Kansas University has had its full share of outstanding basketball teams, players and coaches and trails only Kentucky and North Carolina on the all-time victory list. But two Jayhawk seasons that merit extra attention at tournament-time are those of 1997 and 2005.
While the win-loss records of both groups are highly commendable, and this year’s team may have more wins ahead of it, another distinction comes in an even more important category for ’97 and 2005 — senior graduation.
The 1997 KU team posted a glittering 34-2 record, won the league regular-season and postseason titles and finished 2-1 in NCAA tournament play. But more important, in the eyes of many, is that all six seniors on that squad gave their farewell speeches and then went on to get their diplomas that same spring. That sextet was composed of Joel Branstrom, Jerod Haase, Scot Pollard, Steve Ransom, Jacque Vaughn and B.J. Williams. Such a feat too often is forgotten but should not be.
Then there is our 2005 group, which officially has four seniors on the roster — Keith Langford, Wayne Simien, Michael Lee and Aaron Miles. These young men also will “walk down the Hill” as graduates this spring, and there’s a welcome footnote. Jeff Hawkins, who came to KU as a freshman with the foursome but sat out his first basketball season here, also will get his diploma this spring, then enroll in graduate studies while completing the fourth year of his basketball eligibility in the 2005-06 season. All of the seniors on both the 1997 and 2005 teams were recruited by former coach Roy Williams.
There is a tendency for skeptics and cynics to sneer at the term “student athlete” when discussing college sports. Outstanding graduation records like those of the 1997 and 2005 Kansas Jayhawk basketball teams provide good fodder to refute naysayers. And over the long haul, KU’s graduation rate puts it at the top of the heap among teams that qualify for the NCAA tournament.
The late Phog Allen, a Jayhawk immortal as a player and coach, was often asked to select the best teams during his 39 years at Kansas head coach. He always declined, declaring he always had to wait 15 to 20 years to see how his charges fared as citizens after their competition and study at KU had ended.
Dr. Allen would be pleased, as we and coach Williams also should be, by records such as those of the seniors of 1997 and 2005.
