Canada's U19 Preliminary Rosters
Kansas coach Bill Self said every newcomer but Andrew Wiggins is on campus and in summer school. He said Wiggins' summer plans are still unresolved. Wiggins may play for the Canadian National team or may not. He is expected on campus soon. Self is already raving about Wayne Selden, one of the six newcomers. This will end up being one of Self's most enjoyable teams. He gets a chance to completely mold this crew in the summer with the comfort of having Wiggins. The Jayhawks won't be dominant, but they will be one of the most intriguing and entertaining teams to watch next season.
ESPN Katz
The first week of college is supposed to be a little scary. New classes. Sprawling campus. The introduction to something called a syllabus.
Wayne Selden says he noticed his KU summer classes were a little longer than the 45-minute periods at The Tilton School, his prep school in New Hampshire. But for Selden, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard, that was about the extent of his early surprises.
Selden also spent Thursday — his sixth day on campus — answering questions in Allen Fieldhouse in a brief interview session. And it only took a few moments before Selden was asked about an idea that’s circulated throughout Kansas for the last month or so. Is Selden’s six-man freshman class — including No. 1 overall recruit Andrew Wiggins — the most talented class in KU history?
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Selden said calmly. “So we can’t buy into that.”
This is college life for the baby Jayhawks, the highly touted freshman class that reported to campus over the weekend for the beginning of summer classes.
Wiggins is the notable exception. He’s still sorting through his summer schedule, and is expected to arrive in Lawrence later.
But for now, Selden and the rest of the newcomers are trying to use the summertime to bond.
“We’re just trying to come together as a team,” Selden said. “With the new guys, and the older guys, and make it one team.”
…“Naadir is being a great leader,” Selden said. “And all the returning guys have been great leaders. But Naadir has set himself apart.
KU coach Bill Self hopes that the young Jayhawks can also learn something from Memphis transfer Tarik Black, a 6-foot-9 graduate transfer who has arrived for his only season in Lawrence.
After a week on campus, Black says he’s not trying to force the leadership role. It’s early, and with the June schedule being limited to strength and conditioning sessions and scrimmages, there are only a few chances to make an impact.
“Leadership is not something that’s given to you,” Black said. “It’s a quality that you possess, but you also have to earn your keep. So right now, early on, I’ll just speak up when I can. I’ll speak up when something comes to mind.”
KC Star
It hasn’t taken Kansas University basketball newcomer Tarik Black long to invest himself fully in strength coach Andrea Hudy’s weight program.
“Three days in a row now ... it’s serious, and I love it. It’s what I need. I can feel it right now, and I can see it right now. Over time, I’m going to develop and get better,” said Black, KU’s senior transfer from the University of Memphis, who says he has reported to campus for summer school at 6-foot-9, 260 pounds.
“By the time the season starts, the measurements will be different, so look out for new numbers,” added Black, immediately eligible for the 2013-14 season thanks to a rule that allows transfers to play without delay provided they have earned an undergraduate degree.
…“Even though I’m new to this program, I’m not new to college basketball. I’m not new to big games. I’m not new to taking over games. I’m not new to anything that has to do with the college level,” said Black, who averaged 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds while coming off the bench in 27 games and starting five his junior season for the Tigers (31-5).
“I have experience to spread. I’m already spreading it. I’m not saying I’ll step into the gym as a leader. I have to earn that role and earn my keep. I have to earn guys’ respect for me and (have the) coaches expect to trust me, that I’ll be a leader and not steer guys wrong, which I plan on doing. It’s not going to happen tomorrow. I wouldn’t call me a leader just yet.”
Still, just a few days into the first session of summer school, Black has been not been shy around KU’s five freshmen on campus. The sixth member of the freshman class, Andrew Wiggins, is in his home country of Canada.
“He’s definitely one of the oldest in the room,” freshman guard Wayne Selden said of Black. “He’s definitely leading us and helping us. In three days, I’ve got some good advice already.”
Such as ... “different stuff, not basketball, but different stuff,” said Selden, who has also been impressed with Black during pick-up games.
“Powerful. He can go get the rebound. He’s strong,” Selden said emphatically.
LJW
The Kansas men's basketball program has achieved a perfect score in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate for a seventh straight year, the school announced Wednesday.
The APR measures retention and eligibility on a 1,000-point scale. KU's women's cross country team also earned a perfect score for a ninth straight season.
“We certainly have a couple positive streaks going for us right now and I’m definitely proud of the guys for the work they put in outside of basketball,” coach Bill Self said. “We’ve been fortunate to have guys who buy in to what it means to be a Jayhawk in basketball and in life, and we’re blessed to have a tremendous academic support staff and resources our guys can take advantage of.”
Only teams earning special recognition from the NCAA were recognized Wednesday. APR data for all other teams will be released Tuesday. KU expects all 18 of its programs to register scores above 925, the NCAA's cutoff point for good academic standing.
