Mark Randall was one of the greatest players in KU history

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In my Sept. 27, 2024 blog, I wrote about Mark Randall and included my Where Are They Now? story I wrote on him in 1999. Here is more on one of KU's all-time greats, whose selfless play and pure heart and emotion won over KU coach Roy Williams and thousands of Jayhawk fans.

Mark Randall had a decorated prep career at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colorado. The Colorado High School Player of the Year as a senior in 1986, he was a McDonald’s All-American while also earning Street & Smith, Gatorade and Parade All-American honors. Randall, who averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.2 steals per game his senior year while shooting 68% percent from the field and 79% at the free throw line, competed in the McDonald’s All-Star Classic in Washington, D.C. and the East-West All-Star game in Detroit.

The 6-foot-9 do-it-all forward led Cherry Creek to the state finals, falling to Washington High, 66-65, despite Randall’s 27 points. His high school coach was former ABA and NBA star Mack Calvin, who called his prodigy “the next Larry Bird.” Randall chose KU over Duke, Arizona and Colorado.

Randall, who was born in Edina, Minnesota, to Thomas Randall and Patricia Trapanese, joined fellow KU signee Kevin Pritchard on the North team coached by Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps at the National Sports Festival in Houston the summer before his freshman year.

KU coach Larry Brown raved over Randall and his signing class on his Hawk Talk radio show. In addition to Randall, Brown inked Robert Coyne, Jeff Gueldner and Keith Harris in the early November signing period. Pritchard signed in the spring, choosing KU over Kentucky.

“I don’t know if it’s the fifth best (nationally), but we signed four terrific kids as far as I’m concerned,” Brown said. “The four kids we signed can play anywhere. Three of them were recruited by everybody. None of them are like a Danny Manning, but they don’t come along very often. I think Mark Randall and Keith Harris have the potential to play in our program and compete with anybody. I wouldn’t trade our class with anyone.”

“Mark Randall is as good as any prospect we’ve ever signed here,” Brown added. “In my mind, he’s the number one prospect in America, and we’re very fortunate to have him. He’s 6’9 and can handle the ball, run, and defend. He’s tough. He’s got a chance to make an impact in our program immediately next year.

“I went out to California and saw Keith play in a tournament.  He got 11 points and 15 rebounds the night I saw him, and made me feel even better about the fact that he signed early. I just think he’s going to be a great addition to our program. He’s still just 16 and won’t be 17 'till March 28. He can defend and he can handle the ball, and I believe he’s going to be a great player for us. 

“Randall got 20 the first half when I went to see him, and his team won by about 40 points. Both of those coaches are great coaches. They pressure man to man and they run and they allow their kids to play and they’re well-disciplined. I think they’re both going to be great additions to our program. Randall, he is athletic. He does a lot of the same things Danny (Manning) does. For his size, he can handle the ball and pass it. He’s a tough kid and I think they’re both going to be great players.”

What they’re saying about Mark Randall.

Purdue coach Gene Keady, who coached Randall at the World University Games in 1989: “The thing about Mark is that he was enjoyable to be around because he was completely team-oriented. He’s an excellent player and his tools are positive. Mark has a good shot, and understands the game. He can go inside or go outside and make his shots. He is versatile.”

Jay Randolph, Raycom Network Announcer:

“I like Randall. He’s hardworking and a smart player. After the year layoff (redshirted in 1987-88). I thought he’d have trouble coming back – but he only got better. He impresses me.”

KU coach Roy Williams, who said this before his junior year in 1989-90:

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Mark Randall can be an outstanding player at the University of Kansas if he continues to work hard. He’s a weapon because of his ability to run the court, play out on the floor, and down low in the post. I’m anticipating he’ll have a good year.”

Teammate Mike Maddox told me in 2000 about the great chemistry of him and Randall and how they operated the high-low offense to virtual perfection in 1989-90.

“Mark and I developed a real feel for each other, and really took the offense and kind of adapted it to our own games. I probably went to the high post 70 percent of the time, and he went to the low post. ... I was a decent high outside shooter, and Mark was good down on the block. It was hard for defenses to defend both of us.”

After leading underdog Kansas to an improbable NIT championship with a 66-57 victory over St. John's in Madison Square Garden, being named MVP, and recording 25 points and 10 rebounds, Coach Williams gushed over his play.

"He played a game tonight that everybody would like to have in their lifetime," said Williams, whose Jayhawks went from being unranked in preseason to jumping to No. 4 in the AP poll after victories over St. John's, No. 2 LSU with Shaquille O'Neal, Stanley Roberts and Chris Jackson and No. 1 UNLV with Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon.  "He runs the floor as well as any big man in the game." 

Randall, who averaged 22.3 points in three games during the tournament, is also named Big Eight Player of the Week.

Teammate Steve Woodberry told me at Mr. Goodcents in Lawrence many years ago during his lunch break while rehabbing from injury about Randall and the 1991 Final Four team.

“That was special," Woodberry said. "Nobody expected us to get close to the Final Four. ... Mark Randall was the star, but everybody did their role and played together. ...That was a special year.”

Randall said it before the 1990-91 season. He averaged 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 1989-90.

“I don’t have great numbers, but I do think that I can do things to help the team win.”

Randall started at the World Championships in Argentina the summer of 1990 and helped the team win a bronze medal. Other starters were Billy Owens (Syracuse), Kenny Anderson (Georgia Tech), Alonzo Mourning (Georgetown) and Chris Smith (Georgetown).

One national publication called Randall one of five “Rising Stars” in college basketball before the 1990-91 season, along with Todd Day (Arkansas), Chris Gatling (Old Dominion), Bryant Stith (Virginia) and Henry Williams (UNC-Charlotte). Inside Sports wrote that “Randall…runs the floor as well as any big man in the country.”

After Randall led underdog KU to the 1991 Final Four and ended his career as KU’s all-time field goal percentage leader (62.0) and No. 6-leading scorer (1,627 points), Williams said “you don’t replace a Mark Randall. He did so much for this team on and off the floor.”

Indeed, he did. Mark, thanks for the enduring memories!

