The Gators expect to have an exceptional roster next season and are building an impressive schedule to test it.
Florida has announced it will host an “historic powerhouse from the Big 12,” which means Kansas is coming to Gainesville as part of the SEC-Big 12 Challenge.
Palm Beach Post
13. Kansas
I put them here because of the names on the front of the jersey, not the ones on the back. Bill Self is bringing in another stellar recruiting class (headlined by Wayne Selden) and 6-8 forward Perry Ellis should make a big jump in his sophomore season, but it won't be easy to replace the entire starting lineup.
SI Seth Davis 2013-14 Rankings
4/10/13, 11:47 AM
Congrats to Ben McLemore on declaring for the NBA draft... He was the 1st person from Wellston to EVER go to college
https://twitter.com/train5829
On the day that Syracuse sophomore Michael Carter-Williams declared for the NBA draft, he said that Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore is currently the No. 1 pick. The 6-foot-6 Orange point guard hopes to vault himself to the top spot in the minds of NBA general managers once he starts working out for teams.
"If I go in the pre-draft camp and kill it and do the things I know I can do, I don't see why not," Carter-Williams told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday.
Yahoo
Ben McLemore has a chance to be a frequent NBA All-Star, and often had the look of a guy confined by a college game (and a team) too small and too slow for him to unleash his freakish gifts. (He also needs to handle the ball better, but I'm not convinced he'll have to handle it all that much on most NBA teams.)
ESPN
A lot can, and will, change between now and June 27, the date of the 2013 NBA Draft.
But as of today — well before the NBA combine and prospects’ trips to team camps for individual workouts — things are looking up for 20-year-old millionaire-to-be Ben McLemore.
“McLemore and (Nerlens) Noel (6-11 freshman, Kentucky) will go 1-2 in the draft. Noel will probably be the No. 1 pick despite his injury,” an NBA talent evaluator who cannot reveal his identity (in accordance with NBA rules) told the Journal-World.
Noel is recovering from a torn ACL, while the 6-foot-5 McLemore is healthy.
“McLemore is a better version of Ray Allen. He will play shooting guard the way it is supposed to be played,” the talent evaluator said. “The only negative to his game is sometimes he defers. He could definitely use another year in college to learn to take over games.
“Obviously, he had to go (pro),” the scout quickly added. “The draft is only about potential now.”
This unnamed NBA official said this year’s No. 1 draft pick would be Huntington (W. Va.) Prep senior Andrew Wiggins if players were allowed to head directly from high school to the pros. The 6-foot-7, 190-pound Wiggins has a final list of KU, Kentucky, Florida State and North Carolina.
“I’ve heard 20 teams say they’d take him right now and start him,” the talent evaluator said.
Here’s his view of KU’s other possible draft picks at this early date:
• Jeff Withey: “He will go between 25-30 (in first round). He’d be the tail end of the lottery (top 14) to No. 20 if he could finish around the basket. He’s so good defensively, he will be a first-round pick.”
• Travis Releford: “He is rated higher than (Elijah) Johnson. We think he can defend (at NBA level). I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes in the 40 range (second round). He’s tough. I love his game.”
• Johnson: “He came on strong late in the year. There’s been some question about how healthy he is. That should be addressed during the 1-on-1 workouts. He’s got a chance to go late second round. Personally, I don’t think he has a position. He will get a chance in summer league if he’s not drafted.”
• Kevin Young: “He will not get drafted. He’ll be a good guy to get in a camp this summer. He is going to make a lot of money playing overseas.”
Of future KU guard Wayne Selden, a 6-5 guard from Tilton (N.H.) School, the evaluator said: “I like his game a lot. He’s a big guard who can shoot. He will be in college two to three years.”
LJW
4/10/13, 7:37 PM
Don’t miss @CoachBillSelf at the @IMGCollege Leadership Game Changer May 9 in Atlanta.
Register here
The University of Kansas will begin construction on an addition to Allen Fieldhouse later this year to house James Naismith’s original hand-typed rules of basketball.
With a planning budget of $18 million, KU Endowment will raise private funds from donors to cover the construction costs to build the new student center on the southern edge of campus. The main feature of the building is display space for Naismith’s rules, but it will also provide services and programs for University students, faculty and public visitors. The construction is on target to be complete and open to the public by fall of 2014.
KU Endowment President Dale Seuferling said the building will be an extension of the historical display of the Booth Family Hall of Athletics in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It will have a lot of history, mainly because of the rules of basketball,” Seuferling said. “There will be displays constructed around the rules about James Naismith’s impact on basketball, his role at KU, the traditions of KU basketball and the strong history of basketball coaches at KU.”
Seuferling also said the building will be similar to the Kansas Union, with dining services and space for students and faculty to work and socialize. The building will be operated by the Kansas Union because of its expertise in food service, and the Union will provide various programs, events and activities for the public. Seuferling said the addition is expected to be a tourist attraction for visitors, draw in University alumni, serve as an important spot for student recruiting visits and offer activities before and after basketball games.
The Kansas City Star reported that along with his financial contribution, Booth requested a building be constructed in Lawrence to display the rules. In a few months, Lawrence will see this building and James Naismith’s rules adjacent to the northeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse.
UDK
Following its second-straight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance, the Kansas women's basketball team posted back-to-back top-25 finishes in the USA Today Coaches Poll Wednesday, when the Jayhawks earned a No. 25 national ranking.
KU, one of four Big 12 Conference members ranked in the final poll, finished the season with a 20-14 overall record and received its second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
"I think (the top-25 ranking) is a reflection on the success we have had and the quality of players in the program," head coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "It is where we strive to be; it is where our program should be and it's exciting to be able to do it back-to-back."