TCJ
The men’s basketball team’s six Public Recognition Awards rank among the top-10 in the country, putting the players that have consistently won championships, including an NCAA title and nine-straight Big 12 regular season titles, in the same academic regard as schools like Belmont (8), Holy Cross (8), Davidson (8), BYU (7), Bucknell (7), Columbia (7), Princeton (7), Navy (7), Brown (6), Harvard (6), North Carolina (6) and Yale (6).
The four-year APR scores of all of KU’s 18 sports programs are expected to register well above the requisite measure of 925 established by the NCAA for good standing. The most recent multi-year APRs are based on scores from the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11, 2011-12 academic years.
The APR provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation, providing a measure of each team's academic performance.
KUAD
At the University of Kansas, the familiar three stripes are sticking around for a while.
After eight years of wearing Adidas apparel — complete with the linear logo — KU on Thursday announced a six-year contract extension that will pay the school in excess of $26 million in cash and merchandise through 2019.
The new deal is one of the richest in Adidas’ large portfolio of collegiate clients, and athletic department officials referenced two important factors in staying with Adidas: The Jayhawks have been more than satisfied with their eight-year relationship, and Adidas was aggressive in making sure that stayed the case as the end of the contract neared.
“We have been extremely pleased with our partnership with Adidas,” KU athletics director Sheahon Zenger said. “Adidas promised quality and dedication to service — to all our teams — and they have delivered what they promised.”
In 2005, when Kansas switched to Adidas under athletic director Lew Perkins, ending a long relationship with Nike, KU basketball coach Bill Self called it a business decision. Eight years later, that phrasing again seemed appropriate. The Jayhawks will receive $10 million in cash and slightly more than $16 million in products over the next six years, an increase of about $1 million annually over the old contract, which paid out $12 million in cash and more than $13 million in products over eight years.
KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said the school was aware of “other interests” in the market —the obvious alternative being Nike — but in the end, Adidas provided the best package.
“We were looking for the best deal,” Marchiony said. “And Adidas gave us the best deal.”
KC Star
Barb Parker, single mother of former Douglas County Jayhawks Special Olympics basketball team star Tony Parker, was eating dinner with her favorite player when the doorbell rang Sunday around 7 p.m.
The young man at the door of her home in the Wichita suburb of Bel Aire, wondered if Tony, 27, could come out to shoot hoops.
“Tony’s eating right now,” Barb told him.
But once the young man let her know who also wanted to shoot hoops with Tony, the food went cold.
Kansas University sophomore Perry Ellis, Tony’s favorite player, was in the neighborhood visiting friends. When he heard about the man who forever was shooting hoops on his driveway wearing a Kansas No. 34 jersey, he wanted to meet him before driving back to Lawrence.
…The Parkers, mother and son, lived in Lawrence from 2007 to 2012, when Barb decided to move to Wichita, where she had family members who could lend support to caring for Tony, who has intellectual disabilities.
Barb landed a job at Wichita Heights High, Ellis’ alma mater. She said she kept hearing nice things — some of the same qualities she sees in her son — about Ellis during her tour of the school.
“I told them I couldn’t accept this job until I got a picture with Perry Ellis,” she said, laughing. “When he came to our house I asked him if he remembered the crazy teacher who wanted a picture taken with him, and told him that was me.”
Ellis’ visit to the Parker driveway no doubt will motivate Tony to work harder on his game. As for Barb’s main motivator, nothing has changed there.
“Tony is loved by all,” Barb said. “He kind of has that heart of gold. He’s just a real caring person, always been that way. He’s the reason I’m a teacher. He is my inspiration.”
LJW
KU basketball players Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor made a surprise visit for youngsters at Bob Chipman’s summer camp at Washburn.
“It’s definitely fun, and it’s always humbling that little kids look up to me,” Traylor, said. “I find it fun for me to go out here, because I’m a big kid myself. I love interacting with little kids so it was definitely fun to get out here.”
The Jayhawks answered several questions from the campers. Everything from ‘what their favorite food is’ to ‘how good KU freshman Andrew Wiggins is going to be’ was up for grabs.
“I mean it’s great,” Ellis, said. “Seeing the excitement we can put on these kids faces, and just giving back, giving back to cities, and it just feels great.”
Video at the link
The addition of Andrew Wiggins to the Kansas basketball team is not lost on anyone.
Grade-schoolers attending the Bob Chipman Basketball Camp in Lee Arena peppered two of Wiggins’ future teammates Wednesday about the impact of the nation’s top-rated recruit.
Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor politely responded while working with youngsters attending the camp. Each recognized Wiggins’ immediate popularity, but offered little insight into Wiggins’ personality or potential.
“Everyone is definitely excited about Andrew,” Traylor said. “I can’t wait until he gets here. He can probably answer a few questions himself.”
…When the sweepstakes for Wiggins reached its final hours, the Jayhawks grew anxious.
“We were definitely keeping tabs and sending texts,” Traylor said. “We wanted him to come here.”
