photo by: AP Photo/Ben McKeown

Kansas's Melvin Council Jr. (14) drives past North Carolina State's Tre Holloman (5) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.

From dog food to pocketknives and everything in between, University of Kansas players and coaches held forth on a variety of subjects over the course of 2025.

The Journal-World’s KU sports coverage captured what the Jayhawks had to say at their highest and lowest moments.

Here are some of the most significant quotes of the last calendar year.

photo by: Journal-World file

Lawrence senior linebacker Josh Galbreath signs his national letter of intent with Kansas at a National Signing Day event at Lawrence High School on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Lawrence.

The top quotes of 2025

“For me, (committing to Kansas) means continuing the legacy that Devin started. It means continuing that, or if not, be better.”

• Lawrence High School linebacker Josh Galbreath, Jan. 29, on joining the Jayhawks

Running back Devin Neal, an LHS product and Lawrence native, took a chance by committing to KU when the program was mired in years of struggle and turmoil. He emerged from four seasons under head coach Lance Leipold with two bowl appearances and his name atop the program’s all-time rushing list. Now KU is making greater inroads in local recruiting, and the hyperathletic linebacker Galbreath, one of six Sunflower State signees in its 2026 class, wants to follow in Neal’s footsteps.

photo by: AP Photo/Rob Gray

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) holds the ball away from BYU center Fousseyni Traore (45) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, in Provo, Utah.

“Nobody’s going to feel bad for us now that NIL’s a thing and players are getting paid, everything like that, nobody’s going to feel bad for you. They’re going to expect you to perform like a paid player, and so that’s kind of what you got to go out there and do. You have a job to do, clearly we didn’t do it, and so there’s going to be repercussions and a lot of flak for that, and rightfully so, we deserve that.”

• KU center Hunter Dickinson, Feb. 18, after KU’s 91-57 blowout loss at BYU

Dickinson’s outspoken personality may not have won him many friends around the college basketball world (and even among KU fans, given the lack of team success during his two years) but he was also frequently quite reflective and always took accountability at the podium. At the low point of the 2024-25 season — maybe the low point of recent KU basketball history — he articulated the way that fans perceive players differently in the modern era.

Kansas forward KJ Adams (24) is helped off the court by teammates after during the second half, Thursday, March 20, 2025 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI. The Jayhawks lost to the Razorbacks 79-72. Photo by Nick Krug

“It’s one thing to lose the game, but to see him potentially lose a year on top of the game, you know, that’s a pretty big blow.”

• KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self, March 20, after KJ Adams’ Achilles injury in the final minutes of the Jayhawks’ season-ending loss to Arkansas

An already grim season for KU ended on a brutal note when Adams, a longtime emotional leader for the Jayhawks, tore his Achilles tendon with three minutes left and KU nursing a three-point lead over Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament. Not only did it directly precipitate the Jayhawks’ loss, it amplified the already funereal postgame mood, as the concern turned to Adams’ future. Self has kept him on staff as an assistant video coordinator in the months since while he rehabilitates the injury.

photo by: McDonald’s All-American Game

Darryn Peterson at McDonald’s All-American Game practice in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday, March 30, 2025.

“He asked me was I worried about it. I told him, ‘Nah,’ and his response was, ‘You better not be, because you’re coming to hoop.'”

• Soon-to-be KU guard Darryn Peterson, March 31, at McDonald’s All-America Game media day

The “he” here was Self, who had spoken to Peterson in the wake of a rash of transfer departures that left the five-star incoming freshman without much of a team slated to play around him. In the weeks and months that followed, Self and his staff created quite a functional team around Peterson — so functional that it has acquitted itself well as Peterson has battled injury and cramps during the nonconference season.

photo by: AP Photo/Eric Gay

Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr., right, celebrates with teammate Justin Cross, left, after Kansas defeated Tennessee in an NCAA college basketball game in the Players Era tournament in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025.

“I’m going to announce my school, but first, you know I got to say my favorite line real quick, you know: If you want to be a dog, you got to be a dog, because if you’re not a dog, you’re dog food.”

• Soon-to-be KU guard Melvin Council Jr., April 16, on Instagram Live

Council may not have known what he was setting in motion by repeating this “favorite line” moments before committing to KU, but months later, Jayhawk fans are barking whenever Council touches the ball and bringing “Beware of Dog” signs to games in his honor. He’s become an immediate fan favorite, especially as a result of a momentous 36-point showing in an overtime win over N.C. State on Dec. 13 (more on that later).

photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Jackson Hauge celebrates during the game against Kansas State on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Lawrence.

“I think it just supports the claim, we’re the never-die Hawks.”

