“We got dunked on a lot today,” Bahe, a sophomore guard on Kansas University’s men’s basketball team, said later. “It’s the only time of the year you can get dunked on and it’s OK.”

With the basketball goals lowered a couple of feet, 120 Special Olympics athletes from around the state poured into the fieldhouse to practice their shooting, dribbling and dunking with the country’s No. 2-ranked college-basketball team. The Wilt Chamberlain Special Olympics Clinic has been a tradition since it began under coach Larry Brown in the early 1980s.

“It’s a great experience. I’m happy I’m bringing smiles to people,” said freshman guard/forward Alex Galindo.

First, the Jayhawks led stretching exercises and drills in passing, shooting, dribbling and dunking. Then, they teamed with the Special Olympians for five-on-five half-court scrimmages.

Jared Soares/Journal-World Photo

The Jayhawks encouraged the Special Olympians with chest bumps, high-fives and cries of “That’s money, baby!” and “Oh! Shoot that!”

“I don’t know who gets the most out of it. It’s a toss-up,” said Brett Ballard, a former player turned-administrative assistant who was running the show for KU on Sunday. “Both leave with smiles on their faces.”

Jacob Johnson of Topeka sunk a long-range shot from his wheelchair during one of the scrimmages, drawing shouts from his teammates Wayne Simien and Moulaye Niang.

“They’re fun. They sit down and talk with you,” Jacob said. “I think it’s just a chance for them to give back.”

There are about 3,000 Special Olympics basketball players statewide who are grouped into divisions based on their abilities.

Jared Soares/Journal-World Photos

Many of the players who came to the fieldhouse already have their sights set on Special Olympics’ own version of March Madness: the annual state tournament in Hays, which attracts about 1,200 players.

“One of the things we wanted to do was to expose our athletes to athletes of a different level,” said former Lawrence resident Chris Hahn, who started Lawrence’s Special Olympics program and is now president of Special Olympics Kansas. “The KU athletes find out that the heart and determination of the Special Olympics athletes is every bit as strong as theirs is.”

Grant Miller, 19, Lawrence, who plays on two local basketball teams, said he made four baskets Sunday.

He left holding a ball covered with autographs from Simien, Galindo, Darnell Jackson and Jeff Hawkins. His mother, Sandy, said the concept of the Jayhawks as a team– not the individual players’ celebrity auras — was the important part.

“I think you’ll find the majority of Special Olympics athletes don’t care who they’re with” while they’re on the floor of the fieldhouse, she said. “If they’re on the KU team, they are tops.”