MONDAY - 61 days to the official start of college bball 2012-13

Kevin Seraphin, who averaged 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Washington Wizards last year, said he was impressed by what he saw from Kansas’ young post players.

“They’re really good. They play with intensity,” Seraphin said. “They like to compete and fight. That was a good thing.”

KU freshman forward Landen Lucas said going against Seraphin was a fun challenge.

“It’s good, because really, in a couple years, that’s the kind of player I see myself being,” Lucas said. “He’s big and seals well, uses his body real well. So to be able to get out there and get a chance to bang against him was great.

“You always want to learn, especially from players like that. Just seeing the way he would use his body, I definitely learned. While I was on the bench, I definitely was watching him the whole time.”

Seraphin’s presence on Washington’s roster most likely was one reason the Wizards decided to pass up on former KU forward Thomas Robinson with the third pick in June’s NBA Draft.

“I told him at halftime, ‘You must be pretty good if they didn’t take Robinson,’” Self said. “He said, ‘I know Robinson. I am good.’”
LJW


Kansas University coach Bill Self already knew winning without four potential starters was going to be difficult Sunday.

That task became nearly impossible when AMW Team France’s Kevin Seraphin decided to elevate his game late.

The Washington Wizards forward — and 17th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft — dominated during a crucial stretch, helping to lift Team France to a 79-60 blowout victory over KU at Stade Pierre de Coubertine.

“In the second half,” Self said, “he showed that he’s a man.”

KU trailed just 51-50 with a minute to go in the third quarter before Seraphin took over.

The 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward scored seven points during a 19-2 run over the next five minutes that turned a close game into a rout.

Seraphin, who didn’t play in the two teams’ game Saturday, finished with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

“I was just chilling at my house, and my friend told me there they’ve got a game against Kansas,” said Seraphin, who averaged six points and three rebounds for France’s national team in the Olympics earlier this month. “I said, ‘OK, let’s go. Let’s play.’”

Self went without seniors Elijah Johnson, Jeff Withey and Travis Releford, saying he wanted to get his young guys more experience. Another potential starter, Ben McLemore, also didn’t play because of a nagging groin injury.

Though that left the Jayhawks with just one scholarship upperclassman — senior Kevin Young — they still managed to take a 34-31 lead into halftime.

“We were just competing,” KU freshman guard Andrew White said. “That competitive edge and defending, that’ll hold a team in the game that’s missing their three star players.”
LJW


KU AD: Game 2 vs France recap, box score, stats, photos, video

LJW Audio: Coach Self game 2 vs Team France post game remarks


LJW Video: One minute of game 2


LJW Photos: Game 2 vs Team France


KU AD: Game 1 vs Team France recap, box score, stats, photos, video


Video: Coach Self game 1 vs AMW France post game remarks


LJW Photos: Game 1 vs AMW Team France


KU AD Euro Trip photos


KU Alumni Euro Trip blog and photos


LJW Photos: Jayhawks tour Palace of Versailles


LJW Photos: KU travels to Paris, Eiffel Tower


Although the Kansas men’s basketball team’s voyage to Europe was anything but ordinary, once the team got on the court the result was what fans come to expect as the Jayhawks beat the Swiss national team in both contests.
UDK


Former Kansas University center Sasha Kaun is an Olympic bronze medalist.

Kaun, 6-11, 250 pounds from Tomsk, Russia, scored six points and grabbed six rebounds while playing 30 minutes in Russia’s 81-77 bronze medal victory over Argentina on Sunday in London.

Kaun, who played for KU’s 2008 national title team, was the first Jayhawk men’s basketball player to participate in the Olympic Games since Danny Manning in 1988, winning the bronze medal. Kaun currently plays professionally for CSKA Moscow.
LJW


KSN: KU stars win NCAA and Olympics in 1952 (article, photos, video at link)


Kansas University sprinter Diamond Dixon is bringing home a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympic Games as a member of the victorious United States 4 x 400 relay team.
LJW


VOTE for KU


Kansas 2012-13 Schedule

Big 12/College News

It’s certainly not unusual for crazy things to go down in Amsterdam — the city certainly has a reputation for partying — but it’s safe to say no one could have predicted what happened to Missouri’s basketball team there Saturday.

The Tigers, who are on a five-game European tour, forfeited their exhibition against the Dutch National Team's under-24 squad because coach Frank Haith said he feared for his players’ safety.

