Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - FITZ-MAGIC: Can Kansas Baseball Continue Historic Season | Voice of Jayhawks Brian Hanni Weighs In

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Kansas Jayhawks baseball gears up for a historic Lawrence Regional as head coach Dan Fitzgerald’s squad aims to capitalize on its remarkable depth and resilient, overlooked roster. Can KU’s power-packed lineup and dominant pitching from stars like Dominic Voegele and Mason Cook outpace Northeastern’s relentless base-stealing attack? Voice of the Jayhawks Brian Hanni reveals why this Jayhawks team is one of the most likable and competitive in program history, and highlights the pressing need for new facilities to sustain Kansas’ rise. Looking ahead, Derek Johnson and Hanni preview standout performances from Tyson LeBlanc and break down key matchups against Arkansas and Missouri State. Plus, the Rock Chalk Round Ball Classic promises one of its best alumni rosters ever and a thrilling new twist with its Moneyball format. Will KU sustain its momentum and deliver another week for the record books? Dive into expert insights and bold predictions for Jayhawk Nation. Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast   RugietGet 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhlRugiet. Performance medicine for men. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For the first time in program history, KU Baseball is hosting a regional. We're going to get you ready for it with the voice of the Jayhawks, Brian Haney. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here, joined by the Voice of the Jayhawks, Brian Haney. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks so much for tuning in. And we're going to break down some of the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic, super excited to get to that. But also KU baseball season is in full force at this point. So we're going to

break down the Lawrence Regional here with KU, some of the players to watch for the Jayhawks this week. Brian, thank you so much for hopping on. And it was really fun last week. I was tuning in on the Varsity Network app and kind of driving around places and listening to the Big 12th tournament and everything. And I guess let's just let's start here. I know this is asking a lot because there's been a lot to this season. But how would you best summarize? the theme of this season and what has kind of gotten KU to this point, which has been one of the most memorable and historic seasons in program history. Man, that's a great question.

I don't know that I've thought about putting one central theme on it. I've been asked 100 times, you know, what's the biggest strength of this team? And I always say it's depth because it's the strongest lineup, one through nine, in terms of no weak link, power up and down the order, clutch hitting up and down the order that I can recall. And the deepest pitching in terms of the bullpen arms and guys that situationally can come in in certain spots that I can remember in 20 years of doing the games here. But in terms of one overarching theme, you know, it's probably too prisoner of the moment still 10 days removed from the Jeff Passen article about the junior college route that Coach Fitz and his staff have taken.

But I would just say it's a group that's at some point in their career has been overlooked or underestimated that collectively have formed a history making type team that might have its best baseball in front of them. I mean, honestly, Derek, it's not hyperbole to say that what we saw in surprise was as good as they played all year. And so to me, I don't want to say it's a ragtag group of guys that are exceeding all expectations because there's some really highly rated junior college guys. on this crew, but they're now experiencing the type of national spotlight and attention that they've never before stepped into, you know, center stage on before in their careers, and they're thriving within it. And it's, it's really refreshing to get to cover a group of players in this transfer portal and NIL era. They're just really grateful to be Jayhawks and happy to be here. And think what we have in terms of facilities and coaching and everything is the best of their life

and you're just so pleased and appreciative of anything they get, it's really refreshing and it's an easy group to cheer for. And each of them have great stories, but their collective story together of what they're accomplishing as a whole is one of the great stories of my 10 years as voice the Jayhawks in any sport. And some of the personalities on this team are some of my favorites to have covered in any sport in a decade of doing this. And so, you know, as I wrap up my 10th season doing the main three sports,

on the men's side at Kansas. Obviously, nothing tops 2022's national championship on the men's basketball side or the back-to-back bowl games or toward the top of the list, too. But, I mean, I'm not so sure this season of Fitzmagic isn't right there in the top three greatest experiences of my tenure. But a big reason why it is, Derek, is because of the people and personalities and how likable this group is as a whole. Every day I show up at the yard, every time I'm on a three and a half hour bus trip back from some midweek thing. I'm actually savoring it and enjoying the company I have because it's such a great group. And that obviously starts at the top with Dan Fitzgerald, who, as Travis Gough said,

is as awesome of an individual and a human being as any you'll find in athletics. And we're just really fortunate to have somebody like that set the bar as high as he does on a daily basis with the way he's built this program, the way he treats the people within it, and his vision for the future. Yeah, yeah, no, it is, it is not hyperbole. You hear it a lot with Dan Fitzgerald on the, oh, he's such a great guy. And it's not hyperbole at all, like a really good family man and everything like that. So now is the test because it's the regional. And last year, as great of a season, as fun of a season as last year was,

they didn't get one of those NCAA tournament wins. And obviously this year, they're trying to get more than one of them and try to advance past the regional. But let's start with KU's first opponent. It's northeastern. and honestly looks like one of the better four seats that's out there. Really good team at getting steals. They can play small ball. They've got a little bit of pop from a couple guys in the lineup.

