Kansas University’s men’s basketball team may have been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, but their fans saw only winners when the players returned Sunday night to Allen Fieldhouse.

One of those fans was Matt Francis, who watched the Jayhawks lose an overtime thriller to Georgia Tech in St. Louis and then hurried back to Lawrence.

“It was a quiet ride home, but I just wanted to come and see this year’s team one more time,” said Francis, a KU junior from Topeka.

About 400 other KU fans felt the same way, many of them arriving at the fieldhouse about an hour before the team did. They cheered and gave their heroes a standing ovation as the players and coaches walked onto the court.

The fans are one of the greatest things about coaching at Kansas, head coach Bill Self said, as he addressed those fans after being handed the microphone by public address announcer Hank Booth.

“It’s been a fun year, and I’ve had a blast coaching these guys,” Self said.

Self was followed by players Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien, Jeff Graves and David Padgett. All of them had basically the same message, thanking their coach and then the fans for supporting them during a wild ride of a season.

“We wish we could have done better,” Miles said.

Carl Hamilton drove from Belton, Mo., to see the Jayhawks return.

The Kansas Jayhawks address the estimated 400 people who showed up at Allen Fieldhouse to greet the team after its return from the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. The team arrived about 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Earlier Sunday, Georgia Tech ended the Jayhawks' hopes of advancing to the Final Four. The Yellow Jackets beat Kansas 79-71 in overtime.

“I thought it was a great season,” Hamilton, 55, said. “I think this is going to bring great things in the future.”

Ethan Schmidt, 28, of Tonganoxie, found it hard to watch the Jayhawks get off to a poor start in the game against Georgia Tech, but he was pleased the team rebounded and made it close.

“It was hard to watch, but I’m really happy with (the season),” Schmidt said. “I think it’s the start of really great things to come.”

Frustrating was the word that Matt Rocha, a KU junior from Berryton, used to describe the Georgia Tech game. But he also was optimistic.

“For Self’s first year, I thought it was very good,” he said.

One thing that was not very good was the officiating, according to Marvin Collins, 69, Lawrence. He said he was appalled at the number of fouls called against KU, many of which he thought were undeserved.

“The officials leave a lot to be desired,” Collins said. “They need more training and some officials to keep a better eye on them.”

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