Atlanta ? Reflections on the best Kansas University men’s basketball season of the 21st century and potentially one of the best of all time Â

Most Memorable Moment  Lots of them, of course, but I was really amused when Texas A&M’s Reed Rowdies, a sanitized version of Missouri’s Antlers, chanted “Harry Potter, Harry Potter” at Kirk Hinrich while he was shooting free throws.

Least Memorable Moments for Kirk Hinrich  When KU fans started displaying Harry Potter signs in Allen Fieldhouse. References to the popular book and movie wizard soon died out when Hinrich made it abundantly clear he didn’t care for the comparison.

Best Postgame Quip on National TV Â Drew Gooden, interviewed on CBS following the Final Four-qualifying win over Oregon, blurted: “I cut my toenails last night so my wheels would be ready to roll.”

Best Tattoo  Gooden again. The indelible marking on his right arm is just a basketball with a face and a crown on top. The tattoo has no real significance other than being distinctive.

Best Headband  Aaron Miles, by default. The freshman point guard is the only Jayhawk who wears one. By the way, Miles had two of them, but one was lost in St. Louis. In case you’re wondering, Miles dons the band only for practice and games. He doesn’t wear it to bed.

Most Unusual Superstition  Nick Collison says his is “making a wish at 11:11.” Do you have any guesses about what the 6-foot-9 junior post player will be wishing for at 11:11 a.m. on Saturday?

Potential Mark Randall Award Winner  Red-shirting guard Jeff Hawkins is the lone candidate to emulate the only KU player who sat out the Jayhawks’ 1987-88 NCAA championship season.

Golden Anniversary Special  KU officials honored the 1952 NCAA champions on the 50th anniversary of their feat knowing full well this year’s team had a golden opportunity to strike paydirt a half-century later.

Greatest Escape  Nebraska drained an astounding 18 three-point goals against the Jayhawks in Lincoln, yet Kansas survived the artillery attack and left town with an 88-87 triumph.

Jeff Boschee Night  Three days before Christmas, North Dakotans showed up nearly en masse at opulent Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, normally a hockey facility, to pay homage to Boschee, the small-population state boy who made good.

Best Follicle Adjustment  Boschee again. As a Kansas freshman, the 6-0 guard sported a chrome dome. Then he went to the short-hair look and finally to the contemporary boy-band hair-do. Thanks, Jeff, for avoiding the Luke Jackson look.

From Maui to Wowee? Â Way back on Nov. 19 in Maui, Kansas dropped its season opener to Ball State, 93-91, and nobody was talking NCAA Final Four on Nov. 20. Still, there was one harbinger. Drew Gooden scored 31 points, still his career high.

Ho, Ho, Ho, We’re 16 and Oh  Records are made to be broken, but I’d venture to say it will be a long time before another Big 12 Conference team cuts a 16-0 swath through the league. Talent is the key, of course, but so is the luck of the draw. For instance, would the Jayhawks have won ’em all if they’d been scheduled to play Oklahoma in Norman instead of Allen Fieldhouse?

Most Important Early Triumph  Kansas was 3-1 and still looking for an identity when it went to Tucson on Dec. 1 to play traditional power Arizona. After the Jayhawks posted a 105-97 victory by weathering a barrage of three-point goals, people  and surely the players themselves  began to think, “Hey, it looks like we might have something here.”

Blip on Radar Screen  The 87-77 loss at UCLA. Prior to that defeat in Pauley Pavilion, the Jayhawks had won 13 in a row. After losing to the Bruins, they won another 16 in a row.

Lazarus Was a Wimp  Wiped out by a sprained ankle in the Holy Cross game, Kirk Hinrich discarded crutches and sparkled two days later as the Jayhawks sapped Stanford to advance to the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Betcha He Starts Next Season  Keith Langford.

Betcha He Does, Too  Wayne Simien.