Mark Randall was one of the greatest players in KU history

                                                           KU Libraries Digital Collections

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.”

 

 

Recalling former KU standout forward Alonzo Jamison

In my June 29, 2019 blog,  https://davidgarfieldshoopheaven.blogspot.com/search?q=Alonzo+Jamison, I wrote about former KU standout forward Alonzo Jamison and included my Where Are They Now? story I wrote on him in 2002 for Jayhawk Insider.

Now, I include some more information on “Zo” from our great interview, starting with his recruitment to Kansas.

After a standout high school career at Valley High School in Santa Ana, Calif., and junior college career at Rancho Santiago in Santa Ana, Jamison signed a scholarship with KU in May 1988 after originally signing with Oregon State.

Jamison, a quick and muscular 6-6. 225-pound forward, became one of the best defensive players in coach Roy Williams’ 15 years at KU and actually in KU history. A true defensive stopper, he posted career averages of 9.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.1 steals in 22.8 minutes per game. Jamison shot a scorching 58.0 percent from the field and 56.4 percent at the free throw line. He was the consummate team player, a fan favorite, and endeared himself to Williams and the coaching staff.

...

“I signed with Oregon State, and they were one of the last universities in the nation to actually start school. I was under probation, actually. They were still going over my transcript, and making sure I had the requirements. I actually didn’t, and that’s why I went back to Rancho Santiago Junior College for a year. No, KU didn’t recruit me until the year later I was in junior college. Under Prop 48, I had passed, but just some of my core cirriculum courses didn’t transfer. I signed in ‘88, when they won it all. After a while, coach Williams had told me he would recruit me again if I wanted to go back to junior college another year. I decided it would be a lot better if I went in that one year and sat a year and learned the system and try to help the team out the year after.

“I was the last Larry Brown recruit. There’s no hard feelings there. It was just one of those things where I didn’t know what was the scenario. I had reporters telling me he was leaving without hearing from the school at all. I signed in May and he left a month and a half later (to become San Antonio Spurs head coach). Your mind runs the whole gamut. I had the chance to go back to junior college another year and be recruited again or go to different colleges. But it was one of those things, as soon as I came to KU, it was about two weeks after they won it (national title). I saw the campus and met the people. Actually, Scooter Barry and Milt Newton were my hosts. I knew that was the place I wanted to be. I didn’t know (I’d have to sit out a year until coach Williams told me and said he “would recruit him again”). That’s when I knew he was genuine and really on a level that you don’t see that often in Division I. I thought I was going to step in and play the next year; that was the last time when I sent the papers off, the former administration had told me they received the papers. That was the last thing I heard from them, until coach Williams came in and told me what was going on.”

“Actually, baseball was (my favorite sport). That was the first sport I ever played;  it will always be near and dear to my heart. I was playing (basketball) on the varsity when I was a sophomore. I sort of took that in stride and said, ‘Hey, I can get something out of this.’ Dr. J, Darryl Dawkins (were my heroes growing up). That’s about it. Magic (Johnson) was until--he was the one that came back in (after injury from the Lakers) and I was the one that got cut. You were (my hero) but you just took six digits out of my pocket.”

On his career game against Arkansas in the Elite Eight in 1991 in Charlotte, N.C., when he scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds while named the Southeast Regional Most Outstanding Player:

”To tell you the truth, I don’t remember a lot,” Jamison said. “I was more in a zone. People get in a zone and they don’t think about what you’re doing. You just react. I just felt the rim was a little big bigger that what everybody else was looking at. (We were) the underdog. (We were) down by 12 (at halftime), and we won by 12. (I remember) Sean Tunstall’s 3-pointer when Oliver Miller was laying on the floor. We went up by four or five, and never looked back after that.  It was a team game then.”

On being at the Final Four in Indianapolis:

 I was in awe still,” Jamison recalled. “The regional finals were big, but it wasn’t as big obviously as the Final Four. There’s a lot more hoopla and a lot more media and a lot more interviews that you have to give. I think that took a lot away from us. You can’t be prepared for those things.”  (I was) 1 for 10 against Duke (in the national championship game). I was off that game. That was not a very good sign for me. Roy was pulling for Vegas (against Duke in the Final Four). Duke was one of those teams that scared you. (I was) rooting for Duke, not wanting to play Vegas, (a) squad that could beat 40 percent of NBA teams.”

