Kansas Jayhawks
LJW
Kansas University senior basketball forward Carolyn Davis has entered the final stages of rehab from ACL surgery on her left knee.
“It’s great. I’m about a month away from being fully released,” the 6-foot-3 Houston native reported Saturday from the eighth-annual Bonnie Henrickson Golf Tournament at Alvamar.
“I hope I can get in the gym soon and get some individuals (workouts) in, get in the flow of things and be ready for the season.”
Davis had surgery in February after suffering a dislocated left knee and torn ACL during the opening minutes of a loss at Kansas State. A first-team All-Big 12 performer both her sophomore season and again last season, Davis had averaged 17.5 points a game at the time of the injury.
“We have weights with the team. I lift and do all that and some conditioning. I get in the gym with our trainer, and I do sprints and work on that, work on basic basketball things I haven’t done in a while,” Davis said.
“I’ve followed my rehab procedures perfectly. I’ve done everything I can to get back to where I’m supposed to be,” added Davis, who hopes to be cleared to compete in her final Late Night in the Phog, set for Oct. 12 in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’ll be a process. I won’t be 100 percent at the beginning of the season. Hopefully at the end I’ll be there.”
LJW
In the wake of a rain-free Bonnie Henrickson golf tournament Saturday at Alvamar, each member of the women’s basketball team took a turn at the microphone and shared her favorite thing about the NCAA Tournament in which the Jayhawks advanced to the Sweet 16.
“Trending on Twitter,” senior Angel Goodrich said.
Last March 20, for much of the second half of Kansas University’s upset victory against Delaware, #Angel Goodrich was one of the top 10 topics in the world being discussed on Twitter.
The pregame TV hype centered on the nation’s leading scorer, Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne. Say that 10 times and your tongue will become as tripped up as the feet of the Blue Hens’ defenders who tried to keep up with Goodrich. On that night, the nation’s leader in assists (7.4 per game) stole the show from the leading scorer, despite at 5-foot-4 standing 13 inches shorter. Goodrich had 27 points and six assists.
Without leading scorer Carolyn Davis (ACL surgery), Goodrich led the Jayhawks, a bubble team on Selection Monday, into the Sweet 16. Not bad for a guard who has played most of her home games in front of small crowds.
Maybe the global fame the magician of a point guard received will make people realize the live entertainment she provides in Allen Fieldhouse beats anything anybody could see on television.
LJW Keegan
VOTE for KU
Kansas 2012-13 Schedule
Big 12/College News
But I had plenty left over and thought I would share with you some of the other nuggets from those chats.
…Tubbs signed Blaylock out of Midland Junior College. Blaylock signed at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
“Which was legal at the time,” Tubbs said. “In fact, he was coming back from his Kansas trip. We waylaid him at the airport. We just recruited him hard. He told us before he went to Kansas that he was going to visit Kansas but he was coming to Oklahoma. He just went to Kansas to get all that stuff they give away, which was illegal. He needed some extra tennis shoes, so we let him go up there.
“But where Kansas made the mistake, they could have flown back with him to Midland, but they didn’t. We intercepted him in Dallas, because he had to change planes. We intercepted him in Dallas and got the whole thing done. But then you could go sign the player in person. You could go sign the mother in person. You didn’t have to email stuff and all that. Now, you can’t do that. Anyway, we got him signed.”
The Oklahoman
The 1988 Sooners did not win the NCAA championship; they were an upset victim in the title game, like Houston in 1984 and Georgetown in 1985, in that decade when college hoops were at their best.
But that disheartening loss to Kansas has not dimmed the status of those Sooners.
Longtime CBS analyst Billy Packer, in his book, placed the Sooners among the top 15 college teams of all time.
They pressed full court, created turnovers galore, shot quickly and played ferociously. The starting unit of Grace and Blaylock and Harvey Grant and Stacey King and Dave Sieger became so well-conditioned that by season's end Tubbs rarely had to substitute, and the assault was never-ending.
There is nothing like it in college basketball anymore. The days of Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of Arkansas hell and Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels and OU's BillyBall are over. The game is pedestrian, played not by refined stars but by young prospects headed for the NBA after a college drive-thru.
I told Tubbs on Friday his '88 Sooners would beat Kentucky's most recent national champ by 40 points.
“Fifty,” Tubbs said with that wry smile. “The game has turned into push and shove. It would be really hard to play like we did. We dictated the tempo of the game with our defense. Nobody really wants to get out and defend 100 percent of the floor anymore.
“The whole face of the game has changed. From a team standpoint, it would take a couple of years to learn to do what we did defensively.”
The Oklahoman
Sports are a real beach -- at least for the athletes at Long Beach State.
The Big West Conference school recently unveiled a new look at the Walter Pyramid arena, a face-lift to the home of the school’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs that includes palm trees painted onto the court’s surface.
The court, outlined in black, features the school’s nickname “The Beach” at center court — the school’s official nickname is the 49ers, but there’s no mention of that moniker on the court — and four golden palm trees with leaves that reach inside the three-point arc on each end of the court.
