Kansas Jayhawks
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| Kansas Jayhawks | |
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| University | University of Kansas |
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| Conference | Big 12 |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Lew Perkins |
| Location | Lawrence, KS |
| Varsity Teams | 16 |
| Stadium | University of Kansas Memorial Stadium |
| Arena | Allen Fieldhouse |
| Mascot | Big Jay, Baby Jay |
| Nickname | Jayhawks |
| Fight Song | I'm a Jayhawk |
| Colors | Crimson and Blue
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| Homepage | www.kuathletics.com |
The sports teams at the University of Kansas are known as the Jayhawks. They participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big 12 Conference.
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Men's sports
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Women's sports
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University of Kansas athletic teams have won nine total NCAA Division I championships, including two in men's basketball, one in men's cross country, three in men's indoor track and field, and three in men's outdoor track and field.
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[edit] Origins of "Jayhawk"
The Jayhawk is a cross between two hunting birds--the noisy blue jay and the quiet sparrow hawk. The term came to prominence just before the Civil War, in Bleeding Kansas, where it was adopted by militant abolitionist groups known as jayhawkers. With the admission of Kansas as a free state in 1861, Jayhawker became synonymous with the people of Kansas. The Jayhawk appears in several Kansas cheers, most notably, the "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" chant. [1]
[edit] Championships
[edit] Conference championships & titles
Big 12 Conference champions have the best conference regular season record, and titles are awarded to the winner of the postseason championship tournament.
- Men's Basketball[1]
Only Big 12 Conference Championships listed. Kansas has won a total 50 conference titles in Men's Basketball. With the regular season finale victory in 2007 over the University of Texas, Kansas won its 1900th game. Only Kentucky and North Carolina have won more basketball games.
- 1997 - Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion - coached by Roy Williams, won 87-60 over Missouri
- 1998 - Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion - coached by Roy Williams, won 72-58 over Oklahoma
- 1999 - Big 12 tournament champion - coached by Roy Williams, won 53-37 over Oklahoma State
- 2002 - Big 12 regular-season champion - coached by Roy Williams, was undefeated (16-0), lost the title game 64-55 to #2 seeded Oklahoma State. Reached Final Four before losing to eventual National Champion Maryland.
- 2003 - Big 12 regular-season champion - coached by Roy Williams. Defeated in title game of the NCAA Tournament by Syracuse.
- 2005 - Big 12 regular-season co-champion with Oklahoma - coached by Bill Self
- 2006 - Big 12 regular-season co-champion with Texas and tournament champion - coached by Self, won 80-68 over #1 seeded Texas
- 2007 - Big 12 regular season champion and tournament champion - coached by Bill Self, won 88-84 in OT over #3 seeded Texas
- Women's Basketball[2]
- 1997 - Big 12 champion - coached by Marian Washington
- Football
- 1908 - MVIAA champion - coached by A.R. Kennedy, was undefeated (4-0; 9-0 overall)
- 1930 - Big 6 champion - coached by Bill Hargiss
- 1946 - Big 6 champion (tie) - coached by George Sauer
- 1947 - Big 6 champion (tie) - coached by Sauer
- 1968 - Big 8 champion (tie) - coached by Pepper Rodgers
- Baseball
- 2006 - Big 12 tournament champion - defeated Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Nebraska in the Conference playoffs.
- Softball[3]
- 2006 - Big 12 tournament champion - won 4-2 over Oklahoma and outscored opponents 13-3 in four games
[edit] National championships
- Men's Basketball
- 1922 Helms Basketball Champion - coached by Phog Allen
- 1923 Helms Basketball Champion - coached by Phog Allen
- 1952 - coached by Phog Allen, won 80-63 over St. John's
- 1988 - coached by Larry Brown, won 83-79 over Oklahoma
- Men's Cross Country
- 1953
- Men's Indoor Track
- 1966 - 1969 - 1970
- Men's Outdoor Track
- 1959 - 1960 - 1970
[edit] Basketball
[edit] Men's basketball
The men's team has enjoyed considerable success, and has won four national championships. The 1922 and 1923 championships predate the current NCAA championship tournament and were retroactively awarded by the Helms Foundation in 1936. The 1952 and 1988 championships were won in the NCAA tournament. Their 1,905 wins are the third most wins in NCAA history, trailing only Kentucky (1,948) and North Carolina (1,911).
