Mitch Lightfoot wants his Kansas Jayhawks teammates to experience a Final Four
A sixth-year senior who has spent his entire college career at the same school, Mitch Lightfoot has embraced a team-leadership role at Kansas during the 2021-22 season.
“I try to be as vocal as I can,” said the 6-foot-8, 225-pound reserve power forward from Gilbert, Arizona.
One of his favorite topics with teammates has been schooling them on how much fun that’s in store if the Jayhawks advance to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
“They don’t want to hear about it all the time. I try to sneak in there how amazing that experience is, how fun it is,” said Lightfoot. He and fifth-year senior non-scholarship guard Chris Teahan are the only two players on the KU roster who have Final Four experience. They were members of the 2017-18 Jayhawks team that defeated Duke in the Elite Eight in Omaha, Nebraska, and lost to Villanova in the national semifinals in San Antonio, Texas.
“Each one of these guys has taken it and gone with it,” Lightfoot said of pursuit of a national title. “We’re excited about the (Elite Eight) matchup and chance to go to the Final Four.”
One win away from a trip to New Orleans and next week’s Final Four, the Jayhawks (31-6), the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional will meet No. 10 seed Miami (26-10) in an Elite Eight battle set for a 1:20 p.m. start Sunday at the United Center (CBS).
The winner of the KU-Miami game will play either Houston or Villanova in the national semifinals.
“I think this is very reminiscent of when we went to the Final Four in 2018,” Lightfoot said. “Every one of these guys cares for each other. These guys are going to go out there, we’re going to play our butts off, try so hard for each other, the coaches, these fans. We’re looking forward to this (Elite Eight) game to do what we’ve been doing.”
Of course there’s a chance KU would have had another more recent Final Four squad if not for the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out the 2020 postseson.
The Jayhawks of 2019-20 went 28-3 overall (17-1 in the Big 12) but were unable to play in the NCAAs because of COVID-19 which canceled the tournament. Current team members Lightfoot, Teahan, Christian Braun, Dajuan Harris, Jalen Wilson, David McCormack, Ochai Agbaji and Michael Jankovich all were on that team.
“I never felt like this team was the best team in the country this year. I felt like in ‘20, that was the best team in the country. So I don’t really think about it a lot,” KU coach Bill Self said Saturday during KU’s media availability at the United Center.
“And I don’t think that team probably gets the credit from — I hear a lot of people talk about, well, we would have been a high seed or a 1 seed or we had a great chance to go deep in the tournament. And that’s true, but that team was different. That was a different-level defensive team.”
Acknowledging this year’s “team is different totally,” Self quickly added: “I do think that this year’s team has the same chance to do as well (as 2020 squad could have) just because they have a strong belief that they can accomplish anything. And it’s been impressive for me to watch them grow in that belief this year.”
Lightfoot, of course, isn’t the only leader on the 2021-22 Jayhawks trying to keep the squad focused during a marathon season and postseason. Junior forward Jalen Wilson said recently that Agbaji, the squad’s first-team All-America pick and Big 12 player of the year, periodically texts his teammates “reminding the team to stay locked in, focused.”
“When you have a leader that’s so unselfish like he is, it makes us flow so much better, because we have the same mindset, that’s to win,” Wilson added.
“He does so much on the court and off the court, as far as him talking to us, making sure that everybody is good. He’s just a leader. And that’s why he’s the best player in the country, period,” Remy Martin said of Agbaji.
While Self likes his older players to speak up and lead, he’s not convinced past NCAA experience such as the experience of Lightfoot and Teahan in 2018 will mean a lot Sunday against the Miami Hurricanes of the ACC.
Miami, which has a pair of familiar faces in former Oklahoma guard Kameron McGusty (17.8 points per game) and former KU guard Charlie Moore (12.6 ppg, 4.7 assists per game), enters 6-1 in its last seven games with tourney wins over Iowa State (70-56), Auburn (79-61) and USC (68-66).
“I would think it’s maybe a little bit beneficial. Chris (Teahan) didn’t participate in the (2018 Final Four) game (vs. Villanova in semis). He may have got in late because it wasn’t a great game, unfortunately. But Mitch has been through quite a few big games and big moments,” Self said. “So it may help some. But I’m really not buying into that stuff as much. I think this is really a first-time experience basically for this team, even though Mitch played in this game one other time. But I don’t really see that being a huge benefit.”
The Jayhawks, who have reached this point by beating Providence (66-61), Creighton (79-72) and Texas Southern (83-56), say they are mentally ready for this one, whether it’s because of teammates like Lightfoot, Teahan and Agbaji firing up the troops in their own ways or just the innate nature of this squad.
“It is just really motivating, knowing how far we’ve come, all the work we’ve put in and we’re at this point, just as a team,” Agbaji said Saturday. “And we’re just so close to obviously getting to a Final Four, a dream for everyone on our team. So just staying focused, staying locked in and just that is where we are right now.”
Wilson agreed.
“I think every single win we get just makes us hungrier for the ultimate goal, which is a championship. I’m super excited and super hungry to play,” Wilson said.
And as senior guard Martin, who has scored 43 points combined in wins over Providence and Creighton noted: “It’s super motivating to know how close we are and all the hard work we put in. So we’re just going to continue to do what we need to do and stick to basics of what got us here and the rest will take care of itself.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Mitch Lightfoot wants his Kansas Jayhawks teammates to experience a Final Four."