And I don't know, kind of an interesting matchup here in terms of not your normal, I guess, just like this isn't an easy team, so to speak. So what do you see on paper from the Huskies that will make this one challenging for the Jayhound? Well, they've got tournament experience, as you said, well over 200 stolen bases. I think 95 more than the most frequent. base stealing team in the Big 12 conference that we would have faced this year. And so while the Gusto Mugarieta is good at gunning down runners, obviously the biggest key is just keep him off the base pass to begin with. And so at the time of taping, we haven't heard announced exactly what the pitching plan is going to be. But if they stick with the way they would

typically attack a weekend and Dominic Vagley's up first, you hope the dominator can mow him down. He's four shy of the single season strikeouts record of Mike Sigursky. He is 30 shy of the career strikeouts record of T.J. Walls, which was set in four years, not three. Could he get to 30? You'd have to get to Omaha unless he did another, you know, back-to-back 15 hack, like what we saw in a three-week stretch where he had a couple of starts in a three-week span of 15Ks. But the point is, when he's been on, which over the last seven weeks or so, he's been as good as any big 12 pitcher out there, this is a guy who could dominate a game and do so in a fashion.

that makes getting on base in the first place very difficult to come by and streaming together consecutive hits very difficult to come by. But yeah, this is the type of team in Northeastern that's going to put the pressure on. As soon as they get somebody on, they're looking to get an RBI opportunity a couple of the pitches later. And so it'll be really important to try to, you know, be mindful of not just the guy at first, but put yourselves in positions where you're not opening innings with free passes or opening up multiple scoring chances for a team that I think Kansas should out slug, significantly and has significant pitching advantages against.

But the base dealing thing is a real issue. And we talk all the time when you and I do these shows in March about how to Cinderella, you know, take down Goliath and all that. And in this case, you know, they might have half as many hits, but if they can turn singles and walks into two baggers with their team speed, that can be a real problem. And then it comes down a timely hitting at that point. So I'll be real curious to see what it looks like.

But, you know, I think it's a club you have to respect. It's definitely not the foreseed that many were hoping for in this instance. In fact, there were a few folks that are in the know baseball people that were texting us right after that said, oh, that was not one you wanted there. But hey, the whole region's loaded. And if you just look at the average RPI, this is the toughest region on a paper, as you well know, especially with 1921 and 23 respectively between Kansas, Arkansas, and obviously Missouri State. So I think all these clubs have a viable shot and making some noise.

And for Kansas, somebody asked me the other day, it was, you know, what's the realistic goal here? And obviously when you're the host school, it's the move on of the supers. But I think, you know, if you consider the weight of the challenge in front of you, while that is the team goal, and that's what Dan Fitzgerald is certainly issuing. And anything less than that is disappointing, I think for me looking at it from just an outsider's perspective with a little bit of inside opportunity. I'd love to see him get to Sunday or Monday, play for a regional championship, and let come what may within one of the toughest regions out there.

What some would say is the toughest, most challenging regional out there. So that's my goal for a club that a year ago obviously went to in Q and never had a chance to see the host school down at Baum Walker. But that all starts with setting the tone on Friday and getting a chance to play from out in front. If you win those first two for folks that aren't familiar with the format, you're in the catbird seat, and everybody's burning up there pitching to catch up to you and have to beat you twice. And so let's see whether it's Dom or Mason Cook, they can set the tone out, the Gates versus Northeastern,

keep them off the base pass, play from out in front. You know, this Kansas team for so much of the year, Derek, we were talking about the comeback cardiac Jayhawks, the never-stayed-guy J-Hawks with 24 come from behind wins. But they did a great job of playing from out in front in surprise. Now, they blew a lead to Baylor and had to win it in extras, and they blew two six-nothing leads in Provo and had to come back to win tieball games against BYU. But they've done a better job of striking early

ever since the sweep at the hands of West Virginia. That's what I'd like to see. And while Northeastern is not going to be phased by a hot Kansas start because they've played in the tournament before and they're a veteran team, I do think if we can get a crooked number on the board early and let Dom or whoever pitch with the men's conference, confidence from there. You got a chance to make sure that there's no upset in the first round and

move on to what will be a very stiff test, whether it's a 298 hitting Missouri State team or Arkansas club that was really close to hosting themselves. Friday, no matter what side of the bracket you're on, is going to be tough, but Saturday looks especially daunting. Yes, it does. That's almost like a one-two matchup in some other regions with Arkansas, Missouri State. But who knows, Maybe the Northeastern game ideally goes like the 2019 NCAA tournament meeting from the basketball court for KU. Need a little's Diedrich Lawson, accent from whoever ends up pitching for KU. All right, let's get to some of those players. You mentioned Dominic vaguely a little there.

I really want to touch in on his story and his game. Tyson LeBlanc has been unbelievable. We'll get to some of these players next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode is brought to you by Indeed, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to fill, it's still sitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for Indeed sponsor jobs. Indeed, sponsor jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, right?

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Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast now. Support us by saying you heard it on Lockdown Jayhawks. That is Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Thanks for you for Lockdown, Jayhawks. Derek Johnson, joined by Voice of the Jayhawks, Brian Haney. You can hear him on the call of these KU baseball games this weekend.

And I'd assume varsity network app, KLWN, where can people listen in? Man, you know, it's so cool, Derek. All these other affiliates are clamming on board now. It's fun to see fans get on the bandwagon, donors stepping up with their giving, and radio affiliates like Sports Radio 810 WHB, who was with us for the bulk of the Big 12 tournament out of surprise, ESPN, Wichita, 92, 3 out there for listeners in the south central part of the state and other smaller affiliates hopping on board as well. But all the big markets are now carrying this one.

And it'll be, you know, for sports talk radio, a noon game is kind of prime time, right? Now, you know, prime time, you think about it being an evening start, but we're getting the big shows on the big stations preempted by Kansas baseball. Are you kidding me? That never would have been the case 20, 30 years ago. Maybe 33 years ago. But, but not over the last couple decades. So that's really exciting. And I hope folks will tune in. What's been need?

And I know you were listening to some of this on Saturday night, but we threw it out there on the broadcast. Hey, text us, email us, DM us, whatever, where you're watching and listening from tonight. Because we sense that all of Jayhawk Nation was on the edge of their seat as KU went for its first conference tournament title in 20 years. It became just the fourth school in Big 12 history to win the regular season outright. and back it up with the tournament title.

Man, we got emails and DMs and texts from as far southeast as the Florida Keys, up to Connecticut, Maryland, Boston, Seattle, Washington, L.A., Phoenix, Louisiana, Minnesota, Chicago. I mean, it was so cool. We had somebody in Turks and Kikos, the DM be on Twitter. And so Jayhawk fans, just to see that in some cases, resurgence of fan interest. But let's be real, Derek. In most cases, it's brand new. baseball interest because you and I did sports talk and Lawrence for a long time together.

And you, by the way, done a fabulous job at this lockdown pie. I listen to this one. I'm at the gym and stay in the nose so much through all of your hard prep and the amazing guest you get on. But we did it for a long time collectively on Rock Shock Sports Talk. And to call it like it is for so many years, you kind of had sports fatigue after March madness. And baseball was a little bit of an afterthought.

And I don't say that with any disrespect to the players and coaches of that era. I'm just saying look around Oakland Ballpark. People came out as a novelty once or twice a season. They weren't like on the edge of their seat. And now you've had sustained success with back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time since 93-94. I'm not sure if you were in alive back then. The point is you've got folks that now are, you know, in students' cases, showing up early to get in there and get those first 130 tickets on.

Friday, folks that were trying to get on the phone at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to get any kind of purchase ticket to be in there for the new expanded Hope of Ballpark, that to me is so exciting because there were glimpses of that or a flicker of it here or there, but it's not been sustained at any point. And now you've got legitimate reason to believe this can be something that we build upon year after year, especially with the support that's rolling in from the Kansas donor base, the collective vision of Dan Fitzgerald and Travis Gough. I heard your conversation. I heard your conversation yesterday with Henry, who does a fabulous job with the journal world. And yeah, let's call it what it is.

Getting that baseball indoor is probably, not probably, definitely the single biggest key to continuing to grow upward and onward with Dan Fitzgerald. He already got the contract extension, raises for his assistance. They're enhancing what they're doing with scholarships and NIL. But the big catch-up that needs to happen for a cold climate school to compete is that indoor facility. You don't have to share it with track and field or other sports when you're trying to get ground balls in mid-December, right? And so that, to me, is a paramount importance and to see the conviction and hear it in Travis Gough's voice when he addressed the media the other day on what a priority that is.

He didn't throw out dollar amounts. I'm just telling you, it probably costs more than the common fan might think. So it's great to see some of these donations that are all men. And it's so generous of some of the key figures. Yeah, the Lance light-old one. That was really cool to see, right? No doubt, but we got a lot to go to cash up to what that number is actually going to be. And that's where anything, whether you're throwing in 50 bucks or 200 bucks or whatever you can give or even just, you know, showing up to support these guys any chance you get is important.

Because that's what's going to keep this thing propelling upward and probably the biggest thing on the wish list of Dan Fitzgerald. I hope we can make it happen here at Kansas. It's awesome to see our visionary athletic director with such confidence, conviction and determination to get. that done for his home run of a head coaching hire. And think about it. I mean, golf spat in 1,000 on head coaching hires, but Dan Fitzgerald was a grand slam home run hire. And then when you got other home run hires like Coach Leipold, now cutting a check,

he and Kelly to support baseball as well, doesn't that tell you something about the culture of this athletic department that Travis Goff has built? That to me as an insider just makes me want to puff out my chest, that we're building upon success, one program or the other, supporting each other. that special stuff and hopefully something that'll just continue to ascend upward into the indefinite future. For sure. And yeah, I got to know Travis's dad a little bit and very much a go-getter. Like when he saw something in front of him professionally and whatever, like he would get it done. And I think you see that with Travis and trying to get all this stuff done as well.

Speaking of go-getters, Dom vaguely has been a go-getter on the mound for KU. It's weird because if you just look at like ERA, which is, probably like the prime stat for pitchers, right? He's got a six ERA and you look at that and you go, okay, like, and to be clear, like in college baseball, I think sometimes, you know, in the MLB, you see the best pitchers might have a two or a two five in college. It might be like a four ERA because you got metal bats and smaller parks and stuff like that. But you see that number next to vaguely and you're like, okay, how good is this kid? And you look at some of the other numbers, the strikeouts, the Sierra, which is kind of more of a independent pitching number.

that's predictive, which would tell you, I think his Sierra is like under three, which would tell you he's probably been a little unlucky to this point with the ERA. But I don't know, like, what has led to that number? Is it just inconsistency where it's like he'll look like a stud for three games? Then it's just like a blow up start. I guess why, why is the ERA not match? Because I don't know, you'll look at even like, prospect scouting. He's a top 100 prospect for the draft. Like, why is that the case? Because every time I see him pitch, I'm like, dude, this guy's awesome. But then it's like, why does he have a six ERA? Well, I think a lot of that was early in the season. And while there have certainly been a couple of stat lines in the last couple of months that could have spiked it upward,

heck, there was one bad pitch in the 15K performance in Stillwater that if memory serves was a three-run homer and all of a sudden, it doesn't look nearly as glowing of a stat line as it could have been when you punch out 15 guys like he did. But there was a time early in the year when the ERA was north of eight and Coach Fitz was saying, yeah, but his stuff. And the pitch mix right now that he's able to command with five pitches that he's throwing for strikes, once he gets everything hitting on all cylinders, look out because his stuff collectively is as good as it's ever been. Always had a good fastball. It's gotten stronger as his career's gone on. But his ability to now throw all five pitches from strikes, throw the sinker with great effectiveness,

both a slider and a curve with great effectiveness. he has developed into a complete pitcher under Brandon Scott. And it was just a matter of time before the stuff started clicking on all cylinders. And sure enough, once it did, then you see the strikeout start to pile up. And as I alluded to in your previous segment, he's just four shy of Mike Sigursky for the single season strikeouts record, which was 112, said about 20 years ago. And T.J. Walls and I text about every other week on whether or not he's going to get all the way to his career mark, which he's 30 back of right now. But the dominant stretch for him, for the kid I call the dominator,

you know, went back to early April where you really started to see him take over in commanding fashion. There was a UCF start in which, again, he gave up three earned runs, but he punched out 10 against a top 12 ranked team at home and gained a ton of confidence in the process on the heels of a seven earned run outing the previous week versus Utah. comes back at Oklahoma State, 15Ks the next week, which was the first time since Jimmy Walker in the Super Regionals, the clinching game that got them to Omaha in 1993. When he did it in nine innings, going the full distance,

it might have been 10 innings. They got to bring back that box score. He went the complete game to get his 15. Dom did it in 21 outs with 15 of a punchouts. But as I alluded to, you know, what one mistake ends up being a three-run homer, and the ERA doesn't sparkle. doesn't shine is, you know, roughly 375 on that day when he was dominating otherwise.

