Tuesday

Oklahoma State updated its intro video for Saturday's much-anticipated Bedlam matchup.
And the pump-up clip included a perfect closing scene.

Marcus Smart, moments after his steal and assist clinched an unthinkable upset in Lawrence, Kan., vaults into an acrobatic back flip on the Jayhawks' center court logo, as a delirious Dave Hunziker unloads a “Down goes Kansas” call in the background.

The sold out Bedlam crowd reacted as expected, immediately identifying and roaring at the sight of Smart's bold acrobatics.

“I was celebrating for a moment,” Markel Brown fondly recalled. “Then I turn around and I see him doing back flips, and I'm like, ‘Woah, what is he doing?'”

In many ways, it's become the signature moment of this season-changing and potentially program-altering seven-game win streak.

Genuine and humble off the court but a ruthless bully on it, Smart has a rare form of competitive confidence. He'll rip your heart during the game and then dance on your historic court after.

…So Self likely showed it last week and replayed it this week. He's probably got it on a constant loop in Jayhawk headquarters as we speak.

“… On the plane coming down here, in the locker room before the game,” Travis Ford joked, rattling off the times he figured Self would show it as motivation.

And Smart knows as much, admitting that he somewhat regretted it.

“Now they have something that's really going to motivate them to come in here,” Smart said. “But like I said, it was in the emotion of the moment, in the flow and it just happened. I can't take it back now. ... As a player and competitor, if I saw that, that would definitely get me fired up.”
The Oklahoman


KUAD: Kansas vs Okie State Pregame Notes


If home court means anything, Oklahoma State has a slight edge.

"We're going to be ready," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said after his team's 84-79 overtime victory over Oklahoma Saturday afternoon. "And make no mistake, Kansas is going to be ready. They're going to show video of us winning at their place and everything, but when it's all said and done, when that ball is thrown up, both teams have to play."

…Bill Self is an Oklahoma State graduate and his teams have historically struggled in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

"We'll find out a lot about ourselves on Wednesday," Self said. "That'll be our toughest game of the year, going into Stillwater."
Big 12 Sports


"We've been down there when it's been good, " Self said Monday during the Big 12 conference call. "I would anticipate a sellout. I would anticipate Gallagher rocking, and when it's rocking, it's just about as good as any place."

A sellout wasn't official as of Monday morning, with the school saying approximately 1,600 public tickets remained. Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford wasn't expending much energy to drum up interest, either.

"They're all big," Ford said, asked if the game ranked among the biggest he has experienced at OSU. "If we hadn't won on Saturday, we wouldn't be sitting here saying that. They're all big at this point. I don't know if it's any bigger than the rest, but it is a big game, no question."
TCJ


Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self didn’t take the bait Saturday when asked by a media member if, in coming days, he’d show his players tape of Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart performing a backflip during a celebration after the Cowboys’ 85-80 victory over the Jayhawks on Feb. 2 in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Was there a backflip? That’s already been shown many times (on TV),” Self, KU’s coach, said with a smile after Saturday’s 73-47 home win over Texas.

“I’ll be honest: I thought that was as athletic as Ben’s dunk,” Self added of Ben McLemore’s 360-degree spin slam versus Texas.

While not wanting to make Wednesday’s 8 p.m. rematch against OSU at Gallagher-Iba Arena a grudge match against any one player, Self also realizes his team needs no extra motivation. Wednesday’s game is for a share of first place.

KU, the No. 9-rated team in the country in the current AP poll, enters 9-3 in Big 12 play and 21-4 overall. No. 14-rated OSU is 9-3, 19-5.

“The stakes are probably as high as they have been since my first or second year here when coach (Eddie) Sutton was (OSU) coach,” Self said. “We went there and (lost 80-60) and finished second my first year. They won the league and had a terrific team and went to the Final Four…"
LJW


Because the opponent is Oklahoma State, Kansas’ quest for a ninth straight Big 12 championship will seem opened ended or book ended after Wednesday.

The Jayhawks, Cowboys and Kansas State are tangled at the top of the standing, and a victory in Stillwater would give Kansas a huge leg up in the race.

