The Jayhawker

Sometimes, you have to make the choice to take a leap of faith and trust that you’re ready for whatever lies ahead. For Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, life has been full of those moments. He had to trust that he was ready to leave Stillwater—and a spot on the Oklahoma State golf team—to come to Kansas. He had to trust that he was ready to fly a fighter jet solo for the first time. And he had to trust that he was doing the right thing when he took the leap to start the Folds of Honor Foundation. But how did a childhood dream of a path less traveled lead to all these major moments? Rooney wanted to be a pro golfer and had to grind it out on the golf minitours to make enough money to follow his other dream: becoming a fighter pilot. And it was only after all that hard work—and multiple tours in Iraq—when a chance flight gave him a different calling. For Rooney, it was a chance to take that leap of faith, and go before he was ready. And based on the impact he and Folds of Honor have had, the timing couldn’t have been better.

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For all he’s accomplished—a national championship, three Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights and 15 Big 12 titles—Bill Self is always quick to give others credit. It’s just the way he was raised—both as a kid, and as a coach. But when you consider all the success, it’s worth wondering how a kid from Oklahoma, who self-admittedly wasn’t the greatest basketball player, ended up becoming one of the best coaches in the country. So what made Bill Self such a successful coach? Or rather—who helped shape him into a Hall of Famer? The list of names is long, and includes some of the all-time greats. How did R.C. Buford inadvertently get him into coaching? What roles did Larry Brown, Eddie Sutton and Leonard Hamilton play? And what has he learned from all of them that’s enabled him to be so successful? Bill Self was built by legends. And now, he’s becoming one.

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When you talk about Kansas basketball record holders, you’re talking about some of the very best to play the sport at the college level. That’s the company that Aaron Miles—the Jayhawks’ all-time assists leader and ninth in the history of college basketball—finds himself in. And Miles has made a knack of keeping himself in elite company. His high school teammate and best friend, Michael Lee, is another former Jayhawk. The talent he played with at Kansas speaks for itself. Names like Gooden, Collison, Hinrich, Boschee and Simien. The tendency to surround himself with the best has followed him into his coaching career. Now an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, Miles works with an NBA champion coach in Steve Kerr. It might be tempting to dismiss Aaron Miles as a guy who’s just been in the right place at the right time. But his work ethic and dedication to team over self make him a true Jayhawk great.

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How does a guy commit to Kansas sight unseen and end up becoming a Jayhawk for life? For Julian Wright—who grew up in Chicago watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls win championships—he just wanted to play. And when opportunity literally knocked, it was too good to pass up. That drive to be a Jayhawk led to an All-Big 12 and All-American career that included some superstar-type performances. But all good things eventually come to an end. And when Wright decided to leave the Jayhawks after just two seasons to turn pro, there were questions. Wright’s decision would end up being the right one, after he was taken with the 13th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans). And if you doubted how much it hurt him to leave Kansas, how did he prove it when the Jayhawks won the 2008 national title?

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