He was inducted into the CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association) Hall of Fame in 2013.

Randall's bio starts with this rave review of the man:

"It’s hard to say that Mark Randall’s selection to the CHSAA Hall of Fame was based solely on his basketball ability. Nor, was it based solely on his work with Kroenke Sports in the community. Frankly, it was based on the character, integrity and person that Randall is and demonstrates each day..."

KU standout just wanted to be the 'next Mark Randall'

It's hard to believe my Where Are They Now? story on KU great Mark Randall was published 24 years ago in Jayhawk Insider. In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about Mark and what he’s meant to me. Soon after this article was published on Feb. 11, 2000, Mark called me at home at night and left a message on my answering machine that I will never forget. He first thanked me for sending the two issues of Jayhawk Insider to him, and that he was going to send one of the magazines to his dad. Then he humbly said he’s had a lot of articles written about him during his life, but that my story “might have been the best article ever written about me.”

 

“WOW,” I thought to myself.

 

I was completely blown away by Mark’s genuine kindness, and he’s been my hero ever since. He was obviously an outstanding player who thrived under new KU coach Roy Williams, who replaced Larry Brown after he left KU in 1988 to become the San Antonio Spurs head coach. Maybe no other player I’ve ever seen in KU basketball history since I began attending games in famed Allen Fieldhouse in 1973 was better at sealing his man in the low post than Mark. He was also a great shooter from 17 feet and in, a great passer (he and teammate Mike Maddow ran the high-low passing game to perfection), could handle the ball, crashed the boards, and ran the floor as well as any big man in the land. He was also as unselfish, tough, and as competitive and great leader as they come. I also loved Mark’s unbridled emotion on the court. I can still remember him pumping his fist after his pivotal basket in the second half of KU’s thrilling comeback win over Arkansas in the Elite Eight in 1991, a game the Jayhawks won and earned Williams his first Final Four berth in just his third season at Kansas.

 

But as great as Mark Randall was, he is even a better person. Ask anyone who knows the man, the father, the husband, the friend, and they will tell you the same thing. He’s very personable, extremely kind and gracious, and treats everyone equally. After I got Mark’s phone call that night in February 2000, I immediately emailed him late at night and thanked him so much for his kindness. He replied with a beautiful email in the morning, telling me he also read my feature on Chris Piper in that same issue and wrote: “You have a gift.” Again, I was so overwhelmed by his words. I’ve had my story on Mark framed at home for many years, along with his quote about my story “might be the best article ever written about me.” If I’m having a bad day, I can look up on my wall and see the article and quote, receiving a huge boost of joy and confidence.

 

Mark, I can truly say you made an indelible impact on my life, and I will never forget our interview and your extreme kindness. The world needs more people like Mark Christopher Randall, who famed late high school superscout Howard Garfinkel once said “plays every game like it’s for a Michelob Light.” Mark got a big laugh out of that when I first emailed him that quote.

 

After Randall culminated his stellar and memorable KU career with a supurb 18 point, 10 rebound performance in the NCAA finals against Duke in 1991, which left Blue Devils All-American Christian Laettener exhausted trying to guard Mark, Roy Williams said prior to next season: “You don’t replace a Mark Randall. He did so much for the team on and off the floor."

 

Indeed, he did!

 

Here are some honors Mark earned at KU:

 

1991 NCAA All-Tournament Team

First-Team All-Big Eight 1991

Phillips 66 Academic All-Big Eight 1991

NABC third-team All-American 1990

Naismith Award finalist 1990

Lee Jeans Academic All-Big Eight (3.34 GPA) 1990

AP, UPI second-team All-Big Eight 1990

Dodge NIT MVP 1989

UPI second-team All-Big Eight 1989

BMA Holiday Classic MVP 1988

NBC Player of the Game versus Temple 1988

 

International Experience:

 

1990 World Championship (Bronze Medal) Buenos Aires, Argentina

1990 Goodwill Games (Bronze Medal) Seattle, Wash.

1989 World University Games (Gold Medal) Duisburg, West Germany

1987 Beijing National. Tournament (Big Eight Select team)

 

…

 

Randall finished his career as KU’s single-season (64.6 percent in 1988-89) and all-time field goal percentage leader (62.0), which both stood for nearly three decades, and sixth all-time leading scorer (1,627) and rebounder (723).

 

KU standout just wanted to be the ‘next Mark Randall’

 

By David Garfield

            

Mark Randall was destined for greatness as a senior at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colo. 

 

His coach, Mack Calvin, even hailed his star player as the “next Larry Bird.” Randall, who was a McDonald’s All-American and wooed by every major college program in the country, also evoked comparisons from scouts to former Denver Nugget Bobby Jones.

            

Randall, the former KU basketball standout and current scout for the Nuggets, said he never really felt the pressure of living up to all the hype.

            

“I was doing my best to be the next Mark Randall,” he said this recent Monday evening from his hotel room in Salt Lake City, just a few hours before leaving to scout the New Mexico State-Utah game. “To be mentioned in the same breath with guys like that, that’s an honor.”

            

While Randall didn’t feel the pressure, he said today’s impressionable young athletes might take being labeled “the next Vince Carter” or “second coming of Magic Johnson” to heart.  

            

“I’ll never do that,” Randall said. “That’s something I have thought about extensively. Even though I’m in the profession of scouting talent, I’m going to guard against that... These kids — they need to be the next whoever they are, just like I didn’t want to be the next Larry Bird or Bobby Jones.”

            

Randall, who admits he patterned his game after Bird and Jones growing up in Colorado, is fortunate that his job with the Nuggets has afforded him the opportunity to come back to Allen Fieldhouse (he’s scouted three games this season), where he’s been able to relive “the best five years of my life.”

            

“Just sitting there now, and looking in the rafters and see the great names and all the banners up there, and to know you had a hand in a very small part of that, it’s just an awesome thing,” Randall said.

            

Actually, Randall played more than just a “very small part” in KU basketball history. He is the all-time field-goal percentage leader (62 percent), eighth-leading scorer, and also a member of the 1991 Final Four team (KU lost to Duke in the finals, 72-65).  However, his road to greatness had some bumps in the way as a freshman.

