KC Star images
The Wichita Eagle’s account of Monday’s KSU pep rally reports that “coach Bruce Weber joked that he had hoped to celebrate a Big 12 championship a week earlier on Senior Day, but poor officiating — referring to KU’s overtime victory at Iowa State — got in the way.”
Reached by the Journal-World for a reaction to that news item, Self said: “No comment.”
LJW
Reached by the Journal-World for a reaction to that news item, Self said: “No comment.”
LJW
LJW image
“We’re not going to apologize for sharing it at all, and congratulations to K-State. I hate that they share it with us, but they deserve it because they had a great year,” Self said. “They won some big games away from home, too. It’s one of those things that I don’t know if people around here — and maybe rightfully so — really appreciate what it is, but from a guys’ locker-room standpoint, from a coaches’ locker-room standpoint, you want to be the best that you compete against. For us, that’s also (North) Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State and some other people that we run against. The primary deal is, you spend 21⁄2 months of your season trying to win a league championship. Why would you discredit winning a league championship when you spend so much time trying to do it?
“To get nine in a row, or a piece of it, is pretty cool,” he added, noting everybody on the team has “maxed out.” “If they’ve been here five years, they’ve got five rings. If they’ve been here three years, they’ve got three rings.”
Withey said the BU game is now officially past tense.
“We’ve forgot about that game already,” he said. “We can learn from it for sure. At the end of the day, we are still champions. We won it with K-State. We did our job. We’re going to try winning the tournament. It’s all we focus on.”
Traditionally, winners of the Big 12 tournament also clip the nets.
“It’s for pride,” Withey said of the upcoming tourney. “Whoever wins it was best team in the league. We definitely want to win it. It’d help us get a No. 1 seed hopefully in the NCAA Tournament.”
LJW
“I don’t see any reason to be giddy about it or celebrate in a big way,” Self said. “Even though we’re happy with our accomplishment, why would we not put a foot on a throat? Why would we take the foot off the gas?”
…“I personally think the one seed is overrated,” Self said. “But I told our guys, ‘Do we deserve to be the one seed if we don’t go to Kansas City and win the tournament? The answer is no. Let’s focus on what’s first.’ ”
On Thursday, Withey said he liked the idea of posting up in downtown Kansas City for a couple of weekends. For one, the Jayhawks are 3-0 at the Sprint Center this season. And they might as well rack up a few more hotel points in a familiar and friendly place. It’s not exactly spring break in Fort Lauderdale, but there will be plenty of blue at the Power & Light District.
“Kansas City has been good to us,” Withey said.
All in all, it’s a pretty promising path. Five games. Two weekends. All happening just 40 miles from the KU campus.
“If we go to Kansas City and play great and we’re not a one seed, I’m fine with that,” Self said. “I’m fine with whatever. Getting hung up on a one seed, to me, is not worth it.
“It’s all about matchups. I like to be as high a seed as possible, because that would probably guarantee us getting a chance to play close to home.”
KC Star
As Self predicted, McLemore and center Jeff Withey ended up splitting votes for Big 12 player of the year. Each player received three votes from the 17-member Associated Press panel, while Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart won the award with 10 votes.
Withey, who had stated a goal of being Big 12 player of the year before the season, couldn’t complain about his unanimous first team selection or a second straight defensive player of the year award.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “It’s crazy to be able to be a part of that, especially in a great conference. To be defensive player again is also an honor. It has a lot to do with my teammates, just getting me open and stuff like that. Without them, I definitely wouldn’t be on the first team.”
…Travis Releford will have to do something pretty spectacular in March to top what his younger brother, Trevor, did for Alabama.
With time running down in a tie game against Georgia on Saturday, Trevor swished a running 50-footer that gave the Crimson Tide a much-needed victory to bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes.
“I didn’t hear how it happened or see it until I got to Lawrence,” Travis said. “Everybody was telling me that he hit a game-winner. He’s excited about it. I was too when I heard about it, because that’s big for them and their team.”
TCJ
VOTE for Wooden Award nominees McLemore & Withey (Ends March 17)
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Big 12/College News
BIG 12 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
First-round games: Wednesday, March 13
• No. 8 seed West Virginia vs. No. 9 seed Texas Tech, 6 p.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
• No. 7 seed Texas vs. No. 10 seed TCU, 8:30 p.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 14
• No. 4 seed Oklahoma vs. No. 5 seed Iowa State, 11:30 a.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
• No. 1 seed Kansas vs. West Virginia-Texas Tech winner, 2 p.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
• No. 2 seed Kansas State vs. Texas-TCU winner, 6 p.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
• No. 3 seed Oklahoma State vs. No. 6 seed Baylor, 8:30 p.m. on KMCI (Ch. 38)
Semifinals: Friday, March 15
• 6:30 and 9 p.m. on ESPNU and KMCI (Ch. 38)
Championship: Saturday, March 16
• 5 p.m. on ESPN
Big 12 Tourney Info for KC Visitors
http://www.visitkc.com/big-12-basketball-kc/events/index.aspx
The Jayhawks went to the Ferrell Center ranked fourth, one victory away from claiming an outright Big 12 championship, but Baylor looked like the team playing for a title.
Cory Jefferson and Pierre Jackson both made 11 of 13 shots to combine for 53 points. Baylor had lost eight of its previous 11 and appeared headed for the NIT, but it is now fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
At last, the team with Final Four talent played up to its potential.
“We were just focused. We knew what was at stake, we know how big this game was,” Jackson said. “We handled business.”
Another big game awaits on Thursday, Oklahoma State in the Big 12 quarterfinals. Both teams closed out the regular season with victories over top-10 teams.
The Cowboys will likely be favored, but the Bears will have history on their side. Last season, they put a disappointing regular season behind them by beating Kansas State and Kansas on their way to the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament and then the Elite Eight. Two years before that, they reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament and another Elite Eight.
Drew is regularly criticized for his poor motivational skills and in-game coaching, but he regularly gets the most out of his teams in March.
Saturday was a strong first step. Once again, Baylor heads to Kansas City as a dangerous team.
Wichita Eagle
Whether you’re willing to admit it or not, Robert Griffin III is still the face of the Baylor Bears. So it comes as no surprise that he’s being credited with a pre-game speech that fired up the men’s basketball team in the 81-58 win over No. 4 Kansas.
Here’s head coach Scott Drew when asked about RG3′s speech by Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis.
SI.com: I saw RG3 was at the game. Did he bring you luck?
Drew: He gets the credit for the pep talk on Friday in practice. He came in and shared what the Redskins talked about when they had their backs against the wall at 3-6. He’s a huge basketball fan. He was a very good basketball player in high school. He was just phenomenal with our guys. If he ever retires from football, he can be a great coach.
Dallas MN
“If people don't think officiating is a big part about what's happening in the game, you're wrong,” the Longhorns coach said.
He said he'd also like to see a 30-second shot clock and NBA lanes.
“Over the last couple years, I don't think our games are getting better,” Barnes said, “because we're not making the changes to get better.”
In 90 Big 12 games this season, 52 have gone to overtime or were decided by 10 or less points.
That means 57.7 percent of league play were close contests.
According to Sagarin Ratings, the Big 12 ranks the third-best league in the nation.
Single session tickets are available for the 2013 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championships starting Tuesday at sprintcenter.com or Sprint Center Box Office. They are $62 plus fees for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday sessions or $47 plus fees for Saturday's championship game. All-session tickets are $195 plus fees.
The Oklahoman
K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber was blown away as he stared out at the thousands of fans that had come to Bramlage Coliseum on Monday for the Wildcats’ Big 12 championship celebration.
The crowd, which filled one side of the arena, yelled his first name in unison when he approached midcourt with a microphone, and his smile widened as he soaked up the moment. He wasn’t expecting this. To be honest, he hadn’t been sure a Monday evening pep rally was the best idea. Would anyone come?
Oh, they did. To celebrate the program’s first Big 12 championship since 1977, some lined up early.
Perhaps K-State President Kirk Schulz summed up the celebration’s significance best by describing how different the world was in 1977, when the Wildcats last won a conference title. He told the crowd that “Star Wars” came out that year, that “Starsky & Hutch” was a popular TV show and that a basic Apple computer cost thousands of dollars.
“This is fun celebrating all these Big 12 championships,” added Schulz, referencing the K-State football team’s league championship in December. “I could get used to this.”
“Title Town, USA, is right here in Manhattan,” added athletic director John Currie.
The pep rally had a little bit of everything. The lights were dimmed and players and coaches were introduced to loud music with spotlights shining on them. Seniors Rodney McGruder, Martavious Irving and Jordan Henriquez gave speeches along with Weber, Schulz and Currie.
They all thanked the fans, and talked about how special the celebration was. Weber joked that he had hoped to celebrate a Big 12 championship a week earlier on Senior Day, but poor officiating — referring to Kansas’ overtime victory at Iowa State — got in the way. Then the whole team cut down the nets and posed for pictures.
Players seemed to enjoy climbing a ladder and snipping the nets most. Henriquez was so excited that he bypassed the ladder and used his height and long arms to cut from the floor. McGruder walked away wearing a net as a necklace.
KC Star
Every song known to K-State was played to the approximate 3,000 fans who turned out, including Sandstorm. Every icon who could be found to sit with the team, including Pat Hartman, the wife of the last coach to capture a conference title for the Wildcats back in 1977, was invited. And every ounce of satisfaction that could be gained from a championship salute was observed.
“Titletown USA is right here in Manhattan, Kansas, isn’t it?’’ said athletic director John Currie, referring to the titles K-State managed in football and basketball — a double achieved just twice previously in the Big 12, by Oklahoma (2004-05) and Texas (2005-06).
There is one hitch to Currie’s statement.
K-State beat Oklahoma in football but each posted the same Big 12 record and thus shared the league title. And in basketball, Kansas gained a season sweep over K-State, but the two posted the same Big 12 record and thus were declared co-champions ... or champions, whatever it is the Big 12 wants to inscribe on the trophies it is fond of distributing.
The Wildcats have heard all the talk. How they did not get it done on the last day of the season. How they backed into a hoops crown. How they got swept by the team they tied with, KU.
“People want to say that KU beat us twice, but hey, they lost to TCU and they lost to Baylor,’’ point guard Angel Rodriguez said of two teams the Cats swept. “They actually got spanked by Baylor and we won (in Waco), but people never want to give us credit and we don’t care. We got a trophy and we accomplished a goal.’’
…Not one of the 16,300 seats that are customarily filled in Allen Fieldhouse was occupied Monday. The basketball shrine was empty. And, silent.
Like at K-State, players for Kansas dwelled on the regular-season finish.
Except the Jayhawks had no celebration to attend. Nor did they rejoice knowing they managed a share of a ninth straight Big 12 crown.
“It’s nine straight, but we don’t celebrate until everything is said and done,’’ senior guard Elijah Johnson said. “There’s nothing to celebrate right now.’’
…“Kansas is a great program,’’ said Southwell, “and it’s just an honor to be mentioned in the same breath with them at the end of the year.’’
Still, there was no mistaking the disappointment the Jayhawks felt Monday ... or the silence inside their venerable fieldhouse.
“I don’t want to say we celebrated at all,’’ senior center Jeff Withey said. “We lost when we won (the Big 12 co-title), so it wasn’t a very good way to win it.’’
When told the result prompted K-State to schedule a celebration, Withey only shrugged.
“Are they?’’ he asked. “We’re Kansas. We’re not going to do that. We’re just looking forward to the tournament.’’
TCJ
Charles Barkley believes that unless you’re a transcendent talent like LeBron James, you should stay in school.
Specifically, he pointed to the six players from Kentucky’s 2012 NCAA championship team and said they all probably should’ve remained on campus instead of entering the NBA Draft.
“Kentucky had six guys and ain’t none of them made an impact [in the NBA], not one,” Barkley told SNY.tv Monday morning at the Turner Sports and CBS Sports NCAA Tournament media day.
“Like Anthony Davis, physically has been hurt all year. All those other guys, they’ve been in the D-League all year.”
…The system appears flawed, where players like Jones, Teague and Lamb (and others like them) have to come out early to capitalize on their rising stock and make the money, especially guaranteed first-round money for guys like Jones and Teague.
Barkley said he’s spoken with the NCAA about “getting these some kids money to stay in school. You know, because they are leaving for the money. I mean, it’s wrong, but they’re doing it.”
He added: “If the NCAA [does that], it will help everybody. Let’s find a way to work with these kids, ‘We’ll let you borrow some money to stay in school.’ I’m not talking about millions of dollars, but I want to stay in school, get my education, but I want to get physically stronger….It would be curious to me if you would ask those Kentucky players off the record, ‘I’m making money, but I’m getting my ass kicked every night. I wish I was back in college for one more year.’ It would be curious to me see how they would answer that question. I would be curious to hear their answer on that.”
Barkley also said he believes that Kentucky freshman big man Nerlens Noel should stay in school at least another year, and that Kansas freshman Ben McLemore would be his No. 1 overall pick.
“[Noel] is not better than Anthony Davis and Anthony Davis is struggling physically,” Barkley said. “I don’t think these guys understand how physically imposing the NBA is. The Nerlens kid needs to stay in school. It’s not an easy decision.”
Most mock drafts have Noel, McLemore and Indiana’s Cody Zeller in the mix for No. 1, although Indiana’s Victor Oladipo has gotten some support, too.
“Obviously, most people are going to take the big kid [Noel],” Barkley said. “For me, I can’t go wrong with McLemore. I’m not sure if I need a point guard who I take, but if I need a two guard I’m taking McLemore. I like him a lot.”
“I love how hard the kid [Oladipo] plays but my shotoing guard gotta be a shooter, and the McLemore kid is a better shooter, in my opinion.”
Zags Blog
Iowa State senior Anthony Booker has apologized for making an obscene gesture during Saturday's win over West Virginia.
Booker was on the bench when he made the gesture toward the Mountaineers' student section shortly after being called for a flagrant foul.
Booker says in a statement released by the school that he got "caught up" in the emotions of a hard-fought game and lost his composure. Booker says he regrets putting the school and the basketball program in a poor light.
AP
There's still one postseason losing streak the Cyclones desperately want to end: the eight years since they won a Big 12 tournament game. It's a run of futility that stretches back three coaches and three different host cities: Dallas, Oklahoma City and Kansas City.
The Cyclones (21-10, 11-7 Big 12) return to Kansas City to play Oklahoma on Thursday. They're hoping that, for the first time since 2005, they won't have to head straight home after the opening game.
''We're going to go down there and focus on it like it's a very important game, which it is,'' Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. ''We're going to go down there with the right mindset.''
This week isn't just about reversing recent history though.
Iowa State's NCAA tournament resume could use a boost. By finishing 11-7 in one of the nation's tougher leagues, the Cyclones appear to be on the right side of the proverbial bubble as of Monday.
But the Cyclones don't have a road or neutral court win over anyone projected to be in the NCAA tournament. Their best road win was at Baylor, and the Bears probably have some work to do in Kansas City to earn a bid.
AP
Indiana Coach Tom Crean said he has apologized to Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer for their heated exchange after Sunday's game.
Crean said during the Big Ten coaches conference call Monday that he apologized to Meyer over the phone on the way to the plane afterward. He said he wishes he had "never addressed anything after the heat of battle in a game, but I did and we move on. End of story."
The incident happened on the court after the Hoosiers beat the Wolverines 72-71 for the Big Ten title. Indianapolis TV station WRTV showed Crean being restrained as he yelled at Meyer: "You know what you did. You helped wreck the program. You helped wreck our program."
Crean was hired by Indiana in 2008 and inherited a program burdened by NCAA sanctions for violations under former coach Kelvin Sampson. Meyer served on Sampson's staff but was cleared of any major violations.
Michigan Coach John Beilein said he did not see the confrontation as it happened. He saw video of it on Monday morning and said Meyer "showed great poise" and called him "a great coach" who has helped rebuild the program "brick by brick, side by side, with me."
He also said, "Michigan is always going to win with class and they're going to lose with class. We're never going to use victory or defeat to vent ... any frustrations we're going to have."
Link
Notre Dame’s basketball teams will play in the ACC next year, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The Big East presidents will vote on the issue Tuesday morning, and an announcement is expected sometime after their conference call ends.
Link
“I think Alex was on a team that went 9-9 in the Big East, then won five games (in the conference tournament) and went on to win the national championship,” Haith told reporters at his weekly news briefing.
Oriakhi’s Huskies went into the 2011 Big East tournament as the No. 9 seed with a 21-9 overall record, not much different from 22-9 Mizzou heading into the SEC as a sixth seed with an 11-7 league record. Led by star point guard and player of the year Kemba Walker, Connecticut won five games in five days for the Big East tournament championship – knocking off four teams ranked in the Top 25 along the way – then on Selection Sunday earned a No. 3 seed into the NCAAs.
Five games later, Connecticut was cutting down the nets in Houston at Reliant Stadium at the Final Four.
“And I think their team had a makeup similar to ours,” Haith said. “They had a little star power, which I think we have. And we have length and we have size (like U Conn) and I like where we are defensively. I think we’ll be ready on Thursday.”
The Tigers have right now underachieved their way into the dreaded eight- or nine-seed nightmare that would doom them to a certain second-round confrontation with a No. 1 seed. The only way that turns out to be something good is if Mizzou ends up in Kansas City as a No. 8 or 9 and Kansas gets a No.1 seed in KC, and the two rivals face off for some fantastic basketball theater on the NCAA opening weekend.
The Tigers are talented enough to play themselves out of that bracket line with an impressive run in Nashville. But nothing less than a trip to the conference finals could create a situation where Missouri could rise to as high as a No. 6 seed on Selection Sunday.
ST Louis PD
2013 Bob Cousy Award-Final Five
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State University
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary’s College
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse University
Shane Larkin, University of Miami
Trey Burke, University of Michigan
http://www.cousyaward.com
RPI and SOS Team Comparison Calculator
Recruiting
The NCAA issued a Q&A document which clarifies the recently adopted deregulation proposals. Two of those questions and answers address some of the worst fears regarding the two proposals with the most opposition: Proposal 11–2 which allows any staff to make recruiting calls and Proposals 13–5-A will deregulates mailings.
Question No. 2: May an institution employ alumni and other individuals who do not live in the locale of the institution to place recruiting calls to prospective student-athletes?
Answer: No. Pursuant to the principles found in NCAA Bylaws
(talent scout) and 13.1.2.8.1 (employment prohibition), an
institution is not permitted to employ an individual for the
purpose of recruiting prospective student-athletes and designate
individual as a staff member if he or she does not reside in the
institution’s general locale.
This prevents schools from essentially having an unlimited supply of recruiters. Tennessee cannot, for instance, have Peyton Manning call recruits. But if a school has a large group of boosters or former athletes living in town, they could still be volunteer recruiting coordinators.
Question No. 4: May an institution provide a prospective student-athlete with media guides, posters, magnets and other similar items (e.g., Fathead wall graphic)?
Answer: Media guides and posters related to or promoting an institution’s athletics program have traditionally been considered printed recruiting materials, and therefore, may be provided to prospective student-athletes; however, Bylaw 13.2.1 prohibits institutions from providing any tangible items to prospective student-athletes that are not printed recruiting materials, such as magnets and wall graphics.
I’m just glad this was put to bed. Fatheads were never going to be allowed, neither were schedule magnets. Posters were even questionable, although with express shipping allowed, the biggest cost will be overnighting poster tubes to hundreds of athletes.
One other Q&A stuck out, and now the opposition to the proposal, however scant, seems justified. The proposal being discussed is Proposal 16–3, which allows schools to provide “academic and other support services” at their discretion:
Question No. 5: May personal development services include athletic development?
Answer: Generally, if an institution is involved in providing development services, including any expenses related to such development, to a student-athlete (e.g., providing related expenses), such activities may only occur during the playing season or as part of out-of-season conditioning or skill
In either case, such activities must be counted toward the applicable limits on countable athletically related activities.
When Proposal 16–3 came out, athletic development services did not seem like a natural part of the proposal. In a way it makes sense though. Professional development services are allowed, and some portion of athletes will be going pro in sports. But exactly what is a permissible athletic development service? Does this mean that the consultants rule is basically obsolete? Can schools hire trainers to prepare their potential draftees for a combine or tryout? And is just using the NCAA’s time limits on practice and conditioning enough?
For football, men’s basketball, and any school that recruits potential Olympians, this could become a major selling point in recruiting. The ability to finance more professional training and development will become a requirement for schools who want a shot at athletes with legitimate professional or Olympic dreams. Not to mention that allowing schools to pay for athletic development could be a handy loophole to funnel money to someone connected to a recruit. This is one instance where the Q&A raises as many questions as it answers.
Link
3/11/13, 5:31 PM
Apple Valley finished practice a little while ago and a source texted me that Coach K was there watching @Tyusjones06
https://twitter.com/ryanjamesmn
VOTE for Kansas and Julius Randle
http://zagsblog.com/articles/julius-randle-to-announce-march-20/
Aquille Carr's family confirms the 2013 PG from Princeton Day (MD) will be playing professionally overseas instead of going to Seton Hall.
https://twitter.com/TheRecruitScoop
My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos, Late Night in the Phog, and more now on YouTube
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