Zerbe joins play-for-pay club at KU

By RIC ANDERSON
The Capital-Journal Friday, November 24, 2000

LAWRENCE -- Last spring, during his second season at Hutchinson Community College, Chris Zerbe had an inkling he would soon be spending quite a bit of time at Allen Fieldhouse.

He turned out to be right.  And dead wrong, too.

"I came up to the Ohio State game last year, and while I was sitting up in the stands with my cousin I thought, 'I might not even play ball next year; I may come up here just to watch games,' " Zerbe said.

Zerbe is catching plenty of basketball at KU, all right, but he's not paying for the privilege. After making the team as a walk-on, he not has only been given a prime seat for free but has been granted a scholarship for the spring 2001 semester.

How do you go from paying fan to paid player? Zerbe did it by drawing the attention of KU assistant Joe Holladay, who spoke to the Andover High graduate last season. At that time, Zerbe had just finished helping Hutch go 22-10 while averaging 13 points and six boards.

"That was wonderful," the 6-foot-5, 230-pound forward said, recalling Holladay's invitation to walk on at KU. "Wow, go to school and watch the games from the best seat in the house, you can't pass that up. That was the greatest feeling in the world there."

Or at least it was at that time. Zerbe is spinning a story that seems to have been written by Stephen King's alter-ego, because it keeps getting sweeter by the chapter. Besides becoming one of two walk-ons to earn scholarships -- junior transfer Brett Ballard is the other -- Zerbe said he was overwhelmed by his reception.

"That's the cool thing. Yes, I'm a walk-on, and I'm on a scholarship now, but I'm treated just exactly the same way as the guys who've been here four years," he said.

His situation is a newcomer's dream, even if KU coach Roy Williams doesn't exactly greet him every day with fresh flowers and a bowl of mints.

"If I'm not out denying far enough on the ball or I don't have enough pressure on the ball, he lets me know. But it's good. What is it, constructive criticism?" Zerbe said, laughing.

Zerbe has seen action in KU's last two games. He scored six points in three minutes Monday when Williams became angry with his starters and subbed out all five positions.

"I put Chris in a position he doesn't even play," Williams