NY Daily News
Recruiting
PHOTOS Elite 24
Future Kansas University basketball players Brannen Greene and Conner Frankamp scored 13 and five points respectively in helping the Raymond Lewis squad defeat the Marques Johnson squad, 164-138, in Saturday’s Under Armour Elite 24 all-star game in Venice Beach, Calif.
Greene, a 6-foot-7 senior small forward from Tift County High in Forsyth, Ga., hit six of 10 shots and one of two free throws. He added four rebounds, two assists and a turnover in 13 minutes. He is ranked No. 31 in the recruiting Class of 2013 by Rivals.com.
Frankamp, a 6-foot senior guard from Wichita North, hit one of seven shots and three of three free throws. Rivals.com’s No. 28-ranked player missed three three-pointers and had two assists, no turnovers and one rebound in 15 minutes.
Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon, who have KU on their list of schools, had 27 and 25 points respectively for the winners. Randle, a 6-9 senior from Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, who is ranked No. 2 overall, hit 13 of 14 shots. He had three rebounds. Gordon, a 6-8 senior from Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., who is ranked No. 5 nationally, hit 12 of 18 shots. He had seven rebounds. Gordon told ESPN.com that he will visit KU, Arizona, Washington, Oregon and Kentucky and make an unofficial visit to Cal.
Randle won the slam-dunk competition and Frankamp the three-point shooting contest Friday.
“It was fun out here and with this great setting it was a good time,” Frankamp told SLAM Magazine, referring to winning the three-point contest on an outdoor court. He credited his daily shooting routine that consists of 300-400 makes.
“It’s all different types of shots, not just threes,” he told SLAM. “I can usually get done pretty quick, about 30 minutes.”
Of choosing KU, Frankamp said: “It was always my dream to go to Kansas, I guess you can say. I can’t wait to get there. Kirk Hinrich is probably my favorite player to come through KU; he was sweet.”
No. 21-ranked Wayne Selden, a 6-5 senior shooting guard from Tilton (N.H.) School who is considering KU and others, scored 14 points off 6-of-10 shooting for the losing team.
LJW
As part of an effort to pare down a Division I rule manual that spans more than 400 pages, the NCAA is considering legislation that could significantly alter the way programs recruit, possibly leading some teams — especially in football and basketball — to begin utilizing the collegiate equivalent of a general manager.
Currently, only head coaches or assistant coaches can participate in the selection and evaluation of recruits. The NCAA Rules Working Group has proposed that this rule be eliminated, allowing staff members now known as directors of operations or directors of player personnel to watch film of a prospect or to contact a prospect’s coach or guardian.
Off-campus recruiting — such as in-person evaluations and visits to a prospect’s home — would still be limited to head coaches and assistants. The amendment, if passed, would go into effect Aug. 1, 2013.
Some coaches interviewed for this story said that, should the current rule be eliminated, teams could form a staff position designed solely for the purpose of overseeing day-to-day recruiting operations, just as general managers in professional sports handle the evaluation and acquisition of talent.
Washington Post
A move that has been rumored to be happening over the last few months is now official: 2014 forward Chris McCullough will transfer to Brewster Academy (N.H.), he told NBCSports.com Thursday.
McCullough, a 6-10, 220-pound forward from the Bronx, N.Y., is a top-15 player in the Class of 2014. He will be leaving Salisbury School (Conn.) to transfer to Brewster.
NBC
On Tuesday, the Rivals150 for the class of 2013 will receive a post-summer updating. As we get closer to releasing the new list, we preview the five toughest calls that had to be made when putting together the new list.
Rivals
Official visits are a pretty good indicator of which teams are in solid position for a prospect, and two of the more sought-after players have set their trips.
Chris Jones is ranked as the best junior college point guard in the country, and was once signed to Tennessee. He said on Friday he would be taking official visits to Baylor, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Florida and Kansas – in that order.
It begins for Jones next weekend with Baylor, and will end on Midnight Madness at Kansas.
Aaron Gordon, a top-five prospect in the class of 2013, told ESPN he was heading to Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Kansas and Kentucky on official visits. Moreover, he would take an unofficial visit to California.
Washington and Arizona have been the leaders in his recruitment, but Kentucky made a very strong push in July and is now squarely in the mix.
Lawrence, Rathan-Mayes trim down lists
Jermaine Lawrence, a New York native who now plays at Pope John XXIII, boosted his stock in a major way during the spring and summer. Lawrence moved into five-star status at CBSSports.com and his recruitment reflected the rise.
On Saturday, Lawrence tweeted that his final seven were Cincinnati, Kansas, Kentucky, St. John's, Syracuse, UCLA and UNLV. Florida and Rutgers were strong contenders, but neither made the cut.
CBS
8/25/12 8:09 PM
My Final Top 7 in no specific order
Cincinnati, Kansas, Kentucky,
StJohns, Syracuse, UCLA, UNLV
https://twitter.com/mainestory44
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