Each week, we bring you the most memorable quotes from athletes, coaches, and sports personalities who are making waves for KU.
Quote #1
Senior quarterback Jason Bean
Oct. 7, 2023, after the Jayhawks' 51-22 home win over UCF
"I think we can run on anybody in the country, just as long as we do our job, our assignments, do what we're coached to do. I think our running game is up there with the best of them.”
Context: In Bean's third start of the season for injured starter Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks actually needed him very little. KU (5-1 overall, 2-1 in Big 12 play) racked up 399 yards on 51 carries, with junior running back Devin Neal leading the game with 154 yards on just 12 carries, adding a touchdown to his day. The Jayhawks averaged 7.8 yards per carry with five touchdowns on the ground in Saturday’s win. Daniel Hishaw Jr. added a career-best 134 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 19 carries and back-up Dylan McDuffie finished with 91 yards and 2 TDs on 13 carries.
Quote #2
Kansas men’s basketball head coach Bill Self
Oct. 11, 2023, at a joint press conference with Self & KU AD Travis Goff
“I actually did feel like it was fair and I actually felt like it should have been done by the rule. We had a player participate while ineligible due to an illicit payment that we knew nothing about, but he was still ineligible while participating. So the 15 wins that occurred while Silvio participated in the 2018 spring semester — he didn’t play in 2017 — I believe are warranted to be taken away, because that is the rule. If you take away the wins, you naturally take away a banner, because the banner wouldn’t have existed without the wins.”
Context: After Wednesday's long-awaited IARP ruling came out, Self was asked during an afternoon press conference if he thought KU being forced to vacate 15 wins from the 2017-18 season and take down the 2018 Final Four banner was fair and Self did not hesitate to answer. Although the NCAA twice cleared former KU forward Silvio De Sousa to play, the NCAA and FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball revealed that De Sousa should have been ineligible, therefore the 15 wins he participated in, during his 20 appearances that season, were subject to being vacated. The wins move KU from 8 ahead to 7 behind Kentucky on college basketball's all-time wins list, but the saga is over. Luckily for the Jayhawks, the Final Four banner is one that features all of the years in which KU reached a Final Four. So, technically, the banner will stay in the Allen Fieldhouse rafters, but the year 2018 will be removed from it.
Quote #3
Kansas soccer head coach Mark Francis
Oct. 8, 2023 after a 2-0 home loss to the Houston Cougars
"(Houston) had five shots, three on target and scored two. That’s pretty damn efficient. We have to be better. You can’t have that many shots and not manage to put one in the back of the net. We had a couple that were wide open opportunities. Everyone has to be a little better so that we can collectively can finish some of these opportunities and get some results.”
Context: Despite the shutout loss to the Cougars, the Jayhawks outshot Houston 16-5 and led 5-3 in shots on goal. Kansas (3-6-6 overall, 0-5-2 in Big 12 play) held the Cougars to just one shot in the first half and just four in the second, but Houston managed to bury two in the back of the net.
