Big12 Championship Rings came in today! @BenMcLemore stopped in to pick his up too. #9Straight #kubball
@KUHoops

Kansas University’s elite, eight-man recruiting Class of 2013 didn’t distinguish itself during the first official practice of the season, held Friday afternoon in the Jayhawks’ practice facility adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse.

“I am a little disappointed,” 11th-year KU coach Bill Self said after a 21⁄2-hour workout, “because I didn’t think our young kids were very amped up today. I thought when things started going south and they were involved with the movement going south, I didn’t think they did much to change it.

“I thought we showed our age today in practice because I didn’t really cut them any slack. I think it was probably an eye-opening experience for them to know, ‘Hey, we’ve got a lot to learn before we can actually play and be comfortable.’”

On this day, the best player in the gym just might have been former KU standout Ben McLemore of the Sacramento Kings, who put on a shooting display while practicing on his own following the practice.

“I just didn’t think we played very well,” Self said. “Our young kids are talented, but they’ve got a lot to learn and a long ways to go. Obviously, today I didn’t think they responded to the adversity the way a tougher team would respond to it.”
LJW

“I definitely feel like I have become more of a leader, especially this year because a lot of guys are looking up to me,” Ellis said. “I’m just trying to show them to play hard. It was a quick transition for me becoming a sophomore and one of the older guys. I was a freshman last year and now we have a young team and so I’m one of the older guys now.

“I know that will help me on the court when I’m talking with the guys. It will help me learn more,” he added. “I’m trying to get out of my shell more and more, progressing at talking and that aspect. I talk when I have to.”

Ellis — he came on strong late last season when named to the Big 12 all-tournament team — figures to receive help in the leadership department from junior guard Naadir Tharpe.

Ellis and Tharpe were rotation players on last year’s senior-laden 31-6 team.

“We embrace the role, which is why we came to this school,” Tharpe said. “With all of the young guys, Perry was here last year and this is my third year, we know what is needed and what coach wants out of his players. We need to be able to help the guys out and that is what we are going to do.”

Tharpe said he expects a breakout year from Ellis, who had 23 points in the Big 12 tourney semifinals against Iowa State and 12 in the title game versus Kansas State.

“Last year he was trying to figure himself out what he needs to do, what we actually need from him. This year he clearly knows what needs be done,” Tharpe said. “He’s shown it the whole summer. He scores in so many ways, the post, midrange, stretching it out past the three-point line. The way he’s playing ... his whole mindset is different. I’m happy for him. Every day I’m telling him, ‘You look real good out there.’ It’s exactly what he’s doing, playing well every day.”
LJW

#TeamKaris young girl came by practice today with cancer, prayers with her.
@Ntharpe1


One of the best things about playing basketball at Kansas University, Brannen Greene says, is the camaraderie of a close-knit team.

“We all get along great,” said Greene, a 6-foot-7 freshman shooting guard from Juliette, Ga. “There aren’t any grudges on the team. Nobody dislikes anybody. There are all positive vibes everywhere.”

…KU coach Bill Self especially enjoys watching Frankamp and Greene the days they are on fire from long range.

“He’s big. He’s 6-7 with great range and vision and good ball skills,” Self said of Greene. “He’s got to tighten a lot of things up. In any other recruiting class, he would be a headliner. He’s a good player.”

Of Frankamp, Self said: “If there is somebody that can shoot better, I would like to see it because he can shoot it maybe as well as anyone we have had here. The one thing with Conner is, he is a shooter and a scorer, but probably a shooter before a scorer. With that you get to the college level and you have bigger guys closing out at you, and the game’s a little faster. You need to learn to get your shot off a little faster, and sometimes you see guys really labor to shoot the ball with the same consistency they did in high school. And that, to me, won’t be a concern because he will have the green light with us, is what I would say he has to grow through.”
LJW


Lost in the Andrew Wiggins as POY discussion is his defense: he might be the best wing defender in the country right off the bat.
@jeffborzello


While the rest of the basketball world debates whether Andrew Wiggins will be the top pick in the 2014 NBA draft, his college coach is waiting for him to become the best player on his team.

"He’s been marginal," Kansas coach Bill Self said last week. "Compared to what people are saying, I think he’ll have some ups and downs."

…"You’d watch him play 10 minutes in a game and leave out of there going, 'Wow,' " Self said. "He makes plays that truly leave you in awe. But he doesn’t know yet how to play hard consistently. He can definitely do that. He just has to learn how."

…"It’s just been harder, faster, tougher so far, but at some point I have get inside his noggin," Self said. "He’s been humbled already and that’s a good thing. I just hope the expectations don’t weigh him down too much."
ESPN

A limited number of tickets for the 2013 State Farm Champions Classic will go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 1. The third annual event will be played Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the United Center in Chicago, featuring an ESPN men's basketball doubleheader of Kentucky vs. Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. CT, followed by Duke vs. Kansas at 8:30 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $39 to $405 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting the United Center box office (open Mon.-Sat. from 11 a.m.–6 p.m., ET, hours may vary on event days). The Kansas ticket allotment is sold out for this event.

The State Farm Champions Classic features:
    •    Four of the top six teams are ranked in ESPN.com early men's preseason top 25: Kentucky is No. 1, Michigan State is No. 3, Kansas is No. 5 and Duke is No. 6.
    •    Three of the top four all-time winningest men's college basketball programs: Kentucky (first), Kansas (second) and Duke (fourth).
    •    A combined 17 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships (since 1939): Kentucky (eight), Duke (four), Kansas (three) and Michigan State (two).
    •    A total of 24 NCAA Final Four appearances in the past 21 years: Duke (seven), Michigan State (six), Kansas (six) and Kentucky (five).

For more information about the 2013 State Farm Champions Classic, visit the official web site at TheChampionsClassic.com, follow on Twitter @ChampionClassic and "Like" the event on Facebook at Facebook.com/ChampionsClassic.
KUAD


Thank God for 19 years !! I'm getting old  😭 #blessed
@WayneSeldenJr


With college basketball practices set to begin nationwide on Friday, here’s a look at the SNY Preseason All-America teams.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
F Doug McDermott, Sr., Creighton
F Andrew Wiggins, Fr., Kansas
C Mitch McGary, So., Michigan
G Russ Smith, Sr., Louisville
G Marcus Smart, So., Oklahoma State

ALL-FRESHMAN FIRST TEAM
F Andrew Wiggins, Kansas
F Julius Randle, Kentucky
C Joel Embiid, Kansas
G Andrew Harrison, Kentucky
G Wayne Selden, Kansas
Zags Blog

Billy Thomas of Kansas and Jason Sutherland of Missouri had some memorable battles in the Border War during their college careers. Although they have been out of college for several years, they still have the desire to beat their rival.

Thomas and Sutherland showed that during the seventh annual Kansas City Magic Celebrity Basketball Game on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium. Thomas and a group of other former Kansas players defeated Sutherland and other former Missouri players 101-80.

“It was very competitive” said Rick Madden, an assistant basketball coach at Penn Valley Community College who helped organize the event. “With Sutherland and Thomas out there, it got real physical and serious.”

Thomas led the former Jayhawks in scoring with 32 points. He made 10 three-pointers.

Conner Teahan added 21 points for the Kansas team, while Jeff Graves and Jeff Hawkins had 14 apiece.

Former MU football player Tommy Saunders, who played basketball in high school at Kearney, led the Tigers with 31 points.

The game drew about 3,500 fans, Madden said, and they got into the action with help from music provided by the Schlagle High School band.
KC Star
Photos


Working on a new commercial for @KUWBball #rockchalk
@SecondWindC


http://www.kualumni.org/events/homecoming/

Ranking the top 20 current college basketball programs isn’t easy. Ordering the top five may be even tougher. When you’re parsing through the bluest of blueblood programs, the differences become miniscule. They all have great coaches, great fanbases, great facilities, great tradition and access to the best national talent.

Still, differences are there, and they’re what separate the great from the best (and the best from the rest).

…No. 3 Duke

By virtue of the disappointing NCAA tournament performance, the greatest potential coach risk, and not consistently recruiting at quite the level that Kentucky (especially) and Kansas (lately) have established themselves.

OK, now it gets really tough.

No. 2 Kentucky

Really for the reason that Calipari’s operation feels like more of a comet than a star. The Wildcats are burning bright and are annually the biggest story in the game, but last season put a small dent in the armor of Calipari’s annual build model, and more coaches now feel they can beat Calipari for strategic recruits.

The consistency and stability in Lawrence is just better. They have been masterful under Bill Self, and were outstanding under Roy Williams. The future is looking really good, too, if Self continues to recruit at his current level. There are a lot of rumblings he could strike big at the top of the Class of 2014, and the groundwork would be in place for another extended run of excellence.

As for Calipari, each program he has left has not been able to maintain his level of elite performance, and we have seen Kentucky fade a bit (over time under Tubby Smith) and then crater (under Billy Gillispie), and that doesn’t even include last year.

This choice will look pretty awesome if Kentucky rips Kansas for the national title in April, but for now, the Cats will have to settle for second.

No. 1 Kansas

Congratulations, Jayhawks. You’re the best program in America in my book. At least until next spring.
SI


When Angel Rodriguez announced he was leaving Kansas State and transferring to Miami, the first question everyone had regarded a potential waiver. Would Rodriguez be eligible to play immediately for the Hurricanes, without sitting out a year?

It turns out, Rodriguez and Miami are not even waiting for an NCAA decision: the point guard will sit out.

Head coach Jim Larranaga spoke to the media on Friday regarding the situation:

“I should let everybody know that when Angel contacted us and made the decision to transfer here, in one of our very first conversations, Angel shared with me, that he was struggling with injuries that he sustained during his two years in college. One was a wrist injury, and one was a very serious tendinitis in his knee. When we had him visit with our trainer Wes Brown, Wes felt that it was so severe that he took him to our team doctors. They did x-rays and MRI's, and eventually shut him down the entire summer.

“When Angel and I talked about him for this upcoming year, the discussion was, ‘There is no sense applying for the waiver to help you be eligible when you're not physically going to be fit enough.' He told me at that time, he would much prefer to just sit out the year anyway, learn the new system and be 100%, or close to 100%, for his last two years. We were waiting to decide whether or not to apply for the waiver to see how he was feeling. I spoke to him the other day. We both agreed that we weren't going to apply for the waiver, so he's definitely going to red shirt this year with Sheldon McClellan and be available next season and the following year.”
Link


The first possible weekend to hold Midnight Madness-type festivities for college basketball programs was this past one. And yet, not many schools took advantage. In fact, I believe Pittsburgh was the only major program to not wait to inaugurate its 2013-14 campaign.

A year after holding its Midnight Madness party outside, in the road, the Panthers bucked
conventions again and opted to go with a "Morning Madness" theme, holding an open practice/dunk contest/basketball get-together prior to the Virginia-Pitt football game/Homecoming festivities later in the afternoon. The Panthers' basketball program took to Stage AE in Pittsburgh and brought in a capacity crowd of 4,000 people.

And Jamie Dixon opted to wear, as you can see above, that. Dressing as something called "Uncle Si" from "Duck Dynasty," Dixon was happily received. I don't get the show's appeal, but at least Dixon picked a more contemporary costume for this year. In 2012 he opted for the out-of-vogue Jackie Moon look, going as a character from a poorly received Will Ferrell movie that was released four years prior.
Link


Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson has taken a health-related indefinite leave from the Wildcats.

The school announced his departure Friday evening but a spokesman offered no specifics on how long Richardson might be out nor if he would be replaced on a temporary basis.

Attempts to reach Richardson were unsuccessful.

“This is not a life or death situation, but nonetheless very important,” Richardson said in a UA statement. “I am very appreciative to be given the flexibility to temporarily step away from coaching and basketball, and to concentrate on my well-being.”
Link


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Monster weekend for Kansas coming up. Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre both going to Lawrence for "Late Night in the Phog."
@jeffborzello


Rivals Report from "The Workout"


Rivals Report from John Lucas Midwest Invitational


Recruiting Calendar


My 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

First official practice today 😎 #KUCMB
@jojo_embiid

CBS Preseason Player of the Year

Andrew Wiggins

Wiggins became the consensus top prospect in the Class of 2013 after reclassifying. He possesses a unique combination of skill and athleticism, which is why the Canadian is projected to go first in next June's NBA Draft - but not until after he leads the Jayhawks to at least a share of the Big 12 title for the 10th straight year.
CBS All-American Teams


"What did Kevin Durant do in college?" Wiggins asks before reminding me that he never actually watched Durant play a minute of college basketball.

"Kevin averaged 26 points a game," I tell Wiggins.

"But did he have a good team?" Wiggins asks, and it is at this moment when I realize that though I'm talking to an immensely gifted young man who currently projects as the consensus No. 1 pick in next June's NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins is not all that interested in trying to set scoring records because, honestly, he doesn't even know what they are, and it's never occurred to him to ask.

He'd rather win a lot and hang a sixth championship banner in Allen Fieldhouse.

He's here at Kansas to try to cut nets.

"I don't know about 26 a game," Wiggins says. "But my team is going to be really good."