The captivating decision by Wiggins enabled KU coach Bill Self to attract six high school seniors, as well as Black and 7-0 Hunter Mickelson, who will be ineligible next season after transferring from Arkansas.
Competition at practice promises to be fierce.
“I was definitely excited. I knew we were getting a lot better and I started wondering how practice was going to be,” Traylor said. “It’s going to be intense. You’ve got to produce to stay out there, so everybody’s going to try to get better. You have to play hard and go to work.”
TCJ
6/7/13, 11:38 AM
Passing of the torch for shot blockers: Jeff Withey visits w/ Joel Embiid Friday at the #kubball office #7footers
@KU_Hoops
If the Jayhawks were a 1950s doo-wop group, they’d be known as “Paul Pierce and the Underachievers.” Multiple players on this list failed to match the hype attached to their names prior to their respective drafts.
A few things to consider. Kansas has a bunch of current NBA players who could transform their careers in the coming years. Mario Chalmers, the Morris (Markieff and Marcus) twins, Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur could all make major strides in the next two or three years. So this ranking is not complete.
But Kansas has produced 19 first-round picks since 1989, the year that the NBA implemented a two-round system, and Pierce is the only true star on the list. That’s surprising because the Jayhawks have produced so many pros in the last 20-plus years.
For some players, their struggles were complicated by injuries (LaFrentz) and personal choices that affected their careers (Wayne Simien entered the ministry after a brief stay in the league). Still, it’s clear that KU’s standing in college basketball does not parallel its status at the next level.
That’s why the Jayhawks are 14th in our rankings.
ESPN Path to the Draft: No. 14 Kansas
Kentucky has become a factory for first round picks because of the brand that they’ve built more than as a result of the program’s ability to develop talent. In other words, they’re the nation’s best NBA holding tank; they’re not the nation’s best NBA breeding grounds.
That title belongs to Kansas and Bill Self.
Since 2007, Kansas has had 13 players drafted, eight of whom have gone in the first round. That’s before you factor in Ben McLemore, who is projected to be taken as high as No. 2 this year, and Jeff Withey, whom Draft Express currently has going late in the first round. Two more players — Sherron Collins and Russell Robinson — have spent time playing in the NBA despite going undrafted. Do the math, and 17 players from Self’s first nine recruiting classes have played in the NBA.
Not impressed yet? How about this for a stat: since Bill Self’s first recruiting class in 2004, there have only been five rotation players that he’s brought into the program that didn’t play in the NBA and that didn’t transfer out of Kansas — Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed, Mario Little, Rodrick Stewart and Connor Teahan.
Now, Self hasn’t exactly been recruiting D-III athletes and magically turning them into first round picks. He’s landed 10 players that Rivals has rated as five-star recruits, and Kansas always ranks near the top of the annual recruiting class rankings. Hell, he’d have the best recruiting class in the country this season — headlined by Andrew Wiggins, who will be flanked by two other five-star recruits — if it wasn’t for Kentucky.
But when you look at the numbers a little closer, six of those 10 five-star recruits entered the program between 2004 and 2006. Only two of those ten were considered one-and-done locks, and both of them — Josh Selby and Xavier Henry — ended up having disappointing seasons in Lawrence.
If Kentucky has built their brand around being the NBA’s premier layover destination, Kansas has become defined by its ability to turn those that are overlooked and underhyped into NBA players; the top 50 and top 100 recruits that don’t get at much attention nationally until they have spent a year or two in Lawrence. The Cole Aldrichs, the Morris twins, the Thomas Robinsons, the McLemores and the Witheys.
“That’s something that we take great pride in, our individual development,” Self told NBCSports.com by phone this week. “We base everything off of what NBA teams are looking for and the things that they put their players through, and our assistant coaches do an unbelievable job with that program.”
…Self is arguably the best coach in all of college basketball. His staff is as good as any staff in the country, and that includes a world class strength and conditioning coach. All of that makes a difference. It gives his players the best tools to develop their craft and the best teachers to learn from. But in the end, it’s really not all that different than what every program in the country is doing. There’s only so many variations of squats; how many different drills do you really need to learn how to shoot a pull-up jumper going left?
What sets Kansas apart is that the players in the program have bought into what Self is selling them.
“I would say coming from high school into Kansas, I didn’t really expect myself to be in this position of being a lottery pick, a top five pick,” McLemore told NBCSports.com this week. He was in a unique position, however. A top 50 recruit, McLemore had good enough grades to get admitted into Kansas but he didn’t qualify to play as a freshman. That meant that the entirety of his first year in Lawrence would be spent hitting the books and hitting the gym, all without the reward of playing in front of a packed Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
McLemore credited his “stick-to-it-iveness and hard work” for his success, saying that the Kansas staff not only taught him what skills he needed to work on to improve, they taught him how hard he had to work to do it. “They helped me mature a lot,” he said, “helped me better my game, each and every day. You want to learn so much in Coach Self’s system and the Kansas system. That’s what I did, I wanted to learn so much. It helps a lot, on and off the court.”
