When Jerod Haase played at Kansas, he dived for loose balls so often that somebody at the school created a statistic for it.

He was so upset over the Jayhawks’ 85-82 loss to Arizona in the 1997 NCAA Tournament regional semifinals that he sulked about it long afterward. The source for that information is a former waitress at a Lawrence sports bar called the Yacht Club.

“He was very upset about that game,” the former Mindy Meidinger said. That’s how she and Haase met, and they’ve been married for 17 years.

Their family — including sons Gavin, 9, and Garrett, 7, and daughter Gabrielle, 4 — was sitting in the front row at a news conference on the Stanford campus Monday as Haase was named the Cardinal’s head coach.

Haase, 41, met with his players Monday morning. “One of the first things we talked about was the idea of competing for championships,” he said. “There’s a great belief in that locker room that we can compete at a high level right away and sustain that for a long time as well.”

The former Alabama-Birmingham head coach said he hoped the players don’t watch the NCAA Final Four merely as fans. “I hope they have a pit in their stomach, just like I do, that there’s a desperate desire to get to the NCAA Tournament. That’s where Stanford basketball should be.”

Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle was the only other known candidate Stanford interviewed. Tinkle, who this month led the Beavers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 years, withdrew his name from consideration shortly after interviewing March 21, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Tinkle then agreed to a two-year contract extension with Oregon State. His daughter Joslyn played at Stanford from 2009-13.

The Cardinal haven’t won a conference title since 2004 and reached the Big Dance just once in Johnny Dawkins’ eight years as head coach. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could compete at the highest level,” Haase said.

Haase said he wants the Cardinal to play with “an attack mentality” and apply the same approach to their academics. His UAB team played man-to-man defense about 85 percent of the time this season.

“I want a team that is always unselfish, tough and disciplined,” he said. “I think it is going to be an exciting brand of basketball.”

His team at UAB this season ranked third in the nation in assists (18.4 per game). Stanford, on the other hand, has been ranked at or near the bottom of the Pac-12 for six years.

A South Lake Tahoe High alum, Haase dreamed of playing at Stanford, but although then-head coach Mike Montgomery recruited Haase, Montgomery decided against giving him a scholarship offer.

Over the past 20 years, Haase said he talked with Montgomery a half-dozen times, and Montgomery was invariably complimentary. “It’s probably his way of making me feel better for not offering me a scholarship,” Haase said.

Haase went to Cal instead. Playing alongside Jason Kidd, he helped the Bears knock off two-time defending NCAA champion Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Haase transferred to Kansas — “for a variety of reasons” — and helped the Jayhawks win three league titles and get to the Big Dance each year. He also started a long relationship with Roy Williams, whom Haase followed to North Carolina. Haase served as an assistant coach on the Tar Heels’ staff for nine years before taking the UAB job in 2012.

According to Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, Williams “was thrilled that we were considering Jerod. He said, ‘This guy is really passionate and competitive. That competitive drive is going to make him a successful coach.’ He said Jerod was the one player who took losses as hard as the coaches did.”

Although Dawkins had spent many years as an assistant at Duke, he had not been a head coach until he took the Stanford job. Muir said, “Certainly, going in, I thought if we could have somebody with some head-coaching experience, who can hit the ground running and (knowing) how to run a program, it can be to our benefit.”

Haase said he already knew two current Cardinal players, Rosco Allen, whom he had recruited at UNC, and Christian Sanders, who had attended KU and UNC summer camps. Allen could decide to enter the NBA draft, and Sanders, another redshirt junior, ended the season on suspension. Haase said he didn’t know their future plans.

Stanford has only one signed incoming freshman, 6-foot-10 Trevor Stanback of Pasadena. Cody Pugh, a 6-8 forward from Baltimore, verbally committed to Stanford a year ago but has yet to sign. Haase wouldn’t comment specifically on recruits but said his contacts with them have been “positive.”

No decision has been made on his coaching staff. Haase said he has talked with his friend, Eric Reveno, a former Stanford forward/center who recently was fired as Portland’s head coach, but didn’t say whether he has offered Reveno a job.

Haase will hit the recruiting trail starting Tuesday. “I’m going to go to the Final Four, but first I’ve got about 7,000 miles of flights,” he said.

Chronicle staff writer Connor Letourneau contributed to this report.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald