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Kansas Native Plays Key Role in Kentucky’s Quest for Perfection

By Greg Echlin
Published March 26, 2015 at 6:35 AM CDT
Willie Cauley-Stein (dunking), a native Kansan, is a member of the Kentucky basketball team. (Photo Courtesy of UK Athletics)
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The basketball hoop attached to the garage behind Willie Cauley-Stein's childhood home. (Photo by Greg Echlin)
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The house where Willie was raised by Val and Norma Jean Stein. (Photo by Greg Echlin)
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Spearville is a city in Ford County, Kan., close to Dodge City. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 773. (Photo by Greg Echlin)
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Inside the old gym where Willie Cauley-Stein played in his freshman and sophomore seasons. (Photo by Greg Echlin)
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It could be argued that Willie Cauley-Stein (Stine) is the highest profile Kansan to leave for Kentucky since the legendary basketball coach, Adolph Rupp. The former Kentucky Wildcats coach was from Halstead, and played for the Kansas Jayhawks in the early 1920s. This season, Willy Cauley-Stein is one of five finalists for the Naismith Award, which recognizes the best college basketball player. The prevailing question in Kansas is: How did he get away? Kansas Public Radio’s Greg Echlin has the story.
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Local News Jayhawkscollege basketballNCAA TournamentKentucky WildcatsWillie Cauley-Stein
Greg Echlin
Greg Echlin is the sports reporter for KPR and KCUR. Ever since he set foot on the baseball diamond at Fernwood Park on Chicago's South Side, Greg Echlin began a love affair with the world of sports. After graduating from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, he worked as a TV sports anchor and a radio sportscaster in Salina, Kansas. He moved to Kansas City in 1984 and has been there since covering sports. Through the years, he has covered multiple Super Bowls, Final Fours and Major League Baseball's World Series and All-Star games. With his high metabolism rate, Greg is able to enjoy a good meal and stay slim when he's not running around on the sports scene. He loves desserts, even making them. Cheesecakes, pies and parfaits are the most common around the Echlin household.
See stories by Greg Echlin