But, you know, 15Ks versus Arizona in a complete game effort, first complete game of his career. The West Virginia game after that, 10Ks still gave up three earned, but it was a dominant stretch where over the course of five weeks, he had a total of 55Ks, averaging 11 strikeouts per start. And four of those five starts were double digit Ks, just outstanding numbers. And so the BYU numbers, I don't think his, if you talk to Coach Price, there wasn't quite as much bites on some of those pitches up in the altitude, the elevation. So he ends up giving up four earned there. And that's the thing that's really lacking in his overall season game log. You don't have, you know, a bunch of one and two earned run type outputs. There are no shutouts in his output.

In fact, the one earned run outing versus Baylor was actually his best of the season in terms of of fewest earned runs allowed. So I think the key for him, whether he's starting on Friday or Saturday, and I'm guessing it's going to be Friday, is continue to pitch from out in front, get ahead and counts, overpower these guys with a fastball that can go up to 98 miles per hour, stay away from the free passes that early in the season were a little bit of a factor,

haven't been as much of that outside of the provost start. And if you do that, I think the dominator can be just that, and he can be as good as any pitcher in this region. But then you look at Arkansas, and obviously they're one of the top 10 teams in the field of 64 when it comes to average fastball. They've got two all-Sec caliber pitchers. And it'd be real interesting to see how things shake up. I know you didn't ask me about Mason Cook. And maybe he's on your list to talk about later, and I should stop being so long-winded.

But if you ask me who's the X factor in this whole regional, it might be cookie. Simply because if he is the guy we saw the last two weeks, who took a no-hitter into the seventh in Provo on the clinching night of the final regular season series and went five and two-thirds of one-run ball on seven K's, one off a career high, versus one of the best offenses in the country, let alone the conference in Oklahoma State. If we get that version of Cook, then that's a bona fide co-ace type guy that makes you not only dangerous in advancing out of the regionals, but gives you an incredible leg up, potentially in a super regional matchup.

to me, we'll see how they stack them and we'll see what version of Dom and Mason we get. But Cook on the heels of Vaguely might be the X factor in this whole thing because optimal version of him makes Kansas look like a legitimate trip to Omaha type team. But what offense is he facing? The 298 hitting Missouri State team, a club like Arkansas, whose power numbers are very similar to Kansas. And they've got one key injury to one of their DH players, but Loi. but other than that, look like they're hitting with a full head of steam coming in after a deep run on the SEC tournament.

That's going to be really telling to me. I think Mason Cook's numbers might be as important as Dominic Vagley's, particularly if they stack the pitching the way they have been. I was going to ask you about Mason Cook. I'm glad you brought it up because I had this stat over his last five starts, 31 strikeouts to eight walks with the 2.5-4 ERA. So, yeah, he's been pitching really well of late. And honestly, the vaguely thing reminds me a little. I don't know if many people know this name. It depends how into baseball.

I guess you are. Kate Horton, who was with Oklahoma a couple years ago, helps them go to the College World Series in 2022. He had over a six ERA going into the NCAA tournament, but he always had the good stuff. He was trending in the right direction. And then he goes in the NCAA tournament, six innings, two hits against Virginia Tech, six and a third of two run ball against Florida, six innings of two run ball against Notre Dame with 11 strikeouts. and then they actually lose the game, but he goes seven and a third in the college world series against Ole Miss,

so I think won the title that year with 13 strikeouts. I don't know. It wouldn't shock me if he was one of those guys that kind of carries his team. I did want to ask you about Tyson LeBlon as well, tied most home runs in program history. I guess how else can you put into perspective, like what he has done this season and how important he's going to be this weekend for KU. You know, he hit 15 homers at LSU, Eunice,

and was a Juko Alamai. American at that level. But when he was on his recruiting visit to KU, he sat down with Tyler Hancock and they did some player comparisons with some MLB guys looking at their swings, looking at greater power potential. And they said, you know what? We think there's even more pop in there that's untapped into at this point. Because a lot of times when guys make that transition to Major Conference D1, at best, the JC numbers are equal. They certainly don't go up exponentially. But they felt like there were some things they could unlock with even more power potential. And we've seen a guy that just has grown and grown and grown. I think early in the

season before I was with him on a daily basis to see it all the time, just going off, you know, some of the eyewitness accounts of the folks that were there. He was a little bit unlucky. He had a lot hard hit balls that were hit right at people. But you saw him start to take off in mid-March and, you know, the ascent after that. There was a three-week stretch where he hit like $4.50 was a national player of the week was as, you know, amazing statistically as any player in the Big 12 over that three-week stretch and really started to become a household name. We finally figured out how to say his name, not LeBlanc, you said it right. He's got that French Cajun LeBlanc pronunciation to it. And he was making so many headlines, national team of the week, national hit of the week, Dick Houser

Trophy semi-finalist for the national player of the year. By golly, we better learn how to say his name because this guy's going to be a high, high draft pick. You look at his frame, though, he's built really well. I think he's gotten better defensively as the year has gone on as well. There were a couple of plus plays he made out in surprise that absolutely saved runs for

Kansas and prevented big innings by the opposition. And so I just think he's gotten better and better both in the field and at the bat as the season's gone on. And now that they've moved him up to the top of the order here in the last couple of the weeks, I love that. More swings for your best

power hitter, your toughest out. He doesn't lead the team and on base percentage, but he's close. But otherwise, homers, RBI, runs, stolen bases, batting average, sweep in the field. And on top of that, really mature, really composed, really impressive young man at the age of 21, you know, Juko guy in his junior season. Somebody come July is going to be a very fortunate franchise, whoever drafts him, because I think he's only scratching the surface of his potential and the best is still in front of him in a major, major way. And hopefully we still see some of that over the next three weeks. That's all right.

All right. We're going to switch gears a little bit, talk Rock, Chalk, Roundball Classic, because that is coming up before we know it as well. Yeah. Thanks again for joining us here on Lockdown Jayhawks, voice of the Jayhawks, Brian Haney, joining us, Derek Johnson here. And obviously this weekend is going to be all about KU baseball. We hope that the following weekend will be a lot about KU baseball as well.

But it will also be about the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic. And just to get a little bit on this, I guess, okay, my first reactions, I don't mean to, you know, because I know there's always the worry that sometimes these guys schedule something else can pop up and something can change in the schedule. So I don't mean to set the bar too high here. But based on the players that you guys have announced so far, this looks like it could be one of the best rosters you guys have ever had. Is that fair to say? I love that. I hope that's the case.

There's still a few that we've not announced yet that we're hopeful and somewhat expectant to get, you know, to be. real with you and give you probably a further peek behind the curtain than anybody really needs or wants to hear, we made the decision the first week of October to move it up to the very first week of June, knowing that that was a potential conflict with college baseball, should we make the supers, although Kansas hadn't in going back to the mid-90s, but also understanding that if we kept it its normal week, we were told the World Cup influence would be such there would be zero hotels. Flights would be two to three times as expensive.

And obviously any money we saved goes to these pediatric cancer patients. So we had to move it way, way up. And I was fearful of that, first and foremost, for the baseball conflict. But secondarily, certain players we wouldn't get like David McCormick that are playing overseas, Udoca Azaguchi, it might not be able to come back. And so I told my staff, and the reason why I'm giving me this deep dive is, I said, hey, this is probably going to be a one-off year. You know, we always strive to make the roster the best.

it's ever been each success in year. And in this case, gosh, can we just have a B-plus caliber event and feel good about it, bust our tails and selling it, fundraising, and making sure that we still raise a ton of money, even if the rosters take a little step back. Derek, you're not wrong, man. If some of the guys that we're still waiting on end up participating, and you might get a Christian Brown type as a coach, for example. He coached last year as well.

Maybe he doesn't play, but he ends up coaching, which I think, has a very strong possibility of happening. Then we wind up having, you know, right there with some of the very best rosters we've ever had. We won't have the quantity as much. I think we're going to have right about 30, 31 former players come back. There was one year we had like 48, which is crazy. But the quality is amazing.

And the focus I took with this year's roster build, if you will, was I told these guys, hey, you know what, with Coach Self coming back and Coach Self's basketball camp going on, early June. Let's get as many of you from his two title teams back as possible. So Mario Chalmers said yes immediately. And Brandon Rush and Russell Robinson and Sasha Khan and Sharon Collins all said yes immediately. There was a time we had Darnell Jackson ready to come and then he's had a late travel snafu that probably will prohibit him from coming. But there was a time where we were charting toward getting about 90% of the 08 national title roster. And then the 22 guys started rolling in. O'Chai and Jay Will and CB.

And there's a hope for a few other big names in there too. Mitch and Chris Teehan are going to be there. Sounds like they're a pairing there. But, you know, the two best friends, Lightfoot and Teehan, will be there. And there's a chance we might get one or two more key rotational guys from that 2022 national title team. Zeke Mayo makes his debut. Haven't announced it yet, but G.