…It's an almost unavoidable scenario for somebody often labeled as the best prep prospect since LeBron James graduated in 2003. If Wiggins doesn't get 20 points in KU's opener on Nov. 8, countless reactionary folks on Twitter will label him overrated. If Wiggins doesn't overwhelm fellow freshman phenom Jabari Parker four nights later in a game against Duke, some will wonder whether he's even a future top-five pick.

Such is the harsh reality of daily referendums on athletes.

"It's going to be so hard for him to live up to the expectations," said assistant Kurtis Townsend, who was KU's primary recruiter of Wiggins. "But when I talk to Andrew about it, he says, you know, he's had these types of expectations on him his whole life."

Which is true, of course.

I first met Wiggins five summers ago in Las Vegas when he was a 13-year-old playing for a 16-and-under team called Grassroots Canada. His coach at the time, Ro Russell, told me this that day: "Andrew Wiggins will eventually be the best player I've ever had."

So, yeah, Wiggins has been dealing with high expectations forever.

And he's also forever shined in big moments.

The best example came two summers ago at the Nike Peach Jam when Wiggins was matched against Julius Randle, the current Kentucky freshman whom most project as the No. 2 pick in next June's NBA Draft. The gym was packed with college coaches, media and fans, and Wiggins completely overwhelmed Randle in every way to solidify his reputation as the nation's best high school prospect.

The guess here is that Wiggins' freshman season will go similarly.

He'll blend in at times -- mostly because he's surrounded by other future lottery picks like Joel Embiid and Wayne Selden -- but have so many huge performances in big moments that his talent and impact will be undeniable even if he doesn't average the same 25.8 points that Durant averaged at Texas.

"Andrew just isn't that kind of guy," said Kansas coach Bill Self. "He's not a guy who's going to be hunting points, but what he can do is dominate games in a lot of ways that maybe [Durant] wasn't asked to do. But he's not going to average 26. He's probably not even going to be a 20-point scorer."

And, if that's the case, will there be a backlash because of all this hype?

"There might be from some people, but it won't be from NBA people," Self answered. "The people who matter won't [question him]. Because they know."
CBS Parrish


Last fall, NBA executives bemoaned what was expected to be a weak 2013 draft class. This fall? Those same execs are gushing about the next one. An infusion of superior freshman talent and one irresistible Australian import have many believing the Class of '14 could be the best in years.

"Obviously, there is a long way to go," an Eastern Conference executive said. "Remember, how many people thought Shabazz Muhammad [the 14th pick in the 2013 draft after one season at UCLA] was the next big thing? But looking at the pure talent in this class, you can say five or six guys will almost certainly be All-Stars and another five or six could easily get there."

Here is SI.com's first look at the top 20 prospects for the 2014 draft.

1. Andrew Wiggins

Heard the phrase "Riggin for Wiggins" yet? You will. Several league executives predict tanking toward the tail end of this season as lottery teams will look to improve their chances of drafting Wiggins. His greatest strength is athleticism -- not a surprise given that his father, Mitchell, played in the NBA and his mother, Marita, was an Olympic sprinter. Wiggins' vertical reportedly was literally off the charts at the LeBron James Skills Academy last year, and he is just as explosive with the ball. He's a dynamic scorer, can play multiple positions and has a surprisingly polished jump shot. More than one general manager used the word "special" when describing him.
SI


What kind of impact can transfer forward Tarik Black have?

Wiggins isn’t the only member of KU’s recruiting class who will almost assuredly be one-and-done.

Black, a graduate transfer from Memphis, will have just one season at Kansas. But for a team that was looking at having no scholarship seniors, he could end up making just as much impact as some of KU’s more heralded freshman.

On Wednesday, Self said Black may have been the “big steal of any recruiting class in America,” calling him a “potential draft pick.”

In the short-term, Black can serve as a stop-gap for freshman Joel Embiid, a raw big man still finding his way. By the end, Black may be even more.

“I think Tarik will have a great chance to play as much as he wants,” Self says. “He will have a great chance to start. Not very often do you recruit a senior that has already started three years and have him come in and be as well respected and basically be the leader of our big guys already, so I am expecting him to have a big year.”

…Will any players join the “Travis Releford” redshirt plan?

The pool of redshirt candidates isn’t that large: It won’t be Tarik Black or junior Naadir Tharpe, the Jayhawks’ only scholarship upperclassmen, and it won’t be sophomore Perry Ellis or forwards Landen Lucas or Jamari Traylor, both of whom already used redshirt years. Junior forward Hunter Mickelson will sit out this season as a transfer. And while we’re at it, we’ll go ahead and state the obvious that it won’t be freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Wayne Selden or Joel Embiid.

That leaves four scholarship players: sophomore Andrew White III and freshmen guards Frank Mason, Brannen Greene and Conner Frankamp. The competition in the early weeks of practice should be fierce.
KC Star


Wiggins’ jump-out-of-the-gym talent is eye-popping, but to succeed as a collegiate player he has to learn to be more than just the occasional exclamation point.

That’s what Self is waiting on.

"You’d watch him play 10 minutes in a game and leave out of there going, 'Wow,' " Self said. "He makes plays that truly leave you in awe. But he doesn’t know yet how to play hard consistently. He can definitely do that. He just has to learn how."

Wiggins isn’t unusual. In fact, in these fast-twitch times, he’s the norm, merely the latest in a succession of guys tagged "It" for the season -- following in the oversized footsteps of Nerlens Noel, Anthony Davis, John Wall, Harrison Barnes, Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant, all the way back to a guy named Manning at Kansas.

They are the next LeBron, the next sure thing, their team’s savior and the game’s future. Most -- though not all -- have handled the burden extraordinarily well and even more surprisingly, most -- though not all -- have lived up to the hype, but it’s a head-swimming ascension for even the coolest customer.

By all accounts, Wiggins is humble, despite all of the attention, a "sweet kid," according to Self.

Just a few months ago, Wiggins was trying to find the right cummerbund for the prom.

Now he’s posing for GQ.

It puts college coaches in a quandary. In these hyperattentive times, they have to find the proper balance, to protect their players from the insanity without coddling them on the court.

"It’s just been harder, faster, tougher so far, but at some point I have get inside his noggin," Self said. "He’s been humbled already and that’s a good thing. I just hope the expectations don’t weigh him down too much."
ESPN


There’s one sure-fire way to avoid standing in line for first-come, first-served seating at Kansas University’s Late Night in the Phog basketball extravaganza, set for a week from today in Allen Fieldhouse.

It’s by donating a minimum of $10,000 to KU’s Williams Fund.

Fans who donate at the All-American level ($10,000 annually) may reserve two tickets to Late Night. Those who donate at the Champions level ($25,000) can reserve four tickets, while those who give at the Hall of Fame level ($50,000) can reserve six seats.

Exact seat number locations are printed on each ticket, with ushers making sure those designated seats are open until the ticket-holders arrive.

“The total number of tickets being reserved under this plan is give or take 1,100 out of 16,300 seats,” KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said of the plan, in effect the past couple of seasons. “This is a way for us to recognize and show our appreciation to our major donors who do so much to help us provide the support we give to our coaches and student athletes.

…Wayne Selden, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Roxbury, Mass., on Wednesday reflected on KU’s recent five-day Boot Camp.

“The first day was toughest day by far. All the older guys really helped us get through it,” Selden said. “We going in had no clue what to expect. You hear about this dreaded Boot Camp.

“The morning of the first Boot Camp ... Boot Camp starts at 6. I woke up at 4:30 in a cold sweat. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I was at the locker at 5 o’clock waiting. We all worked hard and got through it.”

…Basketball season officially begins today, with 30 practices allowed before the first exhibition game.
LJW


Embiid didn’t touch a basketball until he was 12, and he didn’t come to the U.S. with the intention of becoming a star.

“It was mostly for school,” he said, “but when I got there, I had a chance because my coach told me I could be really good. I started to take basketball seriously.”

Embiid had only been playing for a matter of months when he was discovered at a basketball camp conducted by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in Cameroon. Mbah a Moute, a forward for the Sacramento Kings, grew up near Embiid’s hometown of Yaounde and attended Montverde before playing at UCLA.

Embiid, who spoke no English when he came to the U.S., left his family in Cameroon to enroll at Montverde the next fall. Four Cambodian students helped him learn the language, and he learned the game of basketball by practicing against Dakari Johnson, now a freshman at Kentucky.

Embiid recognized Kansas from one of the first college basketball games he watched on TV, but he had little concept of the school or the state until the Jayhawks started recruiting him.

“I never really paid attention before they called me,” he said.

Embiid played his senior season at The Rock School in Gainesville, Fla., where he averaged 13.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. He didn’t explode in the recruiting rankings until late in the season, but his ceiling was apparent to Self.

…When asked to name the most famous 7-footer in KU history, though, Embiid didn’t hesitate.
“Wilt Chamberlain,” he said. “Everybody knows about him.”

If potential translates to production, everybody will know about Embiid by the time he's finished at KU.

“He’s got a long ways to go from a strength standpoint and toughness standpoint to be able to play a ton of minutes early in the season,” Self said, “but he can do some things and move in a way that very few big guys we’ve had can move.”
TCJ


When the New Mexico Lobos inked a deal to hit the road to play a game in December against perennial college basketball power Kansas, there wasn’t much question it was going to draw plenty of fan interest in Albuquerque.

When UNM saw just how many of its boosters in the Lobo Club were lining up for tickets, it decided to do something it hadn’t done in the past.

UNM will charter a flight for the team’s travel party and fans to Kansas City, Mo., for the Dec. 14 game being played in the Sprint Center. The Jayhawks play one game there each season in a game dubbed the Kansas City Shootout instead of at the usual home confines of Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

“Obviously it’s an attractive national game,” Tim Cass, UNM deputy athletic director, said. “We thought it would be interesting to put together a donor support trip.”

The trip, offered initially to top-level Lobo Club donors for between $875 and $925 per person for game ticket, airfare, ground transportation and a hotel room, sold out almost immediately, Cass said.

Technically, UNM is chartering only a Southwest Airlines flight back from Kansas City, and the flight there is a regularly scheduled Southwest flight out of Albuquerque’s Sunport in which UNM was able to book all 137 seats. Cass said the cost of the flight out and charter back is “approximately $65,000,” which will more than be covered by the 110 Lobo Club members who have purchased the travel package. Also attending will be the standard team travel party in the 24-27 range.

The additional revenue stream to cover travel expenses for the team will also come in handy considering the $90,000 Kansas is paying UNM to play in the game has already been earmarked to partially cover the Lobos’ August trip to Australia (as is the $35,000 UNM is receiving to play Marquette in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 21).

In addition to the normal allotment of about 40-50 tickets UNM receives for most road games, Kansas also made available to the school 200 tickets for fan purchase through UNM for $92 apiece (by contrast, UNM tickets in the Pit range from $19 to $37). Of those, 110 tickets are already accounted for as part of the donor chartered trip and the remaining 90 tickets will likely be accounted for by Lobo Club members on a waiting list for the tickets who were not able to join the charter but still plan to attend the game and travel on their own.

Other general admission tickets must be purchased through the Sprint Center’s website or through the University of Kansas.

Cass said he is unaware of a previous chartered flight, especially to this scale of more than 100 seats, for donors in the past at UNM and certainly not in his eight years in an administrative role.
ABQ Journal


Andrew Wiggins and Team Canada could get one of four wildcards to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain in February, FIBA announced Thursday.

“FIBA will reveal which four national teams will receive the wild cards at its Central Board meeting on the weekend of 1-2 February 2014 in Barcelona, Spain,” the organization said.

Canada failed to qualify for the World Cup, which runs Aug. 30-Sept. 14, after it was eliminated in qualifying by Argentina earlier this month.

…Tony McIntyre, the CIA Bounce coach who coached both Wiggins and Bennett, previously told SNY.tv he expected both to play next year, along with his son, Syracuse freshman point guard Tyler Ennis.

“I think it’s more than likely that [Wiggins] will,” said McIntyre. “This year was just a case of him wanting to get ready for college [ at Kansas].”
Zags Blog


Kansas head coach Bill Self, Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber, Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall, Missouri head coach Frank Haith and UMKC head coach Kareem Richardson as well as legendary Missouri head coach Norm Stewart will team up on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the American Cancer Society’s sixth annual Coaches vs. Cancer Season Tipoff Reception at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Coaches vs. Cancer, as the event will play tribute to contributions made by cancer survivor and Coaches vs. Cancer Founding Father Stewart and his wife, Virginia. The event will be emceed by NFL, NBA and college basketball announcer Kevin Harlan.

The five coaches will participate in a media panel discussion from 4:30-5 p.m., where they will discuss their respective team’s outlooks for the upcoming season. A VIP reception will follow from 5-6 p.m., before the program begins at 6 p.m. on the vintage wooden floor at historic Municipal Auditorium. Fans will have the opportunity to chat with the coaches and bid on auction items to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

The cost is $100 per person, which includes a cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres. Fans may also purchase a VIP ticket for $250 per person, which includes admission to the VIP reception as well as the main event. Tickets may be purchased online at www.KCSeasonTipOff.org. Proceeds from the evening will directly fund the Society’s mission of eliminating cancer by helping people stay well, get well, find cures and fight back.
Link


http://www.kualumni.org/events/homecoming/

Vomit.

It’s easily the most plentiful byproduct of the notorious “Bill Self Boot Camp” at Kansas, where new FGCU men’s basketball coach Joe Dooley was an assistant to the Jayhawks coach for the past 10 years.

