FRIDAY

LJW Photo Gallery: KU to Paris


KU AD: Euro Trip blog


KU AD Euro Trip photos


KU Alumni Euro Trip blog and photos


EuroJam Paris 2012


Where the Jayhawks are playing in Paris



From atop the second story of the Eiffel Tower — nearly 400 feet above the city of Paris — Kansas freshman forward Landen Lucas leaned against a railing and tried to describe the view around him.

“It’s unbelievable,” Lucas said while looking at the horizon. “You don’t get a chance to see stuff like this too often.”

After winning the first two exhibition games over the Swiss national team Tuesday and Wednesday, the KU men’s basketball team made its way from Zurich to Paris on Thursday.

Following a four-hour, high-speed train ride, the Jayhawks spent two hours at the most-visited monument in the world.

…The Jayhawks will have two exhibition games against pro team AMW Team France at 1 p.m. Central on Saturday and Sunday in Paris.
LJW

KU's Big 12 Schedule
Jan 9  ISU @ KU
Jan 12  KU @ TT
Jan 14 Baylor @ KU Big Monday
Jan 19 KU @ Texas
Jan 22  KU @ KSU
Jan 26 OU @ KU
Jan 28  KU @ WVU Big Monday
Feb 2  OSU @ KU
Feb 5 KU @ TCU
Feb 9 KU @ OU
Feb 11  KSU @ KU  Big Monday
Feb 16 Texas @ KU ESPN College Gameday
Feb 20 KU @ OSU
Feb 23 TCU @ KU
Feb 25 KU @ ISU - Big Monday
Mar 2  WVU @ KU
Mar 4  TT @ KU
Mar 9 KU @ Baylor
Complete Big 12 Schedule


8/9/12 12:12 PM
Always amazes me when I get stop randomly by #kubball fans while walking through NYC
Russell Robinson (@Next718star)


Tyshawn Taylor wanted to see for himself what the hype was about when it came to the New York City streetball circuit.

Last summer he saw Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant play in multiple leagues along with Michael Beasley of the Phoenix Suns. Potential future teammate Sundiata Gaines is a regular along with Lakers star Metta World Peace, among others.

“I always heard about it,” the Brooklyn Nets rookie guard said. “Last year the park leagues were big because of the lockout. I knew it would be good competition, a good crowd. It’s something to do while I’m here for the summer, stay in shape, get some work in.”

The 6-foot-3 Taylor, who helped lead Kansas to the national title game last season, has played the last few weeks with R2K, one of streetball's most established program, in EBC Rucker Park and Dyckman. His squad was upset by a young Brooklyn Stompers team 57-56 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Dyckman playoffs.

Taylor didn’t score, but spent much of the night feeding former Tennessee standout Brian Williams and Dexter Gray, who played at St. John’s and Iona. Taylor had a potential game-winning baseline drive blocked in the final seconds.

“I love the competitiveness,” said Taylor, a Hoboken native. “I grew up playing in parks like this all my life. I love stuff like this. The competiveness in the park is just a different level.”
NY Post


Just weeks before the national political conventions get underway, a crucial figure has yet to commit to the presidential race.

Jason Sudeikis, who plays "Saturday Night Live's" Mitt Romney as a cheerfully button-down, out-of-touch, Ward Cleaver-like figure, said he has not yet decided whether to return to the sketch show when it resumes this fall.

…Sudeikis' film work often places him in the role of a guy who can't get the respect he wants; last year he played a beleaguered husband with a wandering eye in the Farrelly Brothers'"Hall Pass"and an exasperated employee driven to murder his sleazy boss in"Horrible Bosses."In "We're the Millers," which is due next year, he's the lead — a pot dealer who hires a phony family to help him move a 200-pound stash of marijuana across the border.

The movie roles have meant that he's at "SNL" for only half the week, Sudeikis said, and have minimized his input on the show. "You start at 'SNL' when you're young and hungry, but I don't want my pro years to be my 'SNL' years," he said, borrowing a sports analogy. "This is me getting to play for K.U. or Duke or North Carolina, with pro-caliber people, but I don't want this to be it."
LA Times


VOTE for KU


Kansas 2012-13 Schedule

Big 12/College News

WVU and the Big 12 released the league's men's basketball schedules Thursday, and the Mountaineers' slate doesn't seem much different than it did in the Big East.