More than anything, work ethic is what is valued at Kansas. But to hear Self tell it, work ethic is one of the hardest things for him to evaluate on the recruiting trail. “When you put kids in certain environments,” he said, “then their competitive spirit will start to shine. When you put them around other people that enjoy doing the things that they’re being asked to do, it becomes more of a habit.”
It’s that environment, as much as Self’s coaching, that has fostered the development of so many Jayhawks over the years. “The names change,” he said, “but the expectations don’t.” And those expectations are what fuels the program’s fire.
Kansas has won at least a share of nine straight Big 12 regular season titles. They’ve won six Big 12 tournament titles during that stretch. There’s not a single player in the Kansas program that wants to be associated with the infamy of being on the team that snaps that streak. It’s the perfect motivational tool.
“There’s never a lackadaisical day,” Self said. “The attitude is, ‘Hey, let’s get to work’, whether it’s for 20 minutes or three hours, it makes no difference. We’ve gotta get better during that time.”
It’s a perfect storm, really.
The best coaching, the best training and a culture that’s defined by a ‘you only get out what you put in’ mentality.
NBCsports
Which player is a future All-Star?
Fraschilla: Ben McLemore. After only one season of college basketball, he hasn't figured it all out yet. But no one in this draft has his combination elite NBA athleticism and size at the shooting guard position and a Ray Allen-like shooting stroke. It wouldn't shock me if you woke me up in 12 years and told me he was going to the Hall of Fame.
Telep: McLemore. Most All-Stars hang their hats on that little extra the other guys don't have. With McLemore, it's the obvious athletic explosiveness mixed with the ability to generate diverse offense. Bill Self had to implore him at times to shoot. One day the light goes on and the talent takes over. He doesn't realize his own talent level.
Which player will win Rookie of the Year?
Pelton: McLemore. Rookie of the Year is as much about opportunity as it is ability, and McLemore is likely to go to a team that badly needs his scoring punch. That could translate into more impressive per-game numbers than the other top picks put up as rookies.
Elhassan: McLemore. Eight out of the past 10 Rookie of the Year winners led rookies in scoring, showing the voters give preference to players who throw points on the board. McLemore might be the most complete scorer, and he'll most likely go to a team that will allow him to hoist shots.
Which player could be a disappointment?
Ford: I worry about the expectations we are putting on McLemore. He has All-Star talent, but I'm not sure he has the mental makeup to maximize his potential. I worry he could be the second coming of Brandon Rush.
ESPN ($)
McLemore is the least likely of the group to be available when Phoenix makes its pick. He said the only other workout he has scheduled thus far is with the Orlando Magic, who have the second overall selection.
"I think I can bring a lot to the table with a lot of teams," McLemore said. "Right now I'm just working on my game, getting prepared for the next level."
Hornacek wants an up-tempo team, and McLemore said that would fit him perfectly.
"It would be great getting up and down the court, to have a great point guard who can see the open floor, see the wings open and stuff like that. I can get my shot off and it would create stuff for me and a lot of things. It would be great."
McLemore and his agent want only individual workouts, which makes it difficult to assess all aspects of a player's game.
"It is a little more difficult to evaluate him," McDonough said. "We feel like it's better than nothing, having him in the gym, getting to know him. I took Ben to dinner last night. We'd like it to be competitive but at the same time I guess I understand, his agent, and not just Ben specifically but other players in that situation who feel like they probably will go ahead of us, their agents have in their best interest to try to protect the player."
Both McDonough and Hornacek praised the pure shooting ability of McLemore.
"Not only was his stroke nice, his foot preparation was good," Hornacek said. "A lot of guys like to take that little extra hop in their shots. I try to tell them if you take that extra hop, that's the difference between taking an open shot and one with a guy right in your face."
ctpost
1. Ben McLemore, 6-5/190, Kansas McLemore is that rare fast-twitch athlete with a pure shooting stroke. He excelled last season in Bill Self's structured offense at Kansas, putting up numbers while also showing the capability to play team basketball. His dip in production in Kansas' three NCAA Tournament games is a concern, but I'm of the opinion that was a poorly timed shooting slump as opposed to a tendency to shrink under the bright lights. The 20-year-old McLemore has been compared to Ray Allen in the months leading up to the draft. He's not the same caliber of shooter as Allen, who's considered one of the top two or three shooters of all time. But McLemore is a more explosive athlete than Allen. He has All-Star written all over him, and the Magic will snatch him up with the No. 2 pick if the Cavaliers pass on him with the No. 1 pick.
CSNPhilly
Passing of the torch for shot blockers: Jeff Withey visits w/ Joel Embiid Friday at the #kubball office #7footers
@KU_Hoops
If the Jayhawks were a 1950s doo-wop group, they’d be known as “Paul Pierce and the Underachievers.” Multiple players on this list failed to match the hype attached to their names prior to their respective drafts.
