# 1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 99th basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who served his 9th year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the Jayhawks first year in the newly formed Big 12 Conference. The Big 12 conference was formed by the eight teams of the recently dissolved Big Eight Conference and was joined by Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, all formally of the Southwest Conference which had dissolved following the 1995–1996 school year as well.

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Nick Bradford | 21 | Forward/Guard | 6-6 | 175 | Freshman | Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Joel Branstrom | 20 | Forward | 6-6 | 197 | Senior | Half Moon Bay, California |
| Jerod Haase | 35 | Guard | 6-3 | 191 | Senior | South Lake Tahoe, California |
| Raef LaFrentz | 45 | Forward/Center | 6–11 | 235 | Junior | Hampton, Iowa |
| C.B. McGrath | 24 | Guard | 5-11 | 173 | Junior | Topeka, Kansas |
| Terry Nooner | 5 | Guard | 5-10 | 170 | Freshman | Raytown, Missouri |
| Paul Pierce | 34 | Forward | 6–7 | 220 | Sophomore | Inglewood, California |
| Scot Pollard | 31 | Center | 6–11 | 265 | Senior | San Diego, California |
| T.J. Pugh | 32 | Forward/Center | 6–8 | 246 | Sophomore | Omaha, Nebraska |
| Steve Ransom | 42 | Forward | 6–6 | 205 | Senior | Mission Viejo, California |
| Ryan Robertson | 4 | Guard | 6–5 | 182 | Sophomore | Saint Charles, Missouri |
| Billy Thomas | 12 | Guard/Forward | 6–4 | 208 | Junior | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Jacque Vaughn | 11 | Guard | 6–1 | 195 | Senior | Pasadena, California |
| B.J. Williams | 22 | Forward | 6–8 | 206 | Senior | Wichita, Kansas |

## Big 12 Conference standings

1996–97 Big 12 Conference men's basketball regular season standings :
| # | Team | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| 1 | Kansas | 15-1 | .938 | 34-2 | .944 |
| 2 | Colorado | 11-5 | .688 | 22-10 | .688 |
| T–3 | Texas | 10-6 | .625 | 18-12 | .600 |
| T–3 | Iowa State | 10-6 | .625 | 22-9 | .710 |
| T–3 | Texas Tech | 10-6 | .625 | 19-9 | .679 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 9-7 | .563 | 19-11 | .613 |
| T–7 | Nebraska | 7–9 | .438 | 18-15 | .545 |
| T–7 | Oklahoma State | 7-9 | .438 | 17-15 | .531 |
| 9 | Baylor | 6-10 | .375 | 18-12 | .600 |
| 10 | Missouri | 5-11 | .313 | 16-17 | .485 |
| T–11 | Texas A&M | 3-13 | .188 | 9-18 | .333 |
| T–11 | Kansas State | 3-13 | .188 | 10-17 | .370 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/22/1996* | No. 2 | at Santa Clara | W 76-64 | 1–0 | Leavey Center Santa Clara, CA |
| 11/25/1996* | No. 2 | vs. LSU Maui Invitational Tournament first round | W 82-53 | 2–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui,HI |
| 11/26/1996* | No. 2 | vs. California Maui Invitational Tournament Semifinals | W 85-67 | 3–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI |
| 11/27/1996* | No. 2 | vs. Virginia Maui Invitational tournament championship Game | W 80-63 | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center Maui, HI |
| 12/1/1996* | No. 2 | San Diego | W 79–72 | 5–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/4/1996* | No. 1 | vs. No. 4 Cincinnati Great Eight | W 72–65 | 6–0 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| 12/7/1996* | No. 1 | at No. 17 UCLA | W 96–83 | 7–0 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/11/1996* | No. 1 | George Washington | W 85–56 | 8–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawnrence, KS |
| 12/15/1996* | No. 1 | UNC Asheville | W 105–73 | 9–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/21/1996* | No. 1 | NC State | W 84–56 | 10–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/30/1996* | No. 1 | Washburn | W 90–65 | 11–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/2/1997* | No. 1 | Brown | W 107–49 | 12–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/4/1997 | No. 1 | at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 62–59 | 13–0 (1–0) | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| 1/6/1997 | No. 1 | No. 18 Texas | W 86–61 | 14–0 (2–0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/9/1997* | No. 1 | Niagara | W 134–73 | 15–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/11/1997 | No. 1 | at Baylor | W 87–68 | 16–0 (3–0) | Ferrell Center Waco, TX |
| 1/13/1997 | No. 1 | No. 4 Iowa State | W 80–67 | 17–0 (4–0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/19/1997* | No. 1 | at Connecticut | W 73–65 | 18–0 | Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT |
| 1/22/1997 | No. 1 | Texas A&M | W 89–60 | 19–0 (5–0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/26/1997 | No. 1 | at No. 18 Colorado | W 77–68 | 20–0 (6–0) | Coors Events Center Boulder, CO |
| 1/29/1997 | No. 1 | at No. 22 Texas Tech | W 86–77 | 21–0 (7–0) | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX |
| 2/1/1997 | No. 1 | Nebraska | W 82–77 $^{OT}$ | 22–0 (8–0) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/4/1997 | No. 1 | at Missouri Border War | L 94–96 $^{2OT}$ | 22–1 (8–1) | Hearnes Center Columbia, MO |
| 2/9/1997 | No. 1 | at No. 6 Iowa State | W 69–62 | 23–1 (9–1) | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| 2/12/1997 | No. 1 | Oklahoma State | W 104–72 | 24–1 (10–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/15/1997 | No. 1 | No. 15 Colorado | W 114–74 | 25–1 (11–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/17/1997 | No. 1 | Missouri Border War | W 79–67 | 26–1 (12–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/22/1997 | No. 1 | Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 78–58 | 27–1 (13–1) | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/24/1997 | No. 1 | at Oklahoma | W 70–68 | 28–1 (14–1) | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 3/2/1997 | No. 1 | at Nebraska | W 85–65 | 29–1 (15–1) | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| 3/7/1997 | No. 1 | vs. Oklahoma State Quarterfinals | W 74–59 | 30–1 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 3/8/1997 | No. 1 | vs. No. 16 Iowa State Semifinals | W 72–48 | 31–1 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 3/9/1997 | No. 1 | vs. Missouri Championship Game | W 87–60 | 32–1 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/13/1997* | (1 SE) No. 1 | vs. (16 SE) Jackson State First round | W 78–64 | 33–1 | Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN |
| 3/15/1997* | (1 SE) No. 1 | vs. (8 SE) Purdue Second Round | W 75–61 | 34–1 | Pyramid Arena Memphis, TN |
| 3/21/1997* | (1 SE) No. 1 | vs. (4 SE) No. 15 Arizona Regional semifinals | L 82–85 | 34–2 | Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parentheses. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Not released |
| Coaches | 1 | 1* | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
*There was no coaches poll in week 1.

## Team players in the 1997 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 19 | Scot Pollard | Detroit Pistons |
| 1 | 27 | Jacque Vaughn | Utah Jazz |