The 1989–90 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 92nd basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who was serving his second year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. They set an NCAA record for largest unranked to ranked jump. Following the preseason NIT, where the Jayhawks defeated the 2nd, 1st, and 25th ranked teams in the nation, the Jayhawks jumped to the 4th ranked team in the nation. They remained in the top two for the remainder of the regular season. The season also marked the beginning of an NCAA-record 32 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances that, as of the 2025 tournament (there was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), was still active. The Jayhawks' 150–95 victory over Kentucky on December 9 remains the most points scored in a game in Kansas basketball history, and the worst defeat in Kentucky's history.
Roster
Name # Position Height Weight Year Home town Todd Alexander 35 Guard 6–2 190 Freshman McPherson, Kansas Terry Brown 3 Guard 6–1 185 Junior Clyde, New York Rick Calloway 20 Forward 6–6 190 Senior Cincinnati, Ohio Jeff Gueldner 33 Guard/forward 6–5 190 Senior Charleston, Illinois Alonzo Jamison 24 Forward 6–5 235 Sophomore Santa Ana, California Adonis Jordan 30 Guard 5–11 160 Freshman Reseda, California Mike Maddox 32 Forward 6–7 210 Junior Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Pekka Markkanen 44 Center 6–10 215 Junior Jyvaskyla, Finland Macolm Nash 43 Forward 6–7 195 Sophomore St. Louis, Missouri Kevin Pritchard 14 Guard 6–3 180 Senior Tulsa, Oklahoma Mark Randall 42 Forward 6–9 230 Junior Englewood, Colorado Kirk Wagner 31 Forward 6–7 210 Junior Pasadena, California Freeman West 34 Forward 6–5 210 Senior East Chicago, Indiana Eric Ridenour 40 Forward 6–5 205 Junior Cimarron, Kansas
Big Eight Conference standings # Team Conference Pct. Overall Pct. 1 Missouri .857 .813 2 Oklahoma .786 .844 3 Kansas .786 .857 4 Kansas State .500 .531 5 .429 .548 6 Iowa State .286 .357 7 .214 .357 8 .143 .400
Schedule
!colspan=9| Big Eight Tournament
!colspan=9| NCAA tournament
Rankings
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 AP 4 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 5 Coaches *There was no coaches poll in week 1.
See also 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
References