KJ Adams: End of an Era

29 seconds left. First half. Midwest Regional Final.

The Miami Hurricanes had all of the momentum. They were on a 9-2 run, forcing back-to-back KU turnovers. It wasn't quite as bad as the dreaded 2017 Elite Eight game against Oregon — KU was only down 35-29, after all — but the vibes felt similar.

The runaway star of the first half was Kameron McGusty. Wearing No. 23, playing in the United Center, he looked like Michael Jordan out there with 14 first-half points. McGusty was a fifth-year senior who scored 18 ppg.

Who should guard him for the final play of the first half? Had to be one of the future NBA guys. Christian Braun. Ochai Agbaji. Jalen Wilson. In a matter of months, Braun would be guarding some of the best players in the world playing for the Denver Nuggets. Surely you put him on McGusty then, right? Nope. Bill Self subbed in the freshman KJ Adams.

This 6'7'' kid from Austin, Texas, averaged only five minutes a game, contributing 1 point, 0.8 rebounds. He was a backup big behind Mitch Lightfoot, the 5th-year senior who was actually on that 2016-17 team. But no way was freshman Lightfoot checking in against Oregon.

And yet, here was freshman KJ. On the floor. When it mattered most.

Miami sent a screen down to Dajuan Harris. KJ switched and soon found himself at halfcourt, all by himself. McGusty called for the iso.

Adams locked in defensively, his footwork looked like an elite boxer. He started by playing off McGusty, giving a few feet of cushion. Then, he gradually closed in, feeding off the crowd's energy. Both fan bases were on their feet. Three seconds left. McGusty had no space, no path to a basket, no shot available. He forced up a jumper, and KJ blocked it. KJ, already the ultimate energy guy, made his signature fist pump move, the one we've seen so many times over the last four years in big, late-game situations.

The rest was history. Kansas went on a shocking 47-15 (!) run in the second half. This wasn't a team playing up to their potential; this was a team shattering their previous ceiling. There was no limit to how far these guys could go, and, sure enough, a week after cutting down the Regional Final nets in Chicago, the Jayhawks were doing the same in New Orleans as the 2022 National Champions.

As Matthew Postins reported after the Miami game, KJ's defensive stand was not lost on Coach Bill Self.

“I did tell them that KJ Adams gave us the best 29 seconds defensively than anybody did the entire first half,” Self said. “And just challenged our guys to guard them. And they did.”

When I think back on that second half, sure, the 47 points were impressive, but it was the defense holding Miami to just 15 points — one more point than what McGusty had, by himself, in the first half — that made all the difference. Kansas went to the Final Four with a new defensive identity, and it was KJ who lit the fuse. Neither Villanova nor North Carolina would crack 70 points. Nova shot 38 percent. The Tar Heels shot 31 percent.

Well, North Carolina almost cracked 70 points. With 4.6 seconds left, Kansas was inbounding the basketball up 72-69. The voice of March Madness himself, Bill "Onions!" Rafferty was on the call. He laid out what little hope North Carolina had left. "Maybe you get a steal, maybe a five-second situation."

Grant Hill shared that Kansas went small. "All ball handlers, good decision makers, you must come meet the pass and be strong with the ball."

Juan came fast off the screen from Ochai, full steam ahead. There's the whistle. Foul, right? Harris to the line. But that whistle was pretty early... No one had touched him yet... Um, why is the ref pointing the other way? What is happening?!

One slow-motion replay later, and it was clear as day: Juan stepped out. Actually stepped out twice. The Tar Heels would have a chance to tie.

You've gotta be kidding me...

There it was. Caleb Love with the basketball. Three seconds. Christian Braun on him. Two seconds. We're about to get Mario Chalmers'd, aren't we? One second. Shot goes up. The red backboard light goes on. No good! No good! Kansas wins! Kansas wins!

But wait a second. Run that back. Back to the huddle. Okay, next to Bill Self are Jalen, Juan, Ochai, and Braun. That makes sense. But who's that tying his shoe?

KJ Adams.

Once again, Bill Self sent in the freshman who had played all of three minutes in the first half — 0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 foul — onto an even bigger stage. The biggest moment of the biggest game of the year.

