Blog Archives

8 Days to Late Night. How many to Diallo?

9/30/2015

Image via Zags Blog

Kansas coach Bill Self is hoping talented freshman Cheick Diallo will be in the Jayhawks' lineup this season, but he's also preparing for all scenarios in case the 6-foot-9 Diallo isn't cleared by the NCAA.

"We've talked about it (not having Diallo) a lot, but we're not going to change how we play," Self told CBS Sports on Wednesday morning. "Although there's no guarantees and everyone is doing their part in terms of looking into it, I believe that we'll play with him (Diallo). So we're going to prepare like that. That doesn't mean that we're going to have him, but sometimes what I believe is also what I hope. I think we'll play the same way with or without Cheick."

Self and Kansas are still waiting for Diallo to be cleared by the NCAA Eligibility Center.

There is no freshman in college basketball that has a motor like Diallo's. A relentless rebounder, the big man could be the X-Factor as to whether or not the Jayhawks can get to the Final Four and win a national title in 2016.

"It would definitely force our hand to play different if we didn't have him," Self said. "But the one most pleasant surprise we've had so far has been Carlton Bragg. I feel confident that we have enough punch up front, but we just won't be very big if we don't have Cheick."
CBS

9 Days to Late Night in the Phog!

9/29/2015

"That’s not just impressive. It’s brilliant and unrivaled." - ESPN's Myron Medcalf http://t.co/O5K3XcWNYu pic.twitter.com/dDgv6edq7x
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) September 28, 2015

This is a ridiculous run that deserves proper recognition. A 12th consecutive championship would be an appropriate time for college basketball fans, the casual and devoted, to acknowledge the challenges Self has overcome for more than a decade.

Something or someone should have knocked Kansas from its throne by now because that’s what usually happens in sports. An unexpected injury. The rise of another program. Suspensions in key stretches. Bad luck. A bad night, week or month.

Something. Yet Kansas remained on top.

The Big 12 has sent 23 non-Kansas players to the first round of the NBA draft since 2005, but LaMarcus Aldridge, Avery Bradley, Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and others could not help their teams knock Kansas off its perch.

A 12th consecutive Big 12 title would stamp Kansas’ standing as the most dominant team in college basketball and solidify Self’s position as one of the three best coaches, along with Krzyzewski and Calipari, in the game today.

Wayne Selden Jr., Frank Mason and Perry Ellis will guide a Jayhawks squad that’s capable of extending the streak. And if that happens, it will leave Kansas and Self one short of UCLA’s record and two from setting a new standard.

Boot Camp Complete. Rings Arrive!

9/25/2015

Finally finished with boot camp. Proud of My teammates for not giving up, and pushing through it. #KUCMB
— Frank Mason (@F_Mason0) September 25, 2015

Boot camppic.twitter.com/l0zmus6QhO
— Sviat Mykhailiuk (@Sviat_10) September 25, 2015

14 Days to Late Night in the Phog!

9/24/2015

The University of Kansas men's and women's basketball teams will ceremoniously tip off their 2015-16 seasons at the 31st annual Late Night in the Phog Friday, Oct. 9, in Allen Fieldhouse.

The 2015 Late Night in the Phog, presented by Hy-Vee, will run from 6:30 p.m., to approximately 9:30 p.m. In a twist from previous Late Nights, like men's basketball home games, KU students will be allowed to enter Allen Fieldhouse two hours prior to Late Night festivities, at approximately 4:30 p.m. As on game nights, KU students will enter through their customary separate entrance on the northeast side of Allen Fieldhouse. Doors will be open to the general public at 5 p.m.

Admission is free and Late Night will remain a ticketless, first-come, first-served event; no re-entry passes will be distributed. Children 12 and under will not be admitted without an accompanying adult. The Fieldhouse doors will be closed when the arena reaches capacity.

Kansas Athletics will use Wham City Lights, integrated into the official Kansas Athletics App, for "Late Night Lights" for added effect during the evening and Jayhawk fans will be able to participate in the activities should they bring a smart phone. By downloading the Kansas Athletics App - which is free and includes news, rosters, schedules, stats, periodic Jayhawk alerts and other helpful information - fans will assist in turning "Late Night Lights" into a hand-held light show.

With the construction of the DeBruce Center at the northeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse, workers have installed fencing that restricts access to some sidewalks adjacent to the Fieldhouse. The best way for students to access their entrance, therefore, is to approach that entrance from the west side of the parking garage.

With school in session Oct. 9, university parking lots will be restricted by permit until 5 p.m., with the exception of Lot 90 located across Naismith Drive from Allen Fieldhouse; that lot will be available for public parking at no charge starting at noon. Public parking will also be available in the parking garage just north of Allen Fieldhouse for Late Night in the Phog after 5 p.m.; cost will be $5 per vehicle.

