KU men’s basketball players send support toward fellow Jayhawks

By Matt Tait     Nov 20, 2016
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Because the Kansas men’s basketball program is a perennial title contender, claims the Big 12 crown like it’s a birth right every season and wins games at an alarmingly high rate, it has become easy for many backers of Kansas athletics to focus most, if not all, of their attention on the hoops program that brings more smiles than frowns.

Doing so takes time and, intentionally or otherwise, has allowed a good chunk of the fan base to overlook the goings on of other KU teams, even in sports as big as football, baseball and volleyball.

That’s kind of just the way it goes around here. And, because the football team has struggled so mightily during the past seven seasons, dismissing fall football and pining for basketball season to be a year-round passion hardly even gets a second thought from those who are doing it.

I’ve often wondered what it would take — outside of winning, of course — for the fan base to be more all-inclusive and, on Saturday, I may have found my answer.

Saturday was a monster day for Kansas athletics and more than a few people noticed. The Jayhawks knocked off Texas at Memorial Stadium in thrilling fashion, picking up the football program’s first win over UT since 1938.

A few hours earlier, KU’s volleyball team clinched the Big 12 title, adding yet another chapter to the awesome run by Ray Bechard’s squad during the past few seasons. And KU also enjoyed high-level success in cross country and swimming.

In short, there were no shortage of reasons to be proud to be a Jayhawk on Saturday and some of the most high-profile Jayhawks on the planet were happy to point that out.

One of them even included a cool hashtag that I hadn’t seen before: #ISupportAllJayhawks

If these guys can show up and get behind the other programs at Kansas, you can’t help but wonder what kind of impact that could have on the rest of the Kansas fan base.

Can’t hurt, right?

https://twitter.com/T_Self11/status/800132770479665152

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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.