The Seniors: Maddox and Wagner
University Daily Kansan / Friday, March 29, 1991
11B
Julie Jacobson/KANSAN
Family support assists Maddox
Bv Mark Spencer
Nearly 100 awards fill Kansas senior forward Mike Maddox's bedroom at his parents'
His parents, Jim and Jan Maddox, know everything about each one. They were there when he won them.
Kansan sportswriter
"He got that one for being a Converse All-American," Jan Maddox says, pointing to a yellow-crimson covered pine board. How about that one?
"That's the Jim Thorpe All-State award they give in Oklahoma," she says.
And that one? There, on the top row?
Maddox fights for a rebound against Big Eight rival Nebraska.
Basketball, Mike Maddox and his parents have all had influences on each other.
"We're very close," Mike Maddox said in his apartment across town. "I talk to my parents every day, whether it's on the phone or not. It's nice to spend some time with them."
Basketball and family. The two wind through Mike's life together.
When he went to college, his parents moved to be where he played. Mike turned down offers from top schools too far away from his Midwestern relatives.
Not a day goes by that he doesn't talk with his mother or father.
Jim Maddox remembers coaching Mike as he grew up.
They've always been close.
Getting started
"When I look back on it, it was a little bit of everything," he said. "Mike liked to play all sports. All the way through the ninth grade, he went to summer and then football and basketball."
Jim Maddox said the time he spent with
Impact as a leader required a significant
impact in his photography.
While his father coached Mike's teams, his mother traveled with them.
"We got to spend a lot of time together," he said. "It was really enjoyable."
"He's always had a lot of family support," Jan Maddox said. "It's meant a lot to him. I13
Before 10th grade, the Maddoxes moved from Grand Junction, Colo., to Oklahoma City where Mike enrolled in Putnam City School and dedicated himself to basketball.
During the summer, Mike attended several basketball camps where college coaches
"The University of Utah was the first school to send him literature in the ninth grade." Jan Maddox said. "We knew he would be going somewhere."
His parents knew they would be going somewhere, too.
"I was in the construction business with my brother in Oklahoma City," Jim Maddox said. "I told him up front we might be leaving there, but I didn't go to Oklahoma or Oklahoma State."
"We made the decision when he was a sophomore in high school in Oklahoma City that we were going to follow him." he said. "We just went on and enough to enjoy watching him play basketball."
After the move to Lawrence, Jim Maddox became the executive director of the Brandon Woods Retirement Community Jan Secretary for the Retirement Management Co.
Mike Maddox averaged a state high school record 23 points a game for three seasons as a Putnam City North Panther while his parents never missed a game.
From then to now
"They really wanted Mike to do well," said Bill Robertson. Mike's high school coach. "They were very positive people and as team-oriented as he was."
Maddox caught the eye of then-Kansas coach Larry Brown, now with the BBA's San Diego.
"I saw him at the Nike camp, and he really impressed me. What a terrific player he was," Brown said in a telephone interview. He knew the height could have a terrific career, at Kansas."
Brown and the Jayhawks received mutual admiration from Maddox.
"He'd been with the NBA, UCLA and all over." Maddox said.
Mike and his father visited several colleges during his senior year and narrowed the list to 12.
He shunned the offers of far-away schools like Duke and Arizona, and during the early signing period, accepted Brown's offer to become a Javahawk.
"I wanted them to see me play." Maddox said of his parents and also his grandparents in Wichita and End, Akila. "It was really sick. They are all very close."
Testing the dream
Two widely publicized degenerative discs in the midfoot lower back have slowed him down.
Maddox has never needed the support or family and friends more than he has this past summer.
The throbbing pain and stiffness the morning after games was so intense that Maddox considered quitting.
"It was December or January, and I was really having problems," Maddox said. "I was going to the Med Center, having cortisol injections, and questioning whether it was all worth it."
Maddox said the support of his parents, sater Jennifer, who is a KU freshman, fans and friends.
"I made the commitment to myself and my teammates to keep playing," he said. "All the fans and everybody else around me were great and very supportive."
