Monday, February 2, 2009
As he sent off his latest senior class at Saturday’s award ceremony, coach Mark Mangino made no mistake about his expectations for a program that has continually progressed.
“(The seniors) left their mark and I wish those young guys the best as they take on life’s challenges now,” Mangino said. “For the other classmen we have much work to do but I’m excited about it. I’m looking forward to winning a championship.”
In all, 15 awards were doled out in the ceremony hosted at the Lied Center. Interspersed with the presentations were brief addresses by Mangino, Lew Perkins athletics director and — for a final time — Chancellor Robert Hemenway.
“If you sum it all up, it seems to me the season finished with a great sense of pride and a great sense of respect for what the Jayhawk team has achieved,” Hemenway said. “And that’s what I want to thank you for, the fantastic season you had and the chance for the rest of us to take pride in what you do.”
Junior safety Darrell Stuckey led recipients with three awards: Outstanding Performance in the Weight Room, Special Teams MVP and the Nolan Cromwell Award for Leadership — which he shared with junior quarterback Todd Reesing.
Reesing and Stuckey were the only pair to share an award. Reesing’s favorite targets wide receivers junior Kerry Meier and sophomore Dezmon Briscoe shared the award for Most Improved Offensive Player and Meier and junior running back Jake Sharp were named Co-Most Courageous Player.
Kansas’ senior linebacker corps was commemorated a final time with Mike Rivera taking home the award for Exemplary Service to Campus & Community. Meanwhile, James Holt was named Defensive MVP and earned the award for Most Tackles for the Season. However he was not on hand to receive his award as he competed earlier that day in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Game.
Other recipients during the night included sophomore defensive end Jake Laptad for Most Improved Defensive Player, senior offensive lineman Adrian Mayes for Offensive Lineman of the Year and senior defensive end Russell Brorsen for Senior Academic Scholar Award.
“I’m so proud of our football team and our coaches and what they’ve done, but more important to me as athletics director is the quality of young men we have at our program,” Perkins said. “They represent our University with the highest integrity.”
It was a night for celebration — the audience erupted when Reesing connected with Meier on the highlight video as if they were back at Arrowhead Stadium — yet it was also a time for Kansas to give credit where it was due in 2008 and assess the year ahead.
“Players know it’s no fun talking about the ones you lost,” Mangino said. “What we do is we’ll watch videotape, learn in the winter and spring and we’ll be better because of it.”
— — Edited by Realle Roth
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