#TBT
The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday authorized construction of new apartments near Allen Fieldhouse for Kansas University men's basketball players.
The regents also approved a request from KU to name the apartments in honor of Marie S. McCarthy.
She is the late mother of Kent McCarthy, who with his wife, Missy, made a lead gift earlier this year to finance the project. They have donated to KU for many years. The amount of that gift has not been released.
Both actions by the regents were unanimous and made without comment.
KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said Marie S. McCarthy, who died in 2013, attended KU on a math scholarship "and maintained a lifelong love of the university."
Construction of the apartments is expected to start within the next few months with scheduled completion set for August 2015.
The first phase of the project is expected to cost $11.9 million and will feature furnished two- and three-bedroom units, common spaces and an enclosed athletic court.
KU officials have said the apartments are needed to help recruit top talent.
When the lead gift was announced, KU men's basketball coach Bill Self said, "These things are very, very significant for the benefit, development and overall experience of our student-athletes. We want them to be comfortable and have the same type of living conditions as the programs we're recruiting against."
The apartments will house 39 students, some of them on the men's basketball team. Under NCAA requirements, no more than 49 percent of the residents will be student-athletes.
LJW
Former Kansas University point guard Tyshawn Taylor has signed a contract with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague. Terms were not disclosed.
Taylor, 24, played for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League last season. He started the season with the Brooklyn Nets. He was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and was waived in January.
Link
The regents also approved a request from KU to name the apartments in honor of Marie S. McCarthy.
She is the late mother of Kent McCarthy, who with his wife, Missy, made a lead gift earlier this year to finance the project. They have donated to KU for many years. The amount of that gift has not been released.
Both actions by the regents were unanimous and made without comment.
KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said Marie S. McCarthy, who died in 2013, attended KU on a math scholarship "and maintained a lifelong love of the university."
Construction of the apartments is expected to start within the next few months with scheduled completion set for August 2015.
The first phase of the project is expected to cost $11.9 million and will feature furnished two- and three-bedroom units, common spaces and an enclosed athletic court.
KU officials have said the apartments are needed to help recruit top talent.
When the lead gift was announced, KU men's basketball coach Bill Self said, "These things are very, very significant for the benefit, development and overall experience of our student-athletes. We want them to be comfortable and have the same type of living conditions as the programs we're recruiting against."
The apartments will house 39 students, some of them on the men's basketball team. Under NCAA requirements, no more than 49 percent of the residents will be student-athletes.
LJW
Former Kansas University point guard Tyshawn Taylor has signed a contract with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Superleague. Terms were not disclosed.
Taylor, 24, played for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League last season. He started the season with the Brooklyn Nets. He was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and was waived in January.
Link
“Pay Heed. The game you love began here. Respect those who came before you. Make their legacy your own. Because destiny favors the dedicated. And rings don’t replace work. In this game you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. We are Kansas. Together we rise. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
Big 12 / College News
Texas sophomore guard Martez Walker was arrested Monday for criminal trespass in campus dormitories, reports Brian Davis of the Austin-American Statesman.
Walker was suspended indefinitely last week after being charged with misdemeanor assault over an incident involving his girlfriend in a campus dorm .
Walker averaged 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game as a freshman last season.
Link
Baylor freshman Kobie Eubanks will not be cleared by the NCAA & will miss the 2014-15 season.
@JonRothstein
Walker was suspended indefinitely last week after being charged with misdemeanor assault over an incident involving his girlfriend in a campus dorm .
Walker averaged 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game as a freshman last season.
Link
Baylor freshman Kobie Eubanks will not be cleared by the NCAA & will miss the 2014-15 season.
@JonRothstein
Coach K hugs Paul George, tweeted out by USA/Duke Basketball
Mike Krzyzewski has seldom ever had to defend winning like the way he did Thursday morning.
That's because this scud missile of a piece, written by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski Sunday night, has created interesting collateral damage and a lot of discussion over Coach K's role as Team USA guru.
The column linked above is primarily a takedown of the current arrangement for USA Basketball, with a few poison-tipped barbs against the Hall-of-Fame Duke coach. How much does USA Basketball really benefit from having a bunch of NBA All-Stars cruising to victory in the World Cup of Basketball? Is Krzyzewski really the only party involved reaping tangible rewards?
That's what has been posited.
