Notebook: Kansas Wins the National Championship

Toughness Title: Stellar second half leads Kansas past North Carolina 72-69 for program's sixth national championship | KUsports.com Mobile
In fitting fashion, this one, like so many other KU wins this season, came down to the Jayhawks refusing to quit and fighting to the end.

'We can do this' How Kansas kept hope alive at halftime and powered its way to the 2022 national title | KUsports.com Mobile
There was the Kansas State game back in January. There was the Miami win in the Elite Eight in Chicago. And, most importantly, there was still 20 minutes remaining.

Kansas' Ochai Agbaji named NCAA Tournament's most outstanding player | KUsports.com Mobile
The only other players to win the award who played for the Jayhawks are Clyde Lovellette, B.H. Born, Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning and Mario Chalmers. Born, who won it in 1953, and Chamberlain, the winner in 1957, earned the honor despite not winning the national championship. Lovellette (1952), Manning (1988) and Chalmers (2008) did.

Christian Braun's big stop helps Kansas hold off North Carolina for title | KUsports.com Mobile
"We were trying to make him obviously take a 2," Braun said. "It was just me and him one-on-one. I thought I got a pretty good hand up. It looked short from when he shot it. When I turned around, it was short. When it came off, I felt good."

A season of preparation and dedication had David McCormack ready for the moment
KU spaced the floor beautifully to give McCormack ample space to operate against North Carolina’s Brady Manek. Christian Braun and Remy Martin were in the corners and Ochai Agbaji on the wing. Self trusted Jalen Wilson with the all-important entry pass. McCormack did his work early, pushing Manek back towards his own basket before catching the ball. He dribbled once, gathered and elevated over Manek and shot a jump hook. The ball hit off the back iron and dropped through the hoop.

Bill Self reacts to historic comeback win over UNC in national championship
“No, he's not in Kansas basketball history. I can't say that. I think Danny was pretty good, too. But he's second. He's the most accomplished player that we have had at our university since Danny. To think that four years, win the national championship, win the league, win the Big 12 Tournament, win the NCAA Tournament, to be most outstanding player -- we've never had anybody -- we may have had some guys that had comparable years, but never had anybody cap it off like what he has other than D.”

Ochai Agbaji cements KU legacy with Final Four MOP award
Agbaji was asked about the Most Outstanding Player award and his own legacy at KU.

“I don't really care because we won the national championship,” Agbaji said. “But if I really had a most outstanding player throughout the entire Final Four it would be David [McCormack]. We got here at the same time. These goals and dreams that we're living right now we never would have thought it when we first stepped foot on campus, but now living it and living it with him and leaving here with history and history in our name it just means so much to the both of us and obviously Mitch and all the guys here.”

Kansas wins national championship: David McCormack, Ochai Agbaji, Mitch Lightfoot detail comeback vs. UNC
"I would say — I said this a couple of days ago in media, with the group of guys as experienced as this and been around and know each other so well, it's kind of hard to see us get rattled," said Kansas senior Mitch Lightfoot. "And I think we bounced back at halftime. Coach had a great message for us, and he challenged us to be better and to have more pride. And we did that."

Kansas basketball: Media weighs in on win over North Carolina in national championship
NEW ORLEANS, La. — For the first time since the 2008 season, the Kansas Jayhawks are national champions. Watch the team cut down the nets in the video above.

Inside the Kansas Jayhawks' second-half comeback that stunned UNC for a basketball national championship
"I just thought, 'Keep believing,'" Chalmers said after Kansas' 72-69 come-from-behind win over North Carolina. "The same thing Coach [Bill] Self told us [in 2008] was to keep believing. And I knew they'd be able to pull it out in the end."

March Madness: Kansas pounced on Armando Bacot's injury
“When we saw our own blood, we didn’t panic and we came out hot in the second half,” Self said. “I was thinking about the 14-minute mark, there’s no way these guys can keep playing defense like that, but they did.”

NCAA president Mark Emmert gets Kansas' name wrong during championship trophy presentation
"Here to present the trophy is the head of the basketball committee Tom Burnett to coach Self and the Kansas City Jayhawks," Emmert said.

KU Jayhawks defeat UNC Tar Heels to win NCAA basketball Championship
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In a national championship game nobody at Kansas will soon forget, Bill Self went from the Hall of Fame coach who too often failed on the big stage to the brilliant mastermind of the biggest second-half comeback in NCAA title-game history.

Here's the Kansas radio call of the Jayhawks winning the National Championship
And here’s how it sounded with Kansas radio play-by-play man Brian Hanni on the call: