Kansas freshman Conner Teahan has shown he can score in his brief playing time so far this season.
LAWRENCE | The chants of “Con-ner Tea-han!” from the students are a sign. So is the buzz that fills Allen Fieldhouse when the ball leaves his hands.
But Conner Teahan really feels the difference when he wears his Kansas basketball sweatshirt on campus. See, at the beginning of the fall, Teahan would avoid that sweatshirt like a tacky holiday sweater.
“People looked at the basketball and looked at me and were like, ‘He got that from somebody,’ ” Teahan says. “But now more people realize that I actually play basketball.”
The weird looks, the skepticism from his classmates, they’re all gone now. That’s what will happen when you average more than a point per minute — even if you’ve played only 29 total minutes. Teahan, a graduate of Rockhurst High, would average 42.8 points spread out over 40 minutes. And it’s not just the efficiency that has people stirred up. He almost refuses to miss from three-point range, making nine of 12 from beyond the arc.
How popular has that made Teahan during the last month? A simple survey of the students camping out for the best seats last week at the fieldhouse indicated “Very.” “I’d like to see Conner Teahan play a little bit more,” says Adam Samson, a sophomore from Omaha, Neb. “I get excited when he comes in, even though it’s toward the end.”
“From what I’ve seen,” says Rachel Weihe, a junior from Shawnee, “he’s pretty consistent with his shooting. I don’t know about defense, but we kind of need to boost our offense right now.”
And finally, from sophomore Valeria Pando of Rolla, Kan.: “I can’t think of his name … he’s a freshman … he played last night and he went in for like 5 minutes and scored like five points …”
Conner Teahan?
“Yeah! He definitely puts on a show.”
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Teahan’s short ascent from anonymous freshman to fan favorite has been fun to watch for all KU fans. But none more so than his father, Mark Teahan.
Mark was a ballplayer, too, and a good one. Like Conner, he starred at Rockhurst and was recruited by KU, coached at that time by Ted Owens. Owens told Mark that he would like him to play in junior college first.
Mark decided instead to play at Rockhurst College. He started for three seasons, played in two NAIA national tournaments and is in the school’s hall of fame. Still, he never played for Kansas.
“I wanted to go there in the worst of ways,” Mark says, “but I wasn’t good enough.”
Mark met his wife, Donna, at Rockhurst, so how can you go wrong with that? Donna was a women’s basketball player at the same time. They raised their kids on the game they loved, and Mark would teach his middle son, Conner, how to shoot.
But first, they would need a good place to practice the shot. The Teahans moved to Leawood in 1999, and Mark built a half-court concrete slab in the backyard. Poured it himself. Three days later, a notice was left saying he needed to contact city hall. He had built it without a permit. A three-month battle ensued, but Mark got to keep his court.
The next step was the shot’s mechanics. Mark clipped out a spread in Sports Illustrated called “The Perfect Jump-shot,” referring to the technique of then-Florida sharpshooter Brett Nelson, and made Conner memorize it.
So Conner and Mark spent many hours on that disputed slab of concrete. Sometimes, they’d play “Around the World” against each other. But most of the time, it was Mark telling Conner to keep his feet straight, never bring the ball down and don’t think. Most of all, don’t think. Just shoot it.
The kid made a lot of shots, and when Conner’s prep career ended, he was chosen the best high school player in the state and all of Kansas City. KU coach Bill Self recruited him, and Conner was faced with the same question as his father almost 30 years ago: Just how bad do you want to play for Kansas?
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It was an easy decision, really. Especially with Mark Teahan in his ear. Mark loved Rockhurst, but still, he always wondered.
“From a pure basketball perspective,” Mark says, “sure, I look back and say, ‘What if?’ ”
Conner would have to choose between a scholarship at a Missouri Valley Conference school or walking on at KU. Mark’s message was loud and clear: “Conner, whatever you do, make sure you don’t look back and second-guess yourself.”
Conner had been going to KU games since he was a kid. Go figure that, as Mark’s son, playing for the Jayhawks would be his dream. For the Teahans, a scholarship wasn’t necessary, so Conner made the jump. He never really cared about being labeled a walk-on. Now, after coaching him for two months, Self doesn’t view him that way either.
“He’s going to be a contributor here at Kansas,” Self says. “He’s paying his own way this year, but certainly, he is not a walk-on. He’s a major-college basketball player, and we’re very fortunate for him to have chosen Kansas.”
Teahan likely won’t get much time in crucial moments this year.
He’s just not good enough on the defensive end. While the students may be blinded by his three-point stroke, Donna Teahan spends most of Conner’s court time screaming, “Move your feet!”
But when Mark Teahan takes it all in, hearing the students chant his son’s name, the feeling is indescribable.
“It’s surreal,” Mark says, “no doubt about it. Never did I think I’d have a son playing in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’s definitely a dream come true.”