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Kansas vs Villanova

11/29/2013

KANSAS vs. Villanova (8:30 p.m. CT, NBC Sports Network)

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KUAD Pregame Notes

Keys to the Game 

1. Make jump shots. With the physical Black and long Embiid clogging the lane, Villanova will need to make its jump shots if it has any chance in pulling the upset. If the Wildcats can start off hot from the outside (8-for-17 from behind the arc in Thursday’s first half vs USC), it will go a long way in getting a victory.

2. Daniel Ochefu. Regardless of how well the Villanova guards are able to play, the Wildcats will need Ochefu to have his best performance of the season, on both ends of the floor. Ochefu played well in stretches in Thursday’s win, finishing with six points and eight rebounds. Without much size on the team, the 6-foot-11 Ochefu will need to be mostly effective on the defensive end.

3. Guard play. Villanova may arguably have the advantage at the guard position. With most of Kansas’ talent coming in its frontcourt, how effective the backcourt of the Wildcats is could potentially decide the game. With Dylan Ennis (14 points on Thursday) now in the fold for Villanova, the Wildcats have five guards capable of scoring double-digits on any given night. Friday would be a good time for them all to do so.

The Ennis Effect

 Playing in his first game of the season after fracturing his right hand just four and a half weeks ago, the effect that Ennis has on Villanova’s rotation is obvious. The 6-foot-2-sophomore transfer from Rice adds to an already deep Wildcats backcourt. Entering the game less than five minutes into it, Ennis knocked down back-to-back three pointers to provide a much-needed spark early on; he finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting along with three assists in his debut.

Ennis is an explosive guard that scores and rebounds. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in his freshman season at Rice. Ennis is also a great passer, averaging 4.1 assists per game in that freshman campaign. He’s a pesky defender as well, and will provide some great depth to Villanova allowing Jay Wright to keep his guards fresh.
cityofbasketballlove.com

“I’ll watch a lot more tape. I’ve watched some so far,” KU coach Bill Self said after his team’s 87-78 victory over Wake Forest set up an 8:30 p.m., contest with ‘Nova.

“Jay’s teams always play hard,” Self added of coach 13th-year Wildcat coach Jay Wright. “They had a play today (where) they were back-tapping the ball. A guy laid out and dove for a ball and deflected it out of bounds. They are tough kids. We’ve had good games with them in the past.”

KU is 3-1 all-time versus Villanova, 2-1 under Self.

“They are not real big, so they are interchangeable,” Self said. “They at times could play 6-6 at the 4 and 5. Our bigs will have to guard away from the basket. It’ll be a good game. Hopefully we’ll be better because of this today,” he added of an unsatisfactory effort versus 5-1 Wake. “Certainly we have a long night ahead to prepare.”

James Bell, a 6-6 senior, scored 17 points versus USC. Darrun Hilliard, a 6-6 junior, scored 16 for the Wildcats, who hit 11 of 28 threes.

“We go back and look at all of the threes we took and we’re happy with the shots we’re taking,” Wright said. “I don’t think we took any bad threes tonight, either.”
LJW

It's pretty simple. Kansas beat Duke. By double digits. They're averaging 87 points per game, scoring at least 80 in each contest. They're 8th in the nation in assists at 19.3/game, and lead the NCAA in field goal percentage shooting at a .568 clip.

But this battle is by no means David vs. Goliath. Villanova averages nearly 82 points per game, rebound better than the Jayhawks, and are top 25 in assists. Not to mention that Mouph is the only major contributor lost from a team that knocked off three top-5 squads last year. You could also frame this as a possible vengeance game; if 'Nova had beaten UNC in March Madness last year, they would have face Kansas in the second (third) round. The major difference for Kansas, of course, is Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins, a 6'8 freshman from Ontario, is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, freshman in college basketball this year. He has at least 13 points in every game, and grabs nearly seven rebounds each contest. He committed four fouls against Duke, but only has three others for the entire season.

That being said, Wiggins has been reportedly battling the flu all week and has not left the hotel other than for practices and games. So a day after playing an important role in the win against Wake Forest (in which he played well but was not dominant), he could be at less than 100% for the game tonight.

Dylan Ennis, Villanova's Ontario representative, played beyond expectations in his Wildcat debut. Ennis shot 80% from the floor in 23 minutes, including 3-4 from deep and providing three assists to just one turnover. We'll see his endurance tested in game two of the tournament as well.
philly.com

Wiggins v Hart? Best freshman in the nation? I like our chances!
Villanova Rivals board

Deacon Dodged

11/29/2013

Kansas Jayhawks defeat Wake Forest Demon Deacons

11/28/13, 11:16 PM
I believe KU fans would follow the team to North Pole if there was tourney up there. KU had almost all of the 3900 fans. That is just crazy
@GaryBedore

A sellout-crowd of 3,900 attended the KU-Wake game with almost all the fans wearing crimson and/or blue.

“I think it was maybe 95 percent (of building),” Self said. “There had to be 3,000 Kansas fans there. I thought the number would be closer to 2,000. That was really nice to have that many people supporting us.”
LJW

AP image

KUAD postgame notes

KUAD box score

KC Star photos

LJW photos

Biggest Takeaway

KU has some serious depth. The Jayhawks received 44 percent of their minutes and 47 percent of their scoring from their reserves, making me wonder if KU coach Bill Self might be forced to play his bench more this season because of the talent he has there. KU has finished above the national average in bench minutes percentage just once in the past seven seasons (2010-11), and even then, the Jayhawks only ranked 138th. Before Thursday’s game, Self had given 34.7 percent of its minutes to reserves (99th nationally), and that number will only go up after Thursday’s victory.

M.O.J. (Most Outstanding Jayhawk)

With a furious final six minutes, Andrew Wiggins once again earns top honors with a complete stat line. He posted a healthy 1.22 points per possession while taking on a huge offensive load, ending 31.5 percent of KU’s possessions when he was on the floor. The freshman, who had 12 points in KU’s final six minutes, also had impressive numbers in assist percentage (giving out 32.9 percent of his team’s assists while he was on the floor) and steal rate (taking the ball away on 6.7 percent of his defensive possessions). Turnover update: Wiggins has just four giveaways in 144 minutes this year.

…Stat of the Day

KU still managed a great offensive day (1.23 PPP) despite having its worst shooting night of the year (49.2% eFG%). The reason? Turnovers. KU turned the ball over on just 12.6 percent of its possessions against Wake Forest — a better mark than any of KU’s 37 games last season.

Bottom Line

This isn’t looking like a typical Self-coached team. At this point, KU is simply outscoring opponents, relying on close shots, free-throw creation and turnover avoidance to put up impressive offensive numbers even against good defenses like Wake Forest’s. That’s either a good or bad thing for KU, depending on your perspective. KU certainly will regress a bit offensively, but with Self, you’d have to assume that this team has a long ways to grow defensively. In other words … there’s still plenty to learn about the Jayhawks, starting with Friday’s game against Villanova.
TCJ

Andrew Wiggins’ first two days in the Bahamas were anything but paradise.

According to Kansas coach Bill Self, Wiggins has been battling a rather nasty flu bug that may have hampered his energy level during Kansas’ 87-78 victory over Wake Forest in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

“He’s actually feeling better,” Self said. “He was really struggling the last two days.”

Wiggins, who has spent most of the last two days in his room, still managed to finish with 17 points and four rebounds, including 12 points during the second half. He is now averaging 16.8 points per game after his first five games. For comparison, former KU guard Ben McLemore, who set KU’s all-time freshman scoring mark last season, averaged 14 points in his first five games. McLemore finished the season averaging 15.9 points per game.

On Thursday, Wiggins, who was not made available to reporters after the game, had five points in the first half before finishing strong down the stretch.

“He’s got to learn to play through it,” Self said. “He actually did some good things when he got back in there.”
KC Star

Winning ugly is nothing that Kansas coach Bill Self will complain about.

In fact, there's times he finds it downright satisfying.

Like Thursday, for instance, when Andrew Wiggins was slowed by the flu, when the second-ranked Jayhawks used reserves more than starters in the second half and when the hottest scorer on the court happened to be wearing a Wake Forest uniform. No problem - Self was all smiles afterward, because above all else, a win always beats the alternative.

Wiggins scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 5:53, and Kansas held off previously unbeaten Wake Forest 87-78 in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. A pair of reserves, Frank Mason and Joel Embiid, combined for 23 more points for the Jayhawks (5-0), who will face Villanova in the semifinals on Friday night.

"I've always taken great pride in winning ugly," Self said. "I think it's good to win ugly. I'd rather win pretty, but there's nothing wrong with winning ugly. The thing about it that's frustrating to me, and I think these guys will probably agree, we've always been a team that won ugly by not allowing the other team to score."
philly.com

Miller-McIntyre was seated to Bzdelik’s right as he raved about his effort.

As his coach spoke, Miller-McIntyre’s facial expression barely changed. The Demon Deacons let a chance slip away, and Miller-McIntyre wasn’t thrilled about that realization.

“I hate the term ‘moral victory,’ ” he said.

The Demon Deacons (5-1) held Kansas to a season-low 47 percent from the field, but lost forward Devin Thomas after he was ejected for two technical fouls with 7:28 remaining.

Bzdelik said he was not given an explanation. And when told that Kansas was getting four free throws, even Self scoffed.

“I hated what happened with Thomas,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

When Thomas got ejected, Kansas’ Conner Frankamp made three of the four free throws to put the Jayhawks up 64-52. And when Andrew Wiggins, who was largely silent offensively for the first 35 minutes, made a 3-pointer for a 68-57 lead, the overwhelmingly pro-KU crowd might have sensed that Wake’s upset bid had run dry.

Wake had other plans.

Miller-McIntyre kept attacking, and his 3-pointer with just under 2 minutes left got Wake Forest to 77-72. Desperately needing a stop, Wake Forest wound up losing Arnaud Adala Moto to his fifth foul when he got in Wiggins’ way on a drive with 38 seconds left.

Wiggins made the first free throw and missed the second, but the ball bounced out of bounds to Kansas. Naadir Tharpe hit a pair of foul shots to make it a three-possession game, and Kansas escaped.

“We’re happy we won,” Self said. “I thought Wake Forest really outplayed us in the second half.”
AP

After the nine-point setback to Kansas (5-0), the point guard kept dwelling on missed chances, because he had every intention of carrying his team to an upset -- not that anybody on Wake’s roster would have considered it one.

“We gave it a lot, but we didn’t do everything we could’ve, including myself,” Miller-McIntyre said. “There was a couple of times when I missed a box out and my man actually got the offensive board and got the layup.”

Hanging around with the Jayhawks, he added, wasn’t the end goal.

“I hate the term moral victories,” the team’s leader said. “They’re just another team. They’re a great team, but just another team (on the Deacons’ schedule).”
LJW

It was long after Bill Self had benched his starters for a lengthy stretch in the second half, and long after Kansas had held off Wake Forest 87-78 in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thursday.
The Kansas bench had carried the day for a crucial span, cobbling together a double-digit lead as tempers flared inside Imperial Arena on a holiday afternoon.

So it was easy to wonder if Self, who was making his way through a hallway outside a ballroom-turned-basketball arena, had intended to send a message to his starters.

That, Self would say, wasn’t necessarily the case.

“I wasn’t trying to prove a point as much as I was trying to win the game,” Self said.

…For nearly eight minutes, the starters stayed next to Self. Kansas relied on freshman center Joel Embiid (10 points) and sophomore forward Jamari Traylor (eight points). And when the score was tight, Self essentially put the game on the shoulders of freshman point guard Frank Mason, who was left open against Wake Forest’s two-three zone defense.

“We kind of put it on him to just go make plays or whatnot,” Self said. “The way they played their zone, they didn’t guard Frank at the top. So he needed to step up and make a shot, and he did.”

Mason’s three-pointer from the top of the key with 13:27 left pushed the Jayhawks’ lead to 49-42. He finished with 13 points and three assists, including a lob pass to Embiid in that key stretch. In all, Kansas’ bench accounted for 41 of the Jayhawks’ 87 points.

“We knew the starters (weren’t) doing so well,” Mason said, “So we just tried to come off the bench and fight a little adversity and make plays.”

…In one way, the Jayhawks essentially handled Wake Forest with its second five. In another, the starters were bad enough that the Demon Deacons were one run away from ruining Kansas’ weekend in the Bahamas.

“I hope it sends a message,” Self said. “But on the flip side, I asked the guys after the game: ‘What can we hang our hat on today?’ And the common answer was, ‘Well, coach we got depth.’”

“I hope we don’t have to play like this all the time, but I think it’s fine if we have to.”
KC Star

That good-ugly they inherited? Traylor said they got it from Self.

“The mind-set coach gives us, he just tells us to go hard and compete. So I think if we go out there and do that, everything is gonna fall into place,” Traylor, a sophomore power forward, said. “That’s mainly what we all do — me, Frank, Drew, Jo, Conner, everybody who came off the bench, we just go hard. That’s what we do in practice all the time. It’s gonna just carry over to the game.”

Even future NBA lottery pick Andrew Wiggins (17 points while feeling ill) can’t keep KU looking glamorous for five straight months. Self knows that, too. He just would have preferred a different kind of ugly Thursday on Paradise Island.

“You’re still happy you won,” Self said, “but you wish your identity was a little bit different.”
LJW

LJW Keegan Ratings: Frank Mason takes top spot

Bahama Drama!

11/28/2013

Here is the list of providers that carry AXS TV for the KU game on Thanksgiving. Time Warner is not included.

Allegiance #968
Armstrong #186
Atlantic Broadband
AT&T Uverse #1106
Blue Ridge Cable
CableAmerica #515
CenturyLink
Charter
Cincinnati Bell #563
Comcast/Xfinity
Comporium #1136
DirecTV #340
Dish Network #167
Frankfort Plant Board Cable
Frontier Communications
GCI #628
Grande #880
Insight #928
Knology
Massillon Cable #698
Mid-Hudson Cable #690
NewWave Communications
San Juan Cable #617
Service Electric Cable TV
Service Electric Cablevision
Service Electric Broadband Cable
Suddenlink
SureWest
Verizon #569
Wave Broadband
WEHCO Video #365

USE YOUR ZIPCODE to find AXS

NOVEMBER 28
Villanova vs. USC, 1 p.m., AXS.tv
Kansas vs. Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., AXS.tv
Xavier vs. Iowa, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network
Tennessee vs. UTEP, 9:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

KUAD image

Taking flight to @Atlantisresort with my boys! #KUCMB
‏@Ntharpe1

It is too hot here in the BAHAMAS!! About to be a great week tho #kubball #KUCMB
@jojo_embiid

Seems like everyone on this island is a Kansas fan!
@LandenLucas33

We got hella fans down here in the Bahamas
@F_Mason15

Man I just got on the jet ski with Brannen and perry I'm not even getting in it again I was to scared😂 thought I was gone die
@F_Mason15

KUAD image

KUAD Bahamas Day 1 Photos

It’s not often a major-college basketball player gets a second chance, a “do-over,” so to speak, in a holiday tournament played in an exotic locale.

But that’s exactly the opportunity that awaits Kansas University senior power forward Tarik Black. He suffered two losses against one victory while playing for Memphis at the Battle 4 Atlantis last season, but is back in 2013 as a member of the tourney-favorite Kansas Jayhawks.

“I’ve been talking to the guys somewhat about it, but this is a whole new season,” transfer Black said of last year’s seventh-place finish out of eight teams.

Memphis lost to VCU and Minnesota before tripping Northern Iowa on the final day of the three-day extravaganza played at the Atlantis resort.

“I’m excited to be here again with a chance to do things a little bit differently, have a different type tournament and come out of here with a victory. But to be honest with you,” he added, “coach (Bill Self) has been talking to me about letting go of the past — a fresh start, brand new season, new time for me, new team that is very talented that can come out of here with a championship. That’s what I’m focused on.”

…The games are played in the 3,900-seat Imperial Arena, which is normally a ballroom and convention center. It’s intimate to say the least and should be three-fourths (or more) full of KU fans. Word at the box office is the KU-Wake game is sold out, as well as the semifinal and final, ticket-buyers assuming the Jayhawks will march through the winners bracket to the title game.

…KU coach Bill Self says the more KU fans, the merrier.

“We’ve got our fair share here,” Self said. “We chartered four planes total (three fan charters with 160 fans on each flight and one team charter). I’d say at least half the people came on their own, not by charter. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have at least two grand for the game.

“I think it’s great,” Self added of the room the Jayhawk players practiced in on Wednesday afternoon before being awarded four hours of free time.

“I think part of the excitement of these tournaments a lot of times is playing in smaller venues. There is one going on in Maui and this one. I think it is cool. I think we’ll be amazed how intense and how loud and what a factor the crowd could be playing in this venue. I think it’s a very good venue.”

KU junior point guard Naadir Tharpe has no complaints about the court.

“The lights are bright. The rims feel pretty good,” he said. “There are different things like the ball (using Nike ball instead of adidas). It’s a good thing we had a chance to work with them at practice. We’re adjusting to it.”

…Sophomore guard Codi Miller-McIntyre on matching up with Kansas: “I think it’ll come down to who wants it more. A lot of things we run, they run and vice versa.”
LJW

Wake Forest University’s men’s basketball players might be young, but they’re not that young.
At least that’s the way coach Jeff Bzdelik sees it.

Even with 11 sophomores, including starters Madison Jones, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Tyler Cavanaugh and Devin Thomas, the fourth-year coach won’t worry one second about his players feeling awestruck or nervous when they take on No. 2-ranked Kansas in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis this afternoon at Imperial Arena.

The Demon Deacons (5-0), after all, hail from the vaunted ACC. They know all about competing against the nation’s elite programs, even if they took some lumps along the way, going 6-12 in the conference last season.

“They’ve played Duke, North Carolina, those kinds of teams, Miami (FL),” Bzdelik said Wednesday. “It’s not that, ‘Wow. This is Kansas.’ … They’ve been there. And we have tremendous respect for Kansas, their tradition, their talent, their coaching, et cetera. But we feel good about ourselves, too. So we’re looking forward to this challenge.”