On the 1991 team’s run to the Final Four and how it came on strong at the end of season:

“We lost 3 of last 6 games (before the NCAA’s),” he said. ”I think we started believing in what coach was saying. We believed in what was going on out there. We knew if we lost, our season was over.”

On Williams’ comment once when he said that Jamison and Steve Woodberry were the two best defensive players he ever coached: 

”Steve was a great player. To even be associated with that is special. He’s had a lot of of good defensive players. He’s had a lot of good players period. To even be mentioned in that type of context is kind of special. I had it in my mind that it was one of those things that I almost go out there and do what I need to do to shut this person down. It was more of a team game. Anybody could score. At least that was my mentality. It was one of those things where it takes a very special person to go out and shut somebody down.” 

On ranking in the top 10 in career steals at KU with 175. Jamison also ranks tied for second with Nick Bradford and Russell Robinson for most steals in a game (eight twice against Marquette in 1990 and Pepperdine in 1992). Jamison, who led KU in steals in 1991 and 1992, is a also tied for fifth in KU annals with Darnell Jackson with highest career field goal percentage (58.0).

“I was just there to help the team win,” Jamison said. "All the accolades afterwards, that’s great, but having that 1990-91 team go to the Final Four when there’s only maybe four or five teams that actually did that in the history of KU basketball, that’s special in itself,” he said.

On coach Roy Williams’ comment in 1992 at the awards banquet that he would give the shirt off his back to Jamison:

”It’s one of those things that is still in my mind. He’s a very special person,” Jamison said. “For somebody to believe in me and my skills when he didn’t even know me to tell me he would recruit me again out of loyalty not only from him but for the university, coach is probably one of my best friends.”

“It was rocky (at first),” he added about their relationship. “All friendships are going to have a rocky stage. Ours was at the beginning. I’m just glad he saw something in me that he liked, and we just persevered.” 

On one of his favorite memories as a Jayhawk:

“Beating Oklahoma State my junior and senior year at home (against) Byron Houston, Big Country (Bryant Reeves). (It was a) tight score with three minutes left (his senior year on March 2, 1992 during a 77-64 KU victory). That was the loudest I’ve ever heard it in the fieldhouse.”

On sitting at KU for a year and a half after being declared academically ineligible:

”At that time, it was just another obstacle in my way. Perseverance was the thing that was on my mind. Going to junior college that one year and overcoming that hurdle and getting signed by a Division I team, that was another hurdle. And then finding out I was academically ineligible, just a couple different hurdles I had to overcome. I sat out an extra semester. My GPA was half-point low. That’s when I finally knew I was going to have to buckle down and do my job. It sort of prepared me for life. Nobody really cares. After you play ball, you’re a has-been. You got to make your own way in life. Nobody’s going to do it for you.”

On playing for KU and why he didn’t drive to the hoop very much?

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to play. I wish I would have had the green light like Paul (Pierce), Adonis (Jordan), Rex (Walters),” Jamison said. “(Mark) Randall and (Mike) Maddox, stayed inside, not a lot of driving we could have done. In high school, I always posted up, taking my game out to the wing (at KU) is what I really liked. I think I had a quick first step.”

On whether he should have shot more at KU? He averaged only 6.6 field goal attempts per game.

“Some people have said that. Hindsight is 20-20. You never know what could have happened if I was the one that shot so much,” Jamison said. "My percentage might have been down, or we would have not went as far as we went maybe in the Final Four or wouldn’t have been a number one seed my senior year. I can’t say what if I would have did this or what if I did that. If I would have did that, it would have driven me crazy.” 

On his versatility in playing small forward and power forward:

“I think I was the first one to actually play more than one position. You’d have to ask coach Williams that.” 

