The Kansas athletic department posted its highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) ever, helped by six teams — including men’s basketball — that achieved perfect scores.
The numbers were released by the NCAA on Thursday afternoon.
KU saw its GSR grow to 85 percent, up from 79 percent last year and the highest ever for the department since the statistic was created in 2003.
KU men’s basketball, men’s golf, women's cross country/track, softball, tennis and volleyball all had perfect GSRs, meaning for a four-year average all student-athletes either graduated or left the program in good academic standing.
“We expect quality results like this from our student-athletes,” KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger said. “We insist on responsibility in their personal lives and competitive excellence on the field of play. That is the best way to compete for conference and national championships, while at the same time preparing for a competitive world after college.”
…With the perfect score, KU men’s basketball posted its highest four-year GSR ever and is significantly higher than the sport’s national rate of 68 percent. As a department, the Jayhawks’ cumulative four-year average was five points higher than the national average of 80 percent.
LJW
Kansas University’s basketball team has scheduled a four-year, home-and-home series with Big East Conference member Georgetown, it was announced Thursday.
The Hoyas, who are 1-1 all-time versus KU, will visit Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 21, 2013, and again in the 2015-16 season. KU will meet Georgetown in the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., during the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.
…KU, as previously reported, will participate in next season’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over Thanksgiving week in Nassau, Bahamas. The field: KU, Villanova, Wake Forest, Tennessee, USC, UTEP, Xavier and a yet-to-be-determined Big Ten team. ESPN says Illinois initially was in the mix, but now it appears Ohio State or Michigan State will participate.
LJW
If he thinks this could be his best defensive team:
“Best in a while. I think we can be the best defensive team we’ve had maybe going back to a first year after the National Championship. That was really a good team defensively. We got to the point where we better be good defensively because we can’t score very consistently. They bought into it and since then I don’t think we’ve been great. I thought last year’s team was pretty good and I think we were second in field goal percentage defense but I never thought that we were great. I just thought Jeff made up for a lot of mistakes. This year we should be able to pressure and if we make a mistake we have a shot blocker on the back end, we have a little more depth with our bigs in case we get in a foul situation. I think it could be a good defensive team if we’re tough. One thing about Thomas and Ty is that they brought an air of toughness to us but I do believe this team will be pretty good defensively.”
Transcript and audio of Coach Self interview with Bob Fescoe
The Phoenix Suns have exercised the team’s 2013-14 option on the contract of forward Markieff Morris, the club announced today.
Originally the 13th overall pick (first round) of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Suns, last season Morris had the best statistical campaign by a Sun since Amar’e Stoudemire in 2002-03. The 6-10, 245-pound Morris became just the seventh Sun in franchise history selected to play in the Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. He averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.67 blocks and 0.65 steals in 19.5 minutes in 63 games (seven starts) last season, one of just six NBA rookies to average at least seven points and four boards a season ago.
Despite a shortened 66-game slate last season, Morris scored in double figures 22 times, the most by a Suns rookie since Leandro Barbosa in 2003-04. The University of Kansas product followed up his successful rookie season by making his Las Vegas Summer League debut and averaging a team-leading 19.8 points, team-best 9.8 rebounds and team-high 2.0 blocks in five games (five starts) for the Suns’ entry.
Through six preseason games in 2012, Morris is averaging a team-leading 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and team-high tying 1.17 steals in 22.2 minutes. “Kieff” has also attempted a team-best 20 free throws.
Link
WBB: Media Day recap from KUAD
In the last four years, Kansas women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson has become an unwitting expert on knee injuries. Henrickson will tell you it’s part of the women’s game, but every so often, even she will shake her head at her program’s misfortune.
In the last four seasons, Henrickson has watched three of the best players in her program’s history suffer torn anterior cruciate ligaments. The latest one came last season, when junior forward Carolyn Davis, the Jayhawks’ leading scorer, was sidelined with a torn ACL on Feb. 12, just as it looked as if KU might break a long NCAA Tournament drought.
But if Henrickson has learned a few things during her time in Lawrence, it’s this: Ligaments heal. Players recover. And the season always goes on.
Last season, the Jayhawks recovered with a surprise trip to the Sweet 16. One year later, Davis is back, and the Jayhawks might have their most talented team in years.
“She’s confident,” Henrickson told reporters on Thursday during Big 12 women’s basketball media day in Dallas. “She’s excited; her teammates couldn’t be more excited.”
One of those teammates is senior guard Angel Goodrich, a charter member of KU’s ACL survivors — and an All-America candidate who led the country in assists last season. In Davis and Goodrich, the Jayhawks have an inside-outside combo that could help Kansas equal or surpass its tourney success last spring.
Kansas was picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll, and Henrickson has seen last season’s success translate into new expectations and motivation.
“I feel like we don’t have to do as much easing into the process,” Davis said. “We can just get right out there and pick up where we left off.”
KC Star
With Brittney Griner and all the starters back from Baylor’s 40-0 season, the race in the Big 12 likely will be for second behind the Lady Bears.
It is no surprise that Baylor is the overwhelming favorite to win the league again — and perhaps a second consecutive national title.
“I think all of us will make the most of our opportunity to step on the floor and tip it up and play against arguably the best team in America,” Kansas University coach Bonnie Henrickson said Thursday during the league’s media day. “But there are a handful of us that it will be a dogfight to finish either right around them in second, third or fourth.”
Baylor received the maximum nine first-place votes in the preseason voting by league coaches, who weren’t allowed to vote for their own team. Baylor has won the last two Big 12 titles.
The preseason vote had Oklahoma and West Virginia tied for second, followed by Kansas, which returns four starters from a team that won two games in the NCAA tournament. The rest of the picks, in order, were Texas, Iowa State, defending WNIT champion Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Kansas State and TCU.
“I can tell we’re more competitive in practice,” Henrickson said. “They demand more from themselves and each other. And that started, quite honestly, when the (NCAA) tournament was over. Within 24 hours, we had a bunch of those guys back in the gym. There hadn’t been much dust that had settled, and that work has continued until we started.”
LJW
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby calls splitting his conference's men's and women's basketball tournaments “an interesting challenge.”
Several Big 12 women's coaches believe that moving their tournament to another city than the men is a necessary step in developing their sport.
For the first time in the 17-season history of the league, the men's and women's basketball tournaments will be divided. The women's championships will be contested March 8-11 in Dallas, with the men's tournament set March 13-16 in Kansas City, Mo.
The Big 12's women's national profile has never been higher after notching back-to-back national titles and leading the nation in RPI rating and attendance last season. With a transcendent star in Wade Trophy winner Brittney Griner and nine of its teams making postseason tournaments last season, the appeal of the league is strong.
But still, breaking apart the two championships would appear to be a gamble for women's games that traditionally haven't matched the attendance garnered by the men.
“Women's tournaments standing on their own haven't drawn particularly well, but if any conference can do it, we think the Big 12 can,” Bowlsby said. “If any league can pull it off in a first-class fashion and turn out the crowds, it's the Big 12.”
SA Express
Tickets to Coach Self's "Courtside View"
Kansas 2012-13 MBB Schedule
Big 12/College News
Head coaches in football and basketball will be held directly accountable for NCAA rules violations by members of their coaching staff in radically new legislation that is expected to be adopted Tuesday by the Division 1 Board of Directors, according to a document obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
The nine-page document outlines some specifics in the NCAA's new four-tier penalty structure, which would take effect immediately and replace the current rigid categories of secondary and major violations, and addresses several kinds of violations in football and men's basketball that can lead to the suspension of a head coach.
One example the document alludes to is the University of Connecticut basketball violations involving the recruitment of Nate Miles, in which head coach Jim Calhoun "failed to alert the compliance staff and administration of possible improprieties between the agent/booster" and prospect. Under the new structure, penalties could have included a suspension or other restrictions for Calhoun.
And the primary message for head coaches is that ignorance will no longer be acceptable as a defense.
The document reads, "A head coach is presumed responsible for major/Level I and Level II violations (e.g. academic fraud, recruiting inducements) occurring within his or her program unless the coach can show that he or she promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored his or her staff."
Any coach who is found responsible for the most serious violations under those guidelines will be subject to an entire-season suspension, according to the document.
The new guidelines also state that beginning Aug. 1, 2013, men's basketball coaches can be suspended for violations ranging from illegal contact with recruits, giving team gear to prospects or impermissible benefits given by third parties if the coach
knows the third party has a relationship with the recruit.
USA Today
PDF of NCAA proposal
Izzo is igniting a fire underneath Michigan State because he knows he could have something special again. And this tends to be when he's at his best. No coach has been as consistent the last 14 years with six Final Four appearances, including one national title.
And the beauty of Izzo is that he can rip his players, break them down and within seconds after practice they are laughing, seeking his counsel and advice. Tuesday's practice wasn't as sharp as the previous few days, according to associate head coach Dwayne Stephens. But there was no denying the talent.
The Spartans weren't picked to finish in the Big Ten's top three in the preseason media poll released Thursday at the league's media day. Indiana is the favorite behind consensus player of the year candidate Cody Zeller. Arguments can be made for Ohio State and Michigan as well. But MSU has to be considered a real threat to win the conference and challenge for a top seed yet again.
…Appling has a new backcourt mate in highly touted Gary Harris. Harris is more introverted with his voice, but not his game. He can dominate the ball, create his own shot and already has sold Izzo on his knowledge of the game.
"He's one of the best defensive guards I've had since Charlie Bell,'' Izzo said. "He is one of the smartest players I've ever coached. He's an unbelievable kid, a fun kid to coach and a guy that I see big things out of this year.''
Izzo is pushing Harris in practice. He knows he can excel and be a star in the Big Ten. And having Byrd and Travis Trice as backups gives the Spartans a legitimate four-guard rotation with each one having a different role.
The frontcourt might be one of the deepest Izzo has had with a finally healthy Branden Dawson (he should have his left knee brace off soon) able to score inside and out; the possibility of Adreian Payne as a possible stretch 4 (Izzo loves his ability to make shots now); and the foot movement of Derrick Nix making him a formidable post scorer. Add in a tweener like freshman Denzel Valentine and MSU has one of its most versatile teams under Izzo, who said he doesn't have a slew of all-stars but "a lot of guys that are interchangeable that can play together."
…In terms of roster makeup, the comparison being tossed around by some around here is to the 2000 club that won it all. But that team had a leader in Cleaves and an NBA lock in Morris Peterson. No one is quite ready to make that prediction. But there is a genuine affection that each player has for each other and Izzo -- that much is obvious.
ESPN
Adreian Payne can reflect on his first two seasons with Michigan State and understand what most are thinking.
"I haven't lived up to the hype,'' Payne said Thursday at the Big Ten basketball media day at the Hyatt Regency.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Payne, who was rated anywhere from No. 17 to No. 26 in the Class of 2010 after leading Jefferson (Ohio) to the Class IV state championship, averaged just seven points and 4.2 rebounds last season despite starting 36 of 37 games.
"I think there's a lot Michigan State hasn't seen from me yet,'' Payne said. "I think Coach (Tom) Izzo is starting to let me do more offensively, and this year I will have a breakout season.''
MLive
If you haven’t heard already, most of the nation will kick off the 2012-13 season on Friday, Nov. 9.
In one of the more intriguing games of the evening, Michigan State and Connecticut will battle it out, but in a pretty unique location. The two squads are part of a few various “military-themed” games that will take place on Nov. 9, with this contest taking place at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The two teams depart for Europe on Nov. 7 and will return to the United States following the game on Nov. 10. Given the time difference, the game will tip-off at midnight local time, so it can be shown at prime time in the United States.
The unusual situation will test both squads and their respected coaches in terms of how to handle the unique start time. According to ESPN‘s Andy Katz however, the two teams plans to remain on east coast time, at least to the best of their ability.
Both teams are expected to sleep until after noon and then continue their daily routines with practice and dinner late into the night.
Link
Kansas’ athletic programs improved their total GSR to 85 percent, up from 79 last year and the highest in the department’s history. Missouri also showed gains, posting an 84 percent overall score, up from 81 percent last year.
But Kansas State’s overall GSR was 77 percent, down slightly from 78 percent from last year and 81 percent from its 2003 class.
The NCAA offers no penalties or rewards for GSR scores. The scores measure graduation rates within six years from an athlete’s initial enrollment. This year’s numbers reflect a four-year average for students who entered college from 2002-05. The numbers are different from the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rates, which can affect scholarship numbers if programs score too low.
…Missouri’s overall GSR ranks third in the Southeastern Conference, behind only Vanderbilt (91) and Alabama (85). The Tigers had perfect scores in men’s and women’s golf, women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis and women’s basketball (92), gymnastics (91), softball (95) and soccer (92) also scored over 90 percent. The football team also was above average at 73 percent, up from 66 percent last year, but the men’s basketball team scored 67 percent, same as last year.
…K-State did not perform as well in football and men’s basketball. Both of those sports graduation rates ranked near the bottom of the Big 12 at 58 percent. In football, Oklahoma was last with a 47 percent graduation success rate and Texas also came in at 58 percent. In men’s basketball, Iowa State and Oklahoma State were lower at 50 percent.
KC Star
Connecticut's basketball program - already banned from the postseason for failing to meet other academic standards - has a graduation success rate of just 11 percent, according to an NCAA report released Thursday.
The GSR, released Thursday, measures the percentage of student-athletes earning diplomas at a school over a six-year period. This year's numbers are for the classes that entered school from 2002 to 2005.
UConn's 11 percent rate was far below the national average of 68 percent for men's basketball.
AP
UK basketball GSR is 78%
Link
Calipari, who has headed a recruiting effort that enabled Kentucky to secure the No. 1-rated freshman class four straight years, said his program did not need ESPN's help in getting players.
"It's going to help our recruiting?" he said in a rhetorical question. "What are we going to be? One and One-A?"
Nor did Kentucky seek more exposure, Calipari said. "We don't need anymore."
Lex HL
Big 12 Composite Schedule
ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
The father of Huntington (W.Va.) Prep junior Andrew Wiggins, considered the nation's best high school basketball player, told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday that "it is time" for his son to reclassify and play college basketball next season.
"It's time [for him] to show that he is the best in college right now," Mitchell Wiggins said in a telephone interview. "I think he is ready for the next step. Academically-wise he is doing great. Maturity-wise he is doing great. He has a lot of talent. He is ready for the next step, and everybody knows it is time. It's Andrew's time. Next year is coming soon, and he is ready."
USA Today
No one thought Kansas was in mix for Wiggins because Kurtis Townsend had old cell for Wiggins. Kurtis got new # in last week, Kansas in mix.
https://twitter.com/EricPrisbell/status/261459970971820032
(Now that just seems dumb Eric. They certainly knew how to reach his HS coach.)
For wiggins: UK/FSU (tie), UNC, then KU, OSU, Syracuse.
https://twitter.com/EricPrisbell/status/261634735992885248
Just how good is Andrew Wiggins? Well, an NBA head scout recently told me Wiggins would be the No. 1 pick today.
Wiggins is far from a finished project, but his reclassification back to his original class today sent reverberations throughout the high school world, as well as the collegiate and NBA game.
“If he stays on course, he will be the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA draft,” the scout said. “He would start on any NBA team today without a current All-Star at the small forward position.”
Now, future success is far from a guarantee no matter how talented the player is, but Wiggins appears to be on a path very few have traveled. With the hoopla over whether he would reclassify behind us, let’s look at Wiggins the basketball player.
Along with former ESPN 100 No. 1 player Jabari Parker, the 6-foot-7 Wiggins is the most talented player in high school basketball. Speaking of Parker, his drop in ranking to No. 2 has less to do with his talent or upside and more about just how dominant Wiggins has been in his career. Wiggins would have jumped over past No. 1 recruits such as Nerlens Noel, Shabazz Muhammad, Austin Rivers, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Andre Drummond. The only former elite prospect he wouldn’t have leapfrogged was this year’s No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Davis.
ESPN
Parker's father, Sonny Parker, told ESPNChicago.com that he did not understand why Wiggins passed his son in the recruiting rankings.
"Based on what? That's what I'm asking," Sonny Parker told ESPNChicago.com. "Based on a few weeks of AAU? The AAU stuff is overrated. Jabari was the national freshman of the year, the national sophomore of the year, the Gatorade national player of the year as a junior.
"High school is more important to Jabari. He's won three straight titles and wants to win a fourth this year. You talk about athleticism. Jabari can play the 1 through 5 at 6-foot-9. It's just peoples' opinions."
ESPN
Oklahoma men's basketball head coach Lon Kruger has a big weekend ahead.
When he goes to the OU-Notre Dame football game, there's a good chance that he will not be alone.
This weekend, Kruger will be hosting one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) recruits in the nation, PF Julius Randle (Plano, Texas/Prestonwood Christian), Bob Przybylo of ESPN.com reports.
LinkOklahoma men's basketball head coach Lon Kruger has a big weekend ahead.
When he goes to the OU-Notre Dame football game, there's a good chance that he will not be alone.
This weekend, Kruger will be hosting one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) recruits in the nation, PF Julius Randle (Plano, Texas/Prestonwood Christian), Bob Przybylo of ESPN.com reports.
Link
On the plane ride back I definitely couldn’t stop thinking about those two schools. It was so fun just being there and seeing how they do things. I was just thinking about how difficult a decision will be after taking visits like these because all of the programs are top notch.
Me and my family were talking the whole plane ride back about different parts of the trip. Everybody had a ball.
I don’t have any solid plans for another visit, but I’ll probably try and get out to Kentucky and Kansas next because I’ve never been to those schools.
Well, other than that, I’ve just been going hard with my schoolwork and working hard getting ready for the season to start. Me and my teammates definitely can’t wait for that.
OK guys, I’ve got to get going but thanks again for reading my blog, and I want you to come back soon and read my next one.
Tyus Jones for USA Today
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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