The men's team is also notable for its conference success. Including the regular-season conference title in 2007, Kansas now has 50 conference titles all time (in 100 years of conference play), which is a record among all universities, 1 ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats. The Jayhawks have won a record 7 conference titles and a record 5 conference tournaments in the 10 years of the Big 12, and also own the best Big 12 records in both those areas with a 145-31 record in conference play and a 22-5 record in tournament play.
From 1990 to 1999 Kansas compiled a 286-60 record, the best win-loss record of any team in the decade. From 1994 to 1998, the Jayhawks won 62 consecutive home games at Allen Fieldhouse, which was the longest such streak in the NCAA at the time. The seniors of 1998 (Raef LaFrentz, Billy Thomas, and C.B. McGrath) went 58-0 at home during their KU careers.
From 1949 to 2006, the Jayhawks have been ranked 490 times in the weekly AP top 25 poll. 338 times in the top ten, 217 times in the top five, and 41 times ranked number one. A record in and of itself, only five schools have been ranked number one more times. Kansas was seeded fourth in the Oakland Region of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the 17th consecutive appearance for the school and the 22nd in 23 years; Kansas missed out on the tourney in 1989 because of NCAA probation. KU ranks fourth in NCAA Tournament appearances, with 36. Kansas is also ranked fifth in NCAA Tournament victories, with 73.
The men's team has had several notable coaches, beginning play during the 1898-1899 season under head coach James Naismith, the inventor of the game and the only KU coach to post a losing record. In 1907, KU hired Phog Allen as head coach, where he would coach for 39 seasons. Allen would later be titled the "Father of Basketball Coaching," having passed his knowledge of the game to some of the most well-respected names in the history of college basketball. These would include two of the winningest coaches of all-time: Kentucky's Adolph Rupp and North Carolina's Dean Smith. Two of Smith's assistant coaches later became head coaches at KU: Larry Brown and Roy Williams. Current head coach Bill Self shares this rich pedigree, having been hired as a graduate assistant by Brown in 1985.
[edit] Women's basketball
Kansas first fielded a women's team during the 1968-1969 season. For thirty-one seasons (1973-2004) the women's team was coached by Marian Washington, who led the team to three Big Eight championships, eleven NCAA Tournament appearances and four AIAW Tournament appearances. The team's best post-season result was a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1996.
[edit] Former players and coaches in the basketball hall of fame
- Lynette Woodard, player and coach
[edit] Women's basketball coaches
Head women's basketball coaches, including win-loss record and years coached:
- Marlene Mawson, (19-16), 1968-1971
- Debbie Artman, (9-8), 1971-1972
- Sharon Drysdale, (9-8), 1972-1973
- Marian Washington, (555-363), 1973-2004
- Bonnie Henrickson, (40-49), 2004-present
[edit] Football
KU football dates from 1890. While not a national powerhouse like the men's basketball team, the football team has had notable alumni including Gale Sayers, a two time All-American who later enjoyed an injury-shortened yet Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears; John Riggins, another Pro Football Hall of Famer with the Washington Redskins; John Hadl, Steve Towle, Dana Stubblefield, Bobby Douglass, and Nolan Cromwell. The Jayhawks have appeared twice in the Orange Bowl: 1948 and 1969, and most recently made a bowl appearance in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl. The team currently plays in Memorial Stadium (capacity 50,071), the first stadium built on a college campus west of the Mississippi River, which opened in 1921. Mark Mangino has coached the team since 2002. As of November 25, 2006, the program's overall record is 542-537-58 (.503).
The Jayhawks have two traditional archrivals. KU competes with the University of Missouri Tigers in the longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football west of the Mississippi River, first played in 1891 and originally known as the "Border War." The name of the rivalry has since changed to the "Border Showdown" following the aftermath of 9/11. Each year the winner of the game is awarded a traveling trophy, the Marching Band Drum. In addition, KU has a rivalry with the Kansas State Wildcats called the Sunflower Showdown; when the two teams compete in football, the winner is awarded the Governor's Cup by the governor of Kansas.
