There was a moment Monday during halftime of the Missouri game that served as a measuring mark for Kansas basketball.
Yet everyone attending in Allen Fieldhouse missed it.
They should have been there, too. It was quite the magic ceremony. It was a reflective reunion for those fighting for equality despite race, gender or reputation. But more importantly it was a party promoting the success and hard work of a few that have meant so much to so many.
“It’s great to come back and feel the vibe of Kansas basketball again,” said one of the honorees, who’s already won two world championships.
“I would like to thank the University of Kansas, the fans, all of my teammates and coach,” said the other.
Only after their jerseys were revealed at halftime of the men’s game Monday did people realize these two weren’t your average Jayhawks.
Their accomplishments so similar to the other 18 blue retired jerseys hanging from the rafters overlooking James Naismith Court. Their anatomies only similar to that of one legend whose red jersey sways in the south end of the Fieldhouse.
Tamecka Dixon and Angela Aycock are women.
When fans factor in their worth in the build-up of Kansas’ basketball tradition, the two are regarded as little more than construction workers to all but the most loyal lady Jayhawk lovers. Certainly not revered as warriors such as Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning or Paul Pierce.
Sure there was the obligatory applause when Max Falkenstien read the pair’s college court resumes that flowed like the Kaw River. And the roar of the packed partisan crowd rose to the rafters when Dixon said she would trade all the glory of her professional career for four more years in Lawrence.
Dixon’s declaration was honest, straight from her heart. But only truly understood when she walked out of the Fieldhouse, past the gathered media after doing a quick interview and up the winding stairs of the Wagnon Student-Athlete Center.
There at the top of the staircase came the cheers from Dixon’s true fans — her Jayhawk family. About 50 current and former players, coaches and fans flocked to greet their newly crowned celebrity.
“Complete numbness,” Dixon said was what she felt after becoming the third women’s basketball player to receive an honor that had been bestowed only once before Monday night. “To go through the list of great players that have gone through this program and to be considered as one of them is… Wow!”
Moments later Aycock joined Dixon, their coach Marian Washington and Lynette Woodard — the first woman to have her Jayhawk jersey retired — in the center of all the commotion.
Aycock’s vows as a novice nun kept her off the court in front of 16,300, but they couldn’t keep her from cracking a slight smile among her real supporters.
“God willing, many more young women will be inspired and challenge themselves as well as others to not limit themselves but strive for excellence in all things,” Aycock said in a prepared statement.
That’s the kind of thing that is said when a celebration transcends the basketball court.
Monday’s magnificent meeting between past players was about dreams, goals and success — even if those treasures are measured greater for members of the other gender.
“A lot of times you don’t see many women getting their numbers retired in college,” said freshman Crystal Kemp, a forward from Topeka who came to play for Kansas in part because of the tradition players such as Aycock and Dixon built. “The fact that those two are getting them back-to-back is awesome. It’s a way for me and my teammates to see what we are trying to do for the history of this team.”
That’s the key.
Kansas women’s basketball right now has no tradition, nor the support of a successful team — because they are not successful as are the men.
But even when they were, just three years ago, few fans found their way to the Fieldhouse for games.
When Aycock and Dixon teamed for two seasons from 1993 to 1995, they guided Kansas to back-to-back 20-victory seasons — a benchmark Washington would accomplish in 11 straight seasons.
Those teams would have never thought that this year’s squad, which is 9-10 heading into tonight’s game in Colorado, could ever be fighting through its third-straight losing season.
That’s why Monday was so important, said the legendary Woodard — who was and is to women’s basketball what Michael Jordan was and is to men’s.
“I keep telling this young team that there’s enough room for all of them to be up there,” Woodard said of them getting their jerseys retired. “Each day they’re growing and they’re going to see the possibilities. Not just hearing about me, they saw it first hand here tonight.”
That’s what Washington wanted. That’s why she set up the ceremony at a men’s game. To pay the kind of homage befitting to two of her greatest players.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Washington said. “When I first shared this moment with Angela and told her that her number was going to be retired, she said, ‘Coach, I don’t deserve it.’ I said, ‘You absolutely do.'”
“But the point is it goes beyond Angela, it reaches beyond Tamecka, it’s reached out beyond Lynette Woodard,” Washington said.
“It’s about having an opportunity for women, especially female athletes, to be able to come to this arena and to know that, with hard work and commitment, anything is possible.”
As the final seconds ticked off of Kansas’ 76-70 victory against rival Missouri, there standing among the student faithful was a group of Kansas women’s basketball players cheering wildly.
Hopefully on Monday they realized what the real monumental victory was.
