KUAD: Kansas vs Washburn pregame notes
Basketball fans will find out tonight what happens when one of the top teams in NCAA Div. I takes on one of the elite teams in Div. II.
Tipoff for an intriguing exhibition contest between No. 7-ranked Kansas University and No. 2 Washburn is 7 p.m., in Allen Fieldhouse with a live telecast on the Jayhawk Network (local cable channels 3, 13, 203, 213).
“I see this as a big game for the both of us ... them coming in with such a high standard for their year and us, as well,” said KU senior point guard Elijah Johnson. “I feel it’s a good test for both schools. I feel we’ll both go out and play hard,” Johnson added.
There are bragging rights at stake for Johnson and several of his KU teammates, who worked veteran coach Bob Chipman’s camps this past summer.
“He’s a cool dude, funny, a cool person to be around,” Johnson said of Chipman, whose 34th Ichabod team may be his finest considering it returns 90 percent of the scoring and 94 percent of the rebounding from last year’s 25-8 squad.
Washburn has already played a pair of unranked Big 12 squads in the past week.
The Ichabods, who trailed by six points with 16 minutes to play, fell at Oklahoma, 83-66, on Saturday after losing at Kansas State, 81-61, on Oct. 30.
…Senior forward Kevin Young, who broke a bone in his right hand on Oct. 25, will likely begin shooting today, Self said.
“We were hoping he could shoot this weekend,” Self said Sunday. “He wasn’t able to. Hopefully he can shoot tomorrow. We’re still believing he can be practicing by Saturday.”
Freshman walk-on guard Evan Manning, who has been wearing a boot on his right foot all preseason, practiced for the first time on Sunday. “I don’t know if he can play in the game, but he did practice,” Self said.
Freshman forward Zach Peters remains sidelined with a rotator cuff injury in his left shoulder.
…Self as of Sunday had not yet spoken to former KU guard/forward Brandon Rush of the Golden State Warriors, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee over the weekend.
“I text him and called him and talked to his agent and family friends and everything,” Self said. “I hate to say this, from what we hear it’s a very severe injury. He’s playing so well. He turned the corner to be a 10- or 15-year NBA veteran. He’s only got one year left on his contract right now. I will say this about Brandon ... he’s been there, done it. He will be discouraged I’m sure for a bit. Somehow or another he’ll rally around it like the last time it happened.”
LJW
Mercury News: Rush out for season with torn ACL in his left knee
Only a few seconds into this particular possession in this particular Kansas practice, Elijah Johnson fired up a jumpshot from just inside the 3-point line on the right side of the court. That this shot did not find the target was not of great significance. Bill Self was not concerned about accuracy, but brevity.
With the weight of eight consecutive Big 12 championships and two Final Four trips in the past five years behind him, Self firmly reminded his newly minted point guard a ball reversal or two might help the offense function more efficiently.
When a couple of trips later young Ben McLemore launched a jumper just one pass into the offensive set, well, that was on Johnson, too.
Such is the education of a point guard.
“For the most part, I can finish his sentences for him,” Johnson told Sporting News. “So when he’s saying something, I usually don’t even hear the end of the sentence. Unless it’s a long sentence.
“I know how to read Coach real well, and that’s something I definitely try to bring on the court.”
…Johnson was positioned at shooting guard, with senior Tyshawn Taylor was in control of the ball the majority of the time. Johnson’s runs at the point were limited to those moments when Taylor was on the bench. In two games at the Final Four, Taylor left the court for a total of seven minutes.
“I definitely came here thinking I’d be a point guard, and I still am. I think Coach believes in me, but there was somebody ahead of me,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t say it was hard to wait. I’ve been having fun since I got here, just as far as learning everything. It’s real neat how much the game is really about, how much detail.”
…During breaks in practice, Johnson frequently spoke to power forward Perry Ellis, a 6-8 in-state star from Wichita, Kan., about what was expected of him in different situations.
“He’s real smart on the court,” Ellis told Sporting News. “He’s helped me out a lot since I’ve been here. His leadership is there, but it’s only going to get better as he gets more comfortable.”
…What Johnson does not do visibly—or, more to the point, audibly—during practice is present himself as an obvious vocal presence. When the ball is in play, he is not overtly communicative in directing his teammates through their offensive or defensive schemes. Johnson insists that he does his talking more privately so his subject can hear him but perhaps no one else notices.