Kansas has also played an annual game with the Nebraska Cornhuskers since 1905. This gives Kansas the second- and third-most played college football games in existence. KU is only 22-88-3 all-time against the Cornhuskers (as of 2006), and from 1969-2004 the Huskers rang up 36 consecutive victories, second longest in NCAA Division I (only Notre Dame's streak over Navy is longer). That streak came crashing down on November 5, 2005, when Kansas defeated Nebraska 40-15 in Lawrence. The 40 points are the most by the Jayhawks against Nebraska, and the 72 points scored by the Jayhawks in 2005 and 2006 combined is the largest consecutive two-year total in the series. Also, in the overtime loss on September 30, 2006, the 32 points scored was the most by any Jayhawk team in Lincoln since 1899, when KU won 36-20 in only their eighth all-time meeting.[4]
[edit] Notable athletes
- Bob Allison, major league baseball player, Minnesota Twins
- Gilbert Brown, 10 year NFL defensive tackle, Green Bay Packers
- Nolan Cromwell, 1975 Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year, All-Pro safety, Los Angeles Rams
- Glenn Cunningham, 2-time US Olympic Runner, Silver Medalist 1936 Berlin Olympics, dominant runner of the 1930's
- Bobby Douglass All-American QB, 13 year NFL player
- John Hadl 2-time All-American. One year as a half back and one year as a QB, 16 year NFL player
- Kirk Hinrich Starting point guard for the Chicago Bulls
- Danny Manning, Basketball player and coach. 2-time All-American 1988 recipient of the Naismith and Wooden Awards, Big 8 Player of the Decade for the 1980's, 2-time NBA All-Star
- Curtis McClinton, 3-time All-Pro running back, Kansas City Chiefs
- Mike McCormack, NFL Hall of Fame tackle. Former NFL head coach and GM.
- Billy Mills, First American to win Gold medal in the 10,000m run, 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games
- Al Oerter, Olympic Gold Medalist, Discus throw in four consecutive Olympiads
- Paul Pierce, Basketball player. Averaged 16.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in his three seasons at Kansas, earning MVP honors in the Big 12 Conference Tournament in both 1997 and 1998 NBA
- Willie Pless, All-American LB, CFL Hall of Famer, all-time tackling leader at KU and the CFL
- Nick Reid, 2005 3rd Team All-American linebacker, 2-time All-Big 12, 2005 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
- Steve Renko,major league baseball pitcher, California Angels
- John Riggins, NFL Hall of Fame running back
- Dave Robisch, All-American F, 2-time Big 8 Player of the Year, 13-year ABA/NBA player
- Jim Ryun, US Olympic runner, Kansas' 2nd District US Representative 1997-2007
- Tony Sands, All-American Running Back, 1991 Big 8 Offensive Player of the Year, held single-game rushing record (396 yds. vs Missouri) until 1999.
- Gale Sayers, 2-time All American, NFL Hall of Fame running back, Chicago Bears
- Dana Stubblefield, All-American, 3-time All-Pro defensive tackle, 1997 NFL Defensive Player of the Year
- Darnell Valentine, All-American G, 3-time Academic All-American, 9-year NBA player
- Jo Jo White, All-American G, 12-year NBA player
- Drew Gooden, NBA Player, starting power foward for the Cleveland Cavaliers
[edit] References
- Falkenstien, Max; as told to Doug Vance (1996). Max and the Jayhawks: 50 years on and off the air with KU Sports. Wichita, Kansas: The Wichita Eagle & Beacon Publishing Company, Inc.
Notes
- ^ Big 12 Record Book: Men's Basketball. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ Big 12 Record Book: Women's Basketball. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ Big 12 Record Book: Softball. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
[edit] Further reading
- University of Kansas Traditions: The Jayhawk
- Kirke Mechem, "The Mythical Jayhawk", Kansas Historical Quarterly XIII: 1 (February 1944), pp. 3–15. A tongue-in-cheek history and description of the Mythical Jayhawk.
- Ryan Colaianni, "KU Bowl History", The University Daily Kansan (December 8, 2005).
[edit] External links
- Kansas Athletics, the official KU Athletics site
- Jayhawk Network, Dedicated Resource on Kansas Football
- The Phog Blog
- HawkDigest.com
- Sports and Numbers, Kansas related basketball statistical analysis
- KUsports.com, The Lawrence Journal-World's coverage of KU sports
- Kansas.com, The Wichita Eagle's coverage
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