• KU right fielder Jackson Hauge, April 18, after the Jayhawks rallied to beat Kansas State 5-3

This wasn’t the first or last time Hauge, a Division II transfer who clubbed 20 home runs in his lone year as a Jayhawk, would give his team this moniker. The Jayhawks proved themselves worthy of that title as they came from behind in 26 of their 43 wins. The most memorable of all might have been this Friday night showdown with the rival Wildcats in which Jacob Frost locked down KU for 6 2/3 innings before Hauge clubbed the go-ahead three-run homer off James Guyette. The Jayhawks won that night and went on to sweep KSU on their way to a second-place finish in the Big 12.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU senior Olivia Bruno is all smiles as she trots around the bases following her go-ahead home run against Oklahoma State on Sunday, April 27, 2025, at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence.

“I was looking for anything high. This is the third game I’ve seen her and she’s been getting me out with stuff high in the zone. She’d been throwing me that way the whole game, so when I got down 1-2, I knew what was coming.”

• KU designated player Olivia Bruno, April 27, after she hit a three-run home run to help KU beat Oklahoma State 3-2

The KU softball team didn’t win a lot of games at home in 2025; in fact, this was its only home win in league play. But it did so in memorable fashion on this occasion, with Bruno’s late heroics leading the Jayhawks to a one-run victory over the nationally ranked Cowgirls. It was a crowning moment in a quietly excellent season for Bruno, who hit 12 home runs with 40 RBIs while also posting a 2.91 ERA in 19 appearances in the circle.

photo by: Ohio State Athletics

The Kansas women’s golf team qualified for the NCAA Championship with its first-place finish in the Columbus Regional on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio.

“I actually went to the grocery store and I sat in the parking lot and they had posted kind of like a collage of videos of me from the week. And it kind of just hit me when I saw that video, and it made me really happy.”

• An emotional Lyla Louderbaugh, May 9, reflecting on her individual title at the Columbus Regional

Louderbaugh was one of the breakout stars of the KU women’s golf team and KU sports as a whole in 2025. Before she went on her dramatic run to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in August, she helped the Jayhawks win their first-ever NCAA regional title by shooting a 12-under 204 and claimed her own individual title along the way.

photo by: Damon Young/Kansas Athletics

Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols, center, listens to head coach Brandon Schneider during summer workouts in July.

“Being that call away and being able to show up immediately is something that I didn’t know was going to be so important. It’s something that you don’t ever think about because you don’t want that to happen to your family members, but it happened.”

• KU junior guard S’Mya Nichols, Sept. 12, to the Journal-World on the value of playing close to home

Much has been made of Nichols’ decision to play for her hometown school instead of choosing a traditional women’s basketball power. But during her time with the Jayhawks, her close proximity to her hometown of Overland Park has served her well off the court in times of crisis. She explained in this interview that being close to her family when her grandmother died in the fall of 2024 and when her stepfather died in June was “probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Gary Woodland speaks to reporters outside the Kansas Golf Practice Facility on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.

“I showed up in 2003 and this university’s done nothing but support me, and through the toughest stretch of my life, they’ve been by my side, with doctors, hospitals and more eyes. They’ve made this journey a lot easier on me and my family, and for that I’m forever grateful.”

• Gary Woodland, Sept. 19, on the occasion of his Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame induction

Woodland’s accomplishments in the world of golf, a 2019 U.S. Open title chief among them, would make him a surefire Hall of Fame inductee on their own, but his relationship with KU has deepened in recent years, he explained on this day, as the university has helped him overcome a significant obstacle in his life: the discovery and removal of a benign brain tumor.

photo by: AP Photo/Annie Rice

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold walks along the sidelines during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Texas Tech Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s supposed to be for safety and things like that. It’s a culture that’s been accepted to a point and it hasn’t changed. And eventually somebody’s going to be seriously hurt, unfortunately.”

• KU football coach Lance Leipold, Oct. 11, after alleging that someone threw a pocketknife from the stands that hit a member of KU’s staff during Texas Tech’s tortilla-throwing tradition.

These comments helped spawn a four-day-long controversy with a Big 12 review during which Texas Tech was only too happy to disseminate video footage it suggested disproved Leipold’s comments. Both schools were fined — KU for disparaging the conference and for Leipold’s “inaccurate statement,” and Tech for throwing objects onto the field — and Tech soon banned its tortilla tradition. It was an unpleasant episode amid a disappointing season for the Jayhawks.

photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas pitcher Daniel Lopez is pictured during a fall baseball game against Bradley on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Lawrence.

