Up north in Lincoln, Neb., it’s unlikely you’ll find many closet Kansas University football fans. Evidence does exist, however, of a covey of Kansas University basketball fans.
When KU played in the NCAA Final Four last March, Nick Bahe gathered with family and friends in front of a television in the Bahe household and devoured every minute of the Jayhawks’ games in New Orleans against Marquette and Syracuse.
In large part, that’s why Bahe, a 6-foot-2 guard out of Lincoln Southeast High, is a member of KU’s basketball team today.
“You’ve got to ask yourself,” Bahe said, “what you’re most passionate about.”
Basketball is Bahe’s passion even though his father, Ritch, and his uncle, Chip, both played football for the Cornhuskers in the 1970s and 1980s. Moreover, the Bahes live on the same Lincoln cul-de-sac as Nebraska head football coach Frank Solich.
“There would be times I’d be shooting in my driveway and he’d come out and give me a wave or say something,” Bahe said of Solich.
Bahe (pronounced “Bah,” rhymes with “ha”) was a football player in high school. In fact, he was a standout quarterback as a junior, but participated in just four games as a senior because of an injury. Not that the injury prevented him from consideration for a potential college football grant.
“I had decided on basketball before my senior season,” Bahe said. “I really enjoyed football. I love to compete, you know, show them what you can do. But basketball was a no-brainer.”
Bahe’s background isn’t totally football. His grandfather, Al, was head boys basketball coach at Fremont (Neb.) High for 21 years and played basketball at Wayne (Neb.) State.
Bahe caught the eye of KU coach Roy Williams and assistant coach Joe Holladay during his junior year at Southeast High when he averaged 20 points a game and set a state record by nailing 58 consecutive free throws. Bahe went on to finish as his school’s all-time leading scorer.
“When the coaches from Kansas called, that blew me away,” Bahe said. “Coach Williams and coach Holladay came and saw me play. They were recruiting me pretty hard.”
But when push came to shove, Bahe was an odd man out in the numbers game. KU didn’t offer him a scholarship.
“They made their list and in the shuffle I was short,” Bahe said.
Not so short of money, though, that he couldn’t afford to go to Kansas as a walk-on. But if he was going to walk on, why not at Nebraska or at Creighton in nearby Omaha instead of Kansas? Creighton coach Dana Altman even had promised to put Bahe on scholarship after his freshman season.
Bahe already had decided not to accept scholarship offers from mid-major schools like Boise State, Marist, Ohio U., Bowling Green and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
All the Bahes have provincial leanings and they had a difficult time coming to grips with Nick crossing the border to go to Kansas as an invited walk-on rather than go to Nebraska or Creighton.
“A lot of people — Grandpa Al, my dad and my uncle … they couldn’t understand it,” Bahe said.
Friends and contemporaries also had difficulty accepting his decision.
“I felt a lot of pressure to stay,” he said of the inevitable backlash. “They do like to see hometown kids stay. But I never felt I had to change my mind and not go (to Kansas).”
With Nebraska playing Kansas in football today at Memorial Stadium, Nick’s 23-year-old brother Alex is coming to town as are several of his chums from Southeast High.
“It’s kind of tough because I’m friends with a lot of guys on Nebraska’s team, but I got to show love and support for our KU football squad,” Bahe said.
Bahe’s brother and buddies will be pulling for the Cornhuskers, of course. Not Nick, though.
“There’ll be a little friendly trash talking,” Bahe said with a smile, “but hopefully the Jayhawks come out on top.”
Up north in Lincoln, Neb., it’s unlikely you’ll find many closet Kansas University football fans. Evidence does exist, however, of a covey of Kansas University basketball fans.
When KU played in the NCAA Final Four last March, Nick Bahe gathered with family and friends in front of a television in the Bahe household and devoured every minute of the Jayhawks’ games in New Orleans against Marquette and Syracuse.
In large part, that’s why Bahe, a 6-foot-2 guard out of Lincoln Southeast High, is a member of KU’s basketball team today.
“You’ve got to ask yourself,” Bahe said, “what you’re most passionate about.”
Basketball is Bahe’s passion even though his father, Ritch, and his uncle, Chip, both played football for the Cornhuskers in the 1970s and 1980s. Moreover, the Bahes live on the same Lincoln cul-de-sac as Nebraska head football coach Frank Solich.
“There would be times I’d be shooting in my driveway and he’d come out and give me a wave or say something,” Bahe said of Solich.
Bahe (pronounced “Bah,” rhymes with “ha”) was a football player in high school. In fact, he was a standout quarterback as a junior, but participated in just four games as a senior because of an injury. Not that the injury prevented him from consideration for a potential college football grant.
“I had decided on basketball before my senior season,” Bahe said. “I really enjoyed football. I love to compete, you know, show them what you can do. But basketball was a no-brainer.”
Bahe’s background isn’t totally football. His grandfather, Al, was head boys basketball coach at Fremont (Neb.) High for 21 years and played basketball at Wayne (Neb.) State.
Bahe caught the eye of KU coach Roy Williams and assistant coach Joe Holladay during his junior year at Southeast High when he averaged 20 points a game and set a state record by nailing 58 consecutive free throws. Bahe went on to finish as his school’s all-time leading scorer.
“When the coaches from Kansas called, that blew me away,” Bahe said. “Coach Williams and coach Holladay came and saw me play. They were recruiting me pretty hard.”
But when push came to shove, Bahe was an odd man out in the numbers game. KU didn’t offer him a scholarship.
“They made their list and in the shuffle I was short,” Bahe said.
Not so short of money, though, that he couldn’t afford to go to Kansas as a walk-on. But if he was going to walk on, why not at Nebraska or at Creighton in nearby Omaha instead of Kansas? Creighton coach Dana Altman even had promised to put Bahe on scholarship after his freshman season.
Bahe already had decided not to accept scholarship offers from mid-major schools like Boise State, Marist, Ohio U., Bowling Green and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
All the Bahes have provincial leanings and they had a difficult time coming to grips with Nick crossing the border to go to Kansas as an invited walk-on rather than go to Nebraska or Creighton.
“A lot of people — Grandpa Al, my dad and my uncle … they couldn’t understand it,” Bahe said.
Friends and contemporaries also had difficulty accepting his decision.
“I felt a lot of pressure to stay,” he said of the inevitable backlash. “They do like to see hometown kids stay. But I never felt I had to change my mind and not go (to Kansas).”
With Nebraska playing Kansas in football today at Memorial Stadium, Nick’s 23-year-old brother Alex is coming to town as are several of his chums from Southeast High.
“It’s kind of tough because I’m friends with a lot of guys on Nebraska’s team, but I got to show love and support for our KU football squad,” Bahe said.
Bahe’s brother and buddies will be pulling for the Cornhuskers, of course. Not Nick, though.
“There’ll be a little friendly trash talking,” Bahe said with a smile, “but hopefully the Jayhawks come out on top.”
