By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Washburn University's historic 2024-2025 basketball season, which will end with an appearance in this week's NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind., has meant a lot to each and every Ichabod.
Washburn sophomore Jack Bachelor cuts down the nets after last Tuesday's 93-65 regional win over MSU-Moorhead. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But WU's amazing ride, which included last Tuesday's Central Region championship in front of a sellout crowd in Lee Arena, might mean just a little bit extra to a Topeka kid, 6-foot-2 sophomore point guard Jack Bachelor, who grew up dreaming about just such a moment.
"Both my parents (Angela and Aaron) played basketball here, so I went to all the basketball games and all the camps,'' Bachelor said. "I've grown up watching a ton of these players, so it's just great seeing Lee Arena bringing everybody here. It's been awesome.
"It was spring break so some of my friends were able to come back and come to the games and I had a ton of family and friends here, so I felt the love a lot over the weekend and it was just an awesome experience. It was really fun to play in front of everybody and just see the community kind of come together.''
The fact that Bachelor ended up at Washburn following a standout career at Washburn Rural probably wasn't a big surprise given his family's WU legacy.
But even Bachelor, who had 16 points (4 of 6 3-pointers) and also dished out 10 assists in last Tuesday's 93-65 win over Minnesota State-Minnesota in the regional final, admits to being surprised by the success he's had in his first two collegiate seasons.
Bachelor initially thought he might redshirt his first year at Washburn, but made an immediate impact for the 19-11 Ichabods as a freshman before earning All-MIAA and All-Central Region first-team honors this season.
Entering Tuesday's Elite Eight 8:30 p.m. quarterfinal against 29-5 Lenoir-Rhyne, Bachelor is averaging 13.8 points with 63 3-pointers while leading the Ichabods with 178 assists and an 86.1 percent free throw percentage (93 of 108).
"I talk to my mom and dad about this all the time,'' Bachelor said of his success . "I had no clue what to expect and was just trying to help the team any way I could. And now we're at this point that it's not finished yet, but it's been a good season so far, and it's just been crazy to think about where I started and where I'm at now.''
Now the aim for Bachelor and his Washburn teammates is to make one more dream -- a national championship -- come true.
"We've kind of settled back down (from the regional run) and settled in and now we're moving on to Evansville,'' Bachelor said. "We're going to play some really good teams.
"Lenoir-Rhyne, they're going to be a really good team and we're going to have to play our best basketball so we're settled back in and ready to get better and getting prepared for Evansville. It's going to be a tough game for sure.''
Washburn reached the 2001 NCAA Championship game, falling to Kentucky Wesleyan 72-63 on March 24 in Bakersfield, Calif.
