photo by: AP Photo/Lucas Peltier

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels answers questions from the media during Big 12 NCAA college football media days in Las Vegas, Wednesday, July 10, 2024.

The Kansas athletic department features no shortage of extremely quotable people.

From the wildly distinct but equally vibrant personalities of Hunter Dickinson and S’Mya Nichols to the thoughtful responses of the likes of coaches Dan Fitzgerald or Nate Lie, KU’s personnel gave reporters plenty to write about this year.

Here’s a look back at some of the most significant quotes of the last calendar year.

The top quotes of 2024

“After I warmed up, I went inside the locker room and just fell. And couldn’t feel any — all I felt was pain. It felt like something was stabbing me, felt like something was going down my entire leg … That’s probably the worst pain that I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

• Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels, Jan. 10, on aggravating his back injury in Texas three months earlier.

After speculation about the recurrence and severity of Daniels’ back tightness dominated the headlines throughout KU’s 2023 football season, Daniels made his first public comments about the injury, since sitting out the final nine games of the year, in an unlikely venue: a YouTube interview show called “Pucker Up with Joely Live” centered on eating sour candy.

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) knocks a shot away from Oklahoma forward Sam Godwin (10) during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

“They called me baby Olajuwon back in the day.”

• KU men’s basketball center Hunter Dickinson, Jan. 13, after a five-block performance in beating Oklahoma.

Dickinson’s outspoken personality has made him a polarizing figure in the world of college basketball. Even if he’s tamped it down somewhat since coming to KU in the summer of 2023, he’s still good for a press-conference quip now and then. On this occasion, Dickinson swatted five shots after zero in his previous two games. Head coach Bill Self, told about his center’s remark, said sarcastically, “I’m sure they did. I’m sure everybody called him baby Olajuwon.”

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

A bat flew close to the court causing a stoppage in the game Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I was guarding somebody, and she was like, ‘It’s a bat!’ and I was like ‘Girl, there isn’t a bat in here.'”

• KU women’s basketball center Taiyanna Jackson, Jan. 31, after there was, indeed, a bat in Allen Fieldhouse.

A KU women’s basketball victory over BYU stopped for six minutes as a bat flew around the Jayhawks’ historic venue. Jackson’s teammate Ryan Cobbins said she thought it was a bird until it flew into her face. Maybe the bat was good luck, as including the win over the Cougars, the Jayhawks won five straight and nine of their next 10 in their charge toward the NCAA Tournament.

Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson calls out a play during the first half on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

“Somebody made a mistake and told me we were actually favored in this game. That’s sacrilege. How is Kansas not favored in any game? Especially here.”

• Houston men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, Feb. 3, following his team’s 78-65 loss to the underdog Jayhawks.

KU was ranked No. 8 as it prepared to host No. 4 Houston, resulting in just the second time the Jayhawks had ever been a home underdog under Bill Self. They certainly didn’t play like underdogs, jumping ahead of the vaunted Cougars defense with pinpoint-accurate shooting early and pulling off a resounding victory (in a year that turned out to have very few).

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Journal-World

Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols celebrates making a basket against Kansas State on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, in Allen Fieldhouse.

“It came really easy. I have a whole bunch of countermoves, and she happened to fall for every one of them.”

• KU then-freshman guard S’Mya Nichols, Feb. 25, on her spinning layup around Kansas State center Ayoka Lee that put the Jayhawks up three points with two minutes to go.

Nichols’ confidence grew during her first season in Lawrence, and one of her best moments came on this pivotal bucket to help the Jayhawks pull off the top-10 upset over their rival in front of 9,007 fans.

photo by: AP Photo/Ashley Landis

Kansas guard Zakiyah Franklin (15) celebrates with center Taiyanna Jackson, center right, after making a 3-pointer during a first-round college basketball game against Michigan in the women’s NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 23, 2024.

“The kid’s a winner. And it’s why we recruited her. Our program came from the very very bottom of the Power 5. So we needed a kid like that who was used to winning … and that’s all she’s done is help change our program around and I think it’s very very fitting that she made maybe one of the biggest plays in Kansas women’s basketball history.”

• KU women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider, March 23, on guard Zakiyah Franklin’s game-tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the NCAA Tournament against Michigan.