Last season, the coach noted, freshmen accounted for 62 percent of Wake Forest’s minutes. Still, the Deacons knocked off No. 2 Miami and No. 18 North Carolina State for two of their ACC victories.
Wake’s lone senior and the fifth member of the starting lineup, forward Travis McKie (12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds), has played against eventual NBA lottery picks before. So that won’t be anything new, either, when KU faces Wake Forest for the first time since 2001.

“They have a lot of talent,” McKie said of the Jayhawks (4-0). “I’m not gonna sugarcoat that. They have a lot of good athletes. But I’ve been around the league three years and seen a lot of high-level athletes. For me, it’s just about will against will. If we limit them in transition and we run our stuff, and we play as hard as we can play, we’re gonna have an opportunity to win the game. It’s up to us to take advantage of the opportunity.”
LJW

It’s hard to hide a seven-footer outfitted in Kansas University gear at a resort teeming with college basketball fans.

Once the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks arrived at Atlantis Tuesday evening, it didn’t take long for KU fans — or even vacationing tourists who didn’t know who this apparent celebrity was — to notice freshman center Joel Embiid and approach him to pose for a photo. Embiid, wearing a backward Kansas cap, and crimson and blue from head to toe, obliged for shot after shot before the team hustled off to a secluded outdoor dinner.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self, whose team opens the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament against Wake Forest at 2:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving afternoon, said his players always get the rock-star treatment when they hit the road.
LJW

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (5-0): The Demon Deacons have started 5-0 but have yet to play an opponent ranked in the top 240 nationally, according to KenPom.com’s computer rankings. Wake Forest’s best win is an 89-78 victory over Colgate. … Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik was 34-60 in his first three seasons at Wake after three years at Colorado. Kansas coach Bill Self said this Wake team doesn’t resemble Bzdelik’s Colorado teams, which relied heavily on the Princeton offense. … Wake Forest is 2-2 all-time against Kansas, including an 84-53 victory in Winston-Salem on Dec. 7, 2000.

• BOTTOM LINE: If Kansas wins Thursday, they’ll play the winner of Villanova-Southern California at 8:30 p.m. Friday. If they lose, they’ll play at 2:30 p.m. Don’t expect KU to lose against a still young and rebuilding Wake Forest program.
KC Star Preview

Thursday afternoon will mark the second phase of the Deacs season as the non-conference schedule really tightens up. The Battle for Atlantis provides some diverse and interesting competition, and it doesn't get much more daunting than having to take on Wiggins and the Jayhawks. Perhaps the toughest battle will take place in the paint between Devin Thomas and freshmen Joel Embiid. Embiid has had overwhelming success in gathering rebounds on the offensive (19.4%) and defensive (31.3%) ends of the court. This match up is going to be huge as Thomas is one of the best defensive rebounders in the country (33.1%) and Wake is the 10th best at keeping opponents off of the offensive glass (22.1%). Kansas runs a lot of man defense so it will be interesting to see whether Ellis or Wiggins will cover Travis McKie. Either way, McKie will need to use his experience to work over the young Kansas front court in hopes of converting buckets and drawing fouls. Overall, I think Kansas plays big and tries to take away the penetration of CMM and the post game of Thomas. Unless Wake can hit some shots from behind the arc and consistently finish at the free throw line I think Kansas runs away with this one.
Wake Forest blog site

The Battle 4 Atlantis does not begin until Thursday, but the coaching staffs from USC and UTEP staged a battle of their own in full public view Wednesday night.

During an otherwise placid reception for the eight teams competing here, USC coach Andy Enfield and UTEP coach Tim Floyd got into a heated discussion that quickly escalated, with assistants from the respective schools having to be separated. The exchange did not become physical and the staffs quickly left the party.

UTEP and USC are not currently scheduled to play each other in the tournament, but they could face off Saturday in a consolation bracket game.

Floyd and Enfield have been exchanging public words since last summer, when Floyd, who coached at USC from 2005-09, accused Enfield of tampering with Isaac Hamilton, a guard from Southern California who had signed a national letter of intent with UTEP. Floyd refused to release Hamilton from his letter, and Hamilton subsequently signed with UCLA. Last week, Enfield was quoted in a Men's Journal article saying that Floyd "shows up every day at work and realizes he lives in El Paso, Texas, and he's pissed off that he didn't get the USC job two months ago."

According to Enfield, when he saw Floyd speaking with Lea Miller, the tournament's director, he approached Floyd in hopes of ending the bad blood between them. "I was trying to tell him that I was sorry that we had words and that we should try to put this behind us," Enfield said. "I thought it would be a twenty-second conversation."

Efforts to reach Floyd Wednesday night were unsuccessful.

The conversation between the head coaches lasted for several minutes, with Floyd doing most of the talking. As it intensified, Enfield's wife, Amanda, came to stand next to her husband. Floyd did not direct any of his remarks toward her or Miller.

After about five minutes, three of Enfield's assistant coaches, Kevin Norris, Tony Bland and Jason Hart, stood behind Floyd. Soon Floyd could be heard saying to Hart, "Do you want to kick my ass?"

At that point, Floyd's assistant coach, Bob Cantu, who served as USC's interim head coach after the school fired Kevin O'Neill during the 2013 regular season and was sitting at a table a few feet away, stood up and joined the conversation. While Enfield, his wife and Floyd walked away, Cantu got into an argument with Bland and Hart. Those men were separated, but a few seconds later Bland rushed at Cantu. He was held back by UTEP strength coach Chisan Jones.

As various onlookers tried to get the principals to leave the party, Hart had to be restrained as well.
"I saw three USC assistants surround my head coach with Andy and his wife, so I walked up and said, 'Why are we arguing about a kid who signed a letter of intent in November,' and after that two of his assistants came after me and rushed me," Cantu said. "It really is completely unprofessional and unfortunate. It caught me completely off guard." Cantu later added, "You have to understand, they're on their heels because they tampered with Isaac Hamilton and Tim called them out on a national level. That's the bottom line."

Bland, however, claimed that Cantu inflamed the confrontation as it was about to die down. "I was thinking this is bad but it's about to be over, and then Cantu walked over there," Bland said. "He was getting all super aggressive and that's when I lost it. That's when you saw me getting restrained. We were reactionaries in this whole thing. If it wasn't for Tim Floyd shouting in Andy's face, shouting in his face, it wouldn't have happened."
SI Seth Davis

Here's five things to know about the Battle 4 Atlantis:

HELLO AGAIN: Xavier and Tennessee might really know a lot about each other by the time this tournament is over. Xavier beat the Vols 67-63 on Nov. 12, then the teams shared a Boeing 737 charter flight to Paradise Island earlier this week. If they both win or both lose on Thursday, the teams would play again on Friday. And when the tournament's over, they'll share a charter back to the U.S. on Sunday.

HOT STARTERS: It's pretty clear that this tournament wants to lure loaded fields, and that seems to be the case. Combined, the eight teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis are a combined 33-4, with Xavier, Wake Forest, Villanova, No. 2 Kansas and No. 23 Iowa all unbeaten. USC (4-1) and Tennessee (3-1) have bounced back after falling in season-openers, and UTEP is 3-2 coming into this weekend.

HAWKEYE DEFENSE: Fran McCaffery enjoys some wide-open styles of play, but the way his Iowa team has opened playing defense this season is eye-opening. The Hawkeyes are allowing 54.6 points per game — 38 points less than they're averaging — and came into the week with the nation's stingiest field-goal defense at 31.2 percent. Teams have taken 122 3-pointers against Iowa, missing 102 of them.

LOW CEILING: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski compared the setup at Atlantis to a movie set last season, and he's not far off. Games are getting played in a converted hotel ballroom, with a low ceiling, temporary bleachers and unusual lighting. "I don't think it'll have much of an effect on whether or not we shoot the ball in the hole or not," Self said. Some past visitors have raved about how Atlantis gets the place ready for basketball. The Miami Heat held training camp there this season, and were thrilled.

WEATHER WATCH: While much of the U.S. deals with snow, sleet, freezing rain and cold over the Thanksgiving holiday, they're also bracing for some unseasonably cool weather in the Bahamas on Thursday. Expected high on the first day of the tournament: 77, or about 5 degrees below normal. Yes, that's called "unseasonably cool" in that part of the world.
AP

VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars

In the Nets' loss to the Lakers Wednesday night, the Nets needed an extra timeout to gameplan and were out of breaks. So coach Jason Kidd got a little inventive. He told point guard Tyshawn Taylor to hit him, knocking his soda out of his hand, spilling his drink, and then forcing a timeout to clean up the mess.
Video at the link

With paradise and palm trees all around her, Kansas University women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson’s biggest challenge of the season thus far might be convincing her team that what it is about to embark upon is nothing special.

“I told ’em by the time we get to Wednesday night, you might as well be in Lawrence, Kan.,” Henrickson said earlier this week.

What Henrickson meant by comparing 30-something-degree Lawrence with the 80-something-degree St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, was that, with the schedule the Jayhawks are facing during the next few days, most of their time will be spent going from hotel to gym and gym to hotel.

Just like the men’s team, which is playing a tournament in the Bahamas, the women will have their fair share of fun time during their appearance in this weekend’s Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. But Henrickson’s squad is hoping that the bulk of the joy they get from their trip to the islands will come from the results of the games.

“The players are excited and they should be excited,” Henrickson said. “You have the team-bonding part of it and also quality competition on a neutral floor in a beautiful setting. I think it’ll be really, really good for us.”
LJW

Big 12/College News

Dalonte Hill has resigned from his position as an assistant on Mark Turgeon's staff at Maryland and will be replaced by director of basketball operations Dustin Clark, effective immediately, a source confirmed to CBSSports.com early Wednesday.

This development comes after Hill was charged with driving under the influence last month, which amounted to his third DUI arrest since 2008. It's notable because Hill was once the nation's highest-paid assistant while working at Kansas State, mostly because of his connections to the D.C. Assault summer basketball program. Hill is the reason Michael Beasley enrolled at KSU, and it's that connection to D.C. Assault that made it sensible for Turgeon to lure Hill to Maryland when Turgeon replaced Gary Williams in May 2011. But Hill's off-the-court issues and legal problems now made it impossible for Turgeon to keep Hill on the Maryland staff going forward, a source told CBSSports.com.
Link

The wife of New Mexico basketball coach Craig Neal attacked a school administrator and Albuquerque's school superintendent didn't do enough to prevent the attack, according to a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed by former Eldorado High School assistant principal Susan Stanojevic this month claims Janet Neal assaulted Stanojevic following a boys' high school basketball game in Albuquerque.
Neal grabbed Stanojevic by her arm and physically jerked her around because Neal was upset that Stanojevic reported her for cursing at the refs at a previous game, the lawsuit said. Neal's son played for Eldorado.

Stanojevic told police that after a Feb. 21 game, Janet Neal "lunged at me and aggressively grabbed my left arm, yanking me to face her," according to an Albuquerque Police Department report. "At the same time, she put her face close to mine and in an angry, loud voice, stated, 'the next time you want to accuse me of using profanity at a basketball game, you need to talk to me first.'"

The confrontation apparently stemmed from a prior exchange in which Stanojevic claimed to have overheard Neal making verbally abusive remarks about the referees following a game also involving her son, according to the police report.
Link

Jim Boeheim and Syracuse remained perfect in Maui.

C.J. Fair scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 8 Syracuse beat No. 18 Baylor 74-67 on Wednesday night for the title.

The Orange (7-0) delivered three wins in three days, taking control against Baylor midway through the first half and limiting the Bears' hopes of a comeback. Syracuse beat Minnesota on Monday and California on Tuesday, improving to 9-0 all-time at Maui. The Orange also won the tournament in 1990 and 1998.
AP

No. 6 Duke hadn’t looked like Duke over the last two weeks, particularly on defense.
The Blue Devils themselves voiced that opinion.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski turned to a new lineup featuring all three captains on Wednesday night and the results looked far more like the Blue Devils are accustomed to delivering.

Duke clamped down on Alabama, holding the Crimson Tide to their worst shooting night of the season, in a 74-64 Blue Devils win the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
The Blue Devils (6-1) advance to the tournament championship, where they’ll meet No. 5 Arizona on Friday (6 p.m., ESPN).
Link

Texas coach Rick Barnes had noticed the way Cameron Ridley, all 6-foot-9 and 285 pounds of him, had been hustling up and down the floor at the Sprint Center.

It was time that the big fella's guards started to reward him.

"Cam works so hard, and what he does in transition is really important," Barnes said, "so I told the guys at some point we need to get him the ball."

Once they did, Ridley proved to be unstoppable. He finished with 19 points Tuesday night while leading the Longhorns to a 77-59 rout of DePaul in the consolation game of the CBE Classic.

Ridley, who also had 12 points, 10 boards and six blocks in a semifinal loss to BYU, had nine more rebounds against the Blue Demons. He also exorcised some free-throw fiends by making eight of 10 from the foul line, a mark that brought a smile to his coach's face.
AP

A college basketball player who won $20,000 for hitting a half-court shot at an Oklahoma City Thunder game may have to either forfeit the money or his eligibility to play college sports.

Cameron Rodriguez, a 23-year-old sophomore forward for Winfield, Kan.-based Southwestern College, sank the promotional shot on Nov. 8 during the Thunder's home game against the Denver Nuggets.

Southwestern athletic director Dave Denly says the college's governing body for athletics, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, informed Rodriguez that if he kept the money he would lose his amateur status. The school has appealed, asking if the money can be accepted in the form of a scholarship.

NAIA spokesman Chad Waller confirmed the organization is looking into the matter and said a ruling could take two weeks.
AP

One of the most recognizable names in college basketball, because of his father, has been diagnosed with Graves' disease.

Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar announced Tuesday that Shawn Kemp Jr. has been afflicted with the disease, which is an "immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones," according to the Mayo Clinic's official website.

Kemp, a junior, did not play for most of the leadup to the season because of the disease, which first started showing its affects in July, per the University of Washington. One of the biggest detriments of the disease is fatigue.

The good news is Kemp will still be able to play for the Huskies going forward.

"Medical staff treating Kemp Jr. do not expect the disease to continue to affect his on-court performance once his treatment plan, which he started following his diagnosis, is in full effect," according to a school press release.
CBS

Earlier this week, a Louisville Final Four ring from 2012 was found on the website of sports memorabilia auction house Grey Flannel. Etched onto the ring is the name and jersey number of forward Chane Behanan.

On Wednesday morning, there was an update: the auction for Behanan's ring has been canceled.
According to the auction house's website: "We have been informed by Chane's mother that this NCAA Final Four ring was indeed stolen from the Behanan family. This lot has been removed from the sale. Please place no bids."

As the Louisville Courier-Journal points out, there have been past examples of college athletes selling memorabilia or uniforms -- and the ensuing punishments.

The most recent one came earlier this month, when Oregon's Dominic Artis and Ben Carter were suspended nine games for selling their sneakers on eBay.
CBS

In some quarters of college basketball fandom, derisive chants directed toward opponents are considered high art. Look no further than the Cameron Crazies, the famed student section at Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The less heralded Antlers from the University of Missouri are also adept at what their student leader, known as the Grand Poobah, called "getting into the heads" of opposing players.

But after a second straight ejection from Mizzou Arena — this time mid-game Monday night — school officials say the unsanctioned group has crossed the line of good taste, trafficking not in animated school spirit but something that amounts to hate speech.

"This is actually laughable to me, but let me just say this .... We have high expectations for our students and our staff at the University of Missouri," Athletic Director Mike Alden told reporters Monday after Missouri's 78-64 win over IUPUI. "Our core values are respect, responsibility, discovery and excellence, and it's critically important that we represent those values every day in everything we do.

"We just want to make sure that folks are representing the institution with class," he added.
Many fans booed loudly as the ousted students departed barely five minutes into the second half, just two days after the group was also escorted out of the arena by campus police before tipoff against Gardner-Webb. Missouri forward Tony Criswell high-fived several of The Antlers.

Fans who sent angry emails to Alden were provided with a list of "observations" that The Antlers had said at games, including a half-dozen sexually suggestive chants, as well as jokes about abortion, masturbation, sexually transmitted diseases, animal cruelty and the deadly typhoon in the Philippines.

During an opponent's free throw attempt in the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana, The Antlers shouted, "Raise your hand if you thought Hurricane Katrina was a good thing." In that same game, the group hollered "Just take him back out and throw him in a Dumpster" as an otherwise-silent arena watched an injured player get carried off the court.
AP

Recruiting

Some of the top boys and girls high school basketball players will be on the court for the second annual Tsumura Basketball Invitational this weekend at the Langley Events Centre.

On the boys side of the event, U.S. prep school powerhouse Findlay Prep — which is from Henderson, Nev. — will be headliners for the second straight year.

The team, which is coached by former NBA player Jerome Williams, has several players who have already committed to NCAA Division 1 programs, as well as other highly-touted players who have yet to accept scholarship offers.

The Pilots are headlined by Rashad Vaughn, a six-foot-six shooting guard who is regarded as one of the top recruits at his position.

Some of the team's other top players are Kelly Oubre, a six-foot-seven wing who has already committed to attend Kansas and Craig Victor, a six-foot-seven power forward who has committed to attend Arizona.

Both Oubre and Vaughn will be vying for spots on the 2014 USA U18 and 2014 USA Nike Hoops Summit team.

Findlay Prep also has a history with Canadian basketball.

Current NBA players Corey Joseph (San Antonio Spurs) and Tristan Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers), as well as last year's top pick in the draft — the first Canadian ever selected with the top pick — Anthony Bennett (Cleveland).

The Pilots have a duo of highly regarded Canadian players in six-foot-eight guard/forward Justin Jackson of Toronto and six-foot-six guard/forward Dillon Brooks of Mississauga. Jackson is in Grade 10 and Brooks in in Grade 11.

Williams calls Jackson 'the next big thing to come out of Canada."
Link

The start of the season is a welcome conversation change for Alexander.

The Twitter fun he had with Illinois fans during his recruitment came back at him with fury after he hat-faked the Illini on signing day and chose Kansas.

"I knew it was coming," Alexander said. "I did prepare myself for it. I am glad it is over. I think I made the right choice picking Kansas. It is a big weight off my back."

