Kansas Jayhawks
Breaking Bread with staff after Day 2 of Boot Camp! #kumbb #family @Coachjhoward
Welcome to twitter Coach Townsend
9/17/13, 7:20 AM
2nd day of boot camp down #RockChalk
@CFrankamp_23
9/17/13, 7:28 AM
Day 2 ✔ #BootCamp
#AutoMaticForThePeople
@Ntharpe1
9/17/13, 7:54 AM
Getting better everyday. Rock Chalk
#kubball
@KUHoops
9/17/13, 8:03 AM
2nd day of bootcamp killed me but I made it through #OnlyTheStrongSurvive
@F_Mason15
9/17/13, 8:04 AM
“@L_C_3: @J_mari31 who threw up today!?” Nobody lol 😷 but Naadir & Niko took some nasty falls trying to touch the lines
@J_mari31
There are certainly more quantifiable ways to measure how the Kansas basketball team handled the first day of Bill Self’s annual boot camp on Monday morning. But the simplest way usually involves checking the trash cans in and around Allen Fieldhouse for remnants of breakfast.
On Monday morning, the cans were clean, a sign of success in what has become the unofficial beginning to basketball season in Lawrence.
“Nobody threw up,” KU sophomore guard Andrew White III said. “So it was a real good experience.”
This year’s boot camp, highlighted by the traditional intense workouts, began Monday and had a feeling of change. And it wasn’t just the six freshmen and eight total newcomers who were enjoying their first taste of boot camp. Kansas will begin practice on Friday, Sept. 27, two weeks earlier than usual after the NCAA allowed for an earlier start in the offseason. As a result, Self has opted for just one week of the 6 a.m. sessions.
The Jayhawks won’t have more preseason practice time, though. The usual allotment will just be spread out over an extra two weeks. The Jayhawks’ annual Late Night in the Phog festivities are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4. And they won’t open their exhibition season until playing host to Pittsburg State on Oct. 29.
“We’re gonna go slower,” KU coach Bill Self said last month. “If you start that early, then you don’t have to be quite as accelerated, so it’ll probably be a situation where we go maybe a little bit slower and get more stuff in. And then by the time Oct. 15 rolls around, we’ll be ready to roll.”
For a team replacing five starters, the earlier start could certainly be useful. Freshman guards Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden, two projected starters, got their first tastes of boot camp on Monday, and White reported that all of KU’s freshmen survived the morning.
KC Star
KU coach Self was satisfied with the first session of the preseason.
“It went very well,” Self said. “It was a hard day. Everybody finished. Andrew White stood out to me today.”
Tough rookie year: White was asked by a reporter if it was difficult playing sparingly his freshman season.
“It was very difficult. I applied myself every day and tried to progress as fast as I could. Even though I was frustrated, I just tried to stick with the team concept, and having that experience is something I’ll look to use as a major advantage this year,” said White, who averaged 2.2 points and 5.0 minutes in 25 games.
He said he never considered transferring.
“I felt like, even last year, this is a place I could have contributed, and this is a place I can contribute this year, so I didn’t ever have any transfer talk just because I have a lot of confidence in my game, and I think, eventually, I’ll be where I need to be so that I can play. This year, hopefully, will be a big year for me,” he said.
Tweets: KU freshman center Joel Embiid’s take on Twitter: “Boot Camp first day down!!! So tired, Need a ride to class but at least I didn’t throw up.”
KU senior Niko Roberts on Twitter: “#BootCamp can get real ... Bleeding through two pairs of socks #WeWorking.”
LJW
How good is Kansas? It's a valid question. Their ceiling: Better than Kentucky and NCAA title-potential good based on team chemistry and perhaps the most unguardable player in the college game. Of course, this could go the other way, too. But that's not the question. Wiggins' supporting cast - freshmen Selden Jr. and Embiid, returners Perry Ellis and Naadir Tharpe - are highly underrated heading into the season. And Memphis transfer Tarik Black, a capable scorer and rebounder at 6-9, could be a major difference maker for Bill Self's young group. Like Kentucky, this team will lack experience. But chemistry is everything, whether you're a veteran-laden squad or a team full of eight McDonald's All-Americans. If Self can mesh each player into their roles early, this team could be scary good in March.
USA Today: Kansas best in Big 12, and maybe the country
#1. Kansas Jayhawks
It’s not exactly the 2008 national title team in terms of talent and quality depth, but Bill Self has plenty of players who can help. It starts with freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Wayne Selden and Joel Embiid, continues with sophomore Perry Ellis and senior big man Tarik Black, and also includes junior guard Naadir Tharpe. Sophomore Andrew White is talented and Jamari Traylor can serve a role -- as can big man Landen Lucas. There are also three freshman guards who can all play: Frank Mason, Brannen Greene and Conner Frankamp. Senior Justin Wesley, who averaged nearly 10 minutes a game two seasons ago, returns after missing last season due to injuries. The quality of the bench remains somewhat unknown, but that’s still 13 players if you’re counting at home.
ESPN Goodman: Ranking nation's deepest teams ($)
We’ve officially judged and juried every nonconference schedule.
Kudos to the teams that had the nerve to schedule bravely. Your just rewards could come in March, when the selection committee recognizes the merits of playing tough opponents, even if there’s a risk of a loss.
And shame on those who scheduled meekly. Enjoy the NIT.