But there’s also been desired – and less chunky – things to come from the camps, not the least of which has been tip-top conditioning entering the start of practice.

“I think it creates a toughness and mindset that you can finish things that you start,” said Dooley, hired in April to take over a team that became the first No. 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to reach the Sweet 16.

“That’s what we’re trying to create here. They started something terrific last year. How do we take it to where we want to get it?”

So how did it go at Dooley’s debut boot camp – or “Dunk City Boot Camp,” as say the T-shirts proudly being worn by its graduates?

Well, there was vomit, if that’s any indication.

“I came out in much better shape than when I went in,” said junior Nate Hicks, a 6-10 transfer from Georgia Tech and new addition to this year’s main rotation. “This was no kidding. We really went after it pretty hard. A lot of us made some strides.”
Link


The Longhorn Network has been a failed experiment for ESPN. Carriage for the channel is still extremely limited. Yet, that's not stopping ESPN from continuing to throw games onto the network in an attempt to get people to watch. It hasn't really worked yet, but don't fault ESPN for not trying.
Longhorn Network is now driving another fanbase up the wall: basketball fans. It's looking more and more like six Big 12 hoops games will be airing on Longhorn Network this year - including Oklahoma's Big 12 opener with Texas according to The Oklahoman. Tough luck, Sooners fans! Your team might have made the NCAA Tournament last year, but you're not going to be able to watch your conference opener against one of your hated rivals. And if you do, it's going to be on their network.
AwfulAnnouncing.com


Ed O'Bannon's class action lawsuit against the NCAA, Electronic Arts and the Collegiate Licensing Company took a major step forward Thursday. O'Bannon has agreed to a settlement with EA, which has published top-selling college football and basketball video games, and CLC, which represents more than 200 colleges, universities, conferences and bowl games in licensing contracts. The terms of the proposed settlement remain confidential but are poised to accomplish a key goal: compensate college athletes for their image and likeness in video games and retail sales. The NCAA remains a defendant in the case.
SI


The Arizona men’s basketball program was informed by the NCAA on Thursday that Zach Peters’ waiver request was approved, making him eligible to compete for the Wildcats in 2013-14. Peters will retain four years of eligibility.
Arizona AD


They could see it coming. One car, out of control, slams into another and then here they come, careening across the road.

Crazy, is the way that Braeden Anderson described it. Crazy, then scary.

And then, really scary.

Yet there was an instant in there that Anderson, sitting in back, holding on, thought they all would be OK. They had swerved and missed two cars, but then suddenly there was a third car and a collision and almost immediately, he knew it was not OK.

"I lay down right away," he said. "I lay down and I didn't move, for anybody. People were trying to tell me to move and I was like, 'No, I'm not moving.' I know there's something that's not OK right now."

The Fresno State men's basketball forward had suffered an injury to his cervical spine.
…"The official term is a displacement of my C-5 through C-6 vertebrae. But, pretty much, it's a dislocation and a fracture of a couple different notches in your spine," he said.

There was no damage to the spinal cord, but Anderson would undergo two surgeries at Stanford to fuse the vertebrae. He couldn't swallow or eat for 13 days, before and after the surgeries, and lost weight off his 6-foot-9 frame.

But slowly, normalcy is returning. He is back on his feet, up and walking. On Wednesday, he had a hamburger for the first time in nearly a month. Anderson likely will miss the entire season — the Bulldogs open practice Monday — but he got very lucky, Terry said.

And that is something of which Anderson is well aware. "It's a miracle, for sure," he said.

"I think the biggest thing that I'm taking away from this is that I've been through a lot of things in my life and this is just another thing that I'm going to get through. At the point of impact, that's when I got lucky. The injury, it's still a severe injury. But God still has a plan for me and he still has more things for me to do and I'm going to make a full recovery.

"There are not a lot of people who come away from this injury being able to move everything and with the doctors saying, 'Hey, your neck is going to be stronger than 100% a couple of years from now.' I'm just kind of holding on to that."

Anderson will start rehab in a couple of months. By Christmas, he said, he hopes to be doing basketball activities. There is no doubt he will be back.
Link


P.J. Hairston will be at practice when North Carolina starts preseason workouts Friday. Beyond that, coach Roy Williams isn't ready to say how many games his suspended leading scorer will miss due to offseason trouble.

In a statement Thursday, Williams said the practice decision is Hairston's "first step toward permanently earning his place back on the roster" after twice being cited by authorities while driving a rental vehicle linked to a felon. Williams suspended Hairston indefinitely in July after he was also charged with speeding and reckless driving, though Hairston later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.

In a news conference after that release, Williams said he has put Hairston through 18 days of extra conditioning work and stripped him of any leadership role on the team as part of his punishment.

"P.J. has done more conditioning this preseason than any player I've ever had," Williams said. "He's done more than three times more than any player I've ever had. He has not asked me the question yet but I know it's in his mind: he's wondering if he's on a track scholarship."

Williams said Hairston has done everything asked of him to earn his way back so far but there's more to do. He said Hairston has shown "a sense of remorse" for mistakes that "embarrassed his family, our program and the university."

The Hall of Fame coach said he'll make a final decision on how many games Hairston will miss before the season opener Nov. 8 against Oakland. When asked whether the NCAA was involved in that process, Williams said, "I can't speak for what the NCAA is doing or not doing. I know Roy Williams has a tremendous voice in what else is going to be done."
AP


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

2014 ESPN Top 100


Gaffney High School (S.C.) football player Shaq Davidson and basketball player Peak staged a joint commitment ceremony at which they would dramatically reveal the institution of higher learning at which they would play their respective sports.

They decided to go with the ol’ hat routine, which was invented (or at least popularized) by Baron Davis almost 20 years ago. Davidson played it straight — but Peak went for the troll job on the Gamecocks and coach Frank Martin, putting on a South Carolina hat for a few seconds before discarding it and topping himself with a Georgetown hat instead.

It was a stomach punch for the Gamecocks. Peak is a top-100 player with offers from the likes of Connecticut, Florida, N.C. State and Memphis. He would have been a nice addition to what is, at the moment, a two-man class that includes another top-100 player in point guard Marcus Stroman.

That kind of hat ceremony psych out is not unprecedented.

Bryce Brown was the top running back in his class back in 2007 when he and his brother, Arthur (a top-ranked linebacker), staged a joint announcement. Bryce put on Miami hat before tossing it to his brother and picking Tennessee instead. Arthur, meanwhile, committed to the Hurricanes.

In 2010, McDonald’s All-American Terrence Jones also set up a hat ceremony. He reached for a Kansas hat, then put on a Washington hat and ended up signing with Kentucky.

Whenever something like this happens, there are a handful of fans that get bent about having a joke played on them. But, if you’re taking time out of your day to watch a teenager make a non-binding announcement? The joke’s on you, anyway.
Fox Sports (Video at the link)


As Lourawls (Tum Tum) Nairn told it today, his morning call to Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo went like this:

Nairn: “Coach, you ready to go win a national championship?”

Izzo: “Are you serious?”

And then there was laughing and yelling, and eventually, Nairn had to get off the line to tell everyone else at a news conference at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kan. The 5-foot-11 senior point guard and Bahamas native, ranked No. 61 overall in his class by rivals.com, will play at MSU, picking the Spartans over Indiana, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

The other three were Nairn’s finalists for the past six weeks, having recruited him steadily for months or years — Oklahoma offered him as a sophomore. That Izzo was able to swoop in and steal him away in, essentially, two weeks of intensive recruiting serves as a counter to concerns about his clout on the recruiting trail.

Those concerns might have peaked Sept. 13, the day Nairn arrived in East Lansing for a hastily arranged official visit, and the day former MSU point guard target Tyler Ulis picked Kentucky over the Spartans.

“It’s kind of funny because there was a mini-meltdown about Ulis, but how do you think Oklahoma feels today?” said rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi, who considers Nairn the fastest player in his class. “They recruited this kid before anyone heard about him, and his best friend, who is also from the Bahamas (guard Buddy Hield), plays there and has had a great experience. … Then MSU comes in late and gets him. Of course this is an indicator of MSU’s brand. We should not worry about Izzo.”
Detroit Free Press


Recruiting Calendar


My 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

A few weeks ago, in some plain-looking lecture hall on the Kansas campus, a professor called Andrew Wiggins to the front of the room.

The round clock at the front of the room had stopped ticking, the plastic device hanging uselessly, 9 feet above the white board. The professor needed a hand, so he looked to the 6-foot-8 freshman with the white T-shirt and backwards cap.

Little help?

Wiggins reached up, his Stretch Armstrong right arm carefully clutching the clock. At the perfect moment, someone in the back snapped a photo of the scene. When it appeared on social media, it spread like a grease fire, accumulating more than 1,000 “Likes” on the KU Athletics official Instagram account.

“It wasn’t working or something like that,” Wiggins would say. “So I just took it down. It wasn’t too high. I didn’t have to jump or nothing.”

This may be a pretty good example of what it’s like to be Wiggins, KU’s most heralded recruit in decades, during his first month on campus.

Take down a clock, and you’re a Twitter hero.

A week earlier, Wiggins had a photo shoot for an upcoming edition of GQ — probably a first for KU players — and the hype only continued to swell on Wednesday, when Wiggins walked into Allen Fieldhouse for the Jayhawks’ annual media day. Nobody around the program can remember fans approaching a season with as much anticipation as this one — and that includes Bill Self.

“I think there’s as much hype around this year as any,” Self said. “And I think it’s a large part because of the unknown.”

…On Wednesday, Wiggins was battling a cold, making his famously media-averse personality a little more reserved. One of his longest answers came when he was asked about NBA teams potentially tanking so they can draft him next summer.

“I don’t really think about it too much,” Wiggins said. “I know, normally, any team isn’t just going to quit the season at the beginning of the season just to get somebody.”

…“He handles it the best I’ve seen anybody do it,” said KU freshman Wayne Selden, a fellow McDonald’s All-American who could start alongside Wiggins in the KU backcourt. “All the pressure, all the hype and he remains very humble.”

…“He has to become a consistent guy that tries to impact every possession in whatever way, shape or form there is for him to impact it,” Self said. “He could be our best defender; he could be our best shot-blocker; he could be our best lane-runner; he could the best offensive rebounder. He could be a lot of things. But if he doesn’t do it every possession, he won’t be anything of those things.”
KC Star

…"I’d heard he was a quiet kid," sophomore guard Andrew White III said of the nation’s No. 1 high school recruit. "I heard he wasn’t too cocky. And when he got here, he didn’t say a whole lot. Very quiet. And that’s going to take him a long way.

"He has the (credentials) to be what some would consider a jerk. But he came in, he was a quiet kid, very respectful. He listens. Listens to me. And so I think that’s really going to help him along the way. Just because that whole status that he has hasn’t gotten to his head at all."

…White's favorite holy-expletive Wiggins moment to date hails from early in the summer, during a scrappy live scrimmage, around the time the young Canuck’s dunk over Cole Aldrich got plastered all over the interwebs.

"He drove to the basket and went up for a layup and missed," Wiggins' teammate recounted.

"And his second jump was higher than his first jump. And I've never seen somebody miss a layup and get a rebound and jump up so quick -- that's when I knew he had that next level of athleticism.

"That's something I had never seen, (and) I had seen pro guys. And a lot of people wouldn't notice it, but when he went in there and missed that shot and the quickness that he came off the ground with ... he's going to catch a lot of people this year with that second jump."

And with that, White grinned broadly. Knowingly. The game defies words, logic and gravity. But mostly gravity.
Fox Sports KC

Even college sports lifers struggle to recall anything quite like the Wiggins phenomenon. Sheahon Zenger, KU’s athletic director, remembers getting a text message alerting him that Wiggins had committed, then running down the hall to take a picture of the TV screen in assistant coach Kurtis Townsend’s office to document the occasion.

“I have a three-ring notebook of every article written about him that day,” Zenger said. “There’s no way I was going to get to see them all. I said, ‘I just want this for posterity.’ ”

All of the hype seems somewhat incongruous with Wiggins himself. While other prospects were basking in the attention with daily updates, lists and hat ceremonies, Wiggins avoided most interviews and announced his decision with a small news conference at his high school, Huntington (W.Va.) Prep.

Avoiding the attention will be tougher at KU, but Wiggins had to chuckle when someone suggested the dozen or so reporters surrounding him at media day represented an introduction to the spotlight.

“This? I’ve been through it all, man,” Wiggins said. “Not all, but I’ve been through a lot. It comes with being an athlete.”
TCJ

“We can be the best,” Wiggins said. “The main goal for all of us is to win the national championship.”

…The ceiling is high, and Wiggins doesn’t have to look far to find motivation to reach college basketball’s highest achievement. He watched as his older brother, Nick, made the Final Four with Wichita State last season.

“I got to see how much joy and happiness it brought him. So I want to be a part of that too,” Wiggins said. “I want to make it to the Final Four.”

But it’s still September, and for now Wiggins is focused on perfecting his game and enjoying college life.
Despite the hype that has surrounded Wiggins, he still feels like he can appreciate being a college student.

“I’ve never experienced nothing like it,” Wiggins said. “I’ve been able to enjoy it. We have practice and weights and stuff like that, but after that it’s college. It’s known to be the best years of a lot of people’s lives.”

