Former Kansas basketball player and assistant coach Brett Ballard was taken to the hospital this week after sustaining "serious injuries" in a highway crash.
According to Kansas Highway Patrol via Fox News, Ballard was traveling on the I-470 in Topeka on Tuesday night when his Ford F-150 truck veered off the left side of the roadway and collided with a bridge pillar.
"The truck struck a delineator post, traveled into a steep embankment, and then collided with a concrete bridge pillar. The impact left the vehicle heavily damaged. Ballard was the only person inside the truck. First responders transported the injured coach to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka for treatment. Authorities confirmed he was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash," Alejandro Avila wrote.
An investigation is reportedly ongoing and authorities have not shared further details on the cause of the crash.
Ballard played two seasons at the University of Kansas under Roy Williams then went into coaching, spending nearly a decade at his alma mater. In 2010, at the age of 30, he was named the head coach of the Baker Wildcats in NAIA, where he went 33-30 over two seasons.
Ballard went back to being an assistant in 2012, spending time at Tulsa and then Wake Forest before taking the Washburn Ichabods job in Division II in 2017. Under his leadership, Washburn won their conference title in 2021 and reached the Division II Final Four in 2025. Over the past two years, the program is an impressive 61-6 with back-to-back regular season titles in the conference.
Prayers For Ballard
Tributes to Ballard are pouring in from Washburn, Kansas and many of his other stops:
"We are deeply saddened to share that Coach Brett Ballard was seriously injured in a car accident last evening," Washburn University President JuliAnn Mazachek said in a statement. "Our hearts are with Coach Ballard, his family, the men's basketball program and all who are affected during this difficult time."
"We prayed for him here as a team before practice and our thoughts are with him and his family," Washburn football head coach Zach Watkins said on Wednesday.
"Thoughts and Prayers for Brett and his family!!!" former Jayhawk Jeff Boschee wrote on X.
"Prayers for Brett and the Ballard family. 🙏 stay strong my friend!" a Jayhawks fan wrote on X.
"Great coach and an even better guy. Praying that Coach Ballard will be alright!
All of our thoughts and prayers are with Coach Ballard too.
