Memories of Jayhawk Basketball

It was 20 years ago this week. I was a sophomore at the University of Kansas, living in the Hillel House, and a HUGE KU basketball fan. It had been a rough year. I was there in the stands at Allen Field House when K-State ended the Jayhawks’ 55-game home court winning streak (yes, I was one of those basketball geeks in tears when the final buzzer sounded on that one). I watched in agony from behind the basket during the home game against Duke, as Billy King grabbed Milt Newton’s arm and pulled Newton down on top of himself - Newton got whistled for his 5th foul, and KU lost in overtime. And I sat in my favorite chair in the Hillel House living room as I watched KU ensure that those earlier games didn’t matter. Danny Manning led “Danny & the Miracles” to a National Championship victory against an Oklahoma team that was supposed to run them out of the gym. (For the record, the Miracles included Milt Newton, Chris Piper, Kevin Pritchard, Jeff Gueldner, Clint Normore, Scooter Barry, Keith Harris, Lincoln Minor, Mike Maddox, and the injured Archie Marshall). I jumped up from my chair and immediately headed out the door and up the hill to the spontaneous street party on Jayhawk Blvd. In retrospect, probably should have put my shoes on first.

It was 17 years ago, in the middle of the night, after First Seder, that Corey, Jay Lewis, Mark Pakula and I loaded up the Stealth Medallion and made the 501 mile drive down I-70 to the Final Four in Indianapolis, IN. We stayed that first night with Teresa’s family in Indy. We watched as, much like this year, the Jayhawks upset a heavily-favored North Carolina team in the semi-finals. On the in-between day, we checked out the NCAA 3-point shooting contest and dunk contest (”He’s up, he’s out of the car, he’s OK!”) and overpaid for scalped tickets to an Indiana Pacers game (was that play Detlefian or Schrempfy?). In the Final, the Jayhawks lost to Grant Hill and the Duke Blue Devils. Despite the loss, we had a great time.

There have been Jayhawk trips to the Final Four since those two. But I’m getting that same “something special is happening here” feeling about this team that you couldn’t help but feel back in 1988. Heck, there’s even an injured senior reserve player to rally around, like there was back in 1988 (sorry about that Rod). So good luck tomorrow night, Jayhawks. I’ll be watching from home, like I have this entire tournament. But just for old times’ sake, I think I’ll take off my shoes before the game starts.

(Click on the image to hear a fun tribute song to this year’s team. Thanks, Bic Media. Note: The song was updated today, to reflect the Semifinal victory.)