TOPEKA ? Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach Roy Williams said he hoped bringing the team to the Legislature on Wednesday would send the message to lawmakers to protect funding for education.
“Cutting education should be the last thing they do,” Williams told a group of reporters after the team was honored in the House and Senate.
Williams told both chambers that all his players will graduate from KU, drawing cheers from lawmakers. Williams said he hoped lawmakers realize that he and KU are serious about education.
Lawmakers are meeting in overtime, facing the worst state budget problem in decades. A $4.4 billion spending plan would leave education funding flat, though education officials say that will actually result in cuts because of increased costs.
But the arrival of the Jayhawks took lawmakers’ minds off the budget crisis, at least momentarily.
Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, and Sen. Sandy Praeger, R-Lawrence, introduced the team, noting its highlights from the last season, including a 16-0 Big 12 record, an NCAA Final Four appearance and a trophy case full of honors for Drew Gooden, who will forgo his senior year to play in the NBA.
“Thank you for winning the hearts of parents and kids throughout the state,” Praeger said.
Both chambers were packed with legislators and staff members, many of them snapping photographs of the players. In the House, lawmakers delivered several standing ovations for the team.
Williams told the Legislature that the 2001-02 team was the most fun he ever coached. He said the team’s work ethic was incredible.
And he promised that even though Gooden was leaving before his senior year, he will graduate from KU, saying that when he gets his degree “he’s going to have a little bit more money.”
The team brought autographed basketballs for legislative leaders and received certificates in the House, and state flags and Langston Hughes coffee mugs from the Senate.