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Kansas University freshman Chase Buford calls timeout as he falls out of bounds late in the game against Louisiana-Monroe. Buford, a walk-on who has appeared in seven games this season, wasn't sure he'd be able to play again after coming down with mononucleosis last year.
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Kansas University freshman Chase Buford calls timeout as he falls out of bounds late in the game against Louisiana-Monroe. Buford, a walk-on who has appeared in seven games this season, wasn't sure he'd be able to play again after coming down with mononucleosis last year.
There was a time not long ago when Chase Buford doubted whether he ever would play basketball competitively again.
It was just last year when Buford was preparing for his senior season at Alamo Heights High in San Antonio, Texas. But the week before practice started, he came down with a strange affliction.
"I got really sick, and I couldn't even move," Buford said. "So, I went to the doctor, and they found out I had mono."
Buford suffered an enlarged spleen.
"That's one of the complications that comes with (mononucleosis)," he said. "So, I went back to the doctor for every two weeks until the end of the year. I just never got healthy enough to play. I wanted to numerous times, but they just wouldn't clear me."
After leading his team to a 20-12 campaign in his junior year, Buford could only look on as a spectator his senior season, and the team struggled without him. All this came on the heels of a broken ankle during football season in which he had to watch his team win the state championship.
"It was tough watching football win state knowing I would have been out there," Buford said. "But basketball was really tough because that's my sport. Watching our team struggle was hard. But it was a learning experience. I got through it."
A basketball career that seemed promising for the 6-foot-3 combo guard had no direction, with interest from Division I colleges waning.
"After that last summer, I really stopped talking to a lot of schools about scholarships," Buford said. "I was wondering whether I would even play again. Especially when I got sick, I was kind of thinking, 'What happens if I don't play again?' But I got a good opportunity to do something like this, and it was the best opportunity I could imagine."
Buford became an invited walk-on at KU - the same school his dad, R.C., helped guide to the 1988 national championship as an assistant coach.
Now, Chase is happy simply to be back in basketball shape. He wasn't cleared medically to play basketball again until a month before arriving on campus in June. That fact alone had teammates marveling at Buford's physical shape when practices began in October.
"He sits there, and sometimes you look at him because he couldn't do much with mono, and you're just like, 'How is this kid doing this right now?'" said fellow walk-on Conner Teahan, also Buford's roommate.
The true test of Buford's endurance came during a two-week stretch in late September and early October when the team went through its grueling 6 a.m. workouts that have become known as Boot Camp.
"He worked really hard," Teahan said. "He made it through Boot Camp, which had to be hard because it's not like he had all this time to be conditioning. It shows he will suck it up for the team, which is something you need."
Buford has come a long way from the days when he barely could roll out of bed. But he said he still felt compelled to disprove the naysayers, to show people he isn't here based solely on the merit of his dad, whom Jayhawk fans still revere for helping to bring a national title to Lawrence nearly 20 years ago.
So far this season, Buford has played 13 minutes over seven games. He has missed all six of his field-goal attempts - four were three-pointers - but has four rebounds.
"I feel like I have to prove myself a lot more than a lot of other people, just throughout my life," Buford said. "The only people I want to prove myself to here are the guys I'm playing with, to gain their respect. I think we've been through a lot so far, and that helps."
In just a few months, Buford already has earned high marks from his Jayhawk teammates for his work ethic, taking steps to emerge from the shadows of his dad.
"Pretty much everybody knows who (R.C.) is," Teahan said. "It has to be tough for him, but I think sooner or later, he'll make a name for himself."
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Comments
husbus (anonymous) says...
buford can thank his dad for his walk-on invitation ...
December 27, 2007 at 6:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hawklin (anonymous) says...
No kidding? Way to go Sherlock. Must be pretty excited to get that jab in.
December 27, 2007 at 7:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
husbus (anonymous) says...
ummmmkay ... sherlock? Are you 12?
December 27, 2007 at 7:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kushaw (anonymous) says...
