Former KU Jayhawks star Gradey Dick explains why it’s so special to win at Missouri
If you ask anyone associated with the University of Kansas or Missouri about their rival school, there’s usually nothing positive that’ll come from that person’s mouth.
More often than not, the disdain is palpable, if not vulgar.
Former Kansas men’s basketball star and current Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick didn’t quite go that far in describing his feelings about Missouri. But he’s certainly not a fan of the Tigers.
“Beat them bad,” Dick said in a phone interview with The Star, “and then you can celebrate different.”
The Jayhawks will face off against MU on Sunday in Columbia for another iteration of the Border War.
Make no mistake — both sides care about this game.
“I didn’t approach it as just another game because in all honesty it’s not just another game,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
It’s the first time KU will play in Columbia since Dick’s lone season with the Jayhawks in 2022-23. Kansas rolled to a dominant 95-67 win over the Tigers that season.
“Last time we played at Mizzou, it couldn’t get (loud) because we blew them out the first five to 10 minutes,” KU point guard Dajuan Harris said. “So hopefully it’s different this time, because I actually want to feel the rivalry. Y’all seen it growing up, and it was different.”
Dick had 16 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the floor with seven rebounds and five assists in that prior meeting.
It was Dick’s breakout game. He managed to silence a crowd of 15,061 spectators inside a hostile, sold-out Mizzou Arena.
A crowd that wasn’t shy in using his last name to come up with vulgar-yet-creative insults. (Other crowds tried the same later in the season.)
“That might have been (the game) that they started with my last name to get in my head,” Dick said. “Obviously, it didn’t work out.”
For the KU one-and-done, it was special. A Wichita native, Dick grew up a Kansas fan and had dreamed of playing against Missouri.
He relished playing the villain role at Kansas, so it’s no surprise he called it the most fun away game and overall environment — outside of Allen Fieldhouse — in his lone season with the Jayhawks.
“To be able to go out there in Columbia and beat them pretty bad was a pretty great feeling,” he said. “Then to have a good game on top of that was very special for me and my family.”
Dick told The Star he keeps in contact with the team and is hoping to make his way back to Lawrence in the future.
Even after the Jayhawks’ loss to Creighton on Wednesday, Dick said he wasn’t worried.
He believed the KU loss would be a learning experience. He also called this current KU squad “deep” and thinks the team can make a run in March.
He even left some advice for newcomers playing in their first Border War.
“Obviously, it will mean more to the fans and people away from the team, but it’s really just: ‘Go out there and play how you’ve been playing this year,’” Dick said. “’(Don’t) play any different because it’s a fun rival.’”
