KU’s basketball players, coaches and athletic department officials were rousted from their beds by a fire alarm at 2 a.m. Monday at the Holiday Inn in Norman.
A fire in a second-floor drier forced the evacuation of the hotel.
The Jayhawk players, who were on the fifth floor, exited safely down stairs into the parking lot where they stood in various stages of bedroom attire from about 2:30 a.m. until 3:45 a.m.
The team bus was summoned to take the Jayhawks to another hotel, however, that was unnecessary as the hotel was deemed safe shortly after the bus arrived.
“The alarm went on the first time, went off and on again. You could smell smoke and knew it was time to get out,” said KU athletic director Lew Perkins.
“Fortunately it wasn’t cold or snowy. It was about 45, 50 degrees, so it didn’t cause any problems. We were all back in (beds) in little over an hour.”
The Jayhawks’ official wake-up call of 10 a.m. was not pushed back because of the fire hassle.
There was some damage to the hotel – a hole in the side of the building.
