KU News Release

KU men’s basketball game broadcast in Chinese

Chancellor Hemenway interviewed at basketball game.

LAWRENCE - The KU Jayhawks made history Nov. 28, during their game against Dartmouth. It wasn’t the 83-32 victory that put the men’s basketball team in the history books, it was what was happening on the sidelines.

Announcers Zhiqun “James” Liang and Sheree Willis called the action in Chinese from Allen Fieldhouse. and the broadcast was streamed live on the Kansas Athletics Web site. The broadcasters also interviewed KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway during halftime. An MP3 file of that interview is available below. The event, sponsored by KU’s Confucius Institute, marked the first time in Big 12 history that a game has been broadcast in Chinese.

Liang, a visiting scholar and senior adviser to the executive director at the Confucius Institute, has an extensive background in basketball, including four years as a starting guard for the Central China Huazhong Normal University basketball team. Willis is the associate executive director of the Confucius Institute.

A group of students from Liang’s alma mater gathered in Wuhan, China, to listen to the broadcast. A similar gathering involving KU students and faculty took place at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

In conjunction with the broadcast, the Confucius Institute produced a glossary of basketball terms in Chinese and English. Confucius Institute staff members even came up with a Chinese translation of Jayhawk. Jieying (pronounced JAY-YING) means quick and victorious hawk.

KU’s Confucius Institute was the fourth such institute to open in the United States. Other institutes are operated by University of Maryland, Chicago Public Schools and New York’s China Institute.

Listen to Chancellor Robert Hemenway’s interview with the Chinese broadcasters.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.