Players awed by Army officer’s KU flag display

Nick Collison probably didn’t need any extra incentive to win tonight’s Final Four game against Marquette.

But he was inspired on Friday by a photo of a Kansas University alumnus and Army captain holding a KU flag somewhere near Baghdad.

“That’s pretty sweet,” Collison said. “We’ll try to win it for him. If he’s out there, into what we’re doing, we’ll definitely try to win it for him.”

The photo of Brad Loudon, circulated through the KU locker room before the team’s practice, drew spirited comments from the players, who have been balancing pride for KU with pride for their country.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” Bryant Nash said. “It shows a lot of dedication. We’ve got to go out there and work hard. We’ve got a lot of people looking up to us, depending on us. He’s going to be watching us. The least we can do is go out there and win the game.”

“We want to make him proud, too. He’s out there supporting us — all of us — and we want to make him look good, too,” he said.

Assistant coach Joe Holladay, whose son, Capt. Matthew Holladay, is a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne in Iraq, couldn’t believe the image he was shown.

“You are kidding,” he said. “For him to have a 60-pound ruck on his back, for him to be over there in the war, 24 hours a day, and for him to take a minute to show his KU flag — it just shows he thinks his college is a pretty special place, and his basketball team is pretty special for him.”

Guard Michael Lee couldn’t believe it, either.

“We’re going to do our best to win here, and I know he’s going to do all he can over there,” Lee said. “It’s just huge, and I just hope and pray that everything will work out — in both places.”

Wayne Simien, who hails from Leavenworth, said the image proved it was worthwhile to continue the NCAA Tournament despite the war.

“That sums it up right there,” he said. “With everything that’s going on out there, as long as that guy’s out there ducking bullets and working for our freedom and he still takes time to remember and find a way to support us in his own little way, that’s big.”