ARLINGTON, Texas — Like it or not, we’re in a new era of NCAA Tournament basketball. This is the age of bigger stadiums, more fans and more money. This is the age of playing a Regional Final at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the famous video board has another, “smaller,” video board hanging below [...]
Kansas is playing its best half of the postseason. Jeff Withey is dunking and blocking. Naadir Tharpe is making step-back threes. Travis Releford is making spine-twisting layups. And Ben McLemore is on the bench, cheering them on. This was the scene in the second half Sunday at the Sprint Center, as the Jayhawks beat North [...]
Beware the Ides of March, For that’s when the craving sets in And the fan develops a parch, Just thirsting for their team to win. But as the tournament unfurls And hopes begin to rise, Fans’ lust for pearls Will soon be their demise. The journey has been wild, Filled with victory and sorrow. Leaving [...]
Just don’t call it Allen Fieldhouse East. Over the next two weeks, unless anything shocking happens, the Jayhawks will have a new home court of sorts at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. On Thursday, Kansas will play either West Virginia or Texas Tech in the Sprint Center’s two-week basketball extravaganza that’s on its way. [...]
No coach in America likes his team to be “nice.” They may not admit it, but there’s no way a successful college basketball coach thinks to himself, “Gee, I wish we could have a nicer group of guys.” This Kansas team, for the most part, is naturally a group of nice guys. It just so [...]
What can one game do to a team? That one’s easy. Just look back to when February was only three days old. Just look back to when Marcus Smart acted more like a cheerleader than a basketball player, flipping all over James Naismith Court. Just look back to when the Jayhawks took their first blow [...]
What can 10.8 seconds mean? That was my assignment — to find out what Mario Chalmers’ miracle heave means to Bill Self five years later. And I tried to do just that. I really did. But what kept pounding through my head was the fact that Chalmers’ shot, his career, means so much to so [...]
Talk about a happy birthday. On Ben McLemore’s 20th, he scored 30 points. On his 20th, the Jayhawks busted a three-game losing streak. They did so by beating Kansas State by 21 points — on his 20th. Yes, it was one of those special days at Allen Fieldhouse where everything seemingly comes together perfectly. It [...]
A crossover dribble can be a funny thing. When it’s done well, when a defender doesn’t expect it, when a defender can’t do anything about it, it’s one of basketball’s prettiest plays. When it goes off a defender’s foot in the final possession of a game, it gives fans the opportunity to question your job. [...]
The answer: Everyone else keeps losing and Kansas keeps winning. That’s how it’s happening. That’s how the Jayhawks’ gradual rise in the rankings has landed Kansas basketball with a claim to be America’s No. 1 team. But it hasn’t been pretty, you say. Well, fortunately for the Jayhawks, there are no stipulations for winning ugly. [...]
MANHATTAN — A final kiss goodbye. That’s all Elijah Johnson wanted. Johnson delayed his final steps off the court at Bramlage Coliseum to say farewell. He brought both his hands to his lips and blew multiple kisses to the notoriously boisterous Kansas State student section. The kisses were accompanied with the kind of beaming smile [...]
Three, two, one. This is not a countdown to zero. This is the number of wins the Kansas football team has had in each of (my) three years at Kansas. In case math isn’t your strong suit, that’s a total of six wins in three seasons. Which leads me to the question: Have we witnessed [...]
While you were home for Thanksgiving, eating those home cooked meals, drinking your “beverages” and watching football, your old friend decided to stop by Lawrence. You may have missed him, but he left a note. He even dropped off some of his belongings. This is your old friend that used to get in trouble at [...]
1-11. After the second game of the football season, I wrote in this very spot that Kansas wouldn’t win another game. 1-11. While I may end up being right about the record, I was very wrong about how it would happen. After Kansas lost to Rice, I thought this season would mirror the last two [...]
The most dominant player for Kansas basketball this season will be its point guard. No, it won’t be Elijah Johnson. Or Naadir Tharpe. Or Anrio Adams. It will be Angel Goodrich, the budding star of the women’s basketball team. Any one of the 1,926 fans in attendance at Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday knows why, too. [...]