Now, it’s time to play Armchair Scheduler -- or King/Queen of the Basketball Universe, whichever title floats your boat -- and offer up 15 nonconference games that won’t be played this year, but we wish would be:
Kansas vs. Missouri: Let’s just file this under an annual request. One of the greatest rivalries in college basketball ought to be played this year, next year and every year. We don’t care who left what conference. We don’t care who’s angry. This is like two divorcing parents sparring over the china with the kids stuck in the middle. Here the two schools’ fan bases and fans of the game in general are the kids. So hire a good mediator, work this out and play ball.
Kansas vs. Kentucky: Yes, we will get to enjoy Kansas (Andrew Wiggins) versus Duke (Jabari Parker) in Chicago, but we’re selfish. We’d like to see Wiggins go up against Kentucky, one of the schools he spurned. Not to mention it might be fun witnessing what could essentially be a freshman All-American game, with Wiggins, the Harrison twins, James Young, Julius Randle and Joel Embiid together on one floor.
ESPN O'Neil: Non-con games we'd love to see
9/16/13, 1:45 PM
Had a great conversation w/@CoachBillSelf today for the upcoming @T_2releFOUR book! Look for it this fall. "Relentless" #shamelessplug
@MattFulks
McLemore pranks his mom
Big 12/College News
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg knows he can't beat fellow Big 12 coach Bill Self at recruiting the most dazzling freshmen in the country. While Self was luring in Andrew Wiggins, Hoiberg was utilizing a less mainstream recruiting practice.
Very few coaches have made better use of transfers than Hoiberg, who's revitalized the program he once played for with back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament. Each of those appearances was the product of some of the best transfers finding a place to not only fit in, but excel. Last year's top players included Utah transfer Will Clyburn, Michigan State transfer Korie Lucious and Penn State transfer Chris Babb.
USA Today Countdown: #39 Iowa State
Arizona (Pac-12), Duke (ACC), Alabama (SEC) and Rutgers (American Athletic) are the top four seeds for the 2013 NIT Season Tip-Off field, as announced by NIT selection committee chair C.M. Newton.
ncaa (schedule at the link)
The NCAA and the nation's leading collegiate trademark licensing firm on Tuesday asked a federal judge to dismiss them from an anti-trust lawsuit pertaining to the use of college athletes' names and likenesses.
The requests had been expected in the wake of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's ruling last week that the NCAA and its co-defendants in the case – video game manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA) and the licensing firm, Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC) – could file dismissal motions. EA made its bid for dismissal last week.
Because Wilken had instructed the NCAA not repeat arguments it has made in other filings, its filing Tuesday was little more than a brief re-statement of the allegations against the NCAA and a lengthy table summarizing its past responses.
USA Today
Big XII composite schedule
ESPN College GameDay Schedule
2013-14 Early-season events schedule
Recruiting
9/17/13, 9:18 AM
Me & @JMamba5 will visit Kansas for late night
@humblekid11 Cliff Alexander
Lyle, the No. 22 overall player and No. 5 point guard, plans to weigh his options, but is putting a premium on playing time.
"I'm looking for a coach that will push me to get better, not that Coach P wouldn't, and where I can come in and impact," he said.
Lyle has spoken with Indiana's Tom Crean and Connecticut's Kevin Ollie since announcing his decommitment. Memphis, Arizona, Baylor and Kansas have also expressed interest.
Lyle, who said he may need until January or February to decide, indicated there is one school he'd have a difficult time turning down.
"It would probably be Kansas," Lyle said. "I like them a lot, and me and [assistant] coach [Jerrance] Howard had a relationship at Illinois and also when he was at SMU."
ESPN
9/17/13, 7:06 AM
Reason I have 4 visits set up already is because I wanna play w/ @humblekid11 and he had had the Kansas, Zona, and Memphis visits set up
@JMamba5 JaQuan Lyle
“[Cliff's] been telling me that him and JaQuan Lyle are going to play together,” Alexander’s mother, Latillia, told SNY.tv Monday evening. “That’s the reason JaQuan Lyle decommitted.”
Asked what schools the duo was considering, she said. “We’re not sure yet, we’re not sure yet. I’m thinking wherever Cliff goes, JaQuan Lyle is going to go.”
Zags Blog
9/17/13, 8:18 AM
The word behind the scene is Kansas currently leads for the top 3 big men (Okafor, Turner & Alexander) in the 2014 class. Think about that.
@EvanDanielsFOX
Blackmon
KU coach Bill Self on Tuesday hustled out of morning Boot Camp in time for an afternoon meeting with James Blackmon Jr., a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Marion (Ind.) High School.
JayhawkSlant.com reported that Self offered Blackmon a scholarship. Blackmon, Rivals.com’s No. 23-rated player who recently decommitted from Indiana, met with Kentucky coach John Calipari on Monday. He’s also considering Louisville, Michigan and Michigan State.
…Self last Thursday stopped by Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High to check in on a pair of top juniors — No. 2-rated Stephen Zimmerman, a 7-foot center. and No. 21 Chase Jeter, a 6-9 forward.
Zimmerman is considering KU, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, UNLV, Baylor, USC and others. Jeter is looking at KU, UCLA, Michigan, Arizona, Vanderbilt, UNLV, Duke, Minnesota, USC, North Carolina and others.
LJW
Jason Jordan from USA Today dropped by Kentucky Sports Radio radio this morning to tell us what all he knows about UK’s recent visitors. Jahlil Okafor — things are still looking good for Duke, although it’s not over until it’s over in recruiting, especially when Calipari is involved. Jordan said Okafor really, really, really likes Calipari and UK has a shot, but Duke is in the driver’s seat and no one disagrees with that.
KSR
Recruiting Calendar
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