SAN DIEGO — The player most familiar with Kansas on the St. John’s roster is quite clearly Zuby Ejiofor. That’s not a surprise. Ejiofor played for the Jayhawks as a freshman during the 2022-23 season, transferred out in search of greater opportunities elsewhere and has since blossomed into arguably the top player in the Big East Conference. But when it comes to knowing KU well, Dillon Mitchell might be a ...
SAN DIEGO — Though they had not previously been acquainted, Jamari McDowell became very familiar with the small Alabama-based Christian university Samford very quickly in March 2024 when the Bulldogs pressed relentlessly and made the Jayhawks work for 40 minutes to earn a 93-89 NCAA Tournament victory in Salt Lake City. “How intense, and how much joy they played with, it was amazing,” McDowell recalled on ...
SAN DIEGO — The fourth-seeded Kansas men’s basketball team escaped No. 13 seed Cal Baptist in the Lancers’ NCAA Tournament debut, as the Jayhawks earned a 68-60 win at Viejas Arena to advance to the Round of 32. “They say survive and advance," KU coach Bill Self said. "And that's what we did. I actually thought we were pretty darn good for about 25 minutes, and then went stale for about eight and then ...
SAN DIEGO — Kansas had an unusually accomplished water boy at Sunday’s practice back in Lawrence. Fifth-year senior guard Melvin Council Jr., given an unexpected day off by head coach Bill Self, found other ways to make himself useful: besides handing out water, of course, he was “rebounding, clapping, keeping the energy alive and stuff like that,” he said on Thursday. As Self explained on Sunday, he ...
SAN DIEGO — As Kansas coach Bill Self recalls, it seemed great in theory for the Jayhawks to get to play the first weekend of the 2009 NCAA Tournament in center Cole Aldrich’s home state of Minnesota. “Until we played … North Dakota State and then they had 20,000 people at the game, or 15,000 people (at the Metrodome),” Self said. KU managed to escape that first-round battle with the Bison, who were ...
SAN DIEGO — It has been far from a guarantee in recent seasons, and even throughout Bill Self’s 23-year tenure as head coach, that a Kansas men’s basketball team arrives for its first NCAA Tournament weekend ready to play at full strength. Two years ago on a Salt Lake City side street, Self ruled out Kevin McCullar Jr. for the duration of the postseason; last season when he spoke in a hotel lobby in ...