If you see the word overachiever in a sentence, chances are Brett Olson will be in it, too.

The Kansas University walk-on, now a graduate student, is back for another season of playing the role of practice warrior.

While Olson might not see much time on the court come game time, he’ll see plenty of action battling it out with the other big men at practice.

“I think my role is to help everyone else go hard,” Olson said. “I’m not worried about playing, I just want to go back to the Final Four and get it done this year.”

Olson has had an influence, too, on the five new freshmen, notably forward David Padgett.

“He just tells us what it’s going to be like and what we can expect playing in the conference and going through the whole season,” Padgett said. “It starts a month earlier (than high school) and ends two months later, so it’s a lot longer.”

While it may be a cliche, Olson is happy to be living a dream. He went from averaging 26 points and eight rebounds a game his senior year at Chanute High to missing the walk-on cut as a KU sophomore. He didn’t go out for the squad his freshmen or junior year because the walk-on slots already had been filled.

“Brett to me is a great story of a Kansas kid who tried out and got cut and finally made the team with a lot of hard work,” said Ben Miller, director of basketball operations. “It’s story of perseverance for a kid that grew up watching the Jayhawks.”

During the first edition of “Late Night in the Phog”, the 6-8 forward rang up seven points, two assists and one steal in just nine minutes.

Olson is a student-athlete with the emphasis on student. He earned his undergraduate degree last spring in exercise science, receiving all A’s all four years.

“He’s an unbelievable student,” Miller said. “He brings that great work ethic to the court. He’s going to do whatever he can to help the team. He wants KU basketball to do well.”

Olson plans to attend KU Medical School next fall. Although he’s not sure what he wants to do in the medical field, he’s leaning towards being an orthopedic spine surgeon after going to North Carolina for three weeks and observing Dr. Mark Moody, father of Christian Moody, another KU walk-on.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the body and how it works but at the same time I’ve loved to fix stuff,” Olson said. “I think it’s kind of like the best of both worlds.”

What’s also the best of both worlds to Olson is having the opportunity to obtain an education while participating in the school’s most prestigious extracurricular activity.

“This is the greatest life,” Olson said. “We go to school, play basketball for a couple of hours every day. We don’t have a whole lot to worry about. I wouldn’t trade it.”