KUAD
Big 12/College News
4/10/13, 10:06 AM
K-State announces a one-year contract extension for Bruce Weber that will lock up his services through 2018.
https://twitter.com/kellisrobinett
Iowa State released fresh details Wednesday of its internal investigation into NCAA recruiting violations, saying it found "a significant number" of impermissible calls and text messages made by coaches in football, men's basketball and several other sports.
The report said Iowa State's two-year investigation started with the discovery of improper contacts with recruits by Keith Moore, a former Cyclones player who was working in his first year as an undergraduate student coach under Fred Hoiberg.
The report said Hoiberg ran into Moore in 2011 at one of Hoiberg's son's AAU games. Hoiberg asked why he was present at the game and whether he'd been contacting recruits. Moore acknowledged that he had been in contact with high school players that he had coached previously in AAU, the report said.
Hoiberg reported the incident to the athletics department, which removed Moore of his duties with the team and started an investigation. The basketball team also stopped recruiting two players from Moore's former AAU team, the All Iowa Attack.
AP
Phil Pressey will be chasing his NBA dream next fall, after all.
After weeks of speculation surrounding the possibility of Pressey taking the professional plunge after his junior season, he made it official Wednesday when he announced that he has hired an agent and declared for the 2013 NBA Draft.
“I feel the positives outweigh the negatives,” said Pressey, a 5-foot-11 point guard. “Whenever you’re making a decision like this you’re going to have people telling you that you should or shouldn’t do it. But at the end of the day it’s my decision and I talked to enough people to feel confident with my decision.”
Players who declare have until April 16 to withdraw and retain their NCAA eligibility, but Pressey’s decision to hire Creative Artists Agency effectively shut the door on a possible return to Missouri, where he endured a roller-coaster junior season marked by spectacular highs and disappointing lows.
“I’m firm with my decision and I’m just ready to get things underway and start preparing,” Pressey said. “It’s not really a ‘testing-the-water’ situation for me. I know my decision, I’m ready.”
KC Star
There again appears to be quite a bit of confusion about the NBA's early-entry draft process amongst college players, college coaches, NBA personnel and media members, due to rule changes made by the NCAA in May of 2011 regarding collegiate eligibility.
To clear up some of the misinformation that is circulating, we've again collected all the appropriate information we think prospects will need in order to make an informed decision on whether or not to enter the NBA draft this spring.
First, the applicable dates:
April 10: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Application Deadline
April 15: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Response Deadline
April 16: NCAA Early Entry “Withdrawal” Deadline
April 28: NBA Draft Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 pm ET)
May 2: NBA Draft Early Entry Candidates Released – Underclassmen Contact Permitted
May 15-19: NBA Draft Combine (Chicago)
May 21: NBA Draft Lottery
June 17: NBA Draft Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline (5:00 pm ET)
June 27: 2013 NBA Draft
The main change from what NCAA underclassmen were accustomed to in the past (prior to 2012) involves the NCAA's unilaterally imposed “early-entry withdrawal deadline” of April 16th.
According to NCAA Proposal No. 2010-24, “student-athletes interested in 'testing the waters' of the NBA draft [are required] to remove their name from consideration before the first day of the spring National Letter of Intent signing period.”
The first day of the spring National Letter of Intent signing period is April 17th this year, meaning that any player that makes himself eligible for the NBA draft before then must remove it by April 16th in order to retain his collegiate eligibility.
What this essentially means is that there is no “testing the waters” anymore.
The reason for this change, in the NCAA's words is: “to help keep student-athletes focused on academics in the spring term and to give coaches a better idea of their roster for the coming year before the recruiting period is closed.”
DraftExpress.com
https://www.portsmouthinvitational.com (Can watch live online. Info at link)
DraftExpress Early Entry Tracker
CBS NBA Draft Early Entry Tracker
Recruiting
4/10/13, 6:57 PM
Man, basketball takes you places.. I was just on 106&Park, this crazy lol #blessed
https://twitter.com/wayneseldenjr
Wiggins, who is ranked No. 1 in the country by Rivals.com, likely will not announce his college choice at Saturday’s Jordan Brand Classic, his high school coach, Rob Fulford, told the Lexington Herald-Leader. Fulford said Wiggins would announce sometime before the end of the spring signing period (April 17-May 15). KU signees Selden and Joel Embiid will compete in the Classic, set for an 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2.
LJW
The Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes. The 2014 NBA draft will be really good, by the way, because there are a lot of really talented guys arriving in college basketball this season, but none are more talented than Wiggins, who is already causing NBA types to weigh the merits of tanking seasons that haven't even happened yet. You can examine this case on YouTube at your own leisure.
Even crazier? We don't even know where he's going to school.
His immensely high-profile recruitment appears to be coming down to two schools: Florida State, where his parents, former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and former Canadian Olympic track star Marita Payne-Wiggins, were both athletes; and Kentucky, which is Kentucky. At the Final Four, many in the know whom I asked seemed to more frequently guess Florida State, largely because Kentucky has already signed (deep breath) six McDonald's All Americans, four of the top seven ESPN 100 prospects and the top point guard, shooting guard, power forward and center. Wiggins is the top small forward. Even without him, recruiting experts (like our own Dave Telep) think UK 2013 is the best recruiting class of all time. Move over, Fab Five.
The fear of a crowded roster, plus the familial ties, make the Florida State theory make sense
ESPN
Jordan Brand Classic practice today
USA Today: Jordan Brand Classic players predict the result of going 1 on 1 with Michael Jordan
http://www.usatodayhss.com/news/article/players-predict-one-on-one-game-with-michael-jordan (Andrew Harrison is an idiot.)
4/13 Jordan Brand Classic (Embiid, Selden, Wiggins)
4/26-4/28 Jayhawk Invitational
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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