The 6-9 Alexander's sudden shift in popularity in Central and Southern Illinois may be a difficult hurdle to clear in the Mr. Basketball voting but, like Okafor, he is surrounded by talented players.
Alexander, the No. 3, 4 or 5 prospect in the country depending on who is doing the ranking, acquitted himself well in head-to-head matchups with Okafor the last two years.

Young and Curie split those games, and while they are not scheduled to play in the regular season, the one-time AAU teammates could go toe-to-toe again in the city and state tournaments.

"I will play Jahlil any time of the day," Alexander said of his friend. "When we do match up, I am the underrated guy and I just try to go at him. He motivates me all the time, motivates me to work harder."
Chicago Tribune

Tuesday wasn’t Rashad Vaughn’s first visit to the Thomas & Mack Center, but it was the first and only official trip he’ll make there as UNLV’s top target in the class of 2014.

Vaughn, a top-10 senior guard at Findlay Prep in Henderson, was courtside for the Rebels’ Scarlet/Gray Showcase back in October. This time, he was in the stands behind one basket with his parents and Pilots coaches to watch the Rebels’ 61-59 loss to Illinois.

This was Vaughn’s second of five official visits. On Nov. 17, he was at Iowa State for the Cyclones’ upset against then-No. 7 Michigan. Cyclone fans had cutouts of Vaughn’s face and made their desire for him very much known.

“They had chants and everything,” Vaughn said at halftime Tuesday. “It was crazy.”

Things weren't quite that wild at UNLV’s game, though some students in the Rebellion did have signs saying “Rashad Vaughn to Vegas.” Because he plays so close — Findlay Prep’s home games are at the Henderson International School — UNLV fans have been able to make him feel welcome in Las Vegas on more than just this visit.

“Our last game, there were not seats left,” Vaughn said. “It was all red.”

Vaughn, listed at 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, is down to seven schools. In addition to UNLV and Iowa State, he’s planning to take an official visit soon to North Carolina, where he nearly committed last year. The other teams in the mix for the final two visits are Kansas, Arizona, Baylor and Minnesota.
Las Vegas Sun

Recruiting Calendar

My Late Night in the Phog videos, KU Alumni games videos, 2011-12 Border War videos, Legends of the Phog videos, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Have a safe and wonderful holiday! Rock Chalk!

Bahama Bound!

11/26/2013

KUAD: Kansas vs Wake Forest preview (Video, transcript)

KUAD: Kansas vs Wake Forest pregame notes (Seth Davis, Kenny Rice announcers)

AXS TV #Battle4Atlantis Social Media page

2015 Maui Invitational: Indiana, Kansas, St. John's, UCLA, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Chaminade.
KUAD Press Release

In 1987, Chaminade picked out Lahaina Civic Center as its venue -- and hosted Danny Manning and his Miracles from Kansas -- and it has remained in Lahaina since.

In 1990, Chaminade president Dr. Kent Keith approached Chicago-based public relations firm KemperLesnik -- which already had operated the Women's Kemper Open, the first live sporting event ever televised in Hawaii -- and proposed the firm take over the operations for the tournament. In 2001, EA Sports became the title sponsor.

There have been other, more recent, changes: In 2011, the tournament expanded to 12 teams, adding opening and regional round games. Odom spearheaded the transition, which kept the original holiday tournament from falling prey to a glut of early-season events that offered less travel and more attractive financial propositions, in the form of hosted "preliminary" round games.

Lahaina has changed too: The event brings roughly 4,500 people, and an estimated $8 million a year to the island. The Civic Center has seen at least $1 million in renovations, from a new floor to new scoreboards to, in 2003, good, old-fashioned air conditioning.

Meanwhile, plenty of other tournaments have copied the Maui formula, and are getting better at it all the time. In recent years, even as the Maui field has remained loaded, events such as the Battle 4 Atlantis have put together excellent fields on the promise of similar benefits -- Thanksgiving in paradise -- without all 5,000 miles of travel to go along with it.

"People seem to wonder all the time ... are you going to be able to keep this thing going?" Odom said. "The way I see it, there are enough teams for everybody."

Meanwhile, 30 years on, a few things have stayed the same. The venue still seats 2,400 fans for each game. Thanks to that size, the atmosphere -- which is probably best described as "high school gym on steroids" -- stands in stark contrast to many of the events that have followed in its wake, where cavernous gyms are quiet no matter how good the basketball is on the floor.
ESPN: Maui turns 30

He still loves the Mario Chalmers story. More than any other story from his first 10 seasons at Kansas, you’re most likely to hear Bill Self talk about that day in Maui eight years ago, when Chalmers couldn’t get the ball across half court.

Chalmers was a freshman. Kansas was playing Arizona. And a young KU team turned the ball over 27 times — Chalmers had seven — in a 61-49 loss to Arizona.

Three years later, Chalmers and the Jayhawks won the NCAA Championship. But if Self suspects that somebody is forgetting about the growing pains, he’ll pull out the Chalmers story:

Hey, remember when Mario couldn’t get the ball across half court?

Self has another reason to use the story this week, as he prepares to take another freshman-dominated team to a tourney in paradise. The second-ranked Jayhawks, 4-0, will open the Battle 4 Atlantis against Wake Forest at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Sometimes you take a young team to a tropical island and it does not go so well.

“It can be a bit of a distraction,” sophomore forward and Wichita native Perry Ellis said. “But I feel like we all know we’re going out there to try to handle business. That’s the mind-set we want to have.”

The games at the Atlantis tourney are played in Imperial Arena, a large ballroom in Nassau, Bahamas, that is transformed into a 3,900-seat basketball court. KU will play three games in three days — beginning on Thanksgiving. If the Jayhawks beat Wake Forest on Thursday, they’ll play the winner of Villanova-Southern California on Friday.)
KC Star

collegesportstown.com image

KU’s players and three charters full of fans who are Williams Fund members will depart for the Bahamas this afternoon. KU will meet Wake Forest in a first-round Battle 4 Atlantis game at 2:30 p.m., Central time, Thursday in Paradise Island, Bahamas. About 1,500 KU fans are expected to be in the stands for the opener in the 3,900-seat Imperial Arena, which is actually a ballroom/convention center.

This classifies as a business trip with a bit of time for fun.

“We had a parent email us and ask, hey, let us know when the kids’ free time is so we can get with our kids, and I emailed them back, and I said, ‘This is a business trip, there’s no free time,’” Self said. ‘“You have the free time, not us.’ We’ll give them some time on Wednesday, and we’ll give them some time on Sunday, but other than that and Tuesday night when we get there they can hang out and stuff, but we’re not concerned about anything other than trying to win games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and eat good Thursday night.”

…Kansas University’s basketball big men — Tarik Black, Perry Ellis, Joel Embiid, Landen Lucas, Hunter Mickelson, Jamari Traylor and Justin Wesley — engage in some spirited battles at practice.

“It’s pretty crazy,” said Lucas, KU’s 6-foot-10, 240-pound red-shirt freshman power forward from Portland, Ore. “Last year it was pretty much Jeff (Withey) and I guarding each other, and that’s about it. This year you’ll get matched up on so many different bigs. Everybody has their own skill set. I think it’s good for all of us. We all get better.”

Through four games, Lucas ranks as KU’s fifth big in terms of playing time, ahead of Wesley. Mickelson can practice but not play in games this season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

“I’ve talked to coach a lot about it. We stay in constant communication about it,” Lucas said of discussion about his role. “If there’s one program where you are going to be patient, it’s a program like this. I’m enjoying the ride and trying to get better. Once it is my turn, I think I’ll be ready to go.”

…Self, whose team is loaded with depth in the frontcourt as well as the backcourt, said Lucas is definitely ready to contribute at this level.

“He’s good. He’s just a freshman. He has a bright future. I’m excited about his future,” Self said. “It doesn’t mean he can’t play this year. He has to play better than some of the other guys in front of him. He doesn’t need to get discouraged at all. There’s a lot of guys who would love to be able to start a couple years at Kansas. He’s one of those guys, no question.”

For now, Lucas is trying to earn his own minutes and help players such as freshman Embiid progress at a rapid rate.

“It’s unbelievable how quick he’s developed. His potential is through the roof,” Lucas said. “If he could get Jeff’s timing, it’d be unbelievable (in terms of shot blocking). He (Embiid) is more athletic and quicker off the floor. Jeff was so patient, he wouldn’t go for ball fakes. That’s hard to find in somebody who likes to block shots.”

…Lucas, who was born in Tokyo and learned the Japanese language during his sixth- and seventh-grade years while living with his mom in the city of Fukui, is studying Japanese at KU.

“I’ll probably do some kind of double-major in Japanese. I want to do something in business or communications, which is my focus,” Lucas said. “I took two (classes) last year. I’ll probably try to finish it up the next couple years. I learned it straight from (being in) Japan. Learning it here is a little bit different.”
LJW

The 11th-year coach often cites defensive field-goal percentage as his favorite statistic to look at. There’s good reason: KU ranks near the top in the statistic every year.

If one looks at effective field-goal percentage — a stat that adjusts to take into account that 3-pointers are worth more than twos — KU’s defense has ranked in the top 10 of the category in nine of the past 10 seasons. In Self’s worst year (2010-11), KU ranked 14th in the stat.

So far in a tiny sample size of four games, the Jayhawks rank 134th.

“We've had a lot of really good defensive teams here,” Self said. “I think there's some things that we do good, but I would say (we’re a) jack‑of‑all‑trades, master of none, so to speak. I don't know if there's anything we can really hang our hat on yet.”

Not surprisingly, Self wants this team to eventually look like all the others he’s coached at KU.
The goal, for Self, is to limit opposing teams to one shot or fewer while also not allowing extra possessions.

“All the teams that win big in the end, they all hang their hat on that,” Self said.

KU certainly has succeeded in holding teams to one shot.

The Jayhawks rank third nationally in defensive rebounding percentage, as they’ve grabbed 81.3 percent of available defensive rebounds.

“I watch us in practice and in games, and it's not like we're the most disciplined block‑out team we've ever had,” Self said, “but either the ball is falling right so far, or we've done a good job of going after it.”

This is one instance where KU’s offense might also be helping its defense. Because the Jayhawks have the talent to run, many teams could adjust by sending fewer men to the offensive glass to guard against the Jayhawks’ transition game.
TCJ

The overriding impression you get after watching Andrew Wiggins play for Kansas is:

Man, that Selden kid is really good.

Wayne Selden is Wiggins' classmate, teammate and, possibly, lottery-mate come June's NBA draft.

But if the Sixers hold one of the top picks, unless they trade down or subscribe to some analytic that negates perfect size and otherworldly talent, Selden won't be bound for Philly or Orlando or any of the other self-sabotaged franchises eager for the No. 1 overall pick.

Whether Wiggins flourishes or flops at Kansas this season, the anointment is done. With a 7-foot wingspan, a 44-inch vertical leap and hands the size of flippers, Wiggins, if healthy, will be looking down on the rest of the draftees. He'll be a one-and-done wonder, despite the cautionary tales being lived out by fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett and volume-shooter John Wall, both one-and-done No. 1s.

…Wiggins isn't The Next anyone. At 6-8 and a mechanical shooter, he won't score like Durant. Wiggins' first step is quick, but . . . Kobe? No. And the only thing Wiggins shares with Le-Bron is height and hype; Wiggins is 40 to 50 pounds lighter and lacks point-guard skills. He won't Magically transform a franchise from irrelevancy to contention.

But he will be asked to do so. No worries; he craves the attention, such as the notice he got when his Jayhawks beat Duke and Jabari Parker on Nov. 12 in Chicago at the Champions Classic.

"I love moments like that," Wiggins said Friday night. "Big crowds. Big-name people in the gym."

Friday lacked either; a 30-point walk over visiting Towson, Kansas' coming-of-age game for a roster rebuilt. Selden and Wiggins likely will be NBA starters this time next year, but 7-foot freshman backup center Joel Embiid, a Cameroon native who abandoned volleyball for basketball at 16, might be the most impactful future pro in Lawrence today.

Wiggins' deference to his talented teammates is a blessing - selflessness seldom is inherent in a star - and a curse, if Kansas hopes to make an NCAA title run. He scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the first half against Towson, at which point Kansas led, 49-16.

Wiggins took only one shot (and missed) in the second half. He finished with 16 points, just shy of his season average.

"Andrew can score three baskets in a row and not run as hard the fourth time because he's thinking, 'I just scored three in a row. Let somebody else score,' " Kansas coach Bill Self said. "That's the kind of stuff we need to try and break."

…If a comparison must be made, the player Wiggins recalls most is willowy Pacers swingman Paul George. That is no slight.

George, the best player on the most complete team in the Eastern Conference, spent two seasons at Fresno State before being taken 10th in the 2010 draft, long after Wall and, of course, Sixers guard Evan Turner, the second pick that year.

Still, it took George - 6-8 and 210 pounds - 2 years before, at 22, he became an All-Star, which should be a perennial engagement. That should be enough in Philadelphia, or Orlando, or anywhere, really.

Wiggins can throw down dunks, sure, but he is years away from having the strength to do so in NBA traffic.

He can defend when he wants (George is a splendid defender), but Wiggins currently lacks the focus to play that hard all game.

…Selden, at 6-5 and 230 pounds, dominates. He probably will be a more impactful pro than Wiggins for two NBA seasons or so.

That's fine. It took that many seasons for George to consistently assert himself, too. George arrived last season. Now, he can rip a team's heart out, as he did to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden last week.

George excels with help. Roy Hibbert is a game-changing center. George Hill is a fine, young point guard. Those are exactly the conditions that will exist in Philadelphia next season and beyond, when Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams begin to blossom.

They can grow together. Selden might be a man among boys now, but Wiggins can be a beast.
Philly.com

Looking at some numbers from last year, convinced anew that KU losing to TCU had to be an Internet hoax. Did anyone actually see that game?
@JohnGasaway

Where’s the most expensive ticket in college basketball?

It’s at Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, according to one secondary ticket marketplace.

The median price for Kansas basketball tickets on the secondary market is $265, according to a report by Vivid Seats, which tracks such numbers. The secondary market includes tickets sold through brokers and other online marketplaces — not official season tickets from Kansas.

The average Kansas ticket sold on the secondary market is more expensive than second-place Kentucky ($200) and Duke ($179). KU’s Allen Fieldhouse seats 16,300 for home games, while Kentucky plays its home games at Rupp Arena, which holds 23,500 for basketball. Duke plays its games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which has an official capacity of 9,314.

According to Vivid, Kansas will play host to seven of the 25 most expensive college basketball games of this season — at least in the secondary market. Oklahoma State’s visit to Lawrence on January 18th is the most expensive KU game and seventh-most expensive matchup overall, with a median ticket price of $420. For now, North Carolina’s trip to rival Duke on March 8th projects as the most expensive ticket of year, with a current median price of $1,459.

The average Kansas ticket on the secondary market, according to Vivid, is $305. Official season tickets to Kansas games, of course, can be considerably cheaper on a per-game average. But those numbers wouldn’t include the contributions fans must make to KU’s Williams Education Fund to secure a prime seat location at Allen Fieldhouse.
Link

Thanks to all the Jayhawk fans that were at the game today.. Really Thankful for the support! Rock chalk and happy holidays
@MookMorris2

@MikePradaSBN: I imagine Beasley saying “WHOA YOU GUYS ARE TWINS??” here

VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars

Kansas continues its four-game road trip by heading south to the EZ Global Payments Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Nov. 28-30. The Jayhawks are set to play three games in three days against Central Michigan, Xavier and No. 2 Duke over the Thanksgiving holiday tournament. KU opens the tournament with Central Michigan on Nov. 28 at 2:30 p.m.

All three games will be on the Jayhawk Radio Network with Nate Bukaty calling the plays. Additionally, Jayhawk fans can watch the games through Paradise Jam on YouTube Live or follow live stats. A link to stats and live streaming for all three games can be found at paradisejam.com.
KUAD: KUWBBall preview

Big 12/College News

Andrew Harrison’s three-point play broke a 57-all tie before twin brother Aaron followed with a 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining, helping No. 3 Kentucky escape stubborn Cleveland State 68-61 on Monday night.
AP

The frustration of a few unfavorable late second-half calls apparently had not yet subsided when Cleveland State assistant Jermaine Kimbrough signed onto Twitter a few hours after Monday night's game at Kentucky ended.

As a result, Kimbrough sent out a flurry of angry tweets blaming referees for helping the Wildcats erase a 10-point deficit in the game's final seven minutes and escape with a 68-61 victory.

Kimbrough deleted the tweets within an hour of publishing them but not before screen shots of them spread via social media.
Yahoo (Pics at the link)

Iowa State has already shown it can beat good teams like Michigan and BYU. The Cyclones have also proven they can dominate overmatched opponents.

DeAndre Kane had 20 points and eight rebounds, and 17th-ranked Iowa State trounced Missouri-Kansas City, 110-51, Monday night for its fifth straight win.

Sherron Dorsey-Walker added 17 points for the Cyclones (5-0), who used a 27-0 run midway through the first half to put away the Kangaroos.

Iowa State, which was hosting a game as a ranked team for the first time in eight years, posted its third win of at least 30 points this season.

"We've got a lot of guys that can do a lot of things," Kane said. "We play unselfish basketball. We share the ball. We've got a lot of guys that can score, a lot of guys that can rebound. But it all starts with defense."
AP

The Texas Longhorns led the majority of the second half, but BYU found a way to lead when it mattered most. With 1:45 remaining, the Cougars took the lead on a Tyler Haws jumper and held on via the free-throw line to seal it.

Haws scored 19 of the last 21 points for BYU after enduring one of the least impressive stretches of his college career — scoring just two points and doing little else in the first 25 minutes of the game. The last 15 minutes, however, he redeemed himself and then some.

On one hand, BYU was lucky just to be in the game at the end. It took a combination of other-worldly 3-point shooting (10-of-12), Texas missing 11 free throws and 18 3-pointers, and the officiating suddenly turning in BYU's favor the last 10 minutes for the Cougars to come away on the plus side in this one.

