![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Scooter-Ward-Kansas.jpg\")
\u201cThe KU community lost a major part of its heart and soul today,\u201d Director of Athletics Travis Goff, c\u201902, j\u201902, said. \u201cScooter was a deeply beloved member of our Kansas Athletics family and has touched countless lives in profound ways. While we grieve his loss, we are grateful for the many ways he has made us all better people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ward\u2019s relationship with KU was lifelong and layered. After earning a doctorate in education with an emphasis in sport and counseling psychology in 1996, he joined the faculty in the School of Education & Human Sciences before moving across the Hill in 2003 to join Kansas Athletics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next 23 years, Ward became a foundational figure in student-athlete support. He spent 14 years working in academic support\u2014most notably with men\u2019s basketball and volleyball\u2014and in 2009 was promoted to associate athletics director for academic and career counseling. In his final role, Ward helped guide KU Leads, focused on life skills for personal, professional and career development, and he counseled student-athletes across all 16 varsity sports on mental performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Ward built, colleagues say, was never about systems alone. It was about people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRarely in life do you encounter someone who has made the impact on people\u2019s lives like Scooter did,\u201d longtime Kansas volleyball coach Ray Bechard said. \u201cHis influence impacted generations of Jayhawks, both the student-athletes and coaches. I was honored to call him my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Ward\u2019s stewardship, Kansas men\u2019s basketball became a national model for academic achievement. During his tenure, KU produced 35 Academic All-Big 12 selections\u2014more than any other conference school\u2014including first-team Academic All-Americans Cole Aldrich, c\u201913, and Tyrel Reed, d\u201910, DPT\u201915. Aldrich was named the Academic All-American of the Year in 2010, and in 2015 the program received the NCAA\u2019s Public Recognition Award after nine consecutive years of ranking in the top 10% nationally in academic performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet numbers tell only a fraction of Ward\u2019s story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday we lost one of Kansas\u2019 all-time great Jayhawks in Scott Ward,\u201d men\u2019s basketball coach Bill Self said. \u201cScooter headed our academic program and ensured that every student-athlete who ever competed here was on the path to earning his degree. But he was much more than just an academic person to our players and to our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Self instead pointed to Ward\u2019s character\u2014his kindness, strength and joy\u2014as his true legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing around him and seeing him operate makes you want to be more like him,\u201d Self said. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s about as big a compliment as you can give a man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ward\u2019s daily example was all the more powerful given the physical challenges he shouldered without complaint. Paralyzed and using a wheelchair since a diving accident while a freshman at Hutchinson Community College, Ward also endured significant medical crises later in life, including two torn aortas. Ward never allowed those challenges to define him\u2014or to slow his commitment to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow many people you know who got up at 5 or 5:30 in the morning to be at work by 8?\u201d Self said. \u201cHe did this every day and never complained. He was a pillar of strength to everyone who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who worked alongside Ward describe a man with a rare emotional intelligence\u2014someone who made connection feel effortless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cScooter was just fun to be around,\u201d said Howard Graham, g\u201908, PhD\u201919, KU Alumni\u2019s senior director of career and professional development and a former academic counselor for Kansas Athletics. \u201cHe had a great sense of humor. He had a gift to connect with people. Certain people just have a gravitational pull.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That authenticity, Graham observed, made Ward especially effective as an educator. \u201cWhat he brought to the table matched who he was and what he believed in,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was genuine. He was authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former KU offensive lineman David Ochoa, j\u201906, g\u201907, area executive director for Mid-America and Missouri at St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital, described Ward as \u201cthis human being who embodied the idea of relentless optimism. It didn\u2019t matter where you came from or what your background was; if you were there to put on a jersey for the University of Kansas or you worked to support somebody who did\u2014or even if you were simply somebody who just loved the team\u2014you were part of the family and you were part of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cScooter lived a life that mattered because he invested in people. He didn\u2019t invest in a team, a win-loss record. He invested in people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ward\u2019s office door was famously open. His conversations were unhurried. He remembered names, asked questions, and followed up. He made people feel seen\u2014something that former administrators say places him in a lineage of legendary Kansas Athletics figures whose influence was felt far beyond competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s like the Maya Angelou quote: You remember how they made you feel, and it wasn\u2019t tied to your performance in competition,\u201d reflected Ochoa. \u201cScooter was somebody who was genuinely excited to see you. That\u2019s such a rare thing. We have so many distractions keeping us from truly investing in human relationships; he did that unlike anybody I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ward is survived by his wife, Robin Harnden Ward, g\u201902. Together they were fixtures at KU events and constant supporters of Jayhawk student-athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will celebrate his amazing life and work every day to honor his legacy,\u201d Goff said. \u201cAnd we know he will smile down upon us in the days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a man who dedicated his life to helping others bask in success and attention, that may be the most fitting tribute of all: a legacy carried forward quietly, daily, in the lives of the people he lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Update, Jan. 13, 2026: Ward\u2019s funeral Mass will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 6001 Bob Billings Parkway, Lawrence. Memorial celebration will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. (with program at 6 p.m.) at the University of Kansas Conference Center at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. An additional memorial celebration will be held at The Hangar, 126 N. Main St., Kingman, Kansas, on Saturday, Feb. 28, from 1 to 3 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Lazzarino, j\u201986, is associate editor of Crimson & Blue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jayhawks mourn the death of Scooter Ward, beloved tutor and sports performance counselor for Kansas Athletics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":1148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17],"tags":[39,51,61],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-university","tag-athletics","tag-mens-basketball","tag-school-of-education"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/KU-Scooter-Ward.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Kansas-Scooter-Ward.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Darryn-Peterson-TCU.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Kansas-TCU.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Scooter-Ward-KU-basketball.jpg\")
\n\n\n\nPhotos courtesy of Kansas Athletics
Game photos by Steve Puppe for Crimson & Blue<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"