News of firing draws mixed reaction

KU – Al = Roy staying.

At least that’s the equation Kansas University fans were hoping for Wednesday afternoon after athletic director Al Bohl was fired.

Phil Lueker, a KU junior from Overland Park, said he hoped the move would be enough to retain men’s basketball coach Roy Williams. Williams, who had clashed with Bohl, is a leading candidate for the head coaching job at his alma mater, North Carolina.

“All I know is I want Roy to stay, and if that’s what it takes, fine,” said Lueker, who was sitting at the Yello Sub at Oread Avenue and Indiana Street.

Lueker’s assessment received backing from Chicago sophomore Chris Maute and Orleans, Mass., sophomore John Kanaga.

“Whatever Roy wants, Roy gets,” Maute said.

“I think that’s fantastic,” Kanaga said.

Off-campus, there was some sympathy for Bohl. Tom Bowser, president and CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas City, was leader of an unsuccessful effort to restore KU men’s swimming and tennis programs, which were cut before Bohl arrived in 2001.

“I’ve got to say he was open-minded,” Bowser said of Bohl. “He was cordial and open-minded to swimmers and tennis athletes who were looking for a ray of sunshine — I give him credit for that.

“In his own way, he tried to be what the university wanted, but it wasn’t working, and that’s unfortunate,” Bowser said.

Students were less even-handed. “Roy will stay and make the team better now,” said Iqbal Ahmed, a Hays freshman.

Jared Gab, a Castle Rock, Colo., freshman, wasn’t sure Bohl’s departure would keep Williams. “It’s a start,” he said. “It’s tough to say whether he (Roy) will leave.”

A popularity contest between Bohl and Williams wouldn’t be close.

“I think that means Roy is staying,” said Jake Linn, a McPherson freshman. “If it comes down to Al Bohl and Roy Williams, I say keep Roy.”

Not all of the fans’ preoccupations are about Bohl.

Larry Sinks, a T-shirt vendor with Victory Sportswear, 721 E. Ninth St., has been making a line of T-shirts with the phrase “I don’t give a sh*t about North Carolina, either” — mimicking what Williams told CBS Sports reporter Bonnie Bernstein after Monday’s loss to Syracuse.

Sinks says the shirts are proving to be popular.

He was wearing one Tuesday night at El Mezcal restaurant when he spotted Williams and his wife sitting at a nearby table. Sinks walked over to show Roy the T-shirt.

Sinks reported Roy said: “I love it. I probably should have said crap.”

Asked if he wanted one of the T-shirts, Williams said he’d love one, so Sinks gave him the shirt off his back.