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Boulder, Colo. — Kansas coach Roy Williams has written many a letter in his 51 years on the planet.

But Williams says emphatically he did not pen a letter to Colorado freshman David Harrison during recruiting last year a letter CU coach Ricardo Patton alleges Williams wrote to persuade the 7-foot McDonald's All-American to attend Vanderbilt or North Carolina instead of Colorado.

Citing this letter, Patton accused Williams of "negative recruiting" at last spring's Big 12 meetings.

Two of Williams' former assistants Kevin Stallings and Matt Doherty coach at Vanderbilt and North Carolina respectively.

"I am 99.9-tenths sure I have never written David Harrison, never called David Harrison, never went to see David Harrison play," Williams said after Saturday's 97-85 victory over Colorado. "I am pretty organized. You are talking to a guy, if you ask me what I did at 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 12, 1990, I can tell you. As a high school coach I've kept every practice plan I've ever had. I pretty much know what I am doing most of the time.

"That is not to say I can't make a mistake. Over 14 years I have probably written a couple of letters to prospects recommending one of my former assistant coaches and their programs, probably a couple. I do not remember writing David Harrison a letter.

"I honest to goodness think I would remember that. Every letter I've written every prospect, we've kept in our files. We cannot find any letter there whatsoever. We can't even find an address or profile sheet on David Harrison in our computer.

"Somebody has convinced Ricardo it happened. I have asked for the letter. No letter has been shown to me."

Williams continued.

"If I were going to write a letter to any prospect, and David Harrison was a fantastic prospect, and if I were going to recommend somebody to go to Vanderbilt and North Carolina why would I leave out Tennessee? Jerry Green (former Tennessee coach) is one of my former assistants and my most loyal friend in the whole world. Why would I leave him out?"

Williams said even if he did write a letter and he repeated 10 times he's 99.9-percent sure he didn't there'd be nothing wrong with that.

"If I write a letter to anyone and recommend a former assistant, it still should be all right," the coach said. "Now if I said, 'Don't go to Colorado or whatever Ricardo has a bad golf swing' it probably is wrong."

Williams said he was disappointed something that came out of the coaches meetings has come out in the press.

He also said he'll never address the issue again.

"Even the pope is not gonna get me to address it again. I have said many times I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ricardo Patton and what he's done for Colorado's program," Williams said.

Lots of KU fans in crowd: Kansas had its usual strong showing of fans for Saturday's KU-Colorado game at Coors Events Center.

About 3,000 KU supporters

many who made the drive from western Kansas lined the upper reaches of the 11,076-seat building.

The Jayhawks' tallest booster? Raef LaFrentz of the Denver Nuggets, who had one of the best seats in the house near the KU bench.

"I was 4-0 here," said LaFrentz, who remains a proud Jayhawk.

On Friday, KU's players and coaches watched LaFrentz score 20 points and grab 12 rebounds in a disappointing 82-80 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. LaFrentz's contract is up at the end of the season.

Also on hand Saturday was former Jayhawk forward Mark Randall, a Nuggets' scout.

Carter to transfer: Jason Carter, a 6-foot-9 CU freshman from Las Vegas deemed academically ineligible second semester, has decided to transfer, the Boulder Daily Camera reported.

His destination could be Compton (Calif.) Community College. Current Buff guard Mookie Wright and ex-Buff Jaquay Walls both attended that junior college.

Max allowed to fly: One never knows when a KU basketball media guide will come in handy.

Veteran KU broadcaster Max Falkenstien, who forgot his driver's license, needed to produce a picture ID at Kansas City International to board his commercial flight Saturday to Denver.

Enter broadcast partner Bob Davis, who pulled out a media guide and showed the airline attendant a bio of Falkenstien and picture of the announcer in the brochure.

That worked. Falkenstien was allowed entry on the plane.

Never easy: Five of KU's last six wins in Boulder had been decided by 10 points or less.

"We've had good success here, but it's never been easy," Williams said. "We've had a couple by a big margin, but not many in our 14 years."

Prepared: Williams believes KU's nonconference schedule prepared the Jayhawks well for Saturday's Big 12 opener and league games to come.

Highlights included wins over Seton Hall and Houston in Hawaii, a true road win at Arizona and home victories over Wake Forest and Tulsa.

"I was reading USA Today and saw our schedule has been ranked 26th most difficult in the country, the best of any teams in our league," Williams said. "Twenty six out of 318 teams to play that kind of schedule and accomplish what we did can only prepare you for what is to come in conference play."

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