 On thinking if he could play in the NBA and a national broadcaster’s comment during his college career that he could see Jamison having a 10-year pro career:

“I did at one time, but after senior year (when I went to) camps, it’s completely different from what college was,” Jamison said. “I was so instilled with the team atmosphere and team game in college, I couldn’t take myself out of that realm and put it towards the individual one-on-one type of game. Defensively, I could. But offensively, I just couldn’t do that. I think that was my biggest downfall.

“(I was) not really thinking about it at that time,” he added about the NBA while he was in college. “I really didn’t. I just wanted to get done with what I was doing then and not really worrying about what was going to happen.” 

On his NBA tryouts and playing overseas:

“ (I was) undrafted (and spent) rookie camp with Denver, veterans camp with Lakers, cut when Magic came back,” Jamison said. "I had tendon surgery on left knee after Lakers. I ruptured my Achilles two years after that. (I played) overseas in Sweden for six months, a couple of games in France. I had surgery again (when I ruptured Achilles) and hung it up after that. It was pretty difficult at the time. It was one of those things where my body was falling apart pretty good so there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. The mind was willing, but the body wasn’t. ... The professional level is completely different than the college level. For college, your playing for pride of the school. Professionally, it’s a business.”

Alonzo, thanks for the memories. I loved watching you play!

A great part of Kansas basketball died with Dick Harp’s death in 2000

When Dick Harp died on March 18, 2000 at age 81 at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, a great part of Kansas basketball died with him.

Nobody loved KU basketball and the University of Kansas more than Harp. He was a captain on KU’s 1940 NCAA runner-up national championship team, a KU assistant coach under Phog Allen for eight years (1948-56) and Kansas head coach for eight years (1956-64). He dreamed of playing basketball for KU as a boy growing up in Rosedale, Kan., while also dreaming of coaching at Kansas.

Dick got to realize both dreams. Not many people can say they lived out their dreams -- not once but twice.

As then-KU coach Roy Williams said about Dick after he died: "Kansas lost -- to me -- probably the closest guy to being Mr. Kansas Basketball."

Here is another heartfelt tribute to Dick Harp, the man and coach who did so much for his alma mater and college basketball.

...

Dick Harp, who had been in poor health in his latter years, died on March 18, 2000 at age 81. He passed the morning after KU edged DePaul in overtime in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

"Somehow that seems fitting ... he loved KU so much," said Bill Lienhard, who played for the 1952 NCAA title team when Harp was an assistant coach under Phog Allen and had so much love and admiration for his former coach.

Harp's death shook the Jayhawk Nation hard, especially his family, friends, and those that worked with him.

More than 150 people mourned him at Harp’s Memorial Service four days later at Lawrence’s First Baptist Church. The Journal-World reported that Harp was remembered as “upstanding Christian who had a powerful sweet tooth.’

“Religion, family, and work. Dad took each of them, with their prosaic details, and made a poem out of them that is his life,” son Richard L. Harp said. 

“He loved me, he loved my mother. He loved his parents and he loved his grandchildren.”

Rev. Marcus W. McFaul eloquently discussed Harp’s life during a 20-minute eulogy.

“He grew up wanting to play and coach basketball at the University of Kansas, and that’s just what he did. He was a strong man with a gentleness about him that was very empowering.”

Waugh also delivered a eulogy to his dear friend. He “became choked up” at the end.

“I really miss him,” Waugh said. “He was my coach.”

The Associated Press reported that Waugh told the mourners of a conversation Harp once had with his wife, Martha Sue, “when he said that, once he got to heaven, he still wanted to coach.”

“But there are no winners or losers in heaven,” Martha Sue told Dick. “Everybody ties.”

“I can handle ties,” said Dick, before adding, “Well, maybe Kansas State and Missouri will be different.”

Then-KU coach Roy Williams also mourned the loss of a dear and influential friend.

"I don't think I'd be at Kansas if not for Dick Harp," Williams told the Topeka Capital-Journal. "I worked with him for two years. I heard so, so many Phog Allen stories and stories about the University of Kansas, his love for Kansas.

"At that time, you're talking about a guy who grew up dreaming of playing at North Carolina and didn't think there was anyplace else in the world where people had those feelings about their school," Williams added. 

