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SWEET 16 Gameday!

3/29/2013

 
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KUAD image

SOUTH REGION (North Texas)

Eamonn Brennan: Florida over Michigan
Fran Fraschilla: Florida over Kansas
John Gasaway: Kansas over Florida
Seth Greenberg: Kansas over Florida
Andy Katz: Michigan over Florida
Jason King: Kansas over Florida
Myron Medcalf: Michigan over Florida Gulf Coast
Dana O'Neil: Michigan over Florida Gulf Coast
Bruce Pearl: Kansas over Florida
Robbi Pickeral: Florida over Kansas
Dick Vitale: Michigan over Florida
ESPN Expert Picks (other regions at the link)

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Where are the fans of the Sweet 16 teams?

Where you’d expect them to be, near the schools, but some programs tend to break out of their regions, at least when it comes to Facebook users.

The proof is in these maps, which track the more than 1 million Facebook users who liked a page of one of the 16 remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament.

There's also a map of Facebook users who like Kansas and Michigan, opponents in Friday’s South Region semifinal in Arlington, Texas.

Who knew the Jayhawks are liked in Maine?
KC Star


ESPN Numbers to Know for Friday's Matchups


AP Preview


Size vs. speed.

Is this game that simple?

Well, yeah, it probably is.

Top-seeded Kansas will look to use its interior bulk to push and pound Michigan all evening, while the Wolverines hope to counter their size disadvantage by forcing the Jayhawks to play on the run all night long.

Much like Michigan's round of 32 matchup against Virginia Commonwealth, this is another tale of two styles. Which one wins? We'll find out Friday night (7:37 p.m., TBS) at Cowboys Stadium, when the winner will punch a ticket to the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Here's a look inside a few intriguing matchups for Michigan-Kansas:
Mlive (Both writers pick KU to win)


Detroit Free Press: Michigan vs Kansas - Who has the edge? (Predicted winner: Kansas)



Bench

Michigan's reserves accounted for just five total points in the two Tournament games; their contribution is more with providing short breaks for the starters and playing steady defense. Jon Horford and Jordan Morgan — who has had his role reduced — will have an increased role with trying to match Kansas' Jeff Withey. Spike Albrecht can be a spark either with Burke or if he needs a rest. Kansas gets bigger contributions from guard Naadir Tharpe, who tied his season high with 12 points vs. North Carolina. Six-foot-8 freshman Perry Ellis is capable of big numbers. If McLemore doesn't find his shooting touch, look for more scoring help off the Jayhawks' bench. Edge: Kansas
Detroit News: Matchups - Michigan vs Kansas


Detroit News Predictions: All Kansas


"If I can slow him down, then I can slow down Glenn (Robinson III), I can slow down the whole team," Johnson acknowledged. "They can't run without him getting out and doing it."

This isn't the first time Burke's had a target on his back in a game. In fact, it's pretty much been there since the midway point of his freshman season.

Teams have thrown size at Burke, they've face-guarded him, trapped him, doubled him, bodied him -- there's really nothing he hasn't seen at this point.

And though Kansas will throw two extremely experienced players at him Friday (7:37 p.m., TBS), Burke says he'll be prepared.

"I try to play off what the defense gives me," he said. "Just watching a lot of film on Kansas I see that they're really a good defensive team.

"I'll have to just try to find ways to attack their defense and try to find ways to get into the paint and hit the open defenders."

Kansas coach Bill Self has already stated that he voted for Burke as the national player of the year, and together with Tim Hardaway Jr., he believes Michigan has the best backcourt his team will see this season.
Mlive


While McGary has become the source of Michigan's energy on the court, teammates say he's also been instrumental in keeping the team loose off it. That's something the Wolverines struggled with last year, when they were bounced by 13th-seeded Ohio in their tournament opener.

"The tournament last year, I don't know what it was, but just as a team there was a weird feeling," sophomore forward Jon Horford said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love those guys, some great players and everything -- and I can't even say we weren't prepared, because I feel we were prepared. But mentally, as a team, we just weren't there."

And this year?

"Dude, we're just having fun," he said. "We're just saying, 'Don't complicate things, it's just a game. It's literally just the game of basketball, and we can't take things too seriously.'

"This is supposed to be fun."
Mlive


If Ben McLemore is smiling tonight, Michigan's basketball team is in deep trouble.

McLemore is Kansas' supremely talented 6-foot-5 freshman guard, who wasn't much of a factor during last weekend's NCAA tournament games.

After averaging 17.4 points and hitting 51.5% of his shots and looking like a one-and-done player in Big 12 play this season, McLemore seemingly forgot how to shoot last weekend.

In a seven-point win over Western Kentucky, McLemore was 2-for-5 for 11 points -- and missed both of his three-point attempts -- in 32 minutes. Against North Carolina, he was 0-for-9, missing all six of his three-point attempts, and scored only two points in 24 minutes.

So what does he do tonight when Kansas plays Michigan with the winner advancing to Sunday's Elite Eight game?

"Coach told me I have to smile more like I did earlier in the season," McLemore said Thursday. "Coach said he hasn't seen a smile on my face the last couple weeks. Everybody knows when I'm on the court I've got a big smile on my face. I've been having fun, so I definitely agree with him. I just have to go out there and play my game, which is have fun and be more assertive and not worry about making mistakes."
Detroit Free Press


"It's big out there; it's very difficult to shoot with the crowd that far behind the basket. We played on elevated courts before, at Minnesota, so we're used to that," Tim Hardaway Jr. said. "We just have to do a great job of shooting the ball very well. We know we rely on shooting a lot for this team and it was good to see the ball go in."

After he warmed up, Hardaway converted 15 of 16 3-pointers during one drill and found his range after making some adjustments. Hardaway shot 13-of-24 combined in the first two Tournament games and is tied for the team high with 35 points.

Coach John Beilein said the Wolverines got a little early shooting in, which helped prep them for the main workout at the stadium.

"We practiced around the corner at (University of) Texas-Arlington and then we came over here and shot again," Beilein said. "I didn't see any difference and we were practicing in their little practice gym."

Opened in 2009, Cowboys Stadium is the largest domed stadium in the world, with a centerpiece high-definition video scoreboard that stretches from 20-yard line to 20-yard line on the football field.

Given the stadium's mammoth size and the spacious interior, making shooting adjustments won't be difficult; the players said they do it all the time when they visit different arenas around the country.

"A lot of people were saying it was going to be hard to make shots, but I don't think so, because that's all mental," Trey Burke said.

…Michigan played in Barclays Center in Brooklyn and at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan earlier in the season, but Cowboys Stadium is a completely different experience.

"It's definitely a bigger environment — it's a football arena and one of the bigger football arenas," Burke said, "so I think we got a really good feel for the rims today and we'll be ready for tomorrow."

Kansas coach Bill Self said the Jayhawks have played a few times in football arenas but with both teams playing on the same court, any perceived disadvantages go both ways.

"The last one we played in St. Louis; also, we got a chance to play in a dome in the regional and in the dome in New Orleans. We've got four dome games under our belt and what that means is absolutely nothing. But you never know," Self said.
Detroit News


Freshman guard Nik Stauskas acknowledged that for a few minutes, he struggled to find his stroke, but after adjusting, said it was fine.

“I was out there hitting shots, and I said, ‘It’s a great shooter’s gym,’ ” Stauskas said.

And Michigan’s ability to shoot the 3-ball could determine the outcome of Friday’s game with the Jayhawks (14-4 Big 12, 31-5). At just under four blocks per game — with a host of additional altered shots — Kansas’ seven-foot center Jeff Withey makes scoring inside the paint tough for his opponents.

“You run a beautiful play, it couldn't be run better, and he somehow blocks the shot,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “It can be very deflating to a team.”

Robinson compared the Jayhawks front line to that of a Big Ten team, specifically comparing them to Michigan State in the way they crash the boards.

That’s why redshirt sophomore forward Jon Horford explained that controlling the defensive glass and limiting Kansas’ second-chance opportunities is the key to winning.

“Kansas lives off that stuff,” Horford said. “A miss and they just grab it, put it in, grab it, kick it out for a three. We’ve got to stop all of that.”
Michigan Daily


"My biggest concern tomorrow night is definitely Jeff Withey," Trey Burke said. "A lot of our offense is built around our guards getting into the paint, and things change quite a bit when there's a 7-footer in there.

"If we play like we normally play, we're going to end up with a lot of blocked shots and a lot of bad shots."

As Michigan's top ballhandler, Burke knows he's going to be the one coming face-to-chest with Withey more than anyone.

"I need to make the right decisions when I'm in the lane and so do my teammates," Burke said. "That's probably the biggest key to the game for us — we really need to make smart decisions when we are inside."

On the other hand, Burke and friends should be able to make those decisions without the pressure they faced from Big Ten defenses or even from VCU on Saturday. The Jayhawks don't force many turnovers, so Michigan's ability to take care of the ball should be even higher on Friday night.
Fox Sports Detroit


KUAD: Kansas previews Michigan (Video at the link)


KUAD Photos


LJW Photos


KC Star Photos


LJW Newell picks Michigan to win


BOTTOM LINE: Kansas coach Bill Self is 7-2 in the Sweet 16, including a 6-0 mark when his team is the better seed. After the NCAA Tournament’s opening week, Michigan became a trendy Final Four pick. But if the Jayhawks can contain Trey Burke, their toughness and veteran experience could be the difference in a close game.
KC Star


KC Star: Looking Back at Bill Self's Sweet 16 Appearances

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Ben McLemore stood behind the three-point line and confidently swished long-range shot after long-range shot during Kansas University’s 40-minute shoot-around on Thursday in cavernous Cowboys Stadium.

The 6-foot-5, 195-pound freshman from St. Louis looked more like the guy who has averaged 15.8 points a game off 49.4 percent shooting entering today’s 6:37 p.m. NCAA South Regional Sweet 16 game against Michigan than the one who went 2-for-14 and scored 13 points total in last weekend’s second- and third-round victories over Western Kentucky and North Carolina.

“Coach (Joe, assistant) Dooley pointed out that I usually shoot with my fingers spread apart. But he said lately that he’s been seeing me shoot with my fingers close together, which is probably why some of my shots were long. He got me shooting back to normal,” McLemore said, explaining some technical issues that may have caused his recent shooting woes.

“Coach said I was shooting a flat shot. When I do that, the ball is like a line drive or long. He said I was having a quick release instead of shooting the regular shot I shoot. I’ve been in the gym, getting extra shots with coach Dooley and (Kurtis) Townsend, and now it’s looking good.”

McLemore explained the fixed glitch in his shot to wave after wave of reporters who approached him during a 30-minute media session in a locker room in the NFL stadium.

He nixed the notion that there are any other reasons for his having made one of his last 12 threes over the last three games for the Jayhawks (31-5). Some have gone so far as to speculate McLemore’s mind may already be in the NBA, where he’s expected to be a top-three pick in the June draft.

“There wasn’t anything outside of basketball, as far as (anybody) talking to me and getting in my ear. I just had a few off nights. I just missed some shots,” McLemore said. “I still did some other things to help my teammates out (like hit nine of 10 free throws in the two NCAA wins). I got some rebounds (11) and things like that.

“When I start missing shots, people think something’s wrong or that something’s going on away from the court. That wasn’t the deal at all. I was just missing shots. I just need to go back out there and play free again.”

He said the NBA issue is far from his mind.

“Right now, I don’t know at this point in time (if he’ll enter draft). I’m just trying to focus on this year,” McLemore said, repeating the stance he’s taken all season. “It’s just a blessing to be here, so right now at this point I don’t know.”
LJW


On the floor of Cowboys Stadium, Kansas guard Ben McLemore could not wait to take shots. McLemore let the ball fly from 15 feet, then 20, and immediately called for another ball. He flicked his wrist over and over, keeping his elbow up to provide the necessary arc.

But McLemore missed 6 of 8 in one stretch. Then 7 of 10 clanged off the rim.

“Just shoot it, Ben,” commanded the assistant Kurtis Townsend, who was standing behind McLemore. A few minutes later, another assistant, Joe Dooley, stood behind McLemore, giving out nods and praise as the ball started to strip the nets.

…“He was throwing darts — he wasn’t shooting the ball,” Dooley said. The Wolverines, who have won two tournament games by an average of 20 points, have a skilled group of perimeter players: guards Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas, and swingman Glenn Robinson III. They are playing much better offensively than McLemore and the senior Elijah Johnson, who is shooting only 2 of 12 in the tournament.

…The Jayhawks will not release birth dates of players, but two starters are fifth-year seniors and two others are seniors. Michigan starts three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior.

That advantage will not be worth much if McLemore and Johnson continue to struggle.

“This is when the tournament starts now, when everybody’s got a name to ’em,” Johnson said. “This is where it’s just fun, let it go, just play.”
NY Times


When the Jayhawks practiced Thursday at SMU, the Mustangs’ coach, Larry Brown, was around to encourage McLemore to have fun.

When the Jayhawks got acclimated to Cowboys Stadium, Self let McLemore be the last to dunk on his own.

And, when Self was asked whether McLemore would recover against Michigan, the coach was not bashful.

“He’s going to play great. I really believe that,’’ Self said. “And I think he believes that.’’

McLemore should. He is a streaky shooter, but when he is hot, he’s among the best players in the country. So good, in fact, he is still projected to be a high draft pick.

Big money awaits. Now is the time, though, to have fun and potentially extend the Jayhawks’ season. To do that, McLemore must be himself.

“I don’t really believe that there’s a million voices. I think there’s one voice, primarily, and it’s his own,’’ Self said. “He needs to understand that he’s good. He’s really good. When he’s really good, he’s as good as there is. That’s what I believe he’s got to believe going into tomorrow.’’
TCJ


Self said McLemore's issues are common for freshmen -- especially those who spend most of their season under a national magnifying glass.

A year ago at this time, McLemore was an obscure freshman whom no one cared about, buzzed about or spoke about during his redshirt season in Lawrence. Twelve months later, the soft-spoken shooter from St. Louis can't escape the spotlight that has only gotten brighter during the NCAA tournament.

Some scouts have predicted that McLemore will be the No. 1 pick in this summer's NBA draft. Last week he was on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated, and he and Self took part in a national television interview.

"I think this is all new for him," Self said. "The attention is new, the stage is new. I think he's growing into it. It's been good for him.

"I've said a few things to him. I hope I've done a decent job of freeing his mind up. He needs to realize he's a terrific player. He's had a great year. He needs to go have fun and enjoy the opportunity and not look back and say, 'What if?'"

McLemore has been trying all week to do just that.

But it hasn't been easy.

Fans posting on Internet message boards and radio talk show hosts have questioned whether McLemore is playing poorly because he knows NBA scouts are watching his every move, thus creating added pressure. Others have opined that McLemore is mentally checked out and focusing more on the money he will make as a pro.

Because he's passive and soft-spoken off the court, McLemore's toughness has been questioned, too. Could it be a sign of weakness that McLemore is floundering -- and not flourishing -- in high-stakes games?

McLemore said he has heard all the gossip. Some of it makes him chuckle.
ESPN


“The way you play Michigan is probably similar to the way you’d want to guard (North) Carolina because they play four guards,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Michigan is basically playing four guards.”

Consequently, Self said, “It comes down to not necessarily how one guy guards one, it’s how any of your guys guard that individual when he has the ball, because there could be a lot of switching involved.”

Burke ensures Michigan doesn’t give away possessions. Withey enables perimeter defenders to play boldly.

“Having Jeff back there, we know we can push them out,” Johnson said of how Kansas defends. “And if they want to catch the ball at half court, we’re cool with that. Or, if they want to back-door, which a lot of people don’t try, just seeing Jeff down there, you know, we don’t appreciate it as much as we probably should because we’ve been playing with him for four years.”

Kansas will try to keep Burke from getting to the paint, and if Johnson has trouble, Naadir Tharpe and Releford are available as options. Once Burke gets to the paint, Withey will dictate what happens next.
LJW Keegan


Before moving on to college, Tharpe and McGary played together for one season at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.

“We had a real good relationship,” Tharpe said. “He’s a good guy, a funny dude, and he plays hard. He’s always played like that from when I knew him at Brewster to what I see of him now. Nothing has changed.”

Nothing, including the fact that the former teammates still like to give each other a hard time. About 30 minutes before the KU locker room doors opened to the media, McGary was asked in Michigan headquarters what he remembered about KU’s sophomore point guard.

“I just saw him and said, ‘What’s up?’” said McGary of Tharpe, with the kind of smile that seemed to indicate he wanted to say more. “We played prep school ball together my senior year, and he’s a clown. He’s one of my good buddies, and it’s gonna be a good match-up, him and Elijah Johnson against Trey (Burke). Should be fun.”

When told the freshman McGary, 6-foot-10, 250 pounds, affectionately referred to him as a clown, Tharpe’s face lit up.

“He’s definitely much more of a clown than me,” Tharpe replied. “I actually got a chance to see him just before we walked in and got to tell him that he had been playing good and that hopefully he doesn’t play as good (against us).”

McGary, who shined one summer during an AAU event at Allen Fieldhouse, considered joining Tharpe in Lawrence.

“Yeah, I did,” said McGary, who has started both NCAA Tournament games for the Wolverines and is averaging seven points and six rebounds in 18 minutes per game. “(KU) coach (Bill) Self and Joe Dooley and Danny Manning talked to me, and I took an unofficial visit after that Jayhawk Invitational tournament. It was a good visit, but it wasn’t the best fit for me.”
LJW


Seven-foot Kansas center Jeff Withey couldn’t help but do a double-take when he spotted Michigan’s Mitch McGary in the bowels of Cowboys Stadium Friday.

“He’s not as tall as I thought,” Withey said of the 6-foot-10 McGary. “But he definitely looks strong.”

Withey may have a few inches on McGary, but there aren’t many players in all of college basketball as thick and strong and agile as the UM freshman, who weighs 250 pounds.

“I guess I kind of have a football mentality,” McGary said. “I played it growing up, but that’s my mentality. I’m just a hard-nosed, blue-collar guy who likes to do the nitty-gritty stuff.”

The attitude is fitting for where McGary plays, as Michigan natives have always adored physical bruisers such as Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and Rick Mahorn.

McGary certainly commanded Withey’s attention during film sessions last week.

“Just how physical he is and how hard he plays,” said Withey when asked what impressed him the most about McGary. “He loves to dive after loose balls and he loves to screen people. He likes to hit [people].

“I’m used to getting hit and whatnot. I’m not worried about that.”
ESPN


Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self finds it hard to believe Michigan of the rugged Big Ten Conference enters today’s 6:37 p.m. NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against Kansas as merely a 4 seed.

“How many 4 seeds could you say three weeks ago could be No. 1 in the country?” Self said of the 28-7 Wolverines, who went 12-6 in league play. “They are fast, skilled on the perimeter, a load inside (with 6-10 Mitch McGary). They defend well and are well coached, which all teams are if you are playing this weekend.

“We have three terrific teams that all could be 1 seeds here (KU, Michigan, Florida) and a team that has captured everyone’s imagination and as fun to watch as anyone (Florida Gulf Coast),” he added.

“I don’t think there’s a better team out there when they play their best than Kansas. I don’t think there’s a better team out there when they play their best than Michigan.”
LJW


At the bottom of Kansas’ team poster, which features the Jayhawks’ four seniors, sits the message in small type.

The motto is brief and to the point: Rosters Change, Expectations Don’t.

For Kansas basketball, expectations always run high. And why shouldn’t they?

The Jayhawks (31-5), who open the NCAA South Regional against Michigan (28-7) at 6:37 p.m. Friday at Cowboys Stadium, have advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time since 1990. KU is one of three No. 1 seeds remaining in the tournament. Being a No. 1 seed has almost become old hat in Lawrence, Kan. Only twice since 1990 has Kansas been seeded lower than fourth.

Yes, winning is expected at Kansas, but not just by its passionate fan base. Coach Bill Self opened the season Oct. 12 by reminding a packed crowd at Allen Fieldhouse that “rosters change, expectations don’t.”

KU’s players are lured by the winning tradition and carry the same high expectations as their fans. No Sweet 16? Unacceptable. No Final Four? No way. About the only reasonable finish for most Jayhawks fans is in the NCAA Championship game.

“I think it’s a good thing,” KU senior Kevin Young said Thursday before the Jayhawks practiced in front of several thousand fans at Cowboys Stadium. “It pushes us as players. No matter whose name is on the back of the jersey it doesn’t matter, it still says Kansas on the front. I think we take a lot of pride in that.”

…“We know it’s our last go-around and we’re not going to take it for granted,” he said. “A lot of times you could take being in the Sweet 16 for granted, even a couple minutes on the floor you can’t take for granted. You don’t get that time back, so you’ve got to always go hard. We know that, and we’re going to play like that.”

McLemore, who leads KU with a 15.8 scoring average, said moments like this are why he chose to be a Jayhawk.

“That’s why I came here, to be in situations like this and play in big games like this,” he said. “KU is a great program and the fans are great and the support system is great. The players really bond together as a real family. That’s what we are, we’re a big family. When you come to KU you expect big things.”
FW Star Telegram


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KC Star image

"He makes the easiest plays hard," KU coach Bill Self says, "and makes the hardest plays look easy."

Gotta be the fro, right?

Never mind that Young has always been like this, the bouncy child in a multi-cultural family in southern California. Young's maternal grandparents were born in Puerto Rico, and his step-grandfather was half Mexican and half Irish, and his mother, Alicia Morales, always wanted her son to be friendly and open to everything life has to offer.

"That's just the way I was raised," Young says.

Never mind that Morales always had to get her son on a local basketball court or a running track, lest he return home in the evening with a full tank of fuel to burn.

"I thought he had A.D.D. when he was young," Morales says. "He was so hyper all the time."

And never mind that Young's basketball style, an unconventional mix of hustle, athleticism and unbridled joy, fits his eccentric personality. Young is a college senior who enjoys reading up on forgotten Civil Rights leaders and studying the differences between religions. And he once agreed to take part in a KU fraternity's charity event that ended up with Young getting a pie in the face.

"Kevin is like the younger brother that finds out something and he has to tell you," KU junior Justin Wesley says. "Every little thing he finds out, he wants to tell you about. Even when you don't feel like talking, he'll still finish his point and still finish his story.

"His personality is just one of a kind. I've never met anyone that just has as much energy as he does. He's just always happy all the time."
KC Star


He’s been through so much at KU. The loss to Northern Iowa as a freshman. The run to the national championship game last year. He knows how this works. Knows the rules. Knows that college basketball teams are disproportionately judged on this small sample size. Knows what that means for him, the senior point guard who has been such an integral part of his team’s highs (39 points in a nationally televised win at Iowa State) and lows (nine-for-37 shooting over KU’s three-game losing streak).

“I don’t feel like we’ve played (well) yet,” Johnson says. “And I don’t think that’s how this year will end, so I feel like we’ll play.”

He is talking about this tournament specifically, and emphasizes himself as part of why the team hasn’t played well yet. This is the man Johnson has grown into. Team-first. Accountable. Confident through rough stretches.

He hit just one of six shots in each of KU’s wins over Western Kentucky and North Carolina in the first two rounds, with a total of six assists and five turnovers. Johnson says the misses are more about him than anything those teams did defensively.

“It’s been me defending myself,” he says.

This is such a complicated place for Johnson. He understands coach Bill Self’s definition of a point guard, and that the game “is in slow motion to me right now,” but also that the transition from shooting guard is “definitely way tougher than I thought it would be.”

This is a surprise. Johnson has always been adaptable. That’s one of the things that’s defined him, and not just in basketball. He grew up around danger in Gary, Ind., then moved to the possibilities of Las Vegas. Throw in frequent visits to family in Atlanta, and Marcus Johnson likes to say his son proved he can play and get along in most any environment.
KC Star Mellinger


The matchup — a lightning-quick sophomore vs. a senior with scars on his knee — would seem to favor the Wolverines, and Johnson won’t try to persuade anyone who thinks Michigan will be the team to advance.

“What’s a person without an opinion?” he said. “I can’t be mad at them about an opinion. Of course I’m biased — I’ve got on a Kansas jacket — but everybody’s entitled to an opinion.”

People have opinions about Johnson, too, and usually aren’t shy about expressing them. Johnson tries to steer clear of social media, a lesson he learned from former KU point guard Tyshawn Taylor, but he’s not oblivious.

Johnson’s mother, Yolanda Brown, tries to stay away from the Internet, too. But she watched the games, and she knew better than most what her son was going through.

“Yes, it was hard,” Brown said. “It was hard to watch. I felt for him. But at the same time, I had to keep him encouraged.”
TCJ


The compliments were flying at Michigan’s Trey Burke from all directions Thursday. People telling him he is great. People telling him he is the best point guard in America.

Then, someone asked Burke if, after Friday’s NCAA South Regional semifinal against Kansas (6:37 p.m. on TBS), this will be the moment the entire country knows his name.

Burke smiled, tilted his head back into the TV lights and answered carefully.
KC Star


“I think the Big Ten is one of the, if not the best conference in the country,” Burke said. “Night in and night out we’ve seen some of the top talent, whether it’s a top five team or a team not ranked in the top 25. I think that’s prepared us for the postseason.”

Leading up to the dismantling of VCU, many national experts felt the Rams would be tough competition for Michigan. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas even picked them to go to the Final Four.

Not with Burke on the court. The 6-foot, 190 pounder had 17 points and seven assists against VCU’s full-court press as the Wolverines advanced to play KU.

“He’s always in attack mode,” Tharpe said. “He’s always trying to have the defender on his heels.”

While Burke has been the standout player for Michigan this season, the Wolverines have had their slipups, particularly against Big Ten teams that excel defensively. Take Michigan State for example, a team that’s not too different from KU.

“I think we’re similar teams,” KU assistant coach Norm Roberts said. “Probably more on the perimeter because of our length and strength.”

The Jayhawks have to handle a Michigan team that relies on its perimeter play. The Wolverines lost at Michigan State 75-52 and won at home 58-57 — two low scoring games for a high-scoring team.

Michigan gets Burke going both in transition and off high ball screens that allow him to get into the lane. The challenge of defending those screens is something KU has seen before.

“We’ve had to guard similar actions all year,” Roberts said. “When you’re playing (Iowa State) with Korie Lucious, we had to guard (Aaron) Craft early in the year at Ohio State and they do some spread ball screens. Kansas State does some ball screens with (Angel) Rodriguez whose very fast.”
TCJ

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Wichita Eagle image

Social Roundup: Most "talked about" games of the first weekend (KU vs UNC #2)


KU Digital Guide for the Sweet 16


A new block of single-session tickets for tonight’s games were made available late Friday by the NCAA. The tickets (priced at $110, $85, $60 and $45) are available at 800-745-3000.

The previous allotment of single-session tickets sold out as of Thursday. All-session tickets (good for tonight’s games and Sunday’s South Regional final) remain available.
Tickets Available for South Regional



3/24/13, 8:20 PM
Fans coming to North Texas for the #NCAA South Regional hosted by #Big12 - purchase parking for Cowboys Stadium here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/Cowboys-Stadium-Parking-tickets/artist/1297081


The Arlington Convention Center will be the headquarters for KU fans. The pregame party will start at 2:30 p.m., with the pep rally slated for 4:30 p.m. The KU pep band, spirit squad and mascot will perform at the pep rally.

Concessions, cash bars and parking ($20 per car) are available on site. There is no charge for admission, and the convention center is within walking distance of Cowboys Stadium.
The KU Alumni Association, Kansas Athletics and KUStore.com will be set up at the pregame party. Be sure to show your Alumni Association membership card at our table and receive a free members-only gift! If you're not a member, visit www.kualumni.org/join to join today. Print your purchase receipt and show it to staff members to receive your gift.

If you don't have tickets to the game, head to our official watch site in Arlington, Humperdink's, to watch the game with fellow Jayhawks.
KU Alumni


The University of Michigan has more than 500,000 alumni around the world and a particularly strong following throughout Texas. Michigan’s alumni association has multiple clubs across the country, but one of their strongest bases calls Dallas home.

“The club in the Dallas area is one of several really active ones,” Bradley Whitehouse, the senior communications coordinator for the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan , said via email. “As many as 200 alumni attend the regular game-watching parties that the Dallas club hosts for football and basketball.”

This showed at yesterday’s shoot around and media day, where a majority of people in attendance sported Michigan gear.
“Our alumni are known to travel to big games,” Whitehouse said. “And with several thousand living in the Dallas area, there should be a lot of maize and blue in the stands on Friday.”

Florida and Florida Gulf Coast fan bases will be significantly lopsided. The Gators will have a large advantage over the Eagles when it comes to the crowd. Even though many in Cowboys Stadium will be cheering for the underdog, it will still be hard for Florida Gulf Coast to compete.

Texas is home to more than 10,000 University of Florida alumni, the fifth-largest state alumni base of the more than 45,000 registered alumni. A majority of Texas’ Gator alumni, nearly 3,500, live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — more than any other city in Texas.

And although 62 percent of Florida’s alumni reside in Florida, the alumni association and Gator Club are excited to have the opportunity to host a pre-game event at Buffalo Wild Wings in Arlington.

“We have so many alumni living in the state that never get to see the Gators come to their state,” Scott Francis, director of Broaden Gator Engagement, said in an email.

Despite not being considered one of the “blue bloods,” Florida has a strong following and expects a strong showing in Jerry World tomorrow.
UDK


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LJW image

Sons of Coaches: Jayhawk Trio Took Time Before Deciding to Walk-On at Kansas


Marcus and Markieff Morris, Kansas

The twins now have two college enemies — Missouri and Virginia Commonwealth.

Their Kansas Jayhawks were upset as a No. 1 seed in 2010 by Northern Iowa in the second round but ending their career with an Elite Eight loss to VCU the next year stung worse.

“I’ll never forget that — ever, ever,” Markieff said. “It’s worse than we lost to Northern Iowa. It was our team. It’s always worse when it’s on your shoulders.

“We would’ve kicked Butler in the ass and beat UConn and would’ve been the No. 1 and No. 2 picks. We lost to a bunch of bums that made shots. I still hope they (VCU) lose every game.”

Nothing soothed them until NBA draft night.

“They got hot and had the crowd and the refs,” Marcus said. “Everything was against us. I wish I would’ve shot more and took over the game more. I didn’t pass to Keef enough.”

Markieff said, “And I didn’t pass to him enough.”
AZCentral


Brad Witherspoon wasn't quite ready to call the game over. But he was awfully close.

With the Kansas Jayhawks trailing Memphis 60-51 with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the 2008 national championship game, Witherspoon sat with his teammates at the end of the KU bench and tried to come up with plausible ways the Jayhawks could still win. He realized the odds were daunting.

"I don't want to say that I gave up, but anybody knows that when you're down nine with two minutes and 10 seconds left, you need some miracles to happen," said Witherspoon, who was a senior forward on that team.

The Jayhawks, of course, got their miracle.

Memphis missed 4 of 5 free throws in the final 75 seconds, and Mario Chalmers made one of the most famous shots in NCAA Tournament history when he swished a 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key with 2.1 seconds to go. That tied the game at 63, and KU won the game 75-68 in overtime.

"I knew once that shot went in we were going to win," Witherspoon said. "The momentum in the building shifted."

In addition to providing Witherspoon with a memory to last a lifetime, that game taught Witherspoon something he tries to instill in basketball players today in his role as a men's basketball assistant coach at John Wood Community College.

"Keep fighting, keep fighting, you never know what could happen," Witherspoon said.

…"(That game against Memphis) is just a teaching point that if they miss some free throws and we make some shots, it's a different game," Witherspoon said. "It doesn't matter how much time is on the clock."

The 2007-08 KU season also taught Witherspoon another important lesson — that nothing is ever as bad as it might seem.

KU started that season 20-0 before losing three Big 12 games in span of seven games in late January and February.

"Being from Kansas and being from Lawrence, Kan., that's like everyone's church, Allen Fieldhouse," said Witherspoon, who graduated from Humboldt High School, about 90 miles south of Lawrence. "We're the pastors you could say. So when we lose three of (seven), it's like the Earth is stopping and the sun is not going to come up."

The Jayhawks called a players-only team meeting after that skid.

"The message was just to not let this turn into more than what it is," said Witherspoon, who spent two years as an assistant at Culver-Stockton College before coming to JWCC.

KU didn't lose another game, finishing 37-3.

…Given the similarities between the 2007-08 season and this season, it's no surprise Witherspoon chose Kansas to win the national championship. Of course, he probably would've picked the Jayhawks to win it all even had they come in still in a funk.

"I don't think I've picked anybody but Kansas since 1995," Witherspoon said.
Quincy HW


List of schools whose men's and women's bkb teams reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last two years is very short: KANSAS.
https://twitter.com/JMarchiony


Your Kansas Jayhawks are heading to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row! Don’t miss your chance to follow Kansas Women’s Basketball as they head to Norfolk, Virginia to play #1 seed, Notre Dame Sunday, March 31st @ 11:00am CST.

In the Lawrence area?
Come to the South side of Allen Fieldhouse for a team send-off Friday, March 29th at 11:45am CST as the Jayhawks load the bus and head to the Sweet 16.

In the Norfolk area?
Join Kansas Athletics along with the KU Alumni Association for a team send-off on Sunday, March 31st at 9:45am EST at the Hilton Norfolk Airport (1500 N. Military Highway).
Click here for Ticket Info


Fox4KC: Former Raytown hoop star Terry Nooner assisting Jayhawk women


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


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It's no exaggeration to say that everything comes to a standstill in Lawrence, Kansas when its beloved Jayhawks play basketball.

Case in point: The visitation for 76-year-old Don Shoulberg, who died on Tuesday, will end when KU's Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan tips off at 6:30 local time.

