Kansas Jayhawks
“Perry’s been impressive,” Self said. “We’ve had other guys be impressive for short stints. I’d say Perry has been as impressive as anybody in the gym over the entire seven practices. He has a knack to score. Of course, we need that (after) losing Thomas (Robinson).”
Ellis, who is ranked 24th nationally by Rivals.com, is KU’s highest-rated incoming recruit, followed by No. 51 Andrew White, 6-6, 210, out of Chester, Va.
“Andrew can shoot. We need that (after) losing Conner (Teahan),” Self said. “Andrew is going to be a good player. He’s still figuring things out. He’s a tall guard … 6-foot-6 guys who can shoot it … they are fun to have.”
As far as the big man group that includes Ellis, 6-9 Peters and 6-10 Lucas, Self said: “Stop and think about our bodies inside. Jeff (Withey), Justin (Wesley), Kevin (Young), Jamari, Landen, Perry, Zach ... even though we are not big girth-wise, still that’s seven bodies we can throw at you. It means we can foul a lot and not be penalized as much. Last year, if Thomas got two fouls in the first half, it was, ‘Oh, geez, what are we going to do?’ Hopefully this year we’ll have a little more depth.”
Speaking of the freshman group as a whole, Self noted: “Nobody’s been great, but as a group they are trying hard. This is going to be a fun team to coach.”
Self said senior point guard Elijah Johnson, who had arthroscopic knee surgery in April, is 100 percent healed.
“Elijah is practicing full speed,” Self said. “He is out of shape, obviously. He took three months off from the surgery. He’s out of shape, doesn’t have his rhythm, yet we are so much better when he’s out there.”
The Jayhawks will leave for Switzerland on Sunday and play four games (a week from today, Wednesday, Saturday and Aug. 12) in Switzerland and Paris.
…KU’s exhibition games will not be televised and not be broadcast on the radio.
LJW
KU lured Sherron Collins from Chicago, Darrell Arthur from Dallas, Cole Aldrich from Minnesota and Russell Robinson from the Bronx. Mario Chalmers—the hero of Kansas’ 2008 NCAA championship game victory over Memphis—came all the way from Alaska, and center Sasha Kaun was from Russia by way of a prep school in Florida.
Among teams that reached the 2012 Final Four, no one drew its starting five from a broader geographic area. On average, Kansas starters attended high school 1,128 miles from campus. At Kentucky, it was 784 miles. At Louisville, it was 710. And those UK and U of L averages were skewed by a single player from the Pacific Northwest. By stark contrast, Ohio State starters played high school ball only 162 miles from Columbus on average, with All-American Jared Sullinger growing up right in town and two others in state.
The perennial weakness of Kansas’ regional talent base and its distance from major population centers creates obstacles to basketball success. And yet the Jayhawks have managed to win eight consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles, reached the Elite Eight five times in Self’s nine years and twice played in the national title game.
“It is more difficult recruiting in a non-populated area than a lot of people may assume that it is,” Self said. “Geographically, if we were going to do percentages, the majority of the kids still stay close to home, within driving proximity or whatever.
“One of the biggest disadvantages of my job, in particular, is you’ve got to go into somebody else’s turf to get guys. But one of the advantages is we carry a national name, so we can do that from time to time.”
…KU’s approach to recruiting starts with an assessment of what good prospects might have some connection to the staff’s connections. Townsend said he looks for players with the ability and willingness to defend and an inherent toughness, “Or else they won’t make it with Coach.” He acknowledges that there has been a recruit or two along the way who, despite significant talent, lacked that quality and didn’t last.
Kansas has landed one McDonald’s All-American per year under Self—nine in his nine years, including Ellis. Frankamp and committed wing Brannen Greene of Forsyth, Ga., could make the 2013 team and bring the total to 10 or 11. There were four on the national championship team, but lately they’ve done nearly as well with players just outside that halo.
…“We haven’t had the great ones like Kentucky,” Townsend said. “It’s a testament to coach Self and his ability to teach them how to play.”
…Self said the program does not specifically target geographic areas, such as, “Let’s recruit Chicago.” Instead, the Jayhawks search for “someone who complements what we already have. I think we make mistakes sometimes when we recruit too many players that are similar or recruit on top of kids. We want the pieces of the puzzle to fit to give us the best team. If I’ve got a little bitty 2-guard, I may be recruiting a bigger point.”
Whereas Kentucky coach John Calipari has been willing and able to scrap his entire system if it’s not fitting the players he recruits—and, as we’ve seen, the rosters have changed dramatically in composition from year to year—one of Self’s strengths has been a system that suits so many different types of players.
Kaun was a nimble, skilled 7-footer with great footwork. Aldrich was a bulky, long, low-post force. Withey is lean, quick and an exceptional shot-blocker. All have excelled playing center for Self.
“I want to play a style that plugs guys in as opposed to having to change how you play,” Self said. “We set as many ball screens as anybody in the country, but we set ball screens to set up getting angles on the post. We’ve been known for running high/low, which we probably run less now than we ever have, but we’ll always use that as a staple of who we are—to try to get the ball inside.
“We think what we do works, and is a great, fun way to play. We play fast, the big guys get touches, and the core thing we do is we defend. That’s the staple of any great program: They can get stops if they have to.”
TSN
Warriors fans can relax and take a deep breath. I know you were all worried, but it appears that Brandon Rush will wear a Warriors jersey next season
SF Bay
Kansas football coach Charlie Weis and men’s basketball coach Bill Self joined hosts David Lawrence and Brian Hanni for the first Rock Chalk Sports Talk Network on-site show of the 2012-13 academic year Monday at the Bird Dog Bar at the Oread Hotel in Lawrence.
