‘We were offended’: How a fire ignited a Kansas Jayhawks women’s basketball revival
Holly Kersgieter tied her basketball shoes then quickly made her way outside Allen Fieldhouse, joining the rest of her teammates at their coach’s request.
Brandon Schneider hadn’t explained the reason for the get-together. But as Kersgieter stepped to the fieldhouse’s front lawn on a windy afternoon in early October, she sensed something bizarre was about to happen.
The metal bucket next to the Kansas women’s basketball coach gave it away.
Schneider, as he explains it now, was one of many on KU’s staff who “were pissed.” The Big 12 released the preseason coaches poll that day, and the Jayhawks — in Schneider’s seventh season — were picked to finish last by a long shot.
“We were offended,” Schneider said.
And the best way to get over it, KU’s coach figured, was to invite his team for his own spin on a fireside chat.
Schneider printed off a copy of the poll for everyone, then had each player toss her sheet of paper into the bucket next to him.
Using an old cigar lighter, Schneider took great joy in the next step.
He set each of them aflame.
“It was a day to remember,” Kersgieter said.
And also the best place to start when trying to explain the renaissance that’s taken place with the KU women’s basketball team this season.
At 19-6 entering Saturday’s game against Baylor, the Jayhawks are on the verge of their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013. They’ve already solidified their best Big 12 record in more than two decades and recently won seven straight games, tying the longest regular-season conference win streak in school history.
“I think the trajectory of the program,” Schneider said, “is the best it’s been in a long, long time.”
But how did the Jayhawks post this turn-around so quickly? And what happened this season in particular that propelled a 7-18 squad last year into the thick of this season’s Big 12 race?
Schneider will tell you there’s a lot that’s gone into it, including the addition of a missing piece, the acknowledgment of a mistake and the formation of confidence through early-season results.
Before anything else, though, you have to start with the fire.
“From then on, things went upward every day,” Kersgieter said. “You couldn’t cheat the process, and it started with that.”
A team doesn’t have to have extra motivation each year as the starting point for a successful season.
This time, though? Schneider didn’t mind letting the Big 12 set this one for his team.
With a two-word slogan — adorned on team T-shirts — guiding each action for the Jayhawks over their next few months.
‘I sure think we learned from our mistakes’
Schneider leans forward at his office desk, ready to admit something difficult: Part of the reason he’s needed seven years to get KU to this point is because of missteps he made.
When he first arrived at KU, he had visions of a quicker rebuild. What got in the way, though, were some recruiting decisions that ended up backfiring.
In particular: Schneider didn’t always target the types of high-character people he’d succeeded with at previous stops Emporia State and Stephen F. Austin.
“Chasing talent because maybe you feel you’re so deprived of it that you make some sacrifices. And that didn’t work for me. That didn’t work for me and how we like to operate a program,” Schneider said. “And it impacted us in a negative way, but I sure think we learned from our mistakes.”
Schneider said he and his assistants made a conscious effort a few years ago: Put culture and chemistry above everything. And while it’s taken a few recruiting classes to get to this point, he now has a team full of players he enjoys coaching that also has “zero issues off the court.”
Basketball-wise, though, Schneider knew his team still was missing a key piece — even if he was already higher on his personnel than the rest of the Big 12 world.
Two seasons ago, Schneider said his 15-14 Jayhawks would’ve accepted a WNIT invitation before COVID canceled postseason basketball. KU followed by taking a pandemic-related step back to 7-18 in 2021, as it went through numerous pauses while also dealing with four opt-outs and a constantly changing player rotation.
Through all that, Schneider still sensed his team was better than it seemed; KU lost 10 Big 12 games by 10 points or fewer, meaning competitiveness appeared much closer than what the final tally indicated.
Schneider needed a starting center, though. The roster shuffle had him playing all-Big 12 freshman selection Ioanna Chatzileonti as an undersized 5, putting her out of position and leaving KU without a defensive stopper in the back.
KU’s trajectory changed, then, when Schneider landed 6-foot-6 post player Taiyanna Jackson out of Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas.
Jackson, a top-100 ESPN prospect out of high school, has been a revelation while anchoring KU’s interior. She’s tied for the conference lead in blocks per game, and thanks to her quickness and ability to create steals, she’s already in the conversation for Big 12 defensive player of the year.
Add Jackson to KU’s other developing players, and Schneider has a greater comfort level than any other time in his tenure. Kersgieter is the reliable scorer who was a preseason all-Big 12 first-team selection, while Chatzileonti and Zakiyah Franklin previously won Big 12 honors during their freshman seasons.