Krzyzewski argued that Duke basketball hasn't been getting recruits at any higher rate than he previously did. If anything, he's sacrificed cherished recruiting time for the sake of USA Basketball and expanding his role in the game beyond his Duke duties.
"We recruited a lot of really good guys before I coached the United States team," said Krzyzewski, referencing Grant Hill, Tommy Amaker, Johnny Dawkins and others from Duke's past. "In fact, a lot of them have their jerseys retired. A lot of them have been national players of the year. I don't think anybody I've recruited since I've been the head coach of USA has been national player of the year."
…Then Boeheim added something interesting: he made clear how Kentucky coach John Calipari has been the one consistent dissenter of Krzyzewski's involvement with Team USA. Ironic, given Calipari is no-doubt-about-it the most successful recruiter in the game (and it's no secret he'd one day love to sit in K's chair, coaching the Olympic team).
CBS
Missouri freshman basketball players Jakeenan Gant and D'Angelo Allen have been suspended after being arrested Sunday on suspicion of misdemeanor third-degree assault, the program announced Tuesday.
Gant, Allen and a third man were arrested after police stopped them for meeting the description provided by the alleged assault victims.
According to the incident report, three black males were jumped by three or four black males and noticed that one of the suspects dropped his wallet during the incident. That wallet belonged to Gant.
Link
Through the years, Paul Shirley played with the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Phoenix Suns of the NBA, while enduring several injuries and limited playing time. He also played for minor league teams in Kansas City and Yakima, Washington and for pro teams in Greece, Spain, and Russia.
Of course, there is a big gap between the salaries and creature comforts of an NBA star versus a minor leaguer. This makes for entertaining reading in Paul’s sardonic style. The book is like a window into the everyday life of an NBA bench player.
Paul’s professional writing career began when he chronicled one of his NBA road trips in an on-line journal. He has gone on to write for Esquire, Slate, ESPN.com, and the Wall Street Journal.
Today, Paul lives in southern California where he writes and teaches. He maintains a website called flipcollective.com and a writers workshop called Writers Blok. He also writes for a Spanish-language newspaper, teaches English at a preparatory program for Los Angeles policemen, and co-hosts a podcast about the NBA.
Link
Recruiting
Ivan Rabb
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Tyler Dorsey
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KU coach Bill Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend on Tuesday visited No. 7-rated Ivan Rabb, a 6-9, 210-pound senior forward from Bishop O’Dowd High in Oakland, California.
O’Dowd coach Lou Richie told Jayhawkslant.com that coaches from California, Arizona, Georgetown and North Carolina will visit soon.
“Coach Self said if Ivan comes to Kansas, he will definitely be a player that is on the floor and could help them tremendously with his shot-blocking ability. Conversely, coach Self said Ivan’s ability to face up and play more facing the basket are things he can help him improve on as a player,” Richie said.
Rabb has yet to set up a visit to KU, but two of his friends — a baseball player and women’s basketball player at O’Dowd — will be visiting KU the weekend of the Oct. 10 Late Night in the Phog, Richie told Jayhawkslant.com.
On Wednesday night, Self was to visit with No. 19-ranked Tyler Dorsey, a 6-4 shooting guard from Maranatha High in Pasadena, California.
LJW
Calipari is expected to meet with Diallo after school on Thursday, one day before Diallo leaves for his official visit to Kansas. The 6-foot-9 Diallo is an active, athletic big who was bothered this summer by some back trouble that kept him out of the Under Armour Elite 24 game.
He is considering Kansas, St. John’s, Iowa State and Pittsburgh in addition to Kentucky.
“When Kentucky offered me, I was so happy,” Diallo told Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader at the NBPA Top 100 Camp this summer. “I have a lot of top schools, but Kentucky is the best school, you know?”
Kentucky assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen moved to Kentucky from Pittsburgh, where he had already established a relationship with the Mali native, in part because he speaks a little French.
Zags Blog
A week after a visit from the Illinois coaching staff, Villa Angela-St. Joseph senior power forward Carlton Bragg received an in-home visit from Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari on Sept. 17.
Bragg also hosted Kansas’ Bill Self last week.
“It’s been good right now,” Bragg said before his visit from the Wildcats’ contingent. “A lot of good energy, some bad energy. But I keep it positive with us, so it’s been good.”
