There are three things my future son Phog is going to have to love: basketball, the Kansas Jayhawks, and Jayhawk basketball.

And by future, I don’t mean the near-future. I’ve yet to find the woman to carry my son, which is sort of important I hear.

What’s also important, in my world that revolves around sports, is practice. I’ve spent thousands of hours in a gym shooting a basketball over and over again until my hands turn black. I practice my craft — sports writing — through reading.

But there’s no gym where I can practice, or book to read to learn how to brainwash — ahem, convince — my future son that he should love three of the most important things in my world.

Luckily, I’ve found a guinea pig.

My 1-year-old nephew Juleon has recently developed a deep fascination with the Jayhawk logo. Anytime he sees one, he stops whatever he’s doing, points to the Jayhawk, and shouts, “Da, da, da!” To be fair, his current vocabulary includes “ma” and “da.” He usually needs something when he’s shouting “ma” and “da” usually means he’s excited.

Juleon discovered the Jayhawk the past few months when my sister and her boys moved in with my mom. My mom’s house has Jayhawks all over the place, as it should, and Juleon loves to point them out, stare at them, touch them and shout “Da.”

He’s especially fond of any Jayhawks on clothing, which is half of his uncle’s wardrobe.

Last weekend when I arrived at my mom’s house, I picked Juleon up and held him upside-down behind my back, so he could see the huge Jayhawk on the back of my sweatshirt. He spent the next few minutes trying to climb over my shoulder so he could stare at the Jayhawk.

Last week, my mom got Juleon and his 11-year-old brother Tayte some KU apparel. Tayte is also becoming a big fan and watches all the games with my mom, asking a ton of questions, half of which my mom answers, “You’ll have to ask your uncle.”

Mom got Tayte a Jayhawk jersey and Juleon a Jayhawk sweatshirt jacket. She bought both items in the middle of the week. She said the boys hadn’t taken them off since, and they were still wearing them when I left on Sunday. Juleon’s jacket had a small Jayhawk on the chest, which he of course liked to point out to everyone, letting them know there was a “Da” on his chest.

Tayte sported his jersey proudly, and asked me questions about the team.

The boys’ new-found love makes for a very happy uncle and has taught me that I’m not even going to need to brainwash my boy Phog.

When he’s a baby, the colorful and cool-looking logo will win over his love. And when he gets older, he’ll learn to appreciate the Jayhawks for the same reason I did: because they’re awesome.

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