2B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FINALFOUR
FRIDAY, MARCH. 29, 2002
Spitting, lucky money are keys to victory
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
All-American Drew Gooden will lead his team in a Final Four match up against Maryland tomorrow night.
By Doug Pacey Kansan sportswriter
It's a little known fact that Roy Williams' mentor, former North Carolina coach Dean Smith, won his first national championship when he was 51-years old. What does that have to do with anything? Well, Kansas' coach turned 51 on Aug. 1.
Williams is as superstitious as all get-out and he'll even get on his hands and knees to retrieve a good luck charm. When he dropped a lucky penny at dinner last week in the team's hotel in Madison, Wis., two of the restaurant's waiters got on all fours with the coach in search of the one-cent charm.
When Kansas was in St. Louis for its first- and second-round games, Williams had his team rub a statue of Saint Louis University's mascot, the billiken, for good luck before the Holy Cross game. After squeaking by the Crusaders, Williams said, "I believe, the statue will need to get his thrills some other way."
and earned a trip to the Final Four. When the team bus was driving by the "Mighty Miss" on the way to the Jayhawks' game against Stanford Williams couldn't resist the river's calls.
Two days later, Williams' wife Wanda and three people from Leavenworth spit into the Mississippi River for good luck. When the Jayhawks were in St. Louis in 1993, they spit into the river
"The river was calling my name, 'Rooooyo,'" he said.
The coach herded his players off the bus and down the rocky shore — even Kirk Hinrich, with his gimpy left ankle — and they all hocked one into the Mississippi.
"Coach said he did it before and it worked." Drew Gooden said. "So it wasn't going to hurt anything for us to do it."
With a match-up against No. 4-ranked Maryland looming tomorrow, luck might be the one thing that puts No. 2 Kansas over the top. The Jayhawks and Terrapins are as evenly matched as any two teams in the country. Both have athletic and powerful big men and quick and agile guards that can shoot with lights-out accuracy.
"I think this is going to be the best match-up of the year," freshman forward Wayne Simien said. "I think this is the best another team has matched up with us all year. We are definitely looking forward to getting in the mix with these guys."
For Kansas (33-3 overall, 16-0 Big 12 Conference) to
Midwest No. 1-seed
- Midwest NO. 1 seed*
* Record: 33-3 overall; 16-0 in the Big 12
Kansas Jayhawks
Conference
Head coach: Roy Williams
Head coach: Roy Williams
Top scorer: Drew Gooden, 20.0 ppg
Top store...
How they got here: defeated No. 16-seed Holy Cross, 70-59; defeated No. 8-seed Stanford, 86-63; defeated No. 4-seed Illinois, 73-69; defeated No. 2-seed Oregon, 104, 86.
Jeff Boshee, No.13 6-1,185,senior guard
But the Terrapins don't have a lucky penny and haven't hocked one in the Mississippi for good luck.
win, the Jayhawks will need to neutralize the Terrapins (30-4 overall, 15-1 ACC) post players, forwards Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox, and limit the shooting opportunities of First Team All-America and Wooden Award finalist guard Iuan Dixon.
Contact Doug Pacey at dpacey@kansan.com. This story was edited by Justin Henning.
"They really have a well- rounded team," Williams said. "I think we both have some match-up problems because you never know which guy is going to hurt you the most. A plus for our team is that I think we have more than one guy who can score and I think Maryland can score from the inside, can score from the outside."
Drew Gooden, No.0
6-10, 230, junior forward
Kirk Hinrich, No.10 6-3,185,junior guard
Nick Collison, No.4 6-9,250,junior forward
Aaron Miles, No.11 6-1,175,freshman guard
KU will play in its first Final Four since 1993 tomorrow. Guard Adonis Jordan tried to strip the ball from a Tarheel in the Kansas loss to North Carolina. KU will have another shot at reaching the championship game tomorrow night.
Jayhawks on a mission to replace fans' faded '88 championship shirts
By Brent Wasko
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas basketball fans want a good reason to throw away their 1988 national championship T-shirts, which are sitting at the bottom of their drawers, collecting cobwebs.
They have been waiting 14 years to replace the shirts with a newer version. But before the fans can toss away their old scrubs, Roy Williams will have to bring a national championship trophy back to Lawrence from this weekend's Final Four in Atlanta.
Williams said he knew that great opportunities to win the title have slipped through his hands before. He has coached four No.1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and two Final Four Jayhawk teams that have eventually lost in the NCAA Tournament.
Last Sunday, Kansas sprinted past Oregon 104-86 in the Midwest Region Final, sending Williams and the Jayhawks to their third Final Four since 1988.
The last time Kansas came close to winning a national title was in 1993, when the team made it all the way to the Final Four only to lose 78-58 to North Carolina in a national semifinal game.
In 1991, Kansas got even closer to a title as the Jayhawks squeaked by North
Carolina 79-73 to advance to the national championship game. But Kansas didn't finish the season as champions, losing to the Duke Blue Devils, 72-65.
Mike Maddox, who was a co-captain on that Jayhawk squad, said he would always remember the season fondly, but that he couldn't forget losing either.
"It's a different kind of disappointment. When we lost to UCLA in 1990, we were disappointed because we didn't play the way we were capable of." Maddox said, referring to the Jayhawks' 71-70 loss to the Bruins in the second round.
"When we lost to Duke the next year in the championship, I replayed the game over and over again in my head. But I was also like 'Wow, we still had a great season.'"
Kansas freshman forward Wayne Simien said he recalled watching that '91 team, which influenced him enough to become a layhawk fan.
"I remember Maddox, Richard Scott, Alonzo Jamison and those guys — the big guys, "Simien said. "When I played back then, I just remember following those guys. I think about that time is when I really started to get into Kansas basketball."
Maddox still avidly follows the Kansas basketball team and plans to fly
down to Atlanta with two other former Jayhawks, Chris Piper and Kevin Pritchard, to see the Final Four games tomorrow and Monday.
Maddox predicts that this year's squad will win the title if it plays up to its ability.
doubt.
"I think they're the best team in the country, but when you get to this point, that doesn't matter as much," Maddox said. "We weren't favored either year I was there, but we still did well."
Maddox said the key to success once you get to this point in the season was to focus on just the games and not all of the hoopla that surrounds them.
"it's a little overwhelming and a bit surreal. I mean that's something you dream about your whole life. It changes your life," he said. "My advice to them would be to enjoy themselves and to play the game no different than they would any other game. Once the game starts, the butterflies tend to go away."
Contact Wasko at bwasko@kansan.com.
This story was edited by Justin Henning