In terms of the ridiculous, this story has gotten unbelievable play nationwide….

LAWRENCE, Kan. — from www.kctv5.com – Although it may have seemed like a harmless gift to a Kansas native, the gift of courtside seats to the University of Kansas-Kansas State basketball game to a porn star has gotten national attention.

Word spread like wildfire on sports blogs Thursday about adult film star Samantha Ryan, her stage name, receiving tickets from KU assistant coach Kurtis Townsend. Ryan, a KU alum, went to her Twitter account to thank Townsend for the tickets and posted some pictures from the game against Kansas State.

Ryan is a Kansas native and has starred in more than 140 adult films. Ryan originally posted pictures from the game on her Twitter account and wrote, “Big thanks you know who for gettin me the tix from Coach T! Best Birthday Present Ever! 🙂 Can you say, I owe ya one!”

After word spread Thursday, Ryan took to her Twitter account to try to defuse the situation. She claimed that she didn’t meet Townsend as a porn star, instead claiming they were on a flight together. Here are some of her tweets Thursday:

“For those who seem to care, Samantha didn’t get the tix from coach, I did as myself. We were seated next to one another on a plane and spoke.”

“As an avid KU fan I had to say something to the person seated next to me in a KU jumpsuit, duh. Wow to my surprise he was coach T.”

“After seeing that KU was playin rival KSU on my bday, I had to ask for tix, who wouldn’t? He was nice enough to help me out.”

“Much ado about nothin. I meet the most interesting people and travel alone so sue me for being friendly and talking to my neighbor.”

“I thought that was what being from Kansas was all about. I thought it was what makes me stand out from the vultures around me.”

Ryan has said in previous Twitter posts that her real first name is Jamie.

KU Head Coach Bill Self said the incident was a non-issue for him.

“Kurtis explained to me what happened,” Self said. “I’m totally comfortable with it. The only thing unfortunate is I think it’s been a little bit of an embarrassment to the Townsend family, but in no way, shape or form should it be.”