It says so right there in his obituary.

Whether or not this accommodation was made for conflicted visitors, a basketball-mad family or so that Shoulberg's spirit could pay its undivided attention to Bill Self and Co. remains unclear.

But Shoulberg, a marriage and family therapist who once taught at the school, was said to be a big fan of the Jayhawks. One of the visitors to his guestbook also said that his late friend would definitely be watching as top-seeded Kansas pursues its first national title since 2008:

"Most of our interaction occurred on the office elevator and our conversations almost always focused on KU basketball. I understand why the visitation will end before our tip off against Michigan. Don's steading hand will be a significant factor in our attempt to knock off Michigan in continuing our quest."

For those non-basketball fans worried that this man might not get the full sendoff his deserves, worry not. Shoulberg's memorial services will still be held without interruption on Saturday morning.

One might safely assume, however, that a hearty round of "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" might go down at some point.
Yahoo Sports

Big 12/College News


SI Luke Winn Power Rankings (pre Thursday's games)
Oops, about that #2 & #7 Luke.


The last (and only) point guard to lead the University of Michigan to a national championship sits behind the high fences and razor wire of the federal correctional institution here, a joyless expanse of turf carved out of the woods in the rural flatlands of central Louisiana.

Rumeal Robinson will spend this weekend, like every weekend these days, in the humble Rapides 1 housing unit, watching college hoops on TV.

Some 360 miles northwest of here, a little more than five hours by car if you avoid the speed traps outside Glenmora, the current Michigan point guard, who like his predecessor is a bit over 6 feet, tough and talented, has gotten the Wolverines to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time in nearly two decades, eyes on potential glory, mindful of past ones.
Yahoo Wetzel


Wichita State didn't have to play angry to beat La Salle — the Shockers instead went with bigger, stronger and more physical en route to an easy 72-58 victory in a NCAA regional semifinal on Thursday night.

And now ninth-seeded Wichita State will meet No. 2 seed Ohio State on Saturday at the Staples Center for a trip to the Final Four (7:05 pm., ET, CBS)..

"It's a grind, just got to stay focused – 40 minutes away," said Wichita State guard Malcolm Armstead, who repeatedly got into the lane and led all scorers with 18 points, along with six rebounds and four assists.

Coming into the tournament feeling overlooked, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall had picked up a slogan – "play angry" – from former Shocker and NBA player Antoine Carr's pep talk to the team during a February slump.
USA Today


The Ohio State Buckeyes dressed in the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room Thursday night, and somehow it was LaQuinton Ross, a sophomore sub, who drew Kobe Bryant's locker.

Perfect.

Bryant, who has ended countless Lakers' victories with dramatic shots, couldn't have played the hero any better than Ross..

With the scored suddenly tied 70-70 in a game that Arizona controlled in the first half and Ohio State controlled in the second half, Buckeyes point guard Aaron Craft milked the clock, dribbling as the seconds wound down toward zero.

Then Craft, who hit a last-second three-pointer in Ohio State's last victory, went around a screen by Ross and, when Arizona failed to switch onto Ross, Craft delivered a bounce pass.

Ross, from the top of the key, several feet beyond the three-point arc, calmly drained a jumper with two seconds left. A desperation play from Arizona failed and Ohio State had advanced 73-70.
USA Today


Long known for his 2-3 zone defense, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim says that a few years ago he decided to stop having his team play man-to-man, even occasionally. The practice time, he figured, could be put to better use.

Hard to argue, given Orange's results over the past two seasons – and especially after the way it confounded and discombobulated top-seeded Indiana during an NCAA East Region semifinal Thursday night at Verizon Center.

The 61-50 final margin wasn't indicative of the degree to which Indiana struggled en route to season worsts in scoring, field goal percentage and scoring-deficit faced. It also tied season worsts for turnovers, opponents' steals and blocked shots.

Syracuse (29-9) easily advanced to the round of eight for a second consecutive season.

…Hoosiers coach Tom Crean talked about how he had tried to have his team simulate working against a zone and how they seemed to understand the tactics required to attack it. "But," he conceded, "you have to face facts. We haven't seen a zone like that."
USA Today


For as consistently as the NCAA tournament delivers underdogs and story lines, national champions in the modern era have been shaped by a theory that works almost entirely in contrast: To win it all, a college basketball team has to have at least three future NBA players.

But No. 1-ranked Louisville enters the Midwest Regional semifinals Friday as a potential antidote to that premise, which has been overwhelmingly accurate over the past 20 years. Though the Cardinals are favored both by seeding and Las Vegas odds to cut down the nets in Atlanta on April 8, Rick Pitino has gotten here by building a roster deep with good players, practically none of whom would be described as sure-fire NBA prospects. Just one Louisville player — junior center Gorgui Dieng — would likely be picked in the first round of this year's draft.

"Pitino has squeezed the hell out of those guys," said one NBA player personnel director, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because league rules prohibit discussing underclassmen. "I don't see any of them being consistently in a (NBA) rotation. I'm not even sold on Dieng."
USA Today


Oregon's Arsalan Kazemi has been a key player in the Ducks' run to the Sweet 16, but while at Rice from 2009-12 he alleged that Owls athletic director Rick Greenspan repeatedly made insulting and discriminating remarks to him, two fellow Middle Eastern players and an assistant coach, and that led to his request for a hardship waiver from the NCAA to be eligible to play this season.

According to a document obtained by SI.com, Kazemi, the first Iranian-born player in NCAA Division I men's college basketball, alleged in his hardship waiver that Greenspan made derogatory comments referencing Al-Qaeda and the Axis of Evil when talking about Kazemi and two of his teammates.

The NCAA only grants hardship waivers under special circumstances, but in this case it gave waivers to Kazemi and his teammate, center Omar Oraby, an Egyptian who transferred to USC in September.

The 6-foot-7, 226-pound Kazemi has been instrumental for Oregon (28-8) this season, averaging 9.3 points and a team-best 9.9 rebounds per game. The 12th-seeded Ducks face No. 1 seed Louisville in a Midwest regional semifinal in Indianapolis on Friday night.

On Thursday, Kazemi, who is Muslim, declined to answer questions about the allegations he made against Greenspan in his hardship waiver request. "I won't talk about that," Kazemi said.
SI


Hal Wissel, who taught the hook shot for decades as a college coach and an N.B.A. assistant before opening a basketball school with his sons Scott and Paul in Suffield, Conn., places blame on college coaches who spend too much time recruiting and not enough time instructing.

“The game is overcoached and undertaught,” Wissel said. “That’s the single best answer. If you go to the N.B.A. predraft camp in Chicago, very few of the players have any post-up ability. I watch the drills. They’ll put the ball on the floor, they will travel, and no one is correcting them.”

Wojciechowski says the tendency to shy away from hook shots starts long before college.

“A lot of kids want to play facing the basket, even tall kids,” he said. “Very few kids grow up dreaming about being back-to-the-basket players.

“A lot of the systems in college now are pick-and-roll systems where guys are catching it in the post on the move, instead of catching it with their back to the basket and having to make a move.”

Stephens, who also played at Michigan State, said he taught the hook as a nod to his former coach Jud Heathcote, who insisted every player, regardless of position, master a hook shot with either hand. So Celtics fans can blame Heathcote for the running hook Magic Johnson flipped over Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to win Game 4 of the 1987 N.B.A. finals for the Lakers.

Stephens said that forwards Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix could shoot a hook, but that they were not keen on it.

“Those guys don’t think that shot is fashionable,” Stephens said. “You equate it with Kareem shooting a roll hook — that’s what we call it — or a sky hook, whatever you want to call it. They think it’s an old-school move, and they’d rather shoot a jump hook or turnaround jump shot.”

Plumlee had no such hesitation when he started working on it several years ago.

“I’m not overpowering,” the 230-pound Plumlee said. “I play against guys who are 250-plus. I can’t just back people all the way under the rim. So I have to have something I can go to and use touch and shoot over people.

“I think really at the end of last year, I felt like it was more of a go-to move for me.”
NY Times: A Dying Art



The Jayhawks Have Landed!

3/28/2013

 
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Three-year-old Braxton Ullery loudly chanted “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” and dribbled a small ball while waiting for University of Kansas players to board their plane Wednesday afternoon at Forbes Field.

Braxton and his mother, Crystal Reich, of Scranton, were among a crowd of more than 100 people who gathered for the send-off.

The Jayhawks will play the fourth-seeded Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16 on Friday. Game time is 6:37 p.m. in the South Regional semifinals at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Kristen Gerdel and her daughter, Kaelyn Gerdel, 4, of Topeka, also attended the send-off.

“We’ve been before,” Gerdel said as her daughter waved red and blue pom poms. “We like to watch them, and we like to give them support.”

Jacque and Herschel Stroud, of Topeka, and other members of the Topeka Jayhawk Club played band instruments and waved signs in support of the Jayhawks.

“It’s a great day for Kansas,” Jacque Stroud said.

Coach Bill Self was one of the first people to enter the terminal. His players followed behind.

“I’m ready,” senior center Jeff Withey said as he walked through a long line of orange cones that separated players from the crowd.

KU point guard Elijah Johnson said he planned to catch up on rest and “enjoy a new city.”

Self said players rested on Monday but practiced Tuesday and Wednesday. He said he and his team are looking forward to bringing home some nets, the unofficial trophy claimed by the team winning an NCAA regional and a coveted berth in the Final Four.

“You only have opportunities to cut down nets four times a season,” said Self, whose team had a net-cutting ceremony after winning the Big 12 Tournament and last week’s NCAA sub-regional, both in Kansas City. “It would mean so much to get this one” in Texas.
TCJ (Video at the link)


LJW Video: Jayhawks arrive in Dallas


fox4kc Photos


KC Star Video & Photos


Four police officers on motorcycles escorted Kansas University’s basketball team bus from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to the downtown Hyatt Regency hotel during rush-hour traffic late Wednesday afternoon.

The Jayhawks arrived in Texas safe, sound and ready to begin what they hope will be a five-day stay that culminates in a victory over Michigan on Friday (tipoff at 6:37 p.m., Cowboys Stadium, Arlington) and either Florida or Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday and a spot in next week’s Final Four in Atlanta.

“I think our mood is pretty good. I know the guys are excited,” KU coach Bill Self said to a throng of TV and print reporters on hand to meet the bus.

…“I don’t know if there will be a huge home team (advantage) if the place seats 42,000 and we have 10,000 seats,” Self said. “It may be more than everybody else, but it’ll be cavernous. I hope we’re the home team. We’re the team closest and have a lot of alums in the area, a lot of alums in Oklahoma. Hopefully they’ll get down here. It will be an interesting four-team field. There are four good teams playing. You’ve got different storylines with each one of them. I just want our guys to go out and play with reckless abandon.”

…The Jayhawks were to have a nice dinner at Pappadeaux in downtown Dallas on Wednesday night. ... Self said the team was healthy except for junior Justin Wesley, who has been ruled out of Friday’s game because of a severely sprained right ankle. “He’s doing better but not going to be able to play,” Self said.
LJW



Kansas basketball fans are expected to pour into the Dallas area by the thousands later today as they prepare to cheer the Jayhawks on in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The city is excited for the fans' arrival.

Dallas rolled out the figurative red and blue carpet Wednesday for the Jayhawks before they arrived at the team hotel.

The city is excited to have some storied basketball programs coming to town as well as the team grabbing the nation's attention during this year's tournament: Florida Gulf Coast.

"They're definitely the Cinderella, but Kansas is coming in, too, as a number-one seed," said Monica Paul, Vice President of Sports for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We're expecting a big turnout down at Cowboys Stadium."

While the Jayhawks are in Dallas and Arlington, they're in the hands of James Lowery. He is a Dallas-based bus driver who has plenty of experience carting college and professional sports teams.

"We carried five of the NFL teams that played the Cowboys this past year," Lowery said. "We do the employee shuttle at the stadium on Cowboy games and other events."

On game days, however, James is responsible for getting the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders to and from the stadium.

"Somebody's got to do it," he joked.

This week, though, he is dedicated to the Jayhawks. KU fans may find some encouragement in how long he is planning on being with the team.

"I'll have them until they leave on Sunday," Lowery said.
KAKE


Inside these massive, domed football stadiums, the Kansas Jayhawks are as comfortable playing basketball as any team in the country.

It’s not just that, though. They’ve started to look forward to it.

So with Michigan waiting in Friday’s South Regional semifinal at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas – the host of next year’s Final Four – the Jayhawks reacted with excited anticipation following Sunday’s win over North Carolina.

“Not so much as where it is, but what it is,” Kansas senior guard Elijah Johnson said. “If you’re playing in (one of the football stadiums) this time of the year that means you’re usually playing pretty deep in the tournament. And we also have some experience playing in those types of places.”

Last year, Kansas played in the Superdome in New Orleans in the Final Four — in front of 73,361 in a win over Ohio State and 70,913 in a loss to Kentucky in the championship game.

Earlier this season, the Jayhawks played in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome – the site of this year’s Final Four. They were there on Nov. 13 for a 67-64 loss to another Big Ten opponent, Michigan State, in front of 22,847. It was the Jayhawks’ second game of the regular season, so not much can be gleaned from a game almost four months ago, but the experience is still clear in the minds of the players.

The Spartans, who split their two games with Michigan this season, rallied to win that game after Kansas held the lead for more than 20 minutes in the first and second halves.

“Well we lost, so I don’t know how much we want to reflect on how we played,” Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe said. “But that was a pretty big arena, like the one we’re getting ready to play in. I’m looking forward to getting back in that environment.”

The setup at Cowboys Stadium, which held a record 108,713 fans for the 2010 NBA All-Star game, will be slightly modified from the setup for next year’s Final Four for the games this weekend.

The court is set on risers, which the NCAA has been doing since 2008 in order to give fans a better view of the court. That’s opposed to the old way of seating in a football stadium, where the court was in one of the stadium’s end zones.

About 16,000 seats are on the field level and closest to the court. The stadium is set up for a maximum capacity of 42,614 for Friday and Sunday’s games — Florida takes on Florida Gulf Coast after Kansas’ game in the other regional semifinal — but if more fans show up wanting tickets, a curtain in the upper level can be removed to make room for more people.

Next year’s Final Four will be set up to hold upwards of 80,000 people. North Texas last hosted the Final Four in 1986 at Dallas’ Reunion Arena, which seated a mere 17,007.

“This will be a special weekend for these teams and their fans,” Cowboys Stadium spokesman Brett Daniels said in a statement. “We want to put on a great event and learn from it for next year to make next year’s event even bigger and better. I think it’s going to benefit everybody and that was the idea behind the stadium in the events we’ve tried to go after, to try to be an economic engine for the region here.”

With a fan base that seems to travel almost everywhere in droves — especially in the postseason — and has alumni seemingly everywhere, an NCAA regional within driving distance of Kansas could mean big numbers of fans showing up for the Jayhawks.

But enough to lift the curtain? That remains to be seen.

“Growing up, you watch the Sweet 16 and you see the big games in the football stadiums and how neat it is for everyone involved,” Kansas freshman forward Perry Ellis said. “It would be great to try to get as many fans as we can (in Cowboys Stadiums) for us. The more support we can get, the better.”
Wichita Eagle


NABC All_American Teams


First team
Trey Burke, Michigan, 6-0, 190, Sophomore, Guard, Columbus, Ohio
Doug McDermott, Creighton, 6-8, 225, Junior, Forward, Ames, Iowa
Otto Porter, Jr., Georgetown, 6-8, 205, Sophomore, Forward, Morley, Mo.
Victor Oladipo, Indiana, 6-5, 214, Junior, Guard, Upper Marlboro, Md.
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga, 7-0, 238, Junior, Forward, Kamloops, B.C., Canada

Second team
Shane Larkin, Miami, 5-11, 176, Sophomore, Guard, Orlando, Fla.
Ben McLemore, Kansas, 6-5, 185, Freshman, Guard, St. Louis, Mo.
Mason Plumlee, Duke, 6-10, 235, Senior, Forward, Warsaw, Ind.
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State, 6-4, 225, Freshman, Guard, Flower Mound, Texas
Cody Zeller, Indiana, 7-0, 240, Sophomore, Forward, Washington, Ind.


Third team
Allen Crabbe, California, 6-6, 210, Junior, Guard, Los Angeles, Calif.
Russ Smith, Louisville, 6-0, 165, Junior, Guard, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State, 6-7, 215, Junior, Forward, Ft. Wayne, Ind.
Jeff Withey, Kansas, 7-0, 235, Senior, Center, San Diego, Calif.
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State, 6-4, 190, Senior, Guard, St. Cloud, Minn.
Link


Lest any Jayhawk fans get ideas about next year, though, a minor slump doesn’t change the basic reality about McLemore’s freshman season. He still is projected as a top-five pick in June’s NBA draft, and draft analysts say his stock doesn’t depend on how he performs in the NCAA Tournament.

“For his draft stock to move down, someone needs to supplant him,” said Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. “Right now, that hasn’t happened and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

Givony, who projects McLemore as the No. 2 pick behind Nerlens Noel of Kentucky, said teams will find it hard to pass on McLemore’s upside, even if he’s prone to the occasional disappearance away from Allen Fieldhouse.

“He’s probably one of the best wing athletes in college basketball in terms of how smooth and how fluid he is and how explosive at the same time,” Givony said. “He can do some unbelievable things, especially in transition, that very, very few guys can do.

“On top of that, he’s got a great shooting stroke. He’s a 42 percent 3-point shooter. He makes his free throws. He can shoot off the dribble. He can shoot on the catch. He can score.”

When McLemore has faded this year, it usually hasn’t taken him long to reappear. The Jayhawks managed to survive two off nights from their freshman star in the opening rounds, meaning he still has time to make an impression on the NCAA stage.

Given the path that lies ahead for KU — Michigan and All-American Trey Burke, followed by potential heavyweights like Florida or Indiana — a strong finish from McLemore would overshadow any early struggles.

“He can still have a great tournament,” Givony said. “He can have four of his best games from here on out and people will remember that as one of the best tournaments ever. Nothing is done yet.”

That might be the best news for KU. The Jayhawks aren’t done, and as long as they have McLemore in a KU uniform, they have a chance to keep playing.

“The great thing about Ben, he cares about winning,” Self said. “He puts that ahead of everything else. (But) for us to be good, to have a chance to advance, we need all our players playing much closer to their ceiling.”
TCJ


10.1 assists per game to 6.0 turnovers per game is what Elijah Johnson, Naadir Tharpe and Travis Releford are averaging going into Friday’s match-up against Michigan. Only plus four assists is not that impressive as a whole, but when you consider how the Jayhawk backcourt was playing on Feb. 6 against TCU when Johnson, Releford and Tharpe combined for seven assists and six turnovers it starts to sound a lot better.

The difference?  Naddy Ice. That is what I yell at my TV when I see Tharpe hit a step-back three or drop a nice little dime through a defender’s legs. His stoic presence and confidence has rubbed off on the Kansas guards. Not convinced by my corny nickname? Let’s look at some numbers.
UDK


McGary will be going toe-to-toe with Kansas' great equalizer -- 7-foot shot-blocking senior Jeff Withey.

Is he ready for the challenge?

"The biggest thing that has plagued our big men (during my tenure) is foul trouble," Beilein said. "Mitch has learned a great deal about that.

"Playing hard does not always mean playing smart. He had one of those (silly) fouls in the South Dakota State game, but he's learned that fouls don't only hurt me, they hurt my team .... but guarding Withey is a whole new challenge."

Beilein said McGary was given a "serious wakeup call" during Michigan's home loss against Indiana in the regular-season finale, when foolish fouls limited him to just eight minutes of action -- rendering him almost completely helpless against Indiana center Cody Zeller.

Withey averages 3.9 blocked shots per game, and went for 16 points and 16 rebounds in a dominating performance against North Carolina last week in Kansas City.

Michigan will likely try to keep Withey on the move Friday, and will try to keep him away from the basket as much as possible.

And, it will rely on McGary to play up to his size once again -- and do his best to be an emotional anchor at both ends of the floor.

"He's learned how to use that big body," Beilein said of McGary. "He's 256 pounds right now, which is probably the lightest he's been all year. He's learning how to use those 256 pounds and his feet.

"Which are huge."
MLive


Suddenly, Michigan is the hot team.

ESPN.com “reseeded” the Sweet 16 and has Michigan as a No. 1 seed behind only Louisville.

A bevy of cbssports.com experts are picking No. 4 seed Michigan to beat No. 1 seed Kansas in the South Region on Friday in Arlington, Texas.

Even the Bovada oddsmakers have Michigan at 11-to-1 odds to win the title, ahead of Kansas and sixth overall.

That’s all fine with Kansas coach Bill Self.

“I guess we could use it (as motivation),” he told Kansas reporters Tuesday, in a video posted on kuathletics.com. “I don’t really think there’s that type of motivation that we need to use to get our guys ready. But I hope everybody is talking about Michigan. That’s fine with me.

"We’re still the one seed. We need to play like a one seed, and we haven’t done that yet, at least consistently, at all. But (the Wolverines are) very capable of being a one seed. Two weeks ago or three weeks ago, they were on the one line. There’s not a nickel’s worth of difference between our teams. Whoever plays best on Friday will win.”
Detroit Free Press


Most experts now are predicting the fourth-seeded Wolverines to beat top-seeded Kansas on Friday in Arlington, Texas. That includes all four CBS Sports college hoops experts -- Gary Parrish, Jeff Goodman, Matt Norlander and Jeff Borzello -- and USA Today "bracket specialist" Patrick Stevens.

"Ultimately, this could go either way, but the guess here is Michigan gets one step closer to its first Final Four trip since 1993," Stevens wrote.

Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples also liked Michigan as the team to reach the Final Four when breaking down the entire South bracket that also includes No. 3 seed Florida and No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast.

"If the Wolverines can maintain the chemistry they showed this past weekend, they're one of the tourney's toughest outs," Staples wrote.
Detroit Free Press


ESPN.com's Dick Vitale has picked Michigan as a Final Four team since selection Sunday, and when Vitale's company went through a tournament "re-seeding" exercise, it had Michigan as a No. 1 seed -- not Kansas.
Mlive


Kansas vs. Michigan

What does it say that Kansas is capable of winning two tough NCAA tournament games with its most talented player, Ben McLemore, scoring a total of 13 points on 2-for-14 shooting? Either this team is playing with fire and is ready to get burned, or it's so good that it can survive and advance at less than its best. I think it's the latter. I expect McLemore to break out and play well in Arlington, Texas, but even if he's less than stellar, the Jayhawks have showed just how much of an asset it is to have four seniors, including three fifth-year seniors, in the starting lineup. That's a stark contrast with a Michigan team that features four freshmen among its top seven scorers.

Kansas 77, Michigan 70


Kansas vs. Florida

The Gators advanced to the Elite Eight the last two years, only to come up short by four points (to Louisville) and three (Butler). I wish I could tell Gators fans that this time will be different, but I can't. Kansas is the best defensive team in the country, but unlike Florida, the Jayhawks have several players who are capable of scoring 30 points. That is a major advantage against a Gators squad that is small defensively on the perimeter.

Kansas 76, Florida 70
SI Seth Davis


TBS analyst Steve Kerr, who played 15 NBA seasons and served as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, will work as the courtside analyst alongside Marv Albert for the NCAA South Regional at Cowboys Stadium. He is assured of moving on to the Final Four where he will work for CBS alongside Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. He discussed the teams earlier this week with Barry Horn:

What should fans know about Kansas?
“They are in every game because of their defense. Jeff Withey is a phenomenal shot blocker. Last weekend they played three really bad halves and one good one. Their defense carried them.”

What will it take for Kansas to cut down the net on Sunday?
“Can slow Michigan down and take care of the ball better than they did last weekend. Their ball handling was atrocious. They have to get (freshman) Ben McLemore going. He looked like a deer in the headlights last weekend.”

Who is Kansas’ most NBA-ready player?
“(Senior center) Jeff Withey whether he is a starter or backup, because of his shot-blocking ability, can help a team immediately.”

Your opinion of Bill Self?

“One of the best coaches in college basketball.”
Dallas Morning News


The University of Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team has made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, but Coach Bill Self already has made the Final Four, at least in terms of pay, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports.

A look at the coaches participating in the Sweet 16 shows that Self is the fourth-highest paid coach in the group.

Self reportedly makes an annual salary of $3.63 million. His salary is topped only by Florida Coach Billy Donovan, who earns $3.64 million a year, Louisville Coach Rick Pitino, who earns $3.9 million a year, and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of Duke, who makes $4.7 million a year.
Link


About half of the players on the men’s basketball team have tattoos, with most of them turning to ink to help tell their life stories.

KU sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe says tattoos also have brought teammates closer together. Tharpe, along with freshman Ben McLemore and junior Niko Roberts, got matching tattoos — “KUCMB,” which Tharpe says stands for “Kansas University college men’s basketball” — on their arms.

Traylor came up with the idea.

“If it’s going to be on me forever,” Traylor said, “I’ve got to put a lot of thought into it.”

Releford says it’s up to the players to stay responsible financially. That means not spending too much on their hobby with the money they earn.

“We work camps and stuff, so it’s not like we’re using all our money on tattoos,” Releford said. “We know when not to go and just blow our money. I think that’s the key. We don’t just go out and, ‘Oh, we get a scholarship check,’ and spend $500 on a tattoo.”

Releford said a good example would be if a player received $200 from working a camp, he might go spend $100 on a tattoo.

“You save up. But coaches don’t like us spending our money on it,” Traylor said. “They say they’d rather have us buy some food or something like that.

“We definitely slow down a lot. They want us to save.”

Tattoos aren’t for everyone.

Traylor sometimes jokes with freshmen Andrew White III and Landen Lucas, who both have already indicated they won’t be getting any tattoos.

KU center Jeff Withey, who has no tattoos, also likes to poke fun at teammates when he can.

“If they already have a tattoo, I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I’m thinking about getting this.’ And they’ll be like, ‘Man, I already have that,’” Withey said with a smile. “I’ll tell them, ‘Man, you’re copying my idea.’”
LJW


KCTV 5 feature on Andrea Hudy


KU Digital Guide for the Sweet 16


Tickets Available for South Regional


Fans coming to North Texas for the #NCAA South Regional hosted by #Big12 - purchase parking for Cowboys Stadium here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/Cowboys-Stadium-Parking-tickets/artist/1297081


South Regional practice sessions Thursday at Cowboys Stadium will be free and open to the public.

The four team that have advanced to the South Regional will practice in one-hour blocks from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Noon-12:50 p.m. Michigan

• 1-1:50 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast

• 2:10-3 p.m. Kansas


• 3:10-4 p.m. Florida

Doors open at 11 a.m. and parking is free. Fans should park in Lot 10 and enter the stadium at Gates A and K. Merchandise and concessions stands will be open.


The Arlington Convention Center will be the headquarters for KU fans.
The pregame party will start at 2:30 p.m., with the pep rally slated for 4:30 p.m. The KU pep band, spirit squad and mascot will perform at the pep rally.

Concessions, cash bars and parking ($20 per car) are available on site. There is no charge for admission, and the convention center is within walking distance of Cowboys Stadium.

The KU Alumni Association, Kansas Athletics and KUStore.com will be set up at the pregame party. Be sure to show your Alumni Association membership card at our table and receive a free members-only gift! If you're not a member, visit www.kualumni.org/join to join today. Print your purchase receipt and show it to staff members to receive your gift.

If you don't have tickets to the game, head to our official watch site in Arlington, Humperdink's, to watch the game with fellow Jayhawks.
KU Alumni


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


Big 12/College News

Picture

ESPN: Thursday's matchup previews


Sheldon McClellan, who led the Texas Longhorns in scoring for most of this season, has asked for his release and intends to transfer at the end of the semester, his mother told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

"There are no bitter feelings," Angel Johnson said. "He enjoyed his time at Texas. He's just looking for a place where he's a better fit. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery."

Johnson said she and her son were under the impression that Texas coach Rick Barnes would grant the release because he hasn't said anything to suggest otherwise.

"We've signed our end of the paperwork and we're just waiting for them to sign their end," she said. "We can't talk to other schools until that happens, and we certainly don't want to break any rules."

Texas spokesman Scott McConnell confirmed that McClellan had requested the release but said the school would have no further comment at this time.
ESPN


Oklahoma junior forward Amath M'Baye will enter the NBA Draft.
@AdamZagoria


Baylor in NIT Final Four


Northwestern hired longtime Duke assistant Chris Collins as its basketball coach Wednesday night.

His task is to get Northwestern to the NCAA tournament. That's something the Wildcats have never done, although they came close in recent years under Bill Carmody. He was let go after 13 seasons.

Collins, who has never been a head coach, interviewed last year for the job at Illinois State — his father's alma mater — before withdrawing.
USA Today


A student assistant coach, Marra is in charge of charting Rick Pitino's most cherished statistic: deflections. Every time a Cardinal tangibly impedes the other team's offense – by tipping a pass, blocking a shot, making a steal, swatting a dribble or grabbing a loose ball – Marra dutifully credits that player with a deflection.

This is the hustle meter the 60-year-old Pitino created half a lifetime ago, as the young head coach at Boston University. He took it with him to the NBA, then back to college, then back to the pros, and back to college again. As the game has evolved and changed in countless ways, dedication to deflections has never changed with Pitino.

Deflection totals provide the objective data that answers a subjective question: How hard are you playing?

The higher the deflection totals, the more active the defense. The more active the defense, the harder the team is playing.

And if there is one hallmark of Pitino-coached teams, it is an almost religious fervor for maximum hustle. They simply never relent, as Sweet 16 opponent Oregon will be the latest to learn Friday night in Indianapolis. There is a beauty to their consistent work ethic, and deflections are the most basic building block of that hard-work culture.
Yahoo Forde


Recruiting

The 2013 American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships roster is finalized, Intersport announced today. The third annual event, which will showcase the dunking and shooting talents of 16 of the nation’s top high school seniors, will air at 2 p.m. ET on April 6 on CBS. The program is being taped at Long Forum on the campus of Greater Atlanta Christian School.

The CBS broadcast team includes Tim Brando, Bill Raftery and Lewis Johnson. The program will have numerous encore presentations on CBS Sports Network. Check local listings for dates and times.

American Family Insurance Slam Dunk Championship

Name – High School – College Choice

Jordan Bell – Poly High School (Long Beach, Calif.) – Oregon
Deonte Burton – Vincent High School (Milwaukee, Wis.) – Marquette
Isaiah Dennis – Eagle’s Landing High School (McDonough, Ga.) – Georgia State
Soma Edo – Berkner High School (Richardson, Texas) – Fresno State
Anton Gill – Hargrave Military Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) – Louisville
Craig Hinton* – East Forsyth High School (Kernersville, N.C.) – VMI
Kuran Iverson – Fishburne Military School (Waynesboro, Va.) – Memphis
Kendrick Nunn – Simeon Career Academy (Chicago, Ill.) – Illinois

US Marines 3-Point Championship

Name – High School – College Choice

Bryce Alford – La Cueva High School (Albuquerque, N.M.) – New Mexico
Conner Frankamp – North High School (Wichita, Kan.) – Kansas
Brannen Greene – Tift County High School (Tifton, Ga.) – Kansas
Zak Irvin – Hamilton Southeastern High School (Fishers, Ind.) – Michigan
Nick King – East High School (Memphis, Tenn.) – Memphis
Race Parsons* – South Sevier High School (Monroe, Utah) – Southern Utah
Matt Thomas – Onalaska High School (Onalaska, Wis.) – Iowa State
Derrick Walton – Chandler Park Academy (Detroit, Mich.) – Michigan
* Hinton and Parsons won the 2013 American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships Facebook voting competition.

Alumni of the event include North Carolina’s J.P. Tokoto, Texas’ Sheldon McClellan, Connecticut’s DeAndre Daniels, Wake Forest’s Chase Fischer, Oklahoma State’s Phil Forte and Butler’s Kellen Dunham.

For questions about the Facebook competition or the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships, log on to: http://www.intersportnet.com/high-school-slam-dunk/, find us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HighSchoolSlam) or follow us on Twitter (@HighSchoolSlam).


Kimball guard Keith Frazier will commit to Texas Tech but apparently delay his scheduled Thursday announcement, according to a report from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Frazier was originally slated to announce his decision between Tech and SMU at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in Irving. When contacted Wednesday night, Kimball coach Snoop Johnson said he had not heard of the reported announcement delay.

One of the most highly touted basketball recruits in the country, Frazier reportedly contacted Texas Tech officials Wednesday to let them know his desire to play in Lubbock next year.

Frazier is rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 22 overall player in the nation by Rivals.com. He averaged 23.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range as a senior. He was also named SportsDay's 2013 area player of the year.
Link


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube

Jerry's World

3/27/2013

 
Picture
http://twitpic.com/photos/darrenrovell
KU Digital Guide for the Sweet 16


KUAD: Michigan vs Kansas Pregame Notes


Bonnie Henrickson was running on fumes on Tuesday. She had maybe slept for a few minutes the night before, the result of some mechanical issues at a Colorado airport.

But Henrickson, the women's basketball at Kansas, had made it to the office. And here came KU men's coach Bill Self, strolling past the women's basketball office in the Wagnon-Parrott Athletic Center, just adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse.

"Sweet 16!" Self called out.

If Henrickson had any visions of a power nap, those two words were the linguistic equivalent of a shot of Five-Hour Energy.

"Sleep's overrated this time of year," Henrickson said.

