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Written by Casey Craig
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If you ever find yourself at an athletic competition
and you see a Conley family member listed
amongst the participants, prepare yourself for a
battle. The immediate family includes an Olympic
gold medalist, NBA point guard and an NCAA All-
American long jumper. Not many families can
boast those credentials. Kansas Jayhawk senior
long jumper and track star Sydney Conley is the
latterofthisstar-studdedgroup,whohasachieved
success on the high school, club, collegiate,
professional and even world stage.
Conley’s father, Mike Conley, Sr., competed in the
long jump and triple jump and garnered much
success, while representing the United States. He
wongoldinthetriplejumpduringthe1992Olympic
Games and still owns the American and world
indoor triple jump record at 17.76 meters (58-
3.25 ft.), a record that has stood for over 28
years. At the University of Arkansas, Conley
won 16 NCAA National Championships from
1983-85 in the indoor and outdoor long jump.
As his daughter, Sydney, began competing in
athletics, she found herself being drawn to the
same sport and eventually even one of the same
events in which her father became a national
star.
“For me it really started to take off in middle
school,” Sydney said. “I was doing basketball
andtrackthen.Intrack,itstartedwhenIrealized
that I was pretty good in track and I stood out
a lot better than I did in basketball. When I got
into high school, I was still playing basketball
rich bloodlines
Already a member of one of America’s most accomplished athletic bloodlines, Kansas track &
field’s Sydney Conley is trying (and succeeding) at carrying on the family tradition.
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and track, but then I started getting noticed by
different colleges. I thought then that I should start
to take track as seriously as I could, so I ended up
quitting basketball my senior year to focus solely
on track.”
Sydney is also related to current Kansas track
head coach Stanley Redwine, who is married to
Sydney’s aunt Jacque and has known Sydney’s
parents since his college days at Arkansas.
RedwinewatchedSydneygrowupandimmediately
recognized her potential as she began competing
in middle school and high school.
“As she became better and better in track we just
knew she was going to be good,” said Redwine.
“She’s very talented and also very competitive.
Obviously, when you see a talent like that you
aren’t going to try and push her somewhere else.
We tried everything that we could to get her to
come here and, fortunately, she did.”
Despitecallinghim“Uncle”forallofherlife,Sydney
says their relationship on the track is like she would
have with any coach.
“In the beginning during the recruiting process, I
was against playing for him,” said Sydney. “When
I got here though, I was just another athlete to
Coach Redwine. Half of the team doesn’t know
he’s my uncle. It’s also nice to have him as a coach,
because if anything were to happen family-wise,
he my aunt and cousins would be there for me.”
Redwine echoed Sydney’s sentiment when he
described the dual nature of their relationship.
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“Yes, she is my niece and I think she’s a great
person and a great student, but she’s a member
on the team and I’m not a believer in favoritism
atall,”saidRedwine.“HereventcoachisWayne
Pate, so that makes it a little easier since I’m
not working with her on a daily basis. She’s still
my niece, though, and she always will be.”
Anyonewhocompetesattheclublevelofsports
growing up knows how much of a commitment
it can be, not only from an athletic standpoint,
but from an endurance one due to all of the
traveling. The Conley’s were no exception.
Sydney’s older brother, Mike Conley, Jr., has
played basketball his whole life and Sydney
often traveled with him.
“We would always travel a lot when we were
young, because my brother played AAU
basketball,” said Sydney. “I just grew up around
it and it was no big deal to me.”
At Lawrence North High School (Indianapolis,
Indiana) Mike, Jr., won three state
championships, finished second in voting for
the Indiana Mr. Basketball Award and was
named a McDonald’s All-American before
choosing to play for Ohio State University. In
his only year at Ohio State, Mike, Jr., averaged
11.3 points per game and 6.1 assists per game
in a successful year for the Buckeyes. The entire
Conley family traveled to Atlanta for the 2007
Final Four and National Championship.
“I was in sixth or seventh grade at the time, so
it wasn’t really a big deal for me at the time as
it was for him,” said Sydney. “For me it was
another just game, another National Title. He
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had been winning nationals and championships
from sixth grade all the way through college. The
game was in Atlanta, so it was just another place
to travel. Now that I’m older I realize how big of a
deal it was for him to reach the National Title.”