“Some people receive the message better like that,” Johnson said. “Sometimes when you say stuff out loud, it’s more of an attention-getter. I’ll provide advice on the fly. I’m constantly talking to them.
“I think I’m patient with people, and I think that helps them gain confidence. I try not to make them panic in any situation. I try to be the person that’s calm.”
…“One thing I learned from Ty is to just keep playing. At the end of the day, you’ve got to keep playing. You can’t quit,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing he wouldn’t do; he wouldn’t quit for anybody.”
TSN: Johnson's steady hand could keep Kansas in contention
Perry Ellis is standing at the free-throw line on a late October afternoon, his coach’s voice echoing through Allen Fieldhouse. Another practice is winding down, and Bill Self is running a series of inbounds plays.
On this day, the Jayhawks’ regular routine has been slightly altered. In nearly 30 minutes, Self will begin his annual clinic for area high school coaches. The bleachers are speckled with men holding clipboards: a captive audience for the Education of Perry Ellis.
“You know what you’re doing Perry?” Self says, his voice raising an octave.
Ellis stands still, the whole team waiting on a freshman.
“Then don’t be out here if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Self continues.
Senior center Jeff Withey walks out to the free-throw line to take his spot, and Ellis retreats to the baseline, his eyes on Withey as the play begins.
…In almost a decade at Kansas, Self has landed higher-ranked recruits. He has won big: two Final Fours and a NCAA title. But he has never had a player like Ellis. A McDonald’s All-American who was one of the top 25 recruits in the country. A high school valedictorian who never brought home a B in high school. A native Kansan.
To some, Ellis represents the ideal KU recruit: a blend of talent and determination, a product of a loving Kansas family. To Self, Ellis represents a bridge to the future.
…For Perry, everything could become a competition. When Savannah brought home a report card with nearly all A’s, Perry bugged his sister with questions: How do you get straight A’s? What classes do I need?
When Savannah helped Wichita Heights to two state titles in basketball, Perry thought about winning three.
And when he felt like he still needed to do more, Perry would make his dad drive him to the Northside YMCA at 6 a.m. on weekdays. Perry played pickup basketball with the morning crowd, mostly young professionals in their 20s and 30, until Fonda came and got him to school on time.
Perry used to tell people that academics were his fallback plan, that he knew there would eventually be life after basketball. That’s true, Perry says now, but he also just didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like to get a B.
“Why try to achieve something lesser than what you can,” Perry says, “when you can work a little harder and get to the top.”
…More than 6,000 fans had packed into the building as Wichita East, the state’s No. 1-ranked team, was about to face Wichita Heights and its most anticipated freshman in years.
Joe Auer, Heights’ head coach, saw Perry nearly hyperventilating. So moments later, two senior captains huddled with Perry in the hallway and delivered the only message they could: Relax. Your time will come. Tonight, we need double figures in rebounds and need you to make free throws late in the game.
Nearly four years later, Auer can still recite Perry’s line from that night: Nine points. 12 rebounds.
“And he was perfect from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter,” Auer says. “I think all of us really started to understand how special he was.”
At one point the Ellis family looked toward the front row and spotted a college coach. Bill Self’s Jayhawks had played at Allen Fieldhouse that afternoon. And here he was hours later watching their son play his first high school game.
“That meant a lot to me,” Perry says.
Still just a freshman, Perry was recruited by nearly every big-time school in the country. Memphis coach Josh Pastner, then an assistant at Arizona, recruited Perry in the eighth grade. When Savannah went to play at Memphis the next year, John Calipari asked about her brother. But Kansas was always there. Summer camps. Trips to Late Night. A relationship built over years.
“He always was changing the order of his list around,” Fonda says, “but I felt like KU was always No. 1.”
…The phone rang on Sept. 14. Perry Ellis’ grandfather was calling from Iowa, wanting to talk basketball and wish his grandson a happy 19th birthday. Floyd Terpstra told Perry that he’d be there Nov. 9 when Kansas opened the regular season against Southeast Missouri State.
A few hours after they hung up, Floyd suffered a massive heart attack. He died three days later.
“Every time we would talk, he was so excited just to come see me play here,” Perry says. “First game, he’d be here. And life took him away. But he’s in a better place.”
