# 2005–06 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas Jayhawks for the NCAA Division I men's intercollegiate basketball season of 2005–06. The team was led by Bill Self in his third season as head coach. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.
In 2005–06 the Jayhawks fielded one of the youngest teams in the nation, by the end of the year the starting line-up consisted of 3 Freshmen and 2 Sophomores. After some early season struggles, the Jayhawks finished the season with thirteen conference wins, good enough for their second straight season in which the team had claimed a share of the championship. Bill Self was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the first time. In postseason play the team defeated its conference opponents to claim its first Big 12 Championship title since 1999. In the NCAA Division I tournament, the fourth-seeded Jayhawks were defeated in the first round by Bradley, a 13 seed.
The season remains, as of the 2021-22 season, the most recent season the Jayhawks did not begin the season ranked and the most recent occasion of the team being eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas played its first 23 games unranked, which is (as of the 2021–22 season) the most consecutive games the Jayhawks have been unranked under Self. They've only played 13 other games being unranked, outside of the 2005–06 season.

## Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Mario Chalmers PG | Anchorage, AK | Bartlett HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 19, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Micah Downs SF | Kirkland, WA | Juanita HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 17, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Brandon Rush PG | Kansas City, MO | Mt. Zion Christian Academy (Durham, NC) | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 2, 2005 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Julian Wright SF | Flossmoor, IL | Homewood-Flossmoor HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 10, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 1 Rivals: 4 ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Kansas 2005 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 11, 2009. "2005 Kansas Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved April 11, 2009. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 11, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved April 11, 2009. "2005 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 11, 2009. ||||||

### Transfers

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rodrick Stewart G | Seattle, WA | Rainier Beach HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 201 lb (91 kg) | Transfer |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Jeremy Case | 10 | Guard | 6–1 | 170 | Sophomore | McAlester, OK |
| Mario Chalmers | 15 | Guard | 6–1 | 182 | Freshman | Anchorage, AK |
| C.J. Giles | 33 | Center | 6–10 | 235 | Sophomore | Seattle, WA |
| Jeff Hawkins | 1 | Guard | 5–11 | 180 | Senior | Kansas City, KS |
| Darnell Jackson | 32 | Forward | 6–8 | 240 | Sophomore | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Sasha Kaun | 24 | Center | 6–11 | 246 | Sophomore | Tomsk, Russia |
| Matt Kleinmann | 54 | Center | 6–10 | 237 | Freshman | Overland Park, KS |
| Christian Moody | 34 | Forward | 6–8 | 220 | Senior | Asheville, NC |
| Russell Robinson | 3 | Guard | 6–1 | 196 | Sophomore | New York City, NY |
| Brandon Rush | 25 | Guard | 6–6 | 202 | Freshman | Kansas City, MO |
| Rodrick Stewart | 5 | Guard | 6–4 | 201 | Sophomore | Seattle, WA |
| Stephen Vinson | 20 | Guard | 6–2 | 195 | Senior | Lawrence, KS |
| Julian Wright | 30 | Forward | 6–8 | 218 | Freshman | Chicago Heights, IL |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 2005/11/09* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Fort Hays State | W 96–62 | | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/11/14* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Pittsburg State | W 73–47 | | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| Regular season ||||||
| 2005/11/18* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Idaho State | W 90–66 | 1–0 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/11/21* 8:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. No. 10 Arizona EA Sports Maui Invitational Quarterfinals | L 49–61 | 1–1 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, Hawaii |
| 2005/11/22* 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Arkansas EA Sports Maui Invitational Consolation Game | L 64–65 | 1–2 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, Hawaii |
| 2005/11/23* 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Chaminade EA Sports Maui Invitational 7th Place Game | W 102–54 | 2–2 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Lahaina, Hawaii |
| 2005/12/01* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 20 Nevada | L 70–72 | 2–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/12/03* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Western Illinois | W 86–57 | 3–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/12/06* 6:00 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Saint Joseph's Jimmy V Classic | L 67–70 | 3–4 | Madison Square Garden (10,967) New York, New York |
| 2005/12/10* 11:00 a.m., ESPN | | vs. California | W 69–56 | 4–4 | Kemper Arena (16,180) Kansas City, Missouri |
| 2005/12/19* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Pepperdine | W 63–43 | 5–4 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/12/22* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Northern Colorado | W 85–62 | 6–4 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2005/12/29* 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | New Orleans | W 73–56 | 7–4 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/01/04* 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | Yale | W 87–46 | 8–4 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/01/07* 11:00 a.m., ESPN | | No. 19 Kentucky | W 73–46 | 9–4 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/01/11 8:00 p.m., J-TV | | at Colorado | W 75–63 | 10–4 | Coors Events Center (10,586) Boulder, Colorado |
| 2006/01/14 12:45 p.m., ESPN+ | | Kansas State | L 55–59 | 10–5 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/01/16 6:00 p.m., ESPN | | at Missouri | L 86–89 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 | Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, Missouri |
| 2006/01/21 3:00 p.m., ESPN | | Nebraska | W 96–54 | 11–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/01/25 7:00 p.m., J-TV | | at Texas A&M | W 83–73 | 12–6 | Reed Arena (12,110) College Station, Texas |
| 2006/01/28 11:00 a.m., ESPN | | at Iowa State | W 95–85 | 13–6 | Hilton Coliseum (14,092) Ames, Iowa |
| 2006/01/30 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Texas Tech | W 86–52 | 14–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/02/05 12:00 p.m., CBS | | No. 19 Oklahoma | W 59–58 | 15–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/02/08 6:30 p.m., J-TV | | at Nebraska | W 69–48 | 16–6 | Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,055) Lincoln, Nebraska |
| 2006/02/11 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Iowa State | W 88–75 | 17–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/02/13 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 22 | at Oklahoma State | W 64–49 | 18–6 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (12,242) Stillwater, Oklahoma |
| 2006/02/18 2:45 p.m., CBS | No. 22 | Missouri | W 79–46 | 19–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/02/21 7:00 p.m., J-TV | No. 16 | Baylor | W 76–61 | 20–6 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/02/25 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 16 | at No. 7 Texas | L 55–80 | 20–7 | Frank Erwin Center (16,755) Austin, Texas |
| 2006/03/01 7:00 p.m., J-TV | No. 18 | Colorado | W 75–54 | 21–7 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| 2006/03/04 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 18 | at Kansas State | W 66–52 | 22–7 | Bramlage Coliseum (13,340) Manhattan, Kansas |
| Big 12 tournament ||||||
| 2006/03/10 6:00 p.m. | No. 17 | vs. Oklahoma State Quarterfinals | W 63–62 | 23–7 | American Airlines Center (18,892) Dallas, Texas |
| 2006/03/11 3:20 p.m. | No. 17 | vs. Nebraska Semifinals | W 79–65 | 24–7 | American Airlines Center (18,999) Dallas, Texas |
| 2006/03/12 2:00 p.m. | No. 17 | vs. No. 8 Texas Championship | W 80–68 | 25–7 | American Airlines Center (17,458) Dallas, Texas |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 2006/03/17 8:30 p.m., CBS | No. 12 (4) | vs. No. (13) Bradley First Round | L 73–77 | 25–8 | The Palace of Auburn Hills (19,400) Auburn Hills, Michigan |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||