Kansas basketball: Thanks for the memories
By Stan Unruh
The Kansas basketball program does a lot of things fans appreciate. What they did for two seniors this week was extra special.
Did you miss any of the 2017-18 Kansas basketball games? Did you listen to all the games during the team’s summer trip to Italy. Some fans listened to every word of Brian Hanni’s radio call from those nasty, hot gyms in August.
It was a fantastic Kansas basketball season. From those sweltering gyms in Italy to the Final Four. It raced by quickly and now we get to celebrate the players, their accomplishments and the memories they provided.
Considering all this team accomplished, the program did another great thing during Tuesday’s annual banquet. They didn’t hand out a lot of honors for this or that. They gave out just one award. Hall of Fame coach Bill Self presented the team’s Mr. Jayhawk Award to Devonte Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk. Let’s credit the coach for doing the right thing. Both seniors deserved the honor.
Those two provided dozens of highlights for Kansas basketball fans over the past four seasons. On the other hand, they provided a lot more exciting memories over the past four months. It’s difficult to think about watching the Jayhawks without them.
From the first game their freshman season.
They both made their Jayhawk regular season basketball debut in November 2014. Graham didn’t start but led the Jayhawks with 14 points in a win over U.C. Santa Barbara. Svi scored four points and grabbed 4 rebounds that night. Four nights later Svi hit his first 3 pointer as a Jayhawk in the Champions Classic against Kentucky.
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Without those two senior leaders, the Jayhawks don’t get to the Final Four this year. Both made dozens of great plays this season. Graham finding Svi for the all-important three pointer that sent the Midwest Regional final to overtime is probably the play of the year. We will miss those two in Crimson and Blue.