There is pressure on Wiggins from all angles, including from himself, but he welcomes it and uses it to make himself a better player.

“There’s pressure, but for me it’s motivating pressure,” Wiggins said. “People give me big shoes to fill, and I’m just doing my best to fill them.”

He’s been compared to the greatest players in the game right now. But Wiggins said he hasn’t had any conversations with players like LeBron James or Kevin Durant, but for now it’s enough that they know his name..

“They know of me,” Wiggins said. “That’s a blessing. The best players in the world know about you.”
All of the pressure and expectations could seem overwhelming, but Wiggins credits his family for keeping it from getting to him.

No matter what happens this season he knows where they stand.

“Throughout this year when I have bad games or good games, people are going to love me, people are going to hate me, but my family is going to be there regardless,” Wiggins said.
UDK


Andrew Wiggins slouched down in a chair with cameras stuck in his face. Conner Frankamp tried to heave in a half-court shot. Wayne Selden sat back and smiled inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The calendar hasn't even flipped to October and basketball is already on the mind at Kansas.

"We've been working hard this whole summer and I feel like we're ready to go," said junior guard Naadir Tharpe, just about the closest thing to a veteran on this young team. "We have a lot of great players around us, so the excitement is definitely up at Kansas right now."

…"I do think the season is too long," Kansas coach Bill Self said, "but the way they've done it, they've done it in a way where basically you don't have to cram so much stuff in so fast. You can take your time and be a better teacher, and also you don't have to wear guys' bodies out so much because you can do two days on, two days off until you get into shape."

Self said he plans to alternate a "hard day" and "teaching day" until the middle of October, when the grind really begins. The idea is to make sure guys are fresh for the whole season.
"We'll work them hard, but there's no reason to have a 3½-hour practice in September," Self said. "I do think it's a positive, no question, but it does make for a long season."

Self joked that he might not be in favor of the rule changes next year if a whole bunch of players return. But he's certainly in favor of the earlier practices this year, when he's trying to break in a nine-member recruiting class that will be counted upon heavily.

…Wiggins has been anointed the next LeBron James by many folks who follow the recruiting trail, though Self said it's dangerous to make such comparisons before he's ever stepped foot on a college floor.

But with dozens of TV cameras pressing into his face, Wiggins looked comfortable — bored, even — while wearing a crisp, white No. 22 jersey with Kansas stitched across the chest.

"When I came on my visit, it just caught my heart. This is where I felt like I belonged," he said Wednesday. "The team, they're all one unit. Everybody was cool with everybody. Nobody was left out. I felt more at home here than anywhere else."

…"If you look around this court right now, there's so much talent," Black said, "and you put a coach like Bill Self at the head of that, it's kind of scary. It's very scary."
AP


Sitting on a raised chair, facing dozens of reporters, a weary Andrew Wiggins held court with the media for 30 minutes Wednesday afternoon in the southwest corner of Allen Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot-8 Kansas University freshman shooting guard, who has been under the weather the past couple of days — “I don’t know what I’ve got,” he said — never considered calling in sick with so many local, national and international (one TV crew from Canada) media members in town to meet with the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2013 on men’s basketball media day.

“I kind of forget about it when I’m practicing, but after that it hits me,” said Wiggins, his eyes watering because of a bug that’s had him chugging a lot of orange juice of late.

Even at less than 100 percent, he said he found all the attention flattering and humbling.

“It’s cool. Any kid would like it. I think I’m just blessed to be in this position,” Wiggins said.

…“He is probably the most uncocky, smartest player I’ve been around, especially for somebody who has the talent level he has,” said point guard Roberts, who roomed with Wiggins at Jayhawker Towers during June and July before moving off campus for his senior year. “He doesn’t really talk a lot. I’d walk into his room, and he’d just give me a big smile.”

Wiggins’ current roommate, Tyler Self, added: “He’s kind of a quiet guy. I think he has to be comfortable around you before he lets his personality show. It’s fun being his roommate. He’s pretty normal I’d say. He plays a little Xbox, makes some food. He’s real laid-back, modest. He fits in very well with this team.”

Bill Self, rates Wiggins a “10” on coachability.

“All of our young kids have been 10s,” Self said. “This has been a great group to work with, and if there is stubbornness, it has been strictly from a competitive standpoint, which I find to be pretty attractive. There hasn’t been any stubbornness from a wanting-to-learn standpoint.”

…Wiggins, who said he’s noticed “everybody is bigger, faster and stronger in college,” tries to be a sponge around Self.

“He is a players’ coach. He’s taught me a lot since I’ve been here, on and off the court,” Wiggins said. “It’s been a joy playing for him so far.”

And a joy being around his 17 teammates.

“This team ... we all roll as one unit,” Wiggins said. “Everybody is cool. Nobody is left out.”
LJW

Freshman point guard Frank Mason may have been the least heralded member of the recruiting class, but Self said Mason has the skills and toughness to push junior Naadir Tharpe for minutes.

“There’s no question that Frank can push Naadir, ” Self said. “No question. And Naadir knows that. Frank’s talented. He’s tough. He’s a pit bull. He’s probably as competitive as anybody we have. But does he know how to lead? Those are the questions that need to be answered.”
KC Star


9/25/13, 7:49 PM
Dear Kansas fans: I came to Lawrence to write about Andrew Wiggins, and I’m going to. But you should know that Joel Embiid is special, too.
@GaryParrishCBS


It seems a strange thought on a roster that includes Andrew Wiggins, but the player on this year’s Kansas University basketball team with the highest ceiling just might be the guy whose head comes closest to the ceiling.

Joel Embiid, native of the African country of Cameroon, has the least experience playing basketball of anyone in the Kansas program in recent memory, but for reasons that extend beyond his 7-foot stature, he was born to play basketball, the third sport he got around to trying.

I asked Bill Self if there is anything athletically or basketball skill-wise that Embiid is better at than any big man he has coached in his previous 10 years at Kansas.

“He’s got the best feet,” Self answered without hesitation. “When you guys watch Joel play, you’ll say he’s got unbelievable feet. He’s like a 6-footer, the things he can do with his feet.”

Then Self dropped a name that made everyone in the room sit up and lean forward.

“He kind of reminds me a little bit of (Hakeem) Olajuwon early in his career,” Self said. “I’m not saying he’s Olajuwon. I’m not saying that at all. But you know, some similarities when he was real raw when he was young, but always had great feet, light on his feet. I think Joel’s the same way.”

…Self called Embiid the “most talented” big man he has had at Kansas. That doesn’t mean he’s anywhere near the best yet, but it does mean the fast, 250-pound center who has gained 15 pounds since coming to Kansas has a ceiling too high to see at the moment.
LJW


9/25/13, 7:50 PM
The Kansas staff LOVES Tarik. They say he’s been great on and off the court.
@GaryParrishCBS


“We’re as deep as we’ve ever been,” said Self, “we probably have as many good players in the gym as we’ve ever had.”

Still, the savvy coach was smart enough to hedge several observations. Among them:

■ The defense can play with reckless abandon, but not at the expense of sound principles.
■ The rotation could include nine different players at times, but will not extend any deeper and could even be shortened if Self finds combinations he does not want to disrupt.
■ The recruiting class, though deep, does not quite compare in quality to the 2006 group, which included three McDonald’s All-Americans, Mario Chalmers, Micah Downs and Julian Wright, as well as Brandon Rush.

Believe what you want when Self sandbags. He knew any attempt to do so was futile since the band of newcomers includes one Andrew Wiggins, the next No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, according to, uhh, everyone.

Sure, the Jayhawks will be young. Their top returnees, junior point guard Naadir Tharpe and sophomore forward Perry Ellis, were inconsistent in bench roles last season. Their nonconference schedule is monstrous and will definitely give the young team a taste of defeat.

“Usually the downs are what allow us to be good in the end,’’ said Self, “so we won’t get hung up on that.”

Fans might, but with this group enthusiasm should soar … even by the high standards KU has achieved, both in its storied history and under Self. Anyone who ever wanted to see a game in Allen Fieldhouse picked the wrong season to bid on that coveted ticket.

No one can deny that expectations are incredible. Not even the players.

“It’s hard not to get caught up in that just a little bit with all the hype that surrounds us,” said Wichita freshman Conner Frankamp, “but we’re doing the best that we can not to worry about that too much.”
TCJ


“Wayne Selden, you guys will see, he’s prepared. A large part of that is because physically he is prepared. Brannen Greene is a talented player. Conner Frankamp, if there is somebody that can shoot better, I would like to see it because he can shoot it maybe as well as anyone we have had here. (If he) can he do it under game conditions remains to be seen, but we certainly think he can.

“I think Tarik Black may have been the big steal of any recruiting class in America because here is a guy that is a potential draft pick. You get all the maturity, and he already knows how to work. Coming in for one year, he knows it has to be a banner season for him, otherwise the transfer wasn’t worth it. He’s hungry.

“Joel (Embiid) is probably as talented of a big kid as we have had because he’s so good on his feet. There are a lot of guys who have the ‘potential’ tag around their neck but haven’t done anything yet.

Frank Mason, he’s a guy that went to prep school, and we were begging him to come here. You guys will understand why once you see him play. We are excited about our entire class. Andrew (Wiggins) was the icing on the cake, but this class would have been one of the better classes even if Andrew hadn’t have come.”

Self on the possible rotation: “It doesn’t really matter because we will probably only play nine, but it could be a different nine. I think it’s one of those teams that could be a different nine depending on who’s playing well. It is a team where we play a solid nine in every big game, which we probably haven’t done in years past.”
LJW


With this shaping up as one of Self’s deepest teams, he didn’t rule out the possibility of redshirting a player or two.

“I foresee us talking about it with maybe one or two guys,” Self said. “The possibilities of who could potentially do such a thing are limited because we’ve already had some guys either transfer or redshirt.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if let’s say one guy redshirts, but it won’t be because we tell him they have to.”

Self advocates redshirting players who won’t be in his rotation, which most years includes nine players at most.

“After seeing Travis (Releford) and Jeff Withey, I can’t understand if you’re not in the mix or the top nine, if you’re a young kid, why you wouldn’t consider that,” Self said.

…Wichita North product Conner Frankamp is just a freshman, but Self won’t be afraid to give him the green light from 3-point range.

“He is a shooter,” Self said. “He’s a scorer, but he’s probably a shooter before he’s even a scorer.”

The toughest transition for Frankamp, Self said, could be figuring out how to get that shot away with bigger, more athletic defenders closing out.

“It’s not a concern, because he’ll have a green light with us,” Self said. “But it is something that I bet he has to go through.”
TCJ

KUAD Video: Coach Self Press Conference, Player Interviews


JayhawkSlant Video: Wiggins on picking KU, team goals


JayhawkSlant Video: Wayne Selden


KSNT Video: Interviews


TCJ Video: Wiggins


TCJ Video: Interviews


LJW Audio Coach Self Press Conference


KUAD Transcript Media Day Interviews & Press Conference


JayhawkSlant: Transcript Q&A with Coach Self


LJW photos


http://www.kualumni.org/events/homecoming/

As soon as Dr. Naismith decided five men were enough per side, basketball became a sport that offered the allure of the game-changer, the one player who could alter a season or perhaps even a franchise.

...But as we continue to debate the merits and fairness of the one-and-done rule, it also may be time to step back, look at Nerlens Noel and ask a more direct question: What's the point of that one year?

"I don't need to see [Kentucky's] Julius Randle play anywhere," one NBA scout said. "Him, [Kansas'] Andrew Wiggins, [Duke's] Jabari Parker, those guys would have been lottery picks if they came out this year and they'll be lottery picks when they come out next year."

…"It really helps the NBA," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "The NBA does not want high school kids but the one year doesn't help them get ready any more or less. It doesn't help them basketballwise. It helps the NBA."

And therein lies the rub. The arguments in favor of the one-and-done rule all sound altruistic and well-intentioned -- a chance to mature, the opportunity to measure your game against legitimate competition, a year to get stronger and better.

But that's not really what's behind all of this.

…Bill Self has watched Andrew Wiggins in individual workouts. He's also seen him, as of this past week, against his teammates at Kansas. The kid, Self will readily admit, is more athletic and more innately gifted than anyone he's coached.

He's also like a lot of athletic prodigies. His talents are unrefined, raw even, teasing with spurts of jaw-dropping greatness and then disappearing.

"He hasn't dominated anybody here yet," Self said. "Nobody. Could he have handled going straight to the NBA? Sure, he can handle it. A lot of kids can handle it but that doesn't mean they're prepared to play."

Despite his coach's honest assessment, the question for Wiggins -- even six weeks before he's played his first collegiate game -- is not if he will be drafted, but will he go first. Barring a cataclysmic disaster that would include a sinkhole swallowing him whole, he will be a lottery pick.

So what can he gain at Kansas, besides a chance to model the new unis for GQ?

Plenty, college coaches and even some NBA execs, say.

"How much can they improve?" one NBA personnel director said. "They can improve a lot."

Wiggins already has logged hours and miles in basketball, crisscrossing the country with his Huntington Prep team during the school year and in the summer with his CIA Bounce crew. But he's never been exposed to a full-time strength coach or nutritionist.

He's gotten good coaching, maybe, but not from anyone with Self's credentials.