And G. G. In Gala, this will be the game where he has the ultimate green light. And he's a good shooter, yeah. Chuck up like 10 threes and rain him in. And with a new twist this year, which was a brilliant fundraising idea that one of our board members, Steve Sodergren, came up with. He said, you know, we got to do something to shake the game up a little bit. It's been 18 years of doing it the same way, just a traditional two halves of 20-minute running clock basketball.

What if we added a money ball, so to speak, got it sponsored by the official banking partner of Barack Chalk Brownball Classic Cap Fed. and called it the cap-fed money ball, where inside the final two minutes of the first half and second half, suddenly threes are worth four and dunks are worth three, but there's also an associated dollar figure for each made dunk or three that allows the giving and the fundraising to get exponentially higher and higher with every made three and makes the drama down the stretch, even better than before. You're as good of a round ball historian as anybody, even better than the event director

because your mind is so sharp and you remember all the stats, facts, and figures. We've had some nail-biting games before, but we've also had some stinkers where, you know, it's separated by 15 points, 20-point margins. At the end, they're just kind of hoarse around jacking up half-court shots. Now with the cap-fed money ball, they're still going to be taking three-pointers, but they're going to be, you know, toe all the way up to the edge of the line, squared up in rhythm, because they're going to be making additional hundreds and thousands of dollars for these kids, not hundreds of thousands, but hundreds and thousands.

Well, hopefully. Yeah. And we researched this. Like John Dykus of cat fed came to me and said, okay, well, how many threes are they typically hit in the last two minutes? So we went back and looked at all the recent games and counted them up and all that. And I haven't told the players yet. This is actually the first time publicly we've spoken about it.

But I'm going to sit down with them. I'm going to sit down with Svea Mikhailu and say, dude, like, I need you to hit at least five threes in the final two minutes of regulation and the first half because that can raise a couple extra $1,000 for these kids. So I think it's going to be a fun twist. I think the final rosters will be impressive, especially considering what we had to do scheduling-wise. And I love it. And my main man, Derek Johnson, is doing a special Rock Shock Roundball Classic Tribuneite on June the 3rd at Johnny's Tavern. Is it West? Is that where we're going to be?

Yes, we're going to be out at Johnny's West, half the proceeds to the round ball, other half, just go to winners. We're going to have some other prizes there too. And then actually me and Nick Springer, who used to do RCST together, we're going to be, so Kevin Romery, who's been doing RCST now, he's going to be on vacation. So me and Nick are going to reprise our roles as RCSD hosts and call the game and, you know, I have a little KLWN flashback moments on the Thursday. I absolutely love that. And I think, hopefully we can funnel a lot of great guests your way that. day as well because that was always my favorite when you guys were hosting the show back in the day. We go out to Jefferson's and have a wing eating contest and give away a bunch of tickets.

And Derek, he's like 23 years old, newly married, should be saving money for flowers for his wife. But he's raising the paddle for like half his salary that week to give to these pediatric cancer patients, which I have not forgotten eight years later because you've got such a huge heart to get back to this cost. So thank you for doing what you're doing. And we're now north of $2 million raised all time with some of the money it's already come in for this year. We've added the Yvonne Adams Legacy Fund, which goes toward a parent battling cancer. And the announcements of those parents are coming up by the end of this week, which is really cool.

KJ and Kevin, his dad, still vote on those every year. Kevin's flying back in this year for that. And so we've been able to kind of grow and evolve and expand what we do. But a big part of that has been people like you that have fueled the height for this thing, continue to raise funds for this thing. And so believe me, the common fan out there has no idea how much work goes into pulling this thing off. And every time I tell that story, I try to shout out the 15 board members that work year round on this thing. We meet monthly 12 months out of a year.

We have people that probably in the last 90 days leading up are putting in 30 or 40 hour weeks to try to pull this thing off on top of their real jobs. And yet nobody takes a penny in terms of salary positions or any type of funding like most charities. do. This is 100% volunteer produced and 100% donor given in terms of the, you know, the stuff that we auction off. I finally made a purchase this year. I know we're running long here, but it's a podcast. No, this is all great stuff. So I finally made a purchase and I got some pushback on this. So, man, I hope we sell it for three times what I paid for it. But we negotiated for the Bill Self desk. And we have the desk that he used for 2009 to 2023. There were 13 big. 12 title teams in that stretch.