BYU survived despite being severely outmuscled in the paint by a much bigger Texas team that was more than happy to throw its weight around. Featuring three young highly recruited big men, all at least 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, the Longhorns pushed the Cougars around inside, pulling down 19 offensive rebounds and blocking nine shots.

Fortunate as it may have been Monday evening, BYU will take the win and move on to play No. 12 Wichita State on Tuesday night for the CBE Hall of Fame Classic championship.
Deseret News

Andrew Wiggins in the house @CBHOFwknd #CBEHalloFameClassic to watch brother Mitch play for WSU. #kubball
@rmgoff

After watching Chaminade guard Christophe Varidel score 31 first-half points, No. 18 Baylor discovered that it did bring its defense to Hawaii in the second half.

The Bears used their superior height and athleticism to lock down Varidel and pulled away for a 93-77 win Monday night in the Maui Invitational.

Following their fifth straight win to open the season, the Bears advanced to the semifinals against the winner of Monday’s late game between No. 11 Gonzaga and Dayton. Baylor will play at 8:30 p.m. Central time Tuesday night on ESPN.

Varidel finished with 42 points which was only one short of the Maui Invitational record of 43 points scored by Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison in 2005. The sharp-shooting guard hit a tournament record 10 of 16 3-pointers and 14 of 29 overall.

Varidel helped Florida Gulf Coast reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season before transferring to Chaminade (2-1) for his senior year.

“We didn’t guard anybody in the first half and Varidel was on fire,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said in his postgame radio interview. “But we made adjustments at the half and Royce O’Neale did a terrific job on him.”
Link

The Red Raiders knew they were in for a challenge when they were automatically selected to play Pittsburgh in the first round of the major Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Texas Tech was tested and fell to a top 25 caliber Panthers team on Monday, 76-53.

Senior forward Jaye Crockett had a very strong performance. He recorded a team-best 19 points for the Red Raiders (4-2) as well as six rebounds, but the Red Raiders’ undoing was 17 turnovers to 10 assists in addition to shooting 38.8 percent from the floor compared to Pittsburgh’s 47.2 shooting percentage.

The Brooklyn tournament features the Red Raiders, Pittsburgh (5-0), Stanford (5-1) and Houston (5-1).

Stanford defeated Houston later in the evening, 86-76, which relegated the Cougars to the consolation game along with Texas Tech. That means the Red Raiders will square off with Houston head coach James Dickey, who coached in Lubbock from 1991 to 2001, today at 6 p.m. Central time.
DMN

Maui gets a great one with Dayton over Gonzaga.

A boneheaded foul by Kevin Pangos in the final minute, when Pangos had 27 points, gave the Zags guard his fifth and took him off the court. That meant Gonzaga didn't have its most reliable scorer on the floor as it tried to scratch back and steal the game away from the Flyers. No dice. An 84-79 final in favor of Archie Miller's team, which is now 5-0.

This was a great Maui game, one of those well-after-midnight affairs that is worth the watch and the type of gripping game we get every other year at Maui. Gonzaga blew a 16-point lead, and give credit to Dayton for hitting big foul shout after big foul shot down the stretch. Plus, Jordan Sibert -- or should I say, Jordan Sib3rt -- hit five 3s to give Dayton the edge in the second half.

Really fun game. You gotta love Maui.

This also damages Gonzaga in the sense that it loses this game, now it'll play D-II Chaminade on Tuesday, and D-II results don't go toward a team's NCAA tournament resume. If it wins there, it'll play either Minnesota or Arkansas on Wednesday, and neither of those teams are likely to be NCAA touranment-caliber. So the Zags' non-con schedule takes a significant hit with this loss.
CBS Night Court

Feast Week basketball schedule

Big XII composite schedule

ESPN College GameDay Schedule

2013-14 TV Schedule

2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Recruiting

@CoachAJohnson:
Findlay Prep (Kelly Oubre) vs Planet Athlete
Wed, Nov 27th @7pm
@HendersonIntl
Streamed on http://thebasketballchannel.net

I can't wait for College basketball next year🏀 #RockChalk #LetsGetThisMoney
@K_Ctmd22

JaQuan Lyle, a 6-5 senior shooting guard from Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, plans to visit KU for the Kansas State game on Jan. 11, he told Rivals.com. Lyle is ranked No. 22 in the recruiting Class of 2014 by Rivals.com and is a good friend of KU signee Cliff Alexander.
LJW

Recruiting Calendar

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11/25 POLLS

11/25/2013

AP Poll

USA Today Coaches Poll

Paper Tigers

11/25/2013

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ESPN Video link in case below embed doesn't work for you

KUAD: Kansas Torches Towson postgame notes

KUAD: Box Score

KUAD: Photos

KC Star: Photos

ESPN: Photos

UDK: Photos

LJW: Photos

11/22/13, 8:02 PM
Up late watching my boys play. Man I miss Allen Fieldhouse and those crazy fans!! #RockChalk
@T_2releFOUR

It was nearly 25 minutes after No. 2 Kansas’ 88-58 destruction of Towson on Friday night, and Wiggins began to peer at a box score in front of him. He studied it for a moment, then looked up. He had seen enough.

In a 40-minute offensive clinic, the Jayhawks had scored 88 points and shot 60 percent from the floor. They had scored 48 points in the paint, and put on the kind of transition dunkfest that had attracted Wiggins to play for Kansas coach Bill Self.

But there was something else on the box score, something that spoke to Wiggins’ unselfish sensibilities. The Jayhawks had put up 88 points — and nobody had taken more than eight shots.

“When we’re playing our game, no one can stop us,” Wiggins said. “When we just play in the flow of the game, no one can stop us. We have too many tools, too many weapons to use.”

Wiggins had finished with 16 points on six-of-eight shooting while snaring seven rebounds, sparking a 49-16 first-half beating with 14 points before the intermission. But this was the sort of dizzying night where everything seemed to work, where the team Kansas was playing — Towson, in this instance — seemed about as relevant as the Washington Generals. Just more than 24 hours earlier, Self had stood in Allen Fieldhouse, wishing his young team would unveil more of its rather ridiculous supply of athleticism.

By the end, the Jayhawks had improved to 4-0 while paying heed to their coach’s demands.

“If there’s a better team in the country,” Towson coach Pat Skerry said, “I’d like to find out who they are, and I certainly don’t want to play them.”

…Wiggins, meanwhile, was free to quietly affect the game in subtle ways. Late in the second half, as Towson leading scorer Jerrelle Benimon began to get hot, Wiggins slid over and kept him scoreless for a span of minutes.

“He was scoring.” Wiggins said. “I just wanted to see how I’d do on him. I think my defense is underrated.”

For a night, Self was plenty content with an unselfish Wiggins. On another night, it might have been different.

“That’s who he is,” Self added. “But he’s the type of kid that I really believe, in a game like this tonight, that’s the way it should be, but in a game where you struggle to get baskets, he needs to be taking 15 or 20 shots.

“That’s what the good players do.”

So now Kansas prepares to head for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas next week, where it will open against Wake Forest on Thursday afternoon.

Three games in three days — three chances to showcase their abilities to a national audience. But all that best-team-in-the-country talk? That stuff, Self says, can wait.

“By the end,” Self said, “if our young kids keep getting better, I think we’ll have a chance to be in the conversation out there. But this is a different year. …

“There’s a lot of nice teams out there. But when we play, and we play with energy, I think we can be one of the better ones.”
KC Star

ESPN video link in case embed above doesn't work for you

KU had four players in double figures on a night no Jayhawk took more than eight shots. Andrew White III hit three threes in four tries and had 13 points; Wayne Selden 12 and Perry Ellis 10. Joel Embiid had eight points and eight boards on a night the (4-0) Jayhawks hit 60 percent of their shots to (3-2) Towson’s 36.7 percent.

KU outrebounded Towson, 40-28, and held the Tigers to 5-of-22 three-point shooting.

The Jayhawks had all the flashy plays, ramming eight dunks to Towson’s none.

…Senior power forward Tarik Black, who set the tone with two early dunks (in helping KU open with an 11-5 lead) said: “We have eight, nine new guys on this team. We are not going to be a perfectly flowing team. We will not be as flowing as some teams that have guys that returned, but we are looking very good. We are one of the top teams in the country and we deserve it. We are going to continue to work hard and try to move forward.”
LJW

Benimon said he had not seen KU (4-0) play much this season and, therefore, did not realize just how deep KU was. Ten Jayhawks played 12 minutes or more against the Tigers, with two others playing six minutes or better.

“They have good depth,” Benimon said. “They have a bunch of players. I didn't realize they played that many players... All of them run, so they just get up and down. I felt like when they were getting out (in transition), they were at their best.”
LJW

Kansas University freshman center Joel Embiid had a career-high three blocks, most by a Jayhawk in a game this season, in Friday’s 88-58 rout of Towson in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Coach (Bill) Self has been helping me with my timing,” the 7-footer from Cameroon said. “They have been showing me what to work on along with showing me film of how Jeff Withey did it. They tell me to stay on the ground and not to go for it on shot fakes. It’s a matter of timing,” he added.

Embiid, who had eight rebounds in 19 minutes, also is starting to master the art of outlet passing.

“Every time the other team shot it they would have five guys crash the boards. So if I had the rebound, I would just throw the ball down court because I knew my teammates were getting out running,” said Embiid, who had one assist.

Embiid went 4-for-5 shooting and has missed just one shot in his last two games and five all season to take the team field goal percentage lead at 72.2 percent.

…Frank Mason had a career-high six assists against the school he signed with his senior year in high school. He also had six points and one turnover in 18 minutes.

…Friday’s game was part of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, but the result has no bearing on the actual tourney Thursday through Saturday in Bahamas.

Towson is not one of the eight schools making the trip to Paradise Island. Instead, the Tigers played Villanova and KU on the road in “guarantee games” that were part of the overall event.

KU will play Wake Forest in the first-round of the eight-team tourney at 2:30 p.m., Central time, Thursday in the Ballroom and Convention center of the Atlantis resort. A victory would push KU into the semifinals against Villanova or USC at 8:30 p.m., Friday. Teams on the other side of the bracket: Tennessee, UTEP, Iowa and Xavier.

The Ballroom and Convention Center seats 3,800. KU fans have already purchased about 1,600 tickets.

Josh Klingler will do the radio play by play for the three games in the Bahamas with Greg Gurley as color man. Veteran KU play by play announcer Bob Davis will work Saturday’s football game against Kansas State with color announc
LJW

Kansas University’s basketball team, which led the country in field-goal-percentage defense last year (.361) and has ranked first in the Big 12 in that category in eight of Bill Self’s first 10 seasons in Lawrence, has been amazing on offense through four games of the 2013-14 campaign.

The Jayhawks (4-0) — who scored 88 points versus Towson, 86 against Iona, 94 against Duke and 80 versus Louisiana at Monroe — have cashed 56.8 percent of their floor shots, including 37.5 percent of their threes.

“If you look at our shooting percentages, they’re better than ever so far,” KU coach Bill Self said.
KU hit 60 percent of its attempts in Friday’s 88-58 home victory over Towson.

“We’ve shot 50 percent every game. We don’t do that. We just make sure other teams can’t score. Since we don’t do that anymore, I guess we’ve got to make sure we score,” he added sarcastically.
KU’s four foes have made 42.4 percent of their shots en route to an average of 67.5 points a game.
LJW

Wiggins was assertive enough to lead the team with 16 points to go with seven rebounds. I had an inkling his favorite stat on his efficient line in the box score would be the number “4” under the offensive-rebound column, and asked him.

He answered with a big smile and a small word: “Yes.”
LJW Keegan: Wiggins provides much more than highlights

3. Andrew Wiggins, SF, Kansas Jayhawks
6-8, 200 pounds

Wiggins has yet to dominate, but he’s been solid and has shown glimpses of why many have tabbed him as the No. 1 overall pick in June’s NBA draft. Wiggins had 13 points and seven boards in a win over Iona and went for 16 points and seven rebounds in a rout over Towson. He’s shooting 59 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3.

“He falls out of bed and gets 16 and 8," Towson coach Pat Skerry said. "He makes it look so easy, has a major league first step and has that extra gear when needed.”

Stats: 16.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG | Previous rank: 3
ESPN Goodman Ranking of Top Freshman ($)

“Actually, I used to be on the Selection Committee for picking kids in the 21-and-under, 20-and-under and 19-and-under (USA Basketball) teams that travel,” Self said on his Hawk Talk radio show. “I’ve never coached with USA Basketball. We planned on doing it a few times, but because of Tyler and Lauren’s (children) schedule, it was never the right time to be gone in the summer.

“It’s just not real. There are some guys named Popovich and Rivers and some others that would be, I’m sure, high on the list as possible replacement whenever he (Krzyzewski) decides not to do it. My understanding is he feels great and will do it one more time at least (2016). He has done a lot for our sport and USA Basketball. For anybody to logically think that (Self being named) is a possibility or realistic would be pie-in-the-sky-type thinking. Those jobs don’t fall off trees,” Self added.

Boeheim is in the Hall of Fame, while Self and Izzo, who have won national championships, are both considered locks for induction. Popovich and Rivers have been considered two of the top NBA coaches for some time now.

“Though it’s flattering to hear things like that, it’s something I don’t put a lot of stock into because the reality of that happening is that it will not occur. My plate is full here. I’m just focused at what is going on at Kansas. It’s flattering but not realistic either,” Self said.
LJW

NOVEMBER 28
Villanova vs. USC, 1 p.m., AXS.tv
Kansas vs. Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., AXS.tv
Xavier vs. Iowa, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network
Tennessee vs. UTEP, 9:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

NOVEMBER 29
Semifinals
Xavier-Iowa winner vs. Tennessee-UTEP winner, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network
Villanova-USC winner vs. Kansas-Wake Forest winner, 9:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

Consolation bracket
Xavier-Iowa loser vs. Tennessee-UTEP loser, 1 p.m., AXS.tv
Villanova-USC loser vs. Kansas-Wake Forest loser, 3:30 p.m., AXS.tv

NOVEMBER 30
Semifinal winners, 9:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network

Third place game
Semifinal losers, 7 p.m., NBC Sports Network

Consolation bracket
Fifth place game, 3:30 p.m., AXS.tv
Seventh-place game, 1 p.m., AXS.tv

AXS TV is available from major TV providers across the U.S. including:

USE YOUR ZIPCODE to find AXS

VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars

Their time apart lasted an NBA season and a half in their nearly 24 years of life. But even that short chapter seemed like an eternity for identical twins Markieff and Marcus Morris. Now reunited with the Phoenix Suns, they are on a united mission to remain teammates the rest of their NBA careers.

"We vowed that we work so hard that it will never happen again," Markieff Morris said. "You never know how it will happen or how it's going to go. We are cherishing this time."
Yahoo: Twins Peak

Big 12/College News

Florida senior guard Scottie Wilbekin will make his season debut for the Gators against Jacksonville on Monday night.

Gators coach Billy Donovan confirmed early Sunday that Wilbekin had been reinstated after missing the first five games of the season -- plus an exhibition game -- because of a violation of team rules.
The timing for the Gators is perfect with freshman guard Kasey Hill out with a high ankle sprain, suffered during the team's last game against Southern.

Wilbekin averaged 9.1 points and 4.6 assists a game last season.

The Gators are heading into a brutal four-game stretch. They take on in-state rival Florida State on Friday before going to UConn on Monday and then hosting Kansas Dec. 10 before facing Memphis in the Jimmy V Classic in New York City Dec. 17.
ESPN Katz

North Carolina coach Roy Williams walked over to his players huddled in a circle and jumping after their 93-84 win over No. 3 Louisville on Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The 63-year-old cracked a smile and disappeared into the blue, his shiny white top barely visible, as he hopped, jumped and bumped into the players. Williams broke from the pack and gave a salute to the fans before the team ran off, hauling the Hall of Fame Tip-Off championship trophy to their locker room.

The No. 24 Tar Heels haven’t had a November win that warranted such an impromptu celebration in a while. Just one week ago, the Heels’ loss to Belmont was just their second nonconference home defeat during Williams’ tenure. The program has also been carrying an albatross of uncertainty while awaiting a final judgment on the status of P.J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald.

That’s why a little celebration was in order. Carolina needed this one.

“Since June 5th it’s not been a very pleasant time -- it’s been probably the most difficult time I’ve had as a coach,” Williams said. “It has not been fun in every way, shape or form. But today, out on that court watching their excitement, bumping with them, then going in the locker room celebrating, that’s what I coach for.”
ESPN

USC’s Andy Enfield has a few words for Tim Floyd and UCLA

Missouri's bench just got smaller.

The school said Friday that sophomore forward Stefan Jankovic will be transferring, saying he is hoping for more playing time elsewhere.

The 6-foot-11-inch, 242-pound native of Serbia played in 28 games for the Tigers, averaging 3.1 points and 1.6 rebounds. He scored nine points in 18 minutes in this year's opener, but only added one combined point in eight-plus minutes during Missouri's next two games.

Jankovic said he wanted to find a better fit. Coach Frank Haith said before the season that Jankovic didn't always understand his role on the court last year.
Link

Feast Week basketball schedule

Recruiting

Huntington (W.V.) Prep combo guard JaQuan Lyle says he’s considering eight schools.

“I have eight schools I’m considering,” Lyle told the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette. “Kansas, Providence, Oregon, West Virginia, Indiana, Connecticut, Memphis and Florida State.

“There’s really no leader. I’m just enjoying the process and season.”

Kansas assistant Jerrance Howard met with Lyle last week at Huntington Prep and the two sides are working out an official visit.

Oregon assistant Tony Stubblefield and West Virginia assistant Larry Harrison both recently watched Lyle play in Kentucky.

Lyle also recently visited West Virginia and enjoyed that trip.

“I went to Morgantown two weekends ago,” he told the Gazette. “It went real well. I went to the football game and a basketball game. It was a great visit. The fans were very supportive.”
Zags Blog

Some who want “one-and-done” not to be a Duke thing have suggested neither Jones nor Winslow is in that category, but that’s little more than a wish. DraftExpress scout Jonathan Givony has seen lots of Winslow at USA Basketball trials and in FIBA competition. He lists Winslow as the No. 11 prospect in his mock 2015 draft. He has Jones at 15th. 