…When asked what he was looking to find out from Calipari, who guided Kentucky to the 2012 NCAA championship, Bragg said:
“Pretty much, ‘What is my place on the team?’” Bragg said. “How the college life is. Campus life. How I fit in with the program. Not everyone is for Kentucky, and I know that.”
“(Playing time) doesn’t matter,” he added. “I just want to fit in.”
VASJ head basketball coach Babe Kwasniak said the recruiting circuit at the school has been a “circus” since Bragg and his mentor, former VASJ Viking Mike Graves, cut the 6-foot-10 forward’s list to five schools on Sept. 1.
“There are a lot of coaches on his list, the top five, some of them I haven’t spoken to, and that’s OK,” Kwasniak said. “Mike Graves has kind of taken that over, and my job in this process has been, wherever Carlton decides to go, hopefully we’ll have him ready to play. A lot of the pressure has been taken off of me, thanks to Carlton’s mentor Mike Graves, and it’s been on them. It’s a great list.
“I don’t know if high school coaches are really on his radar,” Kwasniak added, referring to Calipari. “You know, he’s got the AAU scene now. I mean, he’s somebody I’ve had very little contact with, and that’s fine. It’s just kind of on the other end of the spectrum from guys like (Illinois) Coach (John) Groce. I coached at Kansas, so I know Coach Self real well. Two guys that are recruiting him, (UCLA) Coach (Steve) Alford and (Arizona) coach (Sean) Miller are both guys I grew up worshipping. They were both guards, and both guys I looked up to.”
Kwasniak said he has only asked one thing of Bragg since the start of his recruitment.
“Never change,” Bragg said with a smile after Kwasniak prompted him for the exact promise.
Bragg said that he came away impressed from his visits with Illinois and Kansas.
Self sold Bragg on his ability to mold big men like current professionals Joel Embiid, Jeff Withey, Thomas Robinson, and the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus.
“That’s what (Coach Self) pointed out to me in my in-home visits,” Bragg said. “He told me how he progressed with big men, that’s his specialty.”
Bragg also elaborated on his well-known relationship with Illini assistant coach Dustin Ford.
“Coach Ford is a good coach,” he said. “It’s not as much player to player as person to person. It’s really good with him. His personality is just fun. I just love everything about him. He’s a fun coach too. Me and him have progressed a lot.”
News-Herald
O’Dowd coach Lou Richie told Jayhawkslant.com that coaches from California, Arizona, Georgetown and North Carolina will visit soon.
“Coach Self said if Ivan comes to Kansas, he will definitely be a player that is on the floor and could help them tremendously with his shot-blocking ability. Conversely, coach Self said Ivan’s ability to face up and play more facing the basket are things he can help him improve on as a player,” Richie said.
Rabb has yet to set up a visit to KU, but two of his friends — a baseball player and women’s basketball player at O’Dowd — will be visiting KU the weekend of the Oct. 10 Late Night in the Phog, Richie told Jayhawkslant.com.
On Wednesday night, Self was to visit with No. 19-ranked Tyler Dorsey, a 6-4 shooting guard from Maranatha High in Pasadena, California.
LJW
Calipari is expected to meet with Diallo after school on Thursday, one day before Diallo leaves for his official visit to Kansas. The 6-foot-9 Diallo is an active, athletic big who was bothered this summer by some back trouble that kept him out of the Under Armour Elite 24 game.
He is considering Kansas, St. John’s, Iowa State and Pittsburgh in addition to Kentucky.
“When Kentucky offered me, I was so happy,” Diallo told Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader at the NBPA Top 100 Camp this summer. “I have a lot of top schools, but Kentucky is the best school, you know?”
Kentucky assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen moved to Kentucky from Pittsburgh, where he had already established a relationship with the Mali native, in part because he speaks a little French.
Zags Blog
A week after a visit from the Illinois coaching staff, Villa Angela-St. Joseph senior power forward Carlton Bragg received an in-home visit from Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari on Sept. 17.
Bragg also hosted Kansas’ Bill Self last week.
“It’s been good right now,” Bragg said before his visit from the Wildcats’ contingent. “A lot of good energy, some bad energy. But I keep it positive with us, so it’s been good.”
…When asked what he was looking to find out from Calipari, who guided Kentucky to the 2012 NCAA championship, Bragg said:
“Pretty much, ‘What is my place on the team?’” Bragg said. “How the college life is. Campus life. How I fit in with the program. Not everyone is for Kentucky, and I know that.”