Back in Wichita, Fonda clutches the newspaper clipping, trying to explain how much basketball has meant to their family. But maybe it’s better to see it.
Last Tuesday night, Perry stepped onto the floor of Allen Fieldhouse for an exhibition game against Emporia State, his first game since losing his grandfather. The rest of the family sat in the stands, together for the next step.
KC Star
“This year I think we can go 10 or 11 deep,” Self said. “We’re definitely a deeper team.”
But, wait. Later in the day, Self needed to clarify. The Jayhawks may have the guys to go 10 or 11 deep. But they won’t.
“No,” Self said. “We’re gonna play nine. We’ll start the season out playing nine, and then it will go to eight, and then who knows where it will go after that.”
Kansas’ rotation crunch makes for some intriguing arithmetic. The Jayhawks return four seniors, including three starters off last year’s Final Four squad. They’ve added seven scholarship freshmen. And sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe is the only scholarship player in the middle.
In short, it means a period of roster sorting during the season’s opening weeks, a process that continues with tonight’s exhibition game at 7 against Washburn, the Jayhawks’ final game before their season opener against Southeast Missouri on Friday.
…With Kansas’ matchup with Michigan State in the Champions Classic looming Nov. 13 in Atlanta, it seems likely that Self would lean more toward experience in the opening weeks. But with a roster packed with newcomers, the rotation could takes weeks, at least, to fully solidify.
“There will be some guys disappointed this year,” Self said, “But that also brings out competition, which is good.”
KC Star
He scored 54 points in a game as a sophomore in high school and idolizes Jamal Crawford, an NBA player who starts shooting before he steps off the bus.
That combination suggests that making the transition from superstar to complementary player won’t come without its challenges, but give Kansas University freshman guard Rio Adams credit for trying.
“I feel like I could do some stuff like that here,” Adams said of the 54-point game after Sunday’s practice. “It was just my time at the time when that happened. Right now, I’m in the learning process like I was at Franklin my freshman year.”
Adams will seek to defend tonight in an exhibition against Washburn the way he did last week against Emporia State, which didn’t bring as much talent and efficiency onto the Allen Fieldhouse floor as the Ichabods will.
Adams already had the look of a big-time defender.
“It was taking me a while to get the offense down, so I used the defense to get me warm and going,” Adams said of his adjustment to college basketball. “I’m picking things up a little quicker than I was before. The defense was just keeping me on the floor, keeping me warm.”
As for what sort of an offensive player Adams can become, Kansas coach Bill Self doesn’t care to explore that just yet.
“Right now, I’m not even talking to him about that,” Self said. “I’m just talking to him about, ‘Are you taking care of the ball and are you playing great defense?’ He’s a good offensive player, but he’s thinking too much right now.
“I think as he just makes plays defensively and makes the game easier for other guys, I think he knows I’ll get confidence in him and he’ll start playing better offensively. But right now, I’ve got him pretty sped up. He doesn’t know if he’s coming or going, and I’m not sure that’s all bad right now.”
LJW
Before Tuesday’s exhibition against Emporia State, Kansas University freshman guard Andrew White had never played in a game with his name on his uniform.
That made it even more significant that he decided to add an extra tribute — a “III” following “White” — just a few weeks before the season began.
“Not everybody can do this, because not everybody is third generation,” said White III, a 6-foot-6, 210-pounder from Chester, Va. “So I thought it was a good opportunity to show off my family. It’s a great feeling to carry my dad and my grandpa’s name.”
White — his full name is Andrew Jackson White III — came up with the idea a couple months ago, contacting KU men’s basketball sports-information director Chris Theisen to see if it would be possible. Theisen passed the idea to assistant athletic director for equipment Larry Hare, who received final approval from KU coach Bill Self.
By the end of that day, White was able to phone his parents, Andrew Jr. and Sheryl, to let them know about the change.
A few weeks later, when White received his uniform, he sent a picture along to his father, a housing developer back in Chester, which is close to Richmond.
“He doesn’t have a whole lot of emotion, but I know he liked it,” White III said. “He said it looked good.”
Indeed, Andrew Jackson White Jr., and Andrew Jackson White Sr., were humbled by what was much more than a fashion statement on a jersey.
“He carries that legacy and is proud of it,” Andrew’s granddad, an 80-year-old retired Baptist pastor, told the Journal-World in a phone interview from his home in Petersburg, Va.