“Jon’s wrong on a lot of stuff — he was 100% right on every single piece of this. Like he said, you know, ‘This is his number. This is the Orioles’ pool. If this guy signs, you know, this lowers the pool to this.’ And Jon mapped it out. I mean, he could have written an article on the exact steps in terms of how it was going to play out, and it played out exactly that way.”

• KU baseball coach Dan Fitzgerald, Oct. 16, to the Journal-World on the Jayhawks’ signing of Daniel Lopez

KU baseball overhauled its roster with numerous transactions over the course of the offseason, but one of its biggest coups was signing Daniel Lopez, a pitcher from Odessa College who had been a 12th-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the MLB Draft but chose the Jayhawks instead. Recruiting coordinator Jon Coyne had been attempting to convince Fitzgerald since April that Lopez had “the best changeup in college baseball” and that KU could get him. He is a candidate for the back end of the Jayhawks’ rotation in the spring.

photo by: Jesus Portillo/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels scrambles away from Arizona linebacker Riley Wilson on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz.

“I just remember the ref saying behind me that we have a timeout on me, and it’s going to be an injury timeout. I remember turning around to ask him, ‘For what?’ I looked to the sideline, and I’m like, ‘Who is it for?’ And they said it was for me.”

• KU quarterback Jalon Daniels, Nov. 8, on how he got removed from play lae in the Jayhawks’ 24-20 loss to Arizona

Of all KU’s late-season losses that caused it to miss a bowl game, none was more gut-wrenching than the Jayhawks’ narrow defeat at Arizona, in which Leipold elected to kick a field goal rather than go for a late-game fourth-and-short with KU nursing a 20-17 lead because officials had pulled Daniels from the field for injury purposes. The kick missed, and Arizona scored a touchdown anyway; Leipold later said the decision “still eats at me.”

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

Kansas guard Sania Copeland and guard S’Mya Nichols chat during a break in play against Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025 in Kansas City, Mo.

“It feels special. This is more than just a game to us Kansas kids. I’m glad that I got to do this with my teammates for my last senior year.”

• KU guard Sania Copeland, Nov. 15, after beating Missouri 82-77 in the Border War

Kansas and Missouri renewed their rivalry in women’s basketball during the regular season for the first time since 2012, and it went the Jayhawks’ way. Copeland, a Kansas City, Kansas, native, did the dirty work as she so often does, pestering opposing guards, taking charges and recording five assiss and three steals in a season-high 28 minutes.

photo by: Kansas Athletics

The Kansas soccer team celebrates its 3-1 victory over Louisville on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Durham, N.C.

“We listened to a podcast called ‘College Soccer Nation,’ which (has) really respected coaches. And they talked and previewed this game, and they said that this is when the Big 12 gets found out. And they used Kansas as an example of a team that didn’t even have a chance against Louisville. We were dismissed. I found that pretty tough. We had five top-50 wins this year, Louisville had two. I think it’s professional negligence to dismiss a team of this caliber. We deserve to be here.”

• KU soccer coach Nate Lie, Nov. 20, after the Jayhawks beat Louisville 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament

Lie, who has displayed plenty of (well-deserved) confidence in his team during his two years in Lawrence, used these comments as motivation to help the Jayhawks reach the Sweet 16 for just the third time in their history.

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

Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer celebrates with the team after defeating Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 in Lawrence.

“I think I teared up a little bit out there, which I haven’t done before with any of the teams. They’ve given their best effort every day, and they just keep grinding. They never stopped believing in what we’re talking about.”

• KU volleyball coach Matt Ulmer, Dec. 5, after his team beat Miami in four sets to advance in the NCAA Tournament

The volleyball Jayhawks followed suit soon after their soccer counterparts in reaching the Sweet 16. For the returning players who stuck around for Ulmer’s first season in charge, it was a long-deferred goal after a pair of heartbreaking five-set second-round losses at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in 2023 and 2024. On this occasion, with a fresh roster featuring transfers and international acquisitions, the Jayhawks made it to the second weekend in a proud moment for their new coach.

photo by: AP Photo/Ben McKeown

Kansas head coach Bill Self looks towards his bench during an NCAA college basketball game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.

“We had one guy that was probably the best performer that I think that I’ve had on the road in my 23 years at Kansas.”

• Self, Dec. 13, on Council’s 36-point outburst

That carries a lot of weight coming from a coach like Self, given the sheer quantity of memorable road showings over the course of his distinguished tenure. But as he emphasized, Council had to do so much of it himself, putting up 36 points on nine 3s — he had previously made five total 3s on the season — in a game where the rest of the Jayhawks scored 41 combined, and Peterson left early. All the while, Council didn’t abandon the high-speed drives that constitute the core of his game, and he willed KU to victory.