The 1996-97 dream team was one of the best squads in Jayhawk history

Revisiting KU's magical 34-2 1996-97 team, which some Jayhawk basketball observers believe was the best team in school history. This squad would have certainly gone down as the all-time best had it won the national title, but the season ended in a heartbreaking loss to Arizona in the Sweet 16.

I wrote a 10-year anniversary story on this team in 2007 for Jayhawk Illustrated, and included some more information in this blog story. Here is the revealing, in-depth, behind-the-scenes story of that magical team and how it all came together, beginning with a fierce two-on-two game at Allen Fieldhouse between Jacque Vaughn,  Scot Pollard, B.J. Williams and Jerod Haase after KU’s Sweet 16 loss to Purdue in 1994.

Also, learn from Ryan Robertson how a poor medical decision by the doctors regarding Haase’s injured wrist cost Kansas dearly in its Sweet 16 loss to Arizona. And hear from Robertson other reasons why KU lost that game.

While both Robertson and B.J. Williams (I had a great interview with him as well for this story) still ache over that contest, they have wonderful memories of that close-knit team and what a magical run they had all season.

“That was just a dream season,” Robertson told me. “I was proud to be a part of it. It was a great, great journey except for the end. It was just a special, special team, and we had a great time and a great run, but it just didn’t end the way we needed it to.”

Despite the loss to Arizona, this team captured the hearts and imagination of Jayhawk and college fans throughout the country with its inspiring, selfless play and tremendous talent.

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By David Garfield

It was perhaps the best basketball team to ever don the crimson and blue. The 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks, quite simply, had it all. And they also did it all except make the Final Four and win the national championship. Kansas (34-2) set a school record by winning its first 22 games and finished the season atop the AP poll for the first time in school history.

There were other all-time firsts for that team, including 29 regular-season victories, four players (Jerod Haase, Raef LaFrentz, Scot Pollard and Jacque Vaughn) eclipsing 1,000 points in the same season, most rebounds in a year (1,532), most free throws made in a season (698), most steals in a year (351), most blocked shots in a season (222), and two players (Vaughn and Pollard) selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

And let’s not forget that seniors Vaughn and Haase were named first-team Academic All-Americans, while Vaughn was selected as Academic All-American of the Year. Moreover, a whopping six players (Vaughn, Pollard, LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, Billy Thomas and Ryan Robertson) wound up playing in the NBA.

The Jayhawks ended the year with a bitter loss to Arizona in the Sweet 16, but along the way, they captured the hearts and imagination of basketball fans throughout the country with their marvelous talent, their unselfish play, their fierce competitiveness, and their strong character.

KU was America’s team.

“That was just a dream season,” Robertson said during the 10-year anniversary of that season in 2007. “I was proud to be a part of it. It was a great, great journey except for the end. It was just a special, special team, and we had a great time and a great run, but it just didn’t end the way we needed it to.”

 

Senior B. J. Williams had a feeling that squad would be special right after KU lost to Purdue in the Sweet 16 his freshman season on March 24, 1994. The next day, KU coach Roy Williams called B.J, fellow freshmen Vaughn and Scot Pollard, and Jerod Haase (transfer from California who sat out that 1993-94 season and would be a sophomore the next year) into the locker room at Allen Fieldhouse.

“(Coach) told us then that we’d be the nucleus of the team the next three years,” Williams recalled from his home in Wichita in 2007. “He said we would set the standard and be treated like upperclassmen and looked up to as leaders.”

Roy Williams made a huge statement by entrusting the future of his basketball program to four kids who had not even finished their first school year at Kansas. That left quite an impression on this group, who didn’t waste any time preparing and immediately played a two-on-two game in Allen Fieldhouse. It was Haase and Williams vs. Pollard and Vaughn.

The four players battled that day like it was for a national title.

“It was very competitive,” Williams said. “Both teams really wanted to win. I think that set the standard for practices the next three years with just being competitive every day. Not that practices were bad (as freshmen), but we were more of a focused team the next three years than that first year. We competed a lot better in practices. ...We had fun.”

By the time Williams and his three classmates were seniors in 1996, all the sophomores and juniors fully knew how hard to work each day in practice. And when the incoming freshman class arrived, well, they followed the seniors’ direction as well.

“We led by example,” Williams said. “Jacque was more vocal, Jerod was a little more vocal. We worked hard. They worked hard. Sometimes practices were long and brutal, but nobody wanted to lose. We just competed. That was it. That’s what coach Williams taught us from day one. If we took care of what we needed to do, whether it was on defense, fastbreak, offense and handle our part of the game, then everything would fall into place.” 