The Jayhawks rallied in the fourth quarter to force overtime, where they finished off the Wolverines for a memorable NCAA Tournament victory. Franklin provided the signature moment, possibly of her career, with her dramatic shot, helping to cement the legacy of the senior-heavy team that also featured Jackson and Holly Kersgieter. As Schneider later pointed out, Nichols made the shrewd decision on the inbounds pass to find Franklin in the first place.

“Our shortcomings this year will be addressed, and we’ll be as good as we’ve ever been in the very, very, very near future.”

• Self, April 11, at his team’s postseason banquet.

The KU coach’s comments after the season-ending Round of 32 loss to Gonzaga on March 23 about how he had long been “thinking about next season” may have gotten far more coverage, especially when presented devoid of context. But at the banquet, Self made a promise to build a more talented team, with regard to depth, athleticism and perimeter shooting, which he certainly did by adding transfers like Rylan Griffen, Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, Shakeel Moore and David Coit.

photo by: Brett Rojo/For The Big 12 Conference

Kansas pitcher Kasey Hamilton delivers against Oklahoma on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Oklahoma City.

“Kansas softball was in the top 25, we were in the top 20, and our name hasn’t been there before, and we put Kansas softball on the map, and I hope we get the chance to continue doing so.”

• KU softball pitcher Kasey Hamilton, May 9, after the Jayhawks lost 10-1 to Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament.

The defeat in Oklahoma City proved to be the end of Hamilton’s collegiate career, as a series of late-season losses hampered KU’s Big 12 tournament chances. But broadly speaking, many of Hamilton’s teammates will get the chance to continue the Jayhawks’ upward trajectory in recent years under head coach Jennifer McFalls.

“Think about this. If we get just crushed by the draft and all those guys sign, what an amazing thing for our program, that in two short years of time, we’ve produced that many guys to move into professional baseball. So we are certainly ready for it.”

• KU baseball head coach Dan Fitzgerald, June 21, on his “Hawk Talk” radio show ahead of the MLB Draft.

The hypothetical Fitzgerald presented came to pass, as virtually every possible Jayhawk who had a chance of turning pro did so. Six went in the draft, the highest total for the program in a decade, and two more signed as free agents; of the eight new pros, six could potentially have returned to KU for the 2025 season. Fitzgerald and his staff sought out a slew of offseason transfers and will look to thrive with a new team featuring twice as many newcomers as returnees.

photo by: Carter Gaskins/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas strength coach Matt Gildersleeve gets the team ready for practice on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Lawrence.

“Luke Grimm, Devin Neal, Jalon Daniels, they know what this place was. Deshawn Warner, Jon Jon Kamara, Isaiah Marshall, they don’t. So I think it’s important that we continue to, as those guys get older, remind them what this was and what it took to build it to where it is now and keep us humble in those regards.”

• KU strength coach Matt Gildersleeve, Aug. 15, in an interview with the Journal-World.

Even before the season, KU’s culture guru Gildersleeve was already thinking about the challenges of sustaining the Jayhawks’ beneficial team environment beyond the 2024 season. Thirty-eight players ended up going through senior day, and while Daniels is returning, the vast majority of the group responsible for building up the program will be gone in 2025. Gildersleeve and players like Kamara and Marshall (though not Warner, who transferred to SMU) will have a tall task ahead of them.

“Certainly would have loved to show competitive spirit and do everything we can to get these student-athletes a game since they only get 18, 19, 20 a year. Unfortunately, both teams have to agree to that. And so one of the teams didn’t, and now we’re headed back to Lawrence with a no contest.”

• KU soccer coach Nate Lie, Aug. 26, after the Jayhawks’ match at Brown was called off due to weather with KU leading in the second half.

Just four games into his KU tenure, Lie showed a bit of his own competitive spirit in a video posted to social media, expressing frustration that, he said, the Brown coaches had not shared his willingness to continue the Monday afternoon game, either that night or the following day. The non-result could have ended up being significant if the Jayhawks found themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but they won the Big 12 tournament to eliminate that question altogether (more on that later).

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold during the first quarter on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at GEHA Field in Kansas City.

“They can fine me today. I don’t really care.”

• KU football coach Lance Leipold, Sept. 28, expressing frustration about a series of calls that went against his team in a loss to TCU.