For instance, the first three Big 12 games beginning in January are home games with Oklahoma and Kansas State sandwiched around a trip to Texas. Back-to-back Saturday home games later on are broken up only by a home game against Kansas, last year's national runner-up and the second winningest program of all time. Two of the last three games of the regular season are on the road at Kansas and Oklahoma.

But when Bob Huggins looks at that same schedule, he doesn't really see those particular difficult stretches. He sees an entire league schedule full of challenges.

"The thing about the Big East was it was a great conference, maybe the best in history,'' Huggins said. "But top to bottom I think the Big 12 is better.''

Indeed, while the Big East was brutal at the top - and that top sometimes stretched as far as 10 or 12 teams in the 16-team league - there were also softer spots. West Virginia seldom, if ever, lost to DePaul, Providence, Rutgers or South Florida.

Huggins spent a year in the Big 12, and from just that short stint when he revived the fortunes at Kansas State, he knows there are no soft games.

"When you take it all into account, from top to bottom, the Big 12 is just harder,'' Huggins said.
WV Gazette


Marquette has reported a possible rules violation involving its men's basketball program to the NCAA, athletic director Larry Williams said Thursday.

The nature of the violation was not disclosed.

"Recently, during the athletic department's normal course of business, we discovered information regarding a possible NCAA rules violation involving our men's basketball program," Williams said. "Marquette University takes these matters seriously. Upon learning the information, we followed established protocols and reported the matter directly to the NCAA."

Williams said the school is conducting a joint review with the NCAA and has no further comment.
AP


There are a few reasons coaches might have voted for him in this poll. One is that he does not worship at the altar of defense and toughness. Although his 2001 team led the nation by holding opponents to 37.8 percent shooting, Williams’ has never had a season at Carolina when opponents shot under 40 percent. His teams have been rugged enough to win big, but you frequently will see opposing coaches escalate their physicality against the Tar Heels.
TSN: Roy Williams in not overrated!


ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule


2012-13 Early Season Events List

Recruiting

The final 12 players selected to participate in the seventh annual Under Armour Elite 24 event at California's Venice Beach were announced on Thursday.

Featuring 24 of the nation's top high school basketball players, Under Armour Elite 24 participants are selected based on their performance during AAU tournaments and national summer camps by ESPN high school basketball experts. The first 12 players were announced last week.

The 2012 Under Armour Elite 24 will be held at the Venice Beach Courts in Los Angeles Aug. 24-25. The game airs live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. ET Aug. 25, while the Under Armour Slam Dunk Contest will air Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

…Five Under Armour Elite 24 players have committed to colleges: Nate Britt II to North Carolina, Aquille Carr to Seton Hall, Nigel Williams-Goss to Washington, and both Conner Frankamp and Brannen Greene to Kansas.
ESPN

John (The Franchise) Strickland would be proud.

For the second straight year, the city will be treated to a national showcase of top high school players in his name, and this year the group of prospects is flat-out awe-inspiring for the Big Strick Classic.

From consensus Class of 2013 No. 1 Andrew Wiggins of Canada to the highly ranked Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron, from Texas to elite point guard Tyler Ennis from St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.), the event is full of household national names. The group will face the best from the tri-state area, such as Lincoln rising junior Isaiah Whitehead, Northwestern-bound guard Jaren Sina of Gil St. Bernard’s and Bronx native Chris McCullough, among many others.
NY Post


The question is: Is William Wesley (aka 'World Wide' Wes) a factor in recruiting or is his perceived presence overblown?

Factor: 63 percent
Overblown: 37 percent

Quotes that stuck:

“He's an agent who cheats. He's a bag man.”

"I think he's a factor. He has unlimited access to kids and coaches -- and clearly makes it no secret of his allegiance to John Calipari."

CBS Critical Coaches: How much of a factor is 'World Wide' Wes in recruiting?


Most interesting site in London: Worldwide Wes emerging from the basketball venue wearing Team USA sweat suit, same one the athletes get.
@YahooForde


Check here for the 2012-13 NCAA Recruiting Calendar


My 2012 KU Alumni games, 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on Youtube