But a loss would make the climb steep for the Jayhawks, who would have dropped the season series to the Cowboys. A regular season sweep hasn’t happened to KU since 2001, when Iowa State turned the trick.

And if Oklahoma State goes on to win the outright Big 12 title, will be the first time somebody other than Kansas won or shared it since 2004 – when the Cowboys last won a conference crown.

The Jayhawks’ league title streak started the next year, and a late season conquest of Oklahoma State proved to be the flag-planting moment.
KC Star


With 13 points in Kansas’ 73-47 victory over Texas on Saturday, McLemore moved in to fourth place on KU’s single-season freshmen scoring list. McLemore, who now has 417 points this season, passed Paul Pierce (404 in ‘95-96) and Kerry Boagni (408 in ‘82-83).

McLemore, averaging 16.7 points per game, is two points ahead of Danny Manning’s record for freshman scoring average (14.6); and with a strong finish, he’ll have a compelling case for the best freshman season in KU history.

McLemore is on pace to finish with the fifth-most rebounds by a KU freshman — ahead of Darrell Arthur, Pierce or Scott Pollard — and the third-most three-point buckets, behind only J.R. Giddens (74) and Jeff Boschee (79).

…McLemore may be having one of the best shooting seasons by a freshman in recent history. According to College Basketball Reference’s “Play Index”, which keeps stats back to the 1998-99 season, McLemore could become the first freshman from a major (BCS-level) conference to shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 85 percent from the free-throw line (minimum: 200 shots).

McLemore is currently shooting 43 percent from the floor, 51 percent from three and 87 percent from the free-throw line:

Here’s the list of BCS conference freshmen that have shot 40/50/80 during the same span: North Carolina’s Marvin Williams (’04-05); Georgetown’s Austin Freeman (’07-08); and Duke Kyrie Irving* (‘10-11). Williams and Freeman were far from the first option on their respective teams, while Irving was limited to just 11 games by injury.
Link


And really, if Smart wins Big 12 Player of the Year — as he should if the vote were taken today — it's going to be because of his propensity for big-time plays. He doesn't wow you with gaudy stats. He doesn't amaze you with his scoring average. He doesn't astonish you with his shooting percentage.

Not that any of those are terrible.

Smart is averaging 15.0 points, 4.5 assists. 2.9 steals and 0.8 blocks a game. Among Big 12 players, he ranks first in only one of those categories, steals. But among that same group of players, he ranks in the top 15 in each of those categories.

No other player in the league can say that.

“Huge impact on the game in every way,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said of Smart.

The OSU freshman changes the game on both ends of the floor more than any other player in the Big 12, and he does it in a variety of ways. On offense, he can do damage by shooting or passing or driving or drawing defenders. On defense, he can grab a rebound or steal a pass or force a bad shot.
He does all sorts of things well, and there's rarely a play that he doesn't do something that affects the game.

Not a lot of guys can say that.

“Marcus Smart is one of the best players in the country,” Kruger said.

Read that again — the Sooner coach called Smart one of the best players in the country. Not one of the best freshmen. One of the best players.

Of course, Smart is going to be on the court Wednesday night with another freshman who can boast the same. Kansas guard Ben McLemore comes to town, and people with a say so in end-of-the-year awards are sure to want to see how he and Smart compare while on the same court.

Safe to say Smart got the better of McLemore in their first matchup. Not only did the Cowboys win and end the Jayhawks' 33-game home-court winning streak earlier this month, but Smart also scored 25 points, including seven in crunch time.

“The bigger the occasion,” Cowboy guard and longtime Smart sidekick Phil Forte said, “he always seems to step up.”

Cowboy sharpshooter Markel Brown said, “We know at any given moment, he can make a spectacular play for this team to help us win.”

Smart is the reason that the Cowboys are in the driver's seat in the Big 12. No doubt this is a good team, but it has a chance to sweep the season series against the Jayhawks and pry the conference crown from their hands because of Smart. Because of the number of big plays he makes. Because of the way he impacts so much of every game.