On Monday night, Henrickson's Jayhawks, the 12th seed in the Norfolk Region, upset No. 4 seed South Carolina 75-69 in Boulder, Colo., advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women's tournament for the second straight year. They first upset No. 5 seed Colorado on Saturday in the Buffaloes' own gym, and then spent Monday night celebrating in the locker room of the Coors Events Center, just the second 12-seed in NCAA women's tourney history to survive two rounds.

By Tuesday morning, the jolly mood had filtered back to Lawrence, where the basketball programs keep printing out "Sweet 16" T-shirts. Combined with the men's Sweet 16 appearance this week in the South Regional in Arlington Texas, Kansas is the only Division 1 school that has produced Sweet 16 teams in both the men's and women's programs for the last two years.

"Pretty good," Self said on Tuesday afternoon, when the statistic was recited to him.

"It bodes well for the commitment and the facilities, and everything that's going on here," Self added. "And I can't see it changing."

…In total, it took Henrickson eight years to make the NCAA Tournament after arriving in Lawrence in 2004. But after the Jayhawks held South Carolina to 37.5 percent shooting on Monday, her NCAA tourney record is now 4-1 over the last two years.

"They've been unbelievable," Self said.

If there's a thread connecting the two programs, it's not hard to spot. While the Kansas men lean on four senior starters - including Jeff Withey and Travis Releford - the KU women lead on seniors Goodrich, Davis and Engelman.

"They got a lot of seniors that have given their heart and soul to this place," Self said. "It's very nice for them."

On Tuesday, Travis Releford, another senior, stood inside Allen Fieldhouse and talked about playing No. 4 Michigan. The Wolverines feature sophomore guard Trey Burke and a collection of future pros. And if the Jayhawks want an opportunity to play in their second straight Final Four, they will first have to survive one of the best offenses in the country.

"We know coming into the tournament that defense was gonna be the key," Releford said.

Of course, the same could be said for the Kansas women, who could face Notre Dame point guard Skylar Diggins, one of the women's game's brightest stars. But first, both programs spent Tuesday exchanging text messages and tweets - and savoring in the shared success.

"We're a family," Davis said. "And to be able to experience that with them, and to share that, and to make history ... it's awesome."
KC Star


“Whenever you see your name up on that line, everybody is rejuvenated,” Self said. “They’ve made the most of the opportunity. For them to get to the Sweet 16 (last year) having to upset two folks, and the same thing this year — although I wouldn’t consider them major upsets — is tremendous.”

The fever has even spread to KU football coach Charlie Weis, whose team is in the midst of spring practices.

“One little tidbit for you: We are the only team in the land that for the last two consecutive years has had both the men’s and women’s basketball teams make it to the Sweet 16,” Weis said Tuesday. “Hopefully, at the end of the day, we come back with a couple of championships to add to the trophy case.”

Weis went on to say that he’d texted Self about KU’s slow starts against Western Kentucky and North Carolina, though the exact wording wasn’t revealed.

“It may have said something like, ‘Hey, let’s get it together, focus in a little bit better,’ or whatever nice things could be said without any expletives,” Self said.

…Backup forward Justin Wesley is doubtful for Friday’s game against the Wolverines because of a sprained ankle suffered in practice, Self said.

Wesley wasn’t in uniform for Sunday’s game against North Carolina.

“We’ve done X-rays and everything’s negative, but it is fairly significant,” Self said. “We hope he’ll be able to go, but we don’t think there’s any chance he’ll be able to practice the next two days.”
TCJ


Beilein and Kansas coach Bill Self appeared Monday on the "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show on ESPN Radio and talked about the matchup.

"The big thing that stands out about Bill Self's team is their defensive field-goal percentage (.359). You just are not going to get that many open shots," Beilein said. "You have to make the ones when you're open, and they're not going to give you a lot of second opportunities."

The center of attention will be Kansas 7-foot senior center Jeff Withey, who had 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks Sunday.

"It's their defense that always feeds them, and the big kid inside — they've always been good and it goes back to the Danny Manning days with the high-low game," Beilein said. "All the bigs they have, they are very good about getting leverage inside so the big man doesn't have to do anything but just put it in."

…"They probably have the national player of the year — at least he got my vote — there and all the pieces around him that can stretch you," Self said. "You have a couple big guys that rotate inside and of course, McGary's playing great."

Self mentioned Michigan's last-second shot against Indiana that could have won the game and made the Wolverines co-champs in the Big Ten regular season — and certainly a higher seed.

"They're a terrific team and they were a ball hanging on the rim and falling the other way from tying for the Big Ten championship in the best league in the country," he said. "We know they can play (as) a one seed because we think we're playing a one seed that happens to be a four because they've shown it for the majority of the year."

Despite the outcome of Friday's game, Beilein is confident about the direction the program is going, with five freshmen in the main rotation.

"Our only goal in the future is to get kids that are going to embrace the culture of University of Michigan basketball as we continue to rebuild," Beilein said. "We're not done with this thing — given the makeup of our roster, I really like the future of the program."
Detroit News


"We really played well," Beilein said. "We came out just playing well offensively but our defense was the best.

"I preached about it all year long: There's a process you go through defensively where the game has slowed down defensively for several of our young guys just over the last couple of weeks.

"Every day is another step forward and we put it all together defensively in those two games, and that creates our offense right now."

In 7-foot senior center Jeff Withey, Kansas has an experienced anchor for its defense and a potential matchup problem for Michigan. But with the increased production that 6-10 freshman Mitch McGary has provided as a starter in the last two games, the Wolverines may have found an answer.

McGary combined for 34 points and 23 rebounds in the two games.

"He's learning how to use those 256 pounds and his feet, which are huge," Beilein said. "Guarding Withey, who is one of the best big men in the country, is a whole new challenge."

…Dealing with McGary's fiery and emotions is something Beilein has gotten better at, balancing opportunities to teach after mistakes with praising his successes. All it takes is timing and letting McGary's emotions subside.

"I've learned to wait for a minute, almost count to five before I try and address him after he does something either good or bad," Beilein said. "Just wait and let him gather himself a little bit and it's all good stuff. You have to be patient when you speak with him because he does get very enthusiastic about some things."
Detroit News


This season, fans have noticed that McLemore fades out of the spotlight when the Jayhawks need to win most. On the road against Oklahoma State and Iowa State, McLemore scored seven points. He averaged an impressive 17.4 points per game in Big 12 play this season. However, on the road in conference play, he averaged 13 points per game.

If you include Kansas’ Big 12 road games and its postseason games, he’s averaged 12 points per game. And in postseason play alone, he averages 10.4 points per game.

It’s possible that McLemore’s hit a freshman wall, he’s in a scoring slump or maybe neither of the above. It may all be a coincidence that the shots haven’t dropped for Kansas’ star. That’s unlikely, though. Odds are, it’s part freshman slump and part pressure-related. It’s understandable, too. These are high expectations for a kid who’s 20 years old.

It’s not the end of times, either — he’s got an incredibly bright future ahead of him.
UDK


Suddenly, they’re an “it” team on the rise, and many of those reasons for not scheduling Wichita State have lost their credence.

“So what if we win every once in a while. They going to fire Bill Self? I don’t think so,” Marshall told The Associated Press earlier this year. “It’d be good for everybody, but it’s like moving a mountain, man. Like moving a mountain to get it done.”

Michael O’Donnell, a freshman state senator from Wichita, it trying to help move it.

He introduced a bill in the legislature that would have compelled Kansas and Kansas State to put Wichita State on their non-conference schedule each year starting with the 2014 season. The bill has not had a hearing and action on the measure isn’t expected this session.

“I don’t think it’s getting any traction,” O’Donnell conceded, “but I think it validates that Wichita State has a terrific basketball program.”

O’Donnell also said last weekend’s upset of No. 1 Gonzaga should put to rest any doubts about the caliber of basketball played by the Shockers, and drive home the fact that they can compete with anybody — including Kansas and Kansas State.

“I’m not saying we’re better than them,” Marshall said, “but I think we’ve proven that the value of a game playing us would not hurt them in recent history.”
AP


ESPN Video: Sweet 16 South Regional Preview


Tickets Available for South Regional


3/24/13, 8:20 PM
Fans coming to North Texas for the #NCAA South Regional hosted by #Big12 - purchase parking for Cowboys Stadium here
https://twitter.com/big12conference


South Regional practice sessions Thursday at Cowboys Stadium will be free and open to the public.

The four team that have advanced to the South Regional will practice in one-hour blocks from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Noon-12:50 p.m. Michigan

• 1-1:50 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast

• 2:10-3 p.m. Kansas

• 3:10-4 p.m. Florida

Doors open at 11 a.m. and parking is free. Fans should park in Lot 10 and enter the stadium at Gates A and K. Merchandise and concessions stands will be open.


The Arlington Convention Center will be the headquarters for KU fans. The pregame party will start at 2:30 p.m., with the pep rally slated for 4:30 p.m. The KU pep band, spirit squad and mascot will perform at the pep rally.

Concessions, cash bars and parking ($20 per car) are available on site. There is no charge for admission, and the convention center is within walking distance of Cowboys Stadium.

The KU Alumni Association, Kansas Athletics and KUStore.com will be set up at the pregame party. Be sure to show your Alumni Association membership card at our table and receive a free members-only gift! If you're not a member, visit www.kualumni.org/join to join today. Print your purchase receipt and show it to staff members to receive your gift.

If you don't have tickets to the game, head to our official watch site in Arlington, Humperdink's, to watch the game with fellow Jayhawks.
KU Alumni


During the 2011 N.B.A. draft, Phoenix selected Markieff Morris with the 13th overall pick and tried to make a deal for Marcus, who went one spot later to Houston. The twins had been inseparable while growing up in Philadelphia and attending the University of Kansas. Now they were apart for the first time, which both found discomforting. To make up for the absence, each bought a French bulldog and gave the pet a nickname for their mother.

Markieff seemed to lack hustle and concentration with the Suns, Angel Morris said of her older, by seven minutes, twin. And Markieff also seemed to grow despondent after Marcus, who played little in Houston, was demoted to the N.B.A.’s Development League.

“They said ’Kieff hit a rookie wall,’ Angel Morris said. “I don’t think it was a rookie wall. I just think that when they sent Marcus to the D-League, he was so depressed that ’Kieff felt the same depression.”

Marcus, she said, “didn’t want to be bothered, didn’t want to talk on the phone, was just in another world.”

Such apprehension sounded familiar to Tom Van Arsdale, the former Sun. He said he lacked motivation and frequently cried after being separated from his twin, Dick, when the two left Indiana for the N.B.A. in 1965.

“I had some depression,” Tom said in a phone interview. He described his state of mind to The Arizona Republic as a “mini-nervous breakdown.”

During his rookie training camp with the Detroit Pistons, Tom said he left the team and enrolled in law school at Indiana. He changed his mind several days later when Dick, then with the Knicks, called and admonished: “What are you doing? Get back to Detroit.”

The Van Arsdales did not play together in Phoenix until the 12th and final year of their careers. The Morrises, on the other hand, are young and have a chance to peak together. On March 8, they became the first twins to start a game for the same N.B.A. team.

“They’re probably the happiest two people in the world right now,” said Thomas Robinson of the Houston Rockets, who played with the Morrises at Kansas.

...Alvin Gentry, who was fired as the Suns’ coach in January, said that last season, Markieff Morris kept urging Phoenix to trade for his brother. And Gentry said that Bill Self, the Kansas coach, told him: “You need Marcus. If you can get him, he’ll make Markieff work harder.”

The two brothers worked out in Phoenix last summer. On Feb. 21, the Suns sent a second-round draft pick to Houston, and Marcus was reunited with his twin after a troubling season and a half apart.

He is considered the more assertive and outgoing of the twins and is described as “Markieff’s batteries” by team officials. Lindsey Hunter, the Suns’ interim coach, said that since Marcus joined the team, Markieff’s mood had brightened considerably.

“I think he has been better,” Hunter said. “He has been more attentive, paying attention to details.”

If the brothers do find themselves in competition with each other, for a meal or something more prized, it is usually settled with a video game. In their new house, Markieff got the master bedroom after defeating Marcus in a best-of-five series while playing the N.B.A. 2K video series.

“Marcus was up, two games to none,” said Angel Morris, their mother. “We looked at the house, and he said: ‘I can’t believe I lost. Where I’ve got to sleep compared to ’Kieff is crazy.’ I said: ‘I tell you what. There’s a big swivel chair in Markieff’s room. How about if I buy you one just like it and put it in his room and you can go in there and swivel with him.’ ”
NY Times: Suns and Brothers


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


Big 12/College News


Tulsa is joining the Big East. Not the Big East with all the basketball schools in it that’s going to be called the Big East down the line. Tulsa is joining the first Big East. This is happening in 2014.

• East Carolina is joining the Big East, also not the basketball Big East — though wouldn’t it be droll if one of these teams accidentally ended up in the Catholic 7 — and also in 2014.

• Conference USA is joining the Sun Belt. All of it. This part we made up, probably.

All this reported by college football realignment oracle Brett “Sources” McMurphy. We’ll see you back here in a couple hours for the next shuffle.
SI


Texas Tech spoke to SIU men’s basketball coach Barry Hinson earlier this week about its vacant men’s basketball coach position.

The Red Raiders have also spoken with Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton, Indiana assistant coach Steve McClain and former Nebraska coach Kenneth “Doc” Sadler, who is at Kansas as the director of basketball operations, according to the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal.

Hinson was the director of basketball operations at Kansas under longtime friend Bill Self before signing a five-year, $1.475 million contract with the Salukis last March.

Reached Tuesday, Hinson said Texas Tech asked SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia for permission to speak with him, and was granted that right.

“I was not searching for, nor am I seeking a job. I am extremely happy at Southern Illinois, but I honored their request and sat down and visited with their administration,” Hinson said.
The Southern


There has been much conjecture about what happened, how a coach with Howland's knowledge of the game and early successes could have plunged so far, so fast. Some have said he couldn't relate to modern players and his system didn't appeal to recruits and fans.

But there is also a simplified explanation: Howland changed. And that change really came into focus in the summer of 2009.

That July, Howland did what college coaches often do: He pulled a scholarship from a recruit he no longer wanted. The recruit was Kendall Williams, a long-armed, athletic guard from Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who also had played in the same AAU program that once produced Darren Collison, a key contributor on all three of Howland's Final Four teams. Like Collison, Williams was disciplined and smart, an ideal player for Howland's conservative, defensive-first system. Like Collison, Williams grew up rooting for UCLA, and he verbally committed to the Bruins early in his sophomore year. He also told other schools recruiting him, including Stanford and Florida, to stop, that his devotion to UCLA would never waver.

Howland's commitment to Williams proved to be far less solid. By Williams' junior year, when the 6-foot-3 guard was no longer ranked among the top 100 recruits in the nation, the Bruins interest in him cooled. This was no secret; UCLA assistant coaches openly recruited other point guards and told some prospects' parents that Williams would never play for the Bruins. Williams' father, Robert, spoke to a UCLA assistant coach in the spring and early summer of 2009, and he asked if the Bruins were still committed to Kendall. Each time he was told that Howland still wanted Kendall at UCLA.
But then, in late July, Howland pulled Williams' scholarship, doing so during a meeting with Robert and Kendall Williams. Robert Williams was so upset by Howland's decision that when the coach tried to spin his decision as mutually beneficial, Robert stopped him. He demanded that Howland state out loud exactly what he was doing: He was going back on his word.

Howland had the right to change his mind about Williams, but how he did it peeved several of Southern California's most prominent AAU coaches. They believed Howland purposely waited until the end of the summer recruiting calendar to drop Williams, thus assuring that he couldn't be evaluated by other Pac-12 coaches before the November signing period. Williams had been loyal to UCLA, and Howland repaid that loyalty by preventing him from going to Stanford or Cal or another Pac-12 school. Instead, Williams signed that November with New Mexico.

Many of the area's AAU coaches already disliked the conservative offensive system that Howland ran, feeling it didn't showcase their players' talents to NBA scouts. Howland's long-time friendship with David and Dana Pump, the twins who ran the Double Pump AAU program, also irked some coaches, as they felt the Pumps used their relationship with Howland to poach players from other AAU teams. Howland's mistreatment of Williams, however, was an even bigger issue. It led several AAU coaches to conclude that Howland couldn't be trusted, and they began advising their best players not to consider UCLA.

This had a stunning effect: Howland and his staff struggled to recruit Southern California. Of the 10 players the Bruins have signed since the Class of 2010 (Williams' class), only one (2011 signee Norman Powell) hails from Southern California, and he is from San Diego. Howland supporters have claimed that a lack of elite local talent forced him to look elsewhere and necessitated moves like the hiring of Korey McCray from the renowned Atlanta Celtics AAU program to be a Bruins assistant coach, which opened new recruiting grounds in the East. But there was no shortage of talented local players; many just wanted nothing to do with Howland and UCLA.

"I had a good relationship with Ben," says Elvert Perry, coach of the Inland basketball program based in Riverside, Calif. "But I know lot of coaches who did not and for a lot of reasons."
SI


Adopted in 2011, the Flagrant 1 replaced the intentional foul, and the Flagrant 2 replaced the previous flagrant foul. Coaches generally believe referees are applying the rule correctly.

It is the rule that is a problem — too imprecise and too harsh for a fast-moving, physical sport. It is designed to protect players from concussions and other injury caused by swinging elbows with evil intent. It is instead penalizing, in some cases, normal basketball plays.

“The rule that we have in place is a rule that I think we’re going to need to clean up,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said.

The Shockers helped start the debate on Thursday.

Wichita State’s Ron Baker took an elbow from Pittsburgh’s Lamar Patterson and was awarded two free throws and possession for his team. Later, Wichita State lost a timeout when Carl Hall asked for a review and referees saw nothing flagrant. Saturday against Gonzaga, referees whistled the Shockers’ Ehimen Orukpe for an elbow to the face of Kelly Olynyk while boxing out for a rebound.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel wanted a new way of defining fouls “deemed more severe than a common foul.” It described the changes this way in 2011:

• An example of a Flagrant 1 foul would be when a player swings an elbow and makes illegal, nonexcessive contact with an opponent above the shoulders. The team whose player was struck would receive two free throws and possession of the ball. Previously, this type of foul was called an intentional foul. The committee wanted to move away from the word “intentional,” because a player’s intent was never the point of the rule.

• An example of a Flagrant 2 foul would be when a player swings an elbow excessively and makes contact with an opponent above the shoulders. In this case, the player who threw the elbow would be ejected from the game, and the other team would receive two free throws and the ball.

• The NCAA rulebook states: “There can be incidental contact with the elbow above or below the shoulders; swinging of the elbow is required for the foul to be classified as a Flagrant 1 or 2 foul. A Flagrant 1 foul results in two free throws and the ball awarded to the offended team. Flagrant 2 fouls are more serious and violent and result in automatic rejection from the game.”

“The officials are just doing their job, and they’re doing a great job of trying their best to administer a really, really, really bad rule,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We, all of us, media make a big deal of it, coaches need to make a big stink about it. We need to get rid of the rule.”

Patterson’s foul on Baker, in one of the tournament’s early games, provided TBS analyst Doug Gottlieb a reason to bash the rule. According to USA Today, referees called eight flagrant fouls during the tournament’s first 20 games. They reviewed four others without finding a flagrant foul.

“This is the dumbest thing we do in basketball,” Gottlieb said during the review. “It’s not a foul. It’s not a purposeful elbow. It’s a guy driving to the basket and his elbow happens to hit Baker in the mouth. That’s a basketball move. It’s not a foul. It’s not a flagrant foul. And we’re wasting time.”

NCAA coordinator of officials John Adams told USA Today the number of flagrant fouls did not seem inappropriate.

“We’ve reviewed every single one of them,” Adams said. “We feel like every single one of them was applied consistently and accurately against the rule.”

Orukpe’s flagrant came after a three-pointer by Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos, opening the door for a big swing. Olynyk made two free throws after the foul, giving the Bulldogs a possible five-point possession and cutting Wichita State’s lead to 26-19. Gonzaga missed a three-pointer after the free throws, and the Shockers responded with a three-pointer.
Wichita Eagle


Years before he was a two-time WWE Champion, Paul Wight (a/k/a The Big Show) was a reserve center on the Wichita State basketball team, averaging 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 21 games during the 1991-92 season. With the Shockers back in the Sweet 16 for just the second time since the tournament expanded in 1985, I caught up with him to talk about his experience playing basketball, what made college hoops so difficult after he dominated in high school and next week’s return of WrestleMania to the NYC area.

…Hate to put you on the spot, but if it did end up being Wichita State and Miami in the Final Four, who would you be supporting?

Big Show: If it was Wichita State in the Final Four who would I be supporting? Wow, you are a real reporter, aren’t you. You’re really diving into the question that everyone wants to know, where any answer that I give somebody’s gonna hate me, and I thank you so much for that question and it’s so nice of you to ask me that question. Let’s see. Well. Um. [Thinks.] Honestly, both programs … Miami’s doing well with their program. I live in Miami. I’m going to root for Miami just because I’ve got too many friends that will make my life miserable if I said Wichita State. So, I think, uh, yeah, I’m going to root for Miami. But then again, Wichita State is a Cinderella team and everybody wants to see that real underdog win. I think just for me, because I live in Miami and I get my coffee in Miami, I’m going to say Miami.
SI


No. 2 Miami will be without one of its key players when it faces No. 3 Marquette in the Round of 16 on Thursday night. Part-time starter Reggie Johnson is not traveling with the team to Washington D.C. this weekend and will not play because of a “lower extremity injury,” the school announced on Wednesday.
SI


Recruiting


In its 28th year of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Andrew Wiggins of Huntington St. Joseph's Prep (Huntington, W.V.) as its 2012-13 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.  Wiggins was surprised with the news at school by former NBA Champion Alonzo Mourning , who earned Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors in 1987-88.

"When I received the award, it was a really significant moment for me, so it felt great to surprise Andrew with the news and invite him into one of the most prestigious legacy programs in high school sports," said Mourning, a Gold Medalist, seven-time NBA All-Star, and two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. "Gatorade has been on the sidelines fueling athletic performance for years, so to be recognized by a brand that understands the game and truly helps athletes perform is a huge honor for these kids."
Press Release


USA Basketball: Nike Hoop Summit Rosters Announced


When the clock hit zero in the Class 4A title game Saturday night, the emotion that spilled out onto the court said it all.

Apple Valley beat Park Center 74-57, avenging an early season loss to the Pirates and win a state championship in the process. In the closing seconds as coach Zach Goring took his starters out, his star point guard Tyus Jones hugged his coach in an emotional embrace. What was a goal back in November finally became a reality. All the hard work throughout the course of the season paid off with a state title.

And with what the Eagles have coming back, a second straight state championship is very much in the cards. Apple Valley loses two starters but brings back a 6-10 center who already has Division I offers and will be a sophomore, a tough all-around player in Dennis Austin and the top point guard in the country in Jones.

Jones led all scorers with 28 points, including a perfect 18-of-18 at the free-throw line, and five assists.
Minn CBS


This time, Tyus Jones has to share the honor.

The Apple Valley junior point guard was named Monday the co-winner of the Minnesota Associated Press Player of the Year award for high school boys basketball, with DeLaSalle junior power forward Reid Travis. Jones was the sole recipient his sophomore season.
Duluth News


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


Sweetness X 2

3/26/2013

 
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LJW image

Shout to the KUWBB for the win tonight. Congrats ladies ain't it sweet to be in the sweet16. We dancing baby. Both squads. #KUCMB #KUWBB
https://twitter.com/humb1e_hungry23


3/25/13, 10:39 PM
congrats KUWBBALL .. #Sweet16
https://twitter.com/tyshawntaylor


S/O to KU WBB!!! Front page of Espn ncaaw! AGAIN!! pic.twitter.com/G7PyFqmb12
https://twitter.com/A_Hudy


KUAD: Postgame notes, quotes, box score photos


LJW Photos


Bonnie Henrickson fist-pumped in the direction of the Kansas supporters behind the bench. The Jayhawks coach shouted “Rock Chalk” to the radio crew and high-fived the band.

For the second straight year, Kansas is heading to the NCAA women’s Sweet 16 out of the lower half of the seeding. The No. 12-seed Jayhawks dispatched No. 4 seed South Carolina 75-69 Monday night behind a 27-point masterpiece from Monica Engelman and 20 from All-Big 12 point guard Angel Goodrich.

“I’m just happy we won,” said Engelman, oblivious to her career-high number. If she had a distraction, it was her mother getting trapped at a gas station 80 miles east on Interstate 70 during the weekend snowstorm.

“It’s survive and advance for our three seniors,” Engelman said of herself and teammates Goodrich and Carolyn Davis. “We were hungry and wanted to do everything collectively and individually to advance.”

…“It was a hard-fought game by both teams,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “My hat goes off to Kansas for out-willing us.”

Engelman’s 18 first-half points helped Kansas to a 42-41 lead at the break. The torrid pace created seven lead changes in the first 20 minutes.

“The pace of the game was not our pace,” Staley said. “It was Kansas’ pace. … The tempo was too fast for us.”

South Carolina played into Kansas’ hands. “When we run, we have fun,” Goodrich said. “We wanted to catch them off balance.”

But South Carolina took control of the offensive boards at the start of the second half, prompting Henrickson to say: “They were like a pack of dogs on the last piece of meat on earth. I told our team ‘If we want to advance, we have to defend and rebound.’”

Engelman enjoyed the most productive night of her career, playing all 40 minutes. Goodrich delivered the biggest basket of the second half on a rare four-point play. After she was knocked to the floor after putting up a three from the left corner, Goodrich dropped in the foul shot for a 59-52 advantage with 12:30 left.
KC Star


With less than seven minutes to play, KU senior forward Carolyn Davis fell to the ground while defending Aleighsa Welch and limped off the court, grimacing and favoring her healthy right leg.

Davis, who dislocated a knee and tore an anterior crucial ligament midway through last season, was examined by KU medical staff and checked back into the game at 3:51. The senior added 12 points and five boards.

“It’s always a scare to see someone go down, and when I looked at her, she kind of just held her knee and I was kind of like ‘Dang,’” Goodrich said. “I didn’t know what to think, really, but for her to get up and stand up it relieved me a little bit.”

With 30 seconds on the clock and the score 72-69, Walker missed a three-point jumper that would’ve tied the game. Kansas’ lead grew to five with a pair of free throws from Goodrich, 74-69.

Goodrich went to the line again after stealing the ball and drawing a foul with 15 seconds remaining, putting away the game for Kansas, 75-69.

The senior said she never worried about losing the game, even when Kansas trailed.

“As a point guard and as a leader, I can’t show my face as worried because my teammates look to me,” Goodrich said. “I feel like we’ve grown in that aspect of being really composed and really just trying not to let anything get to us.”
LJW

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“I don’t we think have any edge going into this game,” U-M guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said Sunday night on ESPN radio. “Both teams are similar, both have bigs that have great motors, they’ve got guards, wings that are capable of having any type of game when you’re playing against them. I don’t think (anyone) has an edge. You’ve got to do what you’re doing and keep on having fun, like we’re doing.”

…On the details that make John Beilein unique: “It’s just how we can take care of the basketball. Our coach really emphasizes that. Even though we don’t turn the ball over that much, he really gets on us about every turnover we do have so he has us do drills to make sure we protect the ball any way we can. Make sure you pass to the outside hand, try not to get any deflections form the defensive players when you’re on offense, just trying to take care of it the best you can and that’s what makes this team special.”
Detroit Free Press


Withey and coach Bill Self need only to watch Michigan's losses to see how an opposing big man on the offensive glass terrorizes the Wolverines. Which makes McGary (and Jon Horford if foul trouble comes) critical, instead of a luxury like against VCU.

With superstar guards on both sides, few would have imagined this could turn on a big-man matchup. But the conventional wisdom -- taking away Kansas' star guard Ben McLemore -- no longer applies.

Because the No. 1 player on ESPN.com's Big Board for the NBA draft is in a rut. He has not topped 11 points in the past four games -- he finished 0-for-9 from the field Sunday for two total points -- yet Kansas has won all four. On Sunday, Travis Releford picked up the slack with 22 points with his first big game in a month.

Despite the three seed line difference, these teams might not be that far apart in talent, just Kansas having the edge in experience and defense.

Friday could be a classic, assuming these teams both arrive for a whole 40 minutes and avoid the lapses that have randomly dotted their seasons.
Detroit Free Press


McGary’s physicality becomes an important component for a team still happiest when permitted to run free and unobstructed, as was the case in its two victories at the Palace. The Wolverines provide quite the show when allowed to shift into high gear. But there remain genuine concerns as to how they’ll respond when teams defend them brusquely in the half-court.

His teammates and coaches refer to McGary as the Wolverines’ motor. But in the Sweet 16, it needs to be a muscle car.

“I do bring a football mind-set to the game because I love the game so much,” he said. “I stopped playing when I kept growing. But there’s still a part of me that would probably like to join the football team for spring practice if I could.”

…The Wolverines had an edge about them at the Palace, primarily rooted in fear that they would meet the same fate as their predecessors of the past two decades — tournament runs stalled after the first weekend. They finally exhibited that desperate sense of urgency Trey Burke had long sought.

They lost confidence and swagger, even believing they were somehow the underdogs against South Dakota State and VCU even though they were the higher seed. But what’s interesting now is how they respond to life back on the bandwagon after an ugly finish to the Big Ten season.

“That’s what we’re going to find out in the coming days,” coach John Beilein said. “Have we learned something this time that will help us improve that perhaps we didn’t quite understand before?”

Beilein finally learned that starting McGary gave his team that necessary bump — in more ways than one.
Detroit Free Press


Sixteen teams remain in the NCAA tournament, and not one of them is anything close to a dominant team.

So, can Michigan win a national championship this spring?

Absolutely.

First up is Kansas (7:37 p.m., Friday), a team who has 31 wins and a No. 1 seed, but looked anything like it during the first 60 minutes of its NCAA tournament run.

The Jayhawks struggled to push by No. 16 seed Western Kentucky in the first round, eventually winning by just seven, and looked arguably even worse during the first 20 minutes against North Carolina, falling behind by nine before the break.

Kansas bounced back in a big, big way after the break -- thanks in large part to excellent defense, anchored by 7-foot shot-blocker Jeff Withey -- but questions still remain. Ace scorer Ben McLemore is 2 of 14 in this tournament, and the Jayhawks struggled with North Carolina's smaller, more athletic lineup.

Michigan uses a similar lineup, too. Only with way more talent.

…Michigan's still the youngest team in this tournament, it still seems suspect on defense at times and it's only won two games.

But, the Wolverines have five freshmen who don't seem to realize (or care about) how big of a stage they're playing on. They've got a veteran shooting guard who has played in three of these things and the best point guard in the country handling the ball.

On paper, Michigan has everything it needs.

And now, the Wolverines are only four wins away from turning that paper into a banner.
MLive


"I'm glad our team's peaking at the right time, we're getting back to our top 10 potential like we were at the beginning of the season," McGary said. "It's been a lot of heart, actually.

"I think our team just wants it more. This is the last go-around for the seniors, we've talked about it multiple times, and everyone wants to go out there and put it on the table. We want to be one of the best teams in the country."

On Thursday against SDSU, Michigan won despite Trey Burke going through the worst shooting night of his season. On Saturday against VCU, McGary had the biggest game of his season, and rookie guard Spike Albrecht proved he's ready to contribute if need be.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was terrific both nights, and Michigan's defense was more than good enough.

Are the Wolverines peaking?

Right now, that's tough to argue.

"It means a lot (to reach the Sweet 16), especially with this group of guys," Hardaway told the Jim Rome Show on Monday. "You have five freshmen playing significant minutes for us, and they’re playing in the tournament like it’s not their first rodeo. They’re playing hard, playing smart, like they’re sophomores or juniors out there.

"It’s great to have freshmen that know what it takes to win.”
MLive


Michigan coach John Beilein said Monday night he has no plans to call the Ohio State coach or the Michigan State coach for advice on how to play Kansas, the Wolverines’ Friday Sweet 16 opponent, even though both did earlier this year.

MSU beat Kansas in Atlanta and Ohio State lost to the Jayhawks but because both are still alive in the Sweet 16, Beilein plans to leave them alone.

“The guys that are still playing, I wouldn’t want people calling me either,” Beilein said on his “Inside Michigan Basketball” radio show. “We’re just focused on what we’re doing. Guys would have to be done for me to give a phone call.”

But that doesn’t rule out Beilein’s best asset: film.

He and his staff plan to watch those games, plus the Kansas State matchups

“Between all our assistants we are taking different games,” Beilein said. “I’ll probably watch the more recent ones back and just see, because I know how Ohio State plays defense and how Michigan State plays defense so I’ll be able to think what their game plan was as they’re doing it and see why they did it. Sometimes, you learn from other coaches what worked and what didn’t work. Both of those teams play the ball screen different than we do, so that might not be as representative.

“(Kansas State coach) Bruce Weber plays more of a style we did on the ball screen but might come out and hedge a little bit more. We’ll look at different ways they attacked.”
Detroit Free Press

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The Wolverines, one of the youngest and most talented teams in the country, appear to have found something in the NCAA Tournament, posting blowout victories over No. 13 South Dakota State and No. 5 seed VCU. Here’s a first look at Michigan, which is making its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1994.

THE BREAKDOWN: Michigan and Kansas offer polar opposite styles — at least, according to the advanced stats. The Wolverines, led by sophomore guard Trey Burke, are second in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com.) Michigan scores 1.21 points per possession, trailing only No. 1 seed Indiana.)

The Wolverines shoot a respectable 37.5 percent from three-point range, but they also do a solid job of getting good shots, hitting 53.8 percent from two-point range.

