‘Late Night in the Phog’: Self makes KU debut

New name, new coach, same Late Night excitement.

Late Night in the Phog — which marks the official opening of the Kansas basketball season — proved as popular as ever Friday, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of Jayhawk fans from around the region.

When the doors to Allen Fieldhouse opened to the public at 7 p.m., the stampede of children, teenagers and adults burst through like an opened can of shaken soda.

“We had to run in here,” said Taylor Renfro, 14, of McLouth, who came to see the show with her high school basketball team. “It’s so awesome to be right up front. I can’t wait to see the new recruits and Bill Self.”

She wasn’t the only one interested in seeing Self, the Jayhawks’ new head coach. Self received as much thunderous applause as when the men’s and women’s basketball teams came onto the court.

“He just feels right,” said Sean Kelley, 23 of Kansas City, Kan. “I don’t think they could have found a better coach. He’s got all the qualities Kansas was looking for: previous experience, skill and the ability to recruit.”

Others agreed.

Shawn Howard, a 19-year-old Washburn University student, said he had been coming to Late Night since he was 3. He started in Larry Brown’s last year at Kansas, then continued when the event was Late Night with Roy Williams. Self declined to put his name on the event, opting instead for Late Night in the Phog.

“This time, I came to see Bill Self and see what he’s got,” Howard said. “I think there’s going to be big changes with Self in the lead. They’re going to mix it up, new playing styles, more aggressive, more up-tempo. It’s going to be good.”

Yet superstition almost kept Katie Hardacre away. The KU senior from Overland Park is a big believer in luck, she said.

Kansas University men's basketball coach Bill Self greets KU fans during during his first Late Night in the Phog Friday at Allen Fieldhouse in 2003.

“It’s my first time, but I almost didn’t come because I didn’t want to jinx the new coach,” she said.

All through the 2002-’03 season, she and her friends watched every game at the same apartment, drinking the same kind of beer for fear of breaking the team’s winning streak. But seeing Self in action Friday night was too much.

“I think he was selected by people with good luck, so I think it will rub off on him,” she said, laughing at her own silliness.

While the echoes of the Rock Chalk Chant resounded through the fieldhouse for the first time this season, fans said they hoped Self would keep the excitement rolling all season long.

“From Late Night to the great night in April, he’s got to go all the way,” said Frank Alterman, of McLouth, who brought several of his grandchildren. “We have big expectations.”

Homecoming parade, game highlight events

Today’s Kansas University Homecoming parade is expected to be the largest ever.

The parade, which begins at 10 a.m., will go from Adams Alumni Center at 13th Street and Oread Avenue down Jayhawk Boulevard to the Chi Omega fountain. It is expected to have 15 floats, six marching bands and 20 mopeds.

Kickoff for the Homecoming football game against Baylor is at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.