Kansas University’s head men’s basketball trainer Bill Cowgill has had one heck of an initial season with the Jayhawks.
Since coming to KU from the Miami University, Cowgill has had to arrive early and stay late on a regular basis without much spare time. He has been so busy, in fact, that he was unavailable for comment for this story.
That’s mainly because the Jayhawks have been that battered and bruised this season.
“Bill has earned his money this year,” KU coach Bill Self said. “You could ask him. This is probably the most beat-up team that he’s probably ever worked with, and probably the most beat-up one I’ve ever been a part of.”
Cowgill was brought in to replace Mark Cairns when Cairns was promoted to clinic manager after spending 17 years on the Kansas bench treating future NBA players such as Danny Manning, Raef LaFrentz, Jacque Vaughn, Drew Gooden, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.
When Cairns handed over the reins, Cowgill inherited a relatively healthy squad that since has endured injury after injury.
Among the nagging ailments Cowgill has dealt with include junior Wayne Simien’s groin injury, junior Keith Langford’s bum knee and foot injuries to freshmen David Padgett and J.R. Giddens. Then there’s the everyday wear and tear that has affected almost every other member of the squad.
So much of the treatment has been kept quiet, but Cowgill has been working non-stop.
“Fortunately, we haven’t had a lot of guys miss a lot of games,” Self said. “But if the public knew everything that we did to try and get these guys on the court, they would be amazed. Bill’s done a great job.”
Perhaps few Jayhawks have grown closer to Cowgill than Padgett. The 6-foot-11 forward has been a regular visitor to the training room during his first season in Lawrence.
Padgett’s primary sessions with Cowgill have involved medical treatment, but he said Cowgill’s contributions went far beyond applying ice packs, athletic tape and air casts to injuries.
“Bill is as important as anybody to this team,” Padgett said. “Not only does he have all the trainer stuff to deal with, but when we go on the road he has a ton of other responsibilities in making sure that everyone is taken care of. He’s definitely been great to me.”
