WEDNESDAY

Perry Ellis won’t argue with anybody who says the first semester of one’s college career just might be the most difficult of all.

“I mean, it’s pretty tough. You really have to focus,” Ellis, Kansas University’s 6-foot-8 freshman basketball forward from Wichita, said as Friday’s Stop Day approaches, signaling the end of fall semester of the 2012-13 school year. “There’s so much you have to do compared to high school. So many other things are thrown at you whether academics, basketball,” added Ellis, Class of 2012 valedictorian at Wichita Heights High School, who said he’s been tested, but not overwhelmed at KU.

“I’m just a freshman trying to get better,” he said. “I just do what they tell me and try to get better as a player and a person.”

…KU coach Bill Self said Ellis “has improved so much,” since arriving on campus for summer school in June.

“This is a compliment to Perry, so nobody take this the wrong way ... he is a teaser,” Self said, asked about Ellis on Monday’s weekly “Hawk Talk” radio show. “He shows you how fast he can run. He shows you how high he can jump. He shows you how he can score, so you want that more often. You want more.”

…Self said that as a conscientious freshman, Ellis is “trying to fit in. He is not one of those kids that can just say, ‘Hey forget it. I’m just going to go play.’ He’s one of those, ‘I want to play, but don’t you want me to be over here or do you want this foot up or back?’ He analyzes everything too much and then he gets slow and not aggressive. He’ll come out of it when he quits thinking. Usually you want guys that can think. I want guys that don’t think, that just go play.

“After they learn what to do, why do they need to think? It becomes reactionary,” Self added. “He is not at that level yet. Everybody is important to our team without question, but he is really important because he is a guy who can score. We’ve got to get him where he is more aggressive. He has shown flashes of that.”
LJW


The man who runs the resort that stages the Battle 4 Atlantis is ready to make his tournament the best of the preseason college events.

"This is the richest preseason tournament. Period," said George Markantonis, President and Managing Director of the Atlantis megaresort. "Most tournaments don't pay the schools anything. Nothing. Nada. All they do is give them a hotel room and their 22 seats of airfare. We knew there was no way we would be able to convince teams that it's just better in the Bahamas, even if we got that NCAA exemption. There was no way we could just convert a ballroom into a basketball court and say: Trust us. So what you really need is a bit more firepower."

Markantonis went all out.

He is correct about the other eight-team preseason tournaments, the most prominent of which is the EA Sports Maui Invitational, and what they pay participating schools. Airfare and hotel for a traveling party is quite an enticement, but Markantonis has added quite a bit to that.

He said the resort dishes out almost $2 million in prize money. All eight teams get $150,000 just for taking the court.

"The two winners get $200,000 each, on top of the $150,000. That goes to (athletic) scholarships. Most tournaments are zero, and along comes Battle4Atlantis, and the winners get $350,000," he said.

Tournament director Lea Miller said the payout continues so that the third- and fourth-place teams get another $50,000 each and the fifth- and sixth-place teams get another $25,000. All the money goes to the school's athletic scholarship funds.

…One thing that makes Atlantis different as a site is the cost. Sodas are $4 and burgers run $6. And there is a casino which sits in the middle of the resort and has to be passed through by almost all guests.

The 4,000-room resort was sold out for the weekend, Markantonis said. NCAA-brand T-shirts sold out in the first five hours and the demand was so heavy that the resort took orders and paid for the shipping to have them sent to the United States.

"We have another monster (field) to finalize for next year," Markantonis said.
AP (I think the burgers $ should read $16. The place is outrageous!)


LJW: Layup defense and how it affects KU's perimeter players


UDK: KU sports managers prove to be vital assets of school teams


Kansas 2012-13 MBB Schedule


Kansas 2012-13 WBB Schedule

Big 12/College News

In Florida, a lot of radio stations have been talking these last couple of days about the Seminoles actually accepting an offer to make the shift from the ACC to the Big 12. Official announcements? Not yet. But there’s a good chance, with the pot stirring and the voices buzzing louder and louder, that we might here something about the subject as soon as next week.
TIFWIW Internet chatter


Northwestern with a huge road win at Baylor. Which means UK's streak was ended by a team that's lost to Colorado, CofC + N'western. Ouch.
https://twitter.com/lukewinn/status/276180995328315393


Iowa State point guard Korie Lucious picked a perfect night for his best game of the young season.
Lucious scored a season-high 17 points and tied a season high with nine assists to lead Iowa State past Florida Gulf Coast, 83-72, on Tuesday night.

Tyrus McGee had 16 off the bench, and Melvin Ejim chipped in with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Cyclones (6-2), who've won two in a row ahead of Friday's showdown in Iowa City with the rival Hawkeyes.
AP


Otto Porter had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 15 Georgetown (6-1) to a 64-41 victory over Texas (5-3) in the opener of the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Link


Louisville coach Rick Pitino couldn't have asked for better trip South. He spent time with friends, got to visit his daughter and watched his fifth-ranked Cardinals play the defense he's been seeking all season.

Wayne Blackshear scored 18 points and Louisville turned up the defensive pressure throughout to blow past the College of Charleston, 80-38, on Tuesday night. The Cardinals (7-1) had a season-high 18 steals and forced the Cougars (5-3) into 27 turnovers, 11 more than they'd averaged coming in.
ESPN


The 6-foot-8 forward from Los Angeles chose the Huskies in June 2011 over Texas, Kansas, Florida and Duke — and big things were expected of him.

But so far Daniels has not lived up to the hype.

With 24 NBA scouts on hand, Daniels went 2-for-6 for seven points, one rebound and four turnovers as UConn lost to No. 25 N.C. State, 69-65, in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Zags Blog


Nick Johnson scored 23 points, Kevin Parrom had 13 of his 14 in the second half and No. 8 Arizona overcame a season-high 27 turnovers to hold off Southern Miss 63-55 Tuesday night.

Arizona (6-0) struggled against Southern Miss' zone defense, throwing passes into traffic, to open spaces, even one that sailed over the coaches on the bench into the crowd.
AP


Tulsa has fired its athletic director a week after he was named in a federal investigation into an alleged bookie in Oklahoma City.

The private university's president, Steadman Upham, released a statement Tuesday night saying he has terminated Ross Parmley, effective immediately.

Upham says Parmley told him in October 2011 that he was cooperating in an FBI investigation related to the gambling case and assured him he hadn't gambled on sports beyond friendly golf games. Parmley was interim athletic director at the time. He was formally named to the post in January.

But Upham says he learned late last month that Parmley "had not been truthful."
AP


No. 13 Illinois survived a scare from Western Carolina on Tuesday.
The Illini broke a late tie and pulled away for a 72-64 win over Western Carolina.
The Catamounts forced a 54-54 tie with 5:53 left.
AP


2012-13 Early Season Events List


Big 12 Composite Schedule

Recruiting

The Redskins used a dominating second quarter to beat Heights 67-43 for their second straight win to open the season. Frankamp followed his 46-point season debut with 26 points to lead all scorers, but the victory was fueled just as much by the contributions of others.

…Frankamp recognized the contributions of his teammates and was less assertive Tuesday than he often is. His 17 shots were eight fewer than he took against Northwest on Friday and he took five free throws compared to 11 against the Grizzlies.

Bell’s defense played a part in those diminished totals. Frankamp had difficulty dribbling around or past Bell and couldn’t shoot over him. Ultimately, Frankamp was helped by his selectivity — he made six of his final eight shots, including a pair of threes before he exited in the fourth quarter.
Wichita Eagle


Karl Towns, a 7-foot prep basketball standout, committed to Kentucky and moved from the Class of 2015 to