As a professional in the National Basketball
Association (NBA), Mike, Jr., has become a regular
fixture for the Memphis Grizzlies as their point
guard. Over his eight-year career for the Grizzlies
he has appeared in 549 games, averaging 32.7
minutes, 5.6 assists and 13.4 points per game.
This season, he scored a career-high 36 points in
a 120-115 overtime win verses the Philadelphia
76ers and has been averaging 17.9 point-per
game.
“I really do admire him for everything that he
hasdonefromtheaspectofreachinghisdreams
and becoming a professional athlete,” said
Sydney.“Hedidallofthelittlethings,likegetting
up at 6a.m., to go shooting and that’s why he
is where he is right now. I just hope I can be
half of what he is in track.”
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Like her brother Mike, Jr., Sydney demonstrates
the same work ethic that has led both of them to
success on the athletic stage.
“Track and field is an encompassing sport where
everything matters,” said Conley. “It’s not only
working hard on the track but off the track as well
dieting, drinking water and getting a lot of sleep.
When I started, I didn’t take some of those things
seriously. Now though, especially with the World
Championships and the Olympics coming up,
every little thing matters. If I can get in the cycle
of doing these things I know I’ll get better and
progress.”
Sydney’s elevated focus on the smaller details has
alreadyestablishedherasoneofthetop-collegiate
long jumpers in the nation. After the first half of
her KU career, which saw her earn first team All-
America status on two occasions as well as a pair
of Big 12 runner-up finishes, Sydney’s sights are
set even higher. Her future goals include winning
NCAAtitlesandeventuallycompetingontheworld
stage. She knows that, to attain these goals, she
will need to take her athletic career, year-by-year,
meet-by-meet and jump-by-jump. This all begins
with her season in 2015.
“For the indoor season, to be straightforward I just
want to win it,” explained Conley of her goals in
2015. “The competition is always stacked year in
and year out, but there is no one this year I
haven’t competed, jumped against, beaten or
beaten by in the past. I feel like this year is
anyone’s year and I just want to go out there
and win the long jump. In the sprints, I want to
get my 60 time down. For the outdoor season
it’s the same. I have to go out there and get it.
Along with Mike, Jr., Sydney serves as a role
model to her other siblings. She has two other
brothers, Jordan and Jon, who both have some
noteworthy achievements in high school
athletics. Jordan competed in track and Jon is
currently a freshman in high school playing
football and running track. With so many world-
classathleteslivingunderoneroof,competitions
can get fierce. When the Conley children get
together for a pickup game, the family’s
competitive nature will undoubtedly make it a
little heated.
“A lot of the time, especially with me and my
brothers, we liked to talk brashly,” said Sydney.
“We all like to talk a big game, more so when
it’s about sports. For instance, I got into an
argument with Mike, Jr., that track and field is
a much harder sport to practice for than
basketball. I said, ‘You don’t even practice
anymore.’ I was giving him a hard time and he
denied it. We like to butt heads a lot.”
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I feel like this year is anyone’s year and I just want to go out there
and win the long jump.
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Each of the Conley children have chosen athletics
like their father, but each has put their own unique
and personal characteristic into carrying on this
family tradition. Unlike her father, Sydney loves to
compete in sprinting events and Mike, Jr., has
become an outstanding NBA point guard. Sydney
carries this attitude of making it her own with the
hope of carving out her own niche in the family
trade.
“It’s a great honor,” Sydney concluded. “I don’t
like to think about it too much, because I don’t
want to worry about the pressure of doing good,
because my dad did this and my brother did that.
I just try to focus on what I have to do and what
I need to do. If success comes from that and
the whole family thing comes after, then I’m
totally fine with that. As long as I’m trying to
represent the family the best way I know how
by doing my own thing, then that is all I can ask
for.”
If there was such a thing as an athletic gene, it
would surely show up in the Conley’s DNA. With
all of their success, Redwine sums up the family
perfectly in just eight words: “They’re just an
athletic and great family.”