"Because of coach Harp, I realized there was some other place out there. Kansas lost -- to me -- probably the closest guy to being Mr. Kansas Basketball."

The service wasn’t all tears. There were laughs celebrating his life and Harp’s affinity for ice cream.

“Neapolitan ice cream was his favorite, and he could easily eat a half gallon by himself,” Richard Harp said.

Waugh agreed.

“Dick was on a perpetual sugar diet,” Waugh said. “And it only lasted until he went to an ice cream store or a confectionary.”

Waugh also talked how Harp handled the negativity in the media.

“Dick seemed to handle criticism by the press and the newspapers very well. It infuriated Martha Sue, what was being written in the paper. Dick was good about not paying attention to the barking dogs.”

“He was a special person. I don’t think anybody had the feelings and love for Kansas basketball that Dick Harp had,” Williams added. “From the time he’d tell me about when he was a little boy ... the games and the players and what he knew about them and Doc Allen.

“Kansas basketball really lost a true giant. If there ever was any person you could say bled a crimson and blue combination, it’s have been Dick Harp.”

The paper wrote “all of the attendees praised Harp’s devotion to God, family and KU — especially his players.”

“Our sole purpose in life is to be here and do good,” Waugh said. “With apologies to any English teachers, Dick, you done good.”

Alonzo Jamison made his mark as one of best defensive players in KU history

Alonzo Jamison's road to Kansas first began at Valley High School in Santa Ana, Calif. He lettered in four sports (track, football, baseball and basketball) and admits baseball was his favorite sport.

“It was the first sport I ever played,” Jamison told me in 2002 during our Where are they Now? interview. “It will always be near and dear to my heart.”

However, he “adopted” basketball as a sophomore, when he played on the varsity.

Jamison’s thought about his new sport at the time?

“I can get something out of this.”

The 6-6 forward, who idolized Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins and Magic Johnson, was named All-League and All-County as a senior and selected team MVP four straight years for the Falcons.

Jamison then went to Rancho Santiago Junior College in 1987-88, where he was co-player of the year in the California junior college system, averaging 19.5 points and 12 rebounds per game. He shot 58 percent from the field and named MVP of the Orange Empire Conference and was a third-team junior college All-American. He was his team’s MVP, leading them to a 25-8 record.

Jamison, who then signed with KU in May 1988 over San Diego State and Oregon State, was KU coach Larry Brown’s last recruit.

He talked about his recruiting visit.

“As soon as I went to KU, two weeks after they won it (national title), I saw the campus and met the people,” Jamison said. “Scooter Barry and Milt Newton were my hosts. I knew that was the place I wanted to be.”

After sitting out the 1988-89 season because he didn’t meet the Big Eight junior college transfer rule requiring 24 transferable credit hours in the previous fall and spring, he was then not eligible to play in the fall semester of 1989 based on NCAA eligibility requirements.

Jamison finally became eligible in the 19th game of the season, averaging 11 minutes per game and shooting a scorching 61.4 percent from the field.

Then this California native had his coming out party during the 1990-91 Final Four season, arguably KU’s most consistent performer throughout the season while developing into a leader on the court in the later part of season.

He elevated his game during the NCAA Tournament, posting a double-double  (14 points, 10 boards) against Indiana in the Sweet 16 before exploding for a career-high 26 points and nine rebounds versus Arkansas in the Elite Eight. Jamison shot a sizzling 72 percent from the floor in the first four games of the Big Dance, including 18 of 24 in the Southeast Regional (Most Outstanding Player).

Jamison recorded a team-high 80 steals that junior season and set a KU single-game record with eight steals against Marquette. Only Darnell Valentine and Danny Manning had posted more steals in one season. He averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59.5 percent from the field, one of the top 10 percentages in KU history.

Entering his senior season, Jamison was one of 20 players on the preseason list for the John Wooden Award, given to college basketball’s best player. Considered one of the top defenders in the country, Jamison had the skills to guard quick, smaller players as well as opposing big men.