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

Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will oversee the television production of Late Night, which will be seen live on the Jayhawk TV Network, including ESPN3. Additionally, KLWN Radio in Lawrence will provide coverage of the festivities.
KUAD

15 Days to Late Night in the Phog!

9/23/2015

Even somebody as finely-tuned and well-conditioned as Frank Mason III has to prepare himself mentally for Bill Self’s Kansas University Basketball Boot Camp.

“You just have to get in your mind to work hard, grind hard and just be ready to get through the day,” said KU’s junior point guard from Petersburg, Virginia, who has made it through the first three Boot Camp conditioning sessions with today through Friday workouts still on tap.

“It’s tough but you just have to think positive and you’ll get through it.”

…Mason, who also played 32 and 35 minutes in a pair of exhibitions vs. Canada, actually took some coach-ordered time off following the Games.

“I did a lot of recovery with Hudy,” the 5-11, 185-pound Mason said of strength coach Andrea Hudy. “I still got in the gym, got up shots, ballhandling, a little conditioning. I just tried to stay fit, do what I usually do. That’s what I did.”

Mason and his teammates have been playing in pick-up games since the start of first semester classes the third week of August.

“Everyone so far,” Mason said, asked which players have been faring well. “Everyone shoots the ball pretty well throughout the practices and individual workouts we have (two hours a week in accordance with NCAA rules). I’d say everyone has improved.”

Of first-year Jayhawks Carlton Bragg, Dwight Coleby, Cheick Diallo, Lagerald Vick and walk-on Clay Young, Mason said: “They are hard workers. They never stop trying. Even when they are doing drills wrong, they want to learn and want to get better.”
LJW

16 Days to Late Night in the Phog!

9/22/2015

A bit on the shy side during his freshman year at Kansas University, 18-year-old Ukraine native Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is communicating more freely and fluently this semester.

“I feel better. I’ve been here one year so I know how everything is going, how everything is working. I know the coaches and what they want from me. I know the team. I know how I can help the team,” said the 6-foot-8 shooting guard in a Monday meeting with the media after a session of Boot Camp conditioning.

“My teammates also said my language is getting better. I think of better words,” Mykhailiuk added, smiling.

Proof that English is becoming second nature — instead of a second language to Mykhailiuk — came during Monday’s Boot Camp session.

Svi offered spirited words of encouragement to freshman guard Lagerald Vick, who has never faced anything as tough as an hour’s worth of non-stop conditioning before.

“If someone is not getting in line for the suicides (sprints), like Lagerald didn’t get in line, I just had to get back and push him so he could make it,” Mykhailiuk said.

“Boot Camp is like a team camp. There’s a lot of energy. We are helping each other, pushing to get through it.”
LJW (video with Svi and Frank Mason at the link)

Goodbye Summer, Hello Boot Camp!

9/21/2015

Boot Camp: Day 1 #kubball pic.twitter.com/QNm8K226Ww
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) September 20, 2015

Bill Self’s 13th basketball Boot Camp at Kansas University is off to a rousing start.

“The first day was good. I was very pleased, and it was not an easy day for them, but they all got through it and stuck together,” KU coach Self said after a Sunday afternoon session in KU’s practice facility.

Boot Camp continues at 6 this morning and runs every morning for an hour to 90 minutes, at least until Friday.

“Obviously, we didn’t have our full complement of guys because Brannen Greene ... he was out there, but not quite full speed (following offseason hip surgery), although he did well,” Self said. “Wayne Selden tweaked his ankle, so he wasn’t out there but hopefully he’ll be back out there later this week, and of course Cheick,” he added of Cheick Diallo, who has not yet been deemed eligible for his freshman season by the NCAA.

Of freshman forward Diallo’s situation, Self said:“I’m not going to comment on it again. He’s being held out until his situation is resolved.”

Greene, who had surgery in April, is “doing some things (basketball related),” Self said, “but we’re not letting him go full speed up and down yet.”

…Asked when the players will move from Naismith Hall into the new apartment hall, Self said Sunday: “We are hopeful the first week in October. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be done, but the guys (construction workers) are working hard. We’re hopeful we’ll be in it in two weeks.”
LJW

Self isn’t given to hyperbolic quotes about his recruits, which made it so powerful when he said, “He can create pace better than any point guard we’ve ever had here, just because the dude from rim to rim is as good as I’ve seen.”

Self is famous for having a deep pool of big men who can run the court, beat the enemy back on defense so that the guards don’t have to protect the post and can stay on the perimeter to prevent transition three-pointers. For him to say Diallo’s the fastest of the lot packs a mean punch.

With Diallo on the roster, Kansas can use a three-headed monster at center, with shot-blocker Hunter Mickelson and prolific rebounder Landen Lucas lending depth. Ellis and freshman Carlton Bragg, a potentially lethal scorer from mid and long range, have the 40 minutes at the four more than covered.

In the event Diallo is declared eligible, Kansas immediately becomes a favorite to land one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

If Diallo isn’t allowed to play, Kansas has the option of filling some of those minutes by playing Bragg and Ellis together, an outstanding scoring combination, but the roster doesn’t have quite the same intensity and looks more like a No. 2 seed.
LJW Keegan