Felina!

Boot camp over! 
@WayneSeldenJr #KUCMB #HsO pic.twitter.com/Hq6Jzq0Nv4


Done with boot camp #OnlyTheStrongSurvive #KUCMB
@F_Mason0


Boot camp is finally over! Ready for the season! #HsO
@CFrankamp_23


Man!! Bootcamp is a wrap!!
@b_greene14

Kansas University coach Bill Self likes to address freshman guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk by the nickname of “Svi” — which rhymes with ski.

It seems there’s another acceptable way to refer to the 6-foot-8 Ukrainian guard, Self told ESPN’s Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg on an ESPNU college basketball podcast Thursday.

“Call him ‘Svi’ or call him ‘Mick,’” Self said, the pronunciation the same as the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger.

“I talked to Mike Fratello yesterday. He called him ‘Mick.’ I call him ‘Svi.’ I guarantee you nobody will call him Sviatoslav. That is a little too difficult,” Self added.

Fratello coached the Ukrainian National team, of which Mykhailiuk was a member, at the recent FIBA World Cup.

Self said the 17-year-old Mykhailiuk has looked great in individual workouts since arriving on campus on Sept. 8.

“He is young, but he is a really nice player,” Self said. “He can do a lot of everything. I think he’ll have a chance to be one of the better players we’ve had in our program as he gets a little stronger and spends a little time here.”

…Self on 6-8, 240-pound freshman power forward Cliff Alexander, who was out more than a month this summer with a severe ankle sprain:

“What has impressed me is his conditioning. I thought he’d be way behind. He’s not only caught up, but kind of surpassed where we thought he’d be this early,” Self said of the Chicago native. “His body looks good, everything looks good. His foot feels good. He missed out on most of the summer of individual skill instruction. So naturally he’s a little behind in that area. He’s competitive. He’s trying hard. There’s nothing we’ve seen that would temper our enthusiasm on what a good player we think he can become.”
LJW

9/25/14, 2:19 PM
I miss Kansas, my friends, coaches and the..... Hopefully I get the chance to visit soon
@JoelEmbiid


Joel Embiid’s eight-day Twitter hiatus is over. His reign atop the NBA’s social media throne, though, is anything but. Instead of continuing to propagate his fictional romantic escapades, the Philadelphia 76ers rookie took to the web and offered his thoughts on – what else? – the scores of illicit celebrity photos that have been illegally obtained by hackers.

Embiid officially announced his highly anticipated comeback at 4:15 yesterday afternoon.

…and it didn’t even take him 24 hours to make some playful headlines. This time, though, his tweets were of a far more serious subject matter.

…We’ll let Embiid’s sentiments speak for themselves. This is just further indication, though, that his social media antics are perhaps the most incendiary in the NBA. Not bad for a rookie.
Dime Mag (see tweets at link or @JoelEmbiid)


The Kansas women's basketball program is accepting applications for its Ball Hawks Club for the 2014-15 season. Any girls and boys entering grades 5-7, who love basketball and want to experience game day up close are encouraged to apply.

As a member, Ball Hawks have the opportunity to assist the event management staff with handling the balls, maintaining the floor and aiding officials during home contests in Allen Fieldhouse.

Members are granted exclusive access to the game day experience. They will visit with the team after the game, join them on the court during the national anthem and be near the tunnel during the entrance.

Through the game day experience, the Ball Hawk Club promotes teamwork, working hard while having fun, responsibility, respect and Jayhawk pride.

All Ball Hawks and one parent will receive free admission to regular season home games, while only four Ball Hawks will work each game. Applications are limited and the deadline is October 20, 2014 to the women's basketball office. For more information call 785-864-4938.
KU Athletics (Application at the link)


“Pay Heed. The game you love began here. Respect those who came before you. Make their legacy your own. Because destiny favors the dedicated. And rings don’t replace work. In this game you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. We are Kansas. Together we rise. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!


