The Jayhawker

New Kansas Director of Athletics Travis Goff is a Jayhawk through and through. Raised in Dodge City, Kan., Goff got his start in college athletics as a KU student in the Williams Education Fund. After realizing he wanted to make a career in athletics, he built on his time with the Williams Education Fund and earned a full-time post at Tulane University in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina ravished the region, Goff and his colleagues were critical assets in rebuilding the athletic department. He used those rebuilding experiences in New Orleans in his next role at Northwestern, where he helped the Wildcats build sparkling new facilities and contend for Big 10 championships. But when Kansas called looking for a new athletic director, that was a call he was not going to miss. KU is home.

Jayhawk head coach Bill Self admits that this year was tough on everyone, especially the players.  Self felt bad for his guys, especially the ones who had never experienced Allen Fieldhouse at its finest. Covid-19 had taken that away. In spite of all of those circumstances, the Jayhawks advanced to their 49th NCAA Tournament and their 31st consecutive appearance in 2021 with a 21-9 record, and was one of only two teams to beat eventual national champion Baylor in 2020-21. As Self puts the 2020-21 season in his rearview mirror, the pride in this year’s team in how they persevered through trying circumstances is hard to contain. It truly was a season like no other.

It’s interesting to look into the mind of an Olympian and see how they think. And when you talk with Jayhawk track legend Andrea Geubelle Norris, it’s not always what you expect. Her Jayhawk career vaulted her into the upper echelons of track and field, and after a heartbreaking result at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she made the Rio Olympics in the long jump. Her experience in Rio was an eye-opening one, both on and off the track. To outsiders, it’s glitz, glamour, and the bright lights. But for Norris, she figured out what really mattered.