Heeney, Harwell, Sendish named Jayhawks’ captains

By Matt Tait     Aug 20, 2014

Nick Krug
Kansas linebacker Ben Heeney is mobbed by fans following the Jayhawks' 31-19 win over West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 at Memorial Stadium.

Flanked by senior teammates Nick Harwell and Cassius Sendish at the Mrkonic Auditorium podium in the Anderson Family Football Complex, Kansas University senior Ben Heeney was introduced Wednesday as the Jayhawks’ first repeat captain since Toben Opurum in 2011-12.

Heeney, a linebacker from Hutchinson, was voted team captain for the second year in a row, while Harwell and Sendish earned the captain title for the first time.

KU coach Charlie Weis said the trio received far and away the most votes of any players on the team when the Jayhawks voted for 2014 captains early Monday morning.

“Not close by a mile,” Weis said. “There really wasn’t much of a competition with everyone else in the eyes of our players (on) who they perceived to be the leaders.”

All three players said being picked as a captain by their teammates was a tremendous honor and Heeney, who has been the face of the program for the past couple of seasons, said he thought adding the title to KU’s newest captains was merely a formality.

“I think that they both have been doing that since they’ve been here, regardless if they had the title of captain or not,” Heeney said of Harwell, a transfer from Miami (Ohio) who sat out last season and Sendish, a junior-college transfer and 2013 starter. “Cassius came in, hard worker from day one, same thing with Nick, and neither of them held anything back.”

Harwell’s selection marks the third year in a row that a player who had yet to play a down for the Jayhawks had been voted a captain by his teammates. Quarterbacks Dayne Crist, in 2012, and Jake Heaps, in 2013, followed the same path.

“I think it’s different with Nick, though,” Heeney said. “Because (even though he) couldn’t play last year, he was still one of the most vocal guys on our team, one of the biggest leaders on our team.”

Various KU coaches have said that throughout the past 12 months, but Harwell said he didn’t think he had done anything special.

“It feels good to know that your teammates look up to you,” he said. “They took me in and I’m going to do the best for my team.”

As for Sendish, he said being named a captain would not change anything for him.

“I try to attack every day the same way, whether I was a freshman or a senior or whatever the case may be,” he said. “I’m just honored even to be in this situation and to be put in this position to represent the team as a whole. It’s a great feeling knowing that you can come into a program and do something like that.”

As Wednesday’s news conference neared an end, all three players were asked to reflect on their upcoming senior seasons and whether the fact that it’s their last go-around had sunk in yet. Heeney said he thought it was crazy that he was now in the seat that former Jayhawks he looked up to as a freshman and sophomore once occupied.

“I don’t think anyone really prepares for anything like this,” Heeney said of being a two-time KU captain. “I don’t think really anyone ever has it in the plans, but it kind of just works out that way. If you just work hard and bring your best to the table every day, I think your peers see that. Obviously they voted us as captains, so I guess it paid off.”

In addition to Opurum, Heeney joins Todd Reesing (2008-09), Derek Fine (2006-07), James McClinton (2006-07), David Ochoa (2005-06), Travis Watkins (2003-04) and three-time captain Banks Floodman (2003-05) as the only KU players since 2000 to be named team captains multiple times.

Leadership committee

Weis said Wednesday that the voting for captains basically occupied three tiers. One tier included Harwell, Heeney and Sendish, another included senior offensive lineman Pat Lewandowski, senior defensive lineman Keon Stowers and sophomore Montell Cozart and the last included everybody else.

Because of that, Lewandowski, Stowers and Cozart will serve on the Jayhawks’ leadership committee and will work closely with KU’s three captains in helping lead the team.

“Some years, I’ve had as many as nine to 10 guys,” Weis said. “But there weren’t nine or 10 guys that got as much consideration by their teammates.”

Heeney on RBs

Heeney was asked on Wednesday about the status of KU’s running back position now that seniors Brandon Bourbon and Taylor Cox have been lost for the season. In addition to describing what a blow their losses were to the team and the individuals, Heeney, who starred at running back for Hutchinson High, said he would be open to doing more for the team if asked.

“I’d love to play both ways, to bring the old Hutchinson running back days back,” Heeney said with a smile. “That would be awesome. I always thought I was going to play running back in college instead of defense, so if they need me, I’m on call.”

With freshmen Corey Avery and Joe Dineen as well junior-college transfer De’Andre Mann already lined up to replace Bourbon and Cox, using Heeney in any kind of offensive role seems unlikely.

Mosby en route?

Junior-college transfer Damani Mosby, one of the two remaining members of the Class of 2014 yet to report to preseason camp, Tweeted some good news late Tuesday night and it sounds like he’s closing in on a trip to Lawrence.

“My teacher FINALLY graded my class,” Mosby wrote on Twitter. “I should be in LK by Friday.”

A 6-foot-3, 228-pound junior from Mesa Community College, Mosby is listed on this year’s roster at the Buck position.

There’s still no word on the status of freshman linebacker Josh Ehambe, who is awaiting word from the NCAA on the eligiblity of all athletes from Prime Prep Academy in Dallas.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.