prospect who played for Ralph Miller at Wichita East, a former KU great.
Squires was living up to his high school nickname, being called “clever” and a “quick ball-handler” but needed to work on his aggressiveness.
In 1952, Squires was 6 foot 6 inches tall and a nifty shooter which helped the Jayhawks to their first NCAA title in a substitute role during that year.
This was seen as a loss that would detrimentally hurt the team in factors such as speed, aggressiveness, and defense which Squires was known for helping out immensely in these areas.
Coach Allen came under fire in 1953 from sports editor Jim Hall when he left Squires at home in Lawrence when the Jayhawks were set to play Tulane and LSU.