For Iona College President Joseph Nyre, Tuesday’s men’s basketball game between his school and the Kansas University Jayhawks was one part competition, one part homecoming. Nyre holds Ed.s (education specialist) and PhD degrees from the KU School of Education, and he met his wife at the university. Last night Nyre had to put aside his longtime affection for KU basketball to root for his Gaels.

“I’ve never rooted against them (the Jayhawks) until tonight,” he said. (Unfortunately for Nyre, his rooting came to no end: His Gaels lost by 20.)

Much has changed since Nyre last visited the KU campus 10 years ago. A football practice field sits atop what used to be parking lots, and the Booth Family Hall of Athletics now greets Allen Fieldhouse guests at the eastern entrance.

Nyre’s journey down memory lane Tuesday included visits with education school professors he knew from his time as a graduate student. He also chatted with local media in Lawrence, including KU Sports’ Tom Keegan and yours truly. Only now do I realize I forgot to ask him the most pertinent question of all: Is the Iona Gael’s cane for walking, for hitting or for fashion purposes? Alas, I might never know. But I must move on somehow…

Nyre grew up in Wisconsin and went to school just about everywhere. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and went on to receive an M.A. in Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. At Mizzou, Nyre said, he learned more about KU’s special education program. Crossing the border, he got his PhD in school psychology from KU and then he was off to Harvard for post-doc work.

Nyre became Iona president in 2011. With Iona just north of New York City, Nyre has been able to meet with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little on her occasional ventures to the Big Apple for national higher education gatherings. Nyre heaped high praise on Gray-Little — “I think the world of her and the work she’s doing” — and said he was also excited to “share” New York’s Iona with Kansas and the Midwest.

Whether Kansans were in the mood to have Iona shared with them is another question for another day. And it’s one that does not matter to me, at least not until I find out what the Gael’s cane is for. If you know, please share with me — along with any KU news tips you might have — at bunglesbee@ljworld.com