            

Possessing great athletic skills in high school and a tremendous work ethic, Randall endeared himself to such scouting gurus as Howard Garfinkel (he said Randall “played every game like it’s for a Michelob Light”) and KU coach Larry Brown.  The Jayhawk mentor even commented that “Mark Randall is as good as any prospect we’ve ever signed here. In my mind, he’s the number one prospect in America, and we’re very fortunate to have him.”

            

And then something very bewildering happened when the 1986-87 season began. Brown publicly questioned Randall’s toughness.

            

“There were some incidents that happened,” said Randall, preferring not to get specific. “Why he did that I’ll never know.”

            

After redshirting the 1987-88 championship season, Randall’s career was revived when Roy Williams became the new head coach at Kansas.

            

“Coach Williams was the best thing to happen to Mark Randall and I’ll say that time and time again,” Randall said. “Having him come in at the time in my career and in my life was just a huge thing.  It was just a joy to play for him.”

            

Randall, who ran the floor as well as any big man in the country, thrived in Williams’ system and helped lead underdog Kansas to the NCAA championship game in 1991. He had a great swan song in scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but the Jayhawks came up short.

            

“I’m an emotional guy and I remember running around and balling like a baby,” he said. “My brother (Dave) was in the corner, and I got to hug him. That meant a lot because he was there at Kansas for two years while I was there.”

            

After being named to the NCAA All-Tournament team, Randall was eventually selected as the 26th pick in the first round by the NBA World Champion Chicago Bulls. Released by the Bulls after Christmas, Randall finished the season in Minnesota. He wound up playing parts of four years in the NBA (Bulls, Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Denver Nuggets), and two years in the CBA.

            

Cut two weeks into the lockout season last year by the Nuggets, Randall accepted coach Dan Issel’s offer to become a scout.

            

“I was tired of beating my head against the wall,” Randall said.  

            

Randall, who loves being a part of the Nuggets organization (the team he idolized growing up) and scouting college players — “Now, I’m on the flip side sitting here looking at kids and saying, ‘Wow, can this guy help us? What does he got that we can become a better team?’” — believes the timing just wasn’t right in his NBA career.

            

“Larry Bird and Bobby Jones played the game the way it was supposed to be played,” Randall said. “That’s the way I feel like I played he game. I honestly feel that a guy playing the game that way now isn’t appreciated as the guy playing the game back then was...I always said I was born too late. I should have played back then when money wasn’t the big factor, but playing the game for the love of the game.”

 

A Closer Look at Mark Randall

Years at KU: 1986-1991 (Redshirted 87-88)

Career Notables: KU's career-field goal percentage leader (62 percent) and No. 8 leading scorer... First Team All-Big Eight in 1991 and member of the NCAA All-Tournament team that year.

Education: Randall majored in journalism. Update: Randall received his journalism degree in 2003.

Family: Randall and his wife, Kimberly, have a daughter, Samantha, 1 (she had her first birthday Feb. 4). Update: Randall also has a son, Dylan, who is two years younger than Samantha.

Since Leaving KU: Randall played parts of four years in the NBA (Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Denver Nuggets) and two years in the CBA.

Currently: Randall is a scout for the Denver Nuggets and lives in Highlands Ranch, Colo. Update: Randall is Manager of High School Athletics for Denver Public Schools, and lives in Lone Tree, Colo.

Hobbies: competitive golf, family, handyman work.

Favorite KU Memories: “The fans are always going to be at the top of my list.”  Playing in his first and final game (NCAA championship vs. Duke). “Not a lot of seniors know in their career that it will actually be their last game...” The 1989-90 team, which bounced in and out of the No. 1 and 2 spots most of the season.

On the Jayhawks Today: “I think they’re still learning and growing. As long as you can do that now and not towards the end of the season. You got to work the kinks out.”

 

 

KU’s 1989-90 team took Jayhawk fans on a memorable ride

The 1989-90 KU basketball team was a very memorable one, entering the season unranked and picked last in the Big Eight in two preseason publications, to winning the preseason NIT and bouncing in and out of the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the national polls for 13 consecutive weeks.

I’ve followed KU basketball since 1973 when I had season tickets with my dad until I covered the program for 20 years starting in 1998. I can say, without a doubt, this 1989-90 team was by far the best passing KU team I have ever seen. They cut up opponents with their crisp passing and screens, scoring countless back-door layups.

“We probably set the world record for back-door layups on that team,” Kevin Pritchard, a senior point guard and team leader on that squad, told me in a 2000 interview.

And they had talent. Pritchard, Rick Calloway, Adonis Jordan and Mark Randall all had stints in the NBA. Randall, who played on the 1991 Final Four team which lost to Duke in the national championship game, can certainly attest to that.

“Talent wise, that was the best team I played on,” Randall said of his three years with KU coach Roy Williams.

In just his second year as KU head coach, Williams emerged as one of the best coaches and one of the most brilliant coaching minds in America. He was named National Coach of the Year by USBWA and Molten/Billy Packer, while selected as AP and UPI Big Eight Coach of the Year.

“As the architect of (Kansas’) success, Williams is starting to receive accolades proclaiming him to be one the country’s most talented young coaches, said Clifton Brown of the New York Times. “He is not comfortable with that image, but if he keeps winning, he will have to get used to it.”

Williams’ 1990 team was a pure joy to watch play. John Wooden, the legendary former UCLA coach, said during that memorable season that Kansas played the game the right way. And other basketball observers certainly agreed. 

“John Rhode, columnist with the Daily Oklahoman, wrote “it’s a joy to watch Kansas play basketball. The Jayhawks bring back the days of UCLA (no, they’re not THAT good).”

No, the Jayhawks certainly weren’t as good as Wooden’s great Bruins’ teams, but KU left its mark that year as the second-winningest team in school history. It was also a very unselfish team. Four players -- a school record -- recorded more than 100 assists. Kansas also finished with the highest field percentage (53.3) in the country. The ‘Hawks set a school record with averaging 92.0 points per game and beat its foes by an average of nearly 20 points per contest.