KU coach Roy Williams called Jamison “the quickest learned I have ever coached.” The 225-pounder was also the strongest player on the team with a 455-pound back squat and 302-pound power clean.

After helping lead KU to the Final Four the previous season, Jamison concluded his senior season averaging 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds while recording a career-high 83 steals (2.59 spg) in 26.9 minutes per game. He shot 55.6 percent from the field and a career-best 67.6 percent at the charity stripe.

He told me he wanted to be “remembered for defense, tenacious defensive player.”

Indeed, he was.

Jamison also showed tenacity and perseverance after leaving KU in 1992 after majoring in communications. Fifteen years later, he received a bachelor’s degree.

He eventually developed type-2 diabetes and lost kidney function. By April 2015, Jamison was on dialysis eight to 10 hours daily. His life was eventually saved when Army veteran Shekinah Bailey donated his kidney to Jamison on Jan. 24, 2017. Just before he headed into transplant surgery, Jamison talked to KSHB about what Bailey’s gift meant to him.

"I think it's going to be gratefulness and I feel that now and I'm going to continue to feel that for that man over there," he said.

Bailey was also grateful to help Jamison.

“I saw the interview actually you did on Facebook," Bailey said. "It kind of dawned on me that it's like, if I'm willing to be a soldier and go out there and lay down my life what's a few months of inconvenience to give somebody a kidney?”

The surgery was successful and Jamison is feeling like a new person.

"You just don't know how it feels to have a gift like this,” he said. “This is just once in a lifetime type of situation and I can't put it into words.”

Jamison, a registered organ donor, is now giving back by being a Green Ribbon Champion for Midwest Transplant Network. His goal, as MTN reported on Nov. 1, 2018, “is to encourage more people in Kansas and Missouri to join the organ donor registry.”

Jan Finn, president and CEO of Midwest Transplant Network, greatly encourages more people like Jamison and Bailey to become organ donors and save lives.

“Nationwide, an average of 22 people die every day due to lack of available organs for transplants,” she said. “We have the power to change that. Alonzo and Shekinah are proof of it.”

Here is my 2002 Where are they Now? story on Jamison, where he talked about overcoming adversity to make his mark at KU and his fond relationship with Roy Williams. He called Williams “one of my closest friends.”

...

Alonzo Jamison’s road to basketball glory at Kansas had a few bumps along the way. After signing with KU out of Rancho Santiago Junior College (Santa Ana, Calif.) in May, 1988, Jamison saw KU coach Larry Brown leave for the pros a month and half later. Then, Roy Williams was hired in July when Jamison learned he was academically ineligible and would have to sit out the 1988-89 season.

“Coach Williams had told me he would recruit me again if I wanted to go back to junior college another year,” Jamison said. “That’s when I knew he was genuine and really on a level that you don’t see that often in Division I. I decided it would be a lot better if I sat out a year and learned the system and try to help the team out the year after.”

After sitting out the season, Jamison was then sidelined an additional semester for failure to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. The year and a half layoff was a trying time for Jamison, who learned a great deal about perseverance and overcoming adversity. He said the struggles made him a better person.

“That’s when I finally knew (being declared academically ineligible the fall of 1989) I was going to have to buckle down and do my job,” Jamison said. “It sort of prepared me for life. Nobody really cares. After you play ball, you’re a has-been. You got to make your own way in life.  Nobody’s going to do it for you.”

A tenacious battler and unselfish player, Jamison (6-6, 225) eventually won over the hearts of the KU faithful and Williams with his work ethic and defense. Williams called Jamison the “quickest learner I’ve ever coached” and one of the top defensive players he’s had. Jamison, who ranks No. 6 all time at KU in career steals, possessed the strength and quickness to stop opponents both on the wing and in the post.

“He’s had a lot of good defensive players,” Jamison said. “He’s had a lot of good players, period. To even be mentioned in that type of context is kind of special. ... Anybody could score. At least that was my mentality. It was one of those things where it takes a very special person to go out and shut somebody down.”

