NEWS 29
Football, basketball teams involved in altercation Wednesday
Basketball players congregate outside of the Wesco Underground on Wednesday at about 10 a.m. Brett Ballard, wearing a red shirt and black jacket, is the director of basketball operations and former backup point guard for the Jayhawks for two seasons.
Chance Dibben/KANSAN
By Daniel Johnson djohnson@kansan.com
Editor's note: Below is the story that appeared on Kansan.com during the day Wednesday. The information in this story is the most updated available at press time Wednesday evening.
After the events from the past day, Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins gathered football and basketball players in the Anderson Football Complex.
Basketball representatives Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich and football representatives Kerry Meier, Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp and Darrell Stuckey collectively released this statement;
"We realize that over the past couple of days we've let a disagreement between a few guys grow bigger than it ever should have. We're embarrassed about that."
"Now we want everyone to know that we have met and talked it out. We realize we're all Jayhawks. We're proud of what both teams have accomplished.
"We appreciate the support these teams give each other. We'll be in the stands rooting for each other like we always have.
"We all wear KANSAS on our uniforms, and we're proud of that. We need to act like it. We've met; we're all on the same page, and we will move forward together. The football team is ready to get back to work, focused on Saturday's game against Southern Mississippi, and the basketball team will continue to prepare for another great season."
The fight broke out among football and basketball players this morning after one of the Morris twins pushed a football player down stairs behind Budig Hall. According to one KU senior who witnessed the initial outbreak of the brawl, players from both teams began throwing punches and shouting racial slurs at each other at 9:48 a.m.
Among them were the Morris twins, Mario Little, Sherron Collins, Tyshawn Taylor.
Brady Morningstar, Travis Releford, Tyrel Reed, Thomas Robinson, Elijah Johnson and many other players. The only football players identified in the group were Dezmon Briscoe and Chris Harris, whom police from the KU Police Department were questioning.
The KU senior said she heard a football player yell, "What did you say?" at 9:48 a.m. and run up a set of stairs behind Budig Hall. She said she saw one of the Morris twins throw the football player down the stairs. She said the football player fell backwards down six stairs
Mangino discusses incident with players
Coach Mark Mangino addressed the media for the first time since two incidents involving members of the football and basketball teams occurred Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Mangino downplayed the incident, speculating that things just got out of hand. "We're just talking about probably a few
Though Mangino said he was still gathering information,he didn't think any suspensions would be handed out as a result of the situation.
"I'm looking at the information that I've gotten so far and there are still a lot of things that have to get to me in terms of exactly what happened and how it happened," Mangino said. "But based on what I have right now, I don't see anything that would have me discipline any individual player."
guys here that let their emotions get the best of them," Mangino said. "It's not nearly as big a situation as it has been portrayed in some media outlets."
"I just told our guys we need to put it behind us and stay focused," senior quarterback Todd Reesing said. "We've moved past it. We've met with the guys and everything is under control. There are no bad feelings and there's not going to be a continuation of this."
Mangino, the athletic administration and all members of the football and basketball teams met in the Anderson Family Football Complex. Athletic Director Lew Perkins called the meeting to discuss the situation
Mangino and his players said on Wednes day evening that the meeting seemed to be a success.
Mangino said that if any new, reliable information surfaces about the two incidents, he will take further action at that point.
— Jayson Jenks
before being caught by a fellow football player. She said immediately after, several pairs of football and basketball players began fighting.
The reporter said he heard one of the Morris twins tell the police later, "One of them just jumped out and threw his hands on me," referring to the football players who were involved in the fight.
Harrison Hems, San Diego senior, saw basketball and football players gathered in groups between Anschutz Library and the lower entrance to the Wescoe Underground. Hems said several basketball players were yelling at the group of football players. Hems said the group of football players continued to grow to 15 or more. He said police arrived on the scene after nearly five minutes of the players arguing with each other.
Another source, who did not want to be identified, confirmed this information. This source described seeing football players running toward the scene from Sunnyside Avenue. They joined in the scuffle, which the Kansas senior said continued for a few minutes
"It all happened really fast," the Kansas senior said. "There were a lot of people throwing punches."
Shannon Jobe, Topeka sophomore, said she heard a football player tell the police one of the basketball players pushed a football player down the stairs.
Another student who did not want to be identified said the other basketball players were trying to calm Collins down.
"Mario Little told me football players had beef with Sherron," he said. "He said they were talking trash."
Joe Dooley, assistant coach of the basketball team, arrived while the police officers were questioning the basketball players.
After the initial yelling between teams subsided, the two separate groups of basketball and football players stood opposite each other, about 20 yards apart.
Sophomore guard Tshawnw Taylor was seen but not admitted to Lawrence Memorial Hospital Tuesday night, a nursing supervisor said.
Police officers escorted some of the players inside Wescoe Hall shortly after the incident. The players were seen congregating outside the building near the entrance to The Underground. No police officers or players were available for questioning.
Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony confirmed that an incident occurred Tuesday evening in front of the Burge Union. The Lawrence Journal-World reported on its Website that the incident involved members of the football and basketball teams. Marchiony did not confirm that.
"We are aware of reports of an incident and we are fact-finding right now," Marchiony said.
KU Public Safety Capt. Schuyler Bailey said campus police, which has jurisdiction on campus, was conducting an investigation of the incident.
"Until someone comes forward, we don't have a crime/"Bailey said.
Player names and specific injuries have yet to be released by the Athletics Department.
— Corey Thibodeaux Jayson Jenks,
Alex Garrison and Haley Jones
contributed to reporting for this story.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 25,2009