“(Playing time) doesn’t matter,” he added. “I just want to fit in.”
VASJ head basketball coach Babe Kwasniak said the recruiting circuit at the school has been a “circus” since Bragg and his mentor, former VASJ Viking Mike Graves, cut the 6-foot-10 forward’s list to five schools on Sept. 1.
“There are a lot of coaches on his list, the top five, some of them I haven’t spoken to, and that’s OK,” Kwasniak said. “Mike Graves has kind of taken that over, and my job in this process has been, wherever Carlton decides to go, hopefully we’ll have him ready to play. A lot of the pressure has been taken off of me, thanks to Carlton’s mentor Mike Graves, and it’s been on them. It’s a great list.
“I don’t know if high school coaches are really on his radar,” Kwasniak added, referring to Calipari. “You know, he’s got the AAU scene now. I mean, he’s somebody I’ve had very little contact with, and that’s fine. It’s just kind of on the other end of the spectrum from guys like (Illinois) Coach (John) Groce. I coached at Kansas, so I know Coach Self real well. Two guys that are recruiting him, (UCLA) Coach (Steve) Alford and (Arizona) coach (Sean) Miller are both guys I grew up worshipping. They were both guards, and both guys I looked up to.”
Kwasniak said he has only asked one thing of Bragg since the start of his recruitment.
“Never change,” Bragg said with a smile after Kwasniak prompted him for the exact promise.
Bragg said that he came away impressed from his visits with Illinois and Kansas.
Self sold Bragg on his ability to mold big men like current professionals Joel Embiid, Jeff Withey, Thomas Robinson, and the Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus.
“That’s what (Coach Self) pointed out to me in my in-home visits,” Bragg said. “He told me how he progressed with big men, that’s his specialty.”
Bragg also elaborated on his well-known relationship with Illini assistant coach Dustin Ford.
“Coach Ford is a good coach,” he said. “It’s not as much player to player as person to person. It’s really good with him. His personality is just fun. I just love everything about him. He’s a fun coach too. Me and him have progressed a lot.”
News-Herald
Carlton Bragg
SF Jaylen Brown, No. 2 in ESPN 100
Alpharetta, Georgia/Wheeler
Considering: Kansas (Oct. 10th), Kentucky (Oct. 17th), UCLA (tentatively set for Nov. 15th), Georgia Tech and Georgia
Scouting report: Brown brings a college-ready body and above-the-rim explosiveness. He is a relentless rim attacker, where he finishes through contact or draws the foul on a regular basis. Brown can also score with pull-ups and floaters with excellent touch and body control. Brown is a good rebounder and is a beast along the baseline, where he posterizes late, help-side defenders.
Brown says: "The schools have a lot of the same things to offer but I am looking for the place where I will be the most comfortable, where I fit in with the players best and where I will get the preparation I need to get to the next level. I want a coach who I can have a strong relationship with, push me and be straight up with me. At this point, I am undecided on if I am going to sign during the early or late period."
…SG Malik Newman, No. 3
Jackson, Mississippi/Callaway
Considering: Texas A&M (Oct. 11th), Kentucky (Oct. 17), NC State (Jan. 11th), Kansas and Miami
Scouting report: This shooting guard is a scoring machine who can gets buckets from anywhere on the floor. Newman can also make plays off on-ball screens when he slides over to the point guard position, where he is a very underrated passer and perimeter rebounder. He can also defend both guard positions as well.
Newman says: "I want a coach that is going to push me on and off the court and help me accomplish my ultimate goal, which is to get to the next level: the NBA. Location is not a factor where I will go. The most important thing is where I will be most comfortable. As far as signing, my plan is to sign late."
…C Stephen Zimmerman, No. 10
Las Vegas, Nevada/Bishop Gorman
Considering: Kansas (Oct. 10th), Kentucky (Oct. 17th), UCLA, (Oct. 24th), Arizona (October 31st), North Carolina and UNLV
Scouting report: At 7-foot, Zimmerman runs the floor like a perimeter player and has the skill level of one. He simply beats opposing post payers down the floor for easy baskets. He operates from the high post, where he can hit the open jumper or post up with good hands and soft touch. He rebounds and blocks shots with his quickness to the ball and plays on both ends with great energy and urgency.
Stephen says: "I want a coach that is tough, fair and will discipline his players when needed. It is also important to me to have a coach that has been in my position as a player or has coached players like me. I think I can play any style, but I really like running the floor. All the schools on my list I think fit what I am looking for now. I just have to find the best fit that will help me be most successful. Right now I am undecided on when I will sign but I wanted to have my visits complete."
PF Carlton Bragg, No. 18
Cleveland, Ohio/Villa Angela-St. Joseph
Considering: Kansas (Oct. 10th), Kentucky (Oct. 17th), Arizona, Illinois and UCLA
Scouting report: Bragg is a long and athletic forward who can get to the rim on the break or he can stop and knock down the 3 from the trail spot or corner. He has deep range and can shoot over smaller defenders. He can pick and pop and make life very difficult for less mobile power forwards or shorter small forwards. Bragg can rebound and handles the ball well for his size.
Bragg says: “A winning coach that does a good job of developing players and preparing them for playing in college and the NBA is important and I want to play in a fast-paced system that spreads the court so I can make plays and create matchup problems. I am leaning toward signing during the early period and get it over with.”
ESPN
When the swoosh calls, high school basketball players listen.
That's what we found out this week when news broke that Antonio Blakeney was taking back his verbal commitment from Louisville and reopening his recruitment—first reported by ESPN.com. Shortly after the news broke, 247Sports.com recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer tweeted out the reason why it happened.
Meyer had already known it was going to go down before the news broke. And get this, someone inside of Nike told him.
It was quite simple. Blakeney plays for a Nike grassroots team, Each 1 Teach 1 (E1T1), and Nike was not happy that Blakeney had decided to go to an Adidas school. That was relayed to Blakeney, and Nike has enough pull with him or the people around him that he decided to listen.
To someone like Meyer, this was like the general public figuring out that lobbyists influence government.
"I guess I just take it for granted that it's highly shoe company driven," Meyer told Bleacher Report. "With the elite guys, it's agents/shoe company drive. I guess I just take that for granted. I didn't think my tweets were any big deal."
If you pay attention to recruiting, it's not. Players who play for Nike programs usually end up at Nike schools. Players who play for Adidas programs usually end up at Adidas schools. It doesn't always happen that way, but more times than not it does.
BR CJ Moore
Both Georgia Tech and UGA had in-home visits with Jaylen Brown, the nation’s No. 2 college basketball prospect, within the last few days.
And Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory had a creative recruiting pitch that related to the world’s best basketball player, LeBron James.
“Coach Gregory expressed to him the importance of staying home, and he talked about how it affected LeBron,” Brown’s AAU coach, Desmond Eastmond, told the AJC on Wednesday night.
“(Gregory) reminded Jaylen that when LeBron decided to come back to Cleveland, one of the first things he said is that he never should’ve left because the importance of him staying within the community that raised him. He mentioned how LeBron talked about how the support system raised him and meant so much to him.
“Coach Gregory’s message was very, very powerful.”
…Last week, Brown had in-home visits with coaches from Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA.
What’s next for the 5-star? He is in the process of setting up official visits. He only has one recruiting trip set up so far, going to Kansas on Oct. 10. He is working out dates with Kentucky, Georgia Tech and UGA. He may take his fifth trip to UCLA.
“He hasn’t finalized Kentucky for Oct. 17, or I haven’t heard anything about it being finalized yet,” Eastmond said. “Nothing else but Kansas has been finalized. He’s actually been working on some dates with Georgia and Georgia Tech. The one date that they had with Georgia falls on his birthday weekend. They actually scraped that date, and they are working on some more dates now.
“So he’s talking to those four about visits, and probably UCLA I think. Again, nothing is finalized yet. The only thing that is solid so far is Kansas, but they are working on dates for the others.”
AJC
When Paul Romanczuk brings his Arch Bishop Carroll High School team and star player Derrick Jones from Pennsylvania to Kentucky to play in the Marshall County Hoop Fest in December, he’ll certainly get to see how his team fares against quality competition.
Arch Bishop will play powerhouse Callaway High School of Mississippi and star guard Malik Newman, one of the nation’s top 2015 recruits, on Dec. 5. Then on Dec. 6 Arch Bishop will take on elite Carlton Bragg and Villa Angela-St. Joseph of Cleveland.
Link
Recruiting Calendar
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