Alright, hit play. Yep, there he is. Right in the action. Braun had his hand up in Caleb Love's face, and there's KJ coming over at the last second, hand up, but keeping enough distance to avoid a devastating foul-the-three-point-shooter foul that many a freshman would make.

But this was not a normal freshman. He changed the game against Miami and closed the game against North Carolina. What a way to end his freshman year.

Sophomore Year

That offseason felt a lot like 2008. We were all basking in that National Championship glow, but still excited and hopeful about next season's potential. Maybe more so than we were heading into 2008-09. This wasn't a time to rebuild; this was a time to repeat. Jalen was coming back. We've got this unselfish point guard, Dajuan Harris, ready for year three. Guards thrive around Harris. Ochai was drafted 14th. Braun selected No. 21. Now we'll have standout Texas Tech transfer, Kevin McCullar, and a top 15 recruit, Gradey Dick, who grew up a Jayhawks fan in Wichita, Kansas.

And just like Cole Aldrich had those big defensive moments against Tyler Hansbrough, we were excited to see what KJ Adams would do with more minutes and a bigger role in year two. He was already a freak of nature. Kind of looked like a mini LeBron. Or an NFL tight end. Imagine what another year in the weight room could do.

One thing I loved about the pre-transfer portal, pre-NIL era of college basketball is you'd have these 4-year cycles with certain players. You'd watch them grow from skinny freshman, still battling acne, who might have a few promising moments in their limited minutes, to sophomore year, where maybe they make it into the starting lineup. Junior year, they're getting national or at least All-Big 12 recognition. Senior year, their evolution is complete. They're the stars and heart and soul of the team. Over and over again, going back to Kirk and Nick, to Simien, Langford, and Miles, to Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, Thomas Robinson, Travis Releford, Perry Ellis, Frank Mason, Devonte' Graham, Marcus Garrett, Udoka Azubuike, Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack, Jalen Wilson. There might be more talented players who come through and head to the NBA early, but you can't beat seeing these guys reach Senior Night in Allen Fieldhouse. The speeches. The tears. That deep connection between our mildly obsessive fanbase and the guys who gave everything they had for four years. Those guys make the program what it is, and in this new era of college basketball, these stories are harder and harder to find.

So, how was year two for KJ Adams? Like Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors, KJ was our 6'7'' starting center. And it worked out great. A few highlights from the year:

• No. 5 Texas - 10 points, 8 rebounds (Win)

• No. 9 Baylor - 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists (Win)

• @ Kentucky - 17 points, 2 steals (Win)

• @ Missouri - 19 points (Win)

• vs. Oklahoma - Career-high 22 points (Win). Highly recommend watching this one, an awesome comeback win and a reminder of how fast this team played when NBA guys surrounded KJ and Juan

• Named Big 12 Most Improved Player

  
  

There was an 11-game stretch where KJ scored double figures. He averaged 14.3 ppg through that run, and the team went 10-1.

The one loss: @ Kansas State.

But this wasn't an NIT-bound Wildcats team. This was the squad with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson that landed a No. 3 seed, went to the Elite 8, and narrowly lost (79-76) to Dusty May's now legendary Florida Atlantic team.

Going into this game, KU was 16-1, No. 2 in the country. K-State wasn't far behind at 15-2, ranked No. 13. The Octagon of Doom in the Little Apple was rocking.

First basket of the game, KJ screen and floater. Then a KJ assist to Gradey Dick. Then a KJ screen and roll to the basket. And one. Even though Kansas started the game down 16-9, KJ was keeping us in it with seven points and one assist. Freshman Zuby Ejiofor checked in. Next thing you know, it's 24-12. Kansas calls a timeout. KJ checks back in and immediately throws an alley-oop to Gradey Dick. Then assists a Jalen Wilson three-pointer. K-State would take a 44-39 lead into halftime.

I'm writing about this matchup as one of the more memorable KJ performances, but it's hard to label this as anything other than the Jalen Wilson game. Jalen had 14 points at half, followed it up with 15 in the second, then nine more in overtime. Finished with 38 points and nine rebounds. Only Elijah Johnson (39) and Andrew Wiggins (41) have ever scored more than 38 points in the Bill Self era. Outside of the Bill Self era, the names above him are mostly Wilt Chamberlain.

