KU senior Kenny Gregory’s voice cracked and he shed tears during his postgame Senior Day speech to 16,300 fans on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The senior guard from Columbus, Ohio, recently lost a great friend in Matt Crosby, who died recently at “78 or 79,” Gregory said.
“My sister called me when I was in class and gave me the news. I’ve been writing messages like ‘Rest in Peace,’ on my shoes since the Colorado game (Feb.21),” Gregory said.
“He’s the person who taught me how to play basketball when I was 5-years-old and I didn’t even like basketball,” Gregory explained. “He’d come over and make me play 1-on-1 against him … to 100 points.
“And he was 60 years old. My goal was to finally beat him. I think I beat him when I was 12.”
Another reason Gregory became emotional Sunday … “I’ve seen my dad cry about two times in my life. One moment today I saw him crying and it really got to me,” Gregory said.
Chenowith’s speech poignant
Eric Chenowith hugged his mother Janey long and tight during the pre-game flower shower.
After the game, he talked about Janey’s successful battle in beating cancer, and also thanked his sister, Melissa, for riding 33 hours on the train to reach Lawrence for the game. Melissa, who lives in Fullerton, Calif., hates to fly.
“I am so blessed you are here today,” Chenowith said to his mom. “The biggest reason my Mom is here is God. All you people’s prayers … you were her sixth man. I just want to say to the people, if you are ever down and out, pray about it and God will help you out.”
Axtell still ailing
Luke Axtell said he wished he’d been able to contribute more at KU, especially this season.
But his bad back has limited him severely.
“If things had worked out health wise, maybe I’d be averaging 18 points and we’d have one loss,” Axtell told the crowd. “It hasn’t turned out that way. That’s all right. I’ve learned to persevere. It is tough because I’m trying to fight an enemy I can’t see (back pain). It’s the hardest part.
“I want to thank everybody for being so loyal. I’ve never felt like an unwanted guest here. For the believers in the crowd, I hope my testimony has encouraged you also,” added Axtell, who was re-born last summer.
KU coach Roy Williams will give Axtell at least two days off this week to try to get the senior guard’s back ready for the Big 12 Tournament. KU will meet Kansas State or Nebraska at 6:10 p.m. Friday at Kemper Arena.
“He basically has not been able to play,” Williams said of Axtell, who played just three minutes Sunday. “He can’t move. The only thing that will help us is time. In the tournament with the possibility of playing two to three days in a row, it’s almost impossible to do it with six guys.”
Williams used big men Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Eric Chenowith Sunday. Jeff Carey, who had contributed greatly with Drew Gooden out five games, played just a minute.
“Jeff had gotten to play a lot of minutes. Now his minutes go to about nothing today and nobody’s out there cheering more or happier about this win than Jeff Carey,” Williams said, lauding the junior’s attitude.
Chenowith’s three
Center Eric Chenowith hoisted a three-pointer with about 25 seconds left. He missed.
“If I would have made it it would have been awesome. I remember Scot Pollard hitting one,” 7-footer Chenowith said of ex-Jayhawk center Pollard hitting the only three of his career on Senior Day. “I don’t even think coach got mad cause there was so little time left.”
Williams loves Senior Day
“Senior Day is always emotional,”Williams said. “I challenged all the underclassmen and said their responsiblity was to send Luke, Kenny and Eric out the right way. It’s the underclassmen’s responsibility to take care of the old guys.”
Stats, facts
Chenowith grabbed his 900th rebound. … Hinrich became the fourth Jayhawk to record 200 assists in a season. The others: Jacque Vaughn, Ryan Robertson, Cedric Hunter. … Jeff Boschee’s 11 points leave him six shy of 1,000. … KU shot 1 of 13 from three-point range, a season-low and worst by a KU squad in the Williams era (minimum 10 attempts). … Nick Collison pulled down his 400th career rebound. He had 13 boards, one off a career high. … Gregory passed Tony Guy for 12th on KU’s career scoring list (1,489 points). … Boschee failed to make a three, snapping a 16 game streak of at least one three made.
