Kansas Center Finds Inner Peace Through Tragedy

When Eric Chenowith went home to California last summer, boos were ringing in his ears and tragedy was on the horizon.

To Kansas’ spoiled fans, he was a bum, a bust--letting everybody down by not playing anywhere close to the level of a preseason All-American.

Then, his best friend died. And his mother contracted cancer.

“I’d rather have this pain inflicted on me than her,” he told a friend.

Very quickly, Chenowith grew up.

Instead of spending the summer drifting around, going fishing and attending concerts the way he’d done the year before, Chenowith worked harder than he’d ever imagined.

With a new attitude, the 7-foot-1 player honed his skills at the Pete Newell Big Man Camp. He worked out daily.

Now the boos are gone. The cheers are back. Chenowith is averaging 13.4 points and almost 10 rebounds for No. 2 Kansas and looking like the player everyone expected after his big sophomore season.

“For the first time in my life I have peace of mind. I’m happy with myself,” he said.

Coach Roy Williams says his big center “is light years from last year” when he averaged only 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds.

As a sophomore, Chenowith appeared headed for stardom when he led the Jayhawks with almost 14 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Then came what Williams would call Chenowith’s “lost summer.”

“He didn’t do a flipping thing. But that’s in the past,” Williams said. “I’m very pleased with what he did this summer. Eric didn’t need a secret. He didn’t need anyone to give him the formula. He just needed to invest in sweat.”

With a deft, soft touch from the outside that’s unusual for a 7-footer, Chenowith also presents a second problem for the defense: Let him slip inside, and he’s almost unstoppable. He’s also made great gains as a rebounder and defender.

If this turns out to be a special season for the Jayhawks, it could be due in large part to their center’s hard work.

“Every single day this past summer I just took it as an opportunity to get better,” Chenowith said. “My day revolved around my workout, where I would wake up and immediately think of what I was going to do that day with basketball.

“Last summer, that wasn’t my mindset.”

Chenowith spent the summer of 1999 as a typical college kid. He followed his favorite band around the country. He went deep-sea fishing off the California coast with a group of young people. They all read “The Old Man And The Sea” together and then bobbed on the ocean late into the night discussing the meaning of life.

But it took the death of his buddy and the illness of his mother to set him in the right direction.

“I’ve realized you can’t bring anybody back from death, but with my mom’s cancer, it’s something we can beat,” he said. “She just had her last chemo treatment. She’s planning to come out and see us play in March.

“I can play bad, but I’ll feel fine because I’ll know I worked hard and dedicated myself and did everything I could. And then if I play bad, it’s out of my control.

Chenowith’s teammates have noticed his new peace of mind.

“He’s definitely a happier person,” said forward Jeff Carey. “From day to day, I can tell he’s more relaxed.”

As much as anything, he’s learned to take life on its own terms.

“Now when something happens, I think, ‘Can I change this or can I not change it?”’ he said.

“With basketball, I can change it. I can work on it. Every single opportunity I have, I want to take advantage of it.”

In fact, it’s not just his attitude that’s better.

“He’s bigger, stronger. He’s gained some vertical jump back,” Williams said. “His vertical jump wasn’t as good and he didn’t run as fast. When you don’t run and can’t jump, that’s two things that hurt you in basketball.”

The old Chenowith would blow an easy shot and sulk. The new one just goes back to work.

“In one game this year, he was 7-for-15 and missed some easy ones,” Williams said. “Last year, that would have destroyed his confidence. But the next game he came back and had 19 points and 17 rebounds. He has his confidence back and his coaches and teammates have their confidence back in him, too.”

Most of all, he’s happy.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I was talking to my dad the other day and he said, ‘Well, how you doing’ I said good. He said, ‘No. How you really doing?’

“I said, ‘It’s wonderful how much better I feel.”’