Okafor, Givony's No. 1 2015 prospect, is a delightful teenager: bright, ambitious, self-assured. Jones and Winslow, as well, are the kind of kids who would enrich any college campus. That it is possible or likely they will be in place for one academic year means they might enrich it less than is desirable but not short enough that the experience will be vacant for either party.

We’ve said this before, but perhaps not often enough. The current 19-year age limit rule is not as good for basketball as a 20-year limit would be, but it still is the best thing to happen to basketball at the high school, college and professional levels since the NBA made the mistake of installing a rookie salary scale nearly two decades ago.

The age limit has gotten pro scouts out of high school gyms, encouraged high school players to pay more attention to their academic courses in order to qualify for the best possible pre-NBA training ground, and it has allowed college fans to see the finest players of their generation compete for conference championships and the NCAA title. It has allowed the NBA to inherit better-trained prospects and not to do as much remedial coaching with its most coveted draft picks.

One-and-done is not a curse. It is a blessing. It now has the full embrace of a true Hall of Famer, Mike Krzyzewski, who has won four NCAA championships and could very well ride this trio of elite talents to a fifth. That is, if current one-and-doneish talent Jabari Parker doesn’t get him the fifth this April. 
TSN DeCourcy

Recruiting Calendar

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GAMEDAY! Kansas vs Towson

11/22/2013

Game 5 of the "Lost 6"

Jayhawk Television Network Info

Viewing options for those without access to Metro Sports
KANSAS CITY TIME WARNER RESTAURANTS AND BARS
Need a place to enjoy a Jayhawk game on Time Warner Cable in the Kansas City area? Grab a friend and head to one of these restaurants or bars that is a Time Warner Cable subscriber.
(This list is funny. Heartland Pawn Jewelry? lol)

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(Scheduled to be blacked out for KC Metro and Kansas. If yours isn’t, then lucky you!)

If you are in Canada, watch live on TSN. Those Canadians. They have the best of everything.

Ellis, Selden, Wiggins named to Naismith Watch List

A failing grade in a government class his senior year at Petersburg (Va.) High School cost Frank Mason a spot on Towson University’s basketball team — the one that meets Kansas University in a 7 p.m. tip today in Allen Fieldhouse.

“It was a bad thing at the time. It’s a good thing now,” reflected Mason, who, after attending Massanutten Military Academy in Woodstock, Va., last year, wound up a member of KU’s outstanding recruiting Class of 2013.

He had initially signed a letter of intent with Towson in November of 2011 but did not qualify academically.

“I always knew I could play at any program and with anybody,” noted the 5-foot-11 combo guard. He averaged 17 points and eight assists a game for (30-4) Massanutten after going for 27.1 ppg his senior year at Petersburg, where his teams had a combined four-year mark of 78-4.

“Towson ... I felt like I was close to home. The coaches pulled me in, told me what I wanted to hear. I thought I was going to go to Towson for four years and it was going to be my program.”

Instead, Mason emerged on the AAU circuit in July of 2012 and ultimately gobbled up a scholarship offer from KU’s coaches, who saw him dominate a tournament in Las Vegas.

“After I went to military school, I never considered Towson again,” Mason said of the Colonial Athletic Association school located in Maryland, just 187 miles from his hometown.

He chose the Jayhawks over Alabama, Maryland, Louisville, Rutgers, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.

“I am glad it ended up like that,” he said of failing that government class by just “three points.”
“I guess God worked it out that way. I guess it’s meant for me to be at KU.”

…Self on frosh Wayne Selden, who has averaged 10 points and 3.0 rebounds while averaging 29.7 minutes a game: “Wayne tries hard, is very unselfish with his thoughts. He’s feeling better physically. He’s gone through a period of time he’s felt great, then got nicked up a little bit, but won’t sit out (playing through minor injury). He has his legs under him now and is feeling much better physically.”

Thievery: KU has 21 steals to its opponents’ 12. “We’ve been trying to get that going for two months now,” Self said. “It’s almost like we play defensive when we are on defense. Basketball is a game of comfort zones. We need to operate in ours and get our opponent out of theirs.”

This, that: Self said he’d use the same starting lineup of Tharpe, Selden, Andrew Wiggins, Perry Ellis and Tarik Black tonight. Black, who has had foul problems in all three games, is being pushed by Joel Embiid, who went for 16 points and 13 rebounds versus Iona.
LJW

Though Kansas has won 65 straight non-conference games at home and took its first two meetings with Towson (3-1) by a combined 72 points, Self won't allow his team to take anything for granted Friday. The Tigers beat Temple 75-69 last Thursday during the same week they earned their first-ever vote in the Top 25.

"They are really good," Self said. "They can score. Next to Duke, this will be the best team we have played."

Towson, however, is coming off a 78-44 loss at Villanova on Sunday. It limited the Wildcats to 40.4 percent shooting, but made just 30.9 from the field and committed 24 turnovers.

Senior Jerrelle Benimon averages a team-leading 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds but was held to 11 and six by Villanova.

Teammate Marcus Damas (10.8 ppg) missed all eight field-goal attempts and went scoreless in that contest. He had 11 points and seven rebounds during Towson's 100-54 loss at Kansas on Nov. 11, 2011.

This will be the highest-ranked opponent Towson has faced since falling to then-No. 2 Purdue 94-58 on Dec. 30, 1986.

Kansas is playing its opening-round contest in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, which it continues Thanksgiving Day against Wake Forest in the Bahamas.
CBS

For weeks, Kansas freshman Wayne Selden has been something like the Jayhawks’ version of a minivan. Reliable, strong, consistent … and he’ll definitely get you from Point A to Point B.

“You need a guy like that,” KU sophomore Andrew White III said, “that can kind of be the rock.”

But while Kansas coach Bill Self lauds the 6-foot-5 Selden for his consistency, he’d prefer that he would let his natural horsepower come out. Minivans can provide some comfort, but there’s nothing quite like letting a muscle car loose on the open road. The same goes, Self says, for the rest of the Jayhawks.

“The one thing I wish we were a little bit better at right now is playing to our athletic ability,” Self said. “And I think we can all do a better job of that.”

So Selden is not the only player whom Self has in mind. Freshman swingman Andrew Wiggins will be the most athletic player in every building he steps in this season, and No. 2 Kansas features a handful of players who can guard harder, attack more, and generally operate in a higher gear.

“When you do those things and you beat people off the bounce and you’re forcing help, everything just looks better,” Self said.
KC Star

It’s a small part of a bigger issue for Bill Self.

So far, his Kansas team — blessed with plenty of NBA size and length — has struggled to come away with steals.

“It’s almost like we’ve played defensive when we’re on defense,” the 11th-year KU coach said.
“Basketball’s a game of comfort zones, and we need to operate in ours and get our opponent out of theirs. It seems like, to me, too many people are operating within their comfort zone, especially in our building.”

…Self hinted that KU might introduce some new defensive wrinkles Friday to try to speed Towson up. The Tigers have been turnover-prone, ranking 301st in offensive turnover percentage.

Selden believes it’s a matter of playing with more desire and focus.

“As we get more comfortable playing higher on the floor,” Selden said, “I feel like we can run through passing lanes.”
TCJ

SI Luke Winn Power Rankings: KU #2

VOTE HERE for Pierce, Chalmers, Markieff Morris 2014 NBB All-Stars

Academic success continues to be one of the strong elements of the Kansas University football program under Charlie Weis, and, Thursday, the Jayhawks reaped the benefits of their work in the classroom.

Highlighted by a pair of seniors in offensive lineman Gavin Howard and defensive lineman Shane Smith, Kansas football placed 19 student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 teams for the second-consecutive season under head coach Charlie Weis. The 19 honorees tied for the Big 12 lead along with Oklahoma.

Howard and Smith earned their third-straight selections to the squad and the Jayhawks led the conference with 14 first-team honorees.
LJW

KU alum Jon Cornish CFL 2013 MOP

Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish is the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player for 2013. Cornish, who was also named the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian earlier in the evening, was presented with the honour at the CFL Player Awards ceremonies on Thursday night in Regina.

Cornish is the first Canadian to win the MOP award since Tony Gabriel in 1978. Russ Jackson, who earned the honour in 1963, 1966 and 1969, is the only other Canadian to be named the league’s top player.

Cornish won his second consecutive rushing title this past season as he ran for 1,813 yards, the fourth-highest total in CFL history. He also led the league and set a new franchise record with 2,157 yards from scrimmage. Cornish led all running backs with an average of 7.0 yards per carry and was tops in the CFL this season with 14 touchdowns.

His spectacular season featured nine 100-yard games — including five in a row to tie a franchise record — and a career-best 208-yard effort on Oct. 5 against Winnipeg. He won nine weekly CFL awards in 2013 as well as four monthly honours.
Link

After chalking up another first together at Iowa State, the Kansas volleyball seniors will celebrate their final match in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center when the Jayhawks host Texas Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Kansas will honor its seven-member senior class before and after the match. Prior to first serve, the seniors and their parents will be recognized on the court. Senior speeches will follow the conclusion of the match.
KUAD

Big 12/College News

So I was talking with CBS Sports' Doug Gottlieb the other day about Marcus Smart, and he was listing all of the things the Oklahoma State guard does well -- like drive, defend and compete. Then, at some point, Gottlieb said this: "He basically saved Travis Ford's job."

That was interesting to me.

And it was especially interesting coming from Gottlieb, who knows college basketball as well as anybody and Oklahoma State better than most given that he graduated from the school after a succesful playing career under Eddie Sutton. If Gottlieb says Smart basically saved Ford's job, Smart basically saved Ford's job. And to that point, it should be noted, Ford was 31-35 in Big 12 games in the four seasons before Smart stepped on campus. So a fifth subpar year absolutely could've led to a change in Stillwater considering Ford's predecessor, Sean Sutton, was dismissed after just two subpar seasons relative to OSU's expectations.
CBS Parrish

Seeing what we have from both Kansas and Oklahoma State, who has the edge in this league right now? 

DeCourcy: I’d love to be able to cop out and say it’s all about who’s got the tougher schedule—which you can pull in nearly every other top league—but the Big 12’s decision to remain at 10 members means the basketball competition still consists of a double round-robin. The only thing better in college hoops than a double round-robin league schedule is the NCAA Tournament. So bless the Big 12 for that.

So that means we’ve got to look at these two great teams and pick one? OK. Then I’m going Kansas. Because even though Marcus Smart is a fair bet to finish as this season’s Naismith Award winner, KU still has more options, greater versatility—and more potential.

The potential mostly is contained in the expected improvement of freshman center Joel Embiid. I’ll tell you a little story about Embiid from the Champions Classic. He was struggling to make an impact on that game when he wound up all alone, wide open, with the ball in his hands just to the right of the top of the key. There was 5:29 on the clock, and KU was up by a point. Embiid fired a 3-pointer that missed.

There were gasps from some in the KU crowd, and even on press row. A 7-footer taking a 3-pointer at that point in the game? But right away I said, nope, it’s good that he shot that. Kansas needs him to believe he can be great. Those of us who watched KU practice recognize he’s got that sort of range. So it wasn’t a crazy shot. It wasn’t perfectly timed, but it suggested he was feeling comfortable. Next time out, he shot 7-of-7 from the field.  By Big 12 season, Embiid might be a force. At the least, he’ll be a presence. I don’t know how KU or anyone else will contain Smart, but the Jayhawks still have more answers. 
TSN DeCourcy

Charlotte coach Alan Major emphatically spelled out the key to the 49ers’ 68-61 victory over Kansas State on Thursday in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

“That was a great team effort. Capital letters T-E-A-M,” Major declared. “Everybody who played chipped in.”

Indeed, the 49ers (3-1) had five players score in double figures, led by double-double efforts from Mike Thorne Jr. (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Willie Clayton (10 and 10). Charlotte outrebounded Kansas State 46-34 and held the Wildcats to 31 percent shooting in the second half, including 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
Link

It took a few games for Wake Forest's Coron Williams to find his touch from 3-point range.
Now that he's hitting the 3, Williams has helped the Demon Deacons to get off to their best start in five years.

Williams hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points, as Wake Forest overcame first-half shooting problems to beat The Citadel 82-54 on Thursday night.

Devin Thomas added 11 points and Travis McKie 10 for the Demon Deacons (5-0), who won their final tuneup game before playing No. 2 Kansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament next week in the Bahamas.

"We've beat the teams that we should've beat," said Williams, a fifth-year transfer from Robert Morris. "Now we're really going to see what our team is made of — being on the road finally, and getting out of our comfort zone. We're going to see how tough our young guys are."
AP

Down double-digits and getting pushed around by a much bigger Georgetown team, Northeastern forward Scott Eatherton said panic was the one thing that couldn’t be found during halftime in his team’s locker room.

It showed as the Huskies erased an 11-point halftime deficit and returned the favor in the final 20 minutes by outmuscling the Hoyas down the stretch in a 63-56 victory Thursday in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

…D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera led the Hoyas with 14 points, and they seemed to have the game in hand, but struggled from the free-throw line, going just 17 for 28. They also shot just 23 percent in the second half.

It is the Hoyas first 1-2 start since 1998-99, which was John Thompson Jr.’s final season as Georgetown coach. They fall to the consolation bracket where they will meet Kansas State.

Georgetown coach John Thompson III said Northeastern was simply hungrier.

‘‘This group quickly needs to figure out how to compete,’’ he said. ‘‘Offensive systems, defensive systems, rotations, slides — everything. We need to compete. I thought we did a poor job of just rolling up your sleeves and competing.’’

…The Hoyas were 0 for 8 from 3 in the final 20 minutes and 3 for 16 for the game.

‘‘I think we took too many 3s at the wrong time today,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘We didn’t execute what we were trying to execute. We didn’t execute inside and outside, we didn’t get the ball to the corners enough.’’

Hoyas forward Nate Lubick said they were beaten by a better team and echoed Thompson’s call for he and his teammates to do some soul-searching.

‘‘I give them all the credit the world,’’ he said. ‘‘We executed relatively well in the first half, and we did not do anything we needed to do in the second half to continue our execution and do what we need to do to win games.’’
Link

If you haven't seen New Mexico's Cam Bairstow (24 ppg) and Kendall Williams (22ppg) play, watch today. They draw fouls, and are terrific.
@Jay Bilas

The Lobos' early-season form suggested they'd handle UAB with ease in the first round in Charleston; frankly, we expected them to roll to the title. Instead, they required a last-second Kendall Williams heave in regulation and a wide-open Alex Kirk 3 in the first of two overtimes to get rid of UAB. Williams hilariously shimmied after his crazy buzzer-beater, an act of startling confidence for a player who had just made a drastically low-percentage shot to avoid an ugly upset. But by the end of overtime No. 2, the Lobos looked exhausted and relieved in equal measure.
ESPN

Virginia Commonwealth’s defense and its No. 10 ranking took a pummeling on Thursday night.

The Rams couldn’t stop Florida State on defense. They couldn’t make anything on offense. And that combination led to an 85-67 whipping in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament at Roberto Clemente Coliseum.

VCU (3-1), whose first regular-season top 10 ranking will be short-lived, made just 22 of 75 shots (29.3 percent) and was 5 of 23 on 3-pointers. The Rams will play Long Beach State tonight at 7:30 in the consolation bracket.
Link

Lester Rowe, one of West Virginia’s greatest all-time basketball players, and an assistant coach on Mike Carey’s women’s basketball staff, has been reprimanded and put on notice by the Big 12 Conference for his role in a scuffle with fans that broke out directly after the Mountaineers won a tournament in Hawaii last weekend.

“Coach Rowe violated conference rules that prohibit coaches, student-athletes, athletic department staff and university personnel from committing abusive acts toward an opponent's fans,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby in a statement. “Coaches have the responsibility to refrain from behavior that incites negative fan conduct. Coach Rowe is also put on notice that future incidents may result in a more serious penalty.”

…“It was an unfortunate situation that occurred on Sunday prior to the trophy ceremony at the conclusion of the tournament at the University of Hawaii. The incident has been reviewed by the appropriate individuals and I consider the matter closed.”

The brawl seemed to have grown out of the heckling done by a Hawaii fan who was called out in the game’s closing seconds by an unidentified WVU assistant coach, apparently Rowe, according to published reports.

“He came down from the stands trying to go after my assistant coach,” Carey told the Honolulu Star Register. “That’s what happened. Then someone grabbed him and stopped him. He kept trying to go, and people fell. That’s when the commotion started.”

There were no serious injuries reported during the fight and no arrests were made.

Carey did report that his wife, Cheryl, had fainted during the melee but had recovered at the arena and was well enough to accompany the team on its trip back to Morgantown.

Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay injured his back, reported as back spasms after being struck, while trying to break up the fracas.
Link

Big XII composite schedule

ESPN College GameDay Schedule

2013-14 TV Schedule

2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Recruiting

11/21/13, 10:38 PM
Sounds like the Kansas / @JMamba5 meeting went well and they are working on a visit. Oregon, Memphis also involved
@AdamZagoria

@Chief_Justise goodluck brother praying for you #LaFamilia
Kelly Paul Oubre Jr. ‏@K_Ctmd22

Before Justise Winslow and his parents took their seats in front of cameras and hundreds in attendance, the St. John's senior attached a sign to a fourth chair just off to the side.

Then he placed a jersey from a one of his earliest basketball teams - the Houston Jaguars. It was with the Jaguars back in third grade that he met Beverly Mosby, a team mom who did a little bit of everything.

"Whether it was giving us $1 so we could get some candy from the concession stand or picking me up from my house on the way to practice," Winslow said Thursday. "Just little things like that and that's why she means so much to me and will always have a place in my heart.

Mosby passed away last year, but her memory wasn't forgotten as Winslow, who announced his decision to play college basketball at Duke, thanked her along with others in his support system. The moment brought tears to Winslow's eyes, forcing him to pause and collect himself as his mother also wiped away tears and his father placed his arm around the state's reigning player of the year.

"I love her to death and I really wish she could be here," Winslow said.

The mood wasn't all somber inside the gym - a standing-room only crowd watched and cheered on Winslow, who immediately turned Duke into an early favorite to capture the 2015 national championship.
Houston Chronicle

Recruiting Calendar

My Late Night in the Phog videos, KU Alumni games videos, 2011-12 Border War videos, Legends of the Phog videos, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk

Throwback Thursday!

