From manager to walk-on, KU basketball’s Patrick Cassidy living his childhood dream

Kansas basketball fans are set to see many new faces lining the court this season, but one of the new guys isn’t as new as he seems.

After spending two seasons as a manager, Patrick Cassidy is getting his opportunity as a Jayhawk, joining the team as a walk-on guard this season.

The Columbus, Kansas, native was a four-sport standout at Columbus Unified High School, also participating in football, baseball and track and field. As quarterback for the Titans his senior year, Cassidy led Columbus to an 8-2 season while racking up over 1,500 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns. He earned all-state honorable mention that year.

On the court, Cassidy averaged 21.7 points per game for the Titans en route a senior season that put him on the Class 3A all-state first team. He had some chances to continue his playing days in college, but he opted instead to go to KU.

“My family has gone here, so there’s a rich tradition of our family being here,” Cassidy said. “Both of my sisters went here, so I just knew what the university was like.”

Cassidy played under former Columbus head basketball coach Jerry Smiley, who told The Star that he wasn’t surprised when Cassidy ultimately made the decision to come to Lawrence.

“I think he made the right decision,” Smiley said. “He could have went to play basketball, but he choose to invest in his future, and going to Kansas I think allowed him to establish a few more contacts, get to know a few more individuals that would make him successful.”

Cassidy, meanwhile, calls himself a lifelong “ride or die” KU fan.

“Even if I wasn’t a manager my first year, or even around the team, it’s still just special to be a part of this university as a whole,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy wasn’t involved as a manager his freshman year, which was altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team brought him in for workouts during that spring, helping him get acquainted with the work that student managers do. From there, Cassidy became a manager for the squad.

Coincidentally, it was right as the Jayhawks began their 2021-22 national title run — a year that Cassidy calls the best of his life.

“The memories I’ll take with me the rest of my life,” Cassidy said. “Even if you’re just a small part as a manager ... just being a small part of it behind the scenes, you know. Even just getting the jerseys ready for the national championship was huge, being in the locker room for it.

“I mean, there’s no words to put how you feel after that. Whenever they miss that last shot with however many seconds left and you run out on the court, confetti has fallen. And as a manager handing out the hats, the shirts to everybody and just seeing everybody crying on the court, it was the most emotional I’ve felt probably about a sport in my life. But it was something truly special, and I’m so grateful.”

As both his academic year and the hype of the championship began to die down, one thought crept into his mind regarding his KU future: walking on.

“I started to talk to Chris Teahan about it, and he’s like, ‘If you really want to do it, it’s going to be a grind,’” Cassidy said. “So my junior year, we had some people go down and I had to start doing more in practice, and so ever since then, I started to get really involved with it. And I told myself, ‘Hey, maybe you can do this.’”

It wasn’t until later that he fully decided to become a walk-on, but once he did, he knew he would put his full effort into making the team. That’s something Smiley said he’s no stranger to doing.

“He’s going to put in more time than people realize,” Smiley said. “He’s going to make sure he puts in the capacity of (work) that will get him to where he wants to go.”

Smiley spent seven seasons coaching the Titans but recently resigned to spend more time with family as his three daughters begin their own sports journeys. As he steps back from his high school coaching role, he’ll keep in mind one thing that Cassidy showed as his player.

“I’d like to teach some of those qualities that Mr. Cassidy has (to) my daughters about the time you have to put in, the commitment and just to have fun while you do it,” Smiley said.

Cassidy certainly put in plenty of work, even though he wasn’t exactly dead set on playing college basketball when he reached high school.

“It’s ridiculous — I always said I wanted to play (for) KU basketball, but as a kid from a small town, especially Columbus, everyone’s going to look at you like you’re crazy,” Cassidy said. “But when I hit high school, I didn’t really want to play sports anywhere again.”

Part of the reason for that: He knew he wanted to attend KU, even if it meant his hoops career would be over.

His time away from the game, however, affirmed how much he loves the sport.

“Once you get away from the sport you love, you start to realize, ‘Maybe I do still want this in my life,’” Cassidy said. “That’s when I got the manager position, and when I got that, I was just like, ‘I really miss the sport of basketball.’

“You build a team as a family, and you’re just a part of something bigger than yourself. I think that’s what brought me back to it, ... my love for it and missing it so much.”

KU coach Bill Self officially invited Cassidy to join the team as a walk-on this past June. Coming from a town with a population of just below 2,900, Cassidy is soaking in every minute and what it means to come this far.

“You don’t have enough exposure coming from Columbus, which is true at times,” Cassidy said. “But I think if people really want to hone in on something, and they focus and they put their nose down and aren’t scared to work for it, I think any kid from a small town, no matter the situation, can do what I’m doing right now.”

To those kids from Columbus, and other small towns, Cassidy’s main advice is that it’s more about the work that you put in when nobody’s watching.

He reflected on late nights at his high school, when he’d have the janitor keep the gym unlocked so he could continue to shoot and practice.

“I hope people take my story and think about it,” Cassidy said, “so other kids from Columbus look at it and use it as motivation.”