WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
BOSCHEE continued from page 1B
Senior guard Jeff Boschee pushes past a UMKC player as he takes the ball around the outside. Boschee has enjoyed a large fan base for most of his basketball career.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
about Boschee. A handful of Web sites are devoted to him, but none discuss his basketball skills. Such topics as his girlfriend, hair and personality are deemed more worthy. Dates with his girlfriend are interrupted by men and women wanting to talk to him.
Boy-band Boschee
Some basketball players like the popularity. Bosche doesn't. He tolerates it because he must do so. The only alternative is to leave the University and the basketball team.
Scan the crowd during a Kansas home game. You'll see signs or cardboard cutouts declaring their love to Kirk Hinrich or begging a kiss from Aaron Miles. But overwhelmingly, these proclamations of affection are aimed at Kansas' sharp-shooting heartthrob.
Jeff Bosche is the Jayhawks'
Justin Timberlake.
"Everybody on the team knows that Boschee's got the most girls in the crowd," Hinrich said. "They love him around here. They can't get enough of him."
It's just the opposite for Boschee. At least the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync have bodyguards and managers to handle their legions of fans. Boschee is on his own the minute he steps off the court. He and his teammates can sometimes spend an hour signing autographs and posing for pictures after games, but that's not what bothers him.
"I like doing that," he said. "If I was a little kid and I looked up to someone, I'd want them to sign my shirt or piece of paper or whatever. If I can do something for a kid or a parent who's getting something for their kids, I don't mind that."
It's when Boschee goes home to his Lawrence apartment that his popularity irks him.
"I get phone calls at home from girls," he said. "A lot of times if I do answer and they ask for me, I say I'm not there. If I was to talk to every single one of them, you know, it would take me forever."
Boschee's roommates cover for him when random girls call his apartment, but sometimes it gets to be too much, he said. The phone calls, letters and e-mails he gets aren't always filled with roses.
"There are times when some idiots will call my house and harass me," he said. "It's really ridiculous. My roommates and I just laugh about it. It's stupid that they take time out of their day to call me and do that."
Unwanted attention
Boschsee gets more than his share of attention on the Internet, too.
Last February Boschee became aware that someone was visiting chat rooms and message boards and pretending to be him. The impersonating stopped after the University tracked down the impostor and gave warning.
That wasn't the end of Boschee's Internet fame, however. A few Web sites are devoted to him, and most have nothing to do with his ability to shoot three-pointers. "Jef Boschee's Galaxy" has had almost 11,000 hits since it popped up almost four years ago.
The Jeff Boschee Club at Yahoo.com has 204 members, and 162 are listed as female.
"Hey, I met Jeff, and he wasn't a jerk or stuck up," reads one post at the site. "He was very sweet. I was talking to him. Even though I probably only walked with him for five minutes it was the best five minutes of my life."
One person posted a question last May on the site asking if it was true that Boschee had highlighted his hair. It drew 48 responses in one week.
Boschee's girlfriend, Lauren,
said it was rare for a date between her
and Boschee to go uninterrupted.
Between guys wanting to
talk about Kansas' chance at a
national title and girls wanting
to meet him, the two don't get a lot
of alone time. Lauren has
become used to her boyfriend's following and it doesn't bother her as much anymore, she said. But she still gets annoyed when girls ignore her and hit on her bovowirl in front of her.
"Girls act like I'm not even there." Lauren said. "He's never mean to them, but sometimes he'll introduce me to them, and they'll get the hint usually."
The comments aren't always about basketball or Boschee's availability, though, she said. Sometimes guys will rag on him and try and pick a fight.
Lauren said she would like to have an evening when someone giggling uncontrollably in their direction or wanting to talk basketball didn't interrupt her and Jeff, but she knows there isn't much chance of that happening in Lawrence. Why put up?
Why put up?
Boschee's a reserved person. He's not vocal on the court. He leads by example and is respected by his teammates. He's having his best season evera jayhawk. Thesenior has connected on 68 of 152 three-pointers, 45 percent, hit a game-winning three-pointer at Iowa State and knocked down two in overtime against Texas Monday night. He is the all-time leading three-pointer shooter at Kansas.
"Jeff is calm and cool," Hinrich said. "The media) should write more about him. He's done a lot for this team."
Boschsee came to the University of Kansas to play basketball.
He wasn't out to achieve "Big Man On Campus" status or to be a magnet for boy-crazy girls and the target of Internet impostors, he said. He's aware of the responsibilities he has to the Jayhawks' fans to sign autographs and posting for pictures, but he never asked to have Web sites built to honor him or have people barge in on his privacy.
But those things come with being a recognizable face on a nationally ranked college basketball team. If given the choice of forsaking all that, including basketball, and being a regular guy, he said he wouldn't. Playing basketball means too much to him. Still, he would gladly trade the so-called perks (popularity, attention from girls and free drinks at bars) of being a Kansas basketball player for a private life.
"I'd really want to be Jeff the basketball player," he said. "But saying that, I really don't want all the little things that come along with it."
That day will come. When the season ends, so will Boschee's college career. He might play in Europe or the Continental Basketball Association, but he will never get the kind of attention — good and bad — playing in those leagues as he does at Kansas.
And he'll enjoy every minute of his life without the spotlight.
Contact Pacey at dpacey @ kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Smarsh.
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