Because of that, he deserves to be the front-runner for conference Player of the Year.
The Oklahoman

Artist John Martin installed a 2012 Final Four addition to the mural in the #kubball offices today
http://twitter.com/KUAthletics


KUAlumni Photos of Gameday


In the back halls of Tulsa’s Reynolds Center, two flights of stairs below Manning’s corner office on the top floor, sits a room about three times the size of the lane. When the 6-foot-10 former No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick and 15-year pro first walked in, he saw something unexpected. Stationed prominently above the half dozen lockers about 12 feet up the wall were photographs the size of pizza boxes of three of the best-known coaches in Tulsa history: Bill Self, Tubby Smith and Nolan Richardson.

All three men hold a special place in the often overlooked history and tradition of the 4,000-student Conference-USA school, and all three of those photos since have been moved to another part of the facility at Manning’s request.

“I was like, ‘We’re getting these out,’” Manning recalled with a laugh. “‘We’re gonna put these somewhere else. We’re not gonna look at these cats that won a national championship every day.’”

“A new brand of hoops,” is the slogan the university uses to promote the Manning era, and in the days since KU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder was hired last April, interest, excitement and, frankly, hope have been on the rise with a fan base that still celebrates the program’s 2000 trip to the Elite Eight under Self and often asks, “So, when are we going back,” even though the Golden Hurricane has not made the NCAA Tournament in 10 years.

There’s also a giant photo of Self’s Elite Eight squad plastered on the wall near the basketball offices. Just about every day, Manning walks past it and sees his former boss’ giant, much younger face staring back at him.

“It’s there. It’s not going anywhere, and I would not be where I am at today without the relationship that I have with him,” Manning said of Self. “So I enjoy seeing that mural. I enjoy that we think enough of the impact he had on our program with that team to put them on the wall. And we aspire to get there as well.”
LJW

LJW image

When a 19-point lead dwindled to seven with 5:35 left, Kansas University basketball forward Carolyn Davis stuck her backside into Oklahoma’s Nicole Griffin on the right block before raising her right hand.

The message was clear to KU’s Monica Engelman: “Give me the ball.”

It didn’t matter that many teams would have backed it out with 24 seconds still left on the shot clock. Or that Griffin had just performed a two-handed volleyball swat of a shot on KU’s previous possession.

Davis received the pass, took three dribbles, then turned over her left shoulder to put in a short turn-around jumper.

It was the first of six straight points for the Jayhawks, whose poise showed down the stretch in an 81-71 victory over No. 22 Oklahoma on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I knew I had to take over as a senior, as a captain,” Davis said. “I just tried to push my teammates to get me the ball.”

Davis’ basket came at a time when KU’s play was starting to waver, as OU used an 18-6 run to close the deficit to 60-53.

Earlier in the week, the Jayhawks had come back from a 23-point deficit to win at TCU, and Davis knew a game’s fortunes could turn quickly when a trailing team gained confidence.

In a previous timeout, KU coach Bonnie Henrickson challenged her players not to lose their aggressiveness — just before Davis followed through on those words.

“She wanted the ball,” Henrickson said, “and she wanted to go make a move.”

On an afternoon Angel Goodrich set the school’s career-assists record with 10 — pushing her total to 687 assists, which broke the previous mark of 686 held by Lisa Braddy — Davis was KU’s best offensive option.

The 6-foot-3 forward led KU with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting while contributing 18 of the Jayhawks’ 46 points in the paint.
LJW


She set her school’s all-time assists record, made sure she drew the best out of whichever four players were on the floor with her, kept her women’s basketball team playing at a revved-up pace and refused to let it lose.

Angel Goodrich did what point guards are born to do in leading Kansas University past Oklahoma, 81-71, because that’s what she always does. And she does it with equal parts style and substance. On Sunday in Allen Fieldhouse, she did it in front of 6,724 spectators, most of them dressed in pink.

Both coaches said afterward they knew what sort of player Goodrich would become the moment they laid eyes on her.

“It’s who I thought she could always be, it really is, from the first time I saw her as an eighth grader at an AAU tournament in Memphis,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “She has a gift. She has a gift.”

Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale has known her for a long while as well. Goodrich said her high school team attended Coale’s camp at OU every year, and the coach would sign the back of her shirt, “My future point guard.”

Goodrich chose Kansas instead, the first upset she helped KU score against the Sooners, but not the last. Coale didn’t like her decision, but still likes the player who made it.
LJW Keegan


KUAD: WBB upsets #19/22 Oklahoma postgame stats, notes, photos, video


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Big 12/College News

Bob Huggins felt like Dr. Frankenstein Monday night upon his return to Manhattan, Kan., where he created a monster of a basketball team in his one season as head coach.

“He definitely changed the mindset of Kansas State basketball,” said current coach Bruce Weber, crediting Huggins who had taken over a school that had not had a winning season in seven years, before his team scored its 21st victory by overwhelming WVU, 71-61, in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score.

The loss left the Mountaineers at 13-13 with a 6-7 Big 12 record, leaving them with almost no chance of earning an NCAA Tournament bid and looking at the potential for a losing season as the rest of the schedule is torturous.

The evening started in the classiest of fashions as Huggins walked into the arena for the first time since his year coaching here and the fans gave him a standing ovation, something he doesn’t even get at home when he enters the arena.
Link


Surrounded by this ugly cloud, joining a scandal-tainted program that aspired to mediocrity, Drew began his first season at Baylor in 2003.

Now, his program is one of only five schools that have made the Elite Eight in two of the past three years. The others in that list are the elite of college basketball: Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Florida. Only two schools — Kentucky and North Carolina — had more players selected in the 2012 NBA draft than Baylor’s three.

For Baylor to be mentioned in the same breath as these schools is indeed amazing — and also something that causes people to wonder, to doubt, to guess at the sins this Baptist school committed to reach these heights.

But when he focuses on you, and you realize you’re now the one he’s recruiting for the Baylor basketball program, the secret of his unlikely success is laid plain.

It’s simple: Scott Drew is an impossible person not to fall for.

He may be the most energetic and positive person you’ll ever meet. He tells you why Waco might be the best college town in the Big 12 (the weather, the proximity to big cities like Dallas and Houston, the excellent Tex-Mex), and you start to believe him.

He talks about Christianity in an evangelical way that’s far from preachy. He gives you his favorite Christian book (“The Shack”) and over the next few weeks he texts you again and again to see if you liked it.

He asks your wife’s and kid’s names and he doesn’t forget. He talks more about his own family than about basketball — his wife, his three young kids and his father, former Valparaiso basketball coach Homer Drew. To call him charming is like calling LeBron James a good basketball player.

First rule of a great salesman: Before you sell a thing, make sure the buyer likes you.

“Recruiting is sales,” the 42-year-old Drew explained. “Recruiting is really about people, and I like spending time with people. But unless you have a product that’s worthy at the end of the day, then you don’t have anything.”
Fox Sports


The losses. The critics. The comments his son had heard.

It had all been wearing on Maryland coach Mark Turgeon.

Twenty-four games into his second season had passed, and he hadn't gotten one of those signature wins – the kind coaches and fans dream of, the kind that can jumpstart a program and potentially lead a team to the NCAA tournament.

By the end of Saturday night, though, Turgeon could breathe a sigh of relief. He'd finally done it. He'd finally gotten one. Maryland had beaten No. 1 Duke, 83-81, thanks to two clutch free throws from freshman Seth Allen with 2.8 seconds left in the game.

Afterward, Turgeon couldn't hide his emotions as he spoke to reporters about the biggest win of his Terrapins tenure, a victory that came six days after an 11-point home loss to Virginia.

"It's been a hard week," Turgeon said. He paused and excused himself as he got choked up.

"I take a lot of pride in my coaching," Turgeon continued. "I don't do a lot of things well. I like to think I can coach a little bit, and I haven't done a very good job. It's been a hard week for my family. It was a hard for my son last week. He had to leave the gym because the fans were so hard on his dad. This – this – was for them.

