Projo Sports Blog

By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Fights between members of the University of Kansas football and basketball teams the past two days may have shocked fans of the nationally ranked programs, but former players say the hostilities are nothing new.

The latest fights, which broke out Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, were the culmination of a turf war that has been simmering for years, sources close to both programs told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday.

The sources said that football and basketball players have been involved in numerous altercations with each other during the last five years. They just never went public -- until now.

"It's always been a feud between basketball and football players," said a recently graduated former KU football player who asked to remain anonymous. "It's been an ongoing thing."

A recently departed former Kansas basketball player had the same experience.

"It's about who's more popular on campus with the girls and stuff like that," said the player, who also requested anonymity. "It's escalated really bad now, but it's always been there."

There's certainly no hiding it now, not after a rash of violent behavior broke out in the middle of campus at two high-profile locations during an ugly 24-hour period.

When the chaotic events had ended, basketball guard Tyshawn Taylor had dislocated a finger while throwing a punch and announced it to the world on his Facebook page; basketball players had been escorted from a conflict in a van provided by athletic department personnel; and athletic director Lew Perkins had brought the teams together for a meeting in an effort to put the drama behind them.

Sources indicate it might not be that easy. The former football player said the tensions between the No. 20 football team and presumptive No. 1 basketball team have been even more evident since last spring, when a fight between members of the two programs began at a campus bar and moved to Jayhawker Towers, where the athletes stay, after the offending players were kicked out of the bar.

Those tensions came to a "boiling point," the source said, on Tuesday night when reports of a fight between players first came across police scanners.

The altercation, which took place in the parking lot outside the Burge Union near Jayhawker Towers, began because Taylor and football cornerback Anthony Davis had issues relating to a woman, the source said. According to a police report narrative, a witness stated that members of the two teams were "baiting" each other, and it escalated "into taunting and shouting and then fighting." Witnesses said about 100 people were gathered in the parking lot.

Officers were unable to identify the individuals who were doing the fighting, but Taylor announced his involvement on his Facebook page early Wednesday morning.

"I got a dislocated finger . . . from throwing a punch ...," Taylor wrote.

Taylor was treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital on Tuesday night and released, but the drama between the football and basketball programs was only beginning.

Police were called to Jayhawker Towers later Tuesday night. And then around 10 a.m. Wednesday, police scanners lit up again with reports of another fight between players outside Wescoe Hall near a common area called "Wescoe Beach," a popular spot where many students congregate.

The school newspaper, the University Daily Kansan, reported on its Web site Wednesday afternoon that witnesses said players were shouting racial slurs at each other and throwing punches.

A witness heard a football player yell, "What did you say?" and saw him run up a flight of stairs behind Budig Hall, which is adjacent to Wescoe. The witness then reported that one of the basketball players threw the football player down the stairs. The player toppled down the stairs before being caught by another football player. The witness told the paper that several fights then began immediately.

Another witness said police arrived five minutes later. Schuyler Bailey, the captain of the KU Public Safety Office, told The Star that the fighting had stopped when officers arrived.
The Kansan reported that the list of basketball players on the scene also included Taylor, Sherron Collins, Mario Little, Brady Morningstar, Travis Releford, Tyrel Reed, Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson. Football players Dezmon Briscoe and Chris Harris were seen talking to police. KU assistant coach Joe Dooley was also reported to have arrived on the scene.

A video on the Kansan Web site showed basketball players shielding their faces while being ushered into a van by KU associate athletic director Sean Lester. The van was driven by former KU basketball player and current graduate student manager Brennan Bechard.

The incident was witnessed by countless classmates, whose emotions ranged from angry to just amused.

Daniel Simanovsky, a junior from Overland Park, wondered what reasons football and basketball players had to get in fights when they were beneficiaries of full-ride scholarships while other KU students fork over thousands of dollars for an education.

"I feel like they need to chill out," Simanovsky said. "They've got the good life."

To remind them of that and to clear the air between the two programs, Perkins met with the teams in the Anderson Family Football Complex on Wednesday afternoon. Coaches from both teams attended, although KU basketball coach Bill Self hadn't yet returned from a recruiting trip.

"I am disappointed that some of our student-athletes put themselves in this position, and it's something that I am taking very seriously," Perkins said in a statement.

KU football coach Mark Mangino said the meeting was helpful and that, as of Wednesday afternoon, he didn't think any of his players would be suspended for Saturday's game against Southern Mississippi.

Self refused to comment until he had compiled more information. KU basketball players
Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins and football captains Todd Reesing, Jake Sharp, Kerry Meier and Darrell Stuckey issued a combined statement, which emphasized that they all play for the name on the front of the jersey: Kansas.

Bailey, whose officers had no success identifying the players involved in the fights, said that he can't press charges because nobody involved has come forward as a victim.
"We're hoping they get themselves under control," Bailey said.

Both the former football and basketball players said that they noticed the animosity immediately upon arriving on campus.

"I just know personally when I first got there, I just felt like the football players didn't like me," the former basketball player said. "I felt like they were jealous of the attention we got, the notoriety we got."

Both sources agreed that the football players began to feel more entitled after their successful 2007 season.

"When we were told we were going to the Orange Bowl, you walked with your head high," the former football player said. "Then, I can tell you, as soon as KU won the national championship (in basketball), we were just like, 'Wow, we're not at the top anymore.' "

The former basketball player said: "Basically, you got two programs that are pretty good programs now. You've got guys walking around with their chests out. It's inevitable."

Both sources, now removed from their college careers, look back on it now and see the conflict between the programs as juvenile.

"It's a big ego thing," the former football player said. "It's like who pretty much runs the school, who's better."

Matt Erickson contributed to this report.

 Tags  Kansas

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