In a 150-95 blowout over Kentucky on Dec. 9, 1989, KU broke or tied six school records, including most points, most points in one half (80), and most assists (36).

While KU’s season came to an abrupt end with an NCAA second-round loss to UCLA (71-70) in Atlanta, that team will never be forgotten.

Randall, who was working as a Denver Nuggets scout at the time I interviewed him in 2000, spoke about that team’s legacy.

“The comments I get from not only alumni, but also people who are my colleagues now, that’s their memory of Kansas basketball and of Mark Randall and Kansas basketball — the team that we had that went through the NIT and beat all the teams...and bounced in and out of the No. 1 and 2 spot all year,” Randall said. “That team was obviously special.”

Indeed, it most certainly was.

Here is the 10-year anniversary story I wrote on that team in 2000 for Jayhawk Insider.

...

By David Garfield

It’s been 10 years and four months, but Kevin Pritchard recalls the incident as if was yesterday.

The 1989-90 Jayhawks, who had just shocked Shaquille O’ Neal and No. 2 LSU (Kansas second- year coach Roy Williams later said that was the “first big-time win” of his coaching career) in the second round of the preseason NIT on Nov. 17, arrived in New York for a matchup with top-ranked UNLV. As guests of the tournament at a banquet at Tavern On The Green, Williams was prepared to make a brief speech about his team.

And then the unthinkable happened. The master of ceremonies introduced the KU mentor as Ron Williams.

“I remember the team looking around and we were VERY angry,” said Pritchard, the point guard and senior leader that season. “We definitely from then out said, ‘Maybe we don’t need any motivation, but thank you very much.’ We took that very personal. They can’t even get our coach’s name right. I love coach Williams and I loved everyone on that team, so when that happens, it’s like someone calling your best buddy or girlfriend a bad name. You tend to get a little angry about that.”

 

Pritchard (now the assistant vice president of The Trust Company of Kansas) and his teammates responded by taking their anger out against the No. 1 mighty Rebels (eventual NCAA champions). KU won easily, 91-77, on Nov. 22, and then beat St. John’s two days later to “spoil the party” and win the NIT tournament. In the waning seconds of the championship game, Pritchard had a few words for announcer Dick Vitale:

“It was something like, ‘Maybe now we’ll get some respect.’ Of course, he was like (before the UNLV game) ‘Kansas shouldn’t be here, but they’re here and they’re going to bow out early, and it’s going to be UNLV and St. John’s in the finals.’”

After winning the NIT, Kansas had suddenly gone from being Rodney Dangerfield to the talk of the basketball world. The Dec. 3, 1989 issue of Sports Illustrated featured KU and a picture of Mark Randall (NIT MVP) floating gracefully through the air for a layup against two helpless UNLV defenders. The headline on page 32 read: 

“The Jayhawks Take Flight: By stunningly upsetting No. 1 UNLV and No. 2 LSU and winning the NIT, unflappable Kansas poleaxed the pollsters.”

   

For Randall (he averaged 13.3 ppg and 6.2 rebounds during the year) and KU, it was a perfect beginning for one of the most memorable and successful seasons at Mount Oread. Unranked Kansas jumped to No. 4 in the polls and won its first 19 games of the season. The Jayhawks, who were actually ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the polls for 13 consecutive weeks, concluded the year at 30-5 (second winningest team at the time in school history).

This was definitely not a season Inside Sports and Basketball Digest had predicted. The two publications actually picked Kansas to finish last in the Big Eight conference.

“We didn’t pin it up or anything like that,” Pritchard said of the Inside Sports clipping. “But everyone was aware of it. It kind of circulated from locker to locker, and we knew that the so called quote-un-quote media didn’t think too highly of us.”

The Jayhawks believed in themselves from day one. With an experienced cast led by Pritchard and three other seniors (Freeman West, Rick Calloway, and Jeff Gueldner), not to mention rising junior stars Randall and Mike Maddox, as well as newcomers “Downtown” Terry Brown, Pekka Markkanen, and freshman Adonis Jordan, KU wound up the season leading the country in field goal percentage (53.3 percent) and breaking several school scoring records, including eight 100-point games and most points in a single game. Kansas also won at Iowa State for the first time since 1983.

While KU didn’t have the raw talent like Vegas or LSU, four Jayhawks eventually had stints in the NBA (Randall, Calloway, Pritchard and Jordan).

“Talent wise, that was the best team I played on,” Randall said of his three years with Williams.

Williams, who established himself as one of the premier coaches in the country in just his second season at KU (he was Big Eight and national coach of the year),  believed KU maximized its talent each game.

“I’ve been around basketball many years and I can’t ever remember a team that played to its potential as well as last year’s team did,” Williams said at the beginning of the 1990-91 season.  “It was a fun group to watch. You had to admire how unselfish they played.”

The chemistry was superb. The Jayhawks, who had five players in double figures (Pritchard led the squad at 14.5 ppg), often resembled a team of poetry in motion, cutting and dicing opponents up with screens, pin-point passes and back-door layups. 

“The most unique thing about that team was that we were all good passers and good shooters, even the big guys,” Pritchard said. “When we ran our motion offense, we felt we were unstoppable. We didn’t out-athletic anybody. We just knew how to play basketball. We were kind of the old Hoosier type of basketball team. Any time you relaxed at all, we knew we were going to get an easy shot. We were so confident in each other. When a team played zone, we knew exactly how to beat a zone. When a team pressured man to man....we probably set the world record for back-door layups on that team.”

Much of that credits belongs to Maddox and Randall — two key big men who defenders had to cover on the perimeter. They also worked the high-low passing game to perfection.

“Mark and I developed a real feel for each other, and really took the offense and kind of adapted it to our own games,” said Maddox, KU’s Super Sub (8.7 ppg) and now the new community president for Intrust Bank in Lawrence. “I probably went to the high post 70 percent of the time, and he went to the low post. ... I was a decent high outside shooter, and Mark was good down on the block. It was hard for defenses to defend both of us.”

Defenses like Kentucky had plenty of problems stopping Kansas the whole season. KU set a school record for points scored in its blowout victory over the Wildcats (150-95) on Dec. 9, 1989. Brown came off the bench and led KU with 31 points.