"I know what it means to our fan base. I wanted to beat Duke. I wanted to beat Duke. This means a lot to me. I talked about it in the summer, 'God, if we beat Duke, I'm going to be in the student section. I'm going to be hanging out with the students.' This game means a lot to me. It's tough on the family. I'm really happy for them. That's why they're here tonight."

…Despite a late scare – three free throws from Duke freshman Rasheed Sulaimon that tied up the game with 16.7 seconds left, and the last-second heave from Cook – the Terps were able to hang on for the win.

For themselves. For their tournament chances. For their coach.

"He had a smile on his face the whole time (in the post-game locker room)," Allen said. "That one was for Coach. He wants it so much. He told us, for us to be successful, the players have to want it more than he did.

"Tonight, I felt it was that way – or at least equal."
USA Today


Sitting in the ESPN analyst chair for this game was Jay Bilas, one of the game's most astute observers, and about a half-hour after the broadcast, Bilas was left shaking his head about college hoops' direction. The game is sinking into an unwatchable ugliness.

"These are hockey games, and we're pretending this is basketball," Bilas said. "Any referee that disagrees with me, come to my house and we'll sit and watch the game. And I can show you foul after foul."

Not being called.

Under the basket scrums, body checks and, "things that happen to cutters and drivers they would throw flags on in the NFL aren't getting called," Bilas said.

The result is largely defensive-oriented games without flow. Saturday, Texas was held to 15 points in the first half, and the Longhorns rallied for that total with four points in the final 44 seconds. Their 21.8 percent field-goal shooting for the game was the worst by a KU opponent since the 1975-76 season.

Kansas knows something about anemic scoring games and halves, tallying 13 points on three field goals in the first half of the loss at TCU two weeks ago. The Jayhawks' 73.3-point scoring average is a shade under last year and headed toward the lowest since 1999. And in McLemore, Kansas has one of the nation's most gifted shooters.

College basketball scoring is at its lowest point since the pre-shot clock days of the early 1980s, and other factors are involved. The game has been diminished by the one-and-done rule, where the top talent is 18 years old, takes half a season to develop a college-level skill set, then moves on. The offensive-minded big man has been on the decline for years. You simply don't see as many run outs, and the ability to close out a man-advantage break seems to be a lost art.

But will calling more called fouls help the game's flow?

Yes, and teams will defend more by letter of the law.

"These players aren't as bad as they're made to look," Bilas said. "They look inept because they're getting fouled. And coaches are teaching it because they know referees won't call it.

"It's embarrassing, and it's hurting the game."
KC Star Kerkhoff


Early in the second half of his team's matchup against USC on Sunday night, Cal coach Mike Montgomery didn't like the attitude or focus star guard Allen Crabbe was displaying.

"He had no expression," Montgomery told reporters after the game. "Mentally, he just needed a wakeup call."

Montgomery's way of firing up Crabbe was a hard two-handed shove to the chest during a timeout, an action that led to what appeared to be an angry exchange of words between the two on the sideline. Forward Richard Solomon eventually intervened and he and guard Justin Cobbs escorted Crabbe back to the tunnel for a few minutes to cool down before reentering the game.

Crabbe responded to the shove by spearheading Cal's rally from a 15-point second-half deficit with 10 points in the final 4:20 to lead the Bears to an 76-68 victory.

Nonetheless, most of the questions the junior guard and his coach received after the game centered on whether Montgomery was out of line putting his hands on a player.
Yahoo


Former North Carolina State basketball coach Sidney Lowe was arrested Monday and charged with failing to file his North Carolina state income taxes for three years.

Lowe didn't file returns in 2009, 2010 and 2011 - the last three years he coached the Wolfpack, according to the state Department of Revenue. He was booked at the Wake County jail Monday and released on a $10,000 unsecured bond on the misdemeanor charges.

Lowe is currently an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz. A spokesman said the team was aware of reports about Lowe's arrest but had no comment. Lowe also couldn't be reached for comment, and it wasn't known if he had an attorney.
AP


With the long-awaited notice of allegations against Miami looming - and possibly being prepared for delivery by the NCAA as early as Tuesday - the sides both made strong statements on Monday, first when the NCAA said its "missteps" would not derail the case, then when the Hurricanes rebutted by calling the probe "unprofessional and unethical."