Jamison was, indeed, a very special player. He’ll probably be most remembered by KU fans for leading the ‘Hawks into the 1991 Final Four with his career game against Arkansas in the 1991 Elite Eight. Jamison, who scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, was masterful in keying a second half comeback win. He earned Most Outstanding Player of the Southeast Regional.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t remember a lot,” said Jamison about the victory. “I was more in a zone. People get in a zone and they don’t think about what you’re doing. You just react. I just felt the rim was a little bit bigger than what everybody else was looking at.”

Unfortunately, KU lost to Duke in the national title game. The following season, Jamison’s career ended on a sour note when Kansas was upset by UTEP in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After concluding his collegiate career (10.0 ppg in 1991-92), Jamison tried his luck with professional basketball. He was released by Denver in rookie camp and then sliced by the Los Angeles Lakers in veterans camp. Jamison next played six months in Sweden and two months in France. A few months later upon returning home in 1993, Jamison ruptured his Achilles and had surgery. He then decided to give up the game.

“It was pretty difficult at the time,” Jamison said. “It was one of those things where my body was falling apart pretty good (Jamison also had knee surgery after being cut by Los Angeles) so there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. The mind was willing but the body wasn’t.”

Jamison admits there were other reasons he quit basketball.

“I was so instilled with the team atmosphere and team game in college, I couldn’t take myself out of that realm and put it towards the individual one-on-one game,” Jamison said. “I think that was my biggest downfall. ... The professional level is completely different than the college level. For college, you’re playing for pride of the school. Professionally, it’s a business.”

Jamison moved on with his life and became a manager for Applebees restaurant in 1994. After working there two years, he changed professions and entered the banking business. He was a branch manager for Commerce Bank in Kansas City for four years before switching to Bank of Blue Valley. Jamison works with commercial lending as the business development manager for the past year.

“I enjoy meeting people and getting to know people’s needs and try to fit our product with what their needs are,” he said.

When he’s not working, Jamison keeps busy spending time with his wife and three children. And, of course, he follows the Jayhawks. Jamison calls Williams about once a month, “just to see where his head his and give him a pat on the back and let him know he’s still the man.” The California native will never forget the statement Williams made at the awards banquet in 1992 — that Jamison meant so much to the program, he would give the shirt off his back to him.

“It’s one of those things that is still in my mind,” Jamison said. “He’s a very special person. For somebody to believe in me and my skills when he didn’t even know me to tell me he would recruit me again out of loyalty not only from him but the university, we can just say that coach is one of my closest friends.”

Jamison admits their relationship was rough at first.

"All friendships are going to have a rocky stage,” Jamison said. “Ours was at the beginning.  I’m just glad he saw something in me that he liked, and we just persevered. I’ve been through a lot with that man.”

A Closer Look at Alonzo Jamison:

Years at KU: 1988-1992

Career Notables: Member of the 1991 Final Four team...Most Outstanding Player of the Southeast Regional in ‘91...Tied with Nick Bradford for most steals in one game (Jamison had 8 steals twice)...No. 6 all time in career steals and No. 4 in career field goal percentage (58 percent).

Family: Wife, Jennifer, daughter Michaela, 6, and twins — Elise, 3, Olivia, 3.

Education: Jamison majored in communications. (He earned a bachelor's degree in 2007).

Since Leaving KU: After being cut by Denver and Los Angeles, Jamison played six months in Sweden and two months in France. He then quit basketball and worked as manager at Applebees for two years (1994 and ‘95). Next, Jamison switched professions and was branch manager for Commerce Bank for four years before becoming business development officer for Bank of Blue Valley.

Currently: Jamison is business development officer for Bank of Blue Valley in Overland Park, Kan.

Hobbies: Golf.

Favorite KU Memories: 1991 Final Four. “Having that 1991 team go to the Final Four when there’s only maybe four or five teams that actually did that in the history of KU basketball, that’s special in itself.”...Breaking the basketball support with a dunk during Midnight Madness in October, 1988. “I remember just the crowd going crazy. I was coming down after the dunk on two feet with the rim still in my hand. I didn’t feel any pain or anything, but I got a four or five inch gash on the top of my head. I still have it to this day.”