Haith’s decision to pull his players off the floor came in the third quarter after his team had built a 25-point lead. Haith had just been ejected for arguing a no-call after Tigers freshman forward Stefan Jankovic apparently took an elbow to the head. Haith decided to act, though it sounds like he regrets pulling them off the floor.

“In my mind I was just fearful for the safety of our players, but in retrospect I wish I had let our team play it out and learn from the adversity,” Haith said in a statement released after the game. “I take complete responsibility. This is a learning experience for us all.”
KC Star


Villanova assistant men's basketball coach Doug Martin has resigned after an investigation revealed inaccuracies on his resume, the school announced Saturday.

…According to a statement issued by Villanova when Martin was hired last week, Martin "played collegiate basketball at UW-Green Bay for coach Dick Bennett from 1991-95."

However, Green Bay has no record of Martin playing there. He is not listed on the all-time roster, and Andrew Gavin, Green Bay's director of athletic communications, said via email, "I do not have a record of a Doug Martin playing here and looked through our stats from each of those years as well."

While on the phone with ESPN.com, Gavin checked hard copies of both regular-season and postseason media guides from the 1990-91 through the 1994-95 seasons. The name Doug Martin did not appear on any rosters or in any statistics.

The Green Bay website also includes year-by-year final statistics. Martin's name is not listed as a team participant in any of the years he claims to have played there.

Bennett, Martin's supposed coach, said he has absolutely no recollection of Martin.

"He certainly didn't play for me," Bennett said.

Former Wisconsin-Green Bay star Jeff Nordgaard, who played for the Phoenix from 1992-96, said he did not recall a Doug Martin on his team.

"I didn't play with anyone by that name," Nordgaard said. "So unless he changed his name ..."

On his Linkedin profile, Doug Martin -- confirmed to be the same Doug Martin as the one formerly at Villanova -- lists himself as having bachelor's degrees from both Wisconsin-Green Bay and Viterbo University. He also claims he is a four-year letterwinner at Green Bay, as well as "captained team my senior year."

"I was team captain then," Nordgaard said.

The Linkedin profile has since been taken down.

Martin appears to have said he was a former Phoenix player for some time. On the Paul VI High School website, where Martin worked prior to Villanova, his bio says he received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Viterbo, an NAIA school in La Crosse, Wis. The high school site also includes the same information about Martin playing at Green Bay.

According to the Viterbo website, a Doug Martin is listed as a basketball letterwinner from 1990-94. He played in 87 games during that period, scoring 222 points.
ESPN


College basketball is widely regarded as the sketchiest sport with the sketchiest characters thanks to men like Myron Piggie, Ken Caldwell and all the coaches who have historically dealt with them and people like them. Where fact trumps fiction, where a rumor ends and the truth begins, is sometimes hard to determine. But perception is usually treated as reality regardless -- even if the overwhelming majority of coaches are never actually charged with violating major recruiting rules.

Still, coaches know other coaches and how they operate.

Or at least they think they do.

Which leads us to our next question.

The question: Who is perceived by college coaches to be the biggest cheater in the sport?

John Calipari (Kentucky): 36 percent
Scott Drew (Baylor): 34 percent
Ben Howland (UCLA): 12 percent
Jim Calhoun (Connecticut): 7 percent
Tom Crean (Indiana): 3 percent
Dave Rice (UNLV): 3 percent
Others receiving votes: Too many to list.
CBS


ESPN Tip-Off Marathon schedule


2012-13 Early Season Events List

Recruiting

Dayshon Smith collected a long pass running down court and thought it was just him and Aaron Harrison with a Big Strick Classic win on the line.

"I didn't know there was anyone behind me," the Putnam Science Academy point guard from The Bronx said.

Smith laid the ball up only to see Jordan Mickey come from out of nowhere to deny him with a blocked shot to seal Team USA's thrilling 87-86 win over New York City in a high school basketball all-star game at CCNY Saturday night. The second annual contest was played in the memory of beloved streetball legend John (The Franchise) Stickland, who died in his sleep in October of 2010.

…Kuran Iverson paced NYC with 21 points and McCullough had 13 -- the two earned MVP honors for the city squad. Whitehead, Queens native Jermaine Lawrence and Pathways forward Jordan Washington each tallied 10. Robert Hubbs scored 14 points for Team USA. Aaron Harrison, Andrew's brother, and Kadeem Lattin each chipped in 13. Troy Williams had the dunk of the night, a full extension one-handed slam over a defender in the first quarter.

"It just didn't come," McCullough said. "We should have got the win."
NY Post



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