Tuesday

Kansas Jayhawks

Groundbreaking Day for the DeBruce Center just might signify one of the greatest days in Kansas University basketball history.

So says KU coach Bill Self, who believes Friday’s turning of dirt for the $18 million home of James Naismith’s original rules of basketball, is the start of something great for the program.

“We arguably have the nicest place, coolest place to play in college basketball. This will ensure us being at the very top for basically the rest of time with this new building,” Self said at a groundbreaking ceremony at the northeast corner of Allen Fieldhouse.

“We are very proud of it, so pleased the DeBruce Foundation and their family has made this unbelievably generous contribution to benefit KU the next century. It will obviously be the destination spot on campus for anybody who visits campus,” Self added.

The 32,000-square-foot building will open in late 2015 and will house the documents purchased by David and Suzanne Booth for $4.3 million at auction in 2010.

The DeBruce Center, which will be connected to Allen Fieldhouse through the second-floor concourse and Booth Hall of Athletics, will support future exhibits concerning KU hoops tradition and the history of the game.
LJW


KUAD Press Release: KU breaks ground for DeBruce Center, Naismith Rules


NY Times: Naismith’s choices on race, from basketball’s beginnings


Eleventh-year Kansas University coach Bill Self, who emphatically denied interest in filling any of the NBA’s coaching openings at Friday’s DeBruce Center dedication outside Allen Fieldhouse, did acknowledge being a follower of the pro game Friday on 610 radio.

“I am an NBA fan, no question. Of course, the playoffs take a whole different turn,” said Self, who enjoyed watching bits and pieces of five first-round series that went seven games — Oklahoma City over Memphis; Los Angeles Clippers over Golden State; Brooklyn over Toronto; Indiana over Atlanta; and San Antonio over Dallas.

…As far as fans worrying about him taking an NBA job this offseason, Self said Friday: “There’s nothing about me and the NBA. Zero.”

Asked about leaving anytime soon, he told 610 radio: “No, I don’t think so. We’ve got so many good things going on right here. You add the DeBruce Center (for Naismith rules and training table) and add the living quarters (new apartment complex to be built) to go along with the way we’ll be fed, from a recruiting standpoint we’ve done pretty well. I think we can even take a step up.”
LJW


KU senior Justin Wesley is at the third-annual Australian Football League combine this weekend in Los Angeles. In all, 20 invitees are learning the game and being put through tests. The athletes come primarily from basketball backgrounds and, according to league officials, have been “selected for their size, age and athletic abilities.”

“Oklahoma State’s Mason Cox and KU’s Justin Wesley tested off the charts,” noted Jonathan Givony of draftexpress.com. “Wesley broke their all-time vertical leap record by a wide margin and tested out freakishly fast (third-quickest ever in 30-meter dash) for guy his size.”
4/27 LJW

Though its been 10yrs since playing for him,Im grateful @CoachBillSelf still makes time to coach me in how to lead and coach others. #KUCMB
@waynesimien


Arizona announces Kansas transfer Zach Peters' career is over due to medical issues.
@GoodmanESPN


Learn from your flaws. Embrace The Process
@Ntharpe1


This is not to say that the Suns' Markieff Morris should be honored with this NBA season's Sixth Man Award, although the ballot from here did say so after a thoughtful debate weighing Morris against Chicago's Taj Gibson.

This is to say Jamal Crawford should not have won the Sixth Man Award.

Crawford is a fine player who was stellar and much-needed in his instant-offense bench role during the Los Angeles Clippers' first-round playoff triumph over Golden State.

There was not enough of that Crawford during the regular season to merit the Sixth Man Award over Morris or Gibson. Crawford won the award, according to an ESPN report, and could receive it as early as today for being the league's best reserve. Well, sometimes. Crawford came off the bench 45 times, barely more than half of the season's 82 games. He started 24 times and missed 13 games due to injury.

The Sixth Man Award seems to have become pigeonholed for volume scorers. It is a voter's fascination that eliminates worthy big men such as Morris and Gibson by limiting what a sixth man can be. This will be the ninth time in the past 10 seasons that the Sixth Man Award went to a perimeter player, and it is stretching it to not throw the outlier, Lamar Odom, into that group.

