1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

1996–97 Big 12 men's basketball standings
	† 1997 Big 12 Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Maui Invitational Tournament Champions; Big 12 Regular Season Champions; Big 12 Tournament Champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Sweet Sixteen, vs. Arizona L 82-85
Conference	Big 12 Conference
	North
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 1
1996–97 record	34–2 (15–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Roy Williams (9th season);
Home arena	Allen Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 99th basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who served his 9th year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the Jayhawks first year in the newly formed Big 12 Conference. The Big 12 conference was formed by the eight teams of the recently dissolved Big Eight Conference and was joined by Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, all formally of the Southwest Conference which had dissolved following the 1995–1996 school year as well.

Roster[]

Name	#	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Home Town
Nick Bradford	21	Forward/Guard	6-6	175	Freshman	Fayetteville, Arkansas
Joel Branstrom	20	Forward	6-6	197	Senior	Half Moon Bay, California
Jerod Haase	35	Guard	6-3	191	Senior	South Lake Tahoe, California
Raef LaFrentz	45	Forward/Center	6–11	235	Junior	Hampton, Iowa
C.B. McGrath	24	Guard	5-11	173	Junior	Topeka, Kansas
Terry Nooner	5	Guard	5-10	170	Freshman	Raytown, Missouri
Paul Pierce	34	Forward	6–7	220	Sophomore	Inglewood, California
Scot Pollard	31	Center	6–11	265	Senior	San Diego, California
T.J. Pugh	32	Forward/Center	6–8	246	Sophomore	Omaha, Nebraska
Steve Ransom	42	Forward	6–6	205	Senior	Mission Viejo, California
Ryan Robertson	4	Guard	6–5	182	Sophomore	Saint Charles, Missouri
Billy Thomas	12	Guard/Forward	6–4	208	Junior	Shreveport, Louisiana
Jacque Vaughn	11	Guard	6–1	195	Senior	Pasadena, California
B.J. Williams	22	Forward	6–8	206	Senior	Wichita, Kansas

Big 12 Conference standings[]

1996–97 Big 12 Conference men's basketball regular season standings^[2]
#	Team	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
1	Kansas	15-1	.938	34-2	.944
2	Colorado	11-5	.688	22-10	.688
T–3	Texas	10-6	.625	18-12	.600
T–3	Iowa State	10-6	.625	22-9	.710
T–3	Texas Tech	10-6	.625	19-9	.679
6	Oklahoma	9-7	.563	19-11	.613
T–7	Nebraska	7–9	.438	18-15	.545
T–7	Oklahoma State	7-9	.438	17-15	.531
9	Baylor	6-10	.375	18-12	.600
10	Missouri	5-11	.313	16-17	.485
T–11	Texas A&M	3-13	.188	9-18	.333
T–11	Kansas State	3-13	.188	10-17	.370