After KU lost its first game of the year three weeks earlier, Leipold joked with a reporter about splitting a hypothetical fine for criticizing officiating. Three weeks later, as the Jayhawks dropped to 1-4 to open the season, he was quite serious as he lamented a late incomplete pass call, reversed strip-sack and possible uncalled block in the back that would “drastically change the momentum of the game.”

photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Kansas wide receiver Luke Grimm (11) gets past Kansas State cornerback Keenan Garber to score a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Manhattan.

“None of us would say that that’s Kansas football out there on those last five minutes of the game. College football and all the media get to have 14 days where that’s what they think Kansas football is. And we know that isn’t. And so it, just like I said, pisses us off that we don’t get to go out in seven days and prove it wrong.”

• The senior wideout Grimm, Oct. 26, after late-game offensive struggles sank the Jayhawks at Kansas State.

Grimm, a team captain, was a confident and emphatic voice throughout the season, never more so than after the offense couldn’t finish a close game in the Sunflower Showdown and took a heartbreaking 29-27 loss entering its second bye week.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas head coach Nate Lie celebrates with the fans after defeating TCU during the Big 12 Tournament final at CPKC Stadium Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

“I just told the team amongst the celebration that this is one of the more special moments in my career. In my life, in many ways. When you get into this profession, you do it because you want to have an impact on people’s lives and you want to be able to be some sort of educator and see growth. And I’ve spoken about it a lot: The growth in this group is pretty remarkable, the way that they came together, whether it was earlier in the season in our moments of adversity or just continuing throughout this tournament.”

• Lie, Nov. 9, after KU soccer completed its improbable run to a Big 12 tournament title with a 1-0 victory over TCU.

After heating up late in the regular season, the Jayhawks took down Arizona State and then the conference’s No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seeds in a row to win a conference title and clinch a place in the NCAA Tournament, one of the more improbable stories in recent KU sports history. Lie became the first Big 12 soccer coach to lead a team to a tournament title in his first season with a program.

photo by: AP Photo/Rick Egan

Kansas wide receiver Quentin Skinner looks at the official after recovering a fumble on a BYU punt in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Provo, Utah.

“We’ve been working on it all year, and every single week (Leipold) be like, ‘This is the week we’re probably going to use it. This is the week we’re probably going to use it.’ Well, this is the week that we used it.”

• Daniels, Nov. 16, on the quick-kick fumble that enabled KU’s upset win at BYU.

The improbable play, a punt by the Jayhawks’ quarterback that hit a Cougar in the helmet and got recovered by Quentin Skinner to set up a touchdown, encapsulated a stretch of three straight victories over ranked teams in which KU’s luck finally seemed to turn.

photo by: Jack Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP

Kansas running back Devin Neal scores past Baylor safety Caleb Parker in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Waco, Texas.

“We have to find a way to — or future guys have to find a way to — prepare differently, have a better mindset from the get-go.”

• The running back Neal, Nov. 30, after his final game as a Jayhawk.

The late-season momentum, largely spurred by Neal (who accounted for 287 yards and four touchdowns against Colorado on Nov. 23) came to a screeching halt at Baylor on Nov. 30 as KU lost 45-17 and missed the postseason. In this quotation, Neal appeared to acknowledge for the first time that he had become a former player, and presented advice to future Jayhawks.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas opposite hitter London Davis reaches out for a block against Florida Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

“You come in as a freshman, you look at the seniors and it’s like, ‘Whoa, how am I going to be that one day?’ And then you blink, and you’re there. But just like listening to them speak, the program is going to be just fine. I think we’ve taught them what to do off the court, but I think at the end of the day, they were doing the talking now, but really it was them all season lifting us up.”

• KU opposite hitter London Davis, Dec. 7, after a five-set loss to Florida eliminated the Jayhawks from the NCAA Tournament.

KU volleyball had its own forcible changing of the guard just a week later, and it was Davis’ turn to articulate a sanguine outlook for the program she and fellow seniors Caroline Bien, Ayah Elnady, Bryn McGehe, Toyosi Onabanjo and Camryn Turner helped elevate. Ray Bechard and his staff won’t be working with a blank canvas in 2025, as they bring back players like Raegan Burns, Reese Ptacek and Rhian Swanson, but it’ll be a dramatically different roster.