What is a Jayhawk? Explaining Kansas' nickname leading into 2024 NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament generally features college programs that have interesting monikers and team nicknames. For the average men's basketball fan, the origin of these names can spark their curiosity.

The Kansas Jayhawks are one of those teams.

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The Jayhawks (22-10, 10-8 Big 12) are slated as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament and will take on No. 13 seed Samford in Salt Lake City in March Madness' first round.

Kansas' regular season ended with a 72-52 loss to Cincinnati in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament with stars Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson out due to injuries. McCullar led the team with 18.3 points, six rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in 2023-24, while Dickson averaged 18 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

The Jayhawks are 116-49 all-time in the tournament, with 16 Final Fours appearances and four national championships, the most recent championship coming in 2022. Despite their vaunted college basketball history, it's still worth asking: What exactly is a Jayhawk?

Here's the history of Kansas' nickname:

Why is Kansas called the Jayhawks?

Per the University of Kansas, the term "Jayhawk" and its usage predates the founding of University of Kansas and, indeed, the state of Kansas.

The term was "probably" coined around 1848, with accounts of it appearing from Illinois to Texas in that year as a party of pioneers crossed what is now called Nebraska. That group called themslves “the Jayhawkers of ’49.”

KU also notes that, during the 1850s, the Kansas Territory was a battleground between pro-slavery advocates and abolitionists committed to a free state. Both sides of the conflict were called Jayhawkers, though the name eventually stuck to "free-staters" when Kansas was admitted as a free state in 1861.

KU goes on to note that during the Civil War, the Jayhawk transformed from a "ruffian image" to a "patriotic symbol," with former Gov. Charles Robinson even raising a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks.

When Kansas fielded its first team in 1890, they naturally went by the name Jayhawkers.

However, as noted by Kansas Libraries, the Jayhawk wasn't the official — or only — mascot for Kansas athletics until November 1958. The university also had a bulldog as a mascot and also at one point had a pig representing them.

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What is a Jayhawk?

Kansas has deemed the Jayhawk to be "a mythical bird with a fascinating history." But what exactly is it, and why did settlers settle on the name in the first place?

Per Kansas, the nickname is a combination of two birds: "the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a quiet, stealthy hunter.

"The message here: Don’t turn your back on this bird."

What is the 'Rock Chalk, Jayhawk' chant?

In 1886, chemistry professor E.H.S. Bailey, used “Rah Rah, Jay Hawk,” as a cheer for the Science Club. Kansas notes that Bailey patterned the yell after the rhythmic cadence of their train rolling along the tracks on a return trip from Wichita.

Bailey submitted the following cheer to the club on May 21, 1886: "Ray, Rah, Jay Hawk, K.U.”

The cheer become known locally as the "Science Club Yell" before an English proessor suggested changing out "Rah Rah" to "Rock Chalk" — a change that not only rhymed with Jayhawk but also symbolized the chalky limestone formations found on Mount Oread. By 1887, the cheer had become the official yell of the school.

Former President Theodore Roosevelt dubbed it “the greatest college cheer ever devised," according to the university.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas nickname, explained: History behind Jayhawk nickname, mascot