🏀 Kansas Men’s Basketball Receives Honor
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In recognizing winning the 2022 NCAA National Championship, Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self spent his Thursday evening receiving the 2022 Sportsmen of the Year on behalf of the KU team at the 49th Annual Kansas City Sports Awards banquet in downtown Kansas City.
Kansas was represented by Self, director of athletics Travis Goff and other KU administrators for the prestigious event hosted by the Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation at the Muelbach Tower of the Marriott Downtown. KU’s award was one of six presented at the banquet.
The 2022 national champion Jayhawks went 34-6, tied for the Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-4 record, won the Big 12 Tournament, advanced to KU’s 16th Final Four and won Kansas’ sixth national title, fourth in NCAA history. KU won its final 11 games of the 2021-22 season defeating Villanova and North Carolina in the Final Four in New Orleans. Additionally, in its NCAA Tournament run, Kansas became the all-time winningest program in NCAA Division I history, currently at 2,357 all-time wins.
“Coaches know better than anyone else what a team’s ceiling is,” Self said to the capacity crowd. “We’ve had great teams that I thought operated close to their ceiling. But this year’s team went all the way against it because of intangibles. You can’t win without players, but you can’t win championships without players and intangibles and this team possessed all that.”
49th Annual Kansas City Sports Awards – 2022 Honorees
Executives of the Year – Kansas City Current (Angie Long, Chris Long, Brittany Mahomes)
Spire Community Champion – Brenda VanLengen, Emmy-Award winning broadcaster
Coach of the Year – Joe Calfapietra (Kansas City Monarchs)
SPORTSMEN OF THE YEAR – KANSAS JAYHAWKS (MEN’S BASKETBALL)
Sportswoman of the Year – Ayoka Lee (Kansas State)
Professional Achievement Award 0 Vahe Gregorian (Kansas City Star)
