By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
SHANE KEYSER | The Kansas City Star
KU's Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur blocked a shot by Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts during Monday's NCAA championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
That was some feeling when Chalmers hit the shot
This championship game was one for the ages
Rose?s second-half effort not enough
We won?t have to think about ?88 as the reference point for KU basketball
Kansas? big men come up big
K-State fans find validation in KU title
KU fans go to great heights to see Jayhawks
OSU reportedly to pay millions to get Self
Former assistant had little Self doubt
San Antonio Buzz: River showdown
SAN ANTONIO | Mario Chalmers began the memory erasing. With Kansas trailing by three in the national championship game, Chalmers fired off a three-pointer with two seconds left. It swished, buying the Jayhawks five more minutes.
Sayonara, Syracuse in 2003.
You remember that one, right? Syracuse?s Hakim Warrick blocked KU guard Michael Lee?s three-pointer at the buzzer, and KU lost another heartbreaker in the game that counted most. But that?s all forgotten now. On Monday night, Jayhawks? fans from Salina, Kan., to Solomon, Kan., got to heal two decades? worth of disappointment.
Kansas 75, Memphis 68 in overtime.
The Jayhawks scored the first six points of the overtime period and shocked the youthful and resilient Tigers to win the school?s third NCAA basketball championship.
Twenty years ago, they won it with one man, Danny Manning, taking a leading role. This year, they wear the crown thanks to a cast of characters so unselfish they evolved over a five-month season into the very definition of team.
The greatest 20-year period in Kansas basketball history now has a bookend for its 1988 title. You know what that means? Freedom from past demons.
Good-bye, Arizona ?97. See you later, Rhode Island ?98. Nice knowing you, Bucknell and Bradley. The Jayhawks relieved themselves of their ?choker? label and awarded a diehard legion of fans yearning for a title the ultimate salvation.
You see, it had to be this year. You knew that on May 24, 2007, when Brandon Rush tore his right ACL in a pickup game in Kansas City while preparing for the NBA?s pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla. Rush said he would not have returned to KU if not for the injury.
He was emotional in Self?s office the next day, wondering what the future would hold for him. Would he ever be the same? Would he ever get to accomplish his dream of playing professionally? Self?s heart went out to Rush, but KU?s coach knew that his 2007-08 team just got a lot better. The Jayhawks had already lost sophomore forward Julian Wright to the NBA, and losing Rush would have forced Self to dig deeper into his bench.
When ?Late Night at the Phog? rolled around in early October, there was Rush after four months of rehab, wearing a suit and dancing on that right knee. It was the most highly-scrutinized dance number in ?Late Night? history, to be sure.
?Late Night? also introduced KU?s five-man senior class. The year before, when KU lost in the Elite Eight to UCLA, there were no seniors. Russell Robinson, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun were a part of Self?s first recruiting class, and they had stuck it out until the very end.
Yes, the season had arrived ? finally. Rush returned for the third game, and KU bounded out to a 20-0 record. Ranked No. 2 in the country behind these same Memphis Tigers, there was already talk of an undefeated regular season for the Jayhawks.
Not so fast. KU lost to Kansas State on Jan. 30 and then lost two more games on the road in February. The Jayhawks were no longer in the driver?s seat for a Big 12 regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But that?s when Kansas? seniors called a players-only meeting, which took place at Henry T?s Bar & Grill on Feb. 24, the day after the loss to the Cowboys. The Jayhawks aired out their frustrations over chicken wings and sandwiches. They haven?t lost since.
KU rallied for its fourth-straight regular-season league title, owned the Sprint Center for its third-straight Big 12 tournament title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament?s Midwest Regional.
