FEATURE
+
9
A 3-horse RACE
Weston White/KANSAN
n. Right: Cole Aldrich and the Jayhawks are just three wins away from the historic mark
The Jayhawks have a chance to be just the second team to reach 2,000 victories in NCAA Division I history
By Kathleen Gier kgier@kansan.com
Sitting atop the NCAA rankings, the Kansas men's basketball team has been in the habit of celebrating big victories lately.
Coach Bill Self celebrated his 400th victory as a coach when Kansas captured a victory against Iowa State on Feb. 13. Self has picked up 195 of those wins at Kansas.
Senior Sherron Collins tied the record for most career victories as a Jayhawk with the victory against Colorado on Saturday. His record at this point is 123-17 during his four years, which ties the record of Raef Lafrentz, Billy Thomas and C.B. McGrath. All three played from 1995-1998.
As this year's season eases towards an end, the team is preprepping for another big victory: the magical 2,000 victory mark. Only one other school, the University of Kentucky, has reached that mark.
"To do it this fast is pretty cool and to be a part of that is definitely an honor," Scot Pollard, former player and current co-host of Rock Chalk Sports Talk, said.
The Standings
Kansas currently sits in third place behind Kentucky and the University of North Carolina in the highest number of school victories in the NCAA. Kansas has 1,996 victories and only needs four more with 14 games left in the season.
"It is a huge, huge deal!" Bud Stallworth, former basketball player and current co-host of Rock Chalk Sports Talk, said. "It really doesn't matter about the two teams ahead of us because only one of them has the 2,000 wins."
Kentucky is already well past the landmark with 2014 victories. The next two candidates are Kansas and the University of North Carolina, which is only two victories away but has lost nine of its last 11 games.
With NCAA Tournament hopes out of the picture, North Carolina has four games left in the regular season as it fights to keep its record over .500. Tonight North Carolina hosts Florida State, who it
"We are trying to surpass North Carolina at this point because obviously we can't be the first team to the 2,000, but we don't want to be the last one out of the three." Stallworth said.
defeated 80-77 last year at Florida State. After that North Carolina travels to take on Wake Forest, then return home to host Miami. The team finishes off the regular season on the road, playing against rival No.6 Duke.
"There would be nothing sweeter than to pass North Carolina and become the second team in the history of college basketball to have those 2,000 wins." Stallworth said.
Duke, Syracuse and Temple follow after the top three schools but each program is at least 100 victories away from the 2,000 victory mark.
Connecting the Programs
Stallworth is quick to point out the coaching connections between the top three schools.
Legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp played for Kansas from 1919-1923. Rupp was a part of the team for the 1921-22 and 1922-23 seasons, when Kansas was later awarded the Helms National Championship for being the top team in the nation that year. He then coached at Kentucky from 1930 to 1972 and had a final record of 876-190, including four NCAA championships and one NIT championship. He ranks third among coaches, behind Bob Knight and Dean Smith, for the most career victories.
Long-time North Carolina coach, Dean Smith, also played for Kansas. With his help, Kansas won the 1952 NCAA championship. Smith coached at North Carolina from 1961-1997 and ended with a 879-254 record at the university, including two NCAA championships and one NIT championship.
"Even though North Carolina is ahead of us, the coach that won the majority of the games North Carolina has won came from Kansas." Stallworth said.
"Phog Allen coached both of those guys and gave them the knowledge and the opportunity to move into the coaching ranks to develop those other two programs." Stallworth said. "It all started in Lawrence, Kansas, no matter how you slice it."
Getting the Last Three
If Kansas wins its next three games, the team will have a chance to get its 2,000th victory against border rival Missouri at the Mizzou Sports Arena. If they win, the Jayhawks will also be presented with the Big 12 regular season champion trophy.
Looking at a top seed in the Big 12 Tournament and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament as well, it appears that Kansas could very well pass the landmark easily and keep going. Only two games behind North Carolina and 18 games behind Kentucky for the all-time victories, the race toward the next milestone will be very close with these three continually talented programs.
AN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE FEBRUARY 24,2010
：