And everything fell into place that entire 1996-97 season. After all, those seniors were smart enough to know early in their careers that you play like you practice.

 

“The harder we practiced, that always translates over into good games,” Williams said. 

Robertson, a sophomore on that team who now lives back home in St. Charles, Mo., and works as regional marketing director for Hartford Mutual Funds, said the seniors were the best. 

“That team was rare,” he said. “The seniors had been in some NCAA wars and never made it to the Final Four, and then they finally become seniors, and all of a sudden, it looked like they were ready to make that next step. And then there comes along other really good, positive, complementary pieces to that. Myself, Billy Thomas, T.J. Pugh. Coach Williams added pieces to the core that were already there. Nowadays that’s tough to find. You don’t find a group of guys that play a lot as freshmen, make it all the way through those four years without someone getting mad and leaving or going to the NBA.”

The 1997 team was very deep with nine guys who played double-figure minutes, and a 10th player (freshman forward Nick Bradford) who averaged 7.4 minutes per game.

Kansas was loaded and could beat you inside with LaFrentz and Pollard, outside with Haase, Thomas and Robertson, and Pierce could simply score at will. Then there was Vaughn, who ended his career as the all-time Kansas and Big Eight assist leader.

“In all my years of coaching, I’ve never been around a better leader than Jacque Vaughn,” Williams said at the time.

Vaughn actually began the the season on the sidelines with an injured wrist, while Robertson took over as starting point guard for 11 games. After opening the year beating Santa Clara, KU won the Maui Classic and then proved its mettle coming from 16 points down at halftime to beat No. 4 Cincinnati (72-65) and whipping No. 17 UCLA (96-83) in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 7. Kansas actually led by 21 points at halftime.

“We actually had their fans booing at them at halftime,” B.J. Williams said. “I know we just came out and pretty much jumped out on top from the get-go. They missed some shots, and we were making our shots. We actually had their fans booing at them at halftime. We used to always try to go in to the arena and see how quick we could silence their crowd. We used to always try to hear the silence.”

LaFrentz led the team with a career-high 31 points, while Robertson dished out a career-best 11 assists. Robertson was doing a great job guiding the team without Vaughn, a preseason first-team All-American. Robertson admits he was a little scared when he first found out about Vaughn’s injury and being forced to lead the No. l team in the country.

“I went to Jacque and said, ‘I’m not sure I’m ready for this. I’m not sure I can handle this.’ He gave me reassurance and gave me confidence that I could handle it and I was good enough, and he would be there next to me and help me through some things. He was my biggest cheerleader. He was the one that rooted for me, to give me tips, and ask me to do things and look for things. He had my back even though I was in his position for a while. When you had (senior) leaders who don’t care about today or their stats and all they’re concerned about is the overall betterment to the team and how well the journey is going, they’re going to accomplish some great things. And that’s what they did.”

Robertson, who averaged 6.0 assists per game with an impressive 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, was more than happy to assume his place back on the bench when Vaughn returned.

“I can remember saying to the media (after the UCLA game), I kind of felt like coach Williams had handed me the keys to this really nice car, and just said, ‘Hey Ryan, you go drive this thing around for 11 games. I want the keys back and I’m going to give it to someone else. In the meantime, I don’t want you to wreck this thing.’ So I was just navigating the streets and trying to drive the car as best as I could without messing it up.”

Robertson knew his role, and so did everyone else on that team. They all had selfless egos who sacrificed for others.

“None of the teams I played on were as close as that ‘97 team,” Robertson said. “It wasn’t even close. Everyone had each other’s back. We were all confidants with each other. Everybody on and off the court took care of each other. The chemistry on that team was about as good as I’ve seen on any team. You can watch any game you want from ‘97, and you can see we had each other’s back. We protected each other defensively, and on offense, we shared the ball. It was a true team.”

KU was a team which always knew it could accomplish greatness.

“A lot of it came from the way our seniors played, the fact that we were senior led,” Robertson said. “I give a lot of credit in that area to coach Williams because the years I was there, he never talked about one of our teams the way he talked about that ‘97 team. He repeatedly talked to us, ‘You all continue to work the way you work, and you all have no idea how special this team can really end up being.’ And he never, in my four years, he never spoke of our team with that type of accolades or pat on the back. You just got the special feeling that not only did we think we were pretty good, but coach Williams thought we could do some special things. That was saying something.”

