National champion Kansas basketball team welcomed back by Jayhawks fans in Lawrence
Kansas basketball fans surrounded Ochai Agbaji in every possible direction as the All-American guard arrived at Booth Memorial Stadium holding the school’s newest NCAA championship trophy on Tuesday.
Literally.
Cheerleaders formed a line outside the team bus as the Jayhawks returned home on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after they beat North Carolina at the Superdome in New Orleans. Thousands of fans roared from their seats on the west side of the football stadium. And a helicopter hovered high above Agbaji’s head, tracking his every move as he triumphantly showed off his new hardware for the first time in Lawrence.
Believe it or not, none of that surprised him.
“When I made my decision to come back this year this is how I envisioned it,” Agbaji said. “This is great. We’ve got helicopters up in the air. I feel the energy.
This was only the beginning of a week that will no doubt be chalked full of celebrations for the Jayhawks, who claimed their fourth NCAA championship in program history with a magical season that consisted of 34 victories, six losses and a perfect run through March Madness.
A parade is expected to take place in Lawrence at some point in the next few days. Fans of all ages have already flocked to Massachusetts Street three different times in the Jayhawks’ honor.
Christian Braun said he was looking forward to savoring the KU championship over the next few days.
“Thank you for coming out and supporting us every game,” Braun said. “It means the world to us. We do this stuff for you. But we’ve got a long week ahead of us, so get ready.”
KU coach Bill Self then tried to clarify to the crowd that Braun meant he had a long week of “studying” in his future.
Of course, Self will cherish these celebrations, too. He has won plenty of other trophies before, including another NCAA championship in 2008. But he spoke as if this accomplishment somehow felt more meaningful than all the others that preceded it.
“Every year at Late Night I always say that we have a special group and it is about time we do it (win a national championship) again,” Self said. “Well come to Late Night this year and we will be dropping another banner.”
Those words fired up a large crowd of crimson-and-blue clad fans who lined up hours in advance to welcome their team home despite cloudy skies and a chance of rain in the forecast.
Kansas had a replay of the national championship game playing on the video board as fans waited for players and coaches to arrive at the stadium. As the game reached its climax in the final minutes, fans reacted as if they were watching the plays live on TBS.
They reserved their biggest cheers for when David McCormack drained a pair of hook shots in the paint to help clinch a 72-69 victory over the Tar Heels.
McCormack showed up on Tuesday still wearing the net KU players cut down at the Superdome as if it were an expensive necklace.
Self had no problem with that, saying the big man deserved to share Most Outstanding Player honors at the Final Four with Agbaji.
“This guy carried us against Villanova,” Self said. “He put us on his back last night in the last three or four minutes against North Carolina.”
McCormack then took the microphone and thanked the fans in attendance, saying “Rock Chalk till I die.”
It was a short and sweet event. KU players were back on the team bus, bound for Allen Fieldhouse after only 20 minutes at the football stadium.
But fans had a message for the Jayhawks before they left. As the celebration drew to a close, fans in the first few rows unrolled a huge sign that read “Thanks 4 Teaching Us 2 Never Give Up.”
That was a nod to Kansas’ 16-point comeback against North Carolina a day earlier, the largest deficit any team has overcome in a men’s NCAA championship game.
KU players gathered in front of the sign for pictures, with that helicopter still flying overhead.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 6:33 PM.