LJW
Champions Classic: KU vs Michigan State
North Carolina Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams wasn't going to miss the Orlando Magic's season-opener Friday night against the Denver Nuggets.
Not with one of his favorite former players making his regular-season head-coaching debut.
Williams made the trip to Orlando to support Jacque Vaughn, his former University of Kansas point guard.
His presence meant a lot to Vaughn.
"When you think about all the special memories he and I have together — from his days of recruiting me, coming to watch me in high school — to a lot of years later, I'm probably the first ex-player of his who is a head coach professionally," Vaughn said.
"He'll always be my coach, so that's a great feeling to have him here tonight."
Williams felt nervous as tipoff approached.
"He's one of the most unique young men that I've ever been around in every phase of his life," Williams said from his courtside seat.
"I've had some really, really good leaders, but I've never been around a better leader. I've never been around a player who had the utmost respect from every teammate that he ever had, and right now, I feel like a doting father. I'm sitting over here and I've got butterflies."
Orlando Sentinel
LJW Photos: WBB vs FHSU
KUAD Photos: WBB vs FHSU
KUAD: WBB Box Score, Quotes, Notes
Back in the summer, when members of Kansas University’s women’s basketball team spent their spare time playing pick-up games, senior point guard Angel Goodrich began to see flashes of what the Jayhawks could become. She noticed the varied styles and strengths her teammates brought to the floor and thought KU just might have the right combination of depth and variety to put together another successful season.
It was just an exhibition against NCAA Division II Fort Hays State, but Goodrich felt that way again following KU’s 88-43 dismantling of the Tigers Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I felt like everyone played so well chemistry wise,” said Goodrich, who led Kansas with 19 points and six assists.
That trend began from the jump, with all five of the Jayhawks’ starters scoring within the first five minutes. Goodrich (9-for-12 shooting) knocked down a three and scored two layups, sophomore guard Natalie Knight drained another three-pointer, sophomore forward Bunny Williams made a short jumper, senior forward Carolyn Davis scored in the paint and senior guard Monica Engelman got to the rim for a layup.
By the 15:15 mark, the Tigers — hampered by the absence of senior point guard Kaiameka Brown — trailed 16-6 and the Jayhawks led by double digits the rest of the game.
LJW
Former Kansas running back and current Calgary, Alberta Stampeders star Jon Cornish hit the Canadian record books this past weekend.
Cornish broke the Canadian rushing record Friday for most yards in a single season. He passed Normie Kwong, who set the record 56 years ago at 1,437 yards.
Cornish ran 22 yards in the third quarter against the Edmonton Eskimos to earn the record during the Canadian Football League season finale. Cornish finished the season with 1,457 yards as the Stampeders defeated the Eskimos, 30-27.
In his six-year CFL career, this is the first season that Cornish rushed for more than 1,000 yards. During his senior year with the Jayhawks in 2006, he earned the University record for most yards in a single season. Coincidentally, he rushed for 1,457 yards during his final season with Kansas, the same exact total as his CFL rushing record.
WE
Kansas 2012-13 MBB Schedule
Kansas 2012-13 WBB Schedule
Big 12/College News
Big 12 Composite Schedule
Big 12 Conference: Big 12 team previews
USA Today college bball preview
SI Luke Winn: Revealing the method behind my Naismith Award watch list
Tom Izzo has coached enough clunker exhibition games to know one when he sees one.
"Well,'' Izzo said wearily at the opening of his postgame press conference, "it was a disappointing game, again.''
Michigan State defeated Division II St. Cloud State (Minn.) 62-49 at Breslin Center, but the Spartans' fans and band were far more in tune than the team Friday night.
Michigan State committed 20 turnovers while recording only 10 assists, and the free-throw woes from the first exhibition game carried over with a 15-of-28 performance from the line.
"In exhibition games, you don't start off good, and you start playing bad, and the roof caves in,'' said Izzo, who's beginning his 18th season as the Spartans' head coach. "It's like everything collapsed at once.''
mlive.com
Every time ESPN analyst Jay Bilas opens his mouth, it’s easy to picture NCAA officials quaking like Don Knotts searching his shirt pocket for that moldy bullet and cringing like Larry David’s wife in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Better idea: Those same officials ought to lean forward in their chairs and hang on his every syllable. His criticism is constructive, and if the NCAA went to school on Bilas it could save itself from itself. As it is, the organization is on a collision course with extinction.
