KU extends its NCAA-record streak of tourney appearances

By Matt Tait l

Another year, another NCAA Tournament appearance for the Kansas men’s basketball program, which extended its NCAA record of consecutive trips to the Big Dance to 33 this season.

That’s 14 years under former KU coach Roy Williams and the last 19 under current coach Bill Self. It’s also six seasons longer than North Carolina’s 27-year streak, from 1975 to 2001, which used to be the record.

The Jayhawks were ranked inside the AP Top 10 for the entire 2022-23 season, and they also added to their streak of top-4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, picking up a No. 1 seed for the 10th time in 19 tournaments under Self.

You have to go back to the 1999-2000 season to find a

15% ON YOUR ORDER year when the Jayhawks were not a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, KU now has been a top-four seed in 31 of the past 33 NCAA Tournaments, and it would be 32 of 34 had it not been for COVID-19 canceling the 2020 tourney.

While the tourney streak creates yet another bond for so many past Kansas teams and great players, this year’s team will enter the tournament in a position occupied by just one team before it during that stretch — as the defending national champs.

The 1988-89 team (Williams’ first) never got to defend the 1988 title because of an NCAA probation. But the 2008-09 team did get a shot at a title defense, and that group, led by returners Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, made it to the Sweet 16 as a 3 seed before bowing out to eventual national runner-up Michigan State.

This year’s team, led by 202122 title team starters Dajuan Harris Jr. and Jalen Wilson, has its sights set on another deep run and defending last season’s national title. We’ll find out if they can do it in the next few weeks.

For a complete, year-byyear look back at KU’s 33-year NCAA Tournament streak, as well as complete coverage of the Jayhawks’ run through the 2023 tournament, visit KUsports.com.

And just like that, Wilson said, “God put me in Lawrence, Kansas, and changed my life for the best.” l l l

Like many high-profile talents, Wilson came to college with dreams of leaving after a year.

But at Kansas, he discovered that success in big-time basketball would be a lot more difficult than he expected — for a whole host of reasons.

In the 2019-20 season, he immediately got off to a rocky start. He suffered ankle and back injuries that cost him most of the season. And even if he had been healthy in March 2020, he wouldn’t have had a tourney to play in, because the NCAA Tournament was shut down altogether as COVID-19 swept across the U.S.

The next year, it was Wilson’s own personal battle with COVID-19 that had him at less than 100% entering the tournament. He missed the team’s first-round win over Eastern Washington and played a rusty eight minutes in a blowout loss to USC in Round

2 — scoring just two points, showing obvious signs of fatigue and missing all three shots he attempted.

Then, days before the first game of the 2021-22 season, he was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He would eventually resolve it with a diversion — a process in which someone accused of a crime is “diverted” from the usual legal procedures and instead completes the terms of an agreement that may include a rehabilitation program or fine. But on the basketball court, he had to serve a suspension for that incident, and he was struggling with confidence issues early in the season. l l l Following up a performance like that would be a daunting task for most players, but Wilson was up to the challenge, and he took his game and his importance to an entirely new level this season.

All of these adverse circumstances were on top of having to meet the demanding standards of a top-tier program like Kansas.

“I think that’s every kid’s dream (to be) oneand-done,” Wilson said, laughing. “But you’re quickly humbled (about) what college basketball is when you come here.

“But I wouldn’t change anything,” he added.

That might be because in the middle of the 202122 season, things started to turn around for Wilson and the Jayhawks. He was playing with more fire, heart and passion than ever before. And in the postseason, the team remembered the disappointment of 2021, when it suffered the most lopsided NCAA Tournament loss in program history, and atoned for it with a run to the national title. Wilson played a huge role in last year’s triumph, finishing just a couple of rebounds shy of averaging a double-double for the entire tournament.

Not only did he slide into the role vacated by former All-American Ochai Agbaji, but he also did even more on the stat sheet, leading the Jayhawks and the Big 12 Conference in scoring and rebounding. And even with the national title memories fresh in his mind and his championship ring prominently displayed in his room for him to see every day, Wilson said recently that he has had even more fun this season than he did in 2021-22.

“This year is the most fun I’ve had,” he said. “Just because I see the potential that we have this year to do it all again. That’s what’s most fun, just the journey. Winning a conference championship is the first step in that process, so we’re right on line with what we need to do to have even more fun in the postseason.”

If the Jayhawks’ 2023 postseason run is anything close to what they did in 2022, there’s little doubt that Wilson will be largely responsible.

But it’s not just the points, rebounds, leadership skills and clutch plays that have allowed him to carry this team. It’s also his pride.

“I really don’t know if we’ve had anybody more competitive,” Self said. “I don’t know if we’ve had anybody with a will to win better than his.”

Self said that even on Wilson’s off nights, “there is never a question in his will to win being compromised at all. That separates him from just about all of them. There’s an extra element when you talk about making winning plays at game point. And I don’t know that we’ve had anybody do it any better than he has.”

Wilson knows what winning means to his teammates and coaches — and he also knows what it means to the fans who watch him play night in and night out.

You might think his favorite memory from KU was a big moment during the national title game, or making one of his many game-winning plays. But what he remembers is more subtle than that, and it’s something that some fans might have missed.

“One of my favorite things,” he said, “is when I get an and-one, like screaming and just hearing and feeling that joy and excitement” of the home crowd roaring with approval. “I kind of just close my eyes a little bit, and whenever I open them, wherever I’m at on the court, I’ll just look at whoever I’m in front of and whatever interaction we have will happen. I just like connecting with the fans as much as I can. They get juiced up, too.”

Has he ever seen a fan yelling back with as much fire and passion as he sent their way?

Wilson smiled and said, “Oh yeah, for sure. They’re matching my energy, for sure. That’s why this place is special.”

And to think, he almost never got a chance to experience it.