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LAWRENCE -- University of Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams will teach a session in KU Continuing Education's KU for Lawrence series on KU men's basketball that begins Sept. 17.
The four-session course, "KU Men's Basketball: Legends, Traditions and the 6th Man," meets Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday, Oct. 2, at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center, just west of Allen Fieldhouse. Bob Frederick, assistant to the chancellor and former director of athletics at KU, will moderate the series, and Williams will teach the final session, Tuesday, Oct. 8.
"We've had great response to this course, but space is still available," said Heather Hoy, KUCE program manager. "When we first announced it in July, we had 50 people register in one day. One couple who live in the Kansas City area notified their son living in Delaware, who plans to attend."
In addition to courtside and behind-the-scenes perspectives on KU men's basketball, the course will include discussions with KU sports figures such as Williams; Bob Davis and Max Falkenstien, sports broadcasters; and Jerry Waugh, former player and men's basketball assistant coach at KU.
Session topics will include race relations, broadcasting, successful coaching and understanding the game. Each session will include short presentations on the KU basketball collection archives held at the Spencer Research Library by William J. "Bill" Crowe, Spencer librarian, and Sheryl Williams, university archivist.
The course begins Sept. 17 with a reminder that James Naismith's motivation in inventing basketball was a desire to find "something that should appeal to young men's play instincts." Norman Yetman, KU professor of American studies and of sociology, will look at the universality of play in human societies. Using KU sports as a case study, the class will explore how the free, spontaneous activity of play was transformed into sport -- with its commercialization, politics and bureaucracy.
On Sept. 24, veteran and beloved "voices of the Jayhawks" Davis and Falkenstien will share their experiences and memories of KU basketball as well as football and the Kansas Relays. They will discuss how they have learned to work together and react so quickly and coherently to the games they broadcast. Participants will have opportunities to ask questions.
The Oct. 2 session is devoted to "Becoming a Superfan & Views from the Court." Half of the session will focus on Allen Fieldhouse "etiquette" and unique KU basketball traditions. During the other half, Waugh, former KU player and coach, will focus on what happens on the court from the perspectives of the coaches, players and referees. He also will share his memories of working with Phog Allen, Wilt Chamberlain and other legendary figures.
Also during the Oct. 2 session. Waugh will join Curtis Marsh, KUCE associate director of marketing, and Joe Zielinski, marketing and communications manager for Sprint, to talk about rituals of diehard fans and offer tips on getting into the pre- and post-game excitement.
In the final session, Oct. 8, Williams will explain his principles of teaching, how he connects with current and past players, and his commitment to involving his basketball teams in community activities. He will describe the challenges of competing with other top programs on the court and how these challenges likely will escalate.
Registration information and details for this and other KU for Lawrence programs are available at www.kuce.org/kufor/index.html. Other programs in the fall 2002 series include "Altered States: Life After Sept. 11"; "Lawrence History"; "Conflict in the Western Church"; "Art History and Culture"; and "Risk-taking for a Better Community." The site offers six ways to register, including an easy online form.
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