A few things to consider. Kansas has a bunch of current NBA players who could transform their careers in the coming years. Mario Chalmers, the Morris (Markieff and Marcus) twins, Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur could all make major strides in the next two or three years. So this ranking is not complete.
But Kansas has produced 19 first-round picks since 1989, the year that the NBA implemented a two-round system, and Pierce is the only true star on the list. That’s surprising because the Jayhawks have produced so many pros in the last 20-plus years.
For some players, their struggles were complicated by injuries (LaFrentz) and personal choices that affected their careers (Wayne Simien entered the ministry after a brief stay in the league). Still, it’s clear that KU’s standing in college basketball does not parallel its status at the next level.
That’s why the Jayhawks are 14th in our rankings.
ESPN Path to the Draft: No. 14 Kansas
Kentucky has become a factory for first round picks because of the brand that they’ve built more than as a result of the program’s ability to develop talent. In other words, they’re the nation’s best NBA holding tank; they’re not the nation’s best NBA breeding grounds.
That title belongs to Kansas and Bill Self.
Since 2007, Kansas has had 13 players drafted, eight of whom have gone in the first round. That’s before you factor in Ben McLemore, who is projected to be taken as high as No. 2 this year, and Jeff Withey, whom Draft Express currently has going late in the first round. Two more players — Sherron Collins and Russell Robinson — have spent time playing in the NBA despite going undrafted. Do the math, and 17 players from Self’s first nine recruiting classes have played in the NBA.
Not impressed yet? How about this for a stat: since Bill Self’s first recruiting class in 2004, there have only been five rotation players that he’s brought into the program that didn’t play in the NBA and that didn’t transfer out of Kansas — Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed, Mario Little, Rodrick Stewart and Connor Teahan.
Now, Self hasn’t exactly been recruiting D-III athletes and magically turning them into first round picks. He’s landed 10 players that Rivals has rated as five-star recruits, and Kansas always ranks near the top of the annual recruiting class rankings. Hell, he’d have the best recruiting class in the country this season — headlined by Andrew Wiggins, who will be flanked by two other five-star recruits — if it wasn’t for Kentucky.
But when you look at the numbers a little closer, six of those 10 five-star recruits entered the program between 2004 and 2006. Only two of those ten were considered one-and-done locks, and both of them — Josh Selby and Xavier Henry — ended up having disappointing seasons in Lawrence.
If Kentucky has built their brand around being the NBA’s premier layover destination, Kansas has become defined by its ability to turn those that are overlooked and underhyped into NBA players; the top 50 and top 100 recruits that don’t get at much attention nationally until they have spent a year or two in Lawrence. The Cole Aldrichs, the Morris twins, the Thomas Robinsons, the McLemores and the Witheys.
“That’s something that we take great pride in, our individual development,” Self told NBCSports.com by phone this week. “We base everything off of what NBA teams are looking for and the things that they put their players through, and our assistant coaches do an unbelievable job with that program.”
…Self is arguably the best coach in all of college basketball. His staff is as good as any staff in the country, and that includes a world class strength and conditioning coach. All of that makes a difference. It gives his players the best tools to develop their craft and the best teachers to learn from. But in the end, it’s really not all that different than what every program in the country is doing. There’s only so many variations of squats; how many different drills do you really need to learn how to shoot a pull-up jumper going left?
What sets Kansas apart is that the players in the program have bought into what Self is selling them.
“I would say coming from high school into Kansas, I didn’t really expect myself to be in this position of being a lottery pick, a top five pick,” McLemore told NBCSports.com this week. He was in a unique position, however. A top 50 recruit, McLemore had good enough grades to get admitted into Kansas but he didn’t qualify to play as a freshman. That meant that the entirety of his first year in Lawrence would be spent hitting the books and hitting the gym, all without the reward of playing in front of a packed Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
McLemore credited his “stick-to-it-iveness and hard work” for his success, saying that the Kansas staff not only taught him what skills he needed to work on to improve, they taught him how hard he had to work to do it. “They helped me mature a lot,” he said, “helped me better my game, each and every day. You want to learn so much in Coach Self’s system and the Kansas system. That’s what I did, I wanted to learn so much. It helps a lot, on and off the court.”
More than anything, work ethic is what is valued at Kansas. But to hear Self tell it, work ethic is one of the hardest things for him to evaluate on the recruiting trail. “When you put kids in certain environments,” he said, “then their competitive spirit will start to shine. When you put them around other people that enjoy doing the things that they’re being asked to do, it becomes more of a habit.”
It’s that environment, as much as Self’s coaching, that has fostered the development of so many Jayhawks over the years. “The names change,” he said, “but the expectations don’t.” And those expectations are what fuels the program’s fire.
Kansas has won at least a share of nine straight Big 12 regular season titles. They’ve won six Big 12 tournament titles during that stretch. There’s not a single player in the Kansas program that wants to be associated with the infamy of being on the team that snaps that streak. It’s the perfect motivational tool.
