Mother: Langford loves KU

By Gary Bedore     Mar 26, 2005

Kansas University senior Keith Langford meant nothing sinister by the quote that has had Jayhawk Nation buzzing since a season-ending loss to Bucknell.

So said Langford’s mother, Charlene Taylor, who phoned the Journal-World on Friday night after talking to Keith about the uproar surrounding this quote: “Now I can sit down and express myself and say what I really want to, let people know how I really feel. Get a lot of things off my chest.”

“Keith is upset that somebody would take what he said and twist it around,” Taylor said. “He told me he meant, ‘I’m ready to get on with the rest of my life. Now I can say anything I want, whether it’s about officiating or anything.’ He said, ‘Now I can just be Keith. I don’t have to bite my tongue about anything.”‘

Taylor said her son loved playing the last two years for Bill Self.

“Didn’t people see the segment on BET (network) where Keith is playing pool with Mike, Wayne and Aaron? Didn’t they hear what he said on Senior Night? He loves those seniors, loves KU, loved playing for coach Self and loves Kansas basketball,” Taylor said. “For people to take what he said and act like he has something negative to say about KU is wrong. He said he wouldn’t change anything about his four years.”

Taylor said her son lost 11 pounds because of the stomach flu in days prior to KU’s loss to Bucknell.

“He wasn’t 100 percent. To play 26 minutes with an injured ankle and the flu shows what the school, players and coaches mean to him,” Taylor said. “Playing at Kansas you are under a microscope, but it’s disappointing people would take one thing he said and assume he meant something else and have their heads spinning.

“If they want a story now, ask him about graduating on May 22,” she added, noting all four seniors would graduate.

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