The applause for Crawford will overwhelm any criticism of his selection, but even 2009-10 Sixth Man Award winner Jamal Crawford would shake his head at this. That Crawford came off the bench for all 79 of his appearances. No Sixth Man Award winner has made fewer bench appearances than this season's Crawford since Bobby Jackson in 2002-03, when he missed 23 games for Sacramento and still subbed for a higher percentage of his games (43 of 59).

…Morris led the NBA in bench points (1,115) and double-doubles (11) and was fourth in rebounds per game (6.0), sixth in field-goal percentage (48.6), fifth in points per game (13.8) and seventh in steals (0.85) among reserves. He changed his game, mostly ditching the 3-point shot to give the Suns their only consistent interior scoring option and leaning more on his efficient mid-range game. When he scored 15 points or more, the Suns went 25-11 (.694), and Morris got better when the Suns were in a playoff chase, with averages of 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds after the All-Star break.
Link

The first of the 2013-14 EFES Euroleague Awards, the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy, has been won by EA7 Emporio Armani guard Keith Langford, whose point-scoring exploits this season helped bring an unheralded team to the brink of a surprise Final Four appearance. The Ford Trophy is awarded to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague player who averages the most points over a minimum number of games. It is the only end-of-season award based solely on statistics, and by peppering baskets across Europe for 17.56 points over 24 games this season, Langford left no doubt about who deserved it most. Langford was a devastating weapon for Milan all season long; he scored in double figures in every game of the Top 16 and playoffs, scored in the 20s nine times and reached at least 28 points on four occasions. It is the first Ford Trophy for Langford, who has averaged more points than any other Euroleague player over the past five seasons.
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

ESPN: ACC/BIG 10 Challenge field announced


The BIG EAST and Big Ten Conferences have announced the establishment of the Gavitt Tipoff Games, an annual early-season series of eight men’s basketball games played between the two conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and basketball visionary.
 
The Gavitt Tipoff Games will be played on four consecutive days in the first full week of the college basketball season.  The series begins at the start of the 2015-16 season and will span eight years, with games played at home sites.
Link


While it hasn't had the most success on the field in recent years as its conference counterparts, there's one area the Big Ten has been able to maintain its dominance: revenue. Thanks to the Big Ten Network Big Ten schools have been bringing in more money annually than schools around the country -- there's a reason every conference wants a network now -- and the conference doesn't expect that to change.

According to a report in the Journal & Courier, the Big Ten projects that its revenues will continue to grow each year, and with a new television deal on the way, the conference expects 12 of its 14 schools to pull in approximately $44.5 million during the 2017-18 school year. That would be the first year of the new television deal.

…The $44.5 million figure would far outstrip any other conference's revenue at present. However, such deals are historically backloaded. The largest part of the payout comes at the end of the contract. For example, the Big 12 currently averages $20 million annually in revenue per school. The Pac-12 is still projecting an average of $30 million per school despite problems with carriage on its Pac-12 Network. The SEC is expected to reap a windfall from its network that launches in August.
CBS


Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard likes the idea of segregating the largest and most powerful NCAA schools, which the organization endorsed last week, but it will come at a price.

"It would be a big outlay of expenditures for us — probably close to $750,000 (a year)," Pollard said during an interview Monday with the Des Moines Register. "And we're self-funded, so we'd have to pass that on or cut in other areas."

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors endorsed a plan last Thursday that allows schools in the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific-12 and Southeastern conferences to have the power to address issues separately from the other 286 schools that make up Division I.

The proposal faces an August vote.

"It's a potential watershed moment in the history of college athletics," Pollard said. "There's still a lot to be decided, but I think the biggest initiative coming out of that is that the proposal will allow autonomy for the 65 member institutions to have a much greater control over what we do on a day-to-day basis.

"For the health of college athletics, that's a good thing. The devil will always be in the details — and how that gets implemented is still too early to ultimately know."

The proposal includes allowing each school to give scholarship athletes enough money each year to cover what is called the "cost of attendance." That's money for everyday living expenses such as gas, entertainment, personal hygiene and cell-phone bills.

The total varies from school to school, according to the website collegedata.com.

At Iowa State, personal expenses beyond the cost of education is $2,430. At the University of Iowa, it's $3,515.

Comparatively, Big 12 member Texas' personal expenses figure is $3,752, while Ohio State of the Big Ten is $2,452.