Big 12 / College News

The NCAA and a group of 11 major conferences on Thursday directly and emphatically argued that U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's ruling in the Ed O'Bannon antitrust case should prompt her to dismiss two other lawsuits, either of which could eliminate compensation limits in some sports and one of which seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Thursday's filing was the last written argument scheduled to be made before an Oct. 9 hearing that Wilken has set in the cases that the NCAA and the conferences want dismissed at virtually their outset.
USA Today


The kids may not have been yelling "Timber," but the first tree to be used in the 2015 NCAA Final Four men's basketball court has fallen. Located within the Forest Park School District's forest, 461 Forest Park students watched and learned about forestry and logging as members of Connor Sports cut down the tree.

This will not be the only tree used to create the court for the upcoming tournament. In all, it takes about 100 trees, usually coming from different forests, to make one court, as the students learned Wednesday. Learn more about the process in the video
NCAA


Big 12 Composite Schedule & Results

Recruiting

Cheick Diallo

For the second cycle in a row, Iowa State is right in the mix for a top-10 prospect nationally. In the class of 2014, the Cyclones were among the final two for scoring guard Rashad Vaughn before losing out to UNLV in the spring. This time around, it's Cheick Diallo, a 6-foot-9 Mali native who plays his high school ball at Our Savior New American (N.Y.). He visited Kansas last weekend and previously took two official visits to Pittsburgh and Kentucky. Iowa State has been among the leaders for Diallo for a long time with assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih getting the Cyclones involved early. A decision isn't expected soon from Diallo, but Iowa State is likely to be there until the end –- and this weekend will certainly help the Cyclones' cause.
CBS


Nevada center Stephen Zimmerman, ranked No. 14 in our composite rankings, became the latest top prospect this week to hint that he's likely to sign in the spring and bypass a letter of intent completely. Zimmerman has already scheduled all five of his official visits. He'll see North Carolina on Oct. 3, Kansas on Oct. 10, Kentucky on Oct. 17, UCLA on Oct. 24 and Arizona on Nov. 7. He's recently had in-home visits from all of those schools plus UNLV and Indiana.

So, why is he going to wait so long to commit?

It's simple: recruits at the top of the board hold all the power. The difference of 20 spots in a recruiting ranking might seem ultimately negligible once players advance to the next level, but it gives them an incredible amount of leverage during the process.

Zimmerman is just one of a number of top-rated recruits choosing to wait until the spring to sign. Consensus No. 2 player Jaylen Brown is doing it, as is No. 5 Cheick Diallo, No. 10 Isaiah Briscoe, No. 12 Caleb Swanigan, No. 15 Carlton Bragg and No. 25 Thomas Bryant. Top-six prospects Malik Newman and Ivan Rabb could, too.

For players at the top of the board, there are just too many variables that can change by choosing to commit early. Take Zimmerman, for example. Why would he commit to Kentucky now without seeing what happens to the roster after this season? Kentucky has a loaded frontcourt with Dakari Johnson, Karl Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Marcus Lee, Trey Lyles and Alex Poythress. A year from now, there's no telling how many of those players will be back in school, will choose to go to the NBA or will choose to transfer.

Kentucky is the common thread among many of the players choosing to sign late. The Wildcats are after Brown, Briscoe, Diallo, Swanigan, Bragg and Newman hard. Particularly for frontcourt players, there's no point in committing to John Calipari now before knowing if you'll get playing time.

Kentucky isn't the only team working under these guiding principles. Kansas is heavily in the mix for Brown, but he might want to wait and see if freshman wing Kelly Oubre and sophomore shooting guard Wayne Selden go pro. Bragg and Zimmerman are thinking about Arizona, but they would like to know if center Kaleb Tarczewski and power forward Brandon Ashley are coming back. Recruiting is all about how the dominoes fall, and by being a top-ranked player, you earn the right to wait and see what else falls in front of you.
SBnation


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