Kansas, of course, has the nation’s best interior defender in Jeff Withey, and thus the nation’s best defense inside the three-point line. (The Jayhawks hold opponents to just 38.7 percent on two-point attempts, the best mark in the country by a substantial margin.)

So why did the Wolverines struggle down the stretch in the Big Ten? For one, they rank 41st in defensive efficiency, the fourth worst among teams still in the tournament. Florida Gulf Coast (97th), La Salle (86th) and Marquette (52nd) are the only teams with worse defensive numbers.

Can Michigan stop Kansas? After KU’s victory over No. 8 seed North Carolina on Sunday, the Jayhawks had dropped to 32nd in the country in offensive efficiency.

Which leads to an interesting point: The computer profiles of both teams offer tournament red flags. In the last 10 years, the national champion has ranked in the top 20 in offensive and defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com. Of course, if Kansas or Michigan play well enough to advance to the Final Four and beyond, their efficiency numbers will likely climb.

THE HISTORY: Michigan leads the all-time series 5-2, but KU has won the last two: a 75-64 victory at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 19, 2009, and a 67-60 victory in Ann Arbor on Jan. 9, 2011. Kansas coach Bill Self is 8-0 against the Wolverines, including a 6-0 mark at Illinois.
KC Star


But did the Jayhawks actually improve their NCAA title odds? The answer is no, if you choose to believe Nate Silver, the statistical wunderkind who predicts presidential elections, writes best-selling books and projects the NCAA Tournament on the side.

According to Silver’s latest projections, updated Monday on his FiveThirtyEight blog, Kansas now has a 4.5 percent chance to cut down the nets at the Final Four in Atlanta.

The number is down from Silver’s pre-tournament projection of 7.5 percent, which placed the Jayhawks as the fourth-best bet behind Louisville, Indiana and Florida.

…So what's going on here? Well, Florida Gulf Coast’s run to the Sweet 16 has opened up better odds for No. 3 Florida. And Silver’s model, based on predictive computer formulas (but not RPI), likes both Michigan and Florida.

It's not all bad.

According to Silver’s projections, Kansas is a slight favorite to beat Michigan, with a 54 percent chance to take down the Wolverines and reach the Elite Eight. The Jayhawks also have a 23.3 percent chance to reach the Final Four, and an 11.2 percent chance to reach the title game.
KC Star


Kansas vs Michigan: Really interesting matchup. Michigan — with Trey Burke, Glenn Robinson, Tim Hardaway, etc — has more NBA talent but it’s all on the perimeter. Mitch McGary is a load inside, but I’m just not sure that’s enough. Perry Ellis could get loose, if the moment isn’t too big for him (I wondered about that in the North Carolina game). If you just focus on matchups, it sure seems like KU’s defense can turn Michigan into taking too many guarded three-pointers or runs at the rim, where Withey will be there to protect. This one could go either way — Ken Pomeroy has it as a virtual coin flip — but I think Kansas will respond to the challenge.
KC Star Mellinger


Releford figures to get another workout against the Wolverines, who have no shortage of scoring options in the backcourt. In addition to Burke’s 18.8 points per game, Michigan gets 14.9 from guard Tim Hardaway Jr., 11.8 from guard Nik Stauskas and 11.3 from 6-foot-6 forward Glenn Robinson III.

The Jayhawks have proven they can win with defense in the NCAA Tournament, but they also realize points will be required to keep pace with a team like Michigan.

“Our offense was horrible, but our defense was good,” Withey said. “It’s something we can fix and we’re going to fix. We’re going to get better and better throughout this tournament.”
TCJ


“The way the mood of the game and flow of the game was going was perfect. I’m pretty sure the coaches didn’t want to slow that down,” said McLemore, who averages 32.2 minutes a game, second on the team to Releford’s 33.5. “I was actually happy I was on the bench supporting my teammates because they were doing great. Our ball-handling ... it was awesome,” he added.

Self said it was a tough call to leave McLemore on the bench from the 13:40 mark (KU led, 37-35) to 1:48, when KU led, 65-52.

“I’ve talked to enough people, coaches over the years; you don’t do that with your best player,” Self said, “but we actually were better in that stretch and Ben was the best cheerleader we had. It was hard to take Naadir out, too. He was fabulous the second half. Everybody played well the second half. Travis and Jeff carried us.”

…“The last couple games, my shot hasn’t been falling,” McLemore said. “I’ll keep playing my game. I talked to coach. He told me they are going to really need me. I’ve got to get back in the gym all week and keep shooting and play my game like I’ve always done, the way I played in the season. This game, I cheered my team on. We played a terrific game the second half. I felt like a fan out there. It was great.”

Freshman Perry Ellis said there’s no doubt McLemore will shrug off what happened in Sprint Center.

“He knows that he still has it. He knows we still trust in him. He’s carried us a lot. He knows he will pick it up. He just knows,” Ellis stated.

…The Springfield News-Leader pointed out that the North Carolina fan who was shown cringing on TV after a vicious blocked shot by Jeff Withey was Chase Allen, son of Missouri State football coach Terry Allen.

Terry Allen, a former KU head football coach, and his family members are Carolina basketball fans. Allen is a close friend of UNC coach Roy Williams..

The paper, by the way, pointed out that Chase Allen was not crying as suggested by some.
LJW


Buzzfeed GIFs of Withey


LJW Newell: Five plays that show how Releford shut down Bullock


CBS "Experts" Picks for Sweet 16


NCAA Dove Moments of Care Video: Team of destiny (2008 Memphis vs KU)


3/25/13, 11:17 PM
Way to go @VICIOUSortiz! Proud of you man! #DWTS
https://twitter.com/robriggle


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


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Tickets Available for South Regional


3/24/13, 8:20 PM
Fans coming to North Texas for the #NCAA South Regional hosted by #Big12 - purchase parking for Cowboys Stadium here
https://twitter.com/big12conference


South Regional practice sessions Thursday at Cowboys Stadium will be free and open to the public.

The four team that have advanced to the South Regional will practice in one-hour blocks from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Noon-12:50 p.m. Michigan

• 1-1:50 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast

• 2:10-3 p.m. Kansas

• 3:10-4 p.m. Florida

Doors open at 11 a.m. and parking is free. Fans should park in Lot 10 and enter the stadium at Gates A and K. Merchandise and concessions stands will be open.


The Arlington Convention Center will be the headquarters for KU fans. The pregame party will start at 2:30 p.m., with the pep rally slated for 4:30 p.m. The KU pep band, spirit squad and mascot will perform at the pep rally.

Concessions, cash bars and parking ($20 per car) are available on site. There is no charge for admission, and the convention center is within walking distance of Cowboys Stadium.

The KU Alumni Association, Kansas Athletics and KUStore.com will be set up at the pregame party. Be sure to show your Alumni Association membership card at our table and receive a free members-only gift! If you're not a member, visit www.kualumni.org/join to join today. Print your purchase receipt and show it to staff members to receive your gift.

If you don't have tickets to the game, head to our official watch site in Arlington, Humperdink's, to watch the game with fellow Jayhawks.
KU Alumni

Big 12/College News


I got caught up in the Florida Gulf Coast mania and started taking classes online there this morning. I graduate at 8 pm.
https://twitter.com/mickshaffer


We told you earlier today why Florida Gulf Coast is the NCAA tournament's most entertaining team, but it seems the student body has a few tricks up its sleeve, too. Here they are reacting to coach Andy Enfield's mention of the Eagles' Sweet 16 opponent, Florida, with a lovely and profane chant.

Okay, not everyone thought it was lovely. Look close for the perturbed retirees.

Update (9:38 p.m.): ESPN apologized.
Deadspin (Video at the link)


The question always get raised regarding Wichita State basketball.

Why won’t Kansas or Kansas State schedule the Shockers?

In a way, the issue even came up Monday in Gregg Marshall’s home. The WSU coach was talking to wife Lynn after their kids left for school.

Lynn was concerned about their 13-year-old daughter, Maggie. How, as a seventh-grader, she might be sensitive to kids teasing her. Gregg was taken aback, given Wichita State happened to win its first two games in the NCAA Tournament and will travel this week to Los Angeles for the West Regional.

“I’m wondering, ‘What are you talking about?’” Marshall related. “And she says, ‘Well, you’ve got these KU fans and they’re in the Sweet 16 and they might talk about how we’re in the Sweet 16 and say, ‘You’re going to lose.’”

Marshall then reassured his wife.

“I said, ‘Maggie will be fine. She’ll just challenge them to play,’ ” he said.

…“Our success or failure doesn’t have anything to do with Kansas or K-State,’’ Marshall said. “They won’t play us. That’s their business. We would like to play them.

“Ultimately, if we keep going to Sweet 16s, Elite Eights, Final Fours, then it will behoove them to play us. Right now they don’t have anything to gain, I guess, so they want to avoid the potential embarrassment of losing to us.’’
TCJ


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Recruiting


@CFrankamp_23 congrats on being named 6a Kansas player of the year! Going to very good at KU
https://twitter.com/PaulBiancardi


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube



Toodles Tarheels

3/25/2013

 
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NCAA Kansas GameCenter with recaps, videos, more



NCAA postgame pressers


NCAA Video: Kansas boots Heels


CBS Video: Craig Sager with Coach Self and Travis Releford after the game


KUAD Box Score, Recap, Quotes, Notes, Video



LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews


ESPN Recap, Video


ESPN Photos


AP Photos


JayhawkSlant Photos


UDK Photos


KC Star Photos


LJW Photos


KUAD Photos


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Tickets Available for South Regional


3/24/13, 8:20 PM
Fans coming to North Texas for the #NCAA South Regional hosted by #Big12 - purchase parking for Cowboys Stadium here:
https://twitter.com/big12conference


3/24/13, 6:33 PM
ROCK... CHALK... JAYHAWK, KU! Whooooooww!!
https://twitter.com/b_greene14


3/24/13, 6:33 PM
Kansas-Michigan will be a battle.
https://twitter.com/medcalfbyespn


3/24/13, 6:37 PM
Kansas couldn't have beaten the Topeka YMCA in 1st half, destroys UNC in 2nd and looks like a national champ, thanks largely to Withey.
https://twitter.com/realskipbayless


3/24/13, 6:38 PM
Oh so sweet 16!! #RockChalk
https://twitter.com/landenlucas33


3/24/13, 6:40 PM
Everybody love DALLAS #kubball
https://twitter.com/next718star


3/24/13, 7:05 PM
Great win tonight keep it Rollin
https://twitter.com/born2ready


3/24/13, 7:18 PM
Jerry World here we come! #Sweet16 #rockchalk
https://twitter.com/evan_manning10


3/25/13, 12:04 AM
#Sweet16 #KUCMB
https://twitter.com/ntharpe1


Jeff Withey is the 1st Kansas player with 14+ pts, 15+ reb and 4+ blk in a NCAA tourney game (blocks official in 1986)
https://twitter.com/@ESPNStatsInfo


I have no clue how Jeff Withey scores or gets O boards.. By far the easiest of all the Big men I had to guard last season.
https://twitter.com/Englishscope24


MT @KUmembershipman: Rob Riggle and Katie Davis, KU class of 2014, enjoy Jayhawks victory in LA! #kualumni pic.twitter.com/6vWPM3hMJJ #kubball
https://twitter.com/kualumni


@LA_Jayhawks: Victor Ortiz was in the house at the LA Jayhawks watch party today! Vote for him tomorrow on DWTS! pic.twitter.com/YbGuFW0KtA
https://twitter.com/kualumni


3/24/13, 7:00 PM
Kansas has more Ws over North Carolina (4) than any other team it has played in the NCAAs
https://twitter.com/blairkerkhoff


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The @KU_Hoops vs @UNC_Basketball game had the highest @Nielsen ratings of all opening weekend @marchmadness games. Crowd was AMAZING too!
https://twitter.com/SprintCenter


South Regional practice sessions Thursday at Cowboys Stadium will be free and open to the public.

The four team that have advanced to the South Regional will practice in one-hour blocks from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Noon-12:50 p.m. Michigan

• 1-1:50 p.m. Florida Gulf Coast

• 2:10-3 p.m. Kansas

• 3:10-4 p.m. Florida

Doors open at 11 a.m. and parking is free. Fans should park in Lot 10 and enter the stadium at Gates A and K. Merchandise and concessions stands will be open.

On Friday, Kansas plays Michigan at 6:37 p.m.; Florida and Florida Gulf Coast play 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Tipoff for Sunday’s game will be set after Friday’s games.

Single session tickets start at $40 and all-session tickets begin at $70. To purchase tickets to the South Regional games at Cowboys Stadium, visit www.NCAA.com/mbbtickets.


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In the 5:15-7:45 p.m. ET time slot, Kansas blew out North Carolina on CBS.

But these are basketball brand names. The time slot drew an 11.8 overnight rating, translating to 11.8% of households in the 56 markets measured for overnights -- up 26% from last year's comparable coverage of Creighton-UNC -- and the time slot's highest NCAA rating since 1991.
USA Today


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The half may have been summed up with one spectacular play by Withey in the waning minutes: He batted a 3-point shot into the air, tracked the ball down himself, and then got it over to Elijah Johnson, who was fouled and made two free throws.

The potential five-point swing gave Kansas a 67-52 lead.

It wasn't long before that haunting chant of ``Rock, chalk, Jayhawk, K-U!'' - all too familiar to Williams, and now to his Tar Heels - began to echo through the cavernous building, ultimately replaced by a standing ovation from Kansas' frenzied fans.
AP

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He’s the projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA draft, the leading scorer for one of the nation’s top teams and the latest Kansas Jayhawk to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

For Ben McLemore, though, none of that mattered in a 70-58 victory over North Carolina on Sunday, when the All-American candidate spent most of the second half on the bench.

The reasoning was simple.

“We were better without him,” KU coach Bill Self said.

The comment wasn't a jab at McLemore. No player is immune to a bad game. Not even a star freshman such as McLemore. Instead, Self's words were a testament to why the Jayhawks are one of the most dangerous teams remaining in the NCAA tournament and a favorite to reach the Final Four.

On a night when McLemore scored just two points, Kansas turned to its other secret weapon -- its experience -- to defeat the Tar Heels and advance to the Sweet 16. Travis Releford scored 22 points and Jeff Withey added 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks to propel the Jayhawks in front of more than 18,000 fans at the Sprint Center.

…“We have toughness,” Withey said. “We know what it takes to win a game. You can see that just by the way we played in the second half. All four of us -- we didn’t want it to be over.”

But it almost was following one of Kansas’ most woeful first halves of the season. The Jayhawks missed 12 of their first 13 field goal attempts en route to a 7-of-28 performance in the opening stanza. North Carolina forced KU into 12 first-half turnovers, which resulted in a 30-21 Tar Heels lead at intermission.

“We were sped up,” Self said. “Our guys care so much, and sometimes when you care as much as our guys, you played tight.”

Self tried to fire up his squad at halftime, but just as they would do later on the court, KU’s seniors were the ones who made the biggest difference in the locker room.

Withey singled out nearly every member of the team, pointing at them and screaming, “Is this how you want it to end?”

Releford made sure his voice was heard, too.

“This could be our last 20 minutes,” he said he shouted at his teammates. “We can go out there and leave it all on the court or we can roll over like we did in the first half.”

Releford’s speech made a huge impact.

“It did a lot,” KU guard Naadir Tharpe said. “It woke us up.”
ESPN Jason King (Video at the link)


For the first 25 minutes, Releford was the lone aggressor, but his confidence soon became contagious.

“He put the team on his back tonight for sure,” center Jeff Withey said. “He played great defense. Offensively, he was a stud. He was tough. It was awesome to see him do that.”

The Jayhawks somehow flipped a switch in the second half and knocked down 63 percent (17 of 27) from the field, including 5-of-8 3-pointers after missing their first six. This wasn’t Jekyll and Hyde. This was the 1973 76ers turning into the 1996 Bulls.
NY Post


The Jayhawks scored the last basket of the half and opened the next one with a 33-10 run. The Tar Heels couldn't score inside against Withey, and his rim-protecting presence contributed to an aggressive approach on the perimeter.

Travis Releford could chase Bullock above screens, rather than go under them, to take away 3-point looks. The strategy created openings for UNC's wings to drive, but the Jayhawks were content funneling them toward Withey.

"My sophomore year, my junior year, if my guy beat me, I was OK because John Henson and Tyler Zeller was down there," Strickland said. "I'm pretty sure they felt the same way about him."

Withey had more turnovers (five) than points (four) in the opening half, but the quick hands of double-teaming defenders stopped producing steals. The Tar Heels remained focused on stopping Withey, who still scored 12 points after the break, and they were more willing to take their chances with Kansas' erratic shooting.

The Jayhawks were 0-for-12 from 3-point range in their first three NCAA tournament halves, and 32.7-percent outside shooter Naadir Tharpe accounted for three of his team's five long-distance makes in the final 20 minutes.

It was a nightmarish scenario for the go-small Tar Heels. They could survive a rebounding disparity as long as they shot well, but Kansas' defense dominated the boards while also forcing perimeter miss after perimeter miss.

The 2008 Final Four game between the schools is famous for the Jayhawks' 40-12 start, and they scored the last 12 points in an 80-67 regional final last season. Kansas ran away from the Tar Heels again on Sunday, leaving them behind in the rear-view mirror and forcing Williams to reflect on what might have been.
Fayetteville Observer

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It was Kansas' eighth game in the Sprint Center this season and, after La Salle upset Kansas State on Friday, the Tar Heels lost the anti-Kansas support they would have had from the purple half of the crowd. Instead, it was an all-Kansas arena despite 6 inches of snow falling in the area.

"I think the key is it's close to Lawrence," said Kansas guard Travis Releford, who is from Kansas City. "Our fans come here and they give us a lot of energy. When we go down, I feel like the game's not over at any point. With them cheering us on, giving us that energy, it helps us a lot."

Even the two rows of seats directly behind the North Carolina bench were filled with Kansas fans. That area used to be media workspace, but the NCAA turned it into seating this tournament and sold the high-dollar seats to the general public � which in this location meant Kansas fans.

The public-address announcer also breached protocol to announce a bench warning on Tar Heels coach Roy Williams, which revved up the crowd and had North Carolina representatives screaming at the scorers' table.

Not so sweet: North Carolina had reached the regional semifinals in 23 of its previous 29 NCAA tournament appearances. The last time the Tar Heels failed to advance past the first weekend was 2006, when they lost to George Mason.
Link


"We looked at ourselves in the mirror," point guard Naadir Tharpe said after top-seeded Kansas rolled to a 70-58 victory over the 8th-seeded Tar Heels in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. "And (we said), ‘You know, we've got to make sure we help out the seniors more than they help us out. Because they work hard every single day.'"
 
Once Releford and the other Jayhawk seniors got out the jumper cables, the rest was academic.
Fox Sports KC


Some call him “Pops.” Others call him “Old Guy.” Then there’s Elijah Johnson, who just likes to call him “Big Homie.”

It’s become commonplace for the Jayhawks to poke fun at Travis Releford’s age. Yet they weren’t joking about his play after Releford helped the Jayhawks avoid a second-round collapse Sunday against North Carolina.

“I call him Big Homie because he just does things that a lot of people can’t do,” Johnson said. “I don’t call him Travis or Releford or Travis Releford. I call him Big Homie and he knows who I’m talking to. Sometimes I just have to throw that out there and he’s like, ‘Say no more,’ and he’ll take over. He does what some of us can’t do sometimes.”

…They listened to Releford, one of four senior leaders.

Players like Perry Ellis and Naadir Tharpe would have no choice but to step up. They didn’t want this to be their last game with Releford, Johnson, Jeff Withey and Kevin Young.

“It definitely opened my eyes,” Ellis said. “You could tell that this is really it. This is it for them. If they lose, they’re done.”

“It woke everybody up,” Tharpe said.

…“It definitely was personal for me,” Releford said. “I (didn’t) want to end my career in Kansas City.”

The “Big Homie” was home.

“Kansas City, baby,” Johnson said. “He’s at home. You’ve got to think about it. He’s the most comfortable person in the gym. We had four seniors. They had one senior. The most comfortable player in the gym and the oldest player in the gym. There’s not too much more to say.”
TCJ


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Something clearly needed to change, and so the Jayhawks did what they often do in these situations. Ben McLemore looped around for a backdoor cut. Elijah Johnson tossed a lob toward the rim, and everyone in the building could see what was coming next. McLemore was going to dunk, the Jayhawks were going to roar and Roy Williams was going to get another early trip to the golf course courtesy of his former school.

Except, for reasons still unknown, McLemore didn’t dunk. He didn’t try to dunk. He caught the ball in midair, tried to toss it off the glass and watched it bounce off the heel of the rim instead.

“To tell you the truth, I really don’t know what happened,” McLemore said.

So, no, this wasn’t your classic Kansas comeback. But just when it seemed like KU’s NCAA odometer was destined to stall 40 miles from home, the Jayhawks pulled together and played, for the first time in this tournament, like the No. 1 seed they are...
TCJ


Sporting a shiner below his right eye, Jeff Withey looked the part of a tough-guy enforcer.

But with Kansas trailing an undersized North Carolina team at halftime, Withey wasn’t sure he’d played that role to his potential.

“The first half I went really soft,” said Withey, KU’s senior center. “Coach (Bill) Self came in here at halftime and said, ‘We have a size advantage, but we’re not using it.’

“I knew that I had to just go through everybody and dunk it. That’s what pretty much happened in the second half.”

…“I think we all saw a difference in Jeff,” point guard Elijah Johnson said. “McAdoo tried to dunk on him, and I felt like Jeff didn’t like that.”

Withey has a shiny bruise to show for his efforts, though coach Bill Self had seen worse.

“It may get some pity loving for him,” Self said. “Somebody might feel sorry for him.”

…After watching Michigan dismantle Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday, Johnson said the Jayhawks are eager for a crack at the Wolverines in the Sweet 16.

“If we would have won the whole tournament, I wouldn’t feel right by saying we won and didn’t even play the best teams,” Johnson said. “Out of respect for my team and our program, I feel like we’ve got to take this journey. I’m pretty sure they feel the same way. They’ve probably been watching us on TV and have mutual feelings.”

Scouting reports will come later, but Johnson is familiar with Michigan point guard Trey Burke and the challenge that awaits in Arlington.

“He carries a lot of weight for them,” Johnson said. “He’s the head.”
TCJ


KU senior Travis Releford held UNC’s Reggie Bullock to five points off 1-of-7 shooting.

“He did a great job on Bullock,” Self said. “The guy he’s checking who is right there as their leading scorer, gets five (points) and Travis gets 22. Of course he’s so steady and he’s a rock. He doesn’t get tired. He can play all day.”

Releford, who had 13 second-half points, hit KU’s first three-pointer of the NCAAs in a second-half opening 11-3 run that stretched to 29-8.

“I was wide open, stepped into it and took the shot,” Releford said of the bucket that cut the deficit to 30-26. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘We need the shot, need to make it.’ I was just focused on the game right then.”

…KU junior forward Justin Wesley suffered a severely sprained right ankle at practice Saturday. He was on crutches and wore a boot on his foot while not suiting up for the game.

Self said there were no broken bones.

“X-rays were negative. We hope he’ll be able to participate in practice (this week) but there’s no timetable now,” Self said.
LJW


But in the moments after the game, Self had found the senior, Travis Releford, for a quiet moment. Releford had scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 38 minutes, willing his team to a victory after it had faced a nine-point deficit at halftime.

This was Self, of course, so he wanted to talk defense. And he tried to point out that the man Releford was guarding, North Carolina’s Reggie Bullock, had only scored five points while shooting one of seven from the field.

“No, he didn’t,” Releford said. “He didn’t get any on me.”

Self smiled as he recalled the story on Sunday night.

…“If we’re gonna play ugly,” Releford said. “We gotta make the other team play ugly, too.”

In the opening minutes of the second half, Releford finally popped the lid off the goal with a three-pointer. And the run soon turned into a tidal wave. The Jayhawks hit five of eight from three-point range in the second half. And when sophomore Naadir Tharpe drilled a three-pointer with 10:32 left, the Jayhawks had outscored North Carolina 29-8 in the second half and taken a 50-38 lead.

“When all else fails,” senior Kevin Young said. “We just gotta play defense.”
KC Star

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Bill Self, who has an even 300 coaching victories at Kansas University in 10 seasons, has given a rousing halftime speech or two to his players in that span.

He’s also been smart enough — and flexible enough — to defer to others in the oratory department when the need arises.

“We can do better. We’re better than this,” Self said of Sunday’s message at halftime to his No. 1-seeded Jayhawks, who trailed No. 8-seed North Carolina by a whopping nine points. He then told his players to talk amongst themselves, a strategy that apparently proved pivotal in a 70-58 comeback victory in Sprint Center that propelled KU into Friday’s Sweet 16 contest against Michigan in Arlington, Texas.

…“Coach yelled at us a little bit,” Young said, “then Elijah (senior guard Johnson, five points, 1-of-6 shooting with four assists, two turnovers) asked, ‘What are we going to do to change this?’ I said, ‘Win,’’’ Young related.

“Jeff motivated us going down the line saying, ‘This isn’t going to be our last game. He asked Ben (McLemore), ‘Is this going to be your last game?’ He asked Elijah that; Travis that. We all said, ‘No.'"

The Jayhawks’ actions backed up the halftime words.
LJW


Kansas basketball coach Bill Self’s emotions took a wild spin on a tilt-a-whirl ride Sunday and sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe was behind the wheel, making his coach’s expressions scream “No!” “Yes!” “No!” “Oh no!” “Oh no, not again!” “Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!”

While others sweated watching him, Tharpe played with the confidence of a man convinced that in the end everything would be just fine. He made sure of it. Mixing addled plays with brilliant ones, Tharpe had far more of the latter and helped Kansas storm from 11 points down to reach the Sweet 16 with a 70-58 victory against North Carolina.

On a day KU seniors Jeff Withey and Travis Releford relentlessly dominated at both ends in the second half, Kansas needed one of its underclassmen to join the party. On this day it wasn’t going to be either Ben McLemore (0-for-9, two points) or Perry Ellis (1-for-3, three points).

Tharpe answered the call, overshadowing his spills with thrills that chilled the partisan Kansas crowd.

A 5-foot-11 sophomore guard from Worcester, Mass., Tharpe scored all of his 12 points in a second half in which he made all three of his three-point shots. He also made three of four free throws in the half.

And then there were the plays that made his coach hold his head to keep it from exploding.

Instead of laying the ball in, Tharpe fired an off-target behind-the-back pass that Releford turned into a bucket, but that didn’t keep Self from pointing at Tharpe in frustration. Late in the game, Tharpe picked up one of his four turnovers on a five-second violation.

Tharpe’s most embarrassing moment “will never happen again” he vowed afterward. With Perry Ellis at the free throw line ready to take a second shot, Tharpe was talking to Elijah Johnson about “how to defend the next play” when he absentmindedly walked onto the three-point line, a lane violation. As soon as the whistle blew, a low, harsh voice shot through the still-silent arena. It belonged to Self.

…We all see Self shaking his head at Tharpe’s miscues during games, but we’re not privy to other moments when the coach tells him what he thinks of his game.

“He comes up to me a lot and talks to me about how he wants me to be aggressive and always tells me how I’m a good player and how I’m a great shooter,” Tharpe said. “When your coach tells you that, it’s hard for you not to play with confidence. He’s been here a long time and he’s been around some great players. For him to say that to me, I feel like that’s how I have to play, and I need to do as much as I can to help him out.”
LJW


“People who blinked or turned the channel,” Johnson says, “they don’t even know what happened.”

Here’s a hint: the Jayhawks got challenged.

They are perhaps the best team in college basketball when this happens. A dangerous group with experience, athleticism, focus, poise and way too much defense. For whatever reason, they need to be pushed to show it. This is part of their identity now, both individually and as a group. Comfort does these guys no good.

For what it’s worth, Young doesn’t agree with this premise. Said it’s just a matter of the ball bouncing their way. Johnson said he wasn’t sure, then talked around the question.

There are a million factors and natural inconsistencies in this sport, but the evidence that KU needs discomfort is mounting. As a group, they played one of their best games in a win at Ohio State and some of their worst after rising to No. 1 in the coaches’ poll. When Bill Self talked about Topeka YMCA and they lost a third straight game, they responded by blowing out K-State and playing their way into another conference championship and a NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.

They played so hard for that top seed, then drifted through their first game against Western Kentucky. They played timid in the first half against North Carolina, then what might be their best 20 minutes of the season in the second half.

Individually, it’s the same thing. Bill Self essentially challenged Withey’s manhood after the first Mizzou game last year, and that’s when he became a force and future millionaire. Self said his team didn’t have a point guard after the Oklahoma State loss, and two weeks later Johnson played the best game of his life.

Ease is trouble for these guys. Comfort creates problems. They are at their best when things around them are at their worst, and this is a heck of a way to go through March.
KC Star Mellinger


Tharpe’s signature moment came with 5:40 left and the Tar Heels trying to muster one last run. After North Carolina’s P.J. Hairston hit a three-pointer to make the score 57-47, Tharpe caught the ball on the left wing, took a dribble jab-step to get his defender off-balance and stepped back to hit a three-pointer.

North Carolina never threatened again.

“We’ve had close games like this, but we know we’re not going to quit,” Tharpe said. “I felt like it was one of my greatest games, yes, because of the stakes more than anything.”

Tharpe’s teammates were wowed by his performance, particularly Johnson, who smiled when asked about Tharpe, who entered the game averaging 5.4 points and 3.0 assists.

“(Tharpe) doesn’t always take the shot that Coach wants him to take, he doesn’t always do exactly what you want him to do,” Johnson said. “But you know what? He found a way to get it done tonight. That’s what matters.”
KC Star


The next test is Michigan in that Sweet 16 game in Arlington, Texas. By that time, Self will have to find out why McLemore (0 for 9 on Sunday) hasn't emerged in what most likely will be his only NCAA tournament. Or that those turnovers just keep coming.

“I think with Ben, it's just through repetition,” Self said. “He just needs to see the ball go through the hole this week in practice.”

The simple beauty of making that first shot. Self had to be aware of it at halftime: In trailing 30-21, his team had made only seven field goals. That made it quite a lethargic NCAA tournament overall for the top-seeded Jayhawks who struggled with Western Kentucky in the first round.

But by now, Roy Williams knows the feeling. For third time since he left Kansas 10 years ago, North Carolina's coach felt the wrath of a Jayhawk Nation scorned. For the third time, Williams and his Heels were routed all the way back to Tobacco Road. In three post-Roy meetings, Kansas has won by a combined 43 points.

…His five blocks gave him 43 in his NCAA tournament career, No. 2 all time in the postseason behind some guy named Tim Duncan.

“It's an great honor obviously to be behind someone like Tim Duncan,” Withey said. “It's an honor but hopefully I can pass him.”

He's got at least one more game to do it.
CBS Dennis Dodd


LJW Rankings: Releford stellar on both ends against UNC


As Michigan prepares for the Sweet 16, the Wolverines understand that scoring against Kansas might not be as easy as it was against South Dakota State and VCU last week.

The No. 1 seed Jayhawks, Friday’s opponent in the NCAA tournament’s South Regional in Arlington, Texas, leads the nation by allowing opponents to shoot only 35.7%.

“They are not going to allow you to have too many open shots,” U-M coach John Beilein said on WTKA-AM (1050)’s “Michigan Insider” show today. “It’s very important. They are not going to let you execute offensively. And defensively, they’re one of the (teams) with the big center, the high-low game.”

…Though it was intimidating to watch Kansas hold UNC nearly 20 points below its scoring average, Beilein understands there are countermeasures.

“If we can defend and we can run, that negates all that,” he said on WTKA. “It will go both ways.”
Detroit Free Press


Small talk ensued and I said I was a reporter from Wichita but I was here covering Kansas.  I also said I had just done a story the other day about how Demetric Williams and Elijah Johnson were best friends.  One of the women at the table, who was clad in KU gear, leaned back and looked at me with a coy smile and said, 'Elijah who?'

I said with a knowing grin, 'Elijah Johnson.  You're his mom, aren't you?'  Yep, that was Elijah's mom and dad with whom I was watching the game.  They were naturally rooting for Wichita State because of the ties between their sons but also, because of their family.

You see, the world is constantly getting smaller.  Elijah told me the other night that Demetric started getting recruited by Wichita State because of 'connections.'  I didn't put it all together until tonight:  Elijah's uncle is a Couisnard.  Wichita State fans will know that name all too well.  P.J. played at Wichita State the last time that the Shockers made the Sweet 16, his dad Prince is Elijah's uncle.  And it all comes full circle.

It was such a pleasure talking to Elijah's mom, much like it is talking to Elijah.  His dad was great too.  Really just funny how simple timing can work out.
KWCH Jenn's Blog


For anyone who still doubts that Lawrence is nuts about Jayhawk basketball, there is this bit of news: South Middle School has postponed a dance that was scheduled for Friday evening because it conflicts with the Sweet 16 game between Kansas and Michigan.

Julie Rea, the school secretary at South, said they just didn't think the dance would be well attended, considering the Jayhawks will be on TV at the same time. The dance will be rescheduled for another time.
LJW



NCAA Dove Moments of Care Video: Team of destiny (2008 Memphis vs KU)



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It was there before they arrived in Ames. By the time they reached Manhattan. Waiting for them at the Sprint Center.

And it’ll precede the Jayhawks to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, site of their Friday showdown against Michigan in the Sweet 16.

Few in the Kansas locker room knew where the little white rug that bears the school’s familiar Jayhawks logo came from, but they all know that it accompanies KU men’s basketball team on every road trip. Has for years.

KU players, coaches and staff are also well aware that no one is allowed to set foot on the 2-by-3-foot chunk of carpet once it’s laid down in the middle of the locker-room floor.

“I just know that the seniors have said don’t step on it,” said first-year forward Perry Ellis.

Visiting and don’t know the rules? Even the freshmen, guys such as Evan Manning and Tyler Self, will break it down for you.

“Hey, hey — watch the rug,” Manning scolded a foot-dragging cameraman on Friday.

“We try to keep everybody off it,” Self explained Sunday.

If only the rug could speak for itself. Gallagher-Iba. Bramlage. Maui. The Alamodome … The stories it could tell.

But since textiles can’t talk, players are left to protect its sanctity.

“Man, you’re not allowed to put your feet on it, knock it over, anything like that,” said sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe.

Jeff Withey, the team’s 7-foot senior, explained its origins.

“It’s a tradition from our old locker room,” Withey explained. “Before we got it renovated, it had a Jayhawk in the middle, and no one could step on the Jayhawk.”

A school official said the rug was made long ago by a woman who presented it to the team as a gift. Several years ago, she saw a photograph of the rug on the Internet and stepped forward to identify it as her handiwork.

She was shocked that the ritual continues. Heck, it thrives.

“It’s identity, tradition for all the teams that have been here,” senior forward Kevin Young said, looking around the locker room. “It just shows how much history is in here.”
KC Star



KU WBB vs South Carolina tonight, ESPN2 8:30pm CT


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


Big 12/College News

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CBS, Turner: TV ratings for opening week of #MarchMadness highest in 23 years, up 5 percent from last year (@CBSSportsGang) #sportsbiz
https://twitter.com/AP_Top25


Sweet 16 coaches: Midwest coaches have 23 Final Four appearances; East coaches have 5; South coaches have 5; West coaches have 2.

Sweet 16 coaches: Midwest coaches have 6 National Championships; South have 3; East have 1; West have none.

Sweet 16 has 4 Big 10 teams, 3 Big East, 2 ACC, 2 Pac-12, 1 Big 12, 1 SEC, 1 MVC, 1 A10, and one A-Sun.
https://twitter.com/jaybilas


THIS JUST IN: Tubby Smith has been let go as head basketball coach at Minnesota, sources tell CBSSports. Went 124-81 in 6 seasons w/ team.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter


4. I'll never pick a team coached by any of the following coaches in an NCAA tournament toss-up game ever again: Frank Haith, Steve Alford, Bruce Weber, Frank Haith, Bo Ryan, John Thompson III, Frank Haith, Jamie Dixon, Frank Haith, Mark Few, Frank Haith, and Roy Williams if he's playing Kansas.

Oh, and Frank Haith. Don't forget about him.
Grantland Mark Titus


The funny thing is that they're just as loose off the court as they are on it, full of great stories and quotes, happy to talk to anybody and everybody. And, yes, they're just as blown away by all of this as you are. They admit it and display it.

"Wow," said Florida Gulf Coast's Eric McKnight when I told him his ridiculous and vicious alley-oop was trending on Twitter. Then I told him he and his teammates are the biggest story in sports. Not just college basketball. Sports. All of sports. Including everything.

"Really?" McKnight asked. "Wow. Wow. Wow. This is all very hard to believe."

Perhaps because it's unprecedented.

Florida Gulf Coast made history here Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center with an 81-71 victory against San Diego State that made the Eagles the first 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to advance to the Sweet 16. So now the greatest (and newest) show in college basketball -- Florida Dunk Coast -- is headed to Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys Stadium. To play the University of Florida. For a trip to the Elite Eight.

…They are 14 lightly recruited prospects led by a man who was, before Friday, more famous for the model he married than for anything he'd done on or off the court. Now they're stars, every last one of them. And how in the world did Florida Gulf Coast only finish second in the Atlantic Sun and lose twice to a Lipscomb team that went 12-18 this season?

"They're our kryptonite," Florida Gulf Coast's Eddie Murray joked. "We're just glad we don't have to see [Lipscomb] in the Sweet 16."
CBS


#FGCU's Brett Comer played his HS freshman season in KC at Blue Valley Northwest
https://twitter.com/curtiskitchen


New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow decided he would make a special detour stop in Kansas on Sunday to congratulate the Wichita State men's basketball team. 

Tebow's plane made a stop at the Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita to refuel the same time the Shockers basketball team, pep band, and cheerleaders landed.

Wichita State, a No. 9 seed, upset No. 1 seeded Gonzaga  76-70 on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. 

Tebow hopped on the team's bus to give the players some words of encouragement before the Shockers headed back to campus.  He told them that no matter what happens in their life after college, they will never forget these moments.

"Some of you might go play in the NBA, you might have great lives, but this is the time you'll remember," Tebow said while speaking to the players on their team bus. "All of you all together, ballin' out there together, training together, putting in the heart and the sweat, everything, caring about each other. You'll never forget guys, this is what it's made of and these are the special times in your life, regardless of what you do in the future.

"So I just want to say congrats. You're an inspiration to so many people, so always remember that and how you carry yourself and your character, how you represent your school, your family, your team, your brothers on the team, but also, man, just go out there and ball out, leave nothing on the court. I know you don't need to hear that from me, but I just wish y'all luck and we're praying for you. God bless, and y'all go do it, all right, guys?"
Link


ESPN: Reseeding the Sweet 16


Updated odds [1]: Louisville 3/1; Indiana, Florida 5/1; Miami-Fl 7/1; Ohio State 8/1; Duke 10/1; Kansas, Michigan 12/1
https://twitter.com/RJinVegas


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Recruiting


CIA Bounce AAU co-founder Mike George is becoming an NBA Agent. He's worked with Khem Birch, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins, etc.
https://twitter.com/TheRecruitScoop/


Recruiting never stops for Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who picked up a commitment during the NCAA tournament from Gavin Schilling and for 2013 was busy working on top 2014 point guard Tyus Jones hours after the Spartans defeated Memphis in Auburn Hills.

Izzo traveled to Minneapolis to watch the Apple Valley star lead his team to a state title, arriving at the Target Center only about three hours after advancing to the Sweet 16, according to The Star Tribune.
Link


Here’s a little blind test for you. One recruiting class, we’ll call it A, is made up of the number 25, 26, 31, 37, and 134-ranked high school basketball players in the country. Players ranked 24, 51 and 92 will return to this team.

Another recruiting class, we’ll call it B, was made up of the number 8, 12, 13, and 28 ranked high school players in the country. That team returned players ranked 27, 34, and 54.

These classes are two of rivals.com’s highest ranked classes since it began its service in 1998.

It’s not too rash to say that any coach in America would take either of these classes in a heartbeat. Bill Self got both of them.

Class A is Kansas’s 2013 recruiting class. This team will also sport veterans such as Naadir Tharpe, Perry Ellis, Andrew White III and Jamari Traylor.

Class B was Kansas’s 2005 recruiting class, one of Self’s best, with names like Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush and Julian Wright, and that team returned Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson and Russell Robinson.

Class B won a National Championship. I wouldn’t be surprised if Class A follows suit.

Conner Frankamp is a 6-foot point guard from Wichita who is so Kirk Hinrich-esque it sends shivers down my back. He can also nail 3-pointers.

Shooting guard Wayne Selden is a titan from Tilton, N.H., checking in at 6-feet-5 inches and 225 pounds. The guy is a human highlight reel if you haven’t already seen his film.

Brannen Greene, a small forward from Georgia, is my dark horse out of this group. I think he is a little overlooked by most Kansas fans, but the guy is 6-foot-7, and can shoot and finish at the basket.

Kansas will dearly miss its defensive safety blanket down low, Jeff Withey, when he graduates; there is no denying he will leave big shoes to fill, but 7-foot Joel Embid, from Gainesville, Fla., certainly has the dimensions to fill Withey’s sneakers.

Even though he may not be quite as amazing of a defender as Withey, his offensive post game already looks more polished coming out of high school than Withey’s does now, and he has a smooth jumper.

I’m confident that if Kansas could only play with freshmen next year, they would still win the Big 12.
UDK


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


#300

3/24/2013

 
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Nearly 10 years ago, Richard Konzem stepped out into the muggy New Orleans air, hoping for a Friday night of peace and relaxation with his wife and daughter.

Konzem, a senior associate athletic director at Kansas, had come to the Big Easy on business. The Jayhawks were back in the Final Four for the second straight year, and KU coach Roy Williams was preparing his team to face Marquette in the Louisiana Superdome.

All around the famed French Quarter, the atmosphere was infused with the proper dosage of revelry, basketball and bourbon. Kansas fans in crimson and blue packed the streets. And with the Jayhawks just two victories from an elusive NCAA title, the mood should have been joyous.

But as Konzem strolled out on the sidewalk outside the Sheraton Hotel on Canal Street, the KU athletic department was in turmoil. Konzem's boss, athletic director Al Bohl, would be fired after the basketball season. And the whispers had already begun: North Carolina coach Matt Doherty had resigned two days earlier, and Dean Smith was gearing up to take another run at hiring Williams.

Before Konzem could even walk a block with his wife, Deb, and daughter, Sally, a familiar face appeared.

Illinois coach Bill Self.

Years earlier, Konzem says, the two men had met at KU when Self was a graduate assistant under coach Larry Brown. The men exchanged pleasantries that Friday night and stopped for a brief chat. Self was curious about the Roy rumors, and the conversation turned to basketball. After 45 minutes, they were still there, standing on that patch of sidewalk in New Orleans.

Memories have a way of turning fuzzy over time, of course. But for nearly 10 years, Konzem has thought back to that serendipitous encounter in New Orleans.

“I remember it like it was last night,” he says.

As the two men parted ways, and Konzem went to dinner, he could not see what was coming.

But he did know one thing: In his heart, he believed Williams would stay at Kansas. But if the unthinkable came to be, Konzem knew this wouldn't be the last time he talked to Bill Self.

“I left that conversation believing if coach Williams left and the Kansas job was open,” Konzem says now, “he was interested.”

Here we are, 10 years later, and the ripple effects from April 2003 are still being felt. This afternoon, Self's Jayhawks will face Williams' Tar Heels in the Sprint Center for a spot in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

…Ten years later, the men that hired Self are no longer at KU. But the story of what could be the most crucial 14 days in Kansas history lives on. It's a tale with roots on the sidewalks of the French Quarter. But it would continue in Lawrence, where an interim athletic director was still trying to figure out which key to use for his office.

“If I would have known that I was going to have to hire a basketball coach,” says Drue Jennings, sitting in his home in Kansas City area, “I would have never taken that job.”

When the phone rang in late December 2002, Jennings was not looking for a job. A Kansas graduate and former CEO of Kansas City Power & Light, he had spent the previous few years caring for his wife, Sue, who had been in the final stages of a long and terminal battle with cancer.

But problems were festering in the Kansas athletic department. Bohl had a tenuous relationship with Williams, and the friction between the two was clouding the basketball program's future.

Chancellor Robert Hemenway called Jennings with a question: Would he consider being the school's next athletic director?

Jennings, a businessman who had grown up in a working-class family in Kansas City, Kan., told Hemenway that he didn't feel qualified. But he would do the job on an interim basis — if Hemenway decided to fire Bohl. During the following months, a succession plan crystallized. The risk of losing Williams was too strong, and Bohl needed to go. But Hemenway would wait until the end of the basketball season.

There was some concern, Konzem says, that Hemenway was waiting too long. The UCLA job would also come into the picture, and some at Kansas feared that Williams could be lured out west.

But Hemenway stayed the course. And the Jayhawks kept winning. In the moments after KU's NCAA title-game loss to Syracuse, with the North Carolina job still vacant, Williams famously told CBS reporter Bonnie Bernstein that he didn't “give a (lick) about North Carolina.”

Two days later, Bohl was fired. He gave a bizarre news conference in his driveway, saying Williams had crushed him “like a dove.”

And two days after that, with the North Carolina still rumors flying, Konzem boarded a plane with Williams and senior forward Nick Collison and headed for a postseason award ceremony in Los Angeles.

When they arrived at their first destination, the Downtown Athletic Club, former North Carolina star James Worthy was the emcee for the evening — and he was ready to talk to Williams about coming home.

It wasn't a total coincidence.

The next day, during a golf outing with Kansas booster Dana Anderson at Bel-Air Country Club, former Carolina All-American Mitch Kupchak showed up to talk shop.

“(Dean) Smith had basically assigned a different Carolina legendary player each day to call or be around Coach Williams,” Konzem says.

By late Sunday night, the traveling party hopped a flight back to Lawrence. For days, Williams had appeared torn by the decision, the same one he'd agonized over three years earlier, when he decided to stay at Kansas.

Nearly 15 years earlier, when Williams had interviewed for the Kansas job, Konzem, then a younger staffer in the athletic department, had ripped Williams' page out of the North Carolina media guide and headed for the airport. Now, as the flight touched down in Lawrence, Konzem looked over at his friend.

“I will remember this as vividly as yesterday,” he says. “I looked over at coach Williams, and our eyes met, and he dropped his head. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, he's leaving.”'

…Jennings, 66, is retired for good now. He spends his days on corporate and private boards — “I think I'm on about eight of them,” he says — and is busy watching his grandchildren grow up.

He spent more than three decades in the Kansas City civic community, a key figure in one of the area's most prominent industries. But after 10 years, his grandchildren mostly know their grandpa as the man who hired Bill Self.

“To this day,” he says, “nobody remembers me for being the CEO for KCPL; they remember me for being the guy that hired Bill Self. A 90-day job.”

On the day Williams left Kansas — April 14, 2003 — Jennings and Konzem sequestered themselves in a KU campus office and went to work. According to Jennings, the early discussions were spent compiling names and deciding on qualifications.

Williams had been such a dominant presence at Kansas. Maybe it would be wise to hire a veteran coach who could handle the burden of following a legend — maybe that coach could bridge the gap to a long-term solution.

“We decided,” Jennings says, “that the best thing to do was to get somebody who was relatively young who could continue KU's traditions.

”And it's not easy to do. The expectation that people have with the basketball coach at KU are pretty lofty. You've gotta try and build a team that people are proud to be associated with.“

The initial list, Jennings says, had 10 to 12 names on it. But Jennings and Konzem kept coming back to Self. He had been at Kansas before, a graduate assistant under Brown in 1985-86. And his roots were in the Big Eight Conference as a player and assistant at Oklahoma State.

According to Konzem, the four-person search committee used former KU players, including Collison and Jacque Vaughn, to gain intelligence from former players who had played for Self. Ten years later, Konzem still has the notes on Self in his files.

”Intense.“

”They play defense.“

”He does the right things on and off the court.“

”He's a Big 12 guy.“

In a matter of days, the four-person search committee, which also included Hemenway and associate athletic director Doug Vance, had a short list. Jennings and Konzem wouldn't identify the names, but according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the committee held preliminary phone interviews with Marquette's Tom Crean, Oregon's Ernie Kent and Wichita State's Mark Turgeon. But the conversation with Self stood out.

”Bill wasn't nearly as worried about what he was going to get paid as he was feeling out the territory about what it was going to be like to follow Roy,“ Jennings says. ”And more importantly, he was more focused on what was available for him to recruit with. What were the facilities like?“

Six days after the search began, Jennings was boarding a flight for Champaign, Ill. By Monday — April 21, 2003 — Self was officially announced as the man who would replace Williams.

Ten years later, Jennings and Hemenway are retired, and Konzem is the CEO of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America in Lawrence. But for one week in April 2003, they set out to replace a budding KU basketball legend.

And they found another in Bill Self.

”Has he exceeded expectations that we could have ever imagined?“ Konzem says. ”Yes. It's just crazy how good the guy has been.“

Today, Self will go for his 300th victory at Kansas. And Williams will be on the other sideline.

Ten years earlier, just a few weeks after that fateful meeting in New Orleans, Self arrived in Lawrence. During his introductory news conference, he accepted a symbolic ”coach's chair“ from Hemenway. He held it for a moment that day, paused, and then spoke.

”It feels hot,“ he said.
The KC Star via The Oklahoman

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Sunday, March 24:
Pre-Game Party: 1:00pm (Z-Strike)
Kansas Jayhawks Pep Rally: 2:30pm (main stage of the Power & Light District)
Tip Off: 4:15pm or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the LeSalle/Ole Miss game

Can't make it? Follow the game on @KUGameday, listen in on Jayhawk Radio Network.


LJW Photos: Saturday Practice Day


KUAD: Kansas previews North Carolina


KUAD: North Carolina vs Kansas Pregame Notes


Self, who won his 500th game earlier this year — he’s 506-163 in 20 seasons — today goes for his 300th victory in 10 seasons at KU. He’s 299-58.

“There are good players on both teams,” Self said.

The Tar Heels, in fact, start five McDonald’s All-Americans (guards Reggie Bullock, P.J. Hairston, Marcus Paige, Dexter Strickland and center James Michael McAdoo), while KU brings All-American Perry Ellis off the bench.

“They (teams) are tradition-rich, intertwined with coach (Dean) Smith playing on the (KU) 1952 national championship team and him being maybe as innovative and great a leader of a program we’ve ever seen at North Carolina and coach (Larry) Brown being a great player there and winning a national championship here. Coach Williams obviously had 15 great years here, now being the head coach there,” Self added.

“There are some bitter rivalries out there, but I don’t see anything bitter about this at all. What’s unbelievable (is) in the tradition-rich years of both our programs, we’ve only played 10 times, and almost all have been in the NCAA Tournament. They (meetings) are few and far between, so I’m sure the fan base of both programs will enjoy the game.”
LJW


“Everyone talks about payback,” UNC forward James Michael McAdoo said, “but they won the game fair and square. We’re just excited to go back and compete against such a great team. A lot of teams are home today and their seasons are over.”

...“Just knowing that we have our primary ball-handler out there on the floor, the person who can get us into our offense, the person who’s very unselfish with the ball, is very big,” said 6-7 junior Reggie Bullock. “Last year was a struggle for us because we didn’t have Kendall to match up with KU. But this year we have our starting point guard, and hopefully that’ll lead to a better outcome.”

…Midway through the season, Williams shifted to a four-guard approach. The move did wonders for the Tar Heels and has them playing their best basketball of the season when it matters most. Williams admitted Saturday that he’s still a little surprised he did it.

“It was scary,” he said. “I was not comfortable with it. I’m still not comfortable with it. I’m comfortable with (former Jayhawk big men) Greg Ostertag, Scot Pollard, Raef LaFrentz, Nick Collison, Drew Gooden, Wayne Simien, with those kind of post players that you can play two at the same time and maybe even put a third one in there. (Former UNC big men) Sean May, Jawad Williams, Marvin Williams, Tyler Hansbrough, Tyler Zeller, that’s what I’m more comfortable with.”

As for which team will benefit most from the match-up challenge that UNC’s lineup creates, UNC’s Marcus Paige said that could decide this one.

“I think it can go both ways because they have to try to match up with us on the perimeter, but at the same time we have to try our best to match them on the inside,” he said. “Whoever can win that kind of battle is probably gonna win the game.”

…KU freshman Ben McLemore has scored just 26 points in his last three games, but Kansas’ leading scorer still has the complete attention of UNC’s defense.

“I’m up for the challenge,” said Bullock, who revealed that he would start out on McLemore. “We have a similar game. I just have to limit his touches, from getting wide-open jumpers. It’s just going to be my challenge on the defensive end. I’m ready for it.”
LJW


Withey stated expanding his shooting range as an offseason goal, and in recent weeks he has shown he met that goal.

“I worked a lot on that this summer,” Withey said. “Coach (Norm) Roberts and I shoot a lot. It’s something I didn’t do really well last year, and a couple of times last year I would get it 15 feet out, but my defender wouldn’t guard me. They would just double T-Rob (Thomas Robinson, now with the Houston Rockets). That’s something I didn’t want to happen this year.”

As usual, Withey will guard and be guarded by a shorter opponent, 6-9 sophomore James Michael McAdoo.

“I feel like he’s great on the offensive end, too,” McAdoo said. “His teammates look to find him. I think that’s a big thing that we just need to limit his touches deep in the post.”

Withey likened North Carolina’s personnel to that of Iowa State, but noted that whereas the Cyclones spread the floor and shoot threes from all five positions, McAdoo does not have that kind of range.

“I won’t have to play out on the perimeter as much, so I think that helps out our team a lot,” Withey said. “That way I can clog up the paint. McAdoo’s a great player. I’m not saying he’s not, but I’ll be able to clog up the paint, help everybody out if they get beat off the dribble. I think we have an advantage on the offensive side. I think we can go inside with Kevin and me. Whenever you play against four guards, you have to take advantage of it.”
LJW


LJW Newell: Three reasons I think UNC doesn't match up well with KU


The Kansas basketball team is practicing in front of Bill Self one day at Allen Fieldhouse and the coach is shaking his head. He is smiling. Those are his guys out there, and he loves them. This is a mash-up of blue-chippers and overlooked recruits and transfers that have a special place in his heart, no matter what.

One of them might be the first pick in the NBA Draft. Another is his son. There isn't a guy on this team who's kept Self awake late at night. There isn't a guy on this team to whom Self can't get through. Really, they are a joy.

Just one problem.

"Nicest bunch of kids I've ever been around," he says, and he doesn't necessarily intend it as a compliment.

Self likes mean. Or, at least, he likes guys who play mean. Calls them assassins. Actually, if the cameras aren't around he uses a different word with the same first three letters, and he built much of his success at Kansas on them. Thomas Robinson. Tyshawn Taylor. Brandon Rush. Sherron Collins. The Morris twins.

There is no one like that on the nicest-bunch-of-kids-I've-ever-been-around, so Self is left to cultivate a meanness, and nobody personifies that better than Jeff Withey as Kansas and North Carolina play Sunday at the Sprint Center for a spot in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

…"He's always been a goofy, playing-around kind of guy," KU senior Elijah Johnson says. "But at the same time, two seconds later, he can snap into game mode."

This strange juxtaposition means that a nice kid is one of college basketball's most impactful players. Withey is the Big 12 defensive player of the year and the nation's leading shot blocker. Nearly one out of every six shots the opponent takes when he's on the floor is blocked. You can guess how many of the five others are changed.

This is a reputation Withey has earned. Kansas and Carolina played a year ago in this tournament, you know. Withey blocked 10 shots in KU's Sweet 16 win, but Carolina's James Michael McAdoo still made the odd comment on the day before the Elite Eight that the Tar Heels weren't particularly concerned about Withey. He scored 15 points with eight rebounds and three blocks as KU beat Carolina. So this time, the Tar Heels are plenty concerned about Withey.

…Withey needed to find his inner T-Rob, that assassin quality that Self is so fond of. You'll see it in glimpses. A scream. A stare. A snarl. Withey will go back to being a 7-foot sweetheart after the game, but for two hours or so when the cameras are rolling, the nicest bunch of kids Self has ever been around need him to be someone else.

Someone meaner.
KC Star Mellinger


“We talked about not letting nerves get the best of us and talked about how this is our last go-round,” senior center Jeff Withey said. “Ben (McLemore, freshman) is probably going to go to the NBA, and we’re all seniors (other four starters). If some things went wrong, we could have been done. Our season would have been done, and we’d never played again at Kansas. We’ve got to be more intense and focused and not let nerves get the best of us.”

Senior Elijah Johnson said the Jayhawks’ frame of mind will be fine for today’s 4:15 p.m., third-round game against North Carolina in Sprint Center.

“Be aggressive, have fun, not be uptight,” Johnson said. “Getting off to a good start. That starts in the morning when we wake up, having fun. You’ve just got to relax. It can be tough if you make it tough. Last night we made it tough.”

KU coach Bill Self acknowledged his squad “tried hard. We were just tight. That game is behind us. I don’t think that game will have anything to do with how we play (against North Carolina) at all.”
LJW


“The first game there’s so many nerves going around,” Withey said. “For a 1-seed, you don’t want to make history. You don’t want to be talked about forever. Now that’s over with.”

Sure, the Jayhawks escaped as another No. 1 seed to make it to the Round of 32. That pressure’s gone. However, does that mean all of the nerves, the jitters, the pressures are behind them?

With KU’s next game being against another basketball “blue blood,” against KU’s former coach Roy Williams, in front of a mostly pro-KU crowd, that pressure won’t be easily lifted from the top-seeded Jayhawks.

“We want to go out and prove who’s the bigger and better program,” Travis Releford said. “I feel like there’s a lot on the line.”

Not only do the Jayhawks have to deal with the tension that will build if they’re playing in a tight game in front of their fans that naturally tended to groan as KU failed to extend any true lead against the Hilltoppers, but they also have to deal with knowing that the fortunate results can’t always be there.

Withey likes to look at it from a historical perspective. Recent history, that is.

Just one season ago, the Jayhawks were entrenched in battle after battle as deep NCAA Tournament runs so often go. They cruised against Detroit in the first round, but then came Purdue and a substantial comeback was needed. The Jayhawks were 1-for-13 from 3 against NC State and still won 60-57.

The games where KU doesn’t shoot well, the games that aren’t pretty, almost seem to be when Withey and the Jayhawks are most comfortable.

“We’ve had so many ugly, grind-it-out games that we’re used to them,” Withey said. “We’ve got to make games ugly. We know we can win those ugly games.”
TCJ


McLemore didn’t ask for this, but the spotlight is his nonetheless.

“It’s not really fair to him, but it’s his responsibility,” forward Kevin Young said. “He’s got to step up to the plate.”

McLemore’s first tournament game didn’t yield a sparkling performance. The freshman guard was 2-for-5 from the floor, a layup and a lob dunk representing his only field goals. He committed four turnovers and never appeared fully engaged, yet the Jayhawks held on for a 64-57 victory.

That’s proof in itself, McLemore said, that KU’s tournament fortunes don’t depend on one player.

“I don’t want to try to think there’s too much pressure on me,” McLemore said. “I’ve just got to go out there and just play my game.

“As you can see, if I’m not having a good game, we can still find a way to pull off a win and still play Kansas ball.”

That was Western Kentucky, though, and next it’s North Carolina. McLemore’s teammates have been telling him not to dwell on Friday’s game, realizing they will need him at his best Sunday against the Tar Heels.

“I think he’s going to come ready,” center Jeff Withey said. “He’s a great basketball player. We need him to be an assassin and help us get points, because he’s the best player out on the floor every time. We need him to act like it.”

Teammates offer encouragement, but none of them can fully relate. KU’s four seniors eased into the college basketball experience, playing minor roles at most until they came of age.

After sitting out last season for academic reasons, McLemore was thrust into a starring role immediately and responded with one of the best seasons ever for a KU freshman. It’s a different kind of pressure, though, when each game has the potential to end a season.

“We can see how someone in his situation would have a hard time in his first NCAA game,” senior Travis Releford said. “When we were that age, we weren’t even out there on the court in an NCAA Tournament game, so for him to be out there trying to make things happen and still trying to keep the same focus that he had throughout the season would be tough on any young kid.”
TCJ


The only way this meeting creates much of a stink is if North Carolina happens to win.

The bracket suggests the Tar Heels are more flawed as an eight-seed.

Why, Williams, who rigidly plays through his bigs, changed his lineup in early February to incorporate four guards because his team was wobbling toward the NIT. The makeover into perimeter bombers was made after Miami crushed North Carolina 87-61.

“It felt like we lost by 150,” Williams said. “Most coaches develop a style that they stick with most of the time. If you’ve done it for 25 years as a head coach, you’re probably not going to change.’’

Yes, Roy’s been at it 25 years now. He recorded his 700th career win Friday when North Carolina held off Villanova in its NCAA opener. The majority of those victories (418) were achieved at KU.

Some day, probably after he retires, maybe after he gets 15 years in directing North Carolina just like he did Kansas, Williams will be invited back into Allen Fieldhouse. He’ll be paraded, recognized, cheered.

On his terms — not as an opposing coach.

“I will never walk out of that far tunnel,’’ he said. “That will never happen.’’

The NCAA, however, has the authority to send Williams into the Jayhawks’ second home, Kansas City. By doing so, Kansas gets Roy again. Yet, as Self alluded to, it’s North Carolina that merits the Jayhawks’ attention.

“We’ll be very different, with more energy, playing a lot more loose,’’ said KU senior Travis Releford, who went on to add that the Jayhawks must forge their own identity in this particular name game.

“I think it helps, playing North Carolina, but it shouldn’t be determined on the name how well you play.’’
TCJ


At their shoot-around on Thursday and again during Friday’s win over Villanova, the North Carolina Tar Heels received rousing ovations from an unlikely group of supporters.

Kansas fans.

For nearly a decade almost anyone who called themselves a Jayhawk held resentment toward former coach Roy Williams for leaving KU in 2003 and returning to North Carolina, his alma mater. But if this week is any indication, Kansas fans have moved on and come to appreciate Williams for what he accomplished during his 15 seasons in Lawrence.

…“Nobody can ever take away that he did a fabulous job and ran a first-class program [at Kansas],” Self said. “Anybody that doesn’t feel that way isn’t real, because that’s the reality of it.

“Since we’ve had a chance to play a couple of times in the tournament, I think there were some story lines [before] that probably aren’t as good of a story line now.”

Self has certainly made it easy for KU fans to move on. By beating No. 16 seed Western Kentucky Friday, Self became the first coach in history to guide his team to four consecutive 30-win seasons.
ESPN


“It’s the kind of game you always dream about as a kid to play in,” the Tar Heels’ Jackson Simmons said. “It’s Kansas. It’s North Carolina. It’s two great programs that have won national championships. It’s going to be a lot of fun to play in Kansas City on Sunday.”

Fun would be one way to describe it. Intimidating might be another.

The Jayhawks will be playing about 40 miles from campus, and there should be a decidedly darker hue of blue than what the Tar Heels (25-10) are accustomed to seeing in the stands.

“We’ve played in some hostile environments this year,” North Carolina guard Marcus Paige said. “It hopefully won’t have much effect. We just have to worry about what’s happening on the court.”
AP


Daily Tar Heel: UNC-Kansas through the years


KUAD: WBB Kansas defeats Colorado postgame notes, quotes, photos, box score


Even as Kansas continued to hit shots and Colorado continued to miss shots, there was a belief in the Coors Events Center that the Buffaloes would turn it around.

Yet, the seconds kept melting off the clock, CU's shots kept missing the hoop and reality set in.

A special season came to a not-so-special ending on Saturday night.

Back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004, the Colorado women's basketball team was shocked by former Big 12 rival Kansas, 67-52, at Coors Events Center. Kansas will play South Carolina (25-7) in the second round Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Coors Events Center.

CU, in fact, is the first No. 5 to lose to a No. 12 since 2010, when Green Bay upset Virginia. Including Saturday's games, No. 5s are now 62-17 against No. 12s since the NCAA went to a 64-team bracket in 1994.

Kansas, however, was surprisingly dominant against a CU team that had not lost to an unranked opponent all season. The Jayhawks hit 45.9 percent of their shots (28-of-61), compared to 25.4 percent (16-of-63) for CU. KU also matched the normally dominant Buffs on the boards, 42-42.

"I don't necessarily think we didn't match up well," said Jeffery, who finished 0-6 in her career against Kansas. "I thought we matched up pretty well. It's just a matter of getting stops and we weren't getting enough stops, and we weren't executing our offense, so it made it tough for us to stay in the game that way."

KU point guard Angel Goodrich hurt the Buffs all night, finishing with 14 points and eight assists. Forward Carolyn Davis did plenty of damage, too, with 14 points and eight rebounds. Chelsea Gardner (12 points, nine rebounds), Charlicia Harper (12 points, six rebounds) and Monica Engelman (10 points, six rebounds) were also great for the Jayhawks.
The Daily Camera


In midst of the Madness sign up for my Free Throw Challenge benefitting 2 non-profits. Fun-prizes-Allen Fieldhouse!
https://twitter.com/waynesimien


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


Big 12/College News


Marshall Henderson also says only grief he got from fans in Power & Light last night was from #Mizzou fans.
https://twitter.com/@APdaveskretta


3/24/13, 2:09 AM
Wichita State went 2-20 on Thursday went 14-28 on Saturday #MarchMadness #Shockers
https://twitter.com/gottliebshow


3/24/13, 12:26 AM
Wichita State was down 6 w/ 7:55 left. Their next 9 poss: Made layup, Made 3, Made 3, Made 3, Made jumper, 2-2 FTs, Made 3, Made 3, 2-2 FTs
https://twitter.com/andyglockner


Among the weird things about this Saturday of the tournament is that we still only know one Sweet 16 matchup. It's Louisville-Oregon. The seven other games that'll be played Thursday and Friday remain undetermined because we have a Saturday winner waiting on a Sunday winner in each case, which means seven Sweet 16 matchups will feature one team playing on an extra day of rest.

Does that really matter?

I don't know.

But it should be noted that this happened in four of the eight Sweet 16 games last season, and that the team with the most rest won three of those four games.
CBS


Municipal Auditorium, the most historic place in La Salle University men’s basketball, still stands at the corner of West 13th and Wyandotte Streets here. A breathtaking mix of art deco and curving forms, it remains home to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (N.A.I.A.) Division I national championship and other events. On Saturday, it hosted a cheerleading competition.

Lionel Simmons, one of the best players in La Salle’s history, said he hoped to sneak a look inside the arena before heading home to South Philadelphia on Monday. It was at the Auditorium in 1954 that a team led by the four-time all-American Tom Gola —La Salle’s greatest player and a mentor to Simmons — defeated Bradley to win the university’s only national championship.