"This is going to go forward," NCAA President Mark Emmert said.

Countered Miami President Donna Shalala: "We have been wronged."

A legal battle now seems possible, especially since Miami made its position clear on Monday: It will not accept any other sanctions other than the stiff ones it already has self-inflicted, a list that includes missing three postseason football games, holding back some football scholarships and declaring several players ineligible after they were found to be involved in wrongdoing.

"This process must come to a swift resolution, which includes no additional punitive measures beyond those already self-imposed," Shalala wrote.

The saga began with a Miami booster alleging that he plied athletes, recruits and coaches with impermissible benefits such as cash, yacht trips, lavish dinners and strip-club outings. In the past few weeks, the NCAA has had to acknowledge that it paid that booster's attorney to use subpoena power to depose witnesses who were unwilling to cooperate with the investigation.

The NCAA said it paid Maria Elena Perez, the attorney for former booster Nevin Shapiro, more than $19,000 for work she performed, primarily using subpoena power to ask questions on the association's behalf and doing so under the guise of a bankruptcy case. The NCAA does not have subpoena power and was not involved in Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings.
AP


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Recruiting

After sifting through all the statistics and hearing all the hyperbole, the expectations became unrealistic.

Conner Frankamp was almost portrayed as some mythical figure.

When you finally get to see the 6-foot-1 guard play basketball, you expect a miracle.

Maybe he’ll pack his high school gym ... overcome a halftime deficit with a 17-point tear in the third quarter ... be named winter homecoming king at halftime ... set the Wichita City League scoring record — all in one night.

Oh. He did. The Kansas recruit managed all that Friday, leading North past Carroll.

Frankamp also happened to perform in front of members of Wichita North’s two state championship teams, from 1953-54 and 1986-87. He boosted his career scoring total to 2,233 points, topping a future KU teammate, Perry Ellis (2,231), who ended his own sensational run last year for Wichita Heights.

“It is cool,” KU coach Bill Self said. “(Greg) Dreiling held the record, and of course he’s a KU guy. Perry held it briefly and he’s a KU guy, and Conner will be.”

There was some drama involved. Just 44 seconds remained when Frankamp got a steal, dribbled behind his back to sidestep Carroll defenders and connected from the lane to finish with 37 points.

“To be honest, it’s been weighing on me,” he said, “but once I started playing and got into the flow, I got into my normal game.”

…Leave Frankamp open and he does not miss. Guard him tight and he still burns opponents with either a step-back move, or by simply raising up and shooting over the defender. He can even step out and fire a deft turnaround from beyond the arc.

Please, someone start a recall petition to remove Mayor McCheese.

For Frankamp to be left off the McDonald’s All-America team is ludicrous.

Maybe the snub works in KU’s favor. No telling how many jumpers the deadeye will shoot this offseason.

“I’ve got to keep using that as motivation,” said Frankamp, “keep working hard and try to out-do those (McDonald’s picks) next year at KU. Then, keep developing over my career and try not to let it affect me too much.”

His emotions surface on occasion. But then, he gets bumped and hounded incessantly. Carroll did its best not to let the record fall. Enough that Frankamp was keeping an ice bag handy for his swollen nose, which got popped when he tried to split a double-team.

“Not a lot worse, though I feel like teams are keying on me for sure,” Frankamp said of the defensive attention. “My teammates have stepped up to help me out more and I have a great team around me.”
TCJ

Brannen Greene scored six in the final two minutes and had 23 points total at halftime and the Devils had a 43-34 lead.

Brunswick would nearly match points with Tift — 19 to 21 — in the third but were unable to make any dent in the lead. They seemed to momentarily make progress, cutting it to seven, but were answered by back-to-back threes from D.J. Bryant and Greene and it was 64-53 with only one quarter to go.

Tift would start the fourth on the roll as Greene led off with a three and Jackson a dunk. The offense never let up and the Bucs could not get the lead below 10 points and the Blue Devils were everywhere. Greene put up 10 more points in the quarter and Holland’s title was closed out by a Christopher Gravitt bucket and an 88-72 verdict.