 

And the Jayhawks said a lot on the court. They didn’t lose a game before falling at Missouri in double overtime (96-94) on Feb. 4. KU didn’t play well, and Pierce, Williams and sophomore forward T.J. Pugh all fouled out. The Jayhawks rebounded from the loss and won 10 straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament.

“We thought we could beat anybody,” B.J. Williams said  “That’s how you got to think. You got to be confident in your style of play and your game plan. We didn’t want to change our game plan for anybody.”

And why would you when Kansas sported the dynamic duo of Pierce and LaFrentz. When Pollard went down in late January with a knee injury (missed eight games), LaFrentz stepped up his game and led KU in scoring nine straight contests. He scored at least 20 points in every game. The defensive minded Williams, who replaced Pollard in the starting lineup for eight games, said LaFrentz gave Kansas a dominating force inside.

“I don’t think he was that sure of himself until that ball was put into his hands and shoved down his throat, and we made him do something with it,” Williams said. “Raef always had the talent. He was long and had a nice touch, and he had a knack for getting the ball in the basket. ...He was always comfortable with scoring. I think the more comfortable he got and saw his role changing, he just wanted to adjust. It’s not pressure on him to do this. Nobody is going to get mad if he shoots a million times. It was best for our team at that time.”

LaFrentz and company took care of business in the first two rounds of the NCAA’s by beating Jackson State and Purdue by 14 points each before their Sweet 16 showdown vs. No. 15 Arizona, an extremely quick and athletic team led by guards Mike Bibby and Miles Simon. The Jayhawks didn’t play well and Haase was limited to just 14 minutes due to an injured wrist, which had bothered him all season, but became much worse after having a cortisone shot before the NCAA Tournament.

KU, which was down two points at halftime, trailed by 13 points with three and a half minutes remaining. Robertson and Thomas hit big buckets down the stretch, and Robertson’s three-pointer with 21 seconds left narrowed Arizona’s lead to one. However, the Wildcats upped the lead to three before Robertson shot a desperation three-pointer with seconds remaining. LaFrentz rebounded the air ball, dribbled frantically to the baseline and let go a three-point shot that all Jayhawk fans prayed would hit nothing but net. The jumper grazed the rim and KU’s title hopes were over.

Arizona 85, Kansas 82.

B.J. Williams had a great look of LaFrentz’s shot standing by the bench just a few feet from his teammate.

“I thought it was going to go in,” Williams said. “I remember I was shocked. It really didn’t set in on us until we hit that locker room. We kind of understood then that was probably the last time we were going to play together.”

Robertson, who did all he could that game to win (career-high 14 points in 18 minutes filling in for the injured Haase), was inconsolable afterwards.

“It was devastation,” he said.

Roy Williams choked back tears at the postgame press conference.

“I told them that life isn’t always fair and we had a fantastic, fantastic year,” he said. “It’s been a dream season, but we didn’t reach our final dream. That happens sometimes in life. But no one can have the feelings toward the kids in the locker room that I have toward these kids in my locker room.”

Robertson explained why KU lost to Arizona.

“It’s really pretty simple,” Robertson said. “Without blaming anybody, coach Williams won the national championship a couple of years ago with North Carolina and the reason they won is because Sean May absolutely carried (them). They had some complementary players around them, but Sean May took them on his back and carried them to a national championship. In order to win at that level, you’ve got to have your guys step up. It just so happens that that night, one of our guys, one was hurt and didn’t play (in the second half), Jerod. Scot Pollard fouled out (four fouls) with no points and one (five) rebound, and Jacque (3-10 FG, 0-4 from beyond the arc, five turnovers) played poorly. He just didn’t have a great night. That happens, but the problem is in the NCAA Tournament, you got to have your guys carry you. You got to have your guys say, ‘get on my back and let’s go.’ Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for us.”

Ten years later, that loss still pains Robertson and B.J. Williams. The two former ‘Hawks call it the biggest defeat of their careers.

“I still have a hole in my heart from it,” Robertson said softly. “It’s about as painful a memory as I have in life. I’ve lived a great life. I put these things in perspective, but from a basketball standpoint, it’s about as painful as it gets.”

The consummate team player, Robertson wishes Haase could have played in the second half that night. He could barely dribble the ball with his wrist injury and was forced to sit out.