But let's jump back in, second half, 1:42 to go. Kansas had the lead, 70-69, when KJ was whistled for his fifth foul. He went to the bench with 17 points, four assists, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field (and a not-so-perfect 5-for-10 from the line). Zach Clemence checked in, and on the very next offensive possession, Juan gets it to Clemence on the low block, Nowell strips it, layup the other way. K-State up, 70-72. Jalen hits a couple of clutch free throws. Tie game, 72-72.

KU had the ball with nine seconds to go. Ejiofor sets the screen for Juan, Juan passes it, steal! Going the other way, but K-State can't convert. The Jayhawks barely escape regulation. In overtime, Jalen scores nine of the 10 Kansas points. Then K-State runs that great backdoor lob play. Nearly identical situation to the end of regulation, KU has the ball. Nine seconds left. Down 83-82.

Check out this lineup on the floor. KJ Adams had fouled out. Gradey Dick fouled out. McCullar out. So it's Jalen Wilson with Dajuan Harris, Bobby Pettiford, Zach Clemence, and Joseph Yesufu. Clemence comes to screen Harris. Harris drives to the basket, loses the handle, and falls down. Game over.

Adams was devastated he couldn't help secure a win for Jalen's historic night.

“Jalen has always been a leader with us,” Adams said on the postgame radio show. “Now he has a big scoring role. He took it upon himself to help us win. It (stinks) we didn’t get the win. I’m really proud of how he played. Even though we lost, I’m just proud he got a good mark. It (stinks) we lost with it.”

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article271349327.html#storylink=cpy

And I can't help but wonder, the way that game was going, what if KJ was on the floor for that final 1:42? What if he caught the pass by the basket? What if he were the immovable object setting the screens? True against Miami, true against UNC, and true halfway through his sophomore year, KJ Adams is a winner and a certified closer. He's meant to be on the floor when the final seconds are ticking down.

No season will ever end as abruptly and with as many "What ifs" as the 2020 COVID year, but the ending of 2023 felt similar. It all happened so fast. One second, we're 25-6. Big 12 champs. Headed for a one-seed. Then, in the blink of an eye, Bill Self has his heart scare. Out for the tournament. Next thing you know, we're matched up in the second round against an Arkansas team with three guys who'd be drafted in the top 40 picks of the 2023 NBA Draft. Jayhawks lose, 72-71. That Musselman guy is up on the scorer's table with his shirt off. Season over. Back-to-back champion pursuit over.

And now we were venturing into strange new waters. The Transfer Portal.

Junior Year

Jalen Wilson: NBA. Gradey Dick: NBA. Pettiford, Yesufu, Clemence, Rice, all transferring out.

The returning team would be Juan, KJ, McCullar, and... (checks roster again)

But, even then, I started talking myself into this team. We've still got Ernest Udeh and Zuby Ejiofor. Neither played more than eight minutes a game, but especially Udeh, a near 7-footer with great defensive instincts, if you got a couple of Guinnesses in me, I was convinced we were looking at the next great four-year Jayhawk. The next Udoka Azubuike.

But hold that thought and hold my Guinness, because on May 4th, 2023, we won the transfer portal. Landed the biggest, most sought-after free agent. Hunter Dickinson from the University of Michigan. Not since Dedric Lawson in 2019 had we brought in an All-American level transfer who immediately becomes the cornerstone of the team.

I'm an odd duck. A die-hard Kansas fan who grew up in the middle of Michigan. One hundred miles away from Ann Arbor, 80 miles from East Lansing. After the Hunter news, I received texts from Michigan State fans that read more like condolences than congratulations. Like I'd had a death in the family or a daughter who started dating a tatted-up biker. But that makes sense; they're Michigan State fans. Rivalry stuff. They probably hate the guy. Or maybe they're jealous.

But then I started getting texts from Michigan fans, and these weren't exactly a father of the bride, you be good to her type of sendoff. No, Wolverines fans talked about Hunter the way you'd talk about squid ink pasta: "It's not for everyone. And you might be allergic."

Foreboding text messages aside, it was nice to hit the easy button. Skip the rebuild and go straight to preseason No. 1.

The only bummer, though, was losing Udeh to TCU and Ejiofor to St. John's. The question my family and I started asking that offseason (and still ponder to this day): Would it be worth it? Would one year, maybe two years of Hunter Dickinson be worth sacrificing three years from both of these homegrown bigs? Did we ship away freshmen versions of Udoka and Thomas Robinson for a 22-year-old plate of squid ink pasta? We'd have to wait and see...