11/21/2013

Once a Jayhawk, always a Jayhawk

KUAD image

President Barack Obama honored 16 recipients, including Dean Smith, former Kansas men's basketball player and assistant coach and legendary North Carolina basketball coach, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Wednesday. The honor dates back to an executive order from former President John F. Kennedy establishing the award. Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago Friday (Nov. 22, 1963).

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor. According to the White House, this award is given to individuals "who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Smith competed at Kansas from 1949-53 and was a part of the Jayhawks' national championship team in 1952, under the guidance of head coach Forrest "Phog" Allen. Smith and the Jayhawks were national runners-up in 1953.

After graduation, Smith served as an assistant coach at Kansas under Allen for the 1953-54 season. Smith then went on to coach North Carolina basketball from 1961-97, winning two national championships. When he retired, he was the winningest coach in college basketball history.
KUAD

UDK image

UDK Photos KU vs Iona

Frank Mason failed to provide an emotional spark for his team in three first-half minutes against Iona.

“I guess coach didn’t really like that,” the Kansas freshman guard said. “I just tried to come out the second half and be more aggressive and push the tempo.”

Smart move.

After asserting himself, the 5-foot-11 point guard was a big reason for the Jayhawks’ second-half surge in an 86-66 victory Tuesday over the Gaels. After halftime, Mason tied for the team lead with nine points on 4-for-9 shooting to go with two assists, a steal and no turnovers in 10 minutes.

“With our team, that’s going to be the thing that I think will keep us from really playing great is our energy level at times,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He certainly set the tone or changed the game in the second half when he came in.”

Mason’s standout play actually came on the receiving end of an alley-oop, as with 6:46 left, he slammed in a pass from teammate Naadir Tharpe.

Self didn’t have any doubts that his sub-6-footer would try to throw it down instead of laying it in.
“We’ve watched him in practice,” Self said. “That would have surprised us if he didn’t dunk the ball.”

The play also highlighted an interesting lineup combination for Self, as Tharpe and Mason — KU’s two primary point guards — spent much of the second half on the court at the same time. Self said the change-up was meant to jump-start a sleepy offense.

“I know they like playing together, and there are some things about that that I like, but I think that Naadir doesn’t need to wait for Frank to change the pace. Naadir should be the one to change the pace,” Self said. “So that’s something we’ve got to get.”
TCJ

“The students are great,” Self said Wednesday on his “Hawk Talk” radio show. “We don’t want to take away their enthusiasm.”

At the same time, he requests that those students who sing “home of the Chiefs” at the conclusion of the National Anthem, return to singing the actual words of the song: “home of the brave.”

“I don’t think we should do that (sing ‘home of Chiefs’),” Self said, responding directly to a question from a Hawk Talk caller.

“It was a couple years ago we actually made a big deal out of that and the students complied and quit doing it for a period of time.”

The “home of the Chiefs” lyrics disappeared in the 2012-13 season after Self spoke publicly about the matter in January of 2012.

“For whatever reason, I guess they’ve started doing it again. That’s not what needs to be done in this particular situation. Especially in today’s time when there’s so much publicity and notoriety, rightfully so, to the men and women who sacrifice so much for our country,” Self said. “I think it’s probably not something we should do, but from a kids’ standpoint I don’t think they know they are in poor taste doing it. I think it’s just something we should look at and realize, ‘Hey, c’mon now, let’s think about this before we actually do it.’”
LJW

UDK image

KUAD: Kansas vs Townson Pregame Notes

At 3-1, the Towson men’s basketball team is off to its best start since the 2008-09 season, when that squad also won three of its first four games.

The Tigers will get a true barometer of their progress when they travel to Lawrence, Kan., to meet the No. 2 Jayhawks on Friday night. Kansas, which has won three national championships, is 2-0 against Towson, and coach Pat Skerry said the Jayhawks are well deserving of the acclaim they are receiving.

“I think they’re the best team in the country,” Skerry said Wednesday afternoon. “So it’s obviously a monumental, but a great and exciting challenge. They have a handful of pros. They have no weaknesses. Bill Self is as good a coach as there is in the country. They do a lot of things that we’d like to do. They guard, they rebound, they get out in transition, and they share it. I think the big thing for us is getting to play against what I would consider a couple of elite teams in Kansas and Villanova and Temple. It’s a heck of a stretch, but it’s a stretch that we’re going to need to play for when we get ready to go on the road in the [Colonial Athletic Association].”
Baltimore Sun

Two years after a 1-31 season, Towson has been picked to finish first in the Colonial Athletic Association.

It is a remarkable reversal for a program that coach Pat Skerry half-jokingly called "the worst team in America." But if the players are feeling buoyed by the stream of accolades showering them now, they are publicly adamant in pointing out that they have not arrived yet.

"It's rewarding in a sense, but we haven't had a championship," senior forward Marcus Damas said of the preseason honors. "So we can't be content."

Added senior forward Jerrelle Benimon (above): "It's really rewarding, but it'll be more rewarding after the season hopefully when we win the [conference] championship."

These are heady times for Towson, which enjoyed the largest single-season turnaround in NCAA history when last year's squad went 18-13. The optimism from that has extended to this season, as the team returns its top five scorers, including Benimon, the CAA's preseason player of the year.

"I'm excited," Skerry said. "We're much deeper than we've been, and the right guys have improved. Starting with [Benimon], he's gotten a lot better. The guys have worked hard. They know what's at stake. It's a little different being the hunted. You've got to take everybody's best shot.

"I don't try to harp on it, but we were probably the worst team in America two years ago. So you want to be in a situation where you have a chance to be really good. I want us to be really, really good ... we're not yet."

Just how promising do the Tigers appear? Delaware coach Monte Ross said Towson is strong enough to do what only the 1982-83 William & Mary team has accomplished -- go undefeated in the CAA.

When informed of Ross' comment, Skerry smiled and replied, "16-0 is something we've certainly dreamed about, but it's probably a dream, not reality."
Baltimore Sun: Towson season preview

If the explosive start to Towson men's basketball season is any indication of how the rest of the 2013 campaign will play out, the Tigers may end up the marquee team in Maryland come March.

And if Towson ends up the top local team to talk about, senior forward Jerrelle Benimon will be at the center of the discussion. Towson's offense is focused on isolating plays to Benimon, who averages 17.5 points per game and is able to score from within the paint or the midrange, giving defenders a hard time slowing him down.

"He's talented, he's tough and he's got a great work ethic," Towson head coach Pat Skerry said. "Those are three pretty good ingredients. He does it all. He's a hard guy to guard. If you really study his game, the better the opponent, the better he plays."

…Although the Tigers are undefeated in the state of Maryland, it was a 75-69 come-from-behind win against Temple that established their place as one of the top mid-majors in the country, and Benimon as the team's most valuable player. During a fast, physical game with 12 lead changes, Benimon took the game into his own hands with 32 points, 10 rebounds, a block and a pair of steals.

"We planned on playing through [Benimon]," Skerry said after the win against Temple. "We thought we had an advantage with the ball at the four spot, so we wanted to put the ball in his hands as much as possible. We have a lot of packages and sets to put the ball in his hands."

The 6-foot-8 Benimon carries a target on his back. The preseason Colonial Athletic Association player of the year, Benimon has attempted a league-high 37 free throws -- scoring 30 of his 70 points this season from the line during the course of four games.

The game against Temple was physical, and the Tigers needed to maintain control of a close lead with five minutes to go. Fouls played a big piece in Towson's chess match against the Owls.

…And when Benimon isn't scoring in the double digits, his presence on the court helps open up opportunities for his teammates. During Towson's season opener, a 72-45 rout of Navy, Benimon contributed six points -- going 1-for-8 from the field. But the rest of the Tigers shot 53.3 percent.

One notable aspect of the game was the emergence of sophomore transfer guard Four McGlynn, who had seven good looks from beyond the arc and dropped five 3-pointers during his Towson debut.
Link

Towson came into Sunday's game against Villanova riding a three-game winning streak to open the season, marking the program's best start since 1972.

But the Tigers hadn't yet seen a defense like Villanova's.

Riding an effective press that rattled their visitors from the opening tip, the Wildcats continued their hot start to the season with a 78-44 rout of turnover-prone Towson on Sunday.

James Bell led the way with 20 points for Villanova (3-0), which forced the Tigers into 24 turnovers, turning those miscues into 27 points.

The game was part of the Battle 4 Atlantis, which stretches out over the rest of the month.

"It was really something we hadn't seen this year," said Towson senior guard Mike Burwell, who committed four of his team's 24 turnovers. "You can't do that in practice. You can't find guys to do what they did out there. It was just different."

…"When they get into a half court set, as well saw in the Temple game, they're very good," Wright said. "We didn't want them to get into the half court set."

Things didn't get much better after the break for the Tigers, who threw the ball into the stands twice in the opening minutes of the second half. And, highlighted by a crowd-rocking putback slam from Bell, the Wildcats put the game away for good with a 9-0 run that gave them a 57-24 lead with 12 minutes left.

"At halftime, Coach told me I didn't have any offensive rebounds," Bell said of his dunk. "He told me to make sure I'm going to the offensive glass and to make sure I'm crashing it. I had an opportunity to have an offensive rebound and I just finished it."

Bell, who struggled with his consistency over his first three years at Villanova, is averaging 18.7 points per game so far this season. And he's one big reason why the Wildcats have yet to be tested through their first three games.

"He's a Villanova senior," Wright said. "Guys that are seniors in this program are ready to be leaders and great players. That's what he is."
Link

AXS TV is presenting exclusive coverage of the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis college basketball tournament, live from the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas, starting Thanksgiving, Thurs., Nov. 28 and running through Sat., Nov. 30. Eight teams will participate in the third annual contest which has one of the most competitive fields of the Division I Men's early-season college basketball tournaments.

The event will be televised live on AXS TV from the 3,900-seat arena at the famed Atlantis, Paradise Island resort. The 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis field combines teams with 191 NCAA Tournament appearances, 25 Final Four appearances and five National Championships and features University of Kansas, Villanova University, University of Tennessee, University of Southern California, University of Iowa, Xavier University, Wake Forest University, and University of Texas at El Paso.

AXS TV has the broadcast rights to the 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET games. The Network is airing Games 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10 of the bracket.

AXS TV's schedule is as follows (All Times Eastern):
Game 1 -
11/28 – 1 p.m. – Villanova vs. USC
Game 2 -
11/28 – 3:30 p.m. – University of Kansas vs. Wake Forest
Game 5 -
11/29 – 1 p.m. - TBD
Game 6 -
11/29 – 3:30 p.m. - TBD
Game 9 -
11/30 – 1 p.m. (7th and 8th Place-TBD)
Game 10 -
11/30 – 3:30 p.m. (5th and 6th Place-TBD)
AXS TV can be found at the following channels:

•
AT&T U-verse
Channel 1106
•
DIRECTV
Channel 340
•
DISH
Channel 167
•
Comcast (Philadelphia)
Channel 897
•
Verizon FiOS
Channel 569
•
Charter (Tennessee)
Channel 857
•
Charter (Los Angeles)
Channel 794
•
Charter (Bay Area)
Channel 771
•
WOW (Kansas)
Channel 298
•
Cincinnati Bell
Channel 626
•
SureWest Comm (Kansas)
Channel 655

AXS TV has set up a special landing page for fans to engage in the broadcast and interact during the games. CLICK HERE to follow along with the action.

It might be time to re-name this blog Toma-'Hawks (or something cooler and more clever). Just about every time we post a new blog, there is another Kansas product throwing down a ludicrous dunk.

The latest offering comes courtesy of Sacramento Kings rookie Ben McLemore.
LJW: ‘Hawks in the NBA

Kansas University’s women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a poor second half and lost its first game of the season, 70-59, to Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Senior guard CeCe Harper led the Jayhawks with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Jayhawks held a 32-30 halftime lead, but shot just 25 percent from the field in the second half. Minnesota, led by an 11-point, 11-rebound, 10-block triple-double from Amanda Zahui B., shot 54 percent in both halves and pulled away at the end despite several Kansas rallies keyed by timely three-pointers.

Kansas’ Chelsea Gardner double-doubled with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the loss, and Asia Boyd added 13 points.

Minnesota had two 20-point scorers in Rachel Banham (26) and Micaella Riche (20).
The Jayhawks (3-1) travel to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam tournament next week. The three-game tourney begins Nov. 28 with a game against Central Michigan.
LJW

A furious fourth-set rally helped the Kansas University volleyball team preserve its fast start, and the 22nd-ranked Jayhawks knocked off No. 24 Iowa State, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, in Ames, Iowa, to give Kansas its first victory at ISU since 2004.

…The victory moved the Jayhawks into sole possession of second place in the Big 12 standings with two conference matches remaining — Saturday vs. Texas Tech and the season finale on Nov. 30 at Oklahoma. McNorton said achieving something that had never been done in KU history has been a huge source of motivation for the Jayhawks during recent weeks.
LJW

Kansas University’s volleyball match with Denver on Nov. 26 has been moved from the Jayhawks’ usual home, Horejsi Center, to Allen Fieldhouse.

Match time will be 6:30 p.m., and fans can attend free of charge.

Allen Fieldhouse was the KU volleyball team’s home from 1975-98, and KU hosted first- and second-round NCAA matches in the historic basketball barn, drawing more than 8,000 fans in the two-day stretch.

Horejsi holds 1,300 fans, and the NCAA now requires a capacity of 2,000 seats for its host sites. Allen Fieldhouse holds 16,300. Sitting at No. 11 in the RPI and No. 22 in the AVCA Div. I Coaches poll, KU’s potential to repeat as an NCAA host site in 2013 is unclear.

But Bechard didn’t want to waste the opportunity to create even more buzz for his program and the sport in general.
LJW

Big 12/College News

The calendar said November, but it felt an awful lot like March.

In a physical, fast-paced game that featured plenty of drama, a wild finish, an ejection, and an injury to freshman Eric Mika, No. 21 Iowa State edged BYUWednesday night at the Marriott Center, 90-88, as the Cyclones handed the Cougars their first loss of the season.

"We knew we had a chance to win,” said BYU guard Tyler Haws, who scored a team-high 20 points. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to."

BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth attempted to send the game into overtime, but his jumper failed to draw iron just before the final buzzer sounded. With five seconds remaining, Haws also had a chance to tie the game, but his shot was blocked by Daniel Edozie.

…With 3:28 remaining, and the Cougars trailing, 82-77, Mika was jabbed in the eye by Kane, who was whistled with a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected. Mika, meanwhile, lay on the floor writhing in pain for several minutes before he was taken to the locker room.

"Eric will go have a scan to check his right eye,” Rose said. “Right now it’s kind of up in the air for a couple of hours.”

A flagrant 2 personal foul involves contact with an opponent that is not only excessive but also severe or extreme while the ball is live. In a statement after the game, the officials briefly explained Kane’s ejection: “In this situation we deemed the foul to be severe or extreme.”

…After Haws had his shot blocked with five seconds left, he fouled Daniel Edozie, who went to the free throw line with 3.2 seconds remaining. Edozie missed his first free throw, then banked the second one in.

Rose told a referee he wanted to call a timeout after the free throw. But Nate Austin inbounded the ball quickly after the made free throw, and Collinsworth's shot was off target as time expired.

Also in the game’s closing minutes, Ejim made an obscene gesture toward the crowd after fouling out of the game.

“Definitely lost my composure today,” Ejim expressed via Twitter afterwards. “I apologize to the (BYU) student section and Iowa State University. What I did was inexcusable and rude.”
Deseret News

Danny Manning was proud of Tulsa's effort in the first half. He also understood that his team was overmatched against Ron Baker and No. 14 Wichita State, and it showed in the second half.
Fred VanVleet and Baker each scored 21 points and Wichita State finished with a 26-6 run to shake free of pesky Tulsa for a 77-54 win Wednesday night in its first road game of the season.
AP

Back-to-back basketball victories have given Kansas State momentum and a winning record, but the Wildcats are still fighting an uphill battle for respect.

Bruce Weber said he was reminded of that cold reality by fans last week during a team dinner at Colbert Hills Golf Club. They hadn’t forgotten about a season-opening loss to Northern Colorado, and let him know about it.

“People came up and said, ‘God, you guys are bad,’” said Weber, K-State’s second-year coach.
The Wildcats have improved since dropping their first game, beating Oral Roberts and Long Beach State at home. But they don’t exactly look like Big 12 championship contenders. They need to establish a secondary scorer next to freshman guard Marcus Foster, limit turnovers and get junior forward Thomas Gipson healthy and back in the starting lineup.

All three of those things could happen this week when K-State plays in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, a three-game tournament in San Juan filled with big names. If it wins its first game against Charlotte at 9:30 a.m. today, K-State will likely face Georgetown on Friday. On Sunday, it could face Florida State, No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth or No. 14 Michigan.
KC Star

A few hours after becoming the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo walked into the Breslin Center and looked at thousands of empty seats.

He said he felt "disappointment" about the crowd, after the Spartans stayed undefeated Monday night with an 82-67 victory over Portland.

It was recorded as a sellout, but that's only because the tickets were sold. Joe Rexrode, who covers the Spartans for the Free Press, said it was one of the smallest crowds he had seen in years. On the day the Spartans took over No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 2001? After earning the No. 1 ranking for only the third time in school history?

MSU fans should be embarrassed. It didn't make sense, and Izzo begged the fans to give away their tickets, if they didn't want to come. He even offered to be the go-between. He sounded like somebody who was still trying to build his program, not somebody suddenly on top, if only in the rankings.

"I've got thousands of people who are dying to come," Izzo said.

Was the small crowd because of the storm over the weekend? Was it because thousands of people in Michigan don't have power? Perhaps. But it was shocking to see such a small crowd on a day that felt so momentous for this program.
USA Today

A felon and party promoter linked to rental cars driven by North Carolina basketball player P.J. Hairston received 36 months of supervised probation as part of a plea deal Wednesday.