Obviously, a couple of final fours, 2018 happened. We were all there. And in a national championship team as well, that he was sitting at that desk, looking at scouting reports, looking at game film, you know, who knows, you know, how many players he sat across from in that desk,

recruiting at KU, a true one of one item. The last time we had a one of one item in the auction, it was the wheelchair, right? Chamberman sat in. Yes, when he came back to have his jersey go up in the rafters, that went for like 20, $21,000. I have no idea what the desk he's going to go for, but we're going to auction that off at the celebrity dinner. We are technically sold out on tables for celebrity dinner. But if somebody watching this podcast is a motivated donor that wants to step up and be there and raise the paddle in a big way or possibly buy a bill self desk, contact me or Derek, and we'll find a way to get you into the dinner for Friday night, June the 5th at the KU Football Stadium and the new KU Conference Center, which is so cool that we're having it there. But I'm I'm hoping that in a year where we're only doing a couple of events, game and dinner,

and we had to move it way up because of the World Cup that we'll still put on two awesome events, raise a ton of money for these five amazing kids. And we have 11 future stars this year, too. So 16 total kids will be benefited that very weekend. And then even more through the Benevolence Fund over the past year, which has been really cool because Coach Self and Cindy would get involved with the postgame tours and these guys would get tickets. behind the bench and a chance to meet the Hall of Famer. And it's turned into a way to bless children in the fight year round,

not just for a couple of days and a couple of weeks in June. So that's where your money's going toward. I can't stress it enough. I know this is being broadcast on Thursday with exactly a week to go. Get to the 23rd Street Brewery in Lawrence, if you're listening here locally. If you're in Wichita or Kansas City or Topeka, Johnny's Tavern has you covered. Prairie Village, Olathe, Topeka, Wichita,

Johnny's Tavern. And then obviously, donations, if you can't attend, we appreciate you logging on to Rock Chalk Roundball Classic.com. You can see the pictures of the kids, read their stories, understand who you're giving the money to,

and help us make sure, even though it's a little bit of a different year on timing and all that, that it's just as impactful of a year in fundraising for these awesome families. Yeah, highly recommend go and check out the recipients,

their stories, rockchok roundball classic.com. Again, for that. Again, you can sign up for the trivia, next Wednesday. You can go to the game on Thursday. And again, if you want to reach out to me or Brian to see if you can, you know, squeeze into that celebrity dinner. Just reach out Twitter, email or however you can contact one of us. You go to the KU baseball game. You see Brian at the game. Just, I don't know, just tap on his shoulder or something. Obviously,

not between innings or anything like that. But all right, speaking of trivia, I need to finish this off with our trivia question. We've been doing that here. So we'll see if Brian knows the answer to these. But yesterday's question was February 5th, 2022. Kansas blew out what AP ranked top 10 opponent, 83 to 59 in a big 12 game. Do you know the answer to this one? 2022.

Yes, the national championship team. February 5th. So it was shortly after I believe the Kentucky loss. Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to think. I believe this was a Saturday game. I don't know. Yeah, well, I wish that would help.

I've stepped since then. And so I'm trying to run back through. I wrote a book on that season. That's right. Chronicleed every game. But I'm trying to think which one that was. Was that the Baylor game? It was the Baylor game.

Yes, 83 to 59. Iconic photos of that win with Christian Brown, dunking, and then flexing in a way that you and I only wish we could fully embody. If you go back and read Banner Year and you look at the photos, we took three different shots of that. The scowl, the chest, the flex. And so yeah, it took me a while to come up with that, but beta was that game, yes. That's right. Here's the question. Don't answer this if you know it, because we'll answer it on the next show.

Who did Kansas beat in the 2018, a big 12 semifinals? Everybody remembers the championship game, but who did they beat in the semis 83 to 67? We'll be back with that. Brian, anything else you want to share where people can find the broadcast or Roundball Classic or anything else before we go. Man, I appreciate the platform to talk about it, buddy. And again, I appreciate all the amazing work you do on this thing. I would just thank Jayhawk Nation for supporting this cause for 18 years.

We're charting a course toward 20 and see how far we can take this thing. But the people that pour in the blood, sweat and tears to pull this off, do it because every year, no matter how much of a grind it is and how exhausting it is, you get there for those first five minutes and you'll be on the call when the 40 players form a tunnel and those five kids get to run through that tunnel with the PA announcer belting out at guard, standing at it two feet four inches tall, a six-year-old from Olatha, and you realize just why we put in the work that we do

and why this is one of our favorite events of the year all year round. So thank you to anybody who's ever supported the cause. We hope to see you next week. And when you meet the five kids this year, I think you're going to fall in love with all five of their stories, just really, really inspiring kids. But hey, let's make it a winning week all the way around. KU Baseball, Roundball Classic.

Let's make sure early June is what we're talking about. in our 2026 year recap as maybe the best week on the Kansas campus all year. He's Brian Haney, voice of the Jayhawks. That'll do for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, and we'll be back at you tomorrow anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. See you then.