Little did we know, we would wait and see 24 losses over the next two years.

But it didn't start that way. Things seemed pretty darn good on December 1st, 2023. Kansas was 6-1, ranked No. 5 in the country. The defending champion UCONN Huskies were 7-0, ranked No. 4. A battle of the last two national champions was going down in Allen Fieldhouse. The atmosphere was right up there with any KU game I can remember. Jason "Ted Lasso" Sudeikis and Sue Bird were in the student section, jumping up and down with everyone else.

For KJ Adams, this clash of the titans wasn't nearly the biggest thing on his mind. Sadly, KJ had just lost his mom on November 17th. The funeral would be held on December 2nd, 11 AM, not even 24 hours after the UCONN game.

For two and a half hours, KJ disappeared into that game and gave everything he had. It was classic KJ. Dunks. Everywhere on defense. Fist pumps. Endless energy.

Up 67-65 with 16 seconds left, Dajuan Harris was at the line for two free throws. Missed the first. ESPN had the split screen going with Sudeikis and Sue Bird. Misses the second. Sudeikis had the look of all of us: Uh oh... the champs have a shot.

Newton, who already had 31 points, was dribbling down the clock. They're gonna go for the three, aren't they? Hurley isn't playing for overtime. He's going for it right now. Newton finds Spencer, Spencer has a clean look. The giant Donovan Clingan has inside position, boxing out Hunter Dickinson. Spencer's shot hits the front of the rim, and the rebound goes long. Right into KJ's hands. Fouled with 2.4 seconds left.

No patented fist pump, no high fives to his teammates, KJ immediately started walking to the opposite foul line. KJ had 16 points and was 4-of-7 from the stripe. Freshman and sophomore years, he was a 60 percent free-throw shooter. Junior year was off to a horrible start, making only 2 of his first 13. In the Tennessee game, he was 1-6. So, tallying everything up, KJ was only 8-for-23 at that moment when the ref bounced him the ball, game on the line. Allen Fieldhouse completely silent.

Making both seemed out of the question. One if we're lucky. Which still gives UCONN a chance to tie.

Whatever thoughts were running through KJ's head that morning, or after the game, he found a way to be supernaturally calm and connected at the line. First shot: swish. Crowd erupts.

Alright. 2.4 seconds left. Miss here doesn't give them a chance to run an inbounds play. Worst case, they make a half-court shot. Or maybe you foul them before that? Neither scenario would be necessary. KJ swished the second free throw. Four-point game. UCONN misses their final shot, and KJ finally lets all of the emotions out, celebrating the win.

In the locker room after, it was the most emotional I've ever seen Bill Self.

For KJ, the game was all about his mom.

"I just did it for my mom," KJ said. "My mom just passed away a couple of days ago. Everything I do right now is for her, and it's just her watching over me and her helping me with this.' 

Source - https://www2.kusports.com/sports/2023/dec/02/i-just-did-it-for-my-mom-kj-adams-delivers-pivotal-performance-in-win-over-uconn/

Dan Hurley praised KJ's game.

"It's tough with Adams," Hurley said. "He's a big, strong guy, but he flies around like a guard. It's hard to take advantage of even guard on the ball matchups with Adams at the four and a ball screen because the guy has unique movement and he's so strong."

The preseason No. 1 ranking looked warranted as the Jayhawks started 13-1. No. 3 in the country. The Jayhawks were up by 16 on the road at UCF, but next thing you know, KU lost that game and would never win more than two games in a row the rest of the season. Part of that was getting hit by the injury bug. Kansas didn't have McCullar for the tournament. We survived the Samford scare and had a weirdly good first half against Gonzaga, but then an absolute butt whooping in the second half. At one point, the Zags went on a 32-4 run. Final score: 89-68. Season over. From preseason No. 1 to not making the second weekend.

After that UCONN game, the only real bright spot of the season was a shocking shooting display at home against Houston. KU shot an unbelievable 68.9 percent against a Houston team that was leading the country in field goal defense, holding teams to 35.5 percent. This was one of only four Big 12 losses Houston would suffer in the last two years.

Like the UCONN game, KJ had the respect of a future Hall of Fame coach.

