Monday, March 2, 2009
Kirk Hinrich took the microphone, and the words came to him slowly.
He thanked his teammates, coach Roy Williams and his friends and family. Covered all the bases.
But then Hinrich took a look around Allen Fieldhouse — the building in which he spent four years developing into the player, and man, he is today — and voiced what was on the minds of the 16,300 fans who watched as his jersey was hung in the rafters.
“There is no place like it,” Hinrich said to the sell-out crowd, giddy at the Jayhawks’ 45-19 halftime lead. “This place, in my mind, is the greatest basketball venue in the world.”
In a building that has played host to so many wonderful moments, this was just another special day in Kansas basketball history.
Hinrich and running mate Nick Collison sat side-by-side behind the Jayhawks’ bench joined by Scot Pollard, Eric Chenowith and former Roy Williams assistant Neil Dougherty.
With their forbearers looking on approvingly, this generation of Kansas basketball players ran Missouri off the court, stretching their home winning streak to 40 games and exacting revenge for what is their only conference defeat thus far.
But the Jayhawks’ thorough 90-65 statement against the No. 11 Tigers wasn’t just revenge. It was another building block in what looks to be a fifth-consecutive Big 12 championship season that could be the most impressive yet.
With only two games remaining on its conference schedule, Kansas controls its own fate. Win at Texas Tech on Wednesday and it clinches at least a share of the title. Win again against No. 25 Texas next Saturday at home and the team picked to finish fourth before the season began will stand atop the Big 12 alone, one last-second shot in Columbia, Mo., from perfection.
Sensing the gravity of the game and the recognition of Hinrich’s role in Kansas basketball history, the raucous crowd made this Border Showdown unforgettable. Kansas coach Bill Self and guard Sherron Collins swore afterward that this might have been the loudest environment they had ever been a part of in Allen Fieldhouse.
And while Missouri’s players crumbled under the pressure applied by Kansas and its frenzied crowd, Hinrich finally joined his friends in Kansas lore. He is the third, and final, of the Roy Williams-coached triumvirate, which includes Drew Gooden and Collison, to have his jersey hung from the Allen Fieldhouse rafters.
With sunlight streaming in through the old barn’s windows and Kansas running roughshod over their border rivals on national television, Hinrich’s No. 10 took its place among all the other Kansas legends.
The game, the moment and the man cementing their places in Kansas basketball history.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the building,” Hinrich said. “It’s definitely still electric. This is the greatest honor I could have, to have my jersey hung up there with all the tradition. It was so historic. It was a great day.”
— — Edited by Liz Schubauer
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