KU beats Oregon 104-86 to get to the Final Four for the first time since I was old enough to realize what was going on - March 24, 2002
This was a glorious moment in my sports life. Roy Williams had immediate success as KU's coach when he took over in 1989 and took KU to Final Fours in 1991 and 1993. However, after that early success, Williams had some problems. Williams was still able to pull down the top talent and have some great teams, but as I was coming up and my KU fandom was growing they developed somewhat of a reputation (to non-KU fans) of being "choke artists." Where did this stem from you ask? Well there are a few reasons this moniker came about.
In 1996-97 KU had an extremely talented team with the likes of players such as Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Jared Haase, and a young Raef Lafrentz and Paul Pierce, etc. This team took a 27-4 record into the tournament and couldn't get it done, stalling in the Elite Eight to eventual national champions Arizona. However, the same team returned for the 1997-98 season (minus Scot Pollard) and tore through the regular season. KU was 32-1 heading into the tournament with the tournament's #1 overall seed and looking unbeatable. KU disappointed everyone by losing in the Sweet 16. To this day I still feel that was the most talented team I have ever seen at KU and it is the loss that stings the most.
The same team returned again the next year (minus Jacque Vaughn) and had another stellar season, led by the best KU player of my generation Paul Pierce. Pierce helped lead the team to a 34-3 record and another overall #1 seed in the tournament. This time it was an even more disappointing loss as KU flamed out in the second round. Again, just plain disappointing. This is where as a fan you start to wonder if it's ever going to happen.
Then, right when you think it won't happen, along comes two Iowa boys by the names of Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison. These were two of the more highly touted recruits of the Roy Willams era and would take the program to heights it hadn't been to in nearly a decade.
Let it be known that when Kirk Hinrich was a freshman, yours truly called it, saying that he would be the best player on the team and would be very good. Little did I know how good he would be. Hinrich and Collison would both be player of the year candidates for the 2001-02 season and deservedly so. This season the duo led KU to a 29-3 record including a 16-0 mark in the Big XII. To this day they are still the only team to achieve such heights within conference play. The came into the tournament as a #1 seed and many favored them to make the Final Four and possibly win the national championship.
KU cruised through the touranment with relative ease to the Elite Eight. It was here they played an overmatched Oregon Ducks team that was defeated handily by the Jayhawks on their way to their first Final Four in 9 years.
Why this made the list:
I still remember watching this with my friends when I was in high school. I went to a high school that was right on the border between Missouri and Kansas and there was both KU and MU fans (among others) that went to my school. As I mentioned, Kansas had not had good luck up to this point, fielding teams with loads of talent that didn't seem able to put it together when it mattered. This lack of ability was fresh fodder for the MU fans who chose to speak poorly of my Jayhawks. I remember all tournament long people saying how KU was going to lose, blah....blah...blah...As this moment describes, that did not occur and KU finally broke through to the Final Four, and I was finally at an age to appreciate it.
This was such a happy moment in my life, up to this point, none of my sports teams had done anything. There had been many good Chiefs and KU teams but none had made it to anything like this high of a level in their sport. This was validation for being such a loyal KU fan my entire life. Now there was nothing MU fans could say. They could rip on past "chokes" all they want, but fact is KU made the Final Four this year and MU has NEVER made it to the Final Four. KU would end up losing to the eventual national champions the Maryland Terrapins, but it was a great run and KU finally got the monkey off their back by making it to the final four, paving the way for Final Four runs in future years. This was the first taste of greatness I ever had as a fan and is a feeling and a sports moment I will always remember, which is why it is so high on my list.
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