"Adams is one of the most underrated players in America,” Sampson said. “If he was a washcloth and you just wring him out, it would flood with a winner. He’s just a winner.”

That Kelvin Sampson quote stuck in my mind after the season ended. Seemed unthinkable that KJ would ever leave KU, but the transfer portal was a strange new world. Especially after losing his mom, maybe it made sense for KJ to move back home, back to Texas. Play for Houston or the Texas Longhorns.

But on April 2nd, KJ made it clear: He was never leaving.

Senior Year

What would he return to? Another Preseason No. 1 ranking.

Hunter was back for his 15th season. Bill Self and the assistants hit the Portal hard, bringing in coveted prospects like Zeke Mayo, AJ Storr, and Rylan Griffen. They added defensive specialist Shak Moore. And then a late steal, added a 20 ppg scorer in David "Diggy" Coit.

Five guys. A combined 75.5 ppg last season. An established crew that seemed more than ready to fill in the loss of Kevin McCullar and Johnny Furphy. And that's not to mention the addition of McDonald's All-American, Top 20 recruit Flory Bidunga, too.

During "portal season," the debate was already underway: KJ vs. Hunter. There seemed to be agreement across the board: KJ and Hunter don't really fit next to each other. One side argued that, as great as KJ is defensively, opponents can back off of him, and that clogs the lane around Hunter. It's hard to know the exact percentage of our fan base, but at least on Twitter, these fans generated a lot of noise declaring that KJ should become the 6th man. "We need to build around Hunter," they'd argue, "He needs four shooters around him." In their minds, the starting five should be Storr, Rylan, Zeke, Juan, and Hunter (although they weren't too thrilled about Harris, either). Four guards, one Hunter. This was the recipe to win the national title.

As you can probably tell by the length of this tribute article, I am very much on Team KJ. The 6th man argument made zero sense to me. The Hall-of-Fame, two-time champion Bill Self believes KJ should start. Two-time champion Dan Hurley raved about him. One of the most dominant coaches over the last five years, Kelvin Sampson, said KJ is the most underrated player in the country. What am I missing here? How is this even a debate? Three coaching icons in one corner and a bunch of anonymous Twitter accounts in the other. What are we doing here? KJ Adams is not going to the bench.

This created a civil war in the KU fanbase. You had to pick a side: Team KJ or Team Hunter. The KJ crowd, including me, doubled down on our argument. Started waxing nostalgic for homegrown talent. Forget Hunter being named First Team All-American last season; look at the season Ejiofor is having at St. John's. And Udeh's doing alright, too. We argued for an alternate frontcourt universe of KJ, Flory, Ejiofor, and Udeh. Think about the defense! Homegrown. Farm to table Jayhawks. No more of this transfer portal crap (hoping that no one would point out how Remy and McCullar were awesome additions and became every bit of the Jayhawk culture as the homegrown guys).

At least on Twitter, there was no longer a cohesive KU fanbase. Sides disliked each other more than KU vs. K-State or KU vs. Mizzou. This was the new intra-border war.

In my opinion, these arguments should've ended on November 26th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night we played Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils.

All of the attention was on freshman sensation Cooper Flagg. This 6'9'', not even 18-year-old kid from Maine had already made a name for himself. Over the summer, he scrimmaged against the USA Olympic team and scored on guys like Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo. Freshman of the year was a given. National Player of the Year seemed like it, too.

Who would guard him? That was never in question. From the opening tip, KJ Adams was locked in. Gave Cooper Flagg zero space to work with. Barely let him get to the water cooler unattended. KJ held him to two first-half points, and that basket came when KJ was on the bench.

When thinking back on this game, because of my severe KJ Adams bias, I assumed I had lionized his defensive performance and probably gotten carried away declaring KJ the ultimate Cooper Flagg Stopper. So, I rewatched that second half.

The result: Surprisingly, I think my memory undersold it. This might've been the best 20 minutes of KJ's career.

Early on, KJ forced a turnover from Flagg in a trap. On offense, KJ hit a jumper. Then another one. He was 4-for-4 from the field. Fist pumps and chest hits after every stop and every basket. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say KJ let out 30 fist pump/chest hit/lion roars during this game.