“There’s never a lackadaisical day,” Self said. “The attitude is, ‘Hey, let’s get to work’, whether it’s for 20 minutes or three hours, it makes no difference. We’ve gotta get better during that time.”
It’s a perfect storm, really.
The best coaching, the best training and a culture that’s defined by a ‘you only get out what you put in’ mentality.
NBCsports
Which player is a future All-Star?
Fraschilla: Ben McLemore. After only one season of college basketball, he hasn't figured it all out yet. But no one in this draft has his combination elite NBA athleticism and size at the shooting guard position and a Ray Allen-like shooting stroke. It wouldn't shock me if you woke me up in 12 years and told me he was going to the Hall of Fame.
Telep: McLemore. Most All-Stars hang their hats on that little extra the other guys don't have. With McLemore, it's the obvious athletic explosiveness mixed with the ability to generate diverse offense. Bill Self had to implore him at times to shoot. One day the light goes on and the talent takes over. He doesn't realize his own talent level.
Which player will win Rookie of the Year?
Pelton: McLemore. Rookie of the Year is as much about opportunity as it is ability, and McLemore is likely to go to a team that badly needs his scoring punch. That could translate into more impressive per-game numbers than the other top picks put up as rookies.
Elhassan: McLemore. Eight out of the past 10 Rookie of the Year winners led rookies in scoring, showing the voters give preference to players who throw points on the board. McLemore might be the most complete scorer, and he'll most likely go to a team that will allow him to hoist shots.
Which player could be a disappointment?
Ford: I worry about the expectations we are putting on McLemore. He has All-Star talent, but I'm not sure he has the mental makeup to maximize his potential. I worry he could be the second coming of Brandon Rush.
ESPN ($)
McLemore is the least likely of the group to be available when Phoenix makes its pick. He said the only other workout he has scheduled thus far is with the Orlando Magic, who have the second overall selection.
"I think I can bring a lot to the table with a lot of teams," McLemore said. "Right now I'm just working on my game, getting prepared for the next level."
Hornacek wants an up-tempo team, and McLemore said that would fit him perfectly.
"It would be great getting up and down the court, to have a great point guard who can see the open floor, see the wings open and stuff like that. I can get my shot off and it would create stuff for me and a lot of things. It would be great."
McLemore and his agent want only individual workouts, which makes it difficult to assess all aspects of a player's game.
"It is a little more difficult to evaluate him," McDonough said. "We feel like it's better than nothing, having him in the gym, getting to know him. I took Ben to dinner last night. We'd like it to be competitive but at the same time I guess I understand, his agent, and not just Ben specifically but other players in that situation who feel like they probably will go ahead of us, their agents have in their best interest to try to protect the player."
Both McDonough and Hornacek praised the pure shooting ability of McLemore.
"Not only was his stroke nice, his foot preparation was good," Hornacek said. "A lot of guys like to take that little extra hop in their shots. I try to tell them if you take that extra hop, that's the difference between taking an open shot and one with a guy right in your face."
ctpost
1. Ben McLemore, 6-5/190, Kansas McLemore is that rare fast-twitch athlete with a pure shooting stroke. He excelled last season in Bill Self's structured offense at Kansas, putting up numbers while also showing the capability to play team basketball. His dip in production in Kansas' three NCAA Tournament games is a concern, but I'm of the opinion that was a poorly timed shooting slump as opposed to a tendency to shrink under the bright lights. The 20-year-old McLemore has been compared to Ray Allen in the months leading up to the draft. He's not the same caliber of shooter as Allen, who's considered one of the top two or three shooters of all time. But McLemore is a more explosive athlete than Allen. He has All-Star written all over him, and the Magic will snatch him up with the No. 2 pick if the Cavaliers pass on him with the No. 1 pick.
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6/5/13, 11:32 AM
Kansas' Elijah Johnson lifts off for his max vert. test at today's Pre-Draft workout
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VIDEO: EJ at Wizards
6/5/13, 7:13 PM
LeBron James says Paul Pierce is his biggest rival.
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WSJ Sports Retort podcast with Nick Collison
Space available for Bill's Basektball Boogie
The fifth annual Rock Chalk Roundball Classic returns to Lawrence, Kan., on Thursday, June 13, at Free State High School. More than former 25 Jayhawks and celebrities will be playing and coaching in the event that raises money each year for local kids fighting cancer.
Beneficiaries of the 2013 Rock Chalk Roundball Classic are Calin Strahm, a four-year-old from Shawnee, Kan., and Jakob Askins, a 14-year-old from Topeka, Kan.
Not only will fans be treated to the exhibition basketball game featuring former KU players from the last three decades, but there’s also a free concert during the pregame, a 25-minute postgame autograph session and a chance to win a car from Crown Automotive of Lawrence. Doors open a Free State High School at 5:30 p.m. with the event starting at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $7 and can be purchased in advance at the 23rd St. Brewery in Lawrence, AAA on Wanamaker Ave. in Topeka and Dr. Leiszler’s Dentistry in Baldwin, Kan. Tickets are also available on game day at the gym.
