Former Mizzou players hopeful for renewal of Border War rivalry
Don’t get Keyon Dooling wrong; he still doesn’t like the University of Kansas. He’s arguably the most successful professional basketball player to come through Missouri, playing 13 seasons in the NBA, including a pair of Western Conference Finals with the Miami Heat in 2005 and the Boston Celtics in 2011. But there’s still nothing that gets his blood boiling quite like putting on the black and gold and seeing Kansas’ red, white and blue across from him. It’s that exact competitiveness and fire that made the rivalry mean so much to him in his two years at Mizzou, and its those same feelings that are behind his frustration with the schools no longer playing each other every year.
Asked Saturday night at the inaugural Rivalry Renewed alumni game between former Jayhawks and Tigers about what it was like to don the black and gold against Kansas when the teams no longer play each other, Dooling responded sharply, “That’s not a Mizzou choice. … There’s a lot of kids whose fondest memories is of the Border War. There’s a lot of families divided because of this war. I would hate for the next generation of Tiger fans and KU fans to miss out on the great rivalry we have.”
Much like the rivalry has drawn a line between fans over the last 127 years, Missouri’s move to the Southeastern Conference in 2012 seemingly drew a line in the sand that Kansas’ program is no longer willing to cross. Last summer, former Missouri chancellor R. Bowen Loftin said that the university tried to restart the Border War on a number of different occasions, but Kansas coach Bill Self stood in the way.
"The problem was a man named Bill Self who made it very clear this wasn't going to happen,” Loftin told AL.com.
In February 2012, ahead of what would be Missouri and Kansas’ final matchup as Big 12 opponents, Self treaded lightly around the subject of the rivalry, but there seemed to be a hint of hostility toward the decision-makers who opted to leave the Big 12 for greener pastures.
“Their administration, with the support of whoever, made the decision,” Self said. “And they knew when they made the decision that this was going to be something that could affect the future of the relationship.”
Since then, Self has been firm in his stance that Kansas will choose to play the teams it feels benefit the Jayhawks’ program and not the other way around. While Cuonzo Martin was telling reporters that he’d love to resume the rivalry ahead of the Showdown for Relief charity exhibition game this past fall, Self reiterated that he only schedules in the best interest of his program, noting that he heard from a lot of upset fans about playing Missouri again before they knew the cause the money would be going to.
When the alumni teams met at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence Saturday, they shared a single locker room — Jayhawks on one side, Tigers on the other. But as the players got ready for the game, the conversation naturally turned to the rivalry, former Mizzou guard Stefhon Hannah said. Players on both sides expressed their hope for the game to be renewed, even if just for the nearly 19,000 fans that filled the Sprint Center in late October or the thousands more that watched at home.
“It’s special to not just us; it’s bigger than just us,” Hannah said. “It’s more about the fans and the history of Kansas and Missouri. I think if we did it every year, that’d be great."
Although Self demurs when the idea that he alone could restart the rivalry if he wanted to, Dooling believes the man he hails as “one of the greatest coaches in college basketball” could have a drastic impact on whether the Jayhawks and Tigers play again.
“Both schools have to vulnerable enough to forgive each other,” Dooling said. “Coach Martin wasn’t here when we changed over to the SEC, so he shouldn’t be held accountable for it. But Coach Self is one of the greatest coaches in the game, so I think he has the clout to make it happen if it’s going happen. I think there’s a lot of fans, generational levels of fans and families that would love for this rivalry to continue.”
For now, brothers Brandon and Kareem Rush hope to make the Rivalry Renewed event an annual one, looking to add teams like Illinois and Kansas State next year, and then ultimately expanding it into a full-fledged alumni league with former college players from around the country. With just six weeks of planning, the teams managed to bring roughly 2,500 people to Independence and raised better than $3,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Kansas City on a 50/50 raffle alone. Rush says he isn’t sure what impact former players duking it out once a year will have on the real series, but it can’t hurt to try.
“I don’t know about (getting the series restarted), but as far as alumni are concerned, guys I’ve talked to like Drew Gooden, Michael Dixon, Kim English, those guys are looking forward to being a part of this next year,” Rush said. “With an alumni game, we can grow it and maybe that can entice the schools to play it again, but ultimately that’s not our choice.”