Flagg hits a three, but it's because Storr overplayed Knueppel, went for the steal, and KJ had to leave Flagg to guard Duke's other freshman lottery pick. Couple plays later, Hunter makes a big basket, but loses his shoe in the process. Hunter runs down the court, one shoe, one sock, and Flagg burns past him. KJ runs in, blocks the shot. Ball goes off Flagg. KU ball.

Then Duke has a three-on-one. KJ is literally at halfcourt when the alley oop goes up to Knueppel. The ball is too high, so Knueppel quickly catches it and passes it down to Gillis. Gillis goes up for the layup, and KJ flies in out of nowhere.

"Great block from the star of the game, KJ Adams!" raves Karl Ravech.

"That's like a LeBron block in the NBA Finals!" gushes Fran Fraschilla.

Then there's a play where he comes over to help, and they call a jump ball on Proctor. Another play where he partially blocks Flagg's shot on the baseline.

"He's as valuable as any player we've ever had," Bill Self said. And that was before the game. Before this heroic second half.

But with 10:26 left to go, things got a little spicy on the low block between Hunter Dickinson and Maliq Brown. Brown was called for the foul for undercutting Hunter on the box out. But as they fell to the ground, Hunter's foot just so happened to connect with Brown's face. Refs went to the monitors. Given the circumstances, it wasn't really that long of a review. The decision was made, Flagrant 2. Hunter Dickinson was ejected (although he'd manage to stay on the bench for another three minutes) with half of the second half left to go.

Here was the test. Hunter off the court. KJ on. Could KJ Adams lead the Jayhawks to victory?

57-56. Malik Brown takes it into the lane and runs right into KJ, the brick wall. Doesn't move KJ an inch. KJ just rips the ball away like a grown man playing against his son in the driveway. Then KJ drives to the lane, throws an alley oop to Flory Bidunga.

A few plays later, Cooper Flagg had his highlight of the night. A poster dunk over Flory. But rewind it back, it's a two-man pick and roll at the top of the key. KJ has to bail out Storr, again, and then Flagg gets the ball back, burns past Storr, and dunks over Bidunga. Flagg still hadn't scored directly on KJ all night. It wasn't until 2:30 left to go in the game when the future No. 1 Draft Pick hit his first basket over KJ.

Tie game. 71-71.

Then, with 1:15 left, KJ Adams misses a 15-foot jumper. A few seconds later, he misses a 12-foot floater. Going up for the rebound, the ball goes off KJ. Not only does Duke have new life, down 73-72, with the ball, but the anti-KJ group was getting ready to Tweet. Hunter wouldn't have missed those shots.

Knueppel with the ball. Flagg comes through to set the screen. KJ quickly reads it, switches. Knueppel drives, tries to get the shot over KJ, gets stuck in mid-air, turnover. Might as well credit KJ with a steal. Rylan Griffen hits both free throws. KU up, 75-72.

Duke chucks it down the court, calls a quick timeout. Smart play. Now they have a half-court out of bounds with 2.9 seconds left. Plenty of time. The setup was similar to that final Caleb Love possession, but senior year KJ had never left the floor. He had played all 19 minutes, 57.1 seconds of the second half.

Coach Jon Scheyer drew up one of those funky four-wide receiver crossing routes, and KJ locked in like a defensive back. First assignment: Cooper Flagg. But when the ball went to Maluach, KJ quickly switched over. Maluach passes it to Knueppel, KJ runs over there, gets a hand up even closer than the primary defender, Zeke Mayo. KJ somehow guarded three Blue Devils in three seconds. Knueppel's shot is in the air. Banks off the glass, hits the rim, nearly goes in. KU wins. KJ's masterpiece is complete.

After that win, the views softened a little from Team Hunter. There were clarifications. We love KJ... but he should still be the 6th man... If he accepted that role, he'd become one of the most beloved Jayhawks ever.

Later in the season, when KJ got injured against Iowa State, we'd see what the KJ-less Jayhawks look like. Three games without KJ.

What happened? Well, the offense looked great out of the gate, going up 14-0 against K-State. Scored 84 in that game. Next game, a road win at TCU. Put up a respectable 74. The "I told you so" was getting stronger from Team Hunter.

Then came the Houston game. Flory looked great in those extended minutes. 19 points. Seven rebounds (surprisingly zero blocks). The offense put up 86 points. Almost beat the 2nd-best team in the country. Sure, it was an epic collapse down the stretch, but it didn't seem so bad when Houston would do the same against Duke in the Final Four. Eh, who am I kidding? That game still gives me nightmares.

