NCAA Tournament title cements Ochai Agbaji’s legacy as one of the all-time greats at Kansas
NEW ORLEANS — Ochai Agbaji already had made a strong imprint within the Kansas men’s basketball program before Monday night.
He played four seasons for coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks. Agbaji developed into the Big 12 Conference’s player of the year and a consensus first-team All-American. None of that was going to change, whether or not the senior guard helped guide Kansas to a national championship against North Carolina.
What was on the line was how much he would be able to elevate his position in Kansas lore before he turned pro and embarked on a career in the NBA. A national title changes things. A national title when Agbaji is widely considered the best player Self can put on the floor, changes things.
And behind a performance capped by Agbaji being named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, he took his legacy to new heights. The emotion poured out of him once the final buzzer sounded, and the Jayhawks had earned their program’s first national championship since 2008 with a 72-69 victory The gravity of the evening was as evident in his words then as it’s ever been.
“This is all I have to give for Kansas Jayhawks fans,” said Agbaji, who scored 33 points combined during the Final Four. “So, I just love Kansas and now it has a special place in my heart.
“Just seeing my family, I broke down there because they know how much I work just to get in this position, just to get here and be on this stage and perform.”
Self stopped short of saying Agbaji is the most accomplished player in the history of Kansas’ program, or that Agbaji had the most successful senior year, but in no way is that a slight. Self is putting Agbaji behind only Danny Manning, who was at Caesars Superdome to see the Jayhawks win. Manning, a national player of the year honoree and member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, is hard to argue against. He led Kansas to an improbable title in 1988, was the top pick in that summer's NBA Draft and remains the school's all-time leading scorer.
Agbaji said he and Self have talked about Manning. However, Agbaji wasn’t interested much in being the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. His mind remained fixed on a national title.
Agbaji didn’t have the opportunity to play for one earlier in his career, when the pandemic forced the cancellations of the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments in 2020. That team very well could have gone on the runs this year’s team did. And with an increased role, Agbaji stepped up.
“If I really had a Most Outstanding Player throughout the entire Final Four, it would be David,” said Agbaji, of senior forward 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 Kansas, 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 (Lightfoot) and all the guys here.”
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Agbaji, McCormack and super-senior forward Lightfoot provided a level of leadership that will be tough to replace, considering they’ve been at Kansas for a combined 14 seasons. Lightfoot has been with the Jayhawks for six. Agbaji and McCormack have been regular starters the majority of the season.
With those three players gone come November, redshirt sophomore guard Dajuan Harris Jr. and redshirt sophomore forward Jalen Wilson will be expected to take on bigger roles They’ll have learned from veterans who led the team to a national championship.
“Having the trust of my guys, having the trust of coach, I think that obviously grows with time, your maturity and learning more about yourself and all that stuff,” Agbaji said. “But I worked for this, so I put all my trust into the game and all the guys trust my game, too.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.