Brother’s guidance vital for Olson
A 4.0 student who aced a speech class at Kansas University, Brett Olson should be poised and polished while speaking tonight in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’ll be all right … until I get to Kevin,” said Olson, KU’s senior men’s basketball walk-on from Chanute. “I don’t know what will happen when I try to tell him … “
Olson likely will use his senior speech — to be delivered after tonight’s 6:30 p.m. Kansas-Nebraska game — to pay homage to his 32-year-old brother, Kevin.
Kevin Olson lost use of his arms and legs in a diving accident at a lake when Brett was in fifth grade, and has been the driving force behind Brett in high school and college.
“He’s always been there to help me out. He’s taught me a lot,” Brett said.
Kevin, a youth minister, math and science tutor, and motivational speaker in Chanute, also taught Brett a lot on the basketball court.
“Before Brett was old enough to drive,” Kevin said, “we’d roll down the street three or four blocks to a park, and spend a couple hours a day working on shooting and dribbling. I’d encourage him to do things like jump rope.”
Money, too
Brett recalls Kevin giving time and money to help his brother’s hoop dreams, including providing a backyard basketball court.
Kevin Olson, brother of Kansas University men's basketball senior Brett Olson, watches the Jayhawks' game against Oklahoma. Kevin Olson, who attended Sunday's game against the Sooners at Allen Fieldhouse, lost use of his four limbs in a diving accident.
“When I was in high school, he told me if I got the yard ready he’d pay for the cement,” Brett said. “I dug a huge hole in the yard, 40 feet by 25 feet. I dug it out and got it ready for the cement. He paid for the cement. I got a goal, we put it up and painted lines on the court.”
Suddenly Brett, the all-time leading scorer in Chanute High history, could develop his game at all hours under Kevin’s watch.
“It was different, sitting and observing, because before I got hurt we’d play a lot,” Kevin said. “Sometimes I think I noticed more sitting and observing than playing.
“We’ve talked about this. If not for me being paralyzed, this wouldn’t have happened — we wouldn’t have had the time to spend together.”
Kevin went to Brett’s high school games and watched his brother surpass all his records.
Brother’s guidance vital for Olson
6Sports video: Seniors preparing speeches
Live updates via cell phone“He always says he’d have scored more than me if he had the three-point line,” Brett said with a laugh.
Kevin gave his support when Brett declined small-college offers to attend Kansas, where he would pursue his dream of attending medical school.
Try, try again
Kevin hoped Brett might earn a walk-on spot on KU’s tradition-rich basketball team as a freshman, but those dreams were dashed when former assistant Matt Doherty, who’d scouted Brett, left to become head coach at Notre Dame.
Brett tried out his sophomore year at KU but didn’t make the team. That summer, he hooked up as a summer-league teammate of KU administrative aide Jerod Haase, who said the 6-foot-7, 220-pounder should try out.
Knowing KU needed big men, Brett attended walk-on tryouts in October 2002, but didn’t tell his brother.
“I didn’t want to get his hopes up. I wanted it to be a surprise,” Brett said.
After watching Brett run the court and give former KU standout Nick Collison a good workout, then-coach Roy Williams officially tendered a walk-on offer. Brett accepted, then sprinted to the telephone with the good news.
“I could tell from his voice,” Kevin said, “that he was on the team. He was so excited.”
As was Kevin.
“It was one of my dreams as a kid to be a Jayhawk,” Kevin said. “I never got that chance, but watching him do it has been fulfilling for me.”
Not much P.T.
Kevin has attended all but one home game this year, but Brett has played in just eight games his senior season.
“Knowing he is OK with it makes me be OK with it,” Kevin said. “He understands his role is to be a practice player and make the other guys better. I think I’m most proud of his ability to give of himself to the program even though he is not one of the guys who gets a lot of glory.
“To me, it’s a sign of maturity. I’m most proud of him for that reason. It carries over into so many other parts of life.”
Brett is just as proud of his brother.
“He is amazing. He’s in good spirits every day. It’s crazy, because he’ll have five to 10 people call him every day who have problems. He talks to them. It’s ironic. You’d think he’d be calling five to 10 telling them, ‘Listen to my problems.'”
Bryant Nash and Jeff Graves, the other two seniors on the roster, will also speak following tonight’s game.