Haydn Patrick "Fats" Thomas accepted the deal in a Durham County courtroom for drug and weapons charges from a December arrest. Afterward, Thomas said he hadn't spoken with NCAA officials "at all" about Hairston, who is sidelined indefinitely due to eligibility concerns connected to those rental vehicles.
AP

This whole “battle for North Carolina” football campaign is starting to cross over into other sports as well. Last night, NC State’s basketball team lost in overtime to North Carolina Central – a school that just moved up to D-1 a few years ago. To poke fun at the Wolfpack, UNC’s Wide Receivers Coach Gunter Brewer posted a photo of three “great hoop schools” in North Carolina. You can probably guess which three they are:
Collegespun

Tragedy will never be fully behind Austin Hatch. But he showed again Wednesday that he has not lost hope -- whether or not he ever becomes a high level basketball player again.

"I feel like God has his hand on me," Hatch told a gathering of Los Angeles news media, at a surreal, uplifting news conference. "I feel like there's a plan for my life."

Surviving two plane crashes will make one feel like that.

In June 2011 Hatch was a passenger in a small plane, piloted by his father, that crashed. His father and stepmother were killed.

Hatch survived -- although he had a traumatic brain injury, a broken collarbone and a punctured lung -- after being placed in a medically induced coma for eight weeks.

Incredibly, it was the second time Hatch had survived a crash. Eight years earlier, his father was the pilot in another crash. Hatch's mother and two siblings were killed in that one.

When Hatch awoke from his coma after the second crash it took him a while to process that he had lost his family.

"I was dealing with the loss of my best friend, my coach, my teacher, my mentor and my No. 1 fan -- that same man was also my father, Dr. Stephen Hatch," he said.

"He taught me everything -- the work necessary to succeed, faith, determination and courage in the midst of hardship. Those traits I acquired from him are what saved my life."

The second crash came two weeks after Hatch, a 6-6 wing man at Fort Wayne (Ind.) Canterbury High School, had verbally committed to play basketball at Michigan. He has not played in a competitive basketball game since the crash.

His recovery, physically, emotionally and mentally has been slow but steady. He spoke Wednesday calmly, confidently and articulately but said he is not where he once was in terms of cognitive ability.
"A lot of people have said my recovery is kind of a miracle," he said. "But you have to remember the significance of what I've been through. I had a traumatic brain injury."
USA Today

The NCAA has sued video game manufacturer Electronic Arts and the nation's leading collegiate trademark licensing firm, Collegiate Licensing Co., in connection with those companies' intent to settle their parts of lawsuits concerning the use of college athletes' names and likenesses.
The suit, filed in a Georgia state court on Nov. 4, alleges that EA and CLC breached various contractual obligations to the NCAA that have become factors in matters led by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon and former Arizona State and Nebraska football player Sam Keller.
USA Today

Big XII composite schedule

ESPN College GameDay Schedule

2013-14 TV Schedule

2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Recruiting

Cliff Alexander, Kelly Oubre, Myles Turner named to USA Today All-USA Team
USA Today

Justise Winslow, the 6-6 small forward ranked No. 9 among Sporting News’ Top 25 prospects for 2014, announced in an AggieYell.com video that his college choice will come Thursday during a press conference at his Houston high school at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Winslow will be choosing among six schools, including Arizona, Duke, Florida, Stanford, UCLA and Texas A&M.
TSN

Recruiting Calendar

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

11/20/2013

KUAD postgame notes

Box Score

KUAD Photos

LJW Photos

ESPN Photos

Getty image

11/19/13, 9:04 PM
You all know that Perry Ellis has been Kansas' best player right? Just checking.
@SethDavisHoops

11/20/13, 6:19 AM
Joel Embid is coming. He gets better every time I watch him. His upside makes Kansas elite
@SethOnHoops

ESPN Video highlights

@kuhoops image

The gentleman dressed in the finely tailored suit, sitting among the teeming throng of Kansas fans inside Allen Fieldhouse, had never seen a real basketball game in person.

He knew enough to cheer when Joel Embiid dunked the ball, and the 7-foot freshman did it plenty of times Tuesday night.

Embiid finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds in a breakout performance, helping the third-ranked Jayhawks to an 86-66 victory over Iona — one made all the sweeter by the center's father in the stands.

"I don't think I played good because he was there," Embiid said. "I just felt more confident, and Coach always gives me his trust, so I just felt more confident."

…The Gaels (1-2), using a maddening 2-2-1 zone and pouring in 3-pointers, managed to hang within single digits until midway through the second half. That's when Kansas went on a 19-4 surge fueled by its freshmen to finally put the game away.

…The 6-foot-8 Ellis scored on a variety of nifty spin moves and soft floaters in the lane, while Embiid used his massive size advantage to go 7 for 7 from the field.

Much to the delight of his father, Thomas Embiid.

"It was the first time we've met him in person," Self said. "That's the first basketball game he's ever seen. He'll be here 'til Saturday or Sunday, so it'll be good to see Joel play again. But it has to be cool, you've come over here and your first experience is Allen Fieldhouse."
AP

“I am very proud of Joel,” Thomas Embiid said as he descended 10 rows of bleachers behind Iona’s bench after watching his 7-foot son explode for 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 86-66 victory over the Gaels in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Before he left Cameroon (in 2011 for high school in U.S.), I watched him play volleyball, but never basketball,” added Thomas, who played professional handball in Yaounde, Cameroon, but also dabbled in soccer and basketball.

“It was very exciting especially in front of all the fans. This is a fantastic public. I have noticed they love Joel. There is a fanclub of Joel (in student section),” Thomas observed.

…“It’s a surprise, a good surprise,” Thomas said of his son’s success in hoops. “He came here to improve himself first and do what he wanted to do. After the game I was proud. I told him congratulations to play at a high level.”
LJW

LJW Keegan Ratings: Embiid tops ratings with double-double

On Tuesday, the same night that Embiid, a 6-footer’s feet attached to a 7-foot body, put on a vastly entertaining show that screamed future stardom, Ellis was right where he always is, the foundation holding up a mansion.

Ellis is steady, all right, but leaving it at that comes up short. He’s steadily spectacular. His patient footwork, which enables him to cover so much territory in every direction and eventually breaks down the defender, so often stands out. Against Iona, what he did when he was making mid-air adjustments and driving the baseline made him draw ovations.

Ellis went up in the lane for a shot, pump-faked in the air and shifted his release left, away from the defender, and kissed it off the glass for a bucket. On another play, again in the air in the lane, he shifted the ball from his right hand to his left and kissed off the glass. His quick baseline drive punctuated by a high-flying up-and-under was no routine play, either.

He consistently finds a way to score, and it’s so vital to every basketball team to have a scorer who never drifts away, can always be counted on to kill droughts and get big buckets.

Ellis, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound power forward with a ton of finesse, contributed 21 points and seven rebounds and did not turn it over against a variety of zone defenses used by the Gaels.

“Perry is the perfect answer to that because he can knock that mid-range shot constantly, and he can get to the cup,” freshman point guard Frank Mason said.
LJW Keegan

M.O.J. (Most Outstanding Jayhawk)

Joel Embiid showed amazing flashes, but Perry Ellis was KU’s best player. The sophomore posted 1.66 points per possession while taking on a slightly below-average offensive load (17.6 percent usage percentage) considering he played a team-high 32 minutes. Ellis’ offensive efficiency so far has been nothing short of spectacular: Through three games, he’s made 21 of 29 field goals and posted an eFG% of 74.1 percent. To put that in perspective, the national leader in eFG% a year ago (minimum 60 percent of team’s minutes played) was Stephen F. Austin’s Taylor Smith at 69.4 percent.

…KU pulled down 83.8 percent of the available defensive rebounds against Iona, the third time this season the Jayhawks have been higher than 80 percent in the statistic (NCAA average is 67.8 percent). It’s first time in Self’s KU tenure that one of his teams has grabbed 80 percent or more of the available defensive rebounds in three straight games.
TCJ Newell Post

LJW image (w/o the bubbles)

Iona's Sean Armand earned some unwanted attention this week when he told a local reporter that he viewed Tuesday night's matchup with No. 2 Kansas as just another game.

One that the Gaels planned on winning.

After all, Iona has made two straight NCAA tournaments, and has won at least 20 games in four consecutive seasons. So there was reason for Armand to feel confident, and he had started to look downright prophetic through the first 30 minutes of the game.

"We didn't come here on vacation," Iona coach Tim Cluess said. "We came to play a great team and give it the best shot we could."

As for Armand's comments, well, Cluess appreciated the confidence.

"Sean said this: 'Every game we play in we go into win. This is not going to be any different,'" Cluess said. "We respect Kansas, we know how good they are but if we were here to lose, we shouldn't be playing the game.'"

…The Gaels kept within striking distance with their perimeter shooting early in the second half, much to the chagrin of Self, who kept burning timeouts. But once the outside shots stopped dropping, the Jayhawks were able to start running -- and use their superior athleticism.

"Watching Kansas for plenty of years, that's what they do," English said.

Tharpe served as the conductor orchestrating the Kansas offense, delivering crisp passes to set up easy baskets. The sophomore guard threw a pretty alley-oop pass to Wiggins to start the second half, and then tossed up another to Embiid on the next possession.

"It gave them a lot of momentum," English said. "The crowd went crazy off of the lobs. Every lob that they caught you could tell that's what the crowd was waiting for."

Kansas finally buried the Gaels with its big run later in the half. Embiid and Ellis did most of the work, but the highlight came when Tharpe threw up another lob -- this time to 5-foot-11 freshman Frank Mason, who showed enough hops to slam it down.

By the time Wayne Selden, another of the Jayhawks' sensational freshmen, scored on a nifty reverse layup with just over 4 minutes to play, the lead had grown to 80-59.

"The key was just defense," Ellis said, "the little things we weren't doing, and we still have to work on that, be more aggressive defensively."
AP

USA Today image

The 7-foot freshman with the graceful feet and balletic moves was supposed to need time. Joel Embiid could be great, Bill Self had said. Maybe even a young Hakeem Olajuwon. But even the great ones need to learn, even the winners of life’s genetic lottery need some time to master their gifts.

Maybe not.

…But in the midst of the growing pains, there was Embiid, gliding across the lane from the right block and finishing a elegant scoop at the rim. It was almost ballet, a 7-footer pulling off a post move right from the coaching manual. It wasn’t his only move, either.

There was a baby hook, an easy drop step, a couple of nice passes into the lane to slashing cutters. When Embiid finally exited the game in the final minutes, he was a perfect seven of seven from the floor.

In the stands, Embiid’s father, Thomas, watched while in town from their native Cameroon. If he hadn’t already grasped the nature of his son’s basketball ability, it was on full display Tuesday.

“I’m not sure he had an idea,” Embiid said. “I’m not great, I’m not good right now, I’m still working.
“But I don’t think he had an idea I could have a chance.”

…“You guys saw just a small glimpse of how good his feet are,” Self said. “And he’s smart, and he gets it, and he’s just figuring stuff out all the time. I’m real pleased with his development, but I still think we’re not even scratching the surface of what he can become.”
KC Star

Getty image

Hey y all I had a dream.I had a dunk and my dad started running on the floor for the game against Townson et s see if it s happening Friday
@jojo_embiid

Got the W tonight that's all that matters! 3-0! Proud of everyone! #RCJH
@LandenLucas33

Kansas University freshman Brannen Greene was the only Jayhawk to not play in Tuesday’s 86-66 victory over Iona in Allen Fieldhouse.

KU coach Bill Self was asked Greene’s inactivity was injury related.

“Not really. He has had a minor injury that’s been nagging him, (but) that was my decision,” Self said of sitting the wing. “I love Brannen Greene, but he needs to be more responsible taking care of some responsibilities off the court. By no means is he in trouble or anything like that. We just need to make sure we are all on the same page,” Self added.

…“Conner was our best defender the first half. He did the best job on Armand (Sean, 14 points) when he was guarding him the first half,” Self said. “I told him after the game I wish I’d played him the second half. I thought he was good the first half.”
LJW

KUAD image

Big 12/College News

Marcus Smart looked right at home in his return to the national stage.

Smart scored a career-high 39 points and No. 7 Oklahoma State raced past No. 11 Memphis for a 101-80 win on Tuesday night in a one-sided matchup of top teams.

Smart, who bypassed the NBA draft after last season's early exit from the NCAA tournament, had 26 points in the first half and finished with five 3-pointers.

The sophomore was 11 of 21 from the floor _ easily topping his previous career high of 28 points, which he set last season against Oklahoma.

Markel Brown added 20 points and Brian Williams 15 for Oklahoma State (4-0).

Nick King had 23 points for Memphis, and Shaq Goodwin finished with 13. The Tigers (1-1) shot 41.2 percent (28 of 68).

Memphis had played just once before the trip to Stillwater, a 95-69 home win over Austin Peay. And the Tigers appeared to be ill prepared for their first hostile road environment.

More specifically, they weren't prepared for Smart _ who added five steals, four rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks in an outstanding all-around performance.

Surprisingly, Smart didn't even enter the game as the leading scorer for the Cowboys.

In fact, the sophomore was third on Oklahoma State _ behind sixth-man Phil Forte and Brown _ with an average of 13.7 points through the team's opening three blowout victories.

Smart, however, played up to the competition in the Cowboys' return to the national spotlight after last season's crushing loss against Oregon in the NCAA tournament.

In front of a host of NBA scouts and Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant, Smart scored 12 of the Cowboys' first 14 points.
AP

One torrid night won't change scouting reports, but the confidence in which Smart pulled up in transition with no hesitation suggests his improved outside shooting is no fluke. If so, that's a scary thought for opposing defenders because Smart's combination of strength and quickness already made it difficult to keep from getting to the rim or the foul line even when teams played him to drive.

If Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle have hogged the national spotlight during the opening two weeks of the season, Smart's dominance served as a reminder that he should not be overshadowed. He is just as strong an early candidate for national player of the year as any of the freshmen.
Yahoo

Smart’s improvement has placed Kansas’ Big 12 dominance in serious jeopardy.

Yes, I know all about The Streak. Bill Self and the Jayhawks have Rock-Chalked their way to nine consecutive regular-season league titles. I also know all about the coaching matchup. Self and his two Final Four appearances versus Travis Ford and his lone NCAA tournament victory. It’s a major mismatch.

Self might have more overall talent, but Ford has that X factor, and his name is Marcus Smart. He's unique, a throwback -- and he’s no longer all about toughness and intangibles. Now, Smart has become comfortable as a point guard, and he has showed he can make shots from the perimeter.
…Kansas is loaded with talent. Self has the front-runner for the No. 1 pick in Wiggins, and two more freshmen -- Joel Embiid and Wayne Selden -- who also could be taken in the NBA draft lottery. Perry Ellis is the team’s leading scorer, and he gets virtually no hype. There’s plenty of depth with guys such as Tarik Black, Andrew White, Jamari Traylor, Brannen Greene and Conner Frankamp.

But Oklahoma State has Smart -- and enough pieces to pose a formidable challenge to The Streak.
ESPN Goodman ($)

11/19/13, 9:25 PM
Watching the Memphis game and seeing ur starting PG laughing and having fun on the bench down 30 is always a good sign
@rfulford

Duke pulled away from East Carolina late in the game for an 83-74 win on Tuesday, but head coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn't totally happy in the postgame press conference.

And it had nothing to do with his team.

(Quotes start around the two-minute mark.)

“I wish that more people could have attended. One sidenote: I don't know how they do the seating for the NIT, but it stinks. Because however they did it, it ruins the atmosphere for Cameron," Krzyzewski said. "Where people want to get in here, and it costs so much to come in for this tournament. There should never be an empty seat here, and it's not the fault of our students. It's not. We're allocated a certain amount of tickets, and that's what we get. Because more people should have witnessed this game; that's what I'm saying.”

The Cameron Crazies are known as one of the best student sections in the country, but the lack of energy and the empty seats were noticeable the past two nights.
CBS Video

Officials at the University of North Carolina are talking about making renovations to the Dean E. Smith Center, and the school is also looking at building a new men's basketball arena.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports (http://bit.ly/18jdXOP) UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said a new arena is part of the discussion. He says both ideas have to be looked at.
"And I think as just part of your due diligence you need to look at renovation of existing facilities or even dreaming about a new facility and what that would bring," Cunningham said.

UNC has shared the most significant discussions, Cunningham said, with Kansas City-based 360 Architecture, a firm whose portfolio includes more than a dozen sports arenas and stadiums.
AP

The University of Louisville’s compliance office has completed its review of guard Kevin Ware’s situation involving a borrowed car and found no wrongdoing, athletic department spokesman Kenny Klein said.

“We were doing our due diligence and we have gone through the process and have not found any issues at all with Kevin,” Klein said by phone Tuesday. “(The compliance department) is satisfied and (the case) is closed.”
LCJ

Big XII composite schedule

ESPN College GameDay Schedule

2013-14 TV Schedule

2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Recruiting

Recruiting Calendar

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Kansas Jayhawks GAMEDAY!

11/19/2013

Game 3 of the Lost 6

Jayhawk Television Network Info

Viewing options for those without access to Metro Sports aka Time Warner Cable Sports
KANSAS CITY TIME WARNER RESTAURANTS AND BARS
Need a place to enjoy a Jayhawk game on Time Warner Cable in the Kansas City area? Grab a friend and head to one of these restaurants or bars that is a Time Warner Cable subscriber.
http://www.kuathletics.com/sports/2013/6/21/GEN_0621130651.aspx#restaurants (This list is funny. Heartland Pawn Jewelry? lol)

ESPN3/WatchESPN  Online registration through your TV service provider is required in order to access content on all networks. Non-participating TV provider customers have access to ESPN3 programming online only at WatchESPN.com or on WatchESPN on the Xbox with an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, as long as they subscribe to a participating high speed internet service provider. Click here for a list of participating video providers. Click here for a list of high speed internet providers.
(Scheduled to be blacked out for KC Metro and Kansas. If yours isn’t, then lucky you!)

If you are in Canada, watch live on TSN

KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger wishes he could tell the disconnected-for-six-games customers something they want to hear, but he can’t, so he is left to answer a simple question: Why did he do it?