“Paying Kentucky was pretty fun,” Pritchard said. “I remember they pressed us the whole game.  They pressed with guys (talent-wise) that probably didn’t need to be pressing. We knew we were such a good passing team and ball-handling team that every time they pressed us, ‘OK, here’s a layup, or let’s get a three-pointer.’ We like dictated what we wanted.”

After winning 19 straight games and climbing to No. 1 in the polls, KU suffered its first loss of the season at No. 4 ranked Missouri (95-87) on Jan. 25. Kansas, which won its next five games and regained the No. 1 ranking over the Tigers, lost again to MU (77-71) at home on Feb. 13.

“There were some wars,” Maddox said.

Then, after three more consecutive wins, KU was blown out by No. 3 ranked Oklahoma at Norman (100-78). Two games later in the second round of the Big Eight tournament, Kansas fell once more to the Sooners (95-77). While KU still gained a No. 2 seed in the East Regional in Atlanta, fatigue had taken its toll. KU barely got by Robert Morris (77-71) in the first round, and then ended its season with a devastating loss to UCLA (71-70) on March 18.

“OU and MU were awfully good,” Maddox said. “We had five pretty good losses to good teams.  We didn’t get beat by any patsies. ... We just were physically worn out. We just ran out of gas that year. I’ve talked to several of the guys, and I just remember we were tired. It was a long season. We had a long preseason.”

Pritchard agreed: “We pushed ourselves so hard. No one wanted to say, ‘Hey we need to rest,’ so we didn’t. It was a team so self motivated. We all had something to prove very single day in practice. No one let up, and if you did, there were six other guys on the team that would say, ‘What are you doing? We got to play harder.’”

And then there was the pressure. As the wins mounted, so did the expectations from the media and loyal crimson and blue followers.  

“I think there was so much pride that when we put on the Jayhawk uniform, we felt like we represented so many things — our family, ourselves, and more importantly, everybody who believed in us when nobody believed,” Pritchard said. “We didn’t want to let anyone down.”

Pritchard, who started at point guard on KU’s 1988 championship team, said the 1990 squad went into the tournament with a completely different attitude.

“In ‘88, we’re like, ‘All right. We’re here. Let’s try to play well.’ In ‘90, it was like, ‘We got to get this done. This was something we got to do for our fans again.’ That’s the difference between winning and losing.”

But Pritchard adds, he enjoyed that year even more than the 1988 championship season.  

“It’s amazing when no one cares nothing but winning,” he said. “There was just a lot of leadership on that team, more than any other team I’ve ever been on — NBA or anything. In that locker room, you didn’t have to get on people very hard. They’d know what they were supposed to do. If they did something wrong, it came to a point where a look would be all it would take. It resolved itself.”

The consummate team player, Pritchard was also one of the most fiery competitors and clutch shooters in Jayhawk history. The senior leader admits now that he felt a personal responsibility in KU’s final loss to UCLA. While he doesn’t have nightmares about the game, he says the final seconds “does enter my thoughts.”

“It was the hardest loss I’ve ever had to take,” said Pritchard, who was first-team All-Big Eight that year. “I’m the kind of person who likes to take the last shot. I still replay it in my mind to this day. They double teamed me on the in-bounds and I should have tried harder to get the ball. I’m not saying I would have made it  I just would have liked that opportunity.”

Calloway ended up with the ball and missing a baseline 15 footer.

“He took a great shot,” Pritchard said. “It was just a little short.”

Former UCLA coaching wizard John Wooden certainly observed the game very closely. He said during the year that KU was a joy to watch and played the game the way it’s supposed to be played.

These words definitely did not go unnoticed by Maddox and company.

“It makes you feel great to get that kind of compliment from such a great coach and a great basketball mind,” Maddox said. “You can’t get a higher compliment. And I think we did do it the right way. We were very efficient, and we executed well offensively. We were a really good defensive team. I would put that team up defensively against any team KU’s had. We really got after people.”

And the people in Kansas adored Williams’ Jayhawks. One elderly lady from Wichita called the KU coach’s Hawk Talk radio show just before the Big Eight tournament in March, 1990 and gushed:

“I just want to say that we got a real gem when you accepted the position. I think you are super, and an excellent role model for the players and students. You just never cease to amaze me these things I read about you. You’re way up on the pedestal, and I don’t think you’re ever going to fall,” she said fighting back the tears.

Williams never has. Not only did this “unknown” coach, once referred to as Ron Williams 10 years ago, put his signature on Kansas basketball (KU wound up as the winningest team in the 1990s), his 1989-90 squad left a lasting legacy for Jayhawk fans and basketball aficionados alike.

Just ask Randall, who travels the country as a scout for the Denver Nuggets.

“As I go from city to city, it’s amazing how many Kansas alumni are out there,” Randall said.   “Kansas people are very knowledgeable about basketball and they’re very fanatical about it. I’m still recognized when I go from state to state as a Kansas alum. ... The comments I get from not only alumni, but also people who are my colleagues now, that’s their memory of Kansas basketball and of Mark Randall and Kansas basketball — the team that we had that went through the NIT and beat all the teams...and bounced in and out of the No. 1 and 2 spot all year. That team was obviously special.”

More about the 1989-90 team from Kevin Pritchard:

On Jeff Gueldner (10.7 ppg/ 48.6 percent 3-pointers), the sharp shooting senior. “He was really hurt most of 88-89. He had some back problems and didn’t play a whole lot. He is a great player, obviously. He started on the national championship team. He was healthy the whole year (89-90).”

On Adonis Jordan (3.0 ppg), the freshman point guard from Reseda, Calif. “He really learned the system very quickly.”

On Rick Calloway (13.1 ppg), the senior transfer from Indiana who sat out the 1988-89 season. “He was a great defender, a great team player.”

On Pekka Markkanen (6.9 ppg), the 6-10 center whom Roy Williams recruited from Finland without ever seeing him play in person (scouted him on videotape). “He was a big plus, because we were without a big man — a center.”

