Gary Bedore / LJWorld.com

Staff

Gary Bedore (KU basketball reporter)

I was born and raised in Chicago, the South side of town. 103rd Street South and Homan Avenue.

Chicago natives care about sports, mostly pro sports. In fact, I never watched a college sporting event — except for football bowl games I guess — until I was a junior or senior in high school. It's unusual, but I grew up liking both the Cubs and White Sox because my grandfather loved the Cubs and would take me to Cub games and my dad had Sox season tickets and would take me to Sox games.

I switched allegiance solely to the White Sox after we moved to the suburb of Lisle for my junior year of high school. We had season tickets in the fifth row, lower level, which made for some fun summers at Comiskey Park. The 2005 World Series was a great moment for me as Ozzie Guillen finally took care of the Chicago hex in baseball. The Sox not only won it all, but breezed though the postseason. It was nirvana.

I must plug my grade school, Queen of Martyrs. I was 12th man on a 15-man team that won the city eighth grade championship. I ran cross country and track for two years at Brother Rice High School, only because I unfairly got cut from the baseball and basketball teams (just kidding). I moved on to Benet Academy in Lisle for my junior and senior years, but by then my baseball skills had rusted off, so I stuck with running.

Both Catholic high schools are among the best in the country. I'd recommend parents sending their kids to Benet and/or Br. Rice. Brother Rice remains a football power and I enjoy following the team every fall. Benet was a basketball powerhouse for years ... right after my high school class graduated.

At Benet, I was co-editor of the school newspaper with my great friend John Hoppenrath. I knew I was going to major in Journalism in college; he knew he was going to be a rich engineer. Still, he wrote most of the headlines and did most of the layout as putting out the paper in high school proved a major headache.

I decided to attend KU after taking Amtrak to Lawrence with my good friend Gary Karafiat the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. We had a great time on our "visit." A great time. Yes, back in the day, parents would let juniors in high school board a train alone and spend 3 days a good 500 miles from home. My how times have changed.

I attended KU during the end of the Ted Owens era and upon graduation worked for a spell at the Emporia Gazette and Oklahoma City Times before returning to Lawrence after receiving an offer from Chuck Woodlng I couldn' t refuse — covering high schools, KU, the Royals and Chiefs.

I've covered many great sporting events, including the '88 and '08 national basketball title games; two Royals World Series; many excellent Chiefs teams. I've been all over the country following Roy's and Bill's Jayhawks the past 23 years. Favorite places to cover games? Hawaii and Canada of course.

Favorite coaches to deal with? Bill Freeman and Bob Frederick at the high school level. Self, Roy, Larry, Ted Owens, Mike Gottfried, Bob Valesente at the college level. Glen Mason was fun to be around, as well. Self is the best to deal with. He's quite a guy.

Favorite KU player of all time to interview? Ryan Robertson, though there have been many others in his league.

Best player I've ever covered? Danny Manning. Simply amazing.

Best KU hoops team I've covered?: It might have been the 1996-97 squad that fell to Arizona in the Sweet 16. That team lost just two games, unfortunately one was a big one, to the eventual national champs. The '88 and '08 champs of course were amazing teams as well. All three of those teams were unbelievable.

Best game I've ever seen? Probably the '88 final between KU and OU. Remember, it was 50-50 at halftime; people were shaking their heads at halftime.

Best performance I've ever seen? KU wiping out that impossible deficit late against Memphis to win the '08 title.

Lawrence, I feel, is a great place. One of my favorite places in the world is St. John the Evangelist Church. Some great priests have blessed that place, my favorites Fr. John and Fr. Charles. They are great men and I applaud their order - the Capuchin Franciscans. Those who help others, like those priests, are my heroes in life.

Recent stories

Slump busted: Kansas’ Conner Teahan regains trey form: By Gary Bedore; February 10, 2012; Kansas University senior guard Conner Teahan, who has made four of his last five three-pointers over the last two games, appears to have shot his way out of a prolonged slump.
Bill Self: KU rebounds nicely from loss to MU: By Gary Bedore; February 8, 2012; Bill Self loves the way his Kansas University basketball team has bounced back from Saturday’s deflating loss at Missouri.
Jeff Withey bears down: Kansas big man ‘amazing’ against Baylor; By Gary Bedore; February 8, 2012; A little peer pressure helped Jeff Withey bury Baylor on Wednesday night in Ferrell Center.
Big battle, part 2: Baylor, Kansas frontcourts prep for rematch, revenge: By Gary Bedore; February 8, 2012; A certain top-five pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, Perry Jones III elected to return to Baylor University for his sophomore season. His main reason? The desire to remain a carefree, 19-year-old kid at a place he loves.
Despite loss, Jayhawks move up (!) in poll: By Gary Bedore; February 7, 2012; Bill Self isn’t a bit surprised his Kansas University basketball team, which lost on Saturday at Missouri, actually jumped a spot from No. 8 to 7 in this week’s AP poll.
KU’s Bill Self: ‘We’ve been here before’: By Gary Bedore; February 6, 2012; Losses on successive Saturdays — combined with winning streaks of Baylor (four games) and Missouri (three) — have dropped Kansas University’s basketball team into a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 Conference.
Miserable ending: MU’s 11-0 end run dooms Jayhawks: By Gary Bedore; February 5, 2012; Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self walked dejectedly down a Mizzou Arena hallway late Saturday night, his path crossing that of former NBA 7-footer Will Perdue. “Will, Will, Will … we had that game where we wanted it,” Self said, as ESPN Radio color analyst Perdue nodded his head solemnly in agreement. Self’s Jayhawks, who led by a whopping eight points following a baseline dunk by guard Tyshawn Taylor with 3:21 left, didn’t score the rest of the game in falling to Missouri, 74-71.
Bill Self lauds arena’s aura: By Gary Bedore; February 5, 2012; Bill Self said he “loved the atmosphere” at Saturday’s Kansas-Missouri basketball game at Mizzou Arena.
Antlers get one last chance to rattle KU: By Gary Bedore; February 4, 2012; Since 1976, there has been one constant in the Kansas-Missouri men’s basketball games played in Columbia, Mo. That’s the presence of MU’s loud — some might call it obnoxious — student cheering section known as “The Antlers.”
Columbia contests stand out for Self, KU: By Gary Bedore; February 3, 2012; Bill Self, who on Saturday night might coach his final game in Columbia, Mo., was asked Thursday to identify his favorite of the eight Border War battles contested in Mizzou Arena and/or Hearnes Center.

Full story list

Recent photos

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson planted a tree for his mother, Lisa, in front of Wagnon Student Athlete Center, near Allen Fieldhouse. Lisa Robinson died Jan. 21 of apparent heart failure at the age of 42.

Angel Morris, at right, flashes a smile with Kansas men's basketball assistant coach Kurtis Townsend on Friday, Oct. 7, 2011 at Maceli's in Lawrence.

Perry Ellis, center, sits with his father, Will, and mother, Fonda, during his press conference on Wednesday at Wichita Heights High School. Ellis selected Kansas over Kansas State, Wichita State and Kentucky.

Wichita Heights basketball player Perry Ellis stands after announcing his decision to attend Kansas on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in Wichita.

Houston Rockets rookie Marcus Morris, left, wearing his brother Markieff’s Phoenix Suns hat, signs autographs on Thursday at Briggs Auto, 2121 West 29th Terrace, in Lawrence. Markieff is pictured at right.

Full photo list