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Lane Czaplinski聽admits March can be a distracting time of year. It鈥檚 not the overseas travel to book a Bygdedans dance troupe for the summer season or the hobnobbing at another sponsor dinner in his perpetual effort to keep On the Boards solvent for another season.

More photos from Lane Czaplinski

Those things happen every month when you are the artistic director of Seattle鈥檚 preeminent, avant-garde theater. March is different because it鈥檚 also the college basketball holy season. Czaplinski鈥檚 love for basketball runs deep; he admits that he steals time away from theater聽duties to immerse in March Madness on his phone.

But what most patrons of don鈥檛 know is just how deep 鈥� and unusual 鈥� that hoops connection is for Czaplinski (pronounced CHAP-LIN-SKI). Twenty seven years ago, Czaplinski was a 5-foot-11, 180-pound, semi-broke English major entering his senior year at the University of Kansas.

He鈥檇 landed his first role in a campus play but as summer cooled into fall, he could see the end of his time on college. Worse, he didn鈥檛 see much of anything beyond it.

鈥淢y prospects were, um, minimal,鈥� he said recently, laughing. 鈥淭hen I got the call.鈥�

The call. This is where Czaplinski鈥檚 story turns into narrative so rare in big-time college sports, people initially don鈥檛 believe him when he retells the tale. It鈥檚 the type of call that still mildly shocks the 47-year-old even after nearly three decades. It鈥檚 the type of call that when it happens in a movie, the music changes.

It was the men鈥檚 basketball team鈥檚 new head coach, . Czaplinski recalled. 鈥淗e wanted to know if I could practice with the team.鈥�

Kansas basketball

To understand University of Kansas鈥� central place in the college basketball universe, some comparisons are in order. Kansas is to college basketball what the New York Yankees are to Major League Baseball, what Harvard is to college, what Apple is to technology. (Kansas fans would say that it is all three rolled into one.)

The coached there. Kansas was famous in the 1950s with , in the 1960s with Dave Robisch, in the 1970s with Darnell Valentine, the 1980s with , in the 1990s with and in the 2000s with Nick Collison, Andrew Wiggins and Frank Mason.

Kansas has produced more than 70 professional basketball players in the United States alone (not to mention the dozens who have played professionally overseas). Kansas, UCLA, the Universities of North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana and (more recently) Duke University are basketball royalty in the United States.

For six decades, Kansas has been a finishing school for some of the finest players in the world.

And as it turns out, for Lane Czaplinski too.

Playing for the Jayhawks

To be clear, it isn鈥檛 as if the University of Kansas call came completely out of the blue. Czaplinski was something of a star point guard at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Mo. — a state basketball powerhouse. Czaplinski鈥檚 dad, George, was the head basketball coach there and a former star player in his own right.

His dad had coached , a former NBA player who now is an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Former college coaches and would stop by the house during coaching clinics. His dad鈥檚 high school players would watch game film in the family living room.

鈥淚 grew up in a hardcore basketball culture,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was the classic coach鈥檚 son.鈥�

But Czaplinski was no Larry Drew. Small (5-foot11 at the time) and slow, Czaplinski received exactly zero scholarship offers his senior year in high school. When he decided to enroll at nearby Kansas, he figured his playing days were over. 聽Even so, he went to an open try out for the school鈥檚 junior varsity team.

The JV team, one of the additions Williams brought to his new school, is a no-scholarships and all walk-on team. They used the Allen Fieldhouse on off days and played games against junior colleges and obscure military academies to mostly empty arenas.

For Czaplinski, the JV team was a chance to stay in shape and work on his game while he figured out what to do in college. By his junior year, he was the team鈥檚 leading player. The summer before his senior year, he no longer was eligible to play on the JV. He again assumed his playing career was done.

He turned his attention to the theater.

鈥淲hen I come back (for his senior year), I鈥檓 basically hitting every margarita special in town and I鈥檓 a literature major and just reading a bunch,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I found out (theater) auditions are happening for the university.鈥�

Czaplinski thought, 鈥淲ell that鈥檚 kind of interesting. Maybe I should audition for a play.鈥�

Then two weeks after landing a part in , the phone rang. It was Coach Williams. The varsity Jayhawks team needed a player to fill out practice. Could Lane swing by?

鈥淚 figured they just needed a player for practice,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think anything of it.鈥�

But what Czaplinski didn鈥檛 know was that Williams was in a bind. Behind the scenes, a star guard on the varsity squad had been declared academically ineligible. The start of the 1991-92 season was days away. Williams needed another backup guard.

Without Czaplinski鈥檚 knowledge, Williams had called the JV coach, Mark Turgeon. Who is the best player you have? Williams asked. Turgeon 鈥� who today is the 鈥� said it was Czaplinski.

After a few days of practice, Williams pulled Czaplinski aside.

He asked if he wanted to stay with the team for the season. Days after that, Williams made him a co-captain.

鈥淚t was surreal,鈥� he said.

Reached before a recent tournament game, Williams said Czaplinski was a natural leader even though he was not the best player on the court.

鈥淗e was very smart, he really knew basketball,鈥� Williams said. Now the coach at the University of North Carolina (which is playing for the national championship today at 6:20 p.m. against Gonzaga University), Williams said he made Lane a co-captain of the team because he was the type of player who wasn鈥檛, 鈥渕e, me, me, but we, we, we.鈥�

And so began the season with Kansas among the favorites to win the national championship. And Czaplinski literally had a front-row seat. He鈥檇 practice against future pro players Rex Walters and Adonis Jordan and then take his seat on the bench for games.

Which, of course, delighted the rowdy student section at Allen Fieldhouse. Like many student sections in college basketball, Kansas student fans each year pick a couple of players deep on the bench to chant for. And Czaplinski became a favorite.

鈥淧eople hung around, I think, just to see if I鈥檇 ever get in a game,鈥� Czaplinski said.

Williams remembered it the same way. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 chant for him,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 happened everywhere I coach. Student bodies will try to get someone in a game. Sometimes, I鈥檇 turn around and tell the fans, 鈥淗ey, let me coach.

鈥淎nd sometimes, you鈥檇 put the player in.鈥�

Czaplinski’s legacy

Czaplinski鈥檚 stat line for the 1991-92 season: 16 total points (.8 points per game), seven assists and two rebounds. He played an average of 2.5 minutes a game.

After being reminded of Czaplinski鈥檚 stats for the 91-92 season, Williams was asked if that鈥檚 the real reason why he has enjoyed a Hall of Fame career as a college basketball coach following Czaplinski鈥檚 time on the Jayhawks.

鈥淚 would say that Lane was a major contributor to any success that I have had,鈥� Williams said laughing.

Czaplinski, who will be leaving On the Boards at the end of April, said every now and then a Kansas fan will remember his time on the team, including a barista in Seattle who had attended Kansas.

鈥淵ou have to understand,鈥� he said. 鈥淜ansas fans are crazy. He recognized my name.鈥�

And oddly, it鈥檚 that name that will make Czaplinski鈥檚 narrow fame endure. Czaplinski noted that the student section never did figure out how to pronounce Czaplinski. Instead, they instead chanted, 鈥淟ane, Lane, Lane.鈥�

But it turns out Czaplinski, alphabetically, has its merits. In the athletic department at the University of Kansas, is a wall of fame of sorts, a shrine to all of the basketball players who have earned a varsity letter.

On prominent display is the plaque for most famous Jayhawk hoopster ever, Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. And anyone who takes a photo of the Chamberlain plaque gets an added bonus. Directly adjacent to it, as close as teammates on a bench, is another plaque:

鈥淟ane Czaplinski, 1992.鈥