A year later, Gola and La Salle returned to the Auditorium and lost the N.C.A.A. final to San Francisco and the future Boston Celtics Hall of Famer Bill Russell. The golden age of La Salle basketball coincided with the Gola years, from 1952 to 1955, and the Explorers have rarely made much of a splash since. Beginning with that 1955 defeat, La Salle went 2-10 in the N.C.A.A. tournament through 1992, when it last qualified, two years after Simmons left for the N.B.A.

So when La Salle received an at-large bid to this year’s tournament, Simmons cleared his schedule and flew to Dayton, Ohio, to see the Explorers topple Boise State, 80-71, in the first round. The victory fell on the 59th anniversary of La Salle’s national championship.

Simmons accompanied La Salle to Sprint Center, four blocks from the old auditorium, for its 63-61 upset of Kansas State on Friday. And he will be in the stands Sunday when the No. 13 Explorers (23-9) take on No. 12 Mississippi (27-8), which eliminated No. 5 Wisconsin, in a West Region game.

“I’m a proud alumnus, for one thing,” said the 6-foot-7 Simmons, a physical forward known as L-Train who set a university-record with 3,217 career points. “I watched the guys struggle. When I left La Salle, I said I wanted to follow the team in the tournament. These are fun times. Very, very fun times.”

Especially back in Philadelphia. LaSalle guard Ramon Galloway received so many text messages Friday night that, he said: “My phone couldn’t even work. That’s how crazy it was.” The university announced viewing parties on campus for Sunday’s game, as well as at three Philadelphia bars, plus alumni gatherings at seven more locations from Washington to New York City.
NY Times


Hoyas coach John Thompson III is only the third coach in NCAA tournament history to lose five games to a double-digit seed when his team was seeded at least five spots higher than his opponent.

(For those wondering why "five slots higher" was chosen, well, it's because the NCAA record book uses that as its cut-off for list such upsets. It doesn't, however, break down those losses by coach. Either way, this includes losing to an 11 seed or higher in the first round, as well as second-round ousters as 2-10, 3-11 or 4-12 --- among others).

Anyway, here's that rundown:

5: Jim Boeheim (88-91-05-06-11)
5: Bob Knight (86-88-96-00-02)
5: John Thompson III (08-10-11-12-13)

4: Bobby Cremins (86-88-89-93)
4: Jim Harrick (91-94-96-02)
4: Gene Keady (85-86-90-99)
4: Mike Krzyzewski (85-97-07-12)
4: Lute Olson (92-93-95-99)
4: Billy Tubbs (84-86-92-98)

3: Steve Alford (06-10-13)
3: Mike Brey (07-10-11)
3: Jim Calhoun (05-06-08)
3: Billy Donovan (02-04-09)
3: Ralph Miller (80-84-89)
3: Bo Ryan (08-10-13)
3: Kelvin Sampson (91-95-06)
3: Bill Self (05-06-11)
3: Kevin Stallings (08-10-11)
3: Norm Stewart (87-88-90)
3: Eddie Sutton (86-91-94)

One common thread for all of those coaches, Thompson very much included, is they had their share of successful teams over the long haul of a regular season. Georgetown hasn't had a chance to lose such games without being really good for most of the year.

At the same time, no other coach has strung together more than two of these early ousters in a row. The Hoyas are at four years and counting.
Link


This is a program, of course, that hasn't advanced beyond the Sweet 16 since that stunning 1999 Elite Eight run that put it on the map. So why should anyone believe the Zags now with so many missed expectations from the past?

So there were haters, too. Oh, were there haters. They didn't believe the hype. They thought Kelly Olynyk's numbers were skewed by the competition he faced in the WCC. They figured those nonconference wins were blips, not concrete evidence the Zags deserved so much praise.

So just like that, the little school from Spokane was the most polarizing team in the field. You either felt strongly they deserved to be a 1-seed or you felt strongly otherwise. Fair or not, the Gonzaga program was on trial this month. And we, the college basketball viewing public, were the jury.

And then, just like that, it happened -- before we could barely get the argument off the ground.

Just one loss. That's all it took for the Zags to confirm their doubters' suspicions.

Just one L against a Wichita State squad that lost six Missouri Valley Conference games solidified Gonzaga's status as a team that can't be trusted.

The Nos. 3, 4 and 5 seeds had already been dismissed from the West Region. Win Saturday and the Zags were a victory over a 12 or 13 away from that long-awaited trip back to the regional finals. If there were ever a year for the 32-2 Bulldogs to finally prove that they were legitimate national title contenders, this was it. Some of their greatest regional threats had left the building.

And still, the Zags failed. Again.

Don't call them a mid-major program now. Don't place them back into the have-nots category for the sake of tempering the backlash. Don't make excuses (yes, Gary Bell's injury was a factor, but the Zags lost because they refused to guard the Shockers for 40 minutes).

The Zags had everything necessary for a Final Four run, including the easiest path of all the 1-seeds in the tournament. And now they're going home before the second weekend of the Big Dance.

This is the worst loss in the program's history. There's no way around it. Who's to say they'll ever get this opportunity again?

The keys were in the ignition. The Zags just had to drive. Instead, Gonzaga stalled. Again.

And America's heartwarming story became its greatest disappointment. Again.
ESPN


Recruiting


3/24/13, 12:04 AM
I am a STATE CHAMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://twitter.com/tyusjones06


Tyus Jones added another chapter to what already is a compelling, dominant and long-lasting dynasty at Apple Valley. Make that Minnesota high school basketball, too.

And he still has a year of high school eligibility left.

The junior point guard left little argument as to why he is the nation's No. 2-ranked player and top-ranked point guard for his class with an epic performance in the pinnacle game of his four-year varsity career.

He scored 26 points, including 18 of 18 from the free-throw line, had 11 rebounds and eight assists, and was a steadying force for the Eagles in a 74-57 victory over Park Center in the state Class 4A championship game in front of 13,309 Saturday, March 23, at Target Center.

"He became a schoolboy legend tonight,'' Eagles coach Zach Goring said. "He is a closer.''
Pioneer Press
http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_22859658/state-boys-basketball-tyus-jones-leads-apple-valley




Aaron Gordon will announce at The McDonald's Game April 3 in Chicago
https://twitter.com/AdamZagoria/



Last month, the McDonald's All-American Game released its 2013 rosters. The game is a showcase of some of the best high school talent in the country, which this year largely came out of Texas (five players), California (four), Florida (three), and North Carolina (two). Of these 14 players, only five have committed to play at in-state colleges. We wondered: Is this typical of high school talent? Historically, where do high school stars generally come from, and where do they end up playing?

To investigate, I looked at the hometowns and colleges of all 840 McDonald's All-Americans from 1977 to 2012, since the class of 2013 hasn't totally shaken itself out yet. Hometowns were largely based on high school, although if a player went to a religious, private, or boarding school (like basketball factory Oak Hill Academy), I checked to see which state he was actually raised in.* Likewise, I tried to I.D. players who transfered during college, and stick them with the programs they initially played for.

Here are the states that have, adjusted for population, produced the most McDonald's All-Americans:
More here (H/T JayhawkFitness on JayhawkSlant.com)
http://deadspin.com/infographics-where-do-high-school-basketball-stars-com-5984694



My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk

2100: Survival of the Witheyest

3/23/2013

 
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KUAD Box Score, Recap, Quotes, Notes, Video


LJW Video and Audio pressers and post-game interviews


ESPN Recap, Video


ESPN Photos


UDK Photos


KC Star Photos


LJW Photos


KUAD Photos


TCJ Photos


NCAA Bracket that updates with game times, scores



3/22/13, 8:46 PM
Pullin an all-nighter... KU game then first flight out to Russia
https://twitter.com/next718star


3/22/13, 11:33 PM
Kansas is now 30-5 on the season and is the first school in NCAA Div 1 history to win 30 or more games in 4-straight seasons. #kubball
https://twitter.com/kugameday

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Western Kentucky is no TCU – which KU lost to earlier this season – but it did lead the Jayhawks into the second half. Despite that 2008 national championship, Kansas has recent tournament upsets at the hands of Bucknell, Bradley and Northern Iowa. A win by 16-seed over a 1-seed would have been a first since seeding began in 1985.

After playing that No. 16 seed we still know that Kansas struggles to score, has issues at guard and has seven-foot Jeff Withey to bail them out on both ends. Withey saved the Jayhawks on a night when they didn't have a three-pointer scoring 17 and blocking seven Hilltopper shots.

The overwhelmingly KU crowd at the Sprint Center – just 45 minutes from Kansas' campus – had to be nervous. Western Kentucky's best win this season has been over Arkansas State – No. 154 in Jerry Palm's RPI. TCU is No. 238.

The competition gets tougher Sunday. Kansas will play eighth-seeded North Carolina to go to the Sweet 16. The Jayhawks have beaten the Tar Heels by a combined 41 points in the previous two meetings since Roy Williams left Kansas.
CBS Dennis Dodd


In the scripted version of such things, the No. 1 seed does not need its all-everything senior center to carry it to a victory over a No. 16 seed that had not beaten a ranked team in three years.

But then again, Friday was not a neat or coherent day in the world of college hoops. This was a day of chaos. And in the middle of chaos, Kansas senior Jeff Withey emerged to exert a little order and stability.

In a nervous and tense night at the Sprint Center, Withey finished with 17 points, six rebounds and seven blocks as Kansas survived a scare in a 64-57 victory over No. 16 seed Western Kentucky.

“They kind of surprised us how good they were,” Withey said. “We definitely took them lightly, being a No. 1 seed (and) they came out and fought us real hard.

“We can’t let that happen.”

The Jayhawks move on to take on No. 8 seed North Carolina at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday. But first, they had to survive. This had never happened, of course. A No. 16 had never toppled a No. 1. And on Friday, the Jayhawks could never quite get comfortable. Kansas freshman guard Ben McLemore finished with just 11 points in NCAA Tournament debut. And the Jayhawks finished with 17 turnovers and zero three-pointers. (They clanked all six attempts.)

“We were a little tight,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “And sometimes playing at home puts a little pressure on you.”

If Western Kentucky’s forward George Fant (10 points) hadn’t have fouled out early, or if the Hilltoppers had made some three-pointers — they were just three of 20 — the final result may have really been in doubt. Then again, Kansas wasn’t any better from the outside.

“We made one shot for the game from outside of 2 feet,” Self said.
KC Star
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There were 5 minutes left and Kansas had a chance for a transition slam, the kind of dunk that would have blown the roof off the Sprint Center — and brought a much-needed release from an anxious Jayhawks crowd.

Instead, redshirt freshman Ben McLemore chased after the kick-ahead pass and then went into a slide that took him over the end line.

Coach Bill Self flashed a quizzical look.

Fans near midcourt laughed, chortling, “What is he doing?”

By that time, fears that 16th-seeded Western Kentucky, which led the Jayhawks 31-30 at halftime, had eased, so the fans could have fun with McLemore’s latest (and funniest) miscue.

Kansas would continue to pull away on the way to a 64-57 win, but McLemore’s absence — and the Jayhawks’ sloppy play overall — has to be cause for concern moving forward.

“He’ll take this and he’ll learn from it,” senior forward Kevin Young said. “He’ll contribute more in the next game. … I remember last year and it was the same thing for me. It was just amazing to be there.”

The simple answer is to chalk it up to nerves, a suggestion McLemore shrugged off.

“Coach asked me if I was nervous, but I don’t think it was,” McLemore said. “I was trying to get my head into the game and I guess I was trying to be too focused. I didn’t want to mess up, especially my first time in the NCAA Tournament.”

Still, there is a difference between seeing March Madness and living it.
KC Star


The Jayhawks also went 0-for-6 from three. It marked the first time in 201 games KU had gone without a made three. Last game without a three was a 100-90 victory over Baylor in 2008.

“I knew we’d pull it out,” Withey said. “We’ve been in this situation too many times.

“Coach got on us a little (after the game),” Withey added of Bill Self’s message. “At the same time, we won. He said we can’t come out like that Sunday or we’ll get beat by 20.”
LJW


In a game decided by just seven points, it would’ve been easy for the Western Kentucky men’s basketball players to look at the stat sheet and lament the team’s final shooting numbers during Friday’s 64-57 loss to top-seeded Kansas University at Sprint Center.

But leading scorer T.J. Price, who was largely held in check by KU’s Travis Releford, said the off shooting night was only part of the equation.

“I don’t think the numbers have to be a little bit better,” Price said. “But our defense did. They went on that big run, and that’s what got us.”

The run Price referred to turned a one-point WKU lead at the half into a 10-point KU lead late. But it was not one of those knock-out blows that the Jayhawks are famous for delivering. It was slow, deliberate, even painful at times. And it was enough to make the Hilltoppers smile about the scare they put into the Jayhawks, who improved to 30-5 and moved onto the third round, where they will face eighth-seeded North Carolina at 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

“Heck yes it does,” said junior guard Brandon Harris, who shot 1-for-7 and finished with three points. “This whole week all we heard was we didn’t stand a chance, they were supposed to beat us by 40, people were clowning our mascot, but I think people knew who we were for that first 20 minutes, and they’re not gonna make fun of us any more, I can tell you that.”
LJW


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It seemed like an entire NCAA Tournament had been played by the time Kansas took the court Friday at Sprint Center.

Kansas State’s season had already ended. Florida Gulf Coast had already dunked Georgetown. Marshall Henderson was already unwinding at Power and Light. People were lapsing into basketball-induced comas in their living rooms.

Then the Jayhawks took the floor, and it looked for a while like something could happen that would trump all of that and, arguably, anything else that has ever happened in the opening two days of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 1 seed Jayhawks, playing in front of what amounted to a home crowd at Sprint Center, got a serious scare from No. 16 seed Western Kentucky before escaping 64-57.

"We're happy to advance," coach Bill Self said, "but certainly not pleased with how we played."

…It's a safe bet that North Carolina won't go 3-for-20 from 3-point range on Sunday, so the Jayhawks know they need to play better if they hope to advance.

With the upset averted, Johnson was free to say what everyone had been thinking.

"I think personally it's just part of human nature to not be as prepared for a smaller team," he said. "But a North Carolina-Kansas game, I think everyone comes to play. There's going to be so much juice in the building. Roy is coming back. There's going to be a lot of fans pumped up. We'll be pumped up.

"We got the first one out of the way, so we're a little looser now. I think it will be a different attitude in the lockerroom."
TCJ


You could almost say that Jeff Withey blocked history.

Or you could just say that history was driving down the lane, saw Withey and kicked it out to its teammate that missed the shot at history.

Either way, Western Kentucky was nearly the No. 16 seed that did, but Jeff Withey scored 17 points off 7-of-8 shooting and dragged the Jayhawks across the finish line in their 64-57 win over the Hilltoppers.

“Jeff always bails us out,” forward Kevin Young said. “That’s his job. He’s a senior and he’s a leader. We put everything on his shoulders.”

It’s only natural that a bigger team like KU, playing against an undersized mid-major like Western Kentucky, would want and need to take advantage inside.

The first basket of the game came from Withey inside, as did the Jayhawks' second score. Six of KU’s first eight points came from its seven footer.

“We knew we had a size advantage with me and Kevin,” Withey said. “We definitely wanted to go inside and establish that, so that was our game plan.”
TCJ


Maybe there’s something about the Sprint Center. Maybe there’s just something about the postseason. Whatever it is, Kansas freshman forward Perry Ellis continued rapid, late-season evolution in the Jayhawks’ 64-57 win over Western Kentucky on Friday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"He’s been so impressive lately, you just see that confidence building and building," Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe said. "And tonight, where the guards aren’t playing very well we had to rely on the big guys a lot and Jeff (Withey), Perry and Kevin (Young) all stepped up."

Ellis had nine points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes against the Hilltoppers, and was one of the few sources of offense Kansas was able to rely on in a first half where no outside shots seemed to go in.

"We were just playing here last week, same stadium, same amount of people but this definitely felt different," Ellis said, referring to Kansas’ Big 12 championship. "That’s because the stakes are so high. It’s not something you can really experience until you’re in it."

Ellis was even confident enough to go to Kansas point guard Elijah Johnson and tell him a particular post move was going to be there "all day" if he found him in the right spot. That move came from the right block, where Ellis posted up and went to the same move several times, a 2-3 dribble progression into the lane, head fake and the shot.

"I just saw that part of the post was open every time," Ellis said. "I went to (Johnson) and told him to be looking for me on that side. I’m getting more confidence and my teammates are seeing that."

Ellis, who won four straight Class 6A titles at WIchita Heights, even had a basket and the foul — he didn’t make the free throw — where he adjusted in midair and went to his left, non-shooting hand to convert the bucket.

"I just had to react," Ellis said. "I got in the air and it was just instinct, really."
KC Star


“They tried just spreading me out and kind of playing one-on-one versus me,” Withey said. “During the second half me and Kevin (Young) kind of switched and I was able to play against No. 20 (6 foot, 10 inch Aleksejs Rostov). I felt more comfortable doing that just because I could kind of clog up the paint a little more.”

Withey recorded five blocks in the second half and finished with seven for the game to complement 17 points and six rebounds. He and forwards Kevin Young and Perry Ellis combined for 31 points on 12-20 shooting and grabbed 21 rebounds. Kansas’ guards shot 7-20.

Even though the Hilltoppers outrebounded Kansas 18-4 on the offensive glass, the three Kansas big men helped keep the Jayhawks in the game during the first half when the guards reverted back to their midseason turnover-prone ways.

“We were fortunate to win,” coach Bill Self said. “We kind of out-uglied them a little bit which was enough to create some separation late.”

Self said he could tell his team was tight in the locker room, especially freshman Ben McLemore, who finished with 11 points and shot 2-5. But even though Kansas didn’t hit a single 3-pointer and the guards didn’t ever seem comfortable except when Kansas got out in transition and didn’t turn the ball over, the Jayhawks tightened their own defense in the second half.

Both teams made eight field goals in the second half, but Kansas attempted only 17 shots. Western Kentucky attempted 39. Without Fant, the Hilltoppers didn’t have anyone who could effectively create offense. Their leading scorer, T.J. Price, shot 3-13 and finished with 12 points.

“Just wanting it and understanding that this tournament is about defense, not offense,” Johnson said. “Anybody can score. But everybody can’t guard.”

Despite the horrible night from McLemore and the rest of the guards, Self said it’s a positive that Kansas proved it could win when its backcourt struggles.

“We’re a team that could labor offensively,” Self said. “A lot of times when the game’s a muddy game we got to make sure that we get muddier than our opponent.”

Even though Kansas lacked offensive rhythm all night, it looked pristine at the free throw line. The Jayhawks went 24-30 from the charity stripe and McLemore and Tharpe combined to go 9-10 from the line in the final minute.
UDK


When the curtain came up, they played tighter than Bruce Jenner’s face, sloppier than the loudest patron at closing time and about as harmonious as an eighth-grade garage band. Sometimes they wore sneakers. At other times, I could have sworn they were on roller skates, not quite sure how to stop themselves. They couldn’t shoot straight from long distance. Full-court pressure perplexed them into 17 turnovers.

Yet, the Kansas Jayhawks, No. 1 seed in the South region of the NCAA Tournament, withstood a stiff challenge from a quick and confident Western Kentucky team, 64-57. Kansas advanced to a Sunday game against North Carolina, which on Opening Day of the Kansas City pod anyway looked like the best of the eight teams in the Sprint Center.

How did the Jayhawks overcome themselves on a night they couldn’t hold onto the ball and didn’t make a single three-pointer?

Well, it never hurts to have the best big man on the floor, which Kansas almost always does in any game on any year.
LJW Keegan


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Big 12/College News


3/22/13, 3:58 PM
#Big12Insider Announced attendance for Session 1 here at Sprint Center is 19,301
https://twitter.com/big12conference


@MattNorlander: CBS had highest Thursday rating for NCAA tourney in 22 years.
https://twitter.com/MattNorlander


The order of the top six favorites remains the same, but there are changes after that due to the stunning upset of Georgetown by Crazy Go Nuts University. The team that should be least appreciative of this result is Kansas because it’s now more likely they must go through Florida to get to Atlanta, and that is reflected in their chances of a title dropping from 4.2 percent to 2.8 percent. Syracuse is a mover in the opposite direction due to their comically easy win over Montana on Thursday.

Arizona benefits dramatically from the chaos in the West Region, but mainly from drawing an easier round of 32 opponent. Also, La Salle’s two wins took it from a 1-in-11,000 shot to about 1-in-900. By the way, my sympathies to Kansas State. Why were Boise State and La Salle 13-seeds, again? The other 13-seeds in the bracket were significantly worse and I’m not sure what K-State did to deserve having to play the tough 13.

The round of 32 log5 table is below…
kenpom.com


The string of Roy Williams' greatest hits just kept on coming Friday night.

• At least once the 62-year old North Carolina coach had one of his “spells” on the sideline against Villanova. You've got to know Roy. Sometimes he gets up too fast while crouching near the bench. The light-headedness makes him pause to compose himself. It's his thing. There is nothing to worry about. Williams has been doing this for his 25 years as a head coach.

• With slightly less than 16 minutes left in Friday's 78-71 win over the Wildcats in a South regional opener, Williams was so upset at his five players on the floor that he subbed in a new five. Again, another Roy trademark -- the hockey line change. The bench jockeys played for a minute and a half. The motivational message had been sent.

• Any milestone for Williams wouldn't be complete without another trademark: His whining. In the middle of the postgame press conference, in the middle of a lifetime achievement, Williams became upset that it was all about him. Never mind he had his 700th career win came with a team that looked aimless in January.

“Whoever made that decision, tell them I think it stinks,” said Williams, whose players were required to linger on the podium while the media asked about No. 700. “Tell the tournament committee that's one dumbest damn things they've ever done.”

Ah, vintage Roy. Some things never change. And sometimes Williams reminds that for all of his habits, there's a reason he could still do this for 10 more years and maybe get close to 1,000 wins. He plays a brand of basketball that kids enjoy. None of this half-court crap for Roy.
CBS Dennis Dodd


As North Carolina blew a 20-point lead but still topped Villanova, 78-71, those in the crowd who once cherished Williams as their coach — just about everyone, mind you, with Kansas playing in Friday’s nightcap — waited patiently for a resolution.

What they saw, whenever they happened to look up, was Williams’ 700th career victory.

This is his silver anniversary as a head coach, including 10 years with the Tar Heels after 15 with the Jayhawks. Williams reached the 700 mark faster than any active coach, getting there in 879 games.

Yes, he remembers when it all began.

…Williams was responsible for 418 wins with the Jayhawks. Of those, 42 came in Kansas City. Now, he can count a 43rd after a successful Sprint Center debut.

“The 700, that’s neat,’’ he said. “It’s a lot of players at Kansas and North Carolina that have made that happen, and I realize that. I’m very fortunate to be a coach. I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

“I’ve had great youngsters who have bought into what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to say, and they’ve made it look really, really good.’’

With that, Williams grew irritated that questions could be directed to him, while flanked by his players. Previous NCAA policy dictated that opening questions at any postgame news conference be posed to players only. That format changed this year, much to Williams’ chagrin.

Hey, you hear a little bit of everything if you’re around Roy long enough. The Tar Heels probably did too after Villanova required barely 11 minutes to wipe out North Carolina’s 20-point bulge.

Yet the Tar Heels survived and Williams achieved a milestone in a place he coached so many times before with KU. After the game, the UNC team greeted Williams with a jersey with the number 700 emblazoned on the front.

"When something like that happens, you usually like to have it happen at home where all your family and friends can be there,'' Williams said. "If I was going to choose another place, this place was fantastic for 15 years of my life.''
TCJ


Two possessions, one final minute. Everything changes, and it happens in a blink. More than 18,000 people on their feet. Maybe a few hundred of them for LaSalle, the rest cheering for K-State, even the Kansas fans roaring through a remarkable comeback after a rotten first half.

The Wildcats, usually so measured and sturdy, saw their season dissolve with a mess of inconsistency in a 63-61 loss to LaSalle in their first game of the NCAA Tournament at the Sprint Center on Friday.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world,” KSU senior Rodney McGruder said.

The margins in this sport, and especially this tournament, are excruciatingly small. Millions of dollars and the public reputations of men ride a razor’s edge. K-State could not have played much worse in the first half, or much better in the first 16 minutes or so of the second half.

The difference between an all-time comeback and a footnote as one of this year’s tournament flops is a final minute that went limp.
KC Star


What transpired in the ensuing two hours will stand as one of the most improbable outcomes in the history of the tournament. A victory of the commoner over the king. Yet among flesh-and-blood athletes, it was quite something else. FGCU (and soon these Eagles will need to shorten that mouthful) defeated Georgetown, 78-68, not in some watered-down hybrid of pure basketball meant to equalize unequals, but rather on the shoulders of a five-minute, second-half hail of defensive pressure, fearless high-speed offense and ridiculous long lob passes converted in rattling dunks that reduced Georgetown to ponderous (and eventually sullen) spectators. It was jut the seventh time in the 64-team era that a No. 15 seed had knocked off a No. 2, (though the third time in two years, after a gap of more than a decade)."You know,'' said Georgetown coach John Thompson III after the game, "They outplayed us tonight.'' It was a staggering four words of understatement. Georgetown has lost five consecutive game to double digit seeds, an ignominious record.

"We're long, we're athletic and we like to run,'' said Enfield, standing outside the FGCU locker room long after the win. "I felt if we could get Georgetown into our kind of game, we have a real good chance to win.'' These words are antithetical to the concept of the upset, which is often achieved when a slower team grinds a faster one down to its speed; and to the nature of college basketball in 2013, where half-court offense is so tightly managed and coaches so controlling that scores struggled to reach 60. FGCU, located in Fort Myers, Fla., is the opposite of all that.
SI


Frank Haith may not lose his job due to NCAA investigation, but he is going to need to win an NCAA game soon to keep it.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanCBS


Beat writer quits after team loss
http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php/2013/03/22/new-mexico-beat-writer-covering-the-lobos-for-30-years-quits-after-loss-to-harvard/


Ben Howland made it way too easy.

The embattled UCLA coach was supposed to scratch, claw and fight for the remaining two years on his contract and, perhaps, have his team -- a group of players assembled with the most hype this side of Kentucky -- ready to play, rather than resigned to play, in the NCAA tournament. But instead of playing like they were backed into a corner, the coach and his sixth-seeded Bruins decided to exit stage left, losing rather haphazardly to No. 11 Minnesota 83-63 in the round of 64 on Friday at the Erwin Center. Now the wonder around Westwood is whether Howland will be shown the door after 10 seasons.

That's been the speculation. Howland has certainly provided enough kindling to fuel the rumors with less-than-stellar NCAA showings since 2008, the last of three consecutive Final Four runs -- and, this season, less-than-stellar results with what was the nation's second-rated recruiting class.
ESPN


The Russian version of World Wide Wes?
Salon.com: Could this man control college basketball?


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Recruiting


Atlanta Journal Constitution Player of the Year: Brannen Greene

Brannen Greene, a 6-foot-7 forward from Tift County, is the No. 1-rated senior basketball prospect in Georgia. He averaged 27.0 points, seven rebounds and five assists and signed with Kansas.
Here are some lesser-known facts about The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s all-classification boys state player of the year.

1. Greene’s parents are former basketball players at Pittsburg State in Kansas. Both are assistant coaches on Tift County’s varsity basketball teams. Jeffrey Greene, a former Southwest Macon star, is 6 feet, 5 inches. Lori Cantrell Greene is 6-2.

2. Greene got his first scholarship offer from former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt the summer after his eighth-grade year. He settled on Kansas after making 10 campus visits. “I’d take a walk from the hotel on one end of campus to the fieldhouse on the other end,’’ Greene said. “Every time I did that, I would run into the college kids, and they’d say, ‘Hey, you’re Brannen, aren’t you?’ They all knew me.’’

3. Greene has a 4.0 GPA. His “far-fetched’’ ambition is to be a heart surgeon.

4. Greene played on AAU teams with older players, even if it meant less playing time. “Having to guard Shannon Scott (now at Ohio State) in practice and learning from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Georgia) was more valuable than coming away with 30 points,’’ his father said.

5. Greene transferred to Tift County from Mary Persons, a Class AAAA school that changed coaches twice in Greene’s three seasons, had not won a playoff game since 1968 and declined invitations to national tournaments that coveted Greene. “I wanted a chance to win a state championship and play at the highest level,’’ Greene said.

6. At Tift County, Greene joined another major blue-chip prospect, junior guard Tadric Jackson. They met several years ago at a tournament. Jackson frequently visited Greene and trained with Greene’s father.

7. Tift County was ranked No. 1 in Class AAAAAA when upset by North Cobb 68-63 in the quarterfinals. The Blue Devils blew a 14-point lead. “I just stood there shocked for about 30 seconds on the court,’’ Greene said. “I never at one point thought we were going to lose until they made those quick seven points. It was very tough to take.’’

8. Greene is a friend of Maya Moore, the former Collins Hill star and NCAA player of the year at Connecticut. Greene watched the high school state finals in Macon as a seventh-grader, and Moore approached him, recognizing him as a budding AAU star. She signed an old basketball that Greene brought. Moore later tried to persuade Greene to go to UConn. The Huskies were Greene’s second choice.

9. Greene is a scorer. “He’s 6-7, and he’s probably the best shooter in the state,’’ said Darron Rogers, coach of Westlake. “Then he handles the ball like a point guard, and he’s big enough that he can take you in the post. And he can guard his position. Those are professional athlete attributes.’’

10. Greene had no regrets about going to Tift County, which played in showcase events in Massachusetts and Florida and won a region title. “I didn’t get to accomplish everything I wanted,’’ he said, “but the season overall was very positive. I built friendships I didn’t have. There are things I can look back on in 10 years and be happy about.’’
AJC


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


Phog Phriday! 

3/22/2013

 

Phog Rolling In for NCAA Record 24th Consecutive Year!

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Scott McKechnie image

Going for win #2100!

Join us at Z-Strike, the official site for the Jayhawks at Power & Light, located right across the street from Sprint Center before and after the KU games.

Friday, March 22:
Pre-Game Party: 3:00pm (Z-Strike)
Kansas Jayhawks Pep Rally: 5:15pm (main stage of the Power & Light District)
Tip Off: 8:50pm or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the UNC/Villanova game

Can't make it? Follow the game on @KUGameday, listen in on Jayhawk Radio Network.
KUAD


3/20/13, 2:50 PM
Friday's telecast will be the 11th consecutive KU tournament game that I've called. I am on a first name basis with the mascot. I'm thinking about joining the Jayhawk Club to receive special offers on all KU gear, as well as preferred parking to games.
https://twitter.com/stevekerrtnt


3/21/13, 5:09 PM
Few LaSalle players doing Rock Chalk chant while training staff trying to work a deal for #kubball fans to root for LaSalle tomorrow...LaSalle staffer after seeing Sprint Center: Today must be a national holiday in KS. Nobody has to work. Guy responds w/ yeah, NCAA Tourney
https://twitter.com/mctait


3/21/13, 5:11 PM
Kansas fans gave Roy Williams a really nice ovation here before and after UNC's practice at Sprint Center. Didn't hear a single boo.
https://twitter.com/jasonkingespn


@rexchapman’s game to watch: “Western Kentucky and Kansas. I’m calling it an upset. The Toppers taking down the JayHawks.” #kubball



3/21/13, 5:17 PM
Jayhawk fans mob the Sprint Center in Kansas City Thursday for KU's practice
https://twitter.com/jmarchiony

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Kansas practiced and a pep rally broke out. pic.twitter.com/Kmn5CFHYyq
https://mobile.twitter.com/dennisdoddcbs
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KUAD image

KUAD: Jayhawks meet the media, practice in Sprint Center Thursday


KUAD Photos


KC Star Photos


LJW Photos


Wichita Eagle Photos


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KC Star image


Ben McLemore: Rising Up


When Western Kentucky walked into the Sprint Center on Thursday morning, its coach, Ray Harper, was stopped by security.

The guards at the Sprint Center deemed that Harper himself was a threat. Security assumed he was a Western Kentucky fan. His staff had to tell the men in red jackets, “He coaches our basketball team.”

“I’m sure Bill Self didn’t get asked the questions I got asked,” Harper said with a smile. “They didn’t know who the heck I was.”

They should’ve known, but not just because Harper coaches one of the eight teams that will play at Sprint Center on Friday.

The 52-year old coach of the Hilltoppers has a resume that can nearly match any of the seven other coaches in Kansas City. Harper won two NCAA Division II championships at Kentucky Wesleyan and two NAIA Championships for Oklahoma City University. That’s more championships than Bill Self. More than Roy Williams. More than Jay Wright and Bruce Weber too.

While his rings have not come from college basketball’s highest level of competition, it still doesn’t change the fact that Harper has experience succeeding in a tournament with his teams.

“He’s terrific,” Self said. “I’ve known Ray for a while. He’ done a great job wherever he’s been and won at the highest level wherever he’s been.”

…His athletic director at the time, Jim Abbot, who’s still with OCU, spoke over the phone.

...and told him two things: 1) It’s tough playing KU in Kansas City, and 2) If you’re going to play a one seed, it might as well be the one that lost to TCU.

Abbot said Harper didn’t respond to his analysis.

“They’re favored to lose by 15-to-20 points,” Abbot said. “I guarantee there isn’t any of that on their side.”

“He’s pretty giddy,” Abbot added.
TCJ


Ray Harper, when he was coach at Oklahoma City University, played a role in Kansas' last national championship.

When he was at OCU, the current Western Kentucky coach allowed Darnell Jackson, a local lad to work out with his team while Jackson was dealing with family issues. Jackson went on to become a starter for the Jayhawks when they won the title in 2008.

When the 16th-seeded Hilltoppers (20-15) face the No. 1 seed Kansas (29-5), Harper could again be a facilitator for another deep NCAA Tournament run by the Jayhawks.