"My guess is that there will be some standardization in how you calculate the number," Pollard said, "but the number will be different for every school."
Des Moines Register


The Terrapins took a blow to their assembly next season when the news came down on Friday: Starting point guard Seth Allen was transferring. Allen was set to be a cog for a team that had NCAA Tournament hopes for 2015. He averaged 13.4 points (second-most on the team) and 3.0 assists.

He was also the latest player to leave early from Turgeon's program. No major-conference team (not facing a coaching change) has lost as much on its roster to transfer like Maryland in the past six weeks. Nick Faust, Roddy Peters and Shaquille Cleare have also abandoned ship since the 2013-14 season concluded. The team also lost a walk-on to transfer -- and how often does that happen?

Turgeon is taking the blame. In three years with the program, he's had two 17-15 seasons sandwich a 25-13 run in 2012-13, which included an NIT semifinals appearance. Turgeon told the Baltimore Sun he can't possibly ignore what he's doing wrong, when you look at the number of players who are choosing to go elsewhere.

[Turgeon said] he has to “take total blame” for the departures.

“You don't lose four guys and say, ‘Oh, it can't be me,' ” Turgeon said. “This is new territory for me. This has never happened” during his career as a head coach.
...
Turgeon said he will reassess the way he runs his program to prevent future exoduses from the program.

“I've got to take a look at everything, I've got to take a look at myself and everything on this deal,” he said. “I do think it's part of the culture. … I've got to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. With that said, I like the guys returning and I like the guys coming in.”
CBS

Oregon forward Damyean Dotson was among three Oregon players suspended from the team on the heels of a rape investigation that will not be prosecuted because of a lack of evidence, The Oregonian reported.

Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin also were named in the Eugene (Ore.) Police Department report obtained by CBSSports.com/247Sports and are "not currently participating in any team activities," the announcement from the school said. Only Dotson was listed as a suspect by the Lane County District Attorney's office, which said it would not pursue prosecution, The Oregonian reported.

The paper also reported Artis and Dotson told law enforcement officials the sex was consensual, and that Austin also was contacted by the police but asked that any inquiries be referred to his lawyer.

The paper reported the district attorney's office wrote:

"While there is no doubt the incidents occurred, the conflicting statements and actions by the victim make this case unprovable as a criminal case."
CBS


The Craig Robinson era is apparently over at Oregon State.

The school fired Robinson on Sunday night, according to several media outlets. School officials have not returned text messages or made an official statement.

Former player Roberto Nelson did tell The Oregonian the reports are true.

“I wish it didn’t happen,” Nelson told Connor Letourneau . “He’s been a guy you can always talk to and talk about anything. ... I obviously wish him the best and I hope he’s successful wherever he goes next.”

He went on Twitter to add: “Either way this is all weird timing. Coach rob is the man! He's made me a better person n I loved the 5 years with him. He will be a success”

Robinson posted a career record of 94-105 in his six seasons at Oregon State. The Beavers went 16-16 this season and lost in the first round of the third-tier College Basketball Invitational.
Link


Versatile Lee College forward Deng Deng made a verbal commitment to Baylor on Sunday and is planning to sign Monday.

Standing 6-9, Deng played every position on the floor for Lee during the past two seasons, and averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds as a sophomore. Widely recruited by schools across the country, Deng visited LSU, Nebraska and Baylor before making his decision.

Deng said Baylor is attractive because of its Christian atmosphere and business school. He believes Baylor coach Scott Drew’s up-tempo style will fit his talents.

“Wherever the team asks me to play, I’ll do it to win a championship,” Deng said. “I like the way Coach Drew lets people play, and I can play all different positions. I’ve been watching them play, and I saw how Isaiah Austin played different positions.”
Waco Tribune


Since the end of the season and now approaching the end of school, Oklahoma State’s basketball roster has been ever-evolving.

And the not-so-merry-go-round continues; where it will stop, no one really knows.

Yet this much is clear: the Cowboys will look much different next season. Difficult to say better or worse, but definitely different.

OSU remains on the prowl for pieces, plugging holes for players – and recruits – who are either no longer in the plans or in limbo.

It’s a troubling issue, for sure, and not one limited to the Cowboys. Player transfers at the Division I level are at a record pace. And it’s a trend that has been escalating over the past few years, from 291 in 2011 to 455 a year ago and somewhere higher this season, according to ESPN basketball reporter Jeff Goodman, who tracks transfers as well as anybody.

And now OSU is involved.