On Freeman West (6.0 ppg/59.5 FG percentage), the senior forward from Paris Junior College in Texas. “He was fantastic. He was 6-5 and played inside. And I’ll tell you what, I’d put him up against any 6-5 guy in the United States. He was strong, athletic, knew his role and did it very well. He was another workmanlike player.”

Testimonials from a Writing Life

                                                      Interviewing Royals All-Star pitcher Jose Rosado (1999)

I never entered the writing profession for testimonials and endorsements. I chose to become a writer because that's who I am, what I identify most strongly about myself. I've always enjoyed putting words on paper and making stories come to life. I've written for as long as I can remember and can still recall the first poem I wrote in school in maybe second grade at Broken Arrow Elementary School on a piece of construction paper. As a child growing up in Lawrence, I used to write poetry to reflect my thoughts and what I was going through in life. I've always written my parents homemade greeting cards for birthdays and holidays, sharing my love with them through the written word. And now I cherish those cards more than ever since they have passed as I read the old cards and how much they meant to my life and my late parents' lives. 

I think I first realized the power my words had on other people when I wrote my dad a long, heartfelt letter as a teenager urging him to quit his longtime pipe smoking habit. After reading my letter, my dad was so moved by my words that he quit cold turkey and never smoked again. I first realized he had stopped when I was standing outside our house on the porch when my dear mom said dad read the letter and hadn't smoked all day. And he never smoked again. Dad always credited me for being the reason he stopped.  

I strongly believe words can move mountains, and that is such a defining example. Realizing later, I basically saved my dad's life. While I used to enjoy writing letters to the editor in college at KU to the Lawrence Journal-World about Kansas basketball, I'll never forget my first byline on a story I wrote for my Reporting I class in 1990 in the University Daily Kansan, a long feature on non-traditional students. I was the first student (and I believe the only one) in that class to have an article published in the UDK that semester. It was such a thrill to see my name in print for a story I worked on so tirelessly. While I've always loved to write, I think from that moment I found my calling and was hooked on becoming a professional writer.

I'm also inspired to write by this wonderful quote by the Sufi mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan: "Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels." It is one of my all-time favorite quotes and says so much about the beauty of words and writing.

Now, after 31--plus years in the writing profession, I've written thousands of stories and interviewed people ranging from Hall of Famers like George Brett (Hall of Fame cover story), John Calipari, Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, John Stockton, Larry Brown, Bill Self, Jerry Sloan, Warren Moon, Dolph Schayes, Joe Dumars, Nolan Richardson, Lynette Woodard and Charles Barkley to the common man/woman, including about 250 volunteers in the community in the Lawrence Journal-World and 60 and better. These inspiring people, who I viewed as my heroes, included rape, incest and cancer survivors, former homeless people, recovering alcoholics, businessmen, attorneys, doctors, dentists, nurses, and idealist college students who dreamed of changing the world. It was quite gratifying telling these stories and having people welcome me into their homes with open arms and hearts. I was so moved and humbled when I heard one of the volunteers cried when she read my story for the first time, believing I captured her sentiments so well.

In addition, I've interviewed countless other people, including entreprenneurs, fitness competitors, inspiring KU graduates, Miss Kansas Annika Wooton, high school athletes, Voice of the Jayhawks Brian Hanni and so many more. I've tried hard over the years to give extensive coverage to women's athletes. I've been a forerunner covering women's sports, including basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball and track and field. I've always felt women work just as hard as the men, but don't receive enough media coverage. I'm definitely glad times are changing and the women's revolution is here. We must always remember the pioneers like Lynette Woodard and Nancy Lieberman who paved the way for Caitlin Clark and so many other great female athletes of today from a wide variety of sports.

Annika and I both got emotional when I asked her in person at a library in Wichita "how the arts saved her life." As she paused for about 10 seconds, wiping tears from her eyes and composed herself (I composed myself, too, from my emotions), she spoke quite openly and candidly about being bullied in high school, having suicide thoughts and finding sanctuary in the art room and theater with like-minded people. That open-ended question and Annika's answer completely made that sidebar. We spoke for 80 minutes, and afterwards, she asked me if I had any more questions. She smiled and said I had her whole bio with me. I always do extensive research on my interview subjects, and this was especially the case with Annika, such a lovely, inspiring and genuine young woman. Thank you Annika for sharing your story with me, and helping people relate to what you went through in high school and overcome their tremendous adversity.

Looking back, I knew I had a gift for asking life-searching questions and getting people to open up to me and share the most intimate details of their lives when I interviewed this non-traditional female student in my Reporting I class at KU, taught by my legendary and now sadly beloved late professor Ted Frederickson ("Ted-Fred"). During the middle of my interview with this woman, she broke down and cried, telling me she had never told any of this information to a person in her life. I was so grateful that she felt comfortable in confiding in me and letting me tell her story, just like so many people I've interviewed over the decades have done with me. 

My most inspirational story was likely about a KU graduate and Marysville, Kansas, resident, Eric Swim, who traveled to Israel to donate his kidney to a 10-year-old boy named Moshiko. He saved Moshiko's life, and was hailed as a "big hero" in Israel, made front-page news, and met the Prime Minister and Holocaust survivors. This was about a 90-minute phone interview, as Eric kindly shared his fascinating story with me. While he wasn't Jewish like me, he and his wife closely observed Jewish customs. I was very humbled and flattered that Eric loved the story so much that he asked me to write a book about his story. While the timing wasn't right in my life at that time for this project, I'm forever grateful that Eric believed in me so much to write a book about his incredible and inspiring story.

In addition, I've written Where are They Now? stories on former KU athletes. This was a dream come true for me when I did this for acclaimed Jayhawk Insider from 1999 through 2003.  I'll never forget how thrilled I was when my editor Lauretta McMillen told me to go ahead and write these profiles. After I hung up the phone that morning, I went outside my home and took some deeply peaceful breaths and exhaled the start of a great new adventure.

