The 2006–07 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Jayhawks for the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

men's intercollegiate basketball season of 2006–07. The team was led by

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

in his fourth season as head coach. The team played its home games in

Allen Fieldhouse Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas. It is home of the Kansas Jayhawks men's and women's basketball teams. The arena is named after Phog Allen, a former player and head coach for the Jayhaw ...

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. The Jayhawks' won the regular season championship with fourteen conference wins—the third straight season in which the team has claimed a share of the championship. In postseason play the team defeated its conference opponents to claim its second straight title. In the NCAA Division I tournament, the Jayhawks were defeated in the Elite Eight.

Recruiting

Season Synopsis

After returning every key player from the 2006 team that shared the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

regular season title with the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

and defeated Texas for the conference tournament title, the Jayhawks expected to repeat as Big 12 champs and contend for the national title in 2006–07. ESPN's Andy Katz had ranked the Jayhawks as the second best team in the nation for the preseason, while

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...

had the Jayhawks ranked third. The starting lineup included

Russell Robinson Russell Robinson Jr. (born January 24, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Levski Lukoil of the NBL. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas where he won an NCAA championship in 2008. He h ...

(guard),

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard "Mario" Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

(guard),

Brandon Rush Brandon Leray Rush (born July 7, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, before being traded to the Indiana Pacers on draft day, after pl ...

(small forward),

Julian Wright Julian Emil-Jamaal Wright (born May 20, 1987) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas. In 2014–15, he was the top rebounder in the Israel Basketball Premier League. High school ...

(power/small forward), and

Sasha Kaun Sacha, Sasha, Sascha, or ''variant'' may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alexander Coe * Sasha (German singer) (born 1972), born Sas ...

(Center).

Darrell Arthur Darrell Antwonne Arthur (born March 25, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks for two seasons where he was part of the 2007–08 national championship team. He was draf ...

and

Sherron Collins Sherron Marlon Collins (born March 18, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Kansas City Tornados of the NAPB (NAPB). He formerly played for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Associati ...

were the nucleus of Bill Self's recruiting class for the 06–07 season and provided valuable minutes coming off the bench. Some key returnees included

Darnell Jackson Darnell Edred Jackson (born November 7, 1985) is an American professional basketball player, who lastly played for BM Slam Ostrów Wielkopolski of the PLK. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas for four seasons, including th ...

and

Jeremy Case Jeremy Case is an American college basketball coach who is an assistant coach at the University of Kansas. He won an National Championship as a player at Kansas in 2008 and won another championship as an assistant coach in 2022. High school caree ...

. One early-season casualty was C.J. Giles. He was suspended in early November for failure to attend practices, for poor showing in the classroom, and because of unpaid child support. He was to have been reinstated for the Winston-Salem State game, but another incident involving charges of

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

against his ex-girlfriend left Bill Self with no choice but to dismiss the troubled center from the team. Giles transferred to play for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for c ...

. His problems, however, persisted to a degree that he was dismissed from OSU in January 2008. Following the victory over #1 ranked and defending National Champion Florida in Las Vegas, athletic director

Lew Perkins Lew Perkins (born March 24, 1945) is a former athletic director, ending his 40-year career at the University of Kansas. Perkins joined KU in June 2003, taking over for Al Bohl. Perkins previously held similar positions with the University of Co ...

announced that he had extended Coach Bill Self's contract through 2011. Until February 3, no team from the Big 12 South division had ever beaten Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse since the conference's formation in the 1996 offseason. That streak came to an end when

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

came from 11 down to beat KU 69–66; this also marked the first time ever that the Aggies had beaten the Jayhawks. As it turned out, that would be the last time until 2011 that anyone would beat the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse, as KU would go on to post a school and conference record 69-game homecourt winning streak. There were two streaks that remained intact. Kansas extended its streak of consecutive home wins against

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

to 24 with a 97–74 victory on January 27, 2007. KU also maintained the 24-game on-the-road win streak against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

in Manhattan with a 71–62 victory in

Bramlage Coliseum Fred Bramlage Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena in Manhattan, Kansas with an official capacity of 11,654. It is the home to the K-State Men's and Women's basketball teams and serves as an alternative venue for K-State Women's Volleyball. The faci ...

on February 19, 2007. KU won the final five games with KSU in

Ahearn Fieldhouse Ahearn Field House is one of the athletic buildings on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It was the former home of the Kansas State Wildcats, Wildcats Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball, men's basketball team, and is ...

and the first 19 meetings in Bramlage through 2007. Kansas won the 2007 regular season Big 12 championship, finishing in first place with a 14–2 record in conference play. In doing so, they clinched their third straight regular season title and their first outright Big 12 title since 2003, having settled for ties with Oklahoma and Texas the previous two seasons. They came from down 16 against Texas to win 90–86, leading by as many as 10 at one point and holding on for the four-point win. The title is the Jayhawks' 50th all-time since joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 1907–08. It is also KU's fifth outright Big 12 championship and seventh overall. The outright title gave Kansas the top seed for the Big 12 Tournament and a bye for the preliminary rounds of play. In the quarterfinal, KU faced ninth-seed Oklahoma and prevailed 64–47. In the semifinal, KU faced fourth-seed Kansas State and prevailed 67–61. Finally, in the title game, KU defeated Texas 88–84 in overtime to win the Big 12 Tournament. They pulled off an even bigger comeback than in the regular-season meeting, coming from down 22 to win. The 22-point comeback is the biggest in KU history, eclipsing the 19-point comeback in an 85–70 win over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1995. Kansas earned the top seed for the West Region of the

2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball sea ...

. In subregional action at the

United Center United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named ...

in Chicago, KU defeated

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

107–67 and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

88–76. In the Sweet 16, KU escaped a tough defensive stance from

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

, winning 61–58 at

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San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. The victory sent KU to the Elite Eight against the second-seeded

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

, but they lost 68–55, their largest margin of defeat all season. KU has never won a game against UCLA in NCAA Tournament play, losing all five meetings. The loss also left Bill Self at 0–4 all-time in Elite Eight games, having lost with Tulsa, Illinois, and Kansas (twice), a problem he eliminated the following season. Kansas finished the season 33–5, winning the Big 12 regular-season and postseason championships, reaching the Elite Eight, and achieving the seventh 30-win season in school history. On April 9, 2007, sophomore forward

announced that he would forgo his junior and senior seasons, hire an agent (therefore forfeiting his amateur status and college eligibility), and enter his name into the NBA draft. Teammate and fellow sophomore

had originally chosen to follow suit, announcing on April 26, 2007 his plan of entering his name into the NBA draft, but decided to not hire an agent (therefore allowing him to return to KU if he decided to withdraw his name from the draft). However, after tearing his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in a pickup game of basketball, Rush changed his mind and decided to return for his junior season at KU. Rush's surgery was successful; and, as it turned out the following season, the injury was a blessing in disguise for Rush and the Jayhawks.

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9, Exhibition , - !colspan=9, Regular season , - !colspan=9, Big 12 tournament , - !colspan=9, NCAA tournament

Awards

;Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year :

(Sophomore, Guard) ;Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week :

(Sophomore, Forward), November 27 and March 5 (co-winner) ;All-Big 12 First Team :

(Sophomore, Guard) :Julian Wright ;Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team :Brandon Rush :Julian Wright

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball Team Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball seasons

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Kansas Jayhawks men's b Kansas Jayhawks men's b