Over on Team KJ, we argued that no way in hell would a KJ Adams-led team let a six-point lead with 18 seconds slip away. And all of those buckets by J'Wan Roberts aren't happening on KJ. Roberts had 24 in that game; he only had six on 3-11 shooting against KJ on Houston's senior night. And yeah, 86 points on Houston is great, but that was double OT. It was only 66 at the end of regulation. The KJ-less Jayhawks weren't exactly the Showtime Lakers.

KJ returned to the lineup against UCF, and it felt like everyone won. Hunter had 24 points and seven rebounds. Flory started and had 10 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. KJ came off the bench, scored 12, and made some huge stops down the stretch. The offense put up 91 points. Was this it? Could we all be happy? Load the wagon as a united KU fanbase?

After the game, Diggy Coit, one of those McCullar/Remy/Zeke Mayo-like transfers who embodies Jayhawk culture and was rapidly becoming a fan favorite, had this to say about KJ as the team leader.

"KJ and Juan are definitely undervalued players," Diggy said, fresh off of hitting four three-pointers against UCF. "Their presence definitely changes games. Like KJ's presence, defensively, he could have zero rebounds, but it feels like he has 25. He has that type of impact on us. We know that we need him every night. With KJ, you feel like you have the best defender, best overall player on your team every night. And you know he's gonna play hard. He takes a lot of pressure off of every position."

But, good vibes aside, that UCF result was hard to get excited about since it was down to the wire against a team we beat by 51 (!) in their house, three weeks earlier. Next game, against Baylor, with KJ still coming off the bench, Kansas blew its biggest lead ever. Part of a trend over the last two years, where it seemed like a new streak ended or the wrong type of milestone was set with every loss.

Up until this point, the Team KJ vs. Team Hunter debates had stayed online, but on February 3rd, 2025, against Iowa State, things finally spilled over into the real world. KJ was back in the starting lineup, Flory back to the bench. It didn't sound like a large contingent, but it was loud enough to be heard clearly on the ESPN broadcast. Somewhere within the student section, there were chants of "We want Flory! We want Flory!" KU won the game, an impressive 17-point win against a Top 10 Iowa State team, but a line had been crossed. You can't hear "We want Flory" and not also hear the subtext: "We don't want KJ..." (or at least not in the starting lineup). Felt like the most sacrilegious moment in the history of Allen Fieldhouse. KU fans don't turn against a four-year guy like KJ Adams.

But the senior didn't let it bother him. He continued to give everything he had for the KANSAS across his chest.

It was deja vu of last season. The wheels were falling off the wagon. Loss at K-State. Two losses in Utah, never even had a single lead in either game. The BYU exclamation point by 34 points tied the biggest loss in the Bill Self era. Another unsavory milestone.

The bracketologists still had Kansas at a 99.9 percent lock into the NCAA Tournament field, but it was hard, especially after that upending in Utah, not to look ahead at that schedule, at 17-9, 8-7 in conference, and wonder... is the NIT a possibility? Are two of the most sacred streaks we have, the 28-year NCAA Tournament streak and the 36 consecutive 20-win season streak, in jeopardy? Things got so bad that a journalist in Tulsa even tried stirring up a Bill Self to Oklahoma State rumor, and Bill Self had to actually address it.

But Bill Self declared it a new season, and the motivation tactic worked. Destroyed OK State. Won a close but ugly one against Colorado. KJ had an epic poster dunk over Dak. Lost a close one at home against Texas Tech on a night they hit 15 threes. Only lost by six at Houston, on Senior Night, not a bad performance either.

But the last and most sacred cow of all was at risk. Senior Night. Forty-one wins in a row. We were unranked. Arizona was. And Caleb Love was ready to avenge that National Championship game against Juan and KJ.

Kansas was up 77-72, about 1:30 to go. Juan with the ball. KJ, like Harry Potter spotting the Golden Snitch, saw an opening behind Hunter. Juan saw it too. Juan throws the lob. KJ catches it and throws down a massive dunk. Lets out his singnature roar. Allen Fieldhouse explodes with him. The senior night streak stays alive. 20-win season still alive. It was only fitting for KJ's final basket and Juan's final assist in Allen Fieldhouse to be a connection on an alley-oop.

