“Wilt was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. To have him at one of our games is a big thrill. I wish I could have been there at halftime to see the ceremony. … It’s really a great honor to be right there with this guy. I didn’t have a chance to see him play, but some of the things he’s done are just phenomenal.”
— Paul Pierce
“He’s very big. You hear so much about him. Wilt Chamberlain was one of the best. They changed the game for him. To meet him in person is a great honor.”
— Lester Earl
“That’s the first time I’ve seen him. I have great respect for him, but he was way before my time. I was happy to see him come back. To be honest, I don’t know much except what I heard and read about him.”
— Billy Thomas
“Oh, he is huge. He dwarfed Raef (LaFrentz) and Eric (Chenowith), and that’s a hard thing to do. What amazed me is, he’s got small feet. He only wears a size-14 shoe. That’s awfully small for a man so big.”
— Ryan Robertson
“You could definitely tell the atmosphere was different. There were more older people in the crowd, more people from his generation. You could hear a difference in the crowd. When we came out for the shoot-around, the crowd was really into it. That’s different. Normally, they just cheer when we come out of the tunnel.”
— Thomas
“Really, I didn’t think about it much once the game started. You don’t think, ‘Wilt’s in the stands.’ You just think about going out and playing.”
— Pierce
“He’s big. Real big. He is a very impressive person. It’s hard to imagine, in six months I’ve met two of the greatest players of all time (Chamberlain and Michael Jordan during KU’s trip to Chicago for the Great Eight). He talked to us yesterday. He told us a few things about coach (Roy) Williams and said he watched us some on TV. He said he had a size-14 shoe. I have a size-14 shoe and he’s got eight inches on me.”
— T.J. Pugh
“He is a big guy. He made our guys look small and we have a couple big-sized guys. … I’m happy he was here. I hope he felt great about the reception he got at halftime. The coaches were in our discussion (in hallway by locker room) and we could hear all the cheering (during halftime ceremony). We could hear it in the locker room. He is an important part of Kansas basketball.”
— Roy Williams