“He played with a bad wrist all year,” Robertson said. “What they (doctors) decided to do was right before the NCAA Tournament was give him a cortisone shot. Well the problem with the cortisone shot is he had a terrible reaction to it, it made it so excruciating bad, he couldn’t play. Shoot, he had played the entire season with it well enough, my contention is we should have just left it alone if we weren’t 100 percent sure that the cortisone shot wasn’t going to ruin things. As a matter is, it ruined things. Not many people know this, but he was my roommate for the first round during the NCAA Tournament. He spent most of the night sobbing because he was in so much pain. That was a bad decision on the doctors to do that (cortisone shot).”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Robertson looks back fondly over that team and the lifelong friendships made with his fellow teammates.

And how would he like that team to be remembered?

“As the best team in college basketball that year,” Robertson replied. “We weren’t national champions, but a lot people I think would look back and think to themselves, that was the best team for that year. We finished the year No. 1, we won the Maui Classic, we won the Big 12 championship. We won the (Big 12) tournament championship. We went through the entire year with one loss, so I don’t think that’s too big a stretch.”

“I’m going to tell you in a seven game scenario or however you want to test it, that team was probably the best (in KU history),” Robertson added. “I think from top to bottom, if you could eliminate just a one game fluke, I don’t think there’s ever been a team that could have competed with that one. I really don’t. If you’re going to talk about a one-game scenario, I don’t think it was the best because we weren’t able to perform in a one-game scenario the way maybe Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison’s teams was or Danny Manning and the 1988 team was. Those other teams got farther than we did.”

While KU didn’t advance to the Final Four, nobody can ever question its desire, heart, and team unity. 

“I think we were the most competitive (team in KU history),” B.J. Williams said. “We didn’t achieve the best results, but I think we played together and were probably the most cohesive unit that KU’s had. It wasn’t just like we’d play on the court or practice, then we’d all go our separate ways. We still hung out with each other quite a bit off the court. I think that’s what made that team so special.”

Both Robertson and B.J. Williams both loved playing for such a special coach in Roy Williams.

“He was tough. He was hard to play for,” Robertson said. “He expected a lot and if you didn’t fall in line, you weren’t going to play. Now, I look at him completely different. I Iook at him kind of as a confidant, somebody I can call and ask a favor of, or call and throw an important decision off, and kind of ask his opinion about something. I’ve got a great father, but (he’s) kind of a father figure type.”

B.J. said he’ll always be grateful for the life lessons Williams taught him, and that his former coach continues to teach. B.J. said said his dad talked to coach Williams a few months ago and had some encouraging and challenging words for him.

“Coach Williams said he wanted me to do better,” B.J. said. “That’s coach Williams. He’s always trying to get the best out of everybody. He just doesn’t coach a player, he cares about kids, their off the court habits, whether they’re going to school or not. I think a lot of what he does is get you ready for life, and not just your four years and out.

“I would probably lay down in front of a train for that man. He’s very genuine, he’s straight to the point. He calls it brutal honesty, and I believe it now. He tells you what he thinks and he’s intense. He’s got heart. Anything he does, whether it’s jogging, playing golf, or coaching, he’s 100 percent dedicated to whatever he’s doing. “

And that 1996-97 team was 100 percent dedicated as well. They played with passion and heart. They played with pride for the Jayhawk nation. And they played for each other. Ten years after the magical season ended in Birmingham, B.J. Williams knows how he’d like that group to be remembered.

“They were a family,” he said. “And I still feel those guys are my family.”

More from the 1996-97 team from Ryan Robertson

Raef LaFrentz: “Absolute go-to low post player. His turnaround jumper at the college level was unstoppable.”

Paul Pierce: “Best player I ever played with. My freshman roommate. Just an absolute hunger for basketball.”

Jerod Haase: “Heart and soul of the team, wanted it probably more than anybody we’ve ever had.”

Scot Pollard: “Fun loving, talented, kind of the do-anything you need to do to win big guy.”

Jacque Vaughn. “He was our leader, our floor general, and kind of our coach on the floor.”

Billy Thomas: “One of the best shooters I’ve ever played with. Absolutely deadly. Really athletic and a great guy.”

T.J. Pugh: “T.J. was my roommate after Paul left, did everything that coach Williams asked of him, did all the intangibles, great defensive player, got a lot out of what God gave him.” 

B.J. Williams: “X-factor, long, shot it well, great guy as well and plugged in...He could be a really long and great defensive player, or every once in a while he could step out and make a nice jump shot. He could do a lot of different things.”

Roy Williams: “He was our coach. He was probably the ultimate leader, he maneuvered us and had us through the best journey of my life until just one dumb game.”