A few months ago, when I started thinking about writing this tribute post, 1. I didn't know how long it would be, and 2. I wanted to end the story on Senior Night. The alley-oop dunk. The streak. The speeches. Even Hunter Dickinson had one of his best games with 33 and 10 and just a different "put the team on my back" winning energy. Our fanbase was united. There was a glimmer of hope that we could get hot at the right time, maybe not championship or Final Four aspirations, but we could be one of those 6 or 7 seeds who have a couple of things fall their way and make a run to the Elite 8.

When Bill Self had frozen Arkansas's offense with the next-to-last-used 2-3 zone, that hope was still alive as KU clawed back to a 65-64 lead. Next play, KJ makes another one of those midrange jumpers that all the haters complained he couldn't make. Fist pump. 67-64 lead. Next possession, Arkansas misses, KJ gathers the rebound, immediately looks to push the ball up the court, but he falls to the ground. One of the toughest Jayhawks in my lifetime can't stand up on his own. Zeke, Storr, and Juan help him up to his feet. He's hobbling. The man who carried us down the stretch with his energy in so many games the last three years, now it's Elmarko, Clemence, and Rakease carrying him to the locker room, arms around their shoulders.

Over the next three minutes, Arkansas would outscore Kansas 15-5.

Irrational or not, I can't help but wonder what if KJ finishes that Arkansas game. He was on the court as a freshman against Miami and on for the final play against North Carolina. On the court hitting those two big free throws against UCONN. On the court to shut down Duke at the end of the game. The loss at Kansas State in the Jalen Wilson game, KJ had fouled out. The collapse against Houston, KJ was injured.

What I'll remember about KJ in a KU uniform is that when he's on the court, in a close game, I believe that we can win.

For the last two years, I've spent a lot of time wondering, "What went wrong?" How did things fall apart so badly? I've tried to diagnose what this team's Achilles' heel was — was it Hunter's defense? Was it not getting the right players around Hunter? Was it Juan and KJ being asked to do too much? Were our guys too soft? Not enough continuity? Hard to pin it on one thing. But in the end, the real Achilles' heel was the one that tore in KJ Adams's left shoe. Win or lose that game against Arkansas, we weren't going any further with the heart and soul of our team sitting on the bench in a boot.

I think back to these last two years, and that whole Team KJ vs. Team Hunter debate, none of that stuff really interests me anymore. But I do think there's a deeper philosophical question in this Transfer Portal era, and it looks something like this: If you've got two guys like KJ and Juan, and you know that the absolute ceiling with them as starters, without NBA players around them, is maybe a Sweet 16, is it better to send them away and replace with higher ceiling transfers that fit better around the other higher ceiling transfer? Put simply: Would you rather go for gold with guys you don't really know or go for bronze with guys you feel like you've known for years?

For me, it's an easy answer. I'd rather go with those four-year guys. The ones who grow up through the program. The ones that by senior year, Coach Self describes as "sons to me." Or as KJ Adams said before Senior Night: "We kind of made this us, this place, we made this who we are."

KU basketball is what it is because of those iconic four-year guys who never wear another team's jersey. That's the tradition. That's what it's all about. From KJ and Juan back to Ochai and Big Dave. Back to Doke, back to Devonte, back to Frank, and so on and so forth til you're all the way back to Phog Allen being coached by the inventor of basketball, James Naismith.

I get it. The transfer portal's different. Ya gotta evolve. We're at the end of an era. All of that. But what keeps me putting on the KU t-shirt, setting aside two and a half hours, 30-40 days a year is the tradition and, I know it's a cliché, but cheering for those guys who care more about the name on the front of the jersey than the name on the back. What's exciting about next season is seeing Darryn Peterson, Flory Bidunga, Elmarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell, Bryson Tiller, Samis Calderon, guys who can hopefully start and end their college career as a Kansas Jayhawk.

And who knows, maybe somewhere in that group is the next iconic four-year guy.

The next KJ Adams.

Trying something new here. Think of this as a digital tip jar on the counter. If you enjoyed this post, you can support this good ol' fashioned long-winded journalism right here via QR code and/or over on Venmo (@chrisobrien989). Maybe I'll throw some of the money toward KU's NIL. Rock Chalk!