Jayhawks hold clinic for Special Olympians the day after win over Baylor

Kansas coach Bill Self grabbed a basketball, and after dribbling a couple of times, flushed a reverse, over-the-head dunk on an 8-foot goal Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 54-year-old former Oklahoma State point guard didn’t have to exert much energy in completing the jam. Still he received a loud round of applause from 100 Special Olympians, who were seated in the south bleachers waiting for the 33rd annual Wilt Chamberlain Special Olympics Clinic to begin.

“Certainly it’s good to have a day where you’re not worried about basketball, but we’ll be back to business tomorrow,” a grinning Self told reporters after introducing his Jayhawk players to the participants.

The Jayhawks ran drills and posed for pictures for two hours Sunday, bonding with an enthusiastic group of Olympians one day after a 67-65 victory over Baylor in Waco, Texas.

It proved a rather eventful off day for KU’s players, who will resume practice Monday in preparation for Wednesday’s game against TCU, set for a 6 p.m. tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I knew we had Special Olympics coming up, but I had forgotten yesterday,” Self said. “When we got back last night (from Waco) around 6:30 (p.m.), I went to the back of the bus to tell them what was going on. The guys who have all done this (clinic) before were all excited they get to do it again. The guys who were freshmen who had never had a chance to do Special Olympics were going, ‘Hold on a second, what are we doing again?’ They’ll all dive in head first and enjoy their day. It’s a good day for everybody.”

Senior guard Frank Mason, who scored a game-high 23 points Saturday as KU overcame a six-point deficit in the final 3:34, said he was honored to spend a scheduled off day working with young and older Olympians alike.

“Getting back in the gym around a special group of people … it means a lot to us to get out here. We all look forward to this,” Mason said. “It shows you a lot about the program to have this event. We all have a great time.”

KU (24-3, 12-2 Big 12), which leads five-loss teams Baylor, Iowa State and West Virginia by three full games with four to play, can assure itself at least a tie for its 13th straight Big 12 regular-season title by beating TCU. A 13th consecutive crown would tie the Jayhawks with UCLA (1967-79) for most consecutive conference titles in college basketball history.

KU would actually be assured a tie for the title before the TCU game if Baylor, Iowa State and West Virginia all were to lose their early-week games.

On Monday, West Virginia plays host to Texas and Iowa State travels to Texas Tech. Oklahoma travels to Baylor on Tuesday.

Mason took to Twitter in KU’s locker room immediately after the Baylor game to tweet to his followers, “Secure the ring alert.”

“I was just saying another win will help secure the ring,” Mason said in explaining the tweet. “(If) we keep winning, we’ll get the ring. It’s all we want to do. We are not celebrating yet. We are focused on TCU and trying to finish the Big 12 off on a good note.”

Self said his team will be fired up for the TCU game, which also will feature the jersey retirement ceremony for Brandon Rush.

“I don’t think it will happen before Wednesday. I don’t even know who plays this week other than us,” Self said. “We’ve gotten some help from some folks, but we don’t anticipate getting any more help. What we need to do is just take care of our own business.

“What I told our guys was we get to go home and get a chance to at least clinch a share. We should be a relaxed team going into that because we’ve been a team that has operated under pressure it seems the last month.”

KU, since the start of Big 12 play, has won games after falling behind by double digits six times — Saturday at Baylor (12 points), at TCU (10), vs. Oklahoma State (11), at Kentucky (12), at Kansas State (12) and vs. West Virginia (14).

KU also overcame nine-point deficits in wins over K-State and at Oklahoma and an eight-point deficit against Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse.

“The guys have responded very well. It’s also very tiring, too,” Self said. “I just hope our guys can relax and play with a free mind, which we have for the most part.”

Graham’s hand swollen, but OK

KU junior Devonté Graham, who hit 1 of 12 shots Saturday at Baylor, had his right thumb and hand wrapped while participating in the clinic.

“I didn’t know he’d done anything to his hand. He said it was swollen today. He wants some sympathy (from Olympians),” Self said with a laugh.

“He won’t complain about that one time with us,” Self added, noting any injury was not serious.

Self’s confidence

Self opened the proceedings by introducing his players to the Olympians and their parents.

“Anybody watch the game yesterday? How many of you thought Landen would make those two free throws?” Self said of Landen Lucas, who cashed two free throws with 11.7 seconds left to account for the final margin of victory.

Most of the Olympians raised their hands.

“I did too,” Self added.

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Jayhawks hold clinic for Special Olympians the day after win over Baylor."