During Thursday night’s entertaining, informative, provocative evening of roundtable discussion for the benefit of Bill Self’s Assists Foundation at Crown Automotive, Bilas returned a few times to the message that the NCAA needs to become proactive in dealing with the NBA. Instead, image takes precedence, as evidenced by such things as the insistence on referring to basketball players as “student-athletes.” There is no such thing as a student-athlete, Bilas said.
“When they are in the classroom, they are students,” Bilas said. “And when they are on the court, they are athletes. And there is nothing wrong with that.”
Chimed in Self: “If they want them to be student-athletes, then treat them like students. No other kid at Sigma Chi has restrictions that athletes have.”
An English major, one of the panelists pointed out, can write a book and sell it. A basketball player can’t capitalize on his skills, which help universities to make millions. Bilas called such a double-standard “immoral.”
LJW
Maryland has a chance to make its mark on Day One by playing the youthful and inexperienced Kentucky at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn Friday night. The Terps have plenty of work to do this week in preparation, according to coach Mark Turgeon.
…Iowa State's guard Bubu Palo remains suspended indefinitely because of a sexual assault charge. On the heels of that suspension, the Cyclones have another player not playing. Senior guard Chris Babb will sit the first three games of the season for violating team rules. The Cyclones are off to a rocky start
...Should Miami be worried after losing an exhibition to Saint Leo Friday night? Not at all. Even teams that have been projected to go to the NCAA tournament will lose exhibitions. The loss will help Jim Larranaga get the team’s attention. “I believe our guys learned that we have a heck of a lot of work ahead of us before we become the kind of team we’re capable of becoming," said Larranaga Sunday.
ESPN KATZ
The Big East was arguably the best league in college basketball the past two years, putting 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament in 2011 when Connecticut came out of nowhere in the final 11 games to win the national championship. Last year, the league had eight representatives, including Louisville, which advanced to the Final Four.
But the dynamics of college basketball are changing and it appears it is the Big Ten’s turn to take center stage. Not only is Indiana our No. 1 team and Cody Zeller our preseason National Player of the Year, but we also found room for Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State in our Top 10. Given the caliber of coaches and the upperclass stars and experience in those programs, it would not be surprising to see two or more of Big Ten teams advance to the NCAA Final Four, and one of them cart home the trophy.
NY Daily News
If there is a fly in the Indiana Hoosiers' otherwise euphoric 2012-13 preseason ointment, it's the lingering eligibility questions surrounding incoming freshmen forwards Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin. Like (much more high-profile) UCLA newcomer Shabazz Muhammad, both players are still awaiting initial eligibility rulings from the NCAA and, like Muhammad, neither the NCAA nor Indiana has provided any hints one way or the other, because they can't.
ESPN
The Wildcats will be favored in their first few games, so victories are expected. But they will pose greater challenges than the exhibition season.
The biggest challenge Sunday might have been motivation. A small crowd showed up, and intensity was hard to come by. Weber noticed low energy from his team before tipoff in the locker room and urged his players to bring their own energy.
It wasn’t easy, evidenced by Emporia State taking a 19-18 lead with 4:46 remaining in the first half.
But K-State eventually pulled away behind the play of their most energetic player. Freshman forward DJ Johnson came off the bench to score 17 points and grab nine rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
KC Star
ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
Joel Hans Embiid (@jojo_embiid)
11/4/12, 2:34 PM
Ate 10 cheeseburgers
Had fun
Ate cameroonian food
Had a great time
https://twitter.com/jojo_embiid
Embiid, who was in Lawrence for the Oct. 12 Late Night in the Phog, has also visited Florida, Texas and Virginia.
Fellow Cameroon native Luc Mbah a Moute of the Milwaukee Bucks has been assisting Embiid in the recruiting process.
“It’s really tight between those schools,” Mbah a Moute told the Racine Journal-Times. Embiid is new to the workings of major-college basketball. He took up the sport less than two years ago.
“We’re going to narrow it down to three schools next week,” Mbah a Moute told the Journal-Times. “We’ll be looking for an opportunity to play a lot right away. He hasn’t played that long and needs to continue his development. And, of course, we’re going to look at academics and what these schools can offer him.”
LJW
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