He's played against some of the best in his class and still emerged as the nearly consensus No. 1 player among them. But he's never had his skills measured against those of say, Syracuse's C.J. Fair, or other more established players.
ESPN O'Neil


College athletic directors said they are working on recommendations to improve college athletics, but paying players is not in the plan.

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the IA Athletic Directors Association wrapped up their meetings in Dallas by releasing a statement Wednesday.

The athletic directors said they discussed topics ranging from NCAA governance and enforcement to the disparity of interests and resources among Division I schools to the rejection of "pay-for-play."
Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said, "Pay for play has no part in the amateur setting."
AP


Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany laid out a sweeping vision for NCAA restructuring Wednesday night that included a strong message for pro leagues who rely on college athletics as a breeding ground for talent.

“I can't tell you the NBA and NFL are going to start minor leagues,” Delany told a small group of reporters. “I think they should. I think it takes more pressure off us. It lets us be who we are … Why is it our job to be minor leagues for professional sports?”

…“Maybe, just maybe it would work better in football and basketball it would be better if more kids had the opportunity to go directly to the professional ranks,” Delany said. “Let the minor leagues flourish, or let them go to IMG [academies]. Let agents invest in their body, let agents invest in their likeness but don't come here [and say], ‘We want to be paid $25,000 or $50,000.' ”
CBS


If you were to describe the upcoming college basketball season with one name, it’d probably be Wiggins, as in Kansas freshman forward Andrew Wiggins. Just about anywhere you look you will see the name of the teenage phenom that has general managers and basketball pundits salivating at what could be.

While Wiggins potential is off the charts, he won’t be the best player in the NCAA this year. He won’t even be the best player in his own conference. Both of those titles belong to a player who is used to being overlooked by the national media: Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart.
Dime Mag


Duke starts practice this weekend with three stated goals for the Blue Devils. According to assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski they are: 1. Pace: "to get accustomed to the pace at which we will play, especially defensively.'' 2. Leadership: "Replacing the maturity of a good senior class we want to see who steps up to create and lead in the same positive environment.'' 3. Role: "Start to identify and establish some roles.''
ESPN


There’s still no telling if the NCAA will allow Zach Peters to play for the Arizona Wildcats this season, so life goes on.

The transfer forward from Kansas has been going through nearly all of the Wildcats’ skill work, taking part in conditioning drills, soaking up the UA system … then going home to don sunglasses and flip on a computer program.

For a guy who has suffered five concussions in the past two years, that’s when some of the most important stuff happens.

“A spot will show up, and I have to click on it fast,” Peters said. “The sunglasses make it really hard to see. It’s actually an eye workout. Anyone can do it and get benefits from it. But because I had concussions, the stimulus was kind of thrown off, and they say it’s really important when you’re playing a full-speed sport to get all that back.”

Peters said he has done so well on the tests, and in his early conditioning and on-court work, that he’s close to being able to participate in full-contact drills.

But how Peters does physically ultimately may have no bearing on whether he can play this season. Peters is still seeking a waiver to be able to play this season, instead of sitting out the redshirt year required of transfers, after leaving Kansas last fall.

Four months after Peters opted to transfer to UA, and just a day before full practices open Friday, there’s still no word how the NCAA will rule.

…“When I left Kansas, I had my mind set on not playing for a while, so I signed a release that caused me not to be able to transfer for medical reasons,” Peters said. “I don’t know what it was, but there was something in the process, that signing the release form made it difficult to transfer and get eligible to play this year. You have to go through this process when you do this.”

But Miller says UA has presented a “very honest assessment of the situation that it wasn’t under his control,” and that he is hopeful of the outcome.

“We’ve done everything that we need to do. Zach’s family has done everything they need to do. Kansas has been incredibly cooperative. They’ve done everything they need to do.

“It’s probably as simple as one person picking up a piece of paper, walking 50 feet and dropping it off on a desk, and that (next) person picking up the paper and putting a check mark on it. But we’re not there yet.”
Arizona Daily Star


Peters suffered two concussions in high school while playing receiver at Prestonwood Christian Academy and sustained three more in just a few months at Kansas last fall.

“People don’t realize how bad they were. … They piled one on top of the other,” he said.

“When I got my first one, I was fine. The second one, I was still fine. But there were small things you wouldn’t even notice going through life. Say you don’t sleep well or whatever, you just put it to the side. But after one of my last concussions, I could definitely tell there was something different going on and I needed to seek help.

“I wasn’t the person or player I could be with these injuries. … It was pretty obvious I needed to take consideration of my body and health.”

He said his original intent was to take a break from basketball and stay at Kansas for the spring semester, but his parents wanted him to return home.

“I had the option to stay, but I thought it was best for me to go home, too,” he said. “Which says a lot for a college student; nobody wants to go home after our first semester.”
Tucson Citizen


Yesterday rapper and Kentucky fan Drake went on ESPN’s First Take

Skip Bayless: “You have become part of the Kentucky program; give us some insight into Coach Calipari”

Drake: “Coach is, he is, well out there (in Kentucky) he is almost a borderline religious figure, you know, they follow his word…he’s a great man. He truly, cares about the program; he truly cares about the kids.  One thing I’ll say, which really showed me a lot about Coach Cal’s character was, I recently went back to high school and graduated and Coach Cal actually flew to Toronto and came to my high school graduation which was like one of the best moments in my life. Out of anybody, no one else came, just Coach Cal and brought me a Wildcats jersey and talked about maybe getting me in the basketball program, which was probably a blatant lie, but I was in the moment. He’s great; I think this year’s going to be exciting. Obviously you know if it was up to me I would have loved to see Wiggins (fellow Canadian) go to the Cats.”
Gag Me


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Cliff Alexander trimmed his top 10 list to six on Monday. And like he did in June, he's adamant that people not read anything into the order of the schools listed.

But still, we can't help but read into Alexander's miles-wide smile from a ChicagoHoopsMedia video from over the weekend when asked about how his recruiting with the Jayhawks is going. Just go to the 2:10 mark for the question and answer.

The 6-9, 240-pound prospect from Curie Metropolitan in Chicago is believed to be leaning toward Kansas, because his girlfriend, Caelynn Manning-Allen, will be a freshman on the Jayhawks' women's team this winter. And his friend, JaQuan Lyle, recently posted an Instagram photo of the two with Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse as the backdrop, adding fuel that Alexander will wind up at KU.

The two players have indicated an interest in playing with each other, and Alexander told ChicagoHoopsMedia that, "I think we could win a national championship if we end up at the same school."

We also found it interesting that Alexander referred to Kansas' Midnight Madness event, "Late Night in the Phog," simply as "Late Night." As if the event was an old friend.
TSN


9/25/13, 7:19 PM
Asked Tyus Jones to update the status of he & Jahlil Okafor's package deal: "Def still on. Def not worried about rumors. We know the plan."
@JayJayUSATODAY


Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn is headed to Michigan State.

A 5-foot-10, 175-pound Bahamas native, Nairn picked the Spartans over Minnesota, Oklahoma and Indiana after visiting all four schools.

“He will be the fastest, toughest and best leader in the program,” Belaire (KS) Sunrise Christian Academy coach Kyle Lindsted told SNY.tv.

Michigan State initially backed off Nairn to focus on other point guards, but recently re-engaged him. The Spartans missed out on Quentin Snider (Illinois) and won’t get Tyus Jones,either.
Link


Recruiting Calendar


My 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

Tradition meets the Future. #jointhetradition #rockchalk
@KUHoops

Hoops season unofficially begins today with the annual Media Day in Allen Fieldhouse. It is closed to the public.

…“It’s been fun watching our guys grow together,” said 11th-year KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks were able to practice two hours a week during summer school and two hours a week since the start of the fall semester in accordance with NCAA rules. “We have the foundation to have a good year if things fall right.

“It’s as deep a team as we’ve had. There will be somebody disappointed. They all deserve to play,” he added of players who ultimately do not make the rotation. “I’ll be honest. All our guys are doing well. It’s the longest team I’ve ever had. The big question is can we consistently make shots and make shots at the end of games. I think this team will be able to defend and create some havoc. This will be a fun team to watch.”

The team begins practice Friday in accordance with new NCAA rules.
LJW

The University of Kansas men's and women's basketball teams will celebrate the beginning of the 2013-14 season at the 29th annual Late Night in the Phog Friday, Oct. 4, in Allen Fieldhouse.



The 2013 Late Night in the Phog, presented by Hy-Vee, will run from 6:30 p.m. to approximately 9:30 p.m. Admission is free; doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Children, 12 and under, will not be admitted without an adult, and the Fieldhouse doors will be closed when the arena reaches capacity.



With school in session, all university parking lots will be restricted by permit only until 5 p.m., with the exception of Lot 90 located across Naismith Drive to the east, and south, of Allen Fieldhouse which will be available for public parking at 3 p.m. During the day, public parking is available in the parking garage just north of Allen Fieldhouse with hourly rates. Parking in the garage for Late Night in the Phog after 4 p.m. will be $5 per vehicle. Additionally, for those driving to Allen Fieldhouse from the north or via I-70 (exit 202), Iowa Street remains under construction from Harvard Ave., north of 15th Street (or Bob Billings) to 19th Street.



As is the tradition at Late Night, fans are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items, which Kansas Athletics will donate to "Just Food" of Douglas County. Just Food will also be outside Allen Fieldhouse taking cash donations for those not able to bring a food item.



Time Warner Cable's Metro Sports will oversee the television production of Late Night in the Phog which will be seen live on the Jayhawk TV Network, including ESPN3. Television hosts will be Nate Bukaty and former men's basketball guard Greg Gurley. The entire Late Night in the Phog can be seen and heard via the internet via Jayhawk Digital Passport, KU's online network via KUAthletics.com. Additionally, 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City and KLWN Radio in Lawrence will provide coverage of the festivities.



The event will feature music by the KU pep band, skits by both basketball teams, video highlights from KU's award-winning Rock Chalk Video department, coach and player introductions, scrimmages by the KU men's and women's teams, and much more.
KUAD


It's almost become a formality whether you're a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns or even Boston Celtics. You pray for your team to drop game after game so you can be the clubhouse leader and receive the most pingpong balls in the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes.
There's just one issue. This won't be the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes.

This isn't 2003, when LeBron James was the ultimate no-brainer to be selected No. 1 in the NBA draft. It's not 2012 either, when there was virtually no chance heading into the college season that anyone other than Anthony Davis would be taken No. 1.

Wiggins might be the clubhouse leader, but the first draftee to shake new NBA commissioner Adam Silver's hand in 2014 could be Kentucky's Julius Randle or even Duke's Jabari Parker. In fact, let me be the first to go out on that proverbial limb and say I'd take Randle, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound man-child, with the No. 1 overall pick.

Go ahead and check all of the mock drafts, whether it's our own Chad Ford or anyone else. The 6-7 Wiggins, a Canadian who will play for Bill Self at Kansas this season, sits atop all of the boards.

Wiggins is exceptionally talented. He's long, athletic and has a body that draws comparisons to Kobe Bryant. There are just a couple of issues that NBA personnel raise: Does he possess the killer instinct to be a star in the NBA, and will he develop a perimeter shot that eventually forces defenders to go over screens?

"He's no lock," one NBA executive said of Wiggins being tabbed with the top pick. "He has all the physical tools, but mental makeup is the biggest question with Wiggins."

"He has a lot of things he must show this year," added another high-ranking NBA guy. "His shot must improve and he has to develop a sense of urgency and a better focus."
ESPN Goodman ($)


When you are preparing to house one of the most historic documents in the history of sports, there are certain things you must consider. The lighting, for example. It can’t be too harsh, or too low, and it certainly can’t compromise the document.

When James Naismith’s original rules of basketball find their permanent home in the DeBruce Center, a new building adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse, KU officials hope they become a destination attraction for generations.

So details such as the lighting — and other major design issues — have pushed back the construction of the DeBruce Center to next spring, according KU Endowment president Dale Seuferling.

The KU basketball team, which opens practice on Friday, begins its exhibition schedule Oct. 29 against Pittsburg State at Allen Fieldhouse. For KU officials, the idea of starting construction on the three-story, $18 million project during basketball season was an impractical idea.

“It reached the point,” Seuferling said, “where you don’t want to start now and have these huge conflicts with the game-day crowds.”

When KU Endowment announced formal plans for the DeBruce Center in April, construction was scheduled to start this year. But other than a delayed start date, Seuferling says the rest of the project is ready. The financing, which includes a primary donation from Paul and Katherine DeBruce of Mission Hills, is in place. And the general plans haven’t changed.
KC Star


9/24/13, 3:16 PM
The #Knicks announced they have officially signed Cole Aldrich
@AdamZagoria


No terms were disclosed, however ESPN New York’s Ian Begley said the deal is non-guaranteed, meaning the 6-foot-11, 245-pound Aldrich must make the team in training camp.

ESPN’s Nick Borges reports that, “the Knicks will be luxury tax payers in 2014 and Aldrich counts $884,293 against the salary cap should he stay on the roster until the beginning of January.”
LJW

Kansas women's basketball spent time Tuesday afternoon giving back to the Lawrence community as the Jayhawks volunteered with Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen, Inc.,  and served lunch to those in need.