Mondays show also marked the final broadcast for Hanni who after 10 years of broadcasting in Lawrence is leaving the Jayhawk IMG Sports Radio Network and KLWN in Lawrence to be the radio voice Texas Tech men’s basketball team.
The Rock Chalk Sports Talk Network show airs on the Jayhawk IMG Sports Radio Network weekly throughout the year with a live on-site show once a month originating from the Bird Dog Bar at The Oread Hotel (1200 Oread) near the KU campus or The Jayhawker at the Eldridge Hotel (701 Massachusetts). The on-site show will feature former KU athletes, current coaches from all of KU sports and whatever else might be relevant at the time of each show.
As the schedule shows below, the first on-site show aired on a Monday, while the remaining 10 on-site shows will air on Tuesdays during the academic year.
KU AD
Thursday is the last day for the upcoming feature film “Jayhawkers” to receive much-needed funding from the community whose story it tells.
If it doesn’t receive $50,000 in contributions by Thursday, “Jayhawkers” — set in Lawrence in the late 1950s — doesn’t get any of the money that’s been pledged so far. Pre-screening tickets, DVDs, posters, T-shirts, and roles as extras in the movie are just some of the rewards being offered to entice people to donate and help fund the film. So far it’s about halfway there.
Kansas University Associate Professor Kevin Willmott is directing “Jayhawkers,” his fifth full-length film, but the first one to use a Kickstarter campaign to raise crucial money for the production. From the title to the setting, “Jayhawkers” already sounds like a local movie, but it is local in every sense of the word, right down to the talent being hired to put it together.
LJW
Kansas 2012-13 Schedule
Big 12/College News
Former college basketball coaches Bruce Pearl and Seth Greenberg have joined ESPN as men’s college basketball analysts and ESPN’s Jalen Rose will be added to the college basketball commentator team, it was announced today by Mark Gross, ESPN Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, Production. Pearl and Greenberg will each serve as studio analysts throughout the season and will call select games from various conferences. Rose will be a featured analyst on the weekly College GameDay as well as other college basketball studio programming, and will work as a game analyst for a series of matchups. Additionally, all three will contribute college basketball commentary to ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and other ESPN outlets.
ESPN
7/30/12 3:07 PM
Just got some good news that you will be seeing much less of Digger on ESPN. Still be on GameDay, but will be phased out in studio.
Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS)
SbB has learned Doug Gottlieb will soon leave ESPN for CBS.
@SPORTSbyBROOKS
Texas coach Rick Barnes has been somewhat prophetic lately with his newcomers. If he’s convinced they’re going to be major contributors, then he doesn’t hold back promoting. Well, Barnes is extremely high on his freshmen class that should bolster a rising sophomore group led by Myck Kabongo and Julien Lewis. Cameron Ridley is in shape and Prince Ibeh has developed his game well. The two 6-foot-10 centers are sure to be game-changers inside. The Longhorns also added 6-10 Connor Lammert. Barnes said the biggest surprise so far in workouts has been DeMarcus Holland, a shooting guard out of Garland, Texas. Barnes said Holland is an “every-day guy,’’ someone who Barnes knows what he’s going to get every day. And that means quality production if he can adequately get into the rotation.
Andy Katz
Being a Kentucky player, coach or employee apparently wasn't a prerequisite when school officials were determining who would receive championship rings commemorating the Wildcats' 2012 national title.
Rapper Drake showed that over the weekend when he posted a photo of his personalized ring on instagram complete with his nickname "Drizzy" etched on one side.
Why would Drake receive a ring when he didn't draw up a single play or score any baskets last season?
Yahoo
The NCAA Committee on Infractions is scheduled to announce this morning whether UCF will face additional penalties for major recruiting violations within the football and men's basketball programs.
Florida Today
ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
A coast-to-coast spring and summer of basketball ended a week prematurely for Hampton High point guard Anthony Barber.
A rising senior for the defending state champion Crabbers, Barber chipped a bone in his right wrist Wednesday in a made-for-television game near Orlando, Fla., pitting Boo Williams’ local AAU team against the Houston Defenders.
Unable to talk with his cell phone on the fritz, Barber texted Monday that the wrist had been bothering him even before a hard fall against Houston.
Trainers in Florida diagnosed Barber’s injury, after which he flew home to have the wrist immobilized. He’ll wear a cast for 3-4 weeks, Hampton assistant coach Walter Brower Jr., said.
The injury sidelined Barber for the summer’s final big tournament, the 17-and-under Amateur Athletic Union Nationals, also in Florida. Devon Hall of Cape Henry Collegiate in Virginia Beach, who recently committed to Virginia, replaced Barber as the starting point guard for Boo Williams in the nationals.
Williams’ squad won six consecutive games before losing in the quarterfinals of the 156-team tournament Sunday.
…Brower said he and Barber will meet this week to map out academic and recruiting goals. He hopes Barber chooses a college destination before preseason high school practice starts in October.
“The circus we went through with Ronald (Curry), we don’t want any part of that,” Brower said.
A 1998 Hampton graduate, Curry was national-caliber prospect in football and basketball. His recruitment included a September 1997 commitment to Virginia and March 1998 pledge to North Carolina.
Brower said he expects Barber to choose from among Kansas, Louisville and Alabama.
Daily Press
Kansas was on hand for Tyler Roberson .
NBE Basketball Orlando AAU Sunday Report
adidas NATIONS Aug 2 - 6
Check here for the NCAA Recruiting Calendar
My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on Youtube