Schedule[]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/22/1996*	No. 2	at Santa Clara	W 76-64	1–0	Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA
11/25/1996*	No. 2	vs. LSU Maui Invitational Tournament First Round	W 82-53	2–0	Lahaina Civic Center Maui,HI
11/26/1996*	No. 2	vs. California Maui Invitational Tournament Semifinals	W 85-67	3–0	Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI
11/27/1996*	No. 2	vs. Virginia Maui Invitational Tournament Championship Game	W 80-63	4–0	Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI
12/1/1996*	No. 2	San Diego	W 79–72	5–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
12/4/1996*	No. 1	vs. No. 4 Cincinnati Great Eight	W 72–65	6–0	United Center Chicago, IL
12/7/1996*	No. 1	at No. 17 UCLA	W 96–83	7–0	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
12/11/1996*	No. 1	George Washington	W 85–56	8–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawnrence, KS
12/15/1996*	No. 1	UNC Asheville	W 105–73	9–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
12/21/1996*	No. 1	NC State	W 84–56	10–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
12/30/1996*	No. 1	Washburn	W 90–65	11–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/2/1997*	No. 1	Brown	W 107–49	12–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/4/1997	No. 1	at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 62–59	13–0 (1–0)	Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS
1/6/1997	No. 1	No. 18 Texas	W 86–61	14–0 (2–0)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/9/1997*	No. 1	Niagara	W 134–73	15–0	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/11/1997	No. 1	at Baylor	W 87–68	16–0 (3–0)	Ferrell Center Waco, TX
1/13/1997	No. 1	No. 4 Iowa State	W 80–67	17–0 (4–0)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/19/1997*	No. 1	at Connecticut	W 73–65	18–0	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
1/22/1997	No. 1	Texas A&M	W 89–60	19–0 (5–0)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
1/26/1997	No. 1	at No. 18 Colorado	W 77–68	20–0 (6–0)	Coors Events Center Boulder, CO
1/29/1997	No. 1	at No. 22 Texas Tech	W 86–77	21–0 (7–0)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX
2/1/1997	No. 1	Nebraska	W 82–77 ^OT	22–0 (8–0)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/4/1997	No. 1	at Missouri Border War	L 94–96 ^2OT	22–1 (8–1)	Hearnes Center Columbia, MO
2/9/1997	No. 1	at No. 6 Iowa State	W 69–62	23–1 (9–1)	Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA
2/12/1997	No. 1	Oklahoma State	W 104–72	24–1 (10–1)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/15/1997	No. 1	No. 15 Colorado	W 114–74	25–1 (11–1)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/17/1997	No. 1	Missouri Border War	W 79–67	26–1 (12–1)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/22/1997	No. 1	Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 78–58	27–1 (13–1)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS
2/24/1997	No. 1	at Oklahoma	W 70–68	28–1 (14–1)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK
3/2/1997	No. 1	at Nebraska	W 85–65	29–1 (15–1)	Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE
Big 12 Tournament
3/7/1997	No. 1	vs. Oklahoma State Quarterfinals	W 74–59	30–1	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
3/8/1997	No. 1	vs. No. 16 Iowa State Semifinals	W 72–48	31–1	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
3/9/1997	No. 1	vs. Missouri Championship Game	W 87–60	32–1	Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO
NCAA Tournament
3/13/1997*	(1 SE) No. 1	vs. (16 SE) Jackson State First Round	W 78–64	33–1	Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN
3/15/1997*	(1 SE) No. 1	vs. (8 SE) Purdue Second Round	W 75–61	34–1	Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN
3/21/1997*	(1 SE) No. 1	vs. (4 SE) No. 15 Arizona Regional Semifinals	L 82–85	34–2	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parenthesis. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

^[3]

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Not released
Coaches	1	1*	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	5

*There was no coaches poll in week 1. ^[4]

Team players in the 1997 NBA Draft[]

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	19	Scot Pollard	Detroit Pistons
1	27	Jacque Vaughn	Utah Jazz

^[5]

References[]

^ "2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^ "Big 12 Record Book (PDF)" (PDF) (Press release). Big 12 Conference. 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
^ "Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball 1996-97 Season Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (English) on 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. p. 1053-1054. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
^ "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

[Standings-1] "2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.

[2] "Big 12 Record Book (PDF)" (PDF) (Press release). Big 12 Conference. 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2013-07-14.

[Schedule-3] "Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball 1996-97 Season Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (English) on 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2013-06-14.

[rankings-4] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. p. 1053-1054. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[5] "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

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[5]

v t Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Venues	Robinson Gymnasium (1907–1927) Hoch Auditorium (1927–1955) Allen Fieldhouse (1955–present)
Rivalries	Kansas State (results) Missouri
Culture & lore	Big Jay Baby Jay Champions Classic "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" Jayhawkers
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Helms and NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Maui Invitational Tournament Champions Big 12 Regular Season Champions Big 12 Tournament Champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Sweet Sixteen, vs. Arizona L 82-85
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Division	North
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 1
1996–97 record	34–2 (15–1 Big 12)
Head coach	Roy Williams (9th season)
Home arena	Allen Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	1	.938	34	–	2	.944
No. 24 Colorado	11	–	5	.688	22	–	10	.688
Texas	10	–	6	.625	18	–	12	.600
No. 18 Iowa State	10	–	6	.625	22	–	9	.710
Texas Tech	10	–	6	.625	19	–	9	.679
Oklahoma	9	–	7	.563	19	–	11	.633
Nebraska	7	–	9	.438	18	–	15	.545
Oklahoma State	7	–	9	.438	17	–	15	.531
Baylor	6	–	10	.375	18	–	12	.600
Missouri	5	–	11	.313	16	–	17	.485
Texas A&M	3	–	13	.188	9	–	18	.333
Kansas State	3	–	13	.188	10	–	17	.370

† 1997 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll ^[1]