Friday, April 11, 2008
The University of Kansas women’s basketball team got together one final time this season Thursday night to celebrate their season, honor seniors Jamie Boyd and Taylor McIntosh and award postseason honors.
Junior guard Katie Smith, a former walk-on now on scholarship, won the Ms. Jayhawk award for the second consecutive year, and McIntosh and Boyd said their emotional goodbyes in a crowded Kansas Ballroom in the Kansas Union.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson said Smith’s teammates recognized the selfless sacrifices the junior guard made for the University and the women’s basketball program. The players voted on and chose each award winner. The Ms. Jayhawk award is given to the player that embodies the spirit and vision of the Kansas women’s basketball program.
“There aren’t many kids that would play on a scout team, running Nebraska’s offense lets say, and cheer for the defense when they pick her or box her out,” Henrickson said. “A lot of kids just aren’t made like that anymore, and as a coach you respect that. I know her teammates respect that too.”
In addition to Smith’s repeat award, sophomore guard Danielle McCray, senior forward Taylor McIntosh, senior forward Jamie Boyd, junior guard Ivana Catic, sophomore forward-center Rebecca Feickert and freshman center Krysten Boogaard were all honored for their efforts this season.
It was a rare opportunity for fans to see the team outside Allen Fieldhouse and away from the competition that has defined their careers in crimson and blue.
“Most people are just excited to see them in normal clothes and not just their basketball uniforms,” Henrickson said.
Henrickson led Kansas to a 17-16 (4-12) season in which the Jayhawks made their second postseason appearance in the WNIT in the last four seasons and recorded an 11-2 record in nonconference play. Though the Jayhawks bolted to an 11-2 start, the rigors of the Big 12 Conference torpedoed their hopes of an NCAA Tournament berth.
Despite falling short of their goal of participating in their first Big Dance since the 1999-2000 season, Henrickson said this team laid a solid foundation for future success.
“I’m proud of how they’ve grown,” Henrickson said. “How they’ve handled themselves and the goals of this group. They kind of changed the culture of how to compete. I’m just excited about their future because they are going to be really good.”
She said the award ceremony was a way of honoring her team’s accomplishments as well as allowing Kansas women’s basketball fans to connect with the team and the players graduating. It’s easy for fans and observers to focus on player’s lives as collegiate athletes instead of as people without giving them a glance into their personal lives, Henrickson said.
“Its hard sometimes to explain to people when you want to yell at them for not boxing out, and I do too, that you don’t understand the kids,” she said. “The kids are human. They are in a growing, maturation process the whole time they are here. They change and they learn from each other.”
ASSISTANT COACH LEAVES FOR KENTUCKY
All was not rosy for Kansas on Thursday night. Assistant coach Kyra Elzy will be parting ways with Henrickson after serving on her staff for four years at Kansas. Elzy said she accepted a job as assistant coach at the University of Kentucky Wednesday morning.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Elzy said. “I couldn’t pass it up. As much as I’ve loved Kansas, the staff and these players, to be close to home where I grew up and back in the SEC, what I’ve known my whole career after playing at Tennessee, is just a great opportunity for me.”
— Edited by Samuel Lamb
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