I interviewed KU legends like Otto Schnellbacher and B.H. Born to walk-on basketball player T.J. Whatley. Some other former Jayhawks I interviewed for the Where Are They Now? profiles include George Mrkonic, Bruce Kallmeyer, Kurt Knoff, Terry Beeson, Angie Snider-Gonzales, Angie Halbleib, Emmett Edwards (my first KU football hero), Dallas Dobbs, Delvin Williams, Frank Pattee (member of KU's 1947 Orange Bowl winning team and father of Erin Brockovich, who graduated from Lawrence High School in 1978, right between my brother in 1977 and sister in 1979), national champions Al Kelley and Bill Lienhard, friendly childhood classmate Chris Piper (Stephenson was his last name back then), Mark Randall, Alonzo Jamison, Terry Brown, and childhood heroes like my all-time favorite Jayhawk Tony Guy, Roger Morningstar, Dale Greenleee, Bruce Adams, Bucky Scribner, John Crawford and Booty Neal. 

I've written my articles over the years with the main motivation to do the best work possible and portray my subjects' true feelings. However, I'm only human so I can honestly say I've been overwhelmed and moved by the many endorsements and testimonials I've received. From the many thank-you calls from people like Randall and Rob Allen, Phog Allen's grandson, to the thank-you letters I've received and endorsements on LinkedIn, I owe these grand people many thanks and gratitude for their kindness, thoughtful words, and unwavering hearffelt compassion.

Here are some of the testimonials I've received during my writing career.

"That might have been the best article ever written about me."-- Mark Randall, former KU basketball star and NBA player, on my Where are they Now? story on him on Feb. 11, 2000.

"You have a gift." --Mark Randall, February 2000.

"Thank you for your superior article you wrote about me for the Roger Hill Volunteer Center published in the Lawrence Journal-World recently. I believe your journalistic abilities were shown in the newspaper item to be with keen sensibility and emotional awareness in my voluntary services to persons attending the Douglas County Senior Center. Yours truly, Ailene Bocquin."

"David Garfield did a very professional job conducting my interview and writing the story about me.  He is an accurate reporter and a most competent writer. You are quite fortunate to have his services! I would like to have four more copies of this particular issue if they are still available. My check in the amount of $15.00 is enclosed to cover the cost of these extra copies and their mailing. Your early response to this request will by greatly appreciated. Thank you! Very truly yours."  --Frank Pattee, former KU football standout, member of KU's first bowl team (Orange Bowl winner) and late father of Erin Brockovich, in a letter to my publisher of Jayhawk Insider, on Oct. 8, 1999.

"Nice job David!! Frank." (personalized note to me in Pattee's letter to my publisher.

"You're the best writer we have." KC Sports publisher Jim MacDonald, who put me on the Royals beat my first year with the magazine (I started by covering KU hoops) and gave me the coveted assignment to write the Hall of Fame commemorative cover story issue and interview George Brett, picking myself over writers who've been covering the Royals for a decade or two longer than me.

"David, 1st (First), thanks for all your hard work! Don't ever think I don't know what a great job you are doing." --Amy Griggs, coordinator at United Way about my inspirational profiles on volunteers in the Lawrence community.

"Thank you for writing such a nice article and thanks for sending the two copies of the Jayhawk Insider. My phone interview with you and reading the article brought back a flood of great memories about KU and all of the fine people I have met. You’ve captured my feelings about my family well. I wish you good luck in your future endeavors."--Dale Greenlee, former KU basketball standout, on March 25, 2000.

"Thank you very much for the two copies of Jayhawk Insider which I received last week. My compliments to you in the way the information was structured and presented. I thought it was handled in a very skillful way."

--Dallas Dobbs, two-time All-Big Seven selection under Phog Allen, on Jan. 21, 2002.

"I was just giving you a call to thank you for really what I thought an outstanding article that you did on the Phog Allen story and my lower level memorabilia collection. I just wanted to call and let you know I appreciated all your good work. You really did an outstanding job. People actually thought it was far too articulate to be coming out of my mouth. I said, 'You're right. It's a young man named David Garfield, who did such a good job on that.'" --Rob Allen, Phog Allen's grandson, on Jan. 17, 2004.

"David —Thank you very much for your contributions to our paper this year. Our paper is solid because of your efforts, which are greatly appreciated by me and our readers. Great job on Rob Allen (cover story)! I look forward to working with you in 2005. Happy Holidays to you  and your family." -Steven B. (Barouh), publisher of Kansas City Sports & Fitness in a letter to me.

"David —Great stories! Thanks for entertaining our readers."  Steven Barouh

"I wanted to let you know that I thought you did a great job with the article. My wife even commented how nice a job of telling our story you did. Thank you for helping us spread the word out about TNT. Hopefully we will get some participants from the article. Thanks again for taking the time to put the article together. I hope our paths cross again. Warmest regards, Tom.”

--Tom Coones, participant in the Lymphoma & Leukemia Society Team in Training, on June 15, 2005.  

"Thanks to David Garfield for the great feature article on my life and fitness career."

  Myra Michaels on the front page of her website in 2004 on my cover story in June 2004. Myra, a world-class fitness competitor, was named Ms. Internet World 2003.

'David requested an interview with me and wrote an article about my life and career as a fitness competitor for the Kansas City Sports and Fitness magazine. Our interview was very comprehensive and David did a great job of choosing the most interesting highlights and weaving them together into a great article. I was on the cover of Kansas City Sports and Fitness magazine that month and I credit David's great article to helping me get there." --Myra Schulze on Jan. 17, 2008.

"It has been my privilege to work with David Garfield on multiple occasions in the past. The detailed research he conducts related to the subjects of his articles, his strong command of the English language, and ability to craft uncommon but interesting questions for interviews set him apart in the writing profession." --Gregory Kovsky, longtime president and CEO of IBA business brokerage firm, on June 29, 2009.

"David and I write for the same monthly publication. I always make sure to read what he writes, even though I don't like the team he covers because he's knowledgeable about his subject and does a good job communicating it in an entertaining way." --David Smale, who's written over 30 books, on Sept. 15, 2011.

"I have been interviewed by David on a couple of occasions and found him to be a professional in every sense of the word. As a writer, he has the ability to make the interview feel like a normal conversation and then portray it perfectly into a story that grabs people's interest. In my experience working with David, he always uses the quotes in the perfect context and always made me feel good about how I was portrayed. I would absolutely work with David again if the opportunity ever presented itself."--Brian Martin, former KU basketball standout and NBA player, on Aug. 27, 2014.