His back problems won't end with the season, however.
"I'm sure when I get older it's going to bother me," Maddox said. "I may have to have some surgery done, but I don't think it will be anything major."
Jim Maddox said it was hard to watch in the injury keep him from playing to his benefit.
"I was wanting him to have a super strong year," he said. "You never know if professional opportunities are down the road. But, if he ever did have a possibility, this dampered it."
Maddox's season-long valor has brought a smile back to his father's face as well as the team.
"He's struggled all year with his back, but I think Mike Maddox has really shown a lot of competitiveness," Williams said. "He may have grown up more than anybody around because of the problems he'd had to withstand."
His No. 1 fan
Maddox and Anderson met in November 1988 through mutual friends.
1988 through internal friends. But it wasn't love at first sight. Anderson recalls not hitting it off with Maddox the first time they met.
Maddox's family support will increase by one officially on Aug. 24, the day he and Bonnie Anderson, Randolph, N.J., senior, will be married.
"A week later, I saw him again, but we didn't talk because we still didn't like each other," she said. "But by the end of the night, we were doing fine."
Maddox proposed in September 1990.
"The good thing about it is when I first met her, she didn't know anything about basketball," he said. "After a practice or whatever, somebody and not have to go to basketball somebody and not have to go to basketball."
Anderson said basketball was usually the last thing they talked about.
"If there's something going on and he wants to talk about it, then we talk about it," she said. "Usually, when he talks to me about basketball, he gets frustrated because I don't
Maddox said Anderson's lack of basketball knowledge showed him she liked him for who he was.
"Marriage wasn't something that was on my mind when I decided to come to Kansas, but I've been lucky," he said. "I've found someone that makes me happy."
Reflections
"I want to understand what I've accomplished," Maddox said, "but it's hard until I can look back on it.
"Winning the national championship has got to be the best thing," he said. "But we won an NIT Championship, and I am very proud of that."
"Last year's team was ranked No. 1 for long, and we had the second-best record in KU history." Maddox continued. "Heck, this year's been great, and we're still going.
Maddox's academic career will continue after he completes his degree this summer and enters the KU School of Law next fall.
"I've also had an opportunity to make a lot of friends outside of basketball, and that's why we play."
His basketball career, however, will end sometime this weekend in Indianapolis.
Maddox will learn to cope with basketball, but a certain career highlight will be his next goal.
"My parents," he said. "It's been really special for them to see me play. I know they enjoyed it. It will probably be harder on them than on me when I stop playing."
Childhood dream takes Wagner to brink of championship
Bv Sarah Davis
Kirk Wagner battles through the defense of Colorado forward Asad All and center Shaun Vandiver for a shot during the first round of the Big Eight Tournament at Kemper Arena.
Kansan staff writer
When young Kirk Ail Wagner played basketball in his Aladena, Calif., driveway with his older brother and cousin, he was gaining more than basic basketball knowledge as he was developing his competitive edge.
To George Terzian, that was evident from the start
"His hallmark is just how hard he worked and his leadership on the court," said Terzian, Wagner's coach for two years at Pasadena City. "He knows how you win. It isn't just the physical talent, it's all other things."
Those other things were Wagner's determination to improve his game and his burning desire to play Division I basketball.
"I told him that you have to put in time and effort because competition is higher," he said, laughing. "But Kirk would always say 'Coach, that's no problem. I want to play at the highest level possible.'"
Terzian said his prized player always had dreamed of being recruited by a major college.
The path to Kansas
Wagner set out to achieve his goal. He practiced extra hard during two-hour practices at Pasadena. He continued, long after the others had finished their skills. And during the off-season, he would work out in the weight room.
concerned. He just kept getting bet ter and better."
As a sophomore, "Cool Kirk," as he was referred to because of his calm nature, averaged 19 points and seven rebounds. He shot 62.8 percent from the field and 76.4 percent from the free-throw line. During his two years at Pasadena City, he was an All-Conference Coast conference selection twice.