"It means a lot to us to give back and to help them  out," said senior CeCe Harper. "To see the excitement on everyone's faces and to do something good for the community is amazing."



All 12 members of the KU women's basketball team and several members of coaching staff headed to First Christian Church to serve a hot home-cooked meal through LINK.

Aside from helping serving lunch, the Jayhawks had the chance to visit with members of the community and talk about basketball.
KUAD

Weber, who led K-State to a 25-6 record and a share of the Big 12 regular-season title in his first season, will use the time to break in Spradling at point guard.

“Early on, he’s going to have to do it,” Weber said. “He’s played some point before, even before we got there. We feel good to have him there.”

Spradling also played some point last season when Angel Rodriguez suffered a foot injury in mid-December. Spradling logged several minutes at the point in the win over Florida at the Sprint Center, when he had 17 points and five assists in 38 minutes.

Weber said he’s relying on veterans such as Spradling, who averaged 7.4 points and 2.4 assists last season, as well as Shane Southwell, Thomas Gipson, Omari Lawrence, D.J. Johnson and Williams to guide a promising class of newcomers following the departures of Rodriguez, Rodney McGruder, Martavious Irving and Jordan Henriquez.

“They’re going to have to be consistently productive,” Weber said.
KC Star


Inside a conference room Monday near the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, NCAA president Mark Emmert laid out a timeline for what are expected to be massive changes in the governance of college athletics.

In a speech to the Faculty Athletics Representatives of the so-called “1A” organization, which encompasses schools in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision, Emmert suggested that a new model for Division 1 could emerge out of presidential meetings in October, January and April, ready for implementation by next August.

Meeting downstairs in the same hotel, athletics directors were skeptical. Hardly anything moves that fast in the world of college athletics, especially something as intricate as NCAA governance.

But as they emerged Tuesday morning, there was not only a consensus that major changes were coming to the NCAA structure but that athletics directors, who have felt marginalized in high-level policy discussions the past several years, were going to have a much bigger voice in how the NCAA is reshaped.

“There was a time when we were real leaders,” said one BCS athletics director, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions this week were supposed to be private. “Because of the gyrations and the system reinventing itself over time, we were reduced to middle managers. Now we need to reemerge as leaders. We’re on the tarmac every day in this enterprise, and it’s very important to us.”
USA Today


A new book doesn’t single out Missouri as the only college football program where student tutors were alleged to have sex with the players they were paid to help academically.

Still, “The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football” written by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, which went on sale last week, doesn’t paint a flattering picture of Missouri’s Total Person Program.

Chapter 12, titled “The Tutor: Friends with benefits,” briefly details accusations made by former tutors at other schools.

Georgia football players slept through tutoring sessions, tutors did homework for South Carolina football players and football players at the University of Miami routinely had sex with tutors, but most of the 21-page chapter focused on former Missouri running back Derrick Washington’s 2011 conviction for sexually assaulting a former tutor.

“If you’ve been anywhere near this issue, most of these cases don’t result in convictions,” Benedict said, explaining why Washington’s case was included in the book, a 386-page peek-behind-the-curtain of college football. “It’s very rare that a student-athlete or a pro athlete who’s accused of a sex crime gets convicted.”

The book — which includes interviews with Washington and his family as well as two former tutors, including Washington’s victim and her roommate, who also was a tutor at Missouri — describes the academic center as “a hotbed for hooking up.”

Boone County prosecutor Andrea Hayes, a self-proclaimed Missouri fan who prosecuted Washington, laid some responsibility at MU’s feet for ineffective oversight of the interactions between athletes and tutors.

“The university has created this environment,” Hayes is quoted as saying in the book. “When you put a room of athletes together with attractive girls, some of whom like to sleep with athletes, you are just asking for trouble. It creates a sexually charged environment, and athletes get an opinion of girls that is skewed. Tutors who are in it for the right reasons get lumped in with the others. (Their) tutoring program needs to be revamped.”
KC Star


But in an effort to tap into the fan base's pride and sense of nostalgia, Maryland on Tuesday announced it would hold its 2013 Midnight Madness festivities at the famous former hallowed hoops house.

Not a good idea. A great one. It is the first time the men's program will hold an official basketball event at the Field House since it closesd the doors after beating Virginia on March 3, 2002. The return to Cole will commence on Oct. 18 with the women's and men's teams hosting a party for all Terps fans who can fit inside the building, and despite some attendance concerns in recent years, I'd think/hope the event will have a good chance of selling out.

"Cole Field House represented many of the most iconic and memorable moments in Maryland basketball program history," coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement. "Cole was host to multiple hall of fame coaches and countless All-Americans that helped make Maryland basketball what it is today. It will be a special evening for our fans, students, alumni and our university as we reconnect with the historic past of Cole Field House and Maryland basketball.”
CBS


Team IMPACT has had a major influence on college basketball in the past month – and no, that's not an AAU team. It's a non-profit organization that enhances “the lives of children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses by matching them with college athletic teams.”

Two weeks ago, Bradley signed two brothers from a local elementary school. Johnah Sahrs, 5, is in recovery from Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma, and has been undergoing treatment for the past 18 months after having surgery in 2012. Jarret, 9, has been with Johnah through the entire process.

On Monday, Xavier signed 12-year-old Trey Couch, who was diagnosed with Cerebellar Degeneration in 2010. The disease has no cure.
CBS

The North Carolina Tar Heels are looking to get back on top of the college basketball world. What’s the quickest way to do that? You’ve got to dress for success.

Today, ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweeted out a photo of custom Jordan brand ‘XX8 SE’ shoes that the Heels will don at some point in 2013-14:
Link


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Rashad Vaughn (Findlay Prep/Golden Valley, Minn.), the 11th-ranked player in the ESPN 100, trimmed his list to seven schools: Arizona, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina and UNLV. Georgetown, Kentucky, UConn and UCLA were eliminated.

..."I am going to Baylor (Oct.18-20) and Iowa State (Nov. 7-9). Those are set," said Vaughn. "I plan to go to Kansas and North Carolina during the season."

Vaughn's last official visit will be between UNLV and Minnesota. "I have to discuss it with my parents," said Vaughn. "Arizona is here (out west) so I will go on an unofficial there."

The Minnesota native said he plans to make a decision this spring, based on two factors: his relationship with the head coach and the team's style of play. "I want to go where they go up and down the floor and have a fast tempo and set ball screens in the half court," said Vaughn.
ESPN ($)


Rashad Vaughn isn’t open, but still able to score. That's one of the reasons why the Findlay Prep senior guard is a consensus top-10 recruiting prospect.

During a scrimmage at the end of the Pilots' practice last week, Vaughn made all three of his 3-point attempts. One found him all alone in the corner on a kick out. For the other two Vaughn, listed at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, had multiple hands in his face and little room to breathe.

The shots still went in just as smoothly as the wide open one. It’s that shot that has college programs salivating over his services.

“Pure shooting touch,” Pilots coach Jerome Williams said. “He’s got an effortless offensive game.”

…“My parents want to see (UNLV),” Vaughn said. “My dad has a good relationship with coach (Dave) Rice.”

Rice and assistant Todd Simon were in Minnesota last week to meet with Vaughn’s parents. Vaughn said relationships are a big factor for him and if his decision comes down to that, UNLV may have a leg up thanks to its newest assistant coach.

Simon started talking to Vaughn when Simon was still Findlay’s head coach and he never really stopped once he joined the Rebels staff in early July. That Findlay connection could be big for many reasons.

Pete Kaffey, Vaughn’s mentor and trainer since about the sixth grade, moved with Vaughn and is now on the Findlay Prep coaching staff. A former high school coach, Kaffey agreed to follow Vaughn wherever the shooting guard decided to play. That decision became easier after watching former Pilot and Rebel Anthony Bennett go No. 1 in June’s NBA Draft.

“We thought, ‘Man, Findlay is doing something over there,’ ” Kaffey said. “That was key.”
Las Vegas Sun


I think Myles Turner will have the most long-term impact in the game because he has the most upside of all the big men in the Class of 2014. Turner is productive right now as he influences and impacts the game on both ends of the floor, which makes him special. Blessed with physical tools and excellent instincts, he still has so much to learn about the game and how to us his long, athletic frame inside.

For such a young post player, there are three areas where Turner stands out. First, his gift to block shots with superb timing while keeping the ball in play is rapidly developing as he can also make multiple jumps in a possession, which enhances his ability to protect the rim. Second, his face-up jumper extends to the 3-point line and he is also effective on the blocks with a turnaround jumper. And third, he is an above-average passer both facing the rim and with his back to the basket.

Turner reminds me of a combination former NBA players Theo Ratliff on defense and a young Tim Duncan with his offensive touch.
ESPN Biancardi ($)


Recruiting Calendar


My 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

Conner Frankcamp, Perry Ellis, Andrew Wiggins, Nick Wiggins, Frank Mason, and Cleanthony Early in El Dorado this morning for Basketball Camp!
@visiteldoradoks


Check out this interview by @KAKEnews from this weekend featuring me and @22wiggins
@Wiggys_WORLD15 (Video at link below)

Some Kansas and Wichita St. basketball players teamed up Sunday to put on a basketball camp for kids in Wichita.

After the camp, kids had the opportunity to take pictures with the players and get the players autographs.

Kansas Freshman Forward Andrew Wiggins said that he enjoyed seeing the kids having so much fun, and then went on to talk about the college basketball season ahead.

"We're trying to win this year, we're trying to win big, we're trying to go for it all...we have a championship team."
KAKE


Another camp video via Vimeo

Andrew Wiggins, Kansas Jayhawks

He enters the season as the consensus projected No. 1 overall pick. The long, athletic Canadian wing thrives in transition, and while he’ll be erratic for Bill Self this season, he won't ever fall too far down draft boards -- even if he doesn’t dominate on most nights. Wiggins has a mediocre perimeter shot and his motor is questionable at times, but the NBA drafts on potential, which Wiggins has no shortage of. He’s basically a lock to leave Lawrence after one season.

Replacement Plan: Self would love for freshman Wayne Selden to return for a starring role in his sophomore season, but with that seeming more and more unlikely, Brannen Greene is the best internal candidate to step into that role a season from now. Kansas is in the mix for a couple of the top wings: Justise Winslow (Houston/St. John’s) and Kelly Oubre (Fort Bend, Texas/Findlay Prep). The Jayhawks would have to beat out Duke and a few others for Winslow, and it looks as though Self is battling John Calipari and Kentucky for Oubre.
ESPN Goodman($)


Kansas freshman guard Andrew Wiggins has earned his first preseason accolade by donning the cover of the 2013-14 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.



He is joined on the Blue Ribbon cover by Oklahoma State sophomore Marcus Smart, Creighton senior Doug McDermott, Louisville senior Russ Smith and Michigan State junior Adreian Payne.



Ranked the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2013 by every recruiting service, Wiggins, a 6-8 forward from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, averaged 23.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.5 assists last season for Huntington (W. Va.) Prep leading his team to a 30-3 record and a No. 7 finish in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings.



Wiggins was named the 2013 Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year in July after earning numerous national basketball high school All-American and player of the year accolades along the way.



"This is a great honor, but really means nothing since I have yet to play a game in college," Wiggins said. "We're working hard every day to get better as a team and get ready for the season."
KUAD

BOOT CAMP complete<<< TURN UP!!!! TURN UP Love my teammates and the coaching staff and can 't forget about the fans #KUCMB
@jojo_embiid


Boot Camp is COMPLETE! #ItAintEasyBeingKUCMB
‏@b_greene14


Man it feels good to be done with bootcamp!! ✔️👌 Proud of everyone! Getting closer to Late Night and that first game! 😁🏀 #RCJH
@LandenLucas33


9/20/13, 8:37 AM
By the grace of God 🙏we made it thru boot camp....😆 Shoutout to the my brothas ✊ we can't do nothing but TURN UP NOW!!!!
@TarikBlack25


Boot Camp 2013-2014 officially over
@WayneSeldenJr


9/20/13, 7:40 AM
Proud of our guys. Leaders were made this week. Maximum effort is the price of success. #bootcamp…
@Coachjhoward


“The guys did great. I mean really good. It’s probably as good a group as we’ve ever had,” KU coach Bill Self assessed after all of his players made their times during their 30 “suicide sprints” — that is, running halfcourt and back, 3/4 court and back and fullcourt and back.

“Everybody made it. I was very pleased and impressed with how hard they worked and how hard they went all week,” Self added.

Self, KU’s 11th-year coach, quickly said “all of them,” when asked which players stood out during Monday-to-Friday conditioning workouts from 6 to 7 a.m. Junior Naadir Tharpe actually ran 36 suicide sprints this morning because as point guard/team leader he was asked to help lead two groups of players.

“The new guys did great. Everybody did well. I was pleased with them all. I would say the most consistent guy we had all week was probably Andrew White. I thought Naadir Tharpe was really good. Of course, Tarik Black. I would say to me, those may be the ones who stood out the most, but they all did good.

“They all helped each other out. Today got a little long and tough for them. They pulled it back together and helped each other. I thought it was a pretty good team building experience.”
LJW

This Is How You Do It

Kansas

– One hyphen (Louisiana-Monroe)

– One State that’s not a state (San Diego State, a quality opponent)

Yes, yes, 1,000 times yes. And this schedule was in place before the Jayhawks even knew they were getting Andrew Wiggins, so good on them. Beastly slate. I’m going to watch the heck out of this.