Schneider says the Jayhawks don’t have a conference MVP candidate, but they do have four players he thinks can play at an all-league-type level on any given night.
And an early-season loss helped build confidence, as unorthodox as that might seem. After starting 4-0, KU played top-10 Tennessee at a Thanksgiving tournament, remaining competitive to the end in a 68-58 defeat. Then, about a month later, the Jayhawks picked up a season-defining overtime win at No. 13 Texas, giving them their first road victory over a ranked conference foe since 2012.
Other records have fallen as part of KU’s 19-6 start. The Jayhawks, at 10-5 in the Big 12, have secured their first winning record in conference play since 2000. With one more victory, they’ll also have their first 20-win regular season since 1998-99.
It’s all led to some organic buzz. On Monday, for instance, Kersgieter was told to stand up in front of the class by her journalism professor; he wanted to talk about the women’s basketball team’s success this year while also predicting they’d crack into the AP Top 25 soon.
Jackson, meanwhile, can’t help but notice that KU’s student turnout at games has multiplied in recent weeks. She also got a kick out of a fan sign she’d seen — “Rank us!” — while playing in a recent home game.
So much relates back to the team following through on its motto and rallying cry. Once the Big 12 preseason poll was released, Schneider not only put random “10” posters up around the team facility to remind his players of the slight, but he also had team shirts made up that often have gone perfectly under practice gear and coaches’ quarter-zip pullovers.
“Demand respect,” the shirts read.
KU has done that. But what comes next is essential too.
Just the beginning?
Six-foot-4 center Chisom Ajekwu hasn’t attempted a game three-pointer in her three-year career, but that didn’t stop her from hoisting one up early during a shoot-around ahead of KU’s practice on Tuesday.
Schneider was right there to watch it. When the shot swished through, he was in the middle of the uproar that followed, players and coaches nearly tipping over in disbelief and laughter.
It’s a side of Schneider that he’s embraced more with time. Early in his career, he admits to treating basketball like a business. Winning was more expectation than joy, with Schneider’s no-nonsense approach spilling over to nearly every part of his program.
That’s mellowed some for the man who just turned 50, as he says the last few years have given him new perspective.
“It’s just been really fun to step back and watch players celebrate,” Schneider said. “Because (winning) is hard. It’s hard. And you don’t know that when you’re a young coach. You don’t know how hard it is.”
So Schneider is soaking this up.
After KU’s road win over Texas Tech last week — the Jayhawks’ seventh straight victory — the coach happily accepted the water-bottle drenching that was coming from his players in the locker room. The result was part of a run that helped him earn ESPN.com’s national coach of the week honors Monday.
Schneider wouldn’t be true to himself, though, if he didn’t aspire for more, believing that only those who dream big can eventually get to those far-off places.
The first step, he says, is for KU to be a consistent participant in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks appear on their way toward starting that trend this season, projected as a No. 9 seed in ESPN’s latest Bracketology.
If KU gets there, Schneider will be interested to see how his players respond to their first time in that setting.
Because this group — in his eyes — should have more opportunities in the years to come.
The Jayhawks’ only non-eligible player to return next season is guard Julie Brosseau, and because of new COVID rules, three of KU’s top performers in Jackson, Kersgieter and Chatzileonti all potentially could have multiple years remaining.
“I think hopefully,” Schneider said, “our best basketball is ahead of us.”
There’s still more, though, to accomplish this season.
With three regular-season games remaining against ranked foes — at No. 5 Baylor, home vs. No. 11 Texas, at No. 20 Oklahoma — two of the weekly goals on the Jayhawks’ film-room board are still attainable:
1. 20 wins in the regular season
2. Improve NCAA seed
Wednesday was a setback. After Schneider centered his team’s film-room talk on the importance of getting out to ninth-ranked Iowa State’s three-point shooters, the Cyclones made seven perimeter shots in the first quarter on their way to an 85-59 win over KU at Allen Fieldhouse. That snapped the Jayhawks’ seven-game win streak.
Longtime Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly remained undeterred with his praise for KU afterward, saying he respected what Schneider had built in his program.
“People here love basketball obviously,” Fennelly said. “And I think this is a team and a program that’s easy to fall in love with because they’re doing it right.”
Schneider told his players in the locker room afterward they’d need to move on quickly. Another challenging game was ahead Saturday, and the Jayhawks still have work to do.
If he needs an extra boost in one of KU’s seven remaining regular-season practices, Schneider knows he can go back to an old favorite too.
He can stop a drill, then tell his players something he knows will fire them up because it has already this season.
“Guys,” he’ll say, “we’re practicing like a 10th-place team.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
