Photo above courtesy of Washburn Athletics
By Ian Echlin
SAN ANTONIO – Washburn University head coach Brett Ballard returns to San Antonio for the first time since the Kansas Jayhawks won the national championship at the Alamodome in 2008.
After playing for the Jayhawks for two seasons (2001 and ’02), Ballard had moved on to coaching and was an administrative assistant for the Jayhawks in ’08.
“I’m really lucky to be around those opportunities, and this is my first time back in San Antonio since ’08,” Ballard said. “It’s cool to be back, and really cool to support the Jayhawks.”
Ballard, while attending the NABC coaches convention in San Antonio, is also a fan. He’ll be rooting for his alma mater playing for its fourth NCAA championship.
Coached by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams, Ballard experienced his first Final Four, 2002, in Atlanta. The year before in San Antonio wasn’t such a good memory. KU lost in a regional semifinal at the Alamodome against Illinois coached by Bill Self.
The KU network of connections helped Ballard’s coaching career to a lift-off when he assisted under KU legend Danny Manning at Tulsa and moved with Manning when hired as the head coach at Wake Forest.
Ballard says there’s a legacy to be carried on when you play at Kansas.
“Once you get into it, you start to get a sense of the history and the tradition and you feel a sense that you want to carry on the legacy that those players before you established,” Ballard said.
After the experience of coaching with Manning at Tulsa and Wake Forest, Ballard has a chance to transfer that influence to his own program as the Washburn Ichabods head coach.
In his first year, the Ichabods made it to the MIAA championship game before succumbing to defending national champion Northwest Missouri. Despite the Ichabods’ runner-up finish in the tournament, they were able to grab an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.
Besides tackling the issues facing coaches at the convention, Ballard on this trip to San Antonio will enjoy the chance to cheer on his alma mater. “That’s my school; that’s my team,” Ballard said. “I love cheering on the Jayhawks whenever I get an opportunity to.”