Roy Williams no longer works at Kansas University. But the second-year University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach, who ran KU’s hoops program for 15 years, still has a vested interest in the KU athletic department.
A member of the Jayhawks’ Williams Fund, Williams purchased six 2004-05 men’s basketball season tickets. The seats are on the lower level, center court of Allen Fieldhouse, about three or so rows up.
“I think it’s great,” KU athletic director Lew Perkins said of Williams being a donor and owning tickets. “My assumption is he’s helping some people here who want to go to the games.”
Indeed, Williams provides tickets to fans he knows in Lawrence.
“He makes them available to his friends here,” noted Jerry Waugh, a former KU player and assistant coach who stays in touch with Williams. “That’s why he gets them, for his friends, so they can use them.”
To purchase as many as six tickets, a person must have at least 2,500 priority points. Generally a person lands a point for every $100 donated.
“Over the years coach Williams has given over a million dollars to the athletic department,” Waugh said. “He’s donated it for the right reasons.”
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Tickets available: A limited number of general-admission tickets are available for today’s KU-Pacific game (2 p.m. Allen Fieldhouse) and Thursday’s 8 p.m. game against TCU. Tickets are $40 and can be obtained at kuathletics.com, at the ticket office or by calling (785) 864-3141.
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Green speaks: Former NBA standout A.C. Green spoke to the Jayhawks on Friday before taking part in the “Night of Heroes” program at Morning Star Christian Church. Green and KU senior Wayne Simien were among the speakers in a program designed to show how famous individuals can build successful lives based on faith, discipline and hard work.
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Revenge motive: Pacific’s players remember last year’s 78-63 loss to KU in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in Kemper Arena at Kansas City, Mo.
“We want revenge from last year,” Pacific guard Jasko Korajkic told the Stockton (Calif.) Record. “It’s going to be cool to play at their place and a challenge to see how good we are.”
Forward Christian Maraker told the Record, “We’re pretty confident. We realized last year we can play with these teams. They’re not giants. They’re college basketball players. They’re just like us. They’re human.”
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Popular coach: Pacific’s 17th-year coach, Bob Thomason, used to go unrecognized in the stores of Stockton, Calif.
No longer. Not after last year’s 25-8 season which included a win over Providence in the NCAAs.
“Once in a while,” he said of folks stopping him. “Before I played golf and somebody might say, ‘He’s a pretty good golfer.’ Now they say, ‘He’s not too bad a coach.”‘
Recognition comes when a coach leads a team to 17 wins in 18 conference games and takes a 15-game win streak into the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
“It would be so great if we could go back to back,” Thomason said. “You never know. Winning 25 games is difficult. To go 17-1 is hard to do. Even if we’re better, only one team (from the league) will probably go to the tournament. You’ve got to be fortunate.”
Thomason is beloved at Pacific. He’s a former player who graduated in 1971.
“It’s been great here,” he said. “Obviously people liked how we played and how we shared the ball. We received a lot of e-mails from people who liked the way we play.”
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Crowd noise: A year ago, Thomason said the KU fans for the NCAA game at Kemper Arena were not all that loud.
“When we play at Utah State, it’s a lot louder than that,” Thomason said at the time, “so those Kansas fans need to get going.”
He realizes they’ll be loud today at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I heard it’s an unbelievable place,” Thomason said. “A sports writer this week asked me, ‘Are you excited?’ I told him the truth. I’m not really excited after watching Kansas play. I want to coach guys to win, and I’m not excited from that standpoint.
“I’ve never been there. Tell all the fans to be nice to me,” he quipped.
| Today — Pacific, 2 p.m. (JTV)Thursday — Texas Christian, 8 p.m. (ESPN)Dec. 11 — UL-Lafayette, 7 p.m. (JTV)Dec. 18 — South Carolina, 7 p.m. (JTV)Dec. 22 — UW-Milwaukee at Kemper Arena, 7 p.m. (JTV)Jan. 1 — Georgia Tech, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)Jan. 5 — Texas A&M, 8 p.m. (Big 12)Jan. 9 — at Kentucky, 12:30 or 3 p.m. (CBS)Jan. 12 — at Iowa State, 7 p.m. (JTV)Jan. 15 — at Colorado, 3 p.m. (Big 12)Jan. 19 — Nebraska, 7 p.m. (JTV)Jan. 22 — at Villanova, 11 a.m. (ESPN)Jan. 25 — at Baylor, 6:30 p.m. (JTV)Jan. 29 — Texas, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)Jan. 31 — Missouri, 6 p.m. (ESPN)Feb. 5 — at Nebraska, 11 a.m. (ESPN)Feb. 9 — at Kansas State, 8 p.m. (Big 12)Feb. 12 — Colorado, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)Feb. 14 — at Texas Tech, 8 p.m. (ESPN)Feb. 19 — Iowa State, noon (ABC)Feb. 21 — at Oklahoma, 8 p.m. (ESPN)Feb. 27 — Oklahoma State, 3 p.m. (CBS)March 2 — Kansas State, 7 p.m. (JTV)March 6 — at Missouri, 1 p.m. (CBS)March 10-13 — Big 12 tournament at Kemper Arena |
6Sports video: KU ready for Pacific
Pacific no pushover for Kansas
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