Husbus: Wow! You must be bitter about something to pick on Buford like that. Everybody knows it's not what you know, but who you know to get ahead in life so good for Chase.
Cut the kid a break, he didn't exactly have a normal High School athletic career. He missed the most important football game of his life that he should have been participating and then he missed his entire senior campaign for basketball. Most kids don't just say "Oh Well" I'll play next year as a college Freshman. Bill Self saw this as an opportunity to give back to a kid that missed out on a lot of cherished High School experiences. Obviously, Bill and RC are good friends, but I would do the same thing for one of my friends kids.
December 27, 2007 at 7:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kushaw (anonymous) says...
Husbus: By the way, I bet he kicks your tail with his dominant hand tied behind his back.
December 27, 2007 at 7:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carterpatterson (anonymous) says...
Scooter Barry was a huge part of our 1988 team. His last name had a lot to do with him being a Jayhawk, but he EARNED the respect of everybody.
I see a lot of similarities with Chase and I won't be surprised to see him have a very productive 4 years at KU.
December 27, 2007 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
husbus (anonymous) says...
kushaw... are you Buford's mother?
December 27, 2007 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nicka (anonymous) says...
ku shaw -
after watching buford play, i'm not sure that he has a dominant hand....both are equally useless.
basketball was "his sport", yet he "led" the team to a 20-12 record while avg. something like 6ppg. Yikes.
December 27, 2007 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ku98 (anonymous) says...
Quite an angry bunch of guys here!
Can't you just read the article, be happy for him that he has an influential father, post a quick "good luck, Chase", and move on?
Hard to know how good Chase really is, since he has not played much in the last 2 years, but as long as he works hard and gives 100%, I don't have a problem with the fact that he was "invited" to walk on.
December 27, 2007 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
93jayhawk (anonymous) says...
Nicka and husbus have already shown their disdain for walk-ons, so their opinions on this article can and should be discounted.
I don't know if the relationship between Coach Self and the Bufords had anything to do with Chase being invited to KU, but it's certainly an easy supposition. Do I care? Heck no. I just hope he's bringing something to the program in practice, and maybe he'll be able to contribute meaningful minutes someday.
Rock Chalk!
Michael
December 27, 2007 at 9:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KU (anonymous) says...
I guess Santa didn't bring them what they wanted so they're taking it out on Buford. Give the kid a break. He's a w-a-l-k-o-n. Walk-on. His job is to work his butt off in practice and help make the scholarship players work harder and have a better attitude.
December 27, 2007 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
irony (anonymous) says...
I had this same mono related affliction in high school, couldn't get out of bed for over a month except for using the bathroom. That sucked. So knowing what he went through I am impressed! It took me 2 years before I could dunk the ball again.
December 27, 2007 at 12:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Toto_the_great (anonymous) says...
Is it me, or is Mr, Buford calling a time out when falling out of bounds. Isn't that a no-no. I thought that was a new rule this year.
December 27, 2007 at 12:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Hawklin (anonymous) says...
The rule is you cant be jumping out of bounds to call a timeout. As long as you have a foot on the court you have posession and can call timeout. This is why Collins threw the ball away against Ga Tech when going out of bounds. He could have called timeout, but earlier in the game the refs messed up the call when Mario tried to do so and Collins was confused on the rule.
December 27, 2007 at 1:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Toto_the_great (anonymous) says...
Thanks Hawklin. Honestly, I haven't paid that much attention to hoops this year. It will change on Jan 5th vs BC.
December 27, 2007 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nicka (anonymous) says...
irony -
Were you invited to be a walk-on at Kansas as well....you know, to make up for the experience lost in high school?
P.S. Is that Nerf hoop you're dunking on???
December 27, 2007 at 3 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jayhawkr34 (anonymous) says...
orange bowl?
December 27, 2007 at 10:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...
Did this headline cause Aerosmith to get stuck in anyone else's head?!?
December 28, 2007 at 6:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )