Senior night is always special at Allen Fieldhouse. Sometimes it means a little extra for Kansas Basketball players and fans, tonight is one of those nights.
Senior night for Kansas Basketball is comparable to the average “This is Us” episode. There will be laughter, reflection, celebration, and before it’s all over, tears. Lots and lots of tears. It doesn’t matter who the seniors are. Does not matter what type of season they’ve had. All that matters is that this will be the last game they ever play at home. It’s saying good-bye to someone you love.
Monday night’s game means just a little more this year than previous senior nights, for multiple reasons. The quest for 14 was conquered this season. Many people felt this team would fail at that quest, including myself at different moments throughout the season. Then there are those that will be honored after the game.
Devonte’ Graham
Devonte’ Graham is a special Jayhawk. He had a story book career at Kansas. There absolutely was no other guy that should have been responsible for leading the Jayhawks this season. A season where history was made. A season that not only exemplifies what this seasons kids have done, but what the previous teams all accomplished before hand. Well over 100 players have been a part of this streak.
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In fact, at Kansas, what each team accomplishes becomes a part of the air that Kansas University breathes. Players, coaches, students, fans, professors and so on that came before are a part of everything special that comes across the threshold. Players in the eighties, sixties, and beyond are a part of this streak. Talk about pressure.
Graham waited his turn. He followed lottery picks and a National Player of the Year. When it came time for it to be his responsibility, it just so happened it was this season. The final stretch of the road to 14 straight.
Graham has continued to get better each season. He went from averaging 5.7 points per game his freshman year to 17.9 this season. His assists went from 2.1 to 7.1 per game. He stepped into mighty big shoes left behind Frank Mason, and he looked mighty good wearing them. He carried this team down the stretch. He took the responsibility. As of right now, he has 1,595 points and 555 assists for his career, giving him a solid place in Jayhawks history.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
Svi was just a kid when he arrived in Lawrence. As a senior, he is still too young to purchase beer. The kid can play basketball. Svi has been the right hand to Graham this season. Without the sharp shooting from Svi, Kansas would have had quite the different tale this season.
When Svi arrived, he was a deep threat shooter. That threat grew the more experience he gained. So did the rest of his game. He mastered dishing the ball inside, he became a threat to drive the basketball, his defense became more tough. He has a killer instinct. When he shoots, you expect the ball to go in.
Svi has gotten significantly better each season as well. From averaging 2.8 points per game his freshman year, and 9.8 his junior year, he has averaged 15.6 points per game this season. He has shot 44% from the field this season, matching his percentage from behind the three-point line. Almost nothing brings Allen Fieldhouse to its feet more than a Svi deep ball.
Clay Young
Young is part of unique group of Jayhawks players. Young has not managed more than 8 minutes per game his entire career. He’s never averaged more than one point per game. As of right now his career stat line looks like this. 15 points, 12 personal fouls, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Take those stats and you may not be impressed. It’s the things Young does at practice and off the court that makes Young special. First and foremost, Clay Young is a Kansas Jayhawk. He always will be. He is a senior member of the team that got 14 straight.
Just like all the role players before him, he is valuable to this team. Five years from now when Young visits he will be received as much as Graham will be. It’s the things he does off camera that makes him special.
In closing
It’s going to be hard for Texas to come in and ruin the Jayhawks night. Make no doubt about it, these seniors want to win their last game at home. The fans may even want that more. This team wants this title outright, and they want that now, not later.
Next: Best seasons ever for Kansas Basketball
It will be an emotional game for Kansas players, coaches and fans. It will be an emotional good-bye afterward.
Thank you Devonte’, Svi, and Clay for your contribution over the last four years. You will not be forgotten. Thank you for proving us all wrong. Thank you for bringing home the 14th straight.