Even the “easy” games at home are against quality mids like Iona and Towson. They play Duke in Chicago, play true road games at Colorado and Florida, and also host New Mexico, San Diego State and Georgetown. Love it. Easily the best nonconference schedule in the country. The young, talented Jayhawks will be extremely battle-hardened for the Big 12 race.
SI: Non-con scheduling standouts


I surveyed more than 50 NBA sources (a mix of coaches and front-office guys) for their off-the-record thoughts on who they would hire if they could select any current college head coach to run their NBA franchise. I've ranked the top 5 based on the coaches who stood out, complete with comments from several of the NBA sources.

1. Bill Self, Kansas

“He does everything well -- player relations, game plan, booster/press/corporate, and has a big-time presence," said one source. "I also think he is smart enough to know that he can’t be as hard on guys as he is in practice in the NBA.”

“He has a great demeanor, holds the kids accountable, it’s not all about him -- like a lot of college guys," said another.

“He’s an outstanding teacher, but not too much of a dictator that would turn guys off," a third source said. "He is strong enough and has the right kind of personality to get guys to buy in. He’s coached a ton of NBA picks -- and has played pick and roll in his system.”
ESPN Goodman ($)

After reading that a 1,000-piece collection of Jayhawk memorabilia at the Kansas Union was going up for auction, James J. Ascher Sr., went to see it for what would have been the first time. But he was too late. An employee at the Kansas University book store told him the collection of historical Jayhawk fare had already been boxed up and carted away.

He should be getting his chance soon, though. Ascher donated $130,000 to the KU Endowment so that the union could purchase the collection, effectively making it a permanent part of the union. Some of the pieces could return to display at the union in a matter of days.
LJW


As he pulled on his new red Kansas sweatshirt before leaving for school the morning of Sept. 12, Ben Kastner said to his mother, “Mom, it’s September 12.”

Gina Defeo Kastner, n’89, instantly understood the reference: Her youngest son, 12-year-old Ben, had completed his yearlong quest to wear KU gear every day for an entire year.

As first reported in kualumni.org’s Alumni News blog of July 10, Ben last year chose to make a sartorial statement about his true blue feelings for all things KU and do whatever he had to to become known as the most ardent and loyal Jayhawks fan in Michigan.

Though his stated quest is now complete, Ben says he sees no need to bring it to an end.
“It did make me feel good that I could support the team I love,” he says. “So I’m going to try for another year, I think.”
Link


9/23/13, 5:08 PM
Cleared for full contact
@BRush_4


9/22/13, 10:59 PM
@NumbersNBA: PF Darnell Jackson (@DBlock_Official) will wear number 2. #Pacers
@damien23


Kansas women's basketball hosts the 10th annual Bonnie Henrickson Coaching Clinic on Sunday, Oct. 20.    



Coaches will get a chance to view KU women's basketball practice and then participate in a coaching clinic led by Henrickson and her staff, who have guided the Jayhawks to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances.



The clinic includes a free on-court demo followed by Rock Chalk Talk, which will include offensive and defensive concepts.

The open practice will run from 12-3 p.m. with the clinic to follow from 2-5 p.m. The clinic is free to all coaches. Registration forms need to be filled out and mailed to the women's basketball office by Oct. 14. Click here for the registration form.
KUAD


NYT: Gary Woodland, Working on His Inner Game

According to multiple outlets New Mexico JC point guard Jeff Newberry, who began his collegiate career at Ole Miss, verbally committed to attend (OK State)

Newberry, who joins shooting guard Jared Terrell in Oklahoma State’s 2014 haul, chose the Cowboys over UConn and Texas Tech. In a story written by Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, Newberry acknowledged that Smart’s status did have an impact on his decision.

Newberry didn’t play in a single game at Ole Miss, redshirting in 2011-12 before transferring to Northeast Oklahoma A&M. There, Newberry averaged 14.8 points and 4.3 assists per game with arguably his best performance coming in a 108-99 win over Eastern Oklahoma JC on February 25. In the victory Newberry accounted for 24 points (8-for-12 FG), ten assists and just one turnover.

In regards to Oklahoma State’s depth at the point guard position, this is an important commitment. With Smart seemingly headed to the next level after this season, the Cowboys will be able to pair Newberry with current freshman Stevie Clark.
NBC Sports


That big-time college sports programs are dirty when it comes to NCAA compliance should come as no surprise to anyone, given the number of scandals that have emerged involving so-called student-athletes. Whether NCAA rules make sense is of course an entirely other matter.

Upon hearing the Foster news, an admittedly upset Vitale took to Twitter yesterday to compare a college athlete who takes money to a prostitute. (It appears that the original tweet has been deleted but it read “When they put their hand out like a prostitute & take it they don’t say a word – moaning yrs later = SAD!”) Today, presumably after taking a lot of heat on social media, Dickie V tweeted out an apology for using the p-word.

ProFootball Talk notes there might be some hypocrisy in play: “While his choice of words may have been unwise, Vitale’s initial reaction was an interesting look at the way so many people within the college sports establishment view players making money. Vitale himself has become a multimillionaire thanks to college athletics, but it angers him when he hears about a player taking a little money… And when a player like Foster pulls back the curtain and reveals that ‘amateur’ athletics aren’t really about amateurism, sometimes those multimillionaires fear that their golden goose is being threatened.” Deadspin put the controversy in more stark terms: “If Foster is a prostitute, Vitale and his colleagues are the pimps… But is Dick Vitale a pimp? No. Dick Vitale is an old dude who still thinks college kids should play for the team, school and love for the game.”
Link


The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee has formally started the process to identify the next round of Men’s Final Four locations for 2017-2020.

The committee made bid specifications available this week to prospective Final Four hosts, with the intention of announcing in November 2014 the next round of Final Four cities.

The 2014 Men’s Final Four will be played in North Texas, followed by Indianapolis in 2015 and Houston in 2016.

“We’re excited to begin what we expect to be a competitive bid process,” said Ron Wellman, chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at Wake Forest University.

“Through the years the Final Four has evolved from one of the country’s favorite events into one of the world’s most popular events, so it’s a tremendous opportunity for cities to be the center of the sporting universe.”

Prospective bid cities have until Oct. 11 to submit a declaration of intent to bid, and they must submit a draft budget, hotel rates and confirmation of adherence to the NCAA’s bid specifications by Nov. 15.  After the NCAA men’s basketball staff meets with representatives of each city’s host committee in December, the men’s basketball committee will announce finalists in January 2014.

Completed bids are due in May 2014, and the committee and staff will spend the summer reviewing each bid before making site visits to each finalist city next fall. Representatives from each finalist city will make in-person presentations to the committee during its annual fall meeting, followed by the announcement of the winning bids in November.

When evaluating prospective hosts, the committee will review each city’s competition venue, transportation and lodging, and the region’s overall commitment to the event. Venues must hold a minimum of 60,000 fans, and host cities or regions must be able to provide at least 10,000 full-service hotel rooms within reasonable proximity to the competition venue.

“The selection of future Final Four sites is an awesome responsibility for the committee and staff, as it determines the end of the road for student-athletes and coaches competing for a national championship,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president of men’s basketball. “We look forward to working with the great host cities and NCAA member institutions who will bid for the opportunity to host the Final Four and provide the experience of a lifetime for student-athletes and basketball fans.”
NCAA


Grantland: The Forgotten Phenom Korleone Young


Wichita State men’s basketball coach Gregg Marshall took his team to the Final Four. His most recent reward is a salary increase that boosts him closer to the top of his profession.

Marshall’s base salary will rise to $1.6 million in November and $1.75 million in April under terms of a contract amendment announced Monday. His previous base salary was $1.03 million, without incentives. In 2012-13, a salary of $1.6 million would rank among the top 25 of all college basketball coaches in a comparison with a USA Today database of salaries.

While Marshall’s raise gives him a salary comparable to coaches at schools such as Gonzaga, Missouri and Kansas State, athletic director Eric Sexton said the goal is to find the right number, not the right ranking.

“We’re working with him on what is a fair compensation with a program that is of national prominence,” Sexton said. “That’s the focus. How do we fairly compensate, within what is reasonable for Wichita State University, to support a first-class, national-level program?”
KC Star


Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, an active iconic figure in sports, made headlines this week when he said Division I transfers should be treated equally without exception.

"There should be no exceptions," Krzyzewski told ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil. "Everybody should have to sit out, that includes a fifth-year player, just to make it equal."

Or ...

"If [the NCAA wants] to let everybody play right away [after transferring], then let everybody play right away," Krzyzewski added. "Everybody should be treated the same. I don't understand why there are exceptions to this rule."

So, to summarize, Mike Krzyzewski, arguably the most powerful man in basketball at any level, is OK with all transfers having to sit out a year or all transfers being allowed to play immediately. He just wants a clear-cut rule, one that will eliminate questions and remove the NCAA from the business of trying to determine which student-athletes should and should not receive a waiver to play immediately.

I agree with Coach K -- as long as the NCAA someday reaches his latter conclusion.

Yes, the transfer-waiver situation has gotten ridiculous. Some kids get them. Others don't. And it's not always clear why. But eliminating waivers and making every Division I transfer sit an entire season isn't the answer. The answer is to stop restricting unpaid amateurs and let players come and go as they choose, you know, like every other unpaid amateur who attends college in this country gets to do.
CBS Parrish


CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg is going back to the bright lights of the studio.

CBS Sports named Greg Anthony the lead analyst for the network's college basketball game telecasts, replacing Kellogg. Kellogg will replace Anthony in the studio.

Kellogg has been the lead college basketball analyst for CBS since the network parted ways with Billy Packer in 2008.

Anthony, who also works NBA coverage for NBA TV and TNT, has never called an NCAA tournament game in his 10-year career. Regardless, he is expected to work alongside Jim Nantz and Steve Kerr on CBS/Turner Sports coverage for the Final Four.

Is Turner Sports behind this?
Link


Tony Barbee faces a crucial campaign in 2013-14, as his seat at Auburn could be heating up after going 35-50 in his first three seasons with the Tigers.

Barbee is making an effort to ramp up enthusiasm for the season by blowing out the Jungle Jam – Auburn's version of Midnight Madness. First, the Tigers will welcome comedian Mike Epps to host the festivities.

And the musical entertainment will be Atlanta-based rapper Ludacris, who confirmed his appearance via Twitter on Tuesday.
CBS


Doug Vance has been named the new executive director of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He begins his role on Oct. 1.

Vance is a former media relations director at the University of Kansas, where he spent 20 years. Most recently, he worked as the executive director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association. Before his time at Kansas, he worked at Murray State and Austin Peay State University.

CoSIDA is the national organization that includes college athletic communications specialists, as well as sports public relations and media relations professionals. There are nearly 3,000 members of the organization.
ESPN


Former Oregon coach Ernie Kent has joined the Kansas City-based National Association of Basketball Coaches as associate executive director.
KC Star


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

9/23/13, 12:49 PM
My top 6 schools NO ORDER

Michigan state
Illinois
Memphis
DePaul
Kansas
Arizona
@humblekid11


In this video interview with Scott Burgess of ChicagoHoops.com, Alexander had said Kentucky is no longer on his list.

“No, they’re not anymore,” he said.

Asked who was on his list, Alexander said, “It’s pretty much the same, everybody except Kentucky.”
Alexander’s mother, Latillia, later told SNY.tv that Kentucky stopped calling him.

Kentucky does remain involved with Jahlil Okafor and Myles Turner, two of the other top big men in the Class of 2014.

Okafor, Turner and Alexander are currently 1-2-3 on the DraftExpress.com 2015 NBA Mock Draft.
Asked when he might pick a school, he said, “middle of December,” meaning he wouldn’t sign until the late period in the spring.

Alexander reiterated that he wants to play college ball with guard JaQuan Lyle, who recently decommitted from Louisville.

“We’ve been saying it since he played with me with D-Rose, we’ve been saying we want to play college together,” Alexander said.

“It’s a great experience, I think we can win a national championship if we end up at the same school.”

…On Kansas:  ”It’s going pretty good so far. I been knowing coach [Jerrance] Howard since he was at Illinois. He’s the guy that offered me my first scholarship so  I love him for that.

“Coach [Bill] Self was at my house last week taking to my parents, building a relationship with my parents.”
Zags Blog

There's a common respect between the two peers that Oubre Sr. claims makes the recruiting process more tolerable for his son, whom Rivals ranks as the No. 12 player in the Class of 2014.

"The nice thing is that Coach Calipari and Coach Self respect each other," Oubre Sr. said. "They've been in this situation plenty of times before over top players. No one badmouths the other to try and get an advantage."

The only advantage in this recruitment is going to be through hard work, as both schools are doing everything they can to try and lock up a commitment from Oubre, one of the nation's premier wing guards.
Kentucky Rivals


Q. Power forward Cliff Alexander and guard JaQuan Lyle apparently want to be like Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones in teaming up in college. With friendships that can form on the AAU circuit, will we be seeing more of these decisions in the future?

DeCourcy: I'd like to see one or two of them actually happen before I'm convinced it's a trend.