"I'm trying to watch as little film as I can," Harper said of Friday night's South Regional second-round game here at the Sprint Center. "It makes it hard to sleep at night."

…Western Kentucky made NCAA history in earning a spot in the bracket. The Hilltoppers became the first school to win four games in four days in consecutive seasons to earn a conference's automatic bid.

"I think, this time of year, you win with your defense and your ability to rebound the basketball," Harper said. "If we turn the ball over at a high rate, we're in a lot of trouble, there's no question about it. At times, that's been something that's been a problem for us and other times we've been really good. So hopefully that team that understands and values that basketball shows up Friday night."
Big 12 Sports


Harper’s mantra: “Why not us?” The Hilltoppers will try to be the basketball equivalent of Roger Bannister: Become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1.

“Why not now?” Harper said. “We know what kind of team Kansas has. It’s going to be an unbelievable task. The good part is our kids have an opportunity. We’re going to play hard and we’re going to play loose.”

Perhaps not too loose.

All season long, turnovers have been an issue: WKU overcame 61 miscues over four games to win the Sun Belt title.

Beating Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Arkansas State and Florida International is one thing. Tonight will be totally different.

“The key for us is going to be real simple: don’t throw the ball away,” Harper said. “Take care of the basketball, eliminate silly turnovers. We know what a challenge it’s going to be Friday night. The main thing is we go out there and compete and don’t have a lot of turnovers.”

That’s easier to say than execute for a team that ranked No. 297 in the nation in turnovers (15.0 per game). While the backcourt injuries (point guard Jamal Crook missed 11 games with a broken bone in his right foot) were a factor midseason, the turnovers haven’t stopped.

In the title game against FIU, WKU had 18 turnovers to only nine assists. The Hilltoppers’ 0.74 assists-to-turnover ratio puts them No. 314 out of 345 teams.

Guard Brandon Harris said the team has emphasized fundamental passes all week.

“This is no secret,” the junior said. “When you pass the ball, make sure your target is going to be 100 percent sure of catching it. Don’t make the hard play, make the easy one.”
Louisville CJ


When Kansas prepares for an upcoming opponent, one assistant coach is responsible for preparing the scouting report. The assistant coaches, Joe Dooley, Kurtis Townsend and Norm Roberts, develop continuity by scouting the same conference opponents each season.

Nonconference and tournament games are divided based on feel. For example, Roberts said he is scouting No. 9 seed Villanova since he used to coach against the Wildcats when he was the head coach at St. John’s. Dooley is scouting No. 8 seed North Carolina because he scouted them last year when the Jayhawks and Tar Heels squared off in the Elite Eight.

And Townsend is responsible for scouting Kansas’ first opponent in this NCAA Tournament, Western Kentucky.

…After No. 1 seed Gonzaga survived a major upset scare Thursday evening from No. 16 seed Southern, the debate about when a No. 1 seed would lose surfaced again. A No. 1 seed has never lost in the round of 64, but No. 16 seed Holy Cross nearly upset No. 1 seed Kansas in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

Even though all the pressure is on Kansas not to lose, Releford said the Jayhawks have the same attitude they’ve used all year when facing mid-major opponents.

“I think the good thing for us is we play with that pressure all year, we play with a target on our back,” Releford said. “We play against everybody’s best shot for the majority of the time we’re out there playing. I don’t think it’ll be any surprise if a team comes out and plays their best game because we’re looking forward to that.”
UDK


When Naadir Tharpe looks at his scouting report for Western Kentucky, he sees what the Hilltoppers’ strength is and likes it.

“The most important thing is they’re a fast-break team,” Tharpe said. “They like to play up-and-down so transition is really important.”

Western Kentucky’s strength is in its guard play, led by T.J. Price and Jamal Crook. The Hilltopers like to push the tempo and spread their opponents with a mostly small lineup. It’s the type of play that can be tricky for some teams to handle, but Tharpe enjoys playing against the up-tempo style.

“I think it definitely helps us,” Tharpe said. “Coach definitely wants us to play fast.”

…It was the day after the TCU loss. The one where Bill Self said his team couldn’t have beaten the Topeka YMCA.

Naturally, it was an afternoon when Elijah Johnson wanted to feel better about himself and his team. Yet mostly, he wanted to smile.

“A lot of people would go to the mall and go shopping or do this or that,” Johnson said. “I’m not really one of those people. I just drop in on a high school game. I like to do stuff for people.”

Johnson got into his car that Feb. 7 day and drove about 10 miles down K-10 highway to Eudora High School. The Eudora Cardinals were playing Spring Hill, and Johnson wanted to do something nice for a local kid he has known for four years named Chris, who plays for Spring Hill.

So Johnson walked in the high school gym, a place where he could get away from the pressures of KU basketball and just have fun. This was a place where people would be happy to see him, where they wouldn’t ask about the loss.

Johnson said only half the reason for the trip was to see Chris. The other half was for himself — just to watch a basketball game and enjoy it.

“You still have an effect on people and that’s what that proved,” Johnson said. “I went in there and those people showed me love regardless of how I was playing and regardless of what was going on and that feels good.”
TCJ


Kevin Young was fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube as he sat in Kansas’ locker room Thursday, waiting for the Jayhawks’ turn on the Sprint Center practice floor.

“It helps me to relax and stay grounded,” KU’s 6-foot-8 forward said.

He quickly had the puzzle in perfect order.

“I’ve got this pattern,” he said. “I can do it in two minutes now.”

As a fifth-year senior, Young has a lot of things figured out.

From the get-go this season, he knew his role was to bring energy, collect garbage baskets and play killer defense.

Young has done it well, which is one reason why KU takes a top seed into the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks’ opening show is Friday night against 16th-seeded Western Kentucky.

But over the last two weeks, Perry Ellis’ game has picked up considerably. The freshman forward from Wichita Heights has begun to play up to his talent.

No one is more please about that than Young. After all, it’s Ellis who will have to fill Young’s spot next year.

“I love to see him shine,” Young said. “I know I’m leaving things in good hands.”

Although Young’s minutes haven’t dropped any because of Ellis’ emergence, Young figures an improved Ellis has made him better.

“It gives me more confidence to go a little bit harder,” he said.

Bill Self sees the same thing.

“Since Perry has played really well, Kevin has played even better,” the KU coach said. “I think it’s raised his level.

“Kevin plays with such energy and so hard, hopefully, with shorter spurts, he can play even harder maybe. I’m excited about that.”
KC Star


With his teammates, Travis Releford is just one of the guys.

Other people might have more talent, but Releford carries his weight. Shows up on time. Does his job. Knows his way around the lane.

Releford realizes that he’s one piece of a bigger puzzle, and that’s why this team is so successful.

“If there was seeding, we would be a No. 1 seed overall,” Releford said. “We would be, I’m telling you.”

Yeah, Releford is kind of a big deal around his Monday night bowling league, though sometimes he gets a hard time about it when he’s hanging out with his other team. Releford’s Kansas teammates don’t need much incentive to tease him about his age, so it plays right into the stereotype when they catch him leaving basketball practice and heading straight to the Jaybowl.

“We’d have practice on Mondays and we’ll be doing something and I’ll yell out, ‘Hey, we gotta get out of here. I got bowling league tonight,’ ” Releford said. “They give me crap about it, but it’s all fun.”
TCJ


“It’s just a great story for Kansas City basketball,” says Rick Zych, Releford’s coach at Bishop Miege.

But do you know the rest? Do you know about the quiet kid who showed up at Miege as an unsure freshman, the basketball star who would spend hours working to catch up in the classroom?

Do you know that Releford spent his childhood taking trips to visit an incarcerated father, a man who was ripped out of his life before he could even walk?

Do you know the story of a young father destined to make up for the sins of his own dad?

Do you know about the avid bowler who joined a team with a bunch of “regular dudes” from KU because he thought it’d be fun?

On Wednesday evening, Releford went for a walk with his best friend near KU’s team hotel in Kansas City. It had been months since Michael Gholston Jr. had seen Releford, and they had plenty of catching up to do.

“We were just playing AAU ball,” Releford says, reflecting for a moment on Thursday evening. “(We played in) pickup leagues around the city. And now I’m playing in the tournament in my city.”

…Releford found a father figure in Gholston’s dad, Michael Sr., and he found structure at Miege. There were harder classes, and teachers and coaches that would push him in the classroom.

“It was gonna take time,” Zych says. “And he was willing to put in the work. So he came so far — even more academically than athletically. For him to be a college graduate, it’s just a super story.”

…“The young man he is and the man he has become,” Goolsby says. “It’s more than basketball.”
KC Star: Releford in the Jayhawks 'rock'


Sitting at the same Sprint Center locker he used in the Big 12 tournament, Kansas University senior center Jeff Withey thought back to a play during the regular season. He couldn’t remember the game. He just remembered not liking the play. Freshman teammate Perry Ellis missed another short shot, frittering away another two points.

“I’m not a guy who is going to grab you by the neck or anything like that, but I was like, ‘Dunk the ball!’ I just got in his face and told him to be aggressive,” Withey said. “I think everybody on the team has done that with Perry at one time or another.”

Nobody knows an athlete’s talent level more deeply than a teammate who alternately shares the floor and battles against him daily in practice. Long before Ellis shocked the world by scoring 23 points against Iowa State in a Big 12 tournament semifinal, teammates knew he had serious ability. His most impressive athletic trait?

“The way that he runs,” Withey said. “He runs like a guard. He’s brought the ball up the court so many times in practice and even some in games. He’s just an athlete, and it’s annoying when he doesn’t put it into play.”

He’s putting it into play now, and as Withey said, “It couldn’t be at a more perfect time.”
LJW


“I mean, we hear it every day,” senior Kevin Young said of some past KU early-round losses. “We try not to buy into all the stuff about it. As players, we realize we’ve got to take everybody serious, focus on everybody and take it one game at a time.”

The Jayhawks open the tourney with four senior starters plus red-shirt freshman standout Ben McLemore.

“We know what it takes to get to the championship game. We were there last year,” noted Withey, who along with Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford started for the team that placed runner-up to Kentucky in the 2012 NCAAs. “You can’t look down on your opponent at all. I think that’s something in the past we didn’t have four seniors to control the team and kind of take us to the promised land. I am really positive about this team. I think we are going to make a run for it. We know not to keep our guard down at all.”

If No. 1 seed KU (29-5) survives Western Kentucky of the Sun Belt Conference, it would meet the winner of today’s 6:20 p.m. game between North Carolina and Villanova on Sunday in a third-round tourney game.

Withey believes the Jayhawks learned a valuable lesson in this year’s 62-55 loss at Big 12 cellar dweller Texas Christian on Feb. 6.

“We weren’t tough at all. Our defense was horrible,” Withey said. “Coach prides himself on having tough teams, tough kids. That night, we weren’t us. We couldn’t score for the longest time. We were stuck at two points. Everything wasn’t going our way. That’s in the past. Like I said, we have a lot of seniors, and we’re all excited for this tournament.”

Point guard Johnson entertained the media Thursday by describing what the seniors bring to the table in terms of leadership.

“It’s so weird. We’ve got a chain reaction going,” Johnson said. “I know how to calm Travis down. Kevin knows how to calm me down. Jeff knows how to calm Kevin down, and Travis knows how to calm Jeff down. But those routes don’t mix. I don’t go to Jeff to calm Jeff down, but it’s something I expect Travis to do.

“Not many people try to calm me down. One person who has never hesitated to try is Kevin. We open our ears to each other.”
LJW

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Tom Hentzen, a KU fan from Olathe, sat courtside during practices Thursday, determined to get Williams and Self to autograph a large picture he had of them shaking hands before the 2008 Final Four semifinal.

It took some doing because security guards kept running him off. He managed to get Williams’ autograph during the Tar Heels’ practice but didn’t get a chance to approach Self.

“Getting Roy was the big one,” he said, “because he’s not around here much anymore. I can always get Self’s later.”
KC Star


When the former KU coach took his team on to the Sprint Center court for a public workout Thursday, fans received him warmly. They stood, they clapped, they showed their appreciation.

Granted, it was a shoot-around in which the audience was contained to about half of the lower section. It did not replicate the crowd that will be in attendance Sunday if top-seeded Kansas beats Western Kentucky and eighth-seeded North Carolina downs Villanova.

“I realize some people were upset when I left (Kansas),’’ Williams said. “Hopefully, time is going to cure a lot of those problems. In college basketball, we’ve got enough to worry about without worrying about whether they’re going to clap or boo when I come out.’’

This is the deepest North Carolina has invaded KU turf since Williams left the Jayhawks following the 2002-03 season. Being sent to Kansas City for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament means playing in an arena where KU stands 6-0 this season before partisan crowds.

The public workout North Carolina conducted, though, was quite amiable.

The Tar Heels closed their workout with a dunking exhibition. Then, Williams waved to the crowd, which again cheered its appreciation.

The support was no doubt soothing for Williams.

“A guy stopped me in the airport and said, ‘Coach, I just wanted to say hello, but I wanted to tell you I’m a big-time Jayhawk fan,’ ’’ Williams related. “I said, ‘I am, too.’ He walked off, went down a couple of gates, came back a few moments later and said, ‘You surprised me.’

“I said, ‘I was there 15 years, had wonderful players that I loved. It was family and always will be.’ It’s not immoral to love two institutions.’’
TCJ


A decade after his departure, Williams is coaching North Carolina in his old home’s backyard for the first time. He is 0-2 against Kansas, with both losses coming in the NCAA Tournament. There will be a third game Sunday if both teams win tonight at the Sprint Center. And if there is, it will be the first time Williams’ old program is clearly the stronger team.

The truth is, Kansas basketball is better than Williams left it, and who saw that coming?

…This is all personal to Williams in a way that it never will be for Self. Privately, people who know Williams well will tell you that. Williams moved away from Kansas, but he’ll never be able to move on. Not completely, anyway.

That’s why he wore that Jayhawk sticker to the 2008 Final Four. That’s why, a decade later, he still talks about how he gave his “heart, body and soul” to Kansas for 15 years. He name-drops Jayhawks players all the time. This is personal for him.

When some fans at Illinois took offense at Self’s leaving, he never paid it much mind. Self moved on in a way that Williams can’t. Self was only at Illinois for three years, but this difference is at the core of who both men are, for better and worse. There aren’t a lot of people who are close to both coaches. But some who are describe subtle but important contrasts.

…You can argue that Williams has been better at Carolina (two titles to one, three Final Fours to two), but there is little question that Self has been better for Kansas. He has a higher winning percentage, the same number of conference titles and a national championship in five fewer seasons.

A decade later, Self has pushed the old coach into a detached place in the program’s history. Kansas is Self’s now.
KC Star Mellinger


Roy radio interview on 610 w/transcript


North Carolina, which enters the game as a four-point favorite, may have more talent than Villanova. The Tar Heels may be a bit under-seeded — third in the ACC and a berth in the conference tournament title game usually gets you more than an 8 seed — and may have the luxury of having at least a few players who have experienced the NCAA Tournament and its intense pressure in much bigger games and venues. But I don’t think they’ll win.

Forget just playing the hunch, though. Villanova has real talent. Freshman point guard Ryan Arcidiacono was a unanimous selection on the Big East’s all-rookie squad and the Wildcats have a size advantage inside, led by senior forward Mouphtaou Yarou (6-foot-10, 255 pounds) and sophomore bruiser JayVaughn Pinkston (6-7, 260). In addition, the Wildcats are the better defensive team, are better free-throw shooters and have a more quality wins. Forget about the 20-13 overall record. In the past 59 days alone, ‘Nova knocked off Louisville and Syracuse in back-to-back games and also snagged victories over Marquette and Georgetown. That’s victories over a No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament and 11 total games (4-7) against NCAA Tournament teams. UNC? Not a single victory against a team currently in the Top 25.

I think Villanova wins. I think Roy goes home sad. But, when it’s all said and done, I don’t think it hurts as bad as losing to Kansas — again.
LJW Tait


In these glorious times for basketball in Kansas, maybe it’s best to call on an impartial voice to assess the NCAA Tournament and the March Madness about to go down Friday, when the University of Kansas and Kansas State University both play games at the Sprint Center.

So does a former NCAA champion, All-American and eight-year NBA veteran work?

OK, good.

“I’ve never been to Kansas City before, matter of fact,” said former North Carolina center and current Tar Heels’ color commentator Eric Montross, who won an NCAA title in 1993. “The NCAA Tournament is a magical ride. ... You love to come into an atmosphere that’s as excited as this is for the tournament with Kansas and Kansas State here. It’s perfect.”

There’s your impartial opinion. After that, the lines get much more blurred.

At best, fans of the Jayhawks and Wildcats are being cordial about having to share an NCAA Tournament location for the third time in five years, after Omaha in 2008 and Oklahoma City in 2010.
KC Star


LJW: Notebook


LJW: KU-WKU couple a rare item


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)

Big 12/College News

NCAA March Madness on Demand will provide live streaming video of every game of the new 68-team tournament as they are broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports.

All times ET.

FRIDAY MARCH 22

12:15, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Albany (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

12:40, truTV, Kansas City: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

1:40, TBS, Dayton: No. 8 NC State vs. No. 9 Temple (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

2:10, TNT, Austin: No. 2 Miami vs. No. 15 Pacific (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

2:45, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Cincy (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

3:10, truTV, Kansas City: No. 4 K-State vs. Boise State-La Salle winner (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

4:10, TBS, Dayton: No. 1 Indiana vs. LIU Brooklyn-JMU winner (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

4:40, TNT, Austin: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

6:50, TBS, Philly: No. 2 G'town vs. No. 15 Fla. Gulf Coast (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

7:15, CBS, Dayton: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Iona (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

7:20, TNT, Kansas City: No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Villanova (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

7:27, truTV, Austin: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 14 N'western St. (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

9:20, TBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 San Diego St. vs. No. 10 OU (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

9:45, CBS, Dayton: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Iowa State (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

9:50, TNT, Kansas City: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Western Kentucky (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

9:57, truTV, Austin: No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Minnesota (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

THIRD ROUND GAMES

SATURDAY, MARCH 23

12:15 p.m. CBS Auburn Hills VCU vs. Michigan
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nichols

After conc. 1
CBS Auburn Hills II Memphis vs. Michigan St.
Lundquist/ Raftery// Nichols


5:15 p.m. CBS Lexington I Colorado State vs. Louisville
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce

After conc. I
CBS Lexington II Butler vs. Marquette
Eagle/Spanarkel//LaForce


6:10 p.m. TNT Salt Lake City I Harvard vs. Arizona
Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio

After conc. I
TNT Salt Lake City I Wichita St. vs. Gonzaga
Dedes/Gottlieb//Maggio


7:10 pm TBS San Jose I Oregon vs. St. Louis
Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider

After conc. I
TBS San Jose II California vs. Syracuse/Montana
Anderson/ Bonner//Snider
CBS
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/21900330/2013-ncaa-tournament-first-four-round-of-64-schedule-tip-times-tv-info


3/21/13, 8:13 PM
My initial reaction is that there are more Colorado State fans than #Mizzou fans in Rupp Arena.
https://twitter.com/gabedearmond


Lawrence High graduate Dorian Green finished with a game-high 26 points, including 17 in the first half and three three-pointers. Green made his 127th career start Thursday — most in school history.

Green was offered a chance to walk on at Kansas out of high school but opted to to take a scholarship with Colorado State instead.
KC Star


3/21/13, 11:25 PM
Colorado State guard Dorian Green (Lawrence High grad): "It feels good to be from Kansas and beat Missouri."
https://twitter.com/sammcdowell


The question currently coursing through the game is what kind of system works. On Wednesday, we saw one side of the philosophical divide when Julius Randle, the best high-school player in the U.S., agreed to spend a year or two at the University of Kentucky, beginning next fall. Randle is from Texas, so why go to school in Lexington? “The final straw that came to me was the system,” Randle said, during a nationally televised press conference. “I felt like the system at Kentucky was a great system.” What he meant, really, is that John Calipari has a structure in place that allows him to take the most talented high schoolers he can find and prepare them for paid positions in basketball as efficiently—and quickly—as possible. Usually, it works. The downside is that occasionally Kentucky will end up with a season like the one it just completed: the Wildcats became just the fifth team since 1985 to miss the tournament one year after winning the whole thing. They fell even further on Tuesday with a loss to Robert Morris in the first round of the N.I.T., college basketball’s consolation tournament, which is a bit like a U.S. Senator, having been defeated for reëlection, running for city council and losing to a teen-ager.

…Calipari’s system will produce both spectacular results and disappointing failures. To look at a different, more consistent approach, take the University of Kansas and its head coach of ten years, Bill Self. (A disclosure up front: I’m a fan.) Kansas, like Kentucky, is one of college basketball’s elite programs, and it has the ability to attract top talent. Often it does, but sometimes it doesn’t: only once in the past four years has Self had a recruiting class ranked among the nation’s ten best. (Kentucky has ranked first or second in each of those years.) Nevertheless, under Self, the Jayhawks have won nine straight conference championships—the first time any team has done that since John Wooden’s U.C.L.A. dynasty in the seventies—and one national championship, and they enter this year’s tournament as a No. 1 seed.

…Self also recognizes the fact that he is dealing with teen-agers who must be given strict, consistent instructions. “We have to convince our players that if we play the way we’re supposed to play, we’re going to be really good,” Self said recently, as an explanation of his steady success. “We have to convince our players that this is what we do.” The Jayhawks—like Kentucky, which deploys Calipari’s N.B.A.–ready dribble-drive offense—run the same offensive sets, year in and year out, regardless of which players are in place. Which brings us to the most famous shot in Kansas's history. Down three points, with ten seconds to go in the 2008 national-championship game against Memphis—coached, at that time, by Calipari—Self called a play to get his shooting guard, Mario Chalmers, open for a game-tying three-pointer. The play involved the point guard Sherron Collins bringing the ball up the right side of the court and passing it off to Chalmers, as if they were quarterback and running back, before using his body to gently impede the defenders’ path and give Chalmers just a little space to take his shot. It worked; Kansas won, and in almost every end-of-game situation since, Self has called the same play. (Here it is earlier this year, with only the addition of an extra pass. Same result.)

…By now, fans know it’s coming. Why don’t Kansas’s opponents? I posed that question to Doug Gottlieb, a former top college point guard who is now one of the color analysts for C.B.S. He took my pen and paper and diagrammed the play, showing how many scoring options it afforded Kansas, and the difficulties it presents to an ill-prepared defense. It is a finely tuned system that, when run as it should be, is all but guaranteed to work as planned. The only way to disrupt it is an equally effective system designed by the opposing coach. So why didn’t other teams have a plan in place? Gottlieb offered one suggestion, which brings us back to the trouble inherent in depending on boys who are too young to legally drink: “A lot of these Big East teams don’t scout because their kids are too stupid, and they’re worried they’re gonna confuse them.” This is the ultimate expression of why properly implemented and designed systems typically dominate college basketball: lesser coaches and teams can’t counteract them if they don’t even try. And when success is left to chance, in the hands of twenty-year-olds, the system wins out.
The New Yorker



Was UCLA star freshman Shabazz Muhammad’s dad so desperate to see his son succeed in basketball that he lied about his age in order for him to look better competing against younger, smaller athletes as a kid?

It certainly looks that way, as Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, is starting to remind people of Todd Marinovich’s infamous father, Marv, after an eye-opening feature on the family in Friday’s Los Angeles Times.

The Bruins’ media guide lists Muhammad’s birthdate and birthplace as November 13, 1993, in Los Angeles. But a copy of his birth certificate on file with the L.A. County Department of Public Health shows that he was born exactly one year earlier.

“[It can be] a huge edge,” Eddie Bonnie, executive director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, told the Los Angeles Times. (Muhammad grew up in Las Vegas.) “People naturally look at the big, strong kids.”

In other words, Muhammad was pulling a Danny Almonte – whether he was aware of it or not.

Holmes insisted to the LA Times that the age mix-up was a mistake. But considering Holmes also told the Times that he picked his three children’s names based on what “would sound good and be marketable worldwide” — not to mention him allegedly offering a publicist’s job to the writer who discovered the discrepancy, Ken Bensinger — we’re skeptical about Holmes’ claimed ignorance.
Lost Letterman


Recruiting


Congrats to Brannen Greene, Georgia POY! Also to Justise Winslow, a junior, Texas POY, Tyus Jones, MN POY, and Andrew Wiggins, WV POY!
Gatorade State Players of the Year


3/21/13, 8:52 PM
@22wiggins KU bro! lol
https://twitter.com/b_greene14


3/21/13, 2:26 PM
Blessed to be named Texas Gatorade Player of the Year! Thanks to everyone who has supported me this far.
https://twitter.com/chief_justise


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


Tournament Thursday! The best Thursday of the year!

3/21/2013

 
Picture
CBS image of Wale's bracket


KU digital tournament guide



Be sure to come to Sprint Center for a sneak peak at KU open practice on Thursday, March 21 from 5:10-5:50pm in Sprint Center before the action kicks off on Friday.

Join us at Z-Strike, the official site for the Jayhawks at Power & Light, located right across the street from Sprint Center before and after the KU games.

Friday, March 22:
Pre-Game Party: 3:00pm (Z-Strike)
Kansas Jayhawks Pep Rally: 5:15pm (main stage of the Power & Light District)
Tip Off: 8:50pm or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the UNC/Villanova game

Can't make it? Follow the game on @KUGameday, listen in on Jayhawk Radio Network.
KUAD


Roy Williams says there is "no way" he could walk out of that other tunnel at allen fieldhouse. #kubball
https://twitter.com/bobfescoe/


“I’d much rather play a team you match up well against than play in your time zone,” Self said. “I think it (playing close to home) has helped us in some instances, some it hasn’t been great for us. Sometimes when you play close to home, especially this close, there are a lot more potential distractions that creep in there.

“Sometimes when you play far away, you can eliminate a lot of those distractions. Still, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives when you talk about the familiarity with the court, the arena and of course, hopefully a great fan base.”

Self took his players and assistants out for dinner at Capital Grille on Wednesday night. They’ll hold a shoot-around open to the public (admission is free) from 5:10 to 5:50 p.m. today in Sprint Center, then hang out at the hotel all day Friday while awaiting game time.

“They will not be walking around downtown or the mall (Crown Center) much at all,” Self said. “We’ll have a nice dinner tonight. After that, we’ll probably spend all our time at least on their room floor or banquet room (meeting) area. We will not be amongst the people too much.

“It’s a business trip,” Self added. “We’ll have fun tonight. Business should be fun if you win. We rarely go out as a group and dine ever. During the NCAA Tournament, usually you are going in two days early, (so) the first night is probably a pretty good night to do that. That’s what we’ll do ... get them out of the hotel. After that, we’ll have them pretty much on lockdown.”
LJW


“I don’t like the late start on Friday night,” Self said. “With the things that you have that are mandatory that have to take place after the game, you’re looking at having dinner at 1 a.m., 1:30 a.m. and not going to bed until 3. And then it’s a short day the next day and then you play potentially having to get up at 8 o’clock in the morning on Sunday.”

But for Self, it’s a good problem to have. As he prepares to make his 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, he fielded a question about the NCAA Tournament’s magnitude, especially for teams that don’t go to the Tournament every year like Kansas does.

And although he’s made every NCAA Tournament since Ben McLemore was 5 years old, there was a time Self wasn’t an automatic invitee to the NCAA Tournament. While he stood next to the entrance to The Brasserie, a restaurant in the hotel’s lobby, Self thought back to his first team at Oral Roberts, which finished 6-21 as an independent in 1993-1994.

“When I took the job at Oral Roberts we weren’t eligible,” Self said. “We weren’t in a league. We would have had to be an independent getting invited and that usually doesn’t happen when you’re 6-21. There’s not a lot of independents getting an at-large berth.”
UDK


“It’s definitely fun,” he said. “It’s what I wanted to do and why I came to this school. Just getting the chance to come out on the court and play, I’m just excited about that and try to produce as much as I can.”

As he prepares for his second NCAA experience, Tharpe admits to being excited about what lies ahead and understands he never would have reached this point had he not learned from the past.

“It’s all about timing,” Tharpe said. “When it’s time for you and (KU coach Bill Self) calls your name, you gotta be ready to step up and take on the challenge. Seeing the dudes from last year who didn’t play as much (before that), that was their year that they stepped up. Jeff (Withey), Elijah (Johnson), even (former KU guard Conner) Teahan. That’s what I learned the most. Your name’s gonna get called, it’s all a matter of what you do when it’s called.”

Asked what he thought helped Tharpe bridge the gap between bench warmer and first guard off the bench, Johnson answered with words that sounded as if they came from Tharpe himself.

“Opportunity, really,” Johnson said. “He got his opportunity, and he’s taking advantage of it.”

…Asked where his confidence is heading into Friday’s 8:50 p.m. tipoff against No. 16 seed Western Kentucky, Tharpe did not hold back.

“Extremely high,” he said with a smile. “I feel like I can go out there and play with anybody. With coach giving me that confidence and my teammates, it’s hard not to be confident when I step out there now.”
LJW


If Ellis' performance in the Big 12 tourney gave him a measure of comfort, it was hard to tell. For the better part of four months, the introverted Ellis has said the same things: He needed to be more aggressive. He was working on being more aggressive.

The Jayhawks hope he'll become more, well - aggressive. On Saturday, as the Jayhawks celebrated their conference tournament title, Ellis repeated the season long refrain.

"I just gotta keep listening to Coach," Ellis said. "That's all I'm doing. I'm just listening to Coach, and telling him: 'Whatever he wants me to do, I'm going to do it.' And good things will happen."

For Kansas, the goal is the Jayhawks' 15th Final Four, a journey made easier after Ellis' evolution. Of course, it's unlikely that Ellis' minutes will increase too much. In March, Self says, starters tend to play more minutes and bench players turn into insurance against injury or foul trouble.

But Ellis' rapid rise does give Self something he didn't have two weeks ago: a scoring option off the bench. Maybe it's not what anyone envisioned back in October. But on those days at practice when Ellis plays free and confident, forgetting that he's a freshman, Withey can see glimpses. His freshman teammate is getting closer.

"When he's out there and having fun and stuff, he's a great player," Withey said. "When he's like that, he's a (heck) of a ballplayer."
KC Star


The lesson to be learned from this team that became Bill Self’s fifth in the past seven years to earn a No. 1 seed is that it pays not to read too much into first impressions. The average student arrives at college a boy and grows into a man. Why should it be any different for a basketball player?

“I feel like — and you might hear this from coach’s mouth — it’s not the most talented team that we’ve had here at Kansas even in my four years,” Johnson said. “My freshman year with Sherron (Collins) and my sophomore year with the twins (Marcus and Markieff Morris), those are some good teams. I felt like we had targets on our back, and we didn’t respond like we should have. This is a more, I feel, humble team, a more … I really don’t know the word to explain … I don’t feel we’re those old teams. I feel like we know that we’re not the best talented.”
LJW


The WKU basketball team will make its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance Friday when it takes on the Kansas Jayhawks in Kansas City, Mo. It will mark the fifth all-time matchup between the tradition-rich programs that have combined for 98 conference championships in the past 105 years.

While the 2013 rendition of Hilltoppers versus Jayhawks may read No.16 seed vs. No.1 seed, the 1971 Final Four showdown between the schools featured the nation’s No.7 and No.4 ranked teams. WKU’s all-time leading scorer Jim McDaniels recorded arguably the greatest individual game in Hilltopper history during the third-place contest, scorching the nets for 36 points and ripping down 19 rebounds in leading WKU to a 77-75 victory.

“It was a great game, could have been the championship game,” said McDaniels. “We were warriors and we were going to go out winners. God blessed me to have an awesome game.”

McDaniels was named All-American during each of his three seasons on the Hill (1969-71) and had his No.44 jersey retired after averaging 27 points and 13 rebounds per game in his career. The now 64-year- old McDaniels won’t be strapping up his Converse sneakers or donning his No.44 jersey when WKU tangles with Kansas this time around, but his blood runs through a Hilltopper who will.

“It’s an honor,” said sophomore forward George Fant, the cousin of McDaniels, who now wears No. 44. “I’m very proud to wear the same number. For him to be able to see me play, while wearing his old number, means a lot to me.”

Fant wore No.4 as a prep star at Warren Central High School in Bowling Green, Ky. and had no intentions of wearing No.44 when he arrived on the Hill for the 2011-12 season, but McDaniels insisted on his cousin wearing his legendary number. The 6-foot-6 Fant hasn’t let McDaniels down in his first 65 games sporting the jersey, scoring 758 points and tallying 418 rebounds while leading the Hilltoppers to two-straight Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championships.

“We love the big moment,” said McDaniels. “No.44 is full of points, rebounds and steals. George loves the big stage, and this game against Kansas is a huge stage.”

“He says it runs in the family and that every time there’s a big game he’s seen me step up,” said Fant. “I haven’t stepped up as much as he has but he says I’ve stepped up and hopefully I’ll do it again.”

McDaniels had a knack for saving his best performances for the biggest stage. During WKU’s run to the 1971 Final Four, McDaniels sparked the Hilltoppers to victories over a No.9 Jacksonville team that featured ABA/NBA Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore on its roster, No.8 Kentucky, No. 10 Ohio State and No.4 Kansas. He stills holds three of the top four scoring performances in WKU’s NCAA Tournament history, dropping 36 points on the Jayhawks, 35 on the Wildcats and 31 on the Buckeyes.

“I’ve seen all his film, against Artis Gilmore, against Kansas, all of them. He was unbelievable,” said Fant. “He was like (Kevin) Durant without the ball-handling skills. He could shoot from anywhere and more than likely it was good. His game was before his era. What he did was unbelievable.”