Rosters here
RockChalk Roundball Classic on June 13
Big 12/College News
6/7/13, 8:33 AM
@NBAalumni Otis Birdsong, Danny Manning & Micheal Ray Richardson leading free youth basketball clinic for tornado victims in Moore, OK 6/13
@PaulCorliss
When I told my St. Louis dentist, Jay Joern, an ardent Mizzou fan, I’d be moving to Kansas City, his first reaction was to insist I live on the Missouri side. After all, he noted, legendary MU coach Norm Stewart prided himself on never spending any money in Kansas.
Or so he thought. When I told him that Stewart, in fact, had acknowledged he just liked to say that for theatrics, Dr. Joern slumped back in his seat as if I’d told him there was no Santa Claus.
He was just one of many to weigh in on the unique matters of the Missouri-Kansas border, which even in my few weeks here since arriving to work for The Star I’ve come to learn has seeped far deeper into the landscape than anyone can understand from afar.
I’d studied it, interviewed people about it and been here enough over 25 years that I thought I had a sense of that pulse. Yet it’s evident I’ve got a lot more to learn about the depths of that — not to mention plenty of other things about the area. (Why 7 Highway, for instance, instead of Highway 7?).
Still, this much I can tell already: Something fundamental is missing from the Kansas City sports scene right now, and not just because the Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since 1993 and the Royals haven’t since beating the Cardinals in the 1985 World Series.
Like each other or not, Mizzou and Kansas have to start playing each other again. Soon. It’s bigger than the institutions themselves, or the current leaderships and decisions they’ve made. It’s about the very underpinnings of the area, essential to the tapestry and part of the DNA in sports and beyond.
…“We miss Missouri … Without question … For the immediate future, for both programs, there is something missing — for the immediate future,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Thursday in his office. “But from our standpoint, they’re not part of our long-term future. And we’re not part of their long-term future.”
Self says this without a hint of rancor, by the way, just a matter-of-fact statement that Mizzou’s move from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference was a rejection of its past, one that jeopardized the stability of those left behind.
In some ways, in fact, Self is downright nostalgic about Mizzou.
“I will admit that there’s not a game that I’ve enjoyed coaching more in on our schedule than going to Columbia,” he said, reminding that he’d long been tethered to MU since playing and coaching at Oklahoma State against Missouri in the Big Eight. “Hey, I wanted the Missouri job; they didn’t hire me. Then I go (from Tulsa) to Illinois, which is Missouri’s biggest non-conference rival, and we have great fun in that series. Then I come here, where it’s the most bitter rival. …
“It was always a game that was circled in my mind. I don’t have that same feeling now. The dynamics have changed.”
Not that everyone entwined with KU feels that way. Former star Bud Stallworth, for instance, was visiting Kansas on Thursday. Asked if he thought the games should be resumed, he said, “Absolutely.”
Told his answer, Self laughed and said, “Because he dropped 50 on Missouri” in a 1972 game.
“It’s all very kind of complicated, and there are a lot of different layers to it,” former Kansas basketball star Ryan Robertson said.
Robertson, who is married to a former Mizzou soccer player, encapsulates some of that himself. He says “as a fan” he’d “love to see Kansas and Missouri continue to play basketball games” … but that as a former Jayhawk he understands the school’s resistance and believes MU needs the game more than Kansas does.
…“My opinion is still the exact same it was a year ago, and it’s not a hatred opinion,” Self said. “It’s just like, ‘Hey, you took your ball and went and played with somebody else. We’re not just standing on the sidelines waiting to play with you. We’ve got other people we can play.’”
As for down the road?
“Maybe the next coach may see it differently, or maybe the next chancellor, or maybe the next athletic director,” Self said, “because time does have a way of soothing some things.”
But even as time might ease tensions, it also might foster apathy.
“Nobody’s going to view it as a great rivalry five years from now; nobody’s going to view it as a rivalry 10 years from now,” Self said. “There will be somebody else who will emerge in some way, shape or form that kind of fills that role for both programs.
“And it may not ever get to the level that the Kansas-Missouri deal got to. It probably won’t. I don’t see how it can. But it’s still going to be somebody else.”
KC Star Vahe Gregorian
Dixon said he has been taking online coursework since he left Missouri, in hopes of landing somewhere else.
“If I wasn’t able to go D-1, I was going professional,” Dixon said. “That’s not something I wanted to do but if I had to, I would. This is now how I want to be remembered as a college basketball player.”
It appears Dixon, who was also named to the Big 12’s all-defensive team as a junior, will get his chance to do something about it at Memphis, though he will need a waiver similar to the one Maryland star Dez Wells received last fall to play immediately.
Wells was expelled from Xavier in the midst of allegations of sexual assault, but was never charged. If Dixon receives the waiver, he will have one year of eligibility remaining.
“If God and the NCAA allows it, I’d love to help them out on the basketball court,” Dixon said.
