Some of Kansas University’s greatest basketball players in the Roy Williams era — Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Jacque Vaughn come to mind — never played in a Final Four.
“It’s not easy. A lot of guys scrap all their careers just to get to the NCAA Tournament,” KU sophomore Keith Langford said, shedding some sanity on the situation. “It’s hard to get to the Final Four. It’s not something I take for granted.”
Langford and four other members of his distinguished KU recruiting class have accomplished something all but unheard of — reaching the Final Four in their first two seasons of college basketball.
Langford, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Jeff Hawkins each are 2-for-2 in Final Four appearances.
They soon may find superstitious coach Roy Williams rubbing their heads daily for good luck — it seems everything KU’s sophomore class touches turns to gold.
“I guess so,” Lee said. “I hoped it would work out that way when I decided to come here, but you never know for sure. It’s almost an unreal feeling to make it my first two years at KU. I hope it continues.”
Hawkins, by the way, is listed as a freshman on the roster, but he’s a sophomore academically, having taken a red-shirt last year.
Last year and this year are two entirely different seasons, some of the super sophs say. Remember, a year ago KU had Drew Gooden and Jeff Boschee, helping Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich and the freshmen to a 33-4 record, league title and Final Four berth.
This year, there’s no Gooden and just 16 games worth of Simien, who missed much of the season because of his dislocated shoulder.
“The difference is this year a lot of people were counting us out, saying Kansas can’t do this and that,” said Langford, realizing critics surfaced when the Jayhawks opened 3-3. “Coach (Roy Williams) has a newspaper clip that says ‘Kansas is the most disappointing team this season.’
“We didn’t listen to that and kept fighting. Winning without Drew … well we also won the toughest conference in the country without Wayne. People said we didn’t have a bench and we ended up having a good bench. This is an example for all teams that lose a star player, have a star player get hurt. You can still accomplish your goals if you work as hard as we did.”
As far as rating Final Fours … that’s difficult for the Jayhawks to do entering the 2003 Final Four, where KU will meet Marquette in an NCAA semifinal at 5:07 p.m. Saturday at New Orleans’ Superdome.
“I can’t say this is sweeter than last year,” said Miles, KU’s point guard, who has averaged 8.9 points and has an assist-to-turnover mark of 233 to 178 this year after last year’s marks of 7.1 points, 252 assists to 112 turnovers.
“It feels good, real good to do it again. A lot of guys don’t get to go to the Final four at any time in their career. I get the opportunity to go two times in a row. Last year we celebrated a lot more. This year we are calm and ready to finish it.”
KU senior Nick Collison may have celebrated more outwardly last year, but deep down inside this year might be a bit more special.
“This year we scraped together wins all year. It is more satisfying,” said the 6-9, 255-pounder who averages a team-leading 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds. “All year long we’ve been pulling out wins. We’ve really come together. A lot of guys have stepped up from the beginning of the year.
“When we started, Mike Lee, Bryant Nash and Jeff (Graves) had no experience at all, now they are giving us a lot. They are stepping up. I’m proud of how we’ve come together as a team. A lot of teams aren’t as together as we are. It’s another reason we want to win two more games.”
Two more than a year ago when KU was downed by eventual national champion Maryland in the semifinals in Atlanta. This year, instead of Maryland having seniors Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, it’s KU with the Collison-Kirk Hinrich senior duo.
“It’s a special feeling to go back,” said Hinrich, who averages 17.9 points and 3.5 assists for the 29-7 Jayhawks. “Nobody gave us a chance on Selection Sunday and after our first six games. We’ve gone through a lot of adversity.
“But we’re not just happy to be there. This year we see the big picture and want to bring home a championship.”
6Sports video: Roy Williams and his team are focused on championship
Hear Roy: April 2 teleconference comments