“It’s the culture of what we’re living with in college basketball,” said Cowboys coach Travis Ford. “People ask me, ‘What’s the answer?’ I don’t know the answer, you’ve just got to deal with what it is. You’ve got to be prepared to deal with it. You can’t dwell on it and lose focus.”

The culture is rampant at the high school and AAU levels. And it’s spreading upward to the colleges.
The Oklahoman


NBA announces Early Entry Candidates for 2014 draft


April 9: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Application Deadline
April 14: NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee Response Deadline
April 15: NCAA Early Entry “Withdrawal” Deadline
April 27: NBA Draft Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 pm ET)
May 2: NBA Draft Early Entry Candidates Released – Underclassmen Contact Permitted
May 14-18: NBA Draft Combine (Chicago)
May 20: NBA Draft Lottery
June 16: NBA Draft Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline (5:00 pm ET)
June 26: 2014 NBA Draft
draftexpress.com: Testing the NBA Draft Waters in 2014

Recruiting

Why he's super: The 240-pound Alexander overpowers opponents with his strength, intensity and athletic ability. He's a force as a finisher in transition and on the glass, and he's also a good shot-blocker. The Naismith National Player of the Year and a co-MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic, Alexander averaged 25 points and 16 rebounds as a senior. If "violent dunks per game" were a stat, he would probably lead the nation. Alexander's team went 24-2 and defeated Super Five member Jahlil Okafor's team in four overtimes for the Chicago city title — although Curie had to forfeit all its victories for using some ineligible players (not Alexander).

Eric Bossi, Rivals.com: "Cliff is a monster. He is one of those guys who believes he's the baddest dude on the block, and then he goes out and plays like it. He takes the fight to his opponents. He knows his strength is playing around the rim, and he does so with aggression. He rebounds at any extremely high rate. He's a kid that I think is just naturally strong. When he gets in a college weight room … he's going to be an even more explosive around-the-rim player."

Jerry Meyer, 247Sports.com: "Cliff is the most dynamic big guy in the paint and around the rim. He's a guy who has what I call functional athleticism. He is explosive in traffic. He can go up in a crowd and make plays as a rebounder, a shot-blocker and a finisher. I think he's going to be good in the pick-and-roll. I think he has potential as a shooter. … It'll be interesting to see if he's just an around-the-rim Kenneth Faried-type player or if he develops more of an offensive arsenal."

Evan Daniels, Scout.com: "I love Cliff's energy and athleticism and just productivity. He's a terrific rebounder, and that's something that really translates at the college level. He plays above the rim. He plays with intensity and fire, and he's just an active guy who plays extremely hard."
Louisville CJ Super Five

Oubre and Alexander at ballislife.com game practice

Ballislife.com All-Star Game

Kansas University, which landed blue-chip basketball point guard Devonte’ Graham on Friday, has emerged as one of eight finalists for Jalen Brunson, a 6-foot-1 junior point guard from Stevenson High in Lincolnshire, Ill.

Brunson, who is ranked No. 14 in the recruiting Class of 2015 by Rivals.com, tweeted Saturday that he has a list of KU, Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, Villanova, Temple and UConn.

Brunson, son of former Temple and NBA player Rick Brunson, averaged 26.1 points and 4.7 assists last season. He scored an Illinois-state-tournament single-game-record 56 points in a semifinal loss to Jahlil Okafor’s Whitney Young team.
LJW

I want to thank all the coaches that have put the time into recruiting me. This is my final 8 in no particular order! pic.twitter.com/A3yiGcgurt Jalen Brunson ‏@jbcrossover5

Rivals: Spiece Day 1


Rivals: Spiece Day 2


Rivals: Spiece Day 3


Rivals: Sunday at Run-N-Slam


adidas Uprising Spring/Summer Events


2014 Spring/Summer AAU and camp schedule (compiled by CBS Sports)


NBC College basketball fan’s guide to current grassroots basketball scene


WITH THE ADOPTION OF RWG-14-1, the legislation governing all-star games was eliminated. Consequently there is no longer a two game limit for prospects. This piece of legislation is effective August 1, 2013, so it will apply to all prospects that enroll at your institution on or after that date.  
Link


Recruiting Calendar


My Late Night in the Phog videos, KU Alumni games videos, 2011-12 Border War videos, Legends of the Phog videos, KC Prep Invitational, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/kcjcjhawk