Rush of development at Kansas

SAN ANTONIO – I wish someone would call her.

When the Kansas Jayhawks take the court Saturday against North Carolina in the Final Four, I wish someone would contact Brandon Rush’s former principal at Westport High School and tell her to turn on her television.

I would do it myself, but when I asked around Friday, no one could remember her name.

Only what she said.

“Her very last words as I left her office were: ‘Brandon Rush is going to be a failure in life,’ ” said John Walker, Rush’s close friend and former summer league coach. “She told me he was never going to amount to (much).”

That was back in March 2002, when Rush was kicked out of Westport for a series of goof-ups that included everything from missing class to failing to turn in homework assignments to wearing saggy pants.

Back then it’s no wonder that his principal – not to mention coaches, scouts and recruiting analysts – questioned whether Rush would succeed in life.

These days I can’t see how he won’t.

Heck, he already has.

I couldn’t care less who wins between Kansas and North Carolina. But make no mistake: I’ll be rooting for Brandon Rush. I have for the last three years.

I know Rush isn’t a first-team All-American like Tyler Hansbrough or Kevin Love, and he’s not a surefire lottery pick like Derrick Rose. Still, for so many different reasons, Rush deserves to be on this stage as much as any of them.

As much as any player in the NCAA tournament, Rush is the textbook example of how college athletics can transform a kid into a man – on and off the court.

I first met Rush in the summer of 2005. He had entered the NBA draft following his senior season at Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina, but he pulled out when it became clear he wouldn’t be selected in the first round.

A few weeks earlier Kansas had booted J.R. Giddens off the team following a bar fight that left five people with stab wounds, and now the Jayhawks were hoping to rectify the problem by signing one of the country’s top players just a month before the start of fall classes.

When I tracked down Rush before a workout at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, he barely could look me in the eye. Instead, he stared the ground as we spoke and continuously wiped his nervous, sweaty palms on his shorts.

A few months later, during his first media session at Kansas, Rush stuttered mightily as he answered questions and complained about how much he hated talking with strangers.

Perhaps it was because Rush had heard what others were saying. He knew about his reputation as an arrogant, me-first player who was treating college as nothing more than a pit stop on the road to the NBA.

“I’d played against Brandon on the AAU circuit,” KU point guard Russell Robinson said. “I always thought he was cocky and arrogant. It wasn’t until I got to meet him that I realized what a good person he was.”

Indeed, from the time he arrived at Kansas, Rush has taken each of his negative stereotypes and stomped on them like cigarette butts.

He has led Kansas in scoring the last three seasons, but because he bought into the need for balance, he never has averaged more than 13 points per game. Rush has been named first-team All-Big 12 three straight times but doesn’t even bother to take his plaques home from the KU basketball office. And as far as his attitude goes, Rush has transformed from a fidgety, guarded introvert to one of the most confident, engaging personalities on the team.

“He looks people in the eye now,” KU assistant coach Joe Dooley said.

Rush just smiles.

“Coming to Kansas has matured me,” he said. “The decision I made to come here is going to help me out in the long run. I’m a different person than I was when I got here – and a different player, too.

“I just bought in. I bought into being selfless and to helping my teammates win. I know that that’s the most important thing.”

It’s no secret that Rush, at best, probably has two games remaining in his Kansas career, as speculation is that he’ll turn pro. Most mock drafts list Rush as a middle or late first-round selection.

Rush actually entered the draft last season but was forced to come back to school after tearing his ACL during a May pickup game.

As unfortunate as the situation was for Rush, it resulted in Rush leading Kansas to its third straight Big 12 title and third straight league tournament championship. Throw in back-to-back appearances on the Wooden All-American team, and it has been quite a career for a kid that was “never supposed to amount to squat.”

Not that Rush is taking all of the credit.

Just as Kansas needed Brandon Rush, Brandon Rush needed Kansas.

“When he came here he didn’t trust,” coach Bill Self said. “He trusts now. I think he feels loved. He will be better in life because he came to Kansas.”