Archive for Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The last laugh
President calls Self morning after title
Flanked by their national championship trophies, Kansas coach Bill Self, left, Sasha Kaun, center, and Russell Robinson bask in the spotlight the morning after beating Memphis for the national championship in San Antonio.
April 9, 2008
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San Antonio — Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self had finally returned to his Hilton Hotel room at about 6 a.m. Tuesday, after he and his wife, Cindy, entertained relatives and childhood friends, as well as parents of his players into the wee hours of the morning.
After re-living all the highlights of the Jayhawks' pulsating 75-68 national championship victory over Memphis, the couple dozed off about 7 a.m.
They were awakened by the sound of Bill's cell phone at 8, the caller the most famous person in the United States.
"President Bush called. He was great," Self revealed at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, in a meeting with reporters back at the Alamodome, site of KU's overtime victory Monday night.
"He talked about how exciting a game it was and how happy and proud I must be of my guys. He invited us to the White House. He said something cool: 'You have great seniors. If you don't get here soon they won't have a chance to come; they'll all be going in different ways. If you want, come in the next month to month and a half.'''
Self indicated he'd definitely like to make that trip to Washington, D.C., as a reward for his Jayhawks, who finished with 37 victories, most in school history.
"This is the best team in the 110-year history of Kansas basketball. That is what makes it so humbling," Self said, still amazed at how the Jayhawks snared the title.
"Could you believe we won that game?" Self said. "We're down nine with two left. I talked about this to the guys ... about how many times we practice being down six with two minutes left and never win the game.
"We showed some toughness and had some guys make plays and hit hard shots. You don't come back from nine down with two left unless you have a serious element of toughness."
Self said two shots in the game will forever stand out in his mind.
"If Mario's shot was the biggest in Kansas basketball history," Self said of the Mario Chalmers three that sent the game into overtime, "then Sherron's probably is the second biggest."
Sherron Collins, who first plucked a steal, hit a three to cut Memphis' once-comfy lead to 60-56 at 1:45.
"So many guys are involved in making that happen," Self said. "Sherron steals the ball and passes to Mario who passes to Russ. Russ was trying to shoot it. Fortunately for us they guarded him well, no offense to Russ," Self said with a laugh.
"Russ fed Sherron. Seven (points) became four and there still was plenty of time left. It was a huge play and couldn't have happened without three different guys. I'm definitely proud of the fight the guys showed last night."
Those guys, like their coach, celebrated wildly in the hotel after the game.
"Nobody could sleep," said Robinson, who joined Self and Sasha Kaun at a morning ceremony at the dome in which Self was presented the NABC coaches trophy (for the team that finishes first in the USA Today/ESPN poll) and the players the NCAA title trophy to bring back to Lawrence.
"We hung around the rooms. We had the (KU) band come through. We hung out and took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the moment."
"We hung out with our families. We're a big family," Kaun noted. "The team enjoyed the moment. Nobody wanted to sleep."
Kaun said the Jayhawks, who suffered just three losses all year, winning the national title as well as Big 12 regular season and postseason tourney crowns, were on a mission after last season's Elite Eight loss to UCLA.
"This team was so hungry," Kaun said. "Last year left a bad taste in our mouths. In this tournament, everybody played like they were upset. Everybody had focus."
Remember, the team's seniors also had been through first-round losses to Bucknell and Bradley.
"We've seen the bottom. We'd been through it all," Robinson said. "We would not let anything distract us this year."
Of course it's KU's first title since 1988, the year Danny Manning led the Jayhawks past Oklahoma in the title game in Kansas City.
"I'm so happy for our university," Self said. "The stars were aligned 20 years ago when Danny and the guys went through Nebraska and Detroit just like we did (in first-and second rounds). There were so many similarities. We couldn't have scripted a better week for us."
KU Basketball
- Welcome back, champs! (04-09-08)
- Jayhawks on parade? No plan for one yet (04-09-08)
- Post-game chaos doesn't cause any major problems (04-09-08)
- More than 2,000 absent Tuesday (04-09-08)
- Keegan: OSU not right fit for Self (04-09-08)
- Questions surround futures of Kansas trio (04-09-08)
- Sorrentino: Deja vu avoided in Texas (04-09-08)
- A defining moment (04-09-08)
- Commentary: Memphis had it, but Kansas took it (04-09-08)
- Title-game ratings down (04-09-08)
- 2007-08 Roster
- Full 2008 NCAA Tournament coverage
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9 April 2008
at 6:28 a.m.
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panhandle2 (Anonymous) says…
I hate to see this great team associated with the blockhead in the Whitehouse.
9 April 2008
at 7:03 a.m.
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SpiritTat (Anonymous) says…
panhandle2 - what a right on statement! I'm proud the guys are being invited.. I just wish it was someone different doing the inviting!!Again ~ can't say it enough: rock chalk ku!!!!
9 April 2008
at 7:25 a.m.
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Informed (Anonymous) says…
Get a grip, ph2. Business must be slow this early in the morning.
9 April 2008
at 8:08 a.m.
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kansassportsnutgal (Anonymous) says…
What an honor! I am so proud of our team and think it's awesome that President Bush has invited them!rock chalk jayhawks!!!!Way to go Bill Self! You totally ROCK!
9 April 2008
at 8:18 a.m.
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just_another_ninja (Anonymous) says…
what a unique phone call and what a unique opportunity for the team and coaching staff. take it all in :-)
9 April 2008
at 8:19 a.m.
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PeteJayhawk (Anonymous) says…
I don't care who the President is or what party he is or how much he screws things up; it'd still be pretty awesome to get a phone call from him.
9 April 2008
at 9:49 a.m.
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Tandava (Anonymous) says…
Those two math students and their computer program were correct. (Back in late March, Neil Goodson and Colin Stephenson at South Carolina's College of Charleston wrote a program that predicted KU would win.)
9 April 2008
at 12:27 p.m.
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yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…
It is an honor and a tradition to be congratulated by the POTUS.
9 April 2008
at 1:06 p.m.
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sks6cf (Anonymous) says…
That's awesome! I love Kansas!!!!!!!
9 April 2008
at 1:35 p.m.
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sbdad (Anonymous) says…
No matter what you think..He's our pres. And enjoyed our Hawks as well.
9 April 2008
at 1:40 p.m.
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BigPrune (Anonymous) says…
The headlines of AOL yesterday were, “Memphis blows Title Game” and “What happened to Memphis?” No “Kansas Wins!” Of course not. Sometimes, we can't get no respect. At least the president saw the game. Regis and Kathy Lee (or whatever that girl's name is - Corky?) mentioned the game yesterday, about how Regis' wife wanted to watch Sex in the City because she just couldn't watch anymore when there was 2:15 left in regulation. He woke up and read the paper and when he read the headline to the audience that Kansas won, the crowd cheered.What a helluva game.
9 April 2008
at 10:25 p.m.
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peachesncream (Anonymous) says…
yeah just where id want to go the White house woooohoooo “NOT”
10 April 2008
at 9:51 a.m.
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erod0723 (Anonymous) says…
Self and the Jayhawks need to wait till next Jan to go to the White House, that way they can meet President Obama.