“Two-fold,” Zenger said. “First, I believe any decision we make, the core value has to center around your student-athletes. This provided 500 student athletes the most exposure possible to regional and national coverage. What it did for them in exposure and recruiting is unrivaled.”
LJW

KUAD image

The Kansas duo of sophomore forward Perry Ellis and freshman guard Andrew Wiggins have been named the Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week in a vote by a media panel which covers the league, the conference announced Monday.

Ellis earned co-Big 12 Player of the Week honors, along with Iowa State's Melvin Ejim, after he scored a career-high 24 points in KU's 94-83 win over No. 4 Duke at the State Farm Champions Classic. The 6-8 Wichita forward finished 9-of-13 (.692) from the floor, including one 3-pointer. Ellis, who was named for the honor for the first time, also converted 5-of-6 (.833) from the charity stripe. He pulled down a team-best nine rebounds to go along with two assists and a career-high three steals. He had a key steal and assist with 1:16 remaining that led to a six-point Jayhawk lead they would not relinquish.

Despite battling foul trouble, Wiggins came up big in the Jayhawks' victory over Duke and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. In just 25 minutes on the floor, the 6-8 Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, guard scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting (.600). He pulled down a season-best eight rebounds and made 4-of-6 (.667) shots from the free throw line, with one block. Wiggins had two key baskets in the last 1:30 of the contest to extend.

The last time Kansas swept the Big 12 weekly honors was last season when Elijah Johnson (player) and Ben McLemore (newcomer) were named on March 4, 2013. Ellis adds to Kansas' league high in player of the week winners as he marks the 55th time a Jayhawk has earned the distinction. Wiggins is the 26th KU newcomer to be named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
KUAD

KUAD: Bill Self weekly press conference (Video, transcript)

KUAD: Kansas vs Iona pregame notes

Iona senior guard Sean Armand isn’t shy about expressing his plans for the Gaels’ Tuesday night tilt at No. 2 Kansas.

“Yes, I’m going into the game expecting to win, just like every other game we play,” the Brooklyn native told SNY.tv Monday.

…As for Wiggins, Cluess said it would be a team effort to guard the 6-foot-8 Canadian sensation, who is averaging 19 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Jayhawks (2-0).

“We’ll do different things and different combinations on him, to be honest with you, so it’s not just going to be one person’s responsibility from the get go,” Cluess said. “We’ll play some zone, we’ll play some man, we’ll mix it up.”

Cluess pointed out that Kansas has several future pros on its roster, with freshmen Wayne Seldenand Joel Embiid also considered potential one-and-dones.

“I think their whole team’s dangerous, not just Wiggins,” Cluess said.

And what if Iona is able to pull off the upset?

“I mean we’re going in the game just trying to get a ‘W,’ so my mindset is not to try to keep it close,” Armand said. “It’s to play a good, hard game and see what happens. And then if we will win it will be a great win for the school and the program. Just look forward and hopefully that will boost everybody’s confidence.”
Zags Blog

Tavon Sledge remembers that Saturday afternoon in Kansas, that January game in 2012 when his Iowa State Cyclones blew into Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. The then-freshman point guard from Spring Valley didn’t play in that loss, but those Jayhawks fans sure made an impression on him.

“Their crowd is insane,” said Sledge, now a junior with Iona. “Their crowd is very loud. The gym is not that big, but their students are right behind their team. You can barely hear things in there. It’s really a different factor in playing there.”

…“As a basketball junkie, you have to enjoy opportunities like this,” Cluess said. “To coach there in such a storied environment and have our players play there, they’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives.”

There is a history between these programs, albeit an old one. Iona actually beat Kansas 81-77 at the Garden in 1980. But the Gaels’ two trips to Lawrence didn’t go so well — a 94-64 loss in 1981 and a 100-67 setback in 1988.

“You’ve got to be excited to play at Kansas, the school I’ve wanted to play at most since coming to college, after Syracuse,” senior guard Sean Armand said. “We play against a No. 1 draft pick, a couple of lottery guys. It’s an opportunity to do something.”
The Journal News

Kansas will see a different style of play from Iona (1-1), which plays various zone defenses and starts a four-guard lineup, with the tallest player being 6-foot-9 forward David Laury.

"This will be the first time we've played against a team that's played predominantly zone," Self said. "They'll mix it up. They'll play 1-3-1 and 3-2 and kind of a 2-3 match-up, and they play faster than anybody we've played so far. They play faster than Duke as far as wanting to shoot it quick. And they're small, so we'll be having bigs guard on the perimeter."

The Gaels, of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, lost 73-69 at Cleveland State on Nov. 9 after blowing a 13-point halftime lead, then beat Wofford 76-55 on Saturday. They shot 36.9 percent against Cleveland State and hit only 29 percent of their shots in the first half against Wofford.

Senior Sean Armand hit 7 of 11 from the field and scored 20 points versus the Terriers, and Isaiah Williams had 19 and eight rebounds while finishing 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

This matchup was scheduled in part because Iona school president Dr. Joseph E. Nyre is a Kansas alum.

"I'm pleased to be returning to my alma mater and to Lawrence with the Iona Gaels," Nyre said. "Basketball is so much a part of the fabric of both KU and Iona, and I'm looking forward to sharing Iona with Kansas and Kansas with Iona."

This is the fourth meeting between the schools, with Kansas winning the last matchup in 1988.
CBS

Joel Embiid loves devouring video tape, loves asking teammates for help, loves immersing himself in the game of basketball. This is partly why KU coaches love Embiid, a 7-foot freshman, and why NBA scouts believe he could be an All-Star center someday.

This is also why, earlier this season, the Kansas staff cut together some film of former Kansas center Jeff Withey, and KU coach Bill Self handed the tape to Embiid with a simple message:

“He was telling me I need to be a better rim-protector,” Embiid says.

Even as Kansas ascended to No. 2 in The Associated Press on Monday, even as the Jayhawks were just six days removed from a statement victory over Duke at the Champions Classic, Self is still clearly in early-season teaching mode. The Jayhawks are still working on “everything,” Self says.

And as Kansas prepares to play host to Iona on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, the concerns largely fall on the defensive end.

“If teams are going to shoot 50 percent against us,” Self said, “we’ve got no chance.”

…“I think it’s all me,” Embiid says. “I have to have the mindset to block every shot. So it’s all me. I just have to have the mindset to block every shot or contest it.”
KC Star

Legend has it Joel Embiid once killed a lion back in his homeland of Cameroon.

“He did it with his bare hands. He had to do it for his tribe,” Kansas University junior point guard Naadir Tharpe said of his 7-foot freshman teammate, a slight smile creasing his face.

“It’s the truth.”

Or is it?

“Where he messed up with the story,” senior center Tarik Black said of 250-pound Embiid insisting he came out on top in his battle of man versus beast, “is he told me he had to carry it back home. No human being can carry a lion. It’s impossible.”

To get to the bottom of the tall tale, the Journal-World approached gentle giant Embiid on Monday — the day before today’s 7 p.m. home nonconference clash with Iona — with the question at hand:

“Did you ever kill a lion?”

“That’s a secret,” Embiid said, busting out in laughter. “It might be true, though. I can’t answer that right now.”

Pressed for the truth, he stuck with his story: “I will talk about that later.”

Embiid, who has emerged as KU’s most entertaining follow on Twitter (@jojo_embiid), as evidenced by his most recent, “I think I love snow so I’m not going back to Africa when winter comes,” and his, “I’m the best rapper under 20 in French, not English,” has quickly become a favorite of his KU teammates.
LJW

Now the hottest question in front offices around the NBA?

Who do you take No. 1?

Front offices faced a similar question in the past draft, but with a very different tone. In 2013, no one looked like a worthy No. 1 pick in the draft. This season, four players appear to be in strong consideration for that spot.

Over the past week, Insider talked to multiple scouts or executives from almost every team in the NBA in an effort to determine what they would do with the No. 1 pick. While most NBA scouts and GMs initially were inclined to take a wait-and-see attitude and use rankings like "1A" and "1B", I kept pressing. If the draft were held today (which thankfully it is not) who would go No. 1?

Here's what I learned:

1. Andrew Wiggins, SG, Fr., Kansas Jayhawks
17 votes

Wiggins has been experiencing a backlash of sorts over the past few months. Reports that he was the third-best player in Kansas' practices combined with growing concerns that he might not have the killer drive or skill set to dominate right away began floating around. Typically, teams want a player with the No. 1 pick who can make an immediate impact on the floor. Was Wiggins really the guy?

He's really destabilized the doubters in his first three games for the Jayhawks. Not only does Wiggins look the part physically and athletically, his performance on the court has been absolutely stellar.

Through Monday, Wiggins is averaging 19 PPG, 5.5 RPG and shooting 58 percent from the field.
While those numbers aren't as strong as those of Randle and Parker, there's more to it than meets the eye. Wiggins is playing a very controlled game on offense. He's scoring within the flow of the game and isn't trying to dominate the basketball. While Randle and Parker are clearly options 1, 2 and 3 offensively for Kentucky and Duke, respectively, Kansas coach Bill Self isn't running every play for Wiggins. In addition, Wiggins already has proved to be an athletic, lockdown defender who can guard multiple positions on the floor. Frankly, it's that part of his game that is tipping the scale toward Wiggins for many scouts.

"I think he can be a player that plays a lot like Paul George does," one veteran NBA executive told ESPN.com. "He's so smooth that at times it almost looks like he's coasting. But when you watch closer, you just see the game comes so easy to him. With his length and explosiveness, he's going to be able to do whatever he wants once he gets it. And from everything we can gather in looking into his background, he's going to get it. I'm not sure how we could pass on him if we had the No. 1 pick. The other guys might be more ready right now, but in three years, I think he's the best player in this class."
ESPN Chad Ford ($)

VIDEO: Andy Katz 3-point shot: Kansas best team of the past week

We have the best coaching staff you could ever ask for. #KUCMB
@F_Mason15

When you're a preseason All-American and Conference Player of the Year, it's hard to live up to all of the expectations. It doesn't help to have Kevin Durant say you're a future Hall of Fame player, either.

But Andrew Wiggins has impressed in just two games as a Jayhawk, perhaps even more than expected. Despite being the class's most sought-after prospect -- ask Boston Celtics fans who were recently chanting "We Want Wiggins" just two weeks into the NBA season -- Wiggins has shown he is more than just a pogo-stick athlete on the court.

He's averaging 19 ppg and shooting almost 60 percent from the field. His 22 points against Jabari Parker and the Blue Devils were the difference in that game and his step-back jumper sealed it late in the second half.
SI

Fescoe let the cat out, Im privileged to be filling the big shoes of Bob Davis next wk calling the #kubball games in Atlantis, very excited
@joshklingler

Going up against the Clippers when most of the Nets' key pieces, including point guard Deron Williams, missed the game with injuries, Taylor logged 15 minutes in a 110-103 loss.

…Taylor hit a three-pointer, went 6-for-8 at the foul line and racked up 13 points, four assists and three steals in limited action.
LJW: Jayhawks in the NBA

NBA.com: Off the court with Jeff Withey

Big 12/College News

The claim process for the Kansas men's basketball game, which takes place on Saturday, December 7 at 1:15 p.m., will take place Wednesday, November 20 at the No. 16-ranked women's basketball team's game against Iowa at 8:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.

1. Students will enter through the southeast entrance of the Coors Events Center beginning at 7:30 p.m.
2. You will swipe your Buff OneCard and receive a wristband, which you will need to keep on. Your wristband guarantees you your ticket to the Kansas game. If you leave the Events Center prior to the conclusion of the game, your wristband will be removed.
3. At the conclusion of the women's basketball game, you will be asked to go onto the court to the ticket office representatives where you will be handed your ticket and your wristband will be removed.
4. At the Kansas game on December 7, you will be asked to present your ticket with your Buff OneCard for admittance. Only those students with tickets will be able to attend the Kansas game on December 7.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the women's game against Iowa on Wednesday night!
cubuffs.com

No. 16 Florida could be without point guard Kasey Hill for a month, maybe longer.

Hill suffered a high-ankle sprain in a 67-53 victory against Southern on Monday night. Coach Billy Donovan said team doctors are "pretty confident right now there's nothing broken." But Hill will have tests Tuesday to determine the full extent of the injury.

Hill, a freshman averaging 10 points a game, badly sprained his left ankle early in the second half. He spent several minutes writhing in pain on the court before getting carried to the locker room. He did not return.

"It's certainly a longer healing process, and when you try to rush guys back too soon, it normally complicates things," Donovan said. "In talking to the doctor and talking to our trainer, the minimum right now is we're looking at a month before we can consider getting him back on the floor."

The injury could be problematic for Florida (3-1), which already is without point guard Scottie Wilbekin. The senior is suspended indefinitely, but sources told ESPN.com that Wilbekin will likely miss one more game and then return to the lineup on Nov. 25 at Jacksonville.
Link

Louisville guard Kevin Ware was pulled over for speeding on Oct. 26, and in the wake of that citation, failed to show up for his court date on Monday. The information was confirmed to CBSSports.com Monday afternoon by a court clerk in Barren County, Ky. Ware was charged with reckless driving and speeding 26 miles per hour or greater over the speed limit while in a work zone.
Ware was pulled over in a black 2013 Dodge Challenger at 11:04 p.m. on Oct. 26 and cited for speeding along the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway, Interstate 65 in Kentucky. The police report (below) states he was driving 95 miles per hour in a 45 MPH zone. Ware "politely said there was not" a reason for his speedy driving when asked by State Police why he was speeding, according to the report.

WHAS approached Cardinals coach Rick Pitino with this information Monday. Here's what Pitino said on that matter.

"I was not aware and that is his business. That has nothing to do with basketball. Parking tickets, speeding tickets, I don't encourage getting either one and I'll talk to him about it. It's the first of my knowledge of it. Why he missed the date I have no idea. I'm not concerned. I'm concerned about ... obviously, I don't want anybody speeding, I don't want anybody getting parking tickets, I don't want anyone losing their lunch pass. I'm sure you're concerned about it, I'm not. He shouldn't be speeding, first of all, but that's something he has to address and if he gets his license suspended, he's going to do a lot of walking."
CBS

Alandise Harris scored 21 points as Arkansas topped last season's high with 11 3-pointers to hold on for an 89-78 win over former Southwest Conference rival SMU.

The Razorbacks (3-0) were 11 of 22 from behind the arc, topping last season's high of 10 3-pointers made in a game. Michael Qualls and Anthlon Bell hit three 3-pointers each for Arkansas, which left the SWC to join the Southeastern Conference in 1992.
AP

Portland put the first points on the scoreboard against No. 1 Michigan State and took two more leads in the opening minutes.

The Pilots tied the game for a fourth time with 12:43 left before the Spartans pulled away to an 82-67 victory Monday night.

"This early in the season, I love that we're coming to a place that you know they're playing basketball a certain way and they're doing things right: selfish, tough and with passion," Portland coach Eric Reveno said. "We can take that away and know we can compete."
AP

Big XII composite schedule

ESPN College GameDay Schedule

2013-14 TV Schedule

2013-14 Early-season events schedule

Recruiting

According to Eric Bossi @ebosshoops #KU ranks 5th in 2014 rankings. Very strong for two man class
@JayhawkSlant

The first time Kansas coach Bill Self can remember seeing Cliff Alexander, he was standing in a hallway at Curie High School in Chicago, watching a team of high school boys run wind sprints.
Alexander, running with the rest of the boys, was just a ninth grader.

Chicago winters can be long and hard, and the city sidewalks don’t make for a great running track, so the Curie High basketball program would often take their workouts to the hallways.

“That’s how they conditioned,” Self said. “It was pretty cool.”

…But on Monday, Self confirmed what seems rather obvious: The Jayhawks are not done recruiting.
“Oh, yeah, we’re still recruiting, yes, absolutely,” Self said. “We don’t know exactly how our situation will play out, so we’ll always be recruiting.”

…Other possible Kansas targets include two five-star prospects: Myles Turner, a center from Euless, Texas, and shooting guard Rashad Vaughn, a teammate of Oubre at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas. Alexander, meanwhile, has suggested that he’d like to play with shooting guard Jaquan Lyle, a former Louisville commit who plays at Huntington Prep in West Virginia.

But for the moment, with Alexander and Oubre on board, Self appears plenty pleased with his class. On Monday, he said Alexander could be one of the better big men he’s recruited to Kansas.

“This guy has a chance to be really, really, really good,” Self said of Alexander. “His ceiling is remarkably high, and he’s a — if I say he’s a monster, then that’ll be the headline: ‘Alexander a monster.’ I’ll say he plays much more aggressively than what most 18-year-olds play.

“He really goes after the ball and attacks the basket very hard. He’s got a chance to be really good.”
KC Star

11/18/13, 8:55 AM
Kansas did not end up seeing @JMamba5 yesterday but will see him Thursday and is setting up an official visit
@AdamZagoria

Breaking News: I have just confirmed that ESPN 100 #2 overall Myles Turner will officially visit Oklahoma State on Dec 6th
@ReggieRankin

“Duke is definitely still in the picture,” he said. “Myles would have an opportunity to play for Coach K. Jahlil and Myles could coexist. In fact, I think they make a pretty formidable 4/5 combo.”
As for Kansas, David Turner said they were “still setting that one up” for an official visit.
Zags Blog

The McDonald’s All American Games and ESPN have agreed to a multi-year television agreement that will keep the McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Games and related events on ESPN networks through 2016.

Under the agreement, ESPN, along with ESPN2 and ESPNU, maintain the rights to the McDonald’s All
American Boys and Girls Games, the POWERADE Jamfest and the McDonald’s All American Games
Selection Show from 2014 through 2016. ESPN has been televising the McDonald’s All American Games since 1999.

"ESPN is the leading network for top sporting events," said Douglas Freeland, director of the McDonald’s All American Games. "As we continue to elevate the McDonald's All American brand, ESPN is the ideal platform."

The 2014 McDonald’s All American Games are set to take place on April 2, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Girls Game will begin at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The Boys Game will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Games will remain in Chicago through 2015.
McDonalds press release

Recruiting Calendar

My Late Night in the Phog videos, KU Alumni games videos, 2011-12 Border War videos, Legends of the Phog videos, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk

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