Two Blue Devils finished with over 20 points, Greene (36) and Jackson (22). Tuff scored 12.

The Devils will go in to the state tournament with a 23-4 record. Only one loss has been at the hands of a Georgia school, a 88-83 loss to Coffee in January.
Tifton Gazette

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39-36 Brewster over Tilton at the half. Wayne Selden with 6 3pt baskets!!! INSANE!!!

Ron Patterson with the blow by move for the game winning dunk for Brewster 80-78. 31pts for Wayne Selden
https://twitter.com/HoopDreamsmag


Wayne Selden may have just thrown down the craziest dunk of his career...thats obviously saying something
https://twitter.com/hooprootz


I can't tell you how happy I am not to have to play @WayneSelden23 anymore. #Kansas is getting an absolute stud! #rockchalk
https://twitter.com/JoshLee_BAHoops


…this weekend, while 2014 PG Tyus Jones is expected to see the Kansas campus.
https://twitter.com/therecruitscoop


Q&A with Tyus Jones


Chicago prep center Jahlil Okafor, No. 1 in ESPN's 2014 class (Jones is No. 2), said last summer he wanted to play with Jones in college. Jones has said the same of Okafor.

Perennial powers Duke, Kentucky and Michigan State are on both players' lists. The Gophers are one of Jones' final eight, and they have offered Okafor a scholarship, but he hasn't been seriously considering the Gophers. Jones said Okafor might at least come for an unofficial visit.

"I know they're trying to recruit Jahlil a little bit harder now," Jones said of the Gophers. "I think that's good. I think if they continue to recruit Jahlil harder, that's definitely a possibility (for him to visit). You can't really rule it out until Jahlil would rule it out, so I definitely say that could be a possibility. I'm going to try my best to get him up here."

But first Jones will make his last unofficial visit Feb. 23 to Kansas. He then will talk to Okafor and also decide which five schools with which to schedule official visits.
Pioneer Press


Q&A with Rashad Vaughn

Making the move from Grace Prep in Arlington to Prime Prep in South Dallas, Emmanuel Mudiay did not have the easiest road to the court. The Texas UIL deemed the star junior ineligible for the season, so instead of having Mudiay miss a full year on the hardwood, Prime Prep coach Ray Forsett decided to disband from the UIL and play a national schedule. With the season nearing its conclusion and Prime Prep still standing undefeated, Forsett may have the most talented team in the country, led by Mudiay.

The scoring point guard has taken his game to a completely new level at his new home. Having grown to 6’5, he is one of the most physically dominating guards in the class with his combination of strength and athleticism. He makes the game seem so effortless because he can drill NBA three pointers, blow by you off of the dribble, or make downright amazing passes. The cousin of Texas point guard Myck Kabongo has also shown potential on the defensive end with his size and quick hands. In the past, there were times in which it just seemed as if Mudiay was going through the motions, but he was turned that corner and now takes over the game just about every time he hits the hardwood. Simply put, there is not another guard in the class of 2014 that blends athleticism, scoring ability, and court vision the way that Mudiay does.

Mudiay literally has his pick of the litter as far as colleges are concerned. Nearly every school in the country has offered him a college scholarship, but he recently cut his list to Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, SMU, St. John’s and Texas, and will be arguably the most heavily recruited guard in 2014 until he gives his pledge to a university.
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While Arkansas high school basketball doesn’t get the amount of coverage that many other states receive, freshman Adrian Moore is putting up the kind of numbers that demand attention. The 6’4 shooting guard became a national name as a 6th grader when he put down a breakaway dunk at Boo Williams Sportsplex in Virginia. This season Adrian is showing that he’s more than just an athlete averaging 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists a game for the Conway Wampus Cats.

…Moore’s combination of athleticism and skill make him a very intriguing prospect. Currently Moore has offers from Baylor and Arkansas, with interest from heavyweights Kansas, UCONN, Florida, NC State, Duke, and Memphis.
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