…When WKU learned its NCAA Tournament destination last Sunday, McDaniels shared the same message with Fant and the entire team.

“Believe. You’ve got to believe.”

Fant believes and now he and the Hilltoppers are ready to accomplish what McDaniels’ team did 42 years ago.

“Kansas is a very good team but I’m ecstatic about what we’ve done as a team,” said Fant. “I don’t want to stop at a conference ring. I want to see how far we can build off that ring.”
WKU Athletics


If they pull off the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history, by beating the top-seeded Jayhawks (29-5), Price might cut down the nets again and wear it around his neck for the rest of his life.

“I respect everyone but I fear no one,” said Price, who averages a team-best 15.3 points. “I’m going to play my hardest and do what I do best. It’s just like last year when we played against Kentucky. I wasn’t afraid of those guys. I wanted to show them that I belong on the court with them. That’s what my plan is against Kansas. I belong on the court with them as well.”

…At 6 feet 4 and 208 pounds, Price can muscle his way into the paint as well as shoot with range. This year, he was second on the team in free throws (77 of 110) and tops in 3-pointers (79 of 218).

“With my body, I can get inside,” the 2013 Sun Belt tournament MVP said. “Everybody know how big Kentucky was, but I was still able to get inside and was still able to finish. That gave me confidence. If I could do it against them, I can do it against anybody.”

Price and fellow WKU sophomore George Fant were All-Sun Belt selections. While he enjoyed a good season, the guard fought through injuries. Price sprained his right ankle and his right MCL, causing him to miss three games in December.
Louisville CJ


Townsend maintained friendships with several Topper players and coaches, including Keady and then-assistant coach Clem Haskins. The lessons learned from relationship with Keady were especially helpful to his own coaching career, he said.

"Toughness," Townsend said. "Everything was about being tougher than everyone else not only mentally but physically and emotionally you just had to be tougher than everybody. He kind of had a football mentality toward the game."

Now those attributes are some of the main reasons Kansas is a national title contender. The Jayhawks lead Division I in defensive field goal shooting, holding opponents to a 36 percent clip from the floor.

"Defensively we’ve led the country in defensive field goal percentage six of the last nine years I’ve been here," Townsend said. "We’ve always been Top 10. That was a philosophy from Coach Keady I’ve always believed in is defense and rebounding wins games for you."

Townsend has spent his week scouting the Toppers (20-15) and helping Self get the Jayhawks ready for Friday's game. After watching tape of WKU's run through the Sun Belt Conference Tournament he was especially complimentary of guards T.J. Price and Jamal Crook and forward George Fant.
How Kansas does against that trio may determine if he can pull off a win against his alma mater, he said.

"I think they’re really solid defensively and they’ve got good athletes," Townsend said. "I can see why they got hot at the end."

Whatever the outcome of Friday's game, there are plenty of parallels between the Kansas and WKU programs, Townsend said.

The Jayhawks are the No. 2 winningest program in Division I history, holding claim to 2,070 victories. WKU ranks No. 18 with 1,655 wins.

As far as winning percentage is concerned, Kansas ranks No. 3 (.720) and the Toppers rank No. 7 (.667).

"(Kansas) had James Naismith, who invented the game, as our first coach and Phog Allen," Townsend said. "I remember them talking about E.A. Diddle like that when I was at Western.

"It’s a lot of similarities as far as the love for basketball and the tradition. It reminds me a lot of Bowling Green."
WKU Herald


NBA.COM: TRob dunk


Brett Ballard @brettballard3
@nickcollison4 You drove a woodgrain mini van in college. Any thoughts of bringing that look back into your whip game?

This question comes from one of my favorite former Jayhawk teammates. Brett, lets take a moment to appreciate the beauty that was "The Woodgrain." (She looked similar to one of these heavenly creatures.)

She had style. She had grace. She was a work of art. She dressed in navy with those rich mahogany sides. She had that shape I like with so much room in the back. We had some unforgettable nights. She even let my teammates come along for rides, because she understood "it ain't no fun if the homies can't come." She was a 1990 Dodge Caravan and I loved her.

The truth is, we were both young. We had our ups and downs. I still recall the night when, visiting friends at another school, her sliding door came off the hinges in my hand, and we had to drive 60 miles back home on the highway with no door. I still remember overhearing Drew Gooden tell a girl, "Yeah, I got a car... well I mean, its like all of ours. It's the team van." It was a crazy new time. We were just getting started when, tragically, her transmission went out the fall of my junior year.

Eventually, I had to let her go. She was my first love.
Nick Collison GQ blog


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness
(Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)

Big 12/College News

NCAA March Madness on Demand will provide live streaming video of every game of the new 68-team tournament as they are broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports.

All times ET.

ROUND OF 64 GAMES

THURSDAY MARCH 21

12:15, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Valpo (Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols)

12:40, truTV, Lexington: No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Bucknell (Eagle/Spanarkel/LaForce)

1:40, TBS, Salt Lake City: No. 8 Pittsburgh vs. No. 9 Wichita State (Dedes/Gottlieb/Maggio)

2:10, TNT, San Jose: No. 4 Saint Louis vs. No. 13 NM State. (Anderson/Bonner/Snider)

2:45, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 6 Memphis vs. MTSU/SMC winner (Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols)

3:10, truTV, Lexington: No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 14 Davidson (Eagle/Spanarkel/LaForce)

4:10, TBS, Salt Lake City: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Southern (Dedes/Gottlieb/Maggio)

4:40, TNT, San Jose: No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Oregon (Anderson/Bonner/Snider)

THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 21

6:50, TBS, Lexington: No. 1 Louisville vs. NC A&T-Liberty winner

7:15, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 South Dakota State

7:20, TNT, Salt Lake City: No. 6 Arizona vs. No. 11 Belmont

7:27, truTV, San Jose: No. 5 UNLV vs. No. 12 California

9:20, TBS, Lexington: No. 8 Colorado State vs. No. 9 Missouri

9:45, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 5 VCU vs. No. 12 Akron

9:45, TNT, Salt Lake City: No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 14 Harvard

9:57, truTV, San Jose: No. 4 Syracuse vs. No. 13 Montanta


FRIDAY MARCH 22

12:15, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Albany (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

12:40, truTV, Kansas City: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

1:40, TBS, Dayton: No. 8 NC State vs. No. 9 Temple (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

2:10, TNT, Austin: No. 2 Miami vs. No. 15 Pacific (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

2:45, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Cincy (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

3:10, truTV, Kansas City: No. 4 K-State vs. Boise State-La Salle winner (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

4:10, TBS, Dayton: No. 1 Indiana vs. LIU Brooklyn-JMU winner (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

4:40, TNT, Austin: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

6:50, TBS, Philly: No. 2 G'town vs. No. 15 Fla. Gulf Coast (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

7:15, CBS, Dayton: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Iona (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

7:20, TNT, Kansas City: No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Villanova (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

7:27, truTV, Austin: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 14 N'western St. (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

9:20, TBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 San Diego St. vs. No. 10 OU (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

9:45, CBS, Dayton: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Iowa State (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

9:50, TNT, Kansas City: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Western Kentucky (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

9:57, truTV, Austin: No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Minnesota (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)
NCAA TV SCHEDULE


Twitter is partnering with Turner Broadcasting to bring some March Madness to your phone, tablet or PC.

Beginning Tuesday, when the NCAA men's basketball tournament tips off, fans can view highlights from all 67 games within a few minutes of them happening via Twitter.

The replays will be selected by TV production teams covering the 21-day tournament.

Consumers can follow @marchmadness for video.
Link


SI Experts Brackets here and Final Four/Champion picks here


AccuScore Predictions


Celebrity Brackets: Wale picks Kansas to win


President Barack Obama on Wednesday picked Indiana University to win the NCAA annual men's college basketball tournament, joining in the "March Madness" office pool craze that sweeps America every spring.

The president, an avid sports fan, forecast that Indiana would defeat the widely favored University of Louisville in the championship game.

"I think this is Indiana's year," he said in an interview on ESPN, the sports cable network.
See bracket here


NY Times: The Art of NCAA Branding


Report: Syracuse hoops under NCAA investigation


The 12 active national title-winning coaches in men's college basketball have seen seismic changes in the game over the past few decades.

Against the background of the 75th NCAA tournament, USA TODAY Sports offers lengthy interviews with these dozen active title-winning coaches, all of whom still are head coaches at the Division I or II level. They provided a window into their ever-changing world, offering perspective on several big-picture issues that affect modern-day college basketball.
USA Today



With all due respect to Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky and other places with fine hoops traditions, Kansas truly is the state of the art of basketball this March, with three men’s and two women’s teams in the NCAA tournaments for the second year in a row.

All three of the state’s Division I men’s teams again made the cut – in sharp contrast to Texas, which saw none of its 21 schools reach the men’s tournament for the first time since 1977. (Utah, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Connecticut and New Jersey also were shut out.) Only California, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have more men’s teams than Kansas in the tournament, at five each.

No. 1 seed University of Kansas will extend its historic streak of NCAA Tournament appearances to 24 straight, including an amazing 10 under coach Bill Self. The fourth-seeded Kansas State University men’s team won its fifth NCAA bid in the past six seasons and its first with coach Bruce Weber. And the 12th-seeded KU women under coach Bonnie Henrickson are returning after last year’s Sweet 16 finish.

Most notably for south-central Kansas are the twin bids for Wichita State University’s teams, including a return trip for coach Gregg Marshall’s men and the first-ever NCAA bid for the 30-year-old women’s program.
Wichita Eagle


Forgive college basketball referees for compulsively checking their email inboxes in the hours leading up to dinner two days before Selection Sunday. That’s when John Adams, the NCAA’s national coordinator of men’s basketball officiating, annually notifies 100 officials that they have been chosen to work in the NCAA Tournament.

The evaluation process begins several months before that notification. Adams asks the 31 automatic-qualifier conferences for a list of names of officials likely to work conference tournaments. (The Ivy League is asked for a list of officials that likely would be used if the conference had a postseason tournament).

…“We have a provision where each one of our 31 automatic qualifying leagues provide us with nominations in order of the officials that they manage throughout the season,” Adams told the Journal-World in an interview last month in the NCAA offices in Indianapolis. “We’re obligated to take at least one official off each one of the nomination lists from the 31 automatic qualifying leagues. Then we’ll look at the nominations and see where those lines cross between who we think is good enough to work the tournament and who the leagues think are the best guys.”

Adams said the first game that a first-time official from a less competitive league works is chosen carefully.

“The first time in, you probably don’t want him in an 8/9 game. You might want him in a 16/1, 15/2 game,” he said, then quickly defended their credentials. “They’re very capable. We’ve done background checks. We watched them in a game.”
LJW


A divide has developed between the discipline of football and the liberalism of basketball. The sports have long been in red and blue states of mind. But what we have as the tournament begins is a clash of cultures, sportsmanship and manners.

The stuff pulled by the Rebels' polarizing guard is at least celebrated in college basketball, if not tacitly supported -- Gator-chomping the Florida fans, taunting the Auburn crowd, calling the SEC coaches losers."

Either this is the new face of college basketball or Henderson is the loudest, cockiest, brashest anomaly -- ever. Either way, an officiating chasm between football and basketball has gotten wider.

"The kids [in both sports] are different," said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. "A lot of military analogies in football are appropriate -- the esprits de corps and regimentation, trying to get more people going the same way. I worked with both groups all along. Basketball kids tend to be a little more loosey-goosey. Football kids tend to be a little more structured."

But why? In basketball, "Heaven Is A Playground." In football, we still celebrate, "When Pride Still Mattered."

The sports seem to be headed in opposite directions in terms of that decorum. Since 2011, it has been possible for a team to have a touchdown taken off the board if a player "styled" on his way to the end zone. Kansas State got flagged for excessive celebration at a crucial point in the 2010 Pinstripe Bowl when a player merely saluted the crowd after a touchdown.
CBS


The formal basketball career of Drew Cannon ended in eighth grade as the sixth man of his junior high team. In college at Duke, Cannon's only hoops experience came from an intramural team called the Norse Forse.

When Cannon graduated with a degree in statistics last spring, he had modest expectations of finding a job right away. "We were hoping he would not be living in the basement," said Jim Cannon, his father. "That was our goal. And his."

Instead of toiling in the basement, Cannon spent the season on the Butler bench and will be with the team when the Bulldogs play Bucknell in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. Cannon's experience interning with recruiting analyst Dave Telep and his advanced writing about basketball analytics gained the attention of Butler coach Brad Stevens, who offered him a job as a graduate manager this summer.

Cannon takes MBA classes at Butler and makes just $1,000 per month, but his work has significantly impacted how Butler uses lineups and helped him emerge as a potentially transformative figure on the college basketball landscape. Cannon is considered to be the first pure statistics-based hire on a college basketball staff. When Stevens called to offer Cannon a job, Cannon's father said to his son, "Does he realize you are monumentally under qualified for this position?"

In reality, Cannon's experience in scouting and analyzing data has made him the perfect match with the numbers-savvy Butler program. Stevens, a longtime proponent of advanced statistical metrics, said if he had unlimited resources he would create his own statistics division. For now, he has Cannon and gushes about how his research has shaped lineups, substitution patterns and converted the staff's statistical skeptics.

"It's been very impactful, there's no question about it," Stevens said. "He's really an invaluable resource."

Cannon can't coach players and admits the Xs and Os aspect of the game has overwhelmed him at times. (The Norse Forse, apparently, didn't run a lot of set plays.)

What makes Cannon's value tricky to quantify is that he and Stevens are reluctant to share many specifics of his research. There are simple things he does like keep practice statistics, track the efficiency of specific set plays and the statistical tendencies of opponents.

But as far as the in-depth statistical analysis, Stevens gave only a peek as to not forfeit an edge. Cannon sends Stevens a 10-page e-mail breaking down and analyzing the numbers after every Butler game. The report takes 10 to 12 hours for Cannon to put together.

Cannon's greatest value is with lineup analysis, as Stevens terms his work "unreal." "It includes every player, pairs of players, groups of three, big lineups, small lineups, etc.," Stevens said. Cannon will also include the offensive and defensive efficiency of Butler's players from previous matchups with an opponent, which Stevens said, "Will help me determine probable sub patterns, late game lineups, etc."
SI


Recruiting


Kentucky, the school that took the college out of college basketball, didn't take long to shake off its Robert Morris hangover. Less than 16 hours after its humiliating loss in the NIT, the no-longer-defending men's national champion won another kind of game, beating Florida, Texas and Kansas to lure coveted high school power forward Julius Randle to play there for a year before going to the NBA.

Embarrassed one day, ecstatic the next. This is the fascinating reap-what-you-sow world of Kentucky men's hoops, where one-and-done can go horribly wrong one day but bring new hope and great promise the next.
USA Today


Randle tried to keep an open mind about the recruiting process.

He was politically correct in interviews the whole time, saying that he didn’t have any favorites and everyone had a fair shake.

He bonded with Donovan on his visit to Florida, even made plans to go shark diving in South Africa with him someday.  

He loved Self’s straightforward approach and Texas was home.

But the truth about what he truly wanted was embedded in his subconscious, only revealing itself when he gave serious consideration to going elsewhere.

“Kentucky, man,” Randle says. “Every time I told myself that I was gonna look somewhere else it just never felt right. Kentucky is home for me. It’s where I felt most comfortable.”

When he told Kentucky coach John Calipari that he was going to join the Big Blue Nation, Randle said Calipari “seemed like he was in shock.”

That reaction seems dead-on for a recruiting class that most are calling the best ever assembled.

…Randle didn’t waste any time getting firmly entrenched into the lifestyle that is Big Blue Nation, as evidenced by the “UK 30” emblem he had professionally stenciled on the back of his iPhone 5.

“It’s crazy, right,” Randle says holding up the blue phone. “I love it. I wanted everything to be perfect today.”

His godfather Jeff Webster can attest.

Randle sent him on a wild goose chase to track down the perfect Kentucky fitted cap to seal the deal in.

“He had to have a specific one,” Kyles said. “That’s just J!”
USA Today


As Apple Valley rolled to an 81-67 victory at Target Center, Stanfield became the latest coach to experience the frustration of trying to contain (Tyus) Jones, the state's top player and one of the nation's most coveted recruits.

"The more you concentrate on him, the better he seems to get," Stanfield said. "He sees the court better than any kid I've ever watched. He sees things on the court most high school kids just don't see."

With University of Kentucky coach John Calipari in attendance, the 6-foot-2 Jones regrouped from a sluggish first half (four points) to finish with 19 points, seven assists and six steals.

With its 28th consecutive victory, Apple Valley (29-1) advances to Thursday's semifinal game at Target Center against Eden Prairie.
Link


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


Waiting Wednesday

3/20/2013

 
Picture

Looking to get to the Sprint Center for the Jayhawks' first two games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament?

It'll cost you.

On Tuesday morning, tickets for the first two rounds were going for an average of $500 a ticket, according to SeatGeek, a ticket brokerage business that monitors ticket prices. Those hot tickets include the Jayhawks' opening match-up against Western Kentucky, the Villanova vs. North Carolina game and the Sunday game matching up the two winners.

In fact, tickets to KU's first two games are the most expensive seats — by $60 — in the opening rounds of the tournament, said Will Flaherty, a spokesman for SeatGeek.

But if you're looking to save a few bucks, wait a day or two.

"Generally, we see the prices decline as the day gets closer," he said.

Fans can buy tickets for single games, or the entire set of games, known as a "strip," in a regional. Buyers can get tickets through the NCAA's official ticket distributor, Prime Sport, but many fans buy tickets on ticket websites such as SeatGeek.com and StubHub.com.

Flaherty's general advice for the first set of games in Kansas City is to buy the entire strip.

But, if you really hate the Tar Heels, and expect them to lose in their first round match-up, you could buy tickets to KU's first game for about $160, and hope to get a good deal from a sulking Tar Heel fan exiting the Sprint Center after a loss to Villanova.

It's a roll of the dice, though, Flaherty said, as single-game seats to a potential match-up between UNC and KU are currently the most expensive single game ticket in the openings rounds, about $233.

Jayhawk optimists also might want to get in early for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Arlington, Texas, as prices are pretty low right now, Flaherty said, averaging about $225 a ticket.
LJW


For the opening weekend at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., each team receives 350 tickets with the option of ordering 200 more tickets. Marchiony says KU picks up that option immediately.

KU can’t sell all 550 of those tickets, though, as those seats include a block that is reserved for players’ and coaches’ friends and family. Typically, Marchiony said, that number is over 100.

Those 550 tickets also include a 20-percent block that is reserved for students. That decreases the total by an additional 110.

The remaining tickets are sold based on the level of donorship. The KU donors in the highest club level get the first crack at the tickets before KU goes on down the line.

Using that system, KU has sold out of its allotment in Kansas City for this weekend’s games.

KU also prepares itself in advance. Earlier in the season, the athletic department asks donors if they are interested in tickets at each of the possible NCAA sites.

“Obviously Kansas City is very, very high demand,” Marchiony said. “We get that information ahead of time so we know what we’re dealing with.”

The tickets KU receives are only for the sessions that KU plays. That means those tickets, which are sold at face value, will not allow those KU fans to get into the afternoon session Friday when fourth-seeded Kansas State and fifth-seeded Wisconsin play their opening games.

Marchiony said KU usually receives a few calls from fans this time of year wondering if tickets are still available through the school.

“Our donors are pretty experienced at this whole process. They know the drill,” Marchiony said. “(Fans wanting tickets) is a great problem. It obviously speaks to the success that the program has had for so long that the tickets are in such demand.”

KU’s allotment of tickets will increase to 1,250 if the Jayhawks make it to next week’s regional in Arlington, Texas. Marchiony said those tickets through the school also are sold out and have already been assigned should the Jayhawks advance.
LJW


"Yes, we are playing the #1 seed, which is unfortunate, but it is also an opportunity to make history," said Junior Perez Carothers, who was traveling to the game on a fan bus.

"I am not that impressed with Kansas," he added. "I am rooting for my team."

While some are going by bus, others are traveling by plane.

Freshman Lexus Miller planned to travel with fellow band member Lankford and others headed to the game in Missouri.

"I am a freshman, actually, so it is an honor to go on this trip. It's mostly upper-classmen," said Miller. "I play the alto saxophone and have been playing for eight years. I'm from Lexington, and I should probably be for the Cats, but go Tops!"

It's the Tops' fourth NCAA tourney appearance in the last six seasons.

"It is great that the Tops have gotten this far along to represent Kentucky and U of L too," Miller said. "It is sad UK hasn't made it, but still, this is our school. This is our time to shine."

All the WKU students we spoke with said they have faith in their team.

Heather Boyan, a sophomore on the volleyball team, said she believed it was all up in the air, but she's rooting for the Hilltoppers.

"If they work hard, you never know what can happen. Even though they're against the #1 seed, I think anything is possible," Boyan said.

The fan bus is open to alumni and anyone interested. They still have spots open for the second charter bus, which leaves Friday morning.
WDRB


“I’m trying to watch as little film as I can,” Harper said Tuesday morning during a teleconference with out-of-town media. “It makes it hard to sleep at night.”

Although the 16th-seeded Hilltoppers (20-15) figure to have dissected plenty of game film on the Jayhawks by the time tipoff rolls around, the second-year WKU head coach sounded more interested in emphasizing what his team must do to compete than anything else.

“The key for us will be real simple,” Harper said. “Take care of the basketball and eliminate silly turnovers. Every time you turn it over it’s an opportunity you don’t have to score, and we need to get it up on the rim as many times as possible Friday night.”

One reason Harper believes that is possible is the re-emergence of sophomore guard T.J. Price — last year’s third leading scorer — who missed three games this season because of injury.

“We missed him so much when he was injured,” said Harper, noting that Price was averaging 15 points and six assists per game at the time he went down.

The Hilltoppers were 1-2 without Price this season and 1-3 in games in which he played less than 10 minutes. After easing his way back into action, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound guard has been on fire down the stretch and appears well equipped to handle the scoring burden.

“The thing with T.J., he’s a very talented kid and he’s really matured in the last year-and-a-half,” Harper said. “Before, when things weren’t going well, the maturity level would get him, but he can play through those things now.”

Never was that more evident than during last weekend’s Sun Belt Conference tournament, where Price was named Most Outstanding Player after averaging 18 points and four rebounds per game while topping 22 points in two games.
LJW


ESPN: How No. 1 Will Fall: Kansas edition


3/19/13, 3:02 PM
#kubball reaches Championship Game of Inside Higher Ed's academic championship
3/19/13, 2:43 PM
https://twitter.com/jmarchiony


LJW: Self 7th in Big 12 in dollars/win


AP: Jayhawks rely on strength coach Andrea Hudy, high-tech weight room to give them an edge


LA Daily News: When in doubt, go with defense: Go with Kansas


The inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, who was also the University of Kansas first men’s basketball coach, will be one of five Laureates inducted into the Kansas Hall of Fame on Friday, June 21, 2013, at the Great Overland Station in Topeka, it was announced Thursday by the Great Overland Station.

Naismith will be joined by Clark Kent/Superman, KANSAS, the band, Drs. C.F., Karl and Will Menninger and the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. CBS newsman, Kansan, University of Kansas graduate, and Washburn law school graduate Bill Kurtis will serve as master of ceremonies at the event.
WIBW


3/19/13, 8:22 PM
Tyshawn Taylor (@tyshawntaylor) vs. Bayhawks: 30 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
https://twitter.com/crabdribbles


Marcus and Markieff Morris had their first noticeable Suns twincident last week.

Denver's Corey Brewer made a 3-pointer against Marcus, and Markieff was under the basket. Five seconds later, Marcus was dunking alone at the other end on a football feed from Markieff, who had grabbed the ball, lifted one foot while stepping out with the other and hurled the ball to the twin he never saw was running until he was throwing the pass.

"You're going to see a lot more of that," Marcus said. "We don't even have to say anything to each other. I just know what he's thinking and what he's going to do before he does it."
USA Today


KUAD: WBB opens NCAA Saturday at Colorado pre game notes


Are you aware that Jon Hamm has pretended to be you?
Pretends he's me? In what way?

At a charity golf tournament at the University of Missouri, a journalist friend of mine witnessed Jon Hamm say, "Paul Rudd." when asked his name by an unknowing photographer for the caption. Hamm did confirm this.
[Laughs] Well, you know, Jon and I were roommates. Jon and I go back since we were teenagers. But I went to Kansas and he went to Missouri, so I wonder if that had more to do with any kind of an MU connection and to put me in there just to, you know. He's never told me that.

I'm a fan of that story.

Yeah, that's a good one. "Paul Rudd," he just said me. I don't think it would work the other way around if they asked me who I was and I said, "Jon Hamm." No one would believe it. "Oh, yeah. OK, sure. And how tall are you?"

I think you're right. He wanted it to read "Mizzou alumnus Paul Rudd.
"
Yeah, that's what that was all about. It had to have been, right? I'm surprised he didn't say, "Yeah, my name is Paul Rudd and also if you could just put in there 'KU Sucks.'" I always tell people, in Columbia, Mo., where Mizzou is -- as you know and for the people reading this -- there's a place called Guns, Liquor & Ammo.
Q&A with Paul Rudd


VOTE for Kansas players, team, and moment in NCAA 75th Anniversary of March Madness (Vote for Wilt, Clyde, Danny, 51-52 Kansas, Mario's Miracle)


Big 12/College News

Picture

Then, as the Wildcats warmed up, Toole noticed something else. The Kentucky players weren't as big as he thought. Their arms didn't ripple with muscles. Aside from 7-foot center Willie Cauley-Stein, his players were just as big, maybe even bigger.
Suddenly the Rocky analogy wasn't a locker room story told on a whim – he too believed his team could win.

…The ensuing few minutes were college basketball at its core. The Robert Morris players danced. The fans swarmed them on the court. And from the locker room appeared Lucky Jones, who ran into the stands and hugged his mother Vicki.

..Across the gym, in a room three stories off the floor, Calipari looked a mixture of disgusted and relieved. As much as he loved last year's version of the Wildcats, filled with a lineup of players off to the NBA, he seemed to despise this one just as much.

"The program got hijacked," he said. "I can't believe the stuff I had to put up with."

…Then he was off to greet old friends and neighbors, sign autographs and laugh in the hallway. He dropped names. He seemed glad to be rid of the team that never came together. Outside, in the cold, the motor of the team's motor coach churned. His players, just thrown by him under a proverbial bus, headed slowly to the real one.
Yahoo


“I don’t mind telling you I was stunned,” said Williams, the former Kansas University coach, who is staring at a possible third-round match-up with KU on Sunday in Sprint Center if the Heels beat Villanova and the No. 1-seeded Jayhawks stop Western Kentucky on Friday night.

“When I saw North Carolina and the No. 8, I was stunned. It took me a couple seconds ... ‘Hey, that’s us. It’s not somebody else, that’s us.’ I was disappointed for our league (ACC) — two 2s (Duke, Miami) and two 8s (UNC and N.C. State). I don’t think that was good for our league. I don’t think it was necessarily fair for our league, but you’ve heard me say this 100 times. It is what it is, so we’ve got to go play,” Williams added.

As far as possibly playing KU ... “It’s the same thing. You say ‘Wow,’” Williams said in a news conference Tuesday in Chapel Hill, N.C. “But I’m thinking about Villanova. I really am. It was a surprise being No. 8. It was a little surprise going to play (KU) in Kansas City if we win one game, but if you start thinking about playing Kansas in Kansas City you forget about the biggest duty and that’s to win a game to even get there.”

Williams was asked if he “buys” the NCAA Tournament committee’s assertion it does not set match-ups or potential match-ups like KU-UNC for TV.

“I am not much of a buyer right now, guys,” Williams told the media. “They can say anything they want to say and they’ve got numbers to substantiate it. You can sit right across the table from them and substantiate with some other numbers. I will say this ... they didn’t put North Carolina in Kansas City to fill the arena. The arena is going to be filled anyway if Kansas plays Slippery Rock. I don’t know what goes through their mind. It was a confusing (selection) show and I’m still confused and I’m a fairly intelligent person.”
LJW


Final Four picks: Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas, and those boys in South Beach. -@RealJayWilliams
https://twitter.com/@RealJayWilliams


We’ve heard that a lot from all of the experts all season. Just three days ago, this column promised us there was massive parity in the game, with quotes from the top coaches. Jim Boeheim says there would be ten different winners if we played the tourney ten times!

So which wacky teams did the experts pick to win it all? Well, for starters, not a single person picked Duke (despite Goodman’s piece proclaiming them the favorites two weeks ago). Just three of the 34 experts picked a non-one seed and in each case it was a two-seed. And 27 of the 34 picked Louisville. Here’s a complete rundown of picks posted at ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, USAToday.com, SI.com, and Yahoo.com.

Alaa Abdelnaby: Louisville
Greg Anthony: Louisville
Nicole Auerbach: Louisville
Jay Bilas: Louisville
Jeff Borzello: Louisville
Mateen Cleaves: Louisville
Seth Davis: Louisville
Dennis Dodd: Louisville
Gregg Doyel: Ohio State
Jeff Eisenberg: Louisville
Brad Evans: Louisville
Pat Forde: Louisville
John Gasaway: Louisville
Pete Gillen: Miami
Scott Gleeson: Kansas
Jeff Goodman: Louisville
Doug Gottlieb: Louisville
Seth Greenberg: Louisville
Mike Lopresti: Louisville
Joe Lunardi: Louisville
Stewart Mandel: Louisville
Matt Norlander: Louisville
Jerry Palm: Louisville
Gary Parrish: Louisville
Digger Phelps: Miami
Eric Prisbell: Louisville
Jon Rothstein: Louisville
Wally Szczerbiak: Gonzaga
Pete Thamel: Louisville
Peter Tiernan: Louisville
Dick Vitale: Louisville
Dan Wetzel: Indiana
Jay Williams: Ohio State
Luke Winn: Louisville
kenpom.com


Best printable bracket w/times & locations



ESPN Bracket Guide



RPI and SOS Team Comparison Calculator



NCAA March Madness on Demand will provide live streaming video of every game of the new 68-team tournament as they are broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports.

All times ET.

FIRST FOUR GAMES

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

6:40, truTV, Dayton: LIU Brooklyn vs. James Madison (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

9:10, truTV, Dayton: Boise State vs. La Salle (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

ROUND OF 64 GAMES

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 21

12:15, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Valpo (Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols)

12:40, truTV, Lexington: No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Bucknell (Eagle/Spanarkel/LaForce)

1:40, TBS, Salt Lake City: No. 8 Pittsburgh vs. No. 9 Wichita State (Dedes/Gottlieb/Maggio)

2:10, TNT, San Jose: No. 4 Saint Louis vs. No. 13 NM State. (Anderson/Bonner/Snider)

****

2:45, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 6 Memphis vs. MTSU/SMC winner (Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols)

3:10, truTV, Lexington: No. 3 Marquette vs. No. 14 Davidson (Eagle/Spanarkel/LaForce)

4:10, TBS, Salt Lake City: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 16 Southern (Dedes/Gottlieb/Maggio)

4:40, TNT, San Jose: No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Oregon (Anderson/Bonner/Snider)

THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 21

6:50, TBS, Lexington: No. 1 Louisville vs. NC A&T-Liberty winner

7:15, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 South Dakota State

7:20, TNT, Salt Lake City: No. 6 Arizona vs. No. 11 Belmont

7:27, truTV, San Jose: No. 5 UNLV vs. No. 12 California

****

9:20, TBS, Lexington: No. 8 Colorado State vs. No. 9 Missouri

9:45, CBS, Auburn Hills: No. 5 VCU vs. No. 12 Akron

9:45, TNT, Salt Lake City: No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 14 Harvard

9:57, truTV, San Jose: No. 4 Syracuse vs. No. 13 Montanta

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 22

12:15, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 15 Albany (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

12:40, truTV, Kansas City: No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

1:40, TBS, Dayton: No. 8 NC State vs. No. 9 Temple (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

2:10, TNT, Austin: No. 2 Miami vs. No. 15 Pacific (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

****

2:45, CBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 Creighton vs. No. 10 Cincy (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

3:10, truTV, Kansas City: No. 4 K-State vs. Boise State-La Salle winner (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

4:10, TBS, Dayton: No. 1 Indiana vs. LIU Brooklyn-JMU winner (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

4:40, TNT, Austin: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Colorado (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 22

6:50, TBS, Philly: No. 2 G'town vs. No. 15 Fla. Gulf Coast (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

7:15, CBS, Dayton: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Iona (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

7:20, TNT, Kansas City: No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 9 Villanova (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

7:27, truTV, Austin: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 14 N'western St. (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)

****

9:20, TBS, Philadelphia: No. 7 San Diego St. vs. No. 10 OU (Harlan/Elmore/Miller/Johnson)

9:45, CBS, Dayton: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 10 Iowa State (Nantz/Kellogg/Wolfson)

9:50, TNT, Kansas City: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 16 Western Kentucky (Albert/Kerr/Sager)

9:57, truTV, Austin: No. 6 UCLA vs. No. 11 Minnesota (Brando/Gminski/Livingston)
CBS

Recruiting


3/19/13, 9:16 PM
Word of the day: Humility..
Work hard, and stay humble..
https://twitter.com/wayneselden23


Congrats to Wayne!
The NEPSAC Class AA coaches have released their list of award winners for the 2012-13 boys' basketball season, including Player of the Year Senior, Wayne Selden of Tilton School (NH). Portsmouth native and Butler University-bound Andrew Chrabascz along with St. Andrew's Junior, forward Bonzie Colson joined Selden on the All-Class AA first team.

My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube


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