AP
It could have been 20 years ago at the White House on Tuesday. Danny Manning was standing on the steps in the Rose Garden, and Kansas’ favorite son, former Sen. Bob Dole, was looking on proudly.
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In 1988, Manning had just led Kansas to the NCAA basketball national championship and was on the cusp of an NBA career. Tuesday he appeared again, as an assistant coach for the 2008 champion Jayhawks.
Joining Dole in the crowd to honor the team were current Kansas Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts (who arrived in his convertible Chrysler Crossfire), and Reps. Jerry Moran and Dennis Moore.
“So when Kansas fans come to the Rose Garden, they don’t come to admire the flowers,” President Bush said. “They come to wave the wheat.
“They managed to beat Yale, my alma mater,” he added. “I’m not sure how you did it, but nevertheless it was a great victory.”
It was a big week for the Jayhawks, who stayed at the Key Bridge Marriott. The team and its family, friends and staff (70 strong) visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Monday afternoon and had a bus tour of D.C. on Monday night.
And after meeting the president, they had lunch at the Supreme Court and met Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who spoke at Kansas a few weeks ago and extended the invitation. A tour of Capitol Hill and meeting with Kansas’ congressional delegation capped off their day.