Dixon said it’s also unclear exactly how Pastner will use him. Though he was never shy about his desire to start at Missouri, Memphis’ top three returning scorers — all of whom averaged over 10 points per game — are guards.
“Coach Pastner told me he won’t promise anything, but you know what, in my college career I’ve never been promised anything,” Dixon said. “It’s going to be just like it’s always been. I don’t think the NBA cares about who starts.”
KC Star
As more details emerge from Wednesday night's arrest of North Carolina forward P.J. Hairston, the potential consequences continue to grow more dire.
A 9-millimeter handgun and a magazine with nine rounds of ammunition were found on the ground outside the vehicle Hairston was driving when Durham police pulled him over at a checkpoint, according to multiple reports. It's unclear which of the three men in the car owned the handgun if any of them, but the implication is one of them may have attempted to dispose of the weapon as the vehicle approached the checkpoint.
Hairston and the other two men in the vehicle were arrested for possession of marijuana, and the North Carolina forward was also cited for driving without a license. The police report released Friday revealed officers found 43.2 grams of marijuana in the car in two separate plastic baggies.
If the possession of marijuana is the only charge levied against Hairston, North Carolina likely wouldn't have reason to make his punishment more severe than a brief suspension. Gun charges would surely complicate things, however, and perhaps even put his standing with the university in jeopardy.
North Carolina cannot afford to lose Hairston for an extended period next season since his return is one of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels are likely to begin the season in the top 10 in most polls.
Yahoo
Morale Entertainment's Mike Whalen, whose company staged the inaugural Carrier Classic in 2011 and two other games last year, said Thursday he does not intend to hold a basketball game on a ship this November. A spokesman for the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum said there are no plans to play a game on the USS Yorktown this year, while USS Midway Museum officials said there will be no Battle on the Midway sequel either.
"Hosting the SDSU-Syracuse game last year was a huge source of pride for both the USS Midway Museum and San Diego," USS Midway Museum marketing director Scott McGaugh said. "We also experienced firsthand the logistical challenges and oceanfront weather variables that make the concept difficult to reliably execute. So we've decided to take a year and evaluate various options based on our first year's experience."
Unless there's another party who makes a late push to try to set up a game, it appears the trend of games on ships will go on hiatus next season, probably a wise idea considering the weather issues that plagued last year's set of games.
Yahoo
2013-14 Early-season events schedule
Recruiting
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Stanley Johnson isn't the biggest player in the class of 2014. He's not the most athletic or the best shooter. He's not the most explosive or the best ball-handler.
And that's fine with him.
Johnson will just outwork everyone and be arguably the most consistently productive player on the circuit.
“I just play harder than everybody else,” Johnson said last weekend at the Pangos All-American Camp. “That's probably the only thing I have up on anybody else in the country; I play harder than you. A lot of players do a lot of great things. A lot of great scorers in our class, a lot of great dunkers. But I think I can separate myself by playing harder than everybody else.”
…Plenty of schools would love to have his services, but Johnson has his list at eight: Kansas, Duke, Florida, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, USC and UCLA.
He said Arizona and Kentucky are coming at him the hardest and have been recruiting him the longest. Both schools are expected to get official visits in the fall, with the Tucson trip the first one he has scheduled. Oregon and Florida will also get official visits, while Johnson will take unofficials to USC and UCLA.
As for the fifth official visit? That's up in the air.
“The only toss-up is Kansas and Duke, because they came in the latest,” Johnson said. “I feel like the schools that have been recruiting me the longest should have the most opportunity for a visit.”
CBS
ESPN ($): 10 things learned from USA BBall U16 tryouts
Recruiting Calendar
2013 Spring/Summer AAU & Camp Schedule
My 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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Stanley Johnson isn't the biggest player in the class of 2014. He's not the most athletic or the best shooter. He's not the most explosive or the best ball-handler.
And that's fine with him.
Johnson will just outwork everyone and be arguably the most consistently productive player on the circuit.
“I just play harder than everybody else,” Johnson said last weekend at the Pangos All-American Camp. “That's probably the only thing I have up on anybody else in the country; I play harder than you. A lot of players do a lot of great things. A lot of great scorers in our class, a lot of great dunkers. But I think I can separate myself by playing harder than everybody else.”
…Plenty of schools would love to have his services, but Johnson has his list at eight: Kansas, Duke, Florida, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, USC and UCLA.
He said Arizona and Kentucky are coming at him the hardest and have been recruiting him the longest. Both schools are expected to get official visits in the fall, with the Tucson trip the first one he has scheduled. Oregon and Florida will also get official visits, while Johnson will take unofficials to USC and UCLA.
As for the fifth official visit? That's up in the air.
“The only toss-up is Kansas and Duke, because they came in the latest,” Johnson said. “I feel like the schools that have been recruiting me the longest should have the most opportunity for a visit.”
CBS
ESPN ($): 10 things learned from USA BBall U16 tryouts
Recruiting Calendar
2013 Spring/Summer AAU & Camp Schedule
My 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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