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They need this By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH SAN JOSE, Calif. | One player is the top scorer on the hottest team in the country. His face is splattered all over the television, and his name is getting bigger by the day. The other player sits at the end of the bench and has never been happier to rebound shots in warmups. He'll get on TV today only if Kansas leads by 20 in the final moments. One coach has taken three different teams to the Elite Eight. Accurate or not, he's been referred to as a tournament underachiever. The other coach may never make it back to the NCAA Tournament. These four Kansas Jayhawks, on the surface, couldn't be more
different. But they're all alike in one way heading into today's
West regional final against UCLA: A victory today means something different for everybody wearing blue and crimson. From the team manager to the trainers to the McDonald's All-Americans, a trip to the Final Four can be a life-altering event. It doesn't matter who you are. Tim Jankovich, assistant coach Tim Jankovich admits this trip to the Elite Eight has an urgent feel to it. He made it as a player for Kansas State in 1981 but lost to North Carolina. He made it again as an assistant coach at Kansas in 2004 but fell to Georgia Tech. Now, after taking the head coaching job at Illinois State this week, Jankovich knows this might be his last chance to be part of a Final Four team. "Everyone at any level is dreaming and pushing toward that," Jankovich says, "but realistically, short of George Mason, it happens about once every 50 years. I think most people know that. I understand that. When will I ever get this opportunity again? I don't know." That means the butterflies are a little bigger this week for Jankovich. "I think everybody I know that's in college basketball, the Final Four is their ultimate goal," Jankovich says. "It was always the ultimate goal for me. As a player, I was only able to get to the final eight, so that was one of the all-time painful memories of knocking on that door. "To knock on that door again is an unbelievable thrill, and it would be the ultimate for me." Jankovich helped build programs that went to Final Fours after he left. He was an assistant at Oklahoma State during 1992-93, and the Cowboys made it in '95. He was an assistant at Illinois in 2003, and the Fighting Illini made it in '05. "I have known a lot of people very, very well that have gone to Final Fours," Jankovich says. "I haven't been that fortunate yet in my life. It would be an amazing dream come true if it happened." The longer Jankovich has been in coaching, the more he's realized just how hard it is to make it to the tournament's final weekend. At midmajor Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Conference, it will take a while for Jankovich to build a team good enough to make the tournament, much less the Final Four. "It's the biggest stage college basketball has to offer," Jankovich says, "and everyone wants to play on the big stage, at least just one time." Brandon Rush, star player Brandon Rush was asked Friday what his favorite memories were of watching the NCAA Tournament. "I don't have memories of that," Rush said. "I didn't really watch it that much. My brothers weren't in it. They were always the first ones to be out, so ..." Take that, JaRon and Kareem. JaRon and UCLA were upset in the first round in 1999 by Detroit. The next year, his Bruins lost in the Sweet 16 to Iowa State. At Missouri during 2000-02, Rush's Tigers lost in the first round, second round and then came just short in the Elite Eight. So, Rush would be making family history if he can lead the Jayhawks past UCLA. Needless to say, that would give him plenty of bragging rights back in Kansas City. "That's a part of it," Rush says, "just to say I did something that they've never done before." But there's a much bigger part of it, too. People have been saying since Rush walked on campus in the fall of 2005 that he didn't have what it would take to lead Kansas deep into the tournament. Rush made great strides in his quest to prove his critics wrong on Thursday against Southern Illinois, leading Kansas with 12 points on six-of-six shooting, including a huge bucket in the final minute. But, still, the great debate continued in the media on Friday: Who is Kansas' go-to guy? Does Kansas even have a go-to guy? UCLA coach Ben Howland thinks the Jayhawks do. "At the end of the game," Howland says, "if it's coming down to the last second, I'm expecting that Brandon Rush is going to be their first choice to take a shot." Told what Howland said, Rush smiled. "That's a pretty good statement," Rush said. "I like being the one to take the shot in the last minute like I did yesterday. Still, we've got a lot of players on the team who can step up and make the shot at the end." If Rush does it again, not only will he hush his doubters, but he'll also have something to hold over his big brothers. "It would mean everything," Rush says. Bill Self, head coach Bill Self remembers his first trip to the Elite Eight as the head coach at Tulsa back in 2000, when the Golden Hurricane lost to North Carolina. "I was planning on being at Tulsa a long time," Self says. "I'm thinking, 'This is going to be my only chance to do this.' It crushed me." Turns out, it was only the first of many chances for Self to take his team to the Final Four. Just one year later, in his first year at Illinois, the Fighting Illini were beaten by Arizona on the last possession in the Elite Eight. At that point, Self started to really wonder whether he'd get another chance. But sure enough, in 2004 in his first year at Kansas, the Jayhawks gave him that opportunity. Only, they lost to Georgia Tech, making Self 0-3 in regional finals. "They all hurt," Self says. "I don't know which one hurts the most." So far, the Elite Eight seems to be the ceiling for Self. That's a label that he would like to shed today. "It would mean a ton to me," Self says. "If we ever got there, it would mean even more to have a chance to win it. It would mean a ton personally because we've been real close and haven't gotten it done." Self has had to watch every year as other coaches have gotten to experience the magic of the Final Four. "I'm jealous of the guys that get there," Self says. "I'm jealous to the point that, you know, I want to be in that same arena. But it's not about me. It's not. It's about our team. To have an opportunity to take a team there would just be an unbelievably special thing, especially when it's something that you've dreamed of for a long, long time." Self has said all along this year's Kansas team will give him the best chance to achieve that dream. "This is the best team I've had," Self says. "We're more equipped to play deep into the tournament. This is our fourth one in eight years. We've had some pretty good players, some pretty good teams. But certainly this is as good as we've had." Brad Witherspoon, junior walk-on When Brad Witherspoon puts on his uniform, he still checks the back of his jersey. "To make sure my name is still on it," Witherspoon jokes. You couldn't blame Witherspoon, a junior walk-on, for being nervous. He tried out for the team his freshman and sophomore years but was turned away each time. But that didn't sour the Humboldt, Kan., native's passion for KU hoops. He still camped out with all the other students for premium seating. Witherspoon, who was an all-conference player in high school, also never stopped training and practicing. So when tryouts came around this year, he held out hope that Jankovich would put him on the team. When Jankovich called and told him the good news, Witherspoon flipped out. "It meant a lot," Witherspoon said. "I was a hardcore KU fan my whole life. I still am. You see me going crazy on the sideline every game. Now I just have better seats." Now, one win away from the Final Four, Witherspoon's hometown of 2,500 is watching intently. Witherspoon hasn't been back to Humboldt since being a part of the Jayhawks, but his mom told him that there are signs all over town this week cheering him on. "We've already won the Big 12 regular season and the Big 12 tournament," Witherspoon says. "My friends back home are saying, 'You've already cut down two nets, and last year you wouldn't have dreamed of that.' This whole thing has just been crazy." Unfortunately, Witherspoon doesn't know whether Kansas will need him on the team next year. So, this may be Brad Witherspoon's last chance to make a Final Four, too. "Being that I was just a normal student watching the NCAA Tournament last year from my house, you know, it's kind of a big deal to be in the Final Four on a team," Witherspoon says. "That would be huge. This is the farthest anybody on this team has gone. It's going to mean a lot to everybody." To reach J. Brady McCollough, sports reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4363 or send e-mail to jmccollough@kcstar.com
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J. Brady McCollough - jbrady@coveringsports.com (email) - 816-868-2621 (cell) |
