When Brett Ballard was 8 years old, his family drove three hours from Hutchinson to Lawrence to attend a victory parade for Kansas University’s 1988 NCAA championship basketball team.
Next week, Ballard’s family might be watching him in a parade.
“A lot of people have dreams they think about all the time, and a lot of them never come true,” he said. “But for me, it has. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
While this week’s Final Four trip to Atlanta will be special for all the Jayhawks, it’s especially sweet for reserves Ballard and Wayne Simien the only native Kansans in KU’s regular rotation.
“People talk about the expectations,” said Ballard, a senior guard. “I grew up with them. Those 1991 and 1993 teams were special. After that, I always thought KU would make the Final Four.”
After reaching the Final Four in 1986 and 1988 under former coach Larry Brown and again in 1991 and 1993 under Roy Williams, the Jayhawks haven’t been back until now.
“There’s been a number of great players in this building who never made it to the Final Four,” said Simien, a forward from Leavenworth. “Then to come in my freshman year and be able to say I made it to the Final Four and helped contribute in a lot of ways is an unbelievable feeling and something that every college basketball player dreams of.”
As a forward, Simien’s favorite Jayhawks from those 1991 and 1993 squads were post players Mike Maddox, Richard Scott, Alonzo Jamison and Mark Randall. Ballard liked the backcourt play of Rex Walters and Adonis Jordan.
“I loved those guys on those Final Four teams because of how hard they played,” Ballard said. “I’d always try to imitate those guys.”
While Williams had Simien on his recruiting radar early in his prep career at Leavenworth, Ballard’s dream of wearing the crimson and blue was a long shot. The 6-foot-1 guard was an All-Ark Valley League first-team selection and honorable mention all-state as a junior and senior, but Division I coaches weren’t lining up outside Hutchinson High’s locker room to sign him.
He played one year at Cowley County Community College before transferring to play for his hometown Blue Dragons as a sophomore. He averaged nine points and six assists for Hutchinson Community College and was recruited by a handful of mid-major and small colleges.
Ballard, whose family has strong ties to KU, opted to walk-on at Kansas along with HCC teammate Chris Zerbe and eventually earned a scholarship.
Now Ballard will add his name to the list of Kansas players who’ve been to the Final Four.
“I always dreamed about it as a kid,” he said. “Once I got to high school, I knew it was going to be difficult for me to play Division I basketball, especially for a team that had a chance to play in the Final Four. That dream faded a little bit, but I always kept it in the back of my mind. Once I got the opportunity to come to Kansas, that dream was rekindled.”
The fans that greeted the Jayhawks on Sunday when they returned from winning the Midwest Regional championship in Madison, Wis., made clear to the rest of the team something that Ballard and Simien already knew.
“It’s a big thing here at Kansas to make it and be a part of it,” Simien said. “It’s something that hasn’t happened in almost 10 years. It’s a great feeling. It’s just huge. When we came back to Allen Fieldhouse, 12,000 people were waiting for us. Some of the guys didn’t know how much it meant to Kansas. The whole state of Kansas is behind us. It means so much to the people of Kansas. It’s great to have that kind of support.”
Injury update: Williams offered an update Wednesday on Kirk Hinrich’s left ankle, which the guard sprained in an NCAA Tournament victory over Holy Cross.
“He is not 100 percent by any means,” Williams said. “I think his stamina is still a question mark. He gave more tired signals against Oregon than he has the entire season. We’ll try to give him some extra time on the bike. I don’t want to pound his ankle. I want to build his stamina back. He went nine days without doing much conditioning at all.”
Postseason award: Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson was named National Assn. of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year on Wednesday.
The organization recently named KU’s Drew Gooden the Div. I co-player of the year along with Jason Williams of Duke. That assures Gooden’s jersey of being hung in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse. Any player of the year’s jersey is hung.