"I had the privilege to be interviewed by David for a story he wrote on me as a Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader for the Kansas City Sports & Fitness magazine. David did a great job interviewing me and made the conversation flow easily. He was very professional, asked great questions that were portrayed well in the article, and had a nice, easy-going personality which makes people feel very comfortable. I enjoyed reading the article and felt that it was an excellent representation of myself and the Kansas City Chiefs Cheerleading organization. I highly recommend David for his professionalism, creative writing talents, and his strong work ethic." 

--Michelle Reiter on Jan. 28, 2016.

"You are an inspiration, David. Thank you for sharing your talents." --Michelle Reiter on July 31, 2018.

"Congratulations on a very fine profile of the legendary career of Tom Hedrick. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have Tom as an instructor and/or mentor can only echo your conclusion that he deservedly made it big." --John Nance, former staff writer of the National Broadcasting Company who later created the role of Judge Harrison Prescott for the Perry Mason TV series, on May 25, 2019.

"You did a terrific job! I’m so glad they chose you to write the article and I’m really thrilled with how it came out. You’re a tremendous writer.  Hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season." Brian Hanni, Voice of the Jayhawks, on Dec. 23, 2019.

"How awesome! Thank you so much for your time and hard work putting together the article. It was so great to meet you - please let me know if I can ever do anything for you in the future!" --Paige Albert, owner of Something White Bridal Boutique (voted Kansas City's best bridal shop in 2020) on Feb. 28, 2020.

"Wow. Took a lot of guts to write/publish this view into your soul. Much respect and admiration to you and for doing what you did. Again, wow!!! Great personal insight and self-reflections." --Phillip Hart, criminal justice advocate, on June 12, 2020 on my essay in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle about my lifetime of antisemitism and my journey toward embracing Judaism.

"This is extraordinary - you can weave the words." --Patrick Wilbur, technical business analyst and activist, on June 12, 2020 about my essay in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle.

"Thank you so much for the copies of the magazine and for the incredibly thoughtful note. The article was amazing, thank you so much. We are very much looking forward to sharing it with all our friends and family. I really appreciate the way you captured our story and made it into a beautiful article! Thanks again!" --Tatum Clopton, pitching phenom from Free State High School in Lawrence KS, two-time Gatorade Kansas Softball Player of the Year in 2018-19 and 2019-2020, and No. 7 ranked player in the 2021 class by FloSoftball on March 15, 2021.

"Beautiful. You are an artist painting with words." --Gregory Kovsky regarding my speech about my dad's Celebration of Life on April 23, 2021.

"Very excited to be working on a project as professionals. I can't think of anyone I would rather have as the author of my American Dream Achieved profile series of entrepreneurs who IBA has successfully represented in the sale of their businesses." Gregory Kovsky on June 27, 2021.

"Ideas circulating in the office for your next four articles after Jason Abboud. People are loving your stuff. I have the best staff writer in the world. You will get a per article raise for your next six. Compensation on performance is a business model I embrace. You are exceeding my high expectations and I was high on you at the start." Gregory Kovsky on Sept. 1, 2021.

"Oh David. What a wonderful piece. It just conveys so much-the love for AFH (Allen Fieldhouse) that so many readers can identify with, and a little (then bigger!) boy bonding with his dad over a shared love of basketball. I know that Goody (my dad) wouldn't have been such an aficionado of the game if you had not been so enthusiastic, so you both gave each other something. I just think that, whether the reader knows Goody and David or not, there is something for every reader in this piece. It was just great." Alice Lieberman, former professor of Social Welfare at KU and 1998 HOPE winner (Honor for the Outstanding Progressive Educator) Award, the only teaching excellence award given exclusively by students, on Dec. 11, 2021.

"David, Thank you for the 2 copies of KU Today & Tomorrow, and thank you for the wonderful article that captured the comaradarie of our team. The closeness we have and the joy to excel is a rare and beautiful combination. You were too kind with the the many quotes from me. My daughter loved the article. Hope all is well - Dale."  Dale Greenlee, former standout guard at KU, in a thank-you letter to me about my 50-year anniversary of the magical and miracle Kansas basketball 1973-74 team. August 2024.

"Just read your fantastic, special to the Journal World. It’s very informative —and it really brings her to life. Great writing! Congratulations! Love, Harriet."  Harriet Lerner, renowned clinical psychologist whose New York Times bestselling book, The Dance of Anger, which has been translated in over 35 foreign languages, on my feature of KU women's basketball signee Mollie Ernstes in the Lawrence Journal-World. April 26, 2026.

"

I have read David's stories for many years, and no one invests the care and attention to tell your story better than him. His meticulous attention to detail and passion for writing is unmatched. He knows everyone has an interesting story to tell and is laser focused on ensuring that story is conveyed accurately. Let David tell your story!" Patrick Wilbur on Aug. 9, 2026.

"David and I wrote for the same sports publication almost 20 years ago, where I was first introduced to him and his writing. One of the first things I did when the new issue came out was turn to his features. Even though I wasn't a fan of the team he covered, I always enjoyed reading his features. He had a great way of getting to the heart of the story, seamlessly going past the obvious angle. Through the years, we. have stayed in touch, and continue to read whatever he writes whenever possible. He's an excellent writer." on Aug. 13, 2026.

"David interviewed me for a main feature in KANSAS! Magazine during my time as Miss Kansas in 2019. Our converstion during the interview followed the pattern of the year I served - full of varied topics, laughs, reverent moments, and reflections on what the experience met to me. David is both a fantastic writer, and conversationalist. I look back in what we were able to cover in the time we had and am grateful for the opportunity to reflect some of my experience in what would turn out to be a historic reign as Miss Kansas through his reporting. I still have several copies of the magazine in print, and use it often in my gallery showings as a distinct marker in a chapter, and one that captured my story so well." Annika Wooton, former Miss Kansas and current award-winning Speed Painter on Aug. 30, 2026.