Before I wrote about the expected pairing in college of center Jahlil Okafor (from Chicago) and point guard Tyus Jones (from the Minneapolis area), I asked Jones what the protocol would be for the two making their decision. Would they discuss it with each other beforehand? With their parents? Would one guy make up his mind first and try to talk the other into his favored school?

Jones didn't really have an answer. So it wouldn't be shocking if they failed to agree on the school where they wanted to play.

The next couple of months likely will show whether these players can agree with one another on their preferred choices. If they can figure it out, perhaps we'll have something. In the meantime, I'm going to make one final pitch to my colleagues in the media to stop referring to these as "package deals." It's like calling a base on balls a "single." The terminology is wrong.

Okafor and Jones are not a "package deal." If you get them both, that's a bonanza or a jackpot, or something. A package deal is when a program takes one middling or unqualified recruit to land a star player. That practice has been operational for decades. And we know that it still goes on.
Sporting News DeCourcy

The Arizona Wildcats will likely get a chance to host five-star center Myles Turner during this season, after the coaching staff made an in-home recruiting visit on Wednesday night, Turner’s father said.

David Turner told the Star today that his family was impressed after Sean Miller visited with assistants Joe Pasternack and Damon Stoudamire at their home in Bedford, Texas.

Miller "let us know what he expects of his players and how Myles fits into those plans,” David Turner said. “More than likely we’ll take a visit. He showed us a lot of pictures of campus and it looks beautiful.”

David Turner said his son is seeking both the ability to pursue a line of study involving counseling psychology, as well as a coach who allows big men the versatility to pick and pop.

Because of a USA Basketball commitment, Myles Turner postponed his only scheduled visit of the fall -- he had planned to go to Kansas on Oct. 5 – but David Turner said his son wants to take his visits during the basketball season anyway, and make a decision by the spring signing period.

Turner is down to eight schools, also including Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Texas.
Arizona Daily Star


New Hampton '15 F Tyler Lydon has heard from Duke, Kansas, UNC, Notre Dame, & Maryland this week per @NE_Playaz
@NERRHoops


Charles Matthews, a 6-foot-4 junior combo guard from Chicago St. Rita High School who is ranked No. 11 in the recruiting Class of 2015 by Rivals.com, on Saturday included Kansas University on his revised list of 10 schools.

Matthews via Twitter listed KU, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State, Ohio State, SMU, Stanford and Wisconsin.

“It has been exciting to see the growth of Charles over the past few years,” St. Rita coach Gary Decesare told Zagsblog.com. “He is a very hard worker who tries to get better every day. He can play anywhere in the country and is one of the best players in his class. He can control a game in so many ways with his tremendous versatility.”
LJW


Recruiting Calendar (Updated for 2013-14)


My 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

Welcome to twitter Coach Townsend


9/17/13, 7:20 AM
2nd day of boot camp down #RockChalk
@CFrankamp_23


9/17/13, 7:28 AM
Day 2 ✔ #BootCamp
#AutoMaticForThePeople
@Ntharpe1


9/17/13, 7:54 AM
Getting better everyday. Rock Chalk
#kubball
@KUHoops


9/17/13, 8:03 AM
2nd day of bootcamp killed me but I made it through #OnlyTheStrongSurvive
@F_Mason15


9/17/13, 8:04 AM
“@L_C_3: @J_mari31 who threw up today!?” Nobody lol 😷 but Naadir & Niko took some nasty falls trying to touch the lines
@J_mari31


There are certainly more quantifiable ways to measure how the Kansas basketball team handled the first day of Bill Self’s annual boot camp on Monday morning. But the simplest way usually involves checking the trash cans in and around Allen Fieldhouse for remnants of breakfast.

On Monday morning, the cans were clean, a sign of success in what has become the unofficial beginning to basketball season in Lawrence.

“Nobody threw up,” KU sophomore guard Andrew White III said. “So it was a real good experience.”
This year’s boot camp, highlighted by the traditional intense workouts, began Monday and had a feeling of change. And it wasn’t just the six freshmen and eight total newcomers who were enjoying their first taste of boot camp. Kansas will begin practice on Friday, Sept. 27, two weeks earlier than usual after the NCAA allowed for an earlier start in the offseason. As a result, Self has opted for just one week of the 6 a.m. sessions.

The Jayhawks won’t have more preseason practice time, though. The usual allotment will just be spread out over an extra two weeks. The Jayhawks’ annual Late Night in the Phog festivities are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4. And they won’t open their exhibition season until playing host to Pittsburg State on Oct. 29.

“We’re gonna go slower,” KU coach Bill Self said last month. “If you start that early, then you don’t have to be quite as accelerated, so it’ll probably be a situation where we go maybe a little bit slower and get more stuff in. And then by the time Oct. 15 rolls around, we’ll be ready to roll.”

For a team replacing five starters, the earlier start could certainly be useful. Freshman guards Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden, two projected starters, got their first tastes of boot camp on Monday, and White reported that all of KU’s freshmen survived the morning.
KC Star


KU coach Self was satisfied with the first session of the preseason.

“It went very well,” Self said. “It was a hard day. Everybody finished. Andrew White stood out to me today.”

Tough rookie year: White was asked by a reporter if it was difficult playing sparingly his freshman season.

“It was very difficult. I applied myself every day and tried to progress as fast as I could. Even though I was frustrated, I just tried to stick with the team concept, and having that experience is something I’ll look to use as a major advantage this year,” said White, who averaged 2.2 points and 5.0 minutes in 25 games.

He said he never considered transferring.

“I felt like, even last year, this is a place I could have contributed, and this is a place I can contribute this year, so I didn’t ever have any transfer talk just because I have a lot of confidence in my game, and I think, eventually, I’ll be where I need to be so that I can play. This year, hopefully, will be a big year for me,” he said.

Tweets: KU freshman center Joel Embiid’s take on Twitter: “Boot Camp first day down!!! So tired, Need a ride to class but at least I didn’t throw up.”

KU senior Niko Roberts on Twitter: “#BootCamp can get real ... Bleeding through two pairs of socks #WeWorking.”
LJW


How good is Kansas? It's a valid question. Their ceiling: Better than Kentucky and NCAA title-potential good based on team chemistry and perhaps the most unguardable player in the college game. Of course, this could go the other way, too. But that's not the question. Wiggins' supporting cast - freshmen Selden Jr. and Embiid, returners Perry Ellis and Naadir Tharpe - are highly underrated heading into the season. And Memphis transfer Tarik Black, a capable scorer and rebounder at 6-9, could be a major difference maker for Bill Self's young group. Like Kentucky, this team will lack experience. But chemistry is everything, whether you're a veteran-laden squad or a team full of eight McDonald's All-Americans. If Self can mesh each player into their roles early, this team could be scary good in March.
USA Today: Kansas best in Big 12, and maybe the country


#1. Kansas Jayhawks
It’s not exactly the 2008 national title team in terms of talent and quality depth, but Bill Self has plenty of players who can help. It starts with freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Wayne Selden and Joel Embiid, continues with sophomore Perry Ellis and senior big man Tarik Black, and also includes junior guard Naadir Tharpe. Sophomore Andrew White is talented and Jamari Traylor can serve a role -- as can big man Landen Lucas. There are also three freshman guards who can all play: Frank Mason, Brannen Greene and Conner Frankamp. Senior Justin Wesley, who averaged nearly 10 minutes a game two seasons ago, returns after missing last season due to injuries. The quality of the bench remains somewhat unknown, but that’s still 13 players if you’re counting at home.
ESPN Goodman: Ranking nation's deepest teams ($)


We’ve officially judged and juried every nonconference schedule.

Kudos to the teams that had the nerve to schedule bravely. Your just rewards could come in March, when the selection committee recognizes the merits of playing tough opponents, even if there’s a risk of a loss.

And shame on those who scheduled meekly. Enjoy the NIT.

Now, it’s time to play Armchair Scheduler -- or King/Queen of the Basketball Universe, whichever title floats your boat -- and offer up 15 nonconference games that won’t be played this year, but we wish would be:

Kansas vs. Missouri: Let’s just file this under an annual request. One of the greatest rivalries in college basketball ought to be played this year, next year and every year. We don’t care who left what conference. We don’t care who’s angry. This is like two divorcing parents sparring over the china with the kids stuck in the middle. Here the two schools’ fan bases and fans of the game in general are the kids. So hire a good mediator, work this out and play ball.

Kansas vs. Kentucky: Yes, we will get to enjoy Kansas (Andrew Wiggins) versus Duke (Jabari Parker) in Chicago, but we’re selfish. We’d like to see Wiggins go up against Kentucky, one of the schools he spurned. Not to mention it might be fun witnessing what could essentially be a freshman All-American game, with Wiggins, the Harrison twins, James Young, Julius Randle and Joel Embiid together on one floor.
ESPN O'Neil: Non-con games we'd love to see

9/16/13, 1:45 PM
Had a great conversation w/@CoachBillSelf today for the upcoming @T_2releFOUR book! Look for it this fall. "Relentless" #shamelessplug
@MattFulks


McLemore pranks his mom

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg knows he can't beat fellow Big 12 coach Bill Self at recruiting the most dazzling freshmen in the country. While Self was luring in Andrew Wiggins, Hoiberg was utilizing a less mainstream recruiting practice.

Very few coaches have made better use of transfers than Hoiberg, who's revitalized the program he once played for with back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament. Each of those appearances was the product of some of the best transfers finding a place to not only fit in, but excel. Last year's top players included Utah transfer Will Clyburn, Michigan State transfer Korie Lucious and Penn State transfer Chris Babb.
USA Today Countdown: #39 Iowa State


Arizona (Pac-12), Duke (ACC), Alabama (SEC) and Rutgers (American Athletic) are the top four seeds for the 2013 NIT Season Tip-Off field, as announced by NIT selection committee chair C.M. Newton.
ncaa (schedule at the link)


The NCAA and the nation's leading collegiate trademark licensing firm on Tuesday asked a federal judge to dismiss them from an anti-trust lawsuit pertaining to the use of college athletes' names and likenesses.

The requests had been expected in the wake of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's ruling last week that the NCAA and its co-defendants in the case – video game manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA) and the licensing firm, Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC) – could file dismissal motions. EA made its bid for dismissal last week.

Because Wilken had instructed the NCAA not repeat arguments it has made in other filings, its filing Tuesday was little more than a brief re-statement of the allegations against the NCAA and a lengthy table summarizing its past responses.
USA Today


Big XII composite schedule


ESPN College GameDay Schedule


2013-14 Early-season events schedule

What y'all think of this?
@jmamba5

9/17/13, 9:18 AM
Me & @JMamba5 will visit Kansas for late night
@humblekid11 Cliff Alexander


Lyle, the No. 22 overall player and No. 5 point guard, plans to weigh his options, but is putting a premium on playing time.

"I'm looking for a coach that will push me to get better, not that Coach P wouldn't, and where I can come in and impact," he said.

Lyle has spoken with Indiana's Tom Crean and Connecticut's Kevin Ollie since announcing his decommitment. Memphis, Arizona, Baylor and Kansas have also expressed interest.

Lyle, who said he may need until January or February to decide, indicated there is one school he'd have a difficult time turning down.

"It would probably be Kansas," Lyle said. "I like them a lot, and me and [assistant] coach [Jerrance] Howard had a relationship at Illinois and also when he was at SMU."
ESPN


9/17/13, 7:06 AM
Reason I have 4 visits set up already is because I wanna play w/ @humblekid11 and he had had the Kansas, Zona, and Memphis visits set up
@JMamba5  JaQuan Lyle


“[Cliff's] been telling me that him and JaQuan Lyle are going to play together,”  Alexander’s mother, Latillia, told SNY.tv Monday evening. “That’s the reason JaQuan Lyle decommitted.”

Asked what schools the duo was considering, she said. “We’re not sure yet, we’re not sure yet. I’m thinking wherever Cliff goes, JaQuan Lyle is going to go.”
Zags Blog


9/17/13, 8:18 AM
The word behind the scene is Kansas currently leads for the top 3 big men (Okafor, Turner & Alexander) in the 2014 class. Think about that.
@EvanDanielsFOX

KU coach Bill Self on Tuesday hustled out of morning Boot Camp in time for an afternoon meeting with James Blackmon Jr., a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Marion (Ind.) High School.

JayhawkSlant.com reported that Self offered Blackmon a scholarship. Blackmon, Rivals.com’s No. 23-rated player who recently decommitted from Indiana, met with Kentucky coach John Calipari on Monday. He’s also considering Louisville, Michigan and Michigan State.

…Self last Thursday stopped by Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High to check in on a pair of top juniors — No. 2-rated Stephen Zimmerman, a 7-foot center. and No. 21 Chase Jeter, a 6-9 forward.

Zimmerman is considering KU, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, UNLV, Baylor, USC and others. Jeter is looking at KU, UCLA, Michigan, Arizona, Vanderbilt, UNLV, Duke, Minnesota, USC, North Carolina and others.
LJW


Jason Jordan from USA Today dropped by Kentucky Sports Radio radio this morning to tell us what all he knows about UK’s recent visitors. Jahlil Okafor — things are still looking good for Duke, although it’s not over until it’s over in recruiting, especially when Calipari is involved. Jordan said Okafor really, really, really likes Calipari and UK has a shot, but Duke is in the driver’s seat and no one disagrees with that.
KSR


Recruiting Calendar


My 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