"He was absolutely outstanding." Terzian said. "He had the type of attitude that sops up everything he threw at him as far as basketball was
Wagner's team role
Wagner's mother, Carol Wagner, said her son's competitiveness began when he was an 8-year-old playing baseball with his older brother.
"He tries to motivate us," said junior forward Maclom Nash, referring to when Wagner would come into practice and tell his teammates to pep up their step or to start stretching. "As a player, his actions speak for himself. Sometimes he might be the most outgoing player off the court. He's showing a great deal of leadership."
Sophomore guard Adonis Jordan, who was Wagner's roommate last semester, agreed.
And the team seems to benefit from his hard work and dedication.
"He gets us up every game," he said. "And off the court he's just a good person to be around."
Wagner said, "I try to work hard every day to help to try the team."
"He's always been really competitive," she said. "Hated to lose. He's always wanted to be a winner."
Nash said that Wagner was extremely kind-hearted.
"He's one of those guys, that as a person, you like to be around," he said. "He has a sensitive attitude."
Final Four as part of the National Basketball Coaches Association Convention. He said he looked forward to seeing Warner play again.
Terzian will attend this weekend's
"He's a kind of guy who is a team man, whether he plays 5 minutes or
30 minutes," he said. "When he does come in, he seems to help them. He adds a lot to the team."
Senior guard Terry Brown, Wagner's roommate this year, agreed.
"I've learned some things from
him," Brown said. "He's a role player. When he does get in, he sparks the team."
But Wagner doesn't think he is doing anything differently.
"You've got to just keep working hard and doing the things that got us to this point," he said.
When Wagner was recruited by Kansas in 1988, he was well aware of the Jayhawks' success in that year's NCAA tournament. He chose to come to Kansas instead of New Mexico, Baylor and Washington State.
He said he felt fortunate to be part of Kansas' Final Four team.
"I just liked the campus and the environment and the people," Wagner said. "I also liked Couch Wilson. He's nice, genuine guy. He really hopes it."
"He's the one who really stressed the importance of getting a good education," she said.
Wagner's mother said that he fell in love with the Kansas campus.
She said Wagner's father, Eugene Wagner, a probation officer for Pasadena, was the one who emphasized school and learning.
"He knew right away that that was the place for him," she said.
Wagner's former coach agreed.
But love and support were abundant in the Wagner family.
"If you trace any kid back, you find a mother or father who has been supportive and encouraging all the years she gets a lot of credit for who he is."
"Kirk is a family-oriented person," his mother said. "The family is there for him. We all kind of stick up for her." (Penguin) Womens former coach agreed.
Injury strikes
All the support Wagner received during his junior year at Kansas paid off. He played in 21 games and shot
59. 6 percent from the field for the season.
Mack. So it iself" he said wipper
for Kentucky.
Kansas, said that Wagner had a knee
and an ankle sprain but that the
injuries never discouraged him.
"He would look at me and say
"Where do we go from here? I want to
get back to playing." Cairns said.
That's just the type of person Kirk is.
"He is a quiet person," Cairns said. "When he puts his mind to something, he goes after it. And you'd better not stand in his way or he'll mow you over. I expect nothing but good things from Kirk Wagner."
Although this is Wagner's last year to play basketball, he is planning to stay at Kansas to finish a degree in communications. He plans to go either into the broadcasting or entertainment field.
His mother said he would do quite well in the latter.
"He likes to sing - rap," she said. She remembers her son as a toddler, waking up singing in the morning.
"that kind of softens the blow, but it's going to be different not to play. I've played all my life, junior high and high school."
Wagner said that he would miss playing basketball next year but that his extra year at Kansas would help the transition.
His high school basketball days could be relieved if the Jayhawks ever meet up with the University of Nevada Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels in the tournament. Wagner, fondly nicknamed "Captain Kirk" at John Muir High School in Pasadena, was a teammate and close friend of Steama Augem in 1968 when their team won the city championship.
His mother said that ever since Wagner was involved in basketball, he had looked forward to the challenge of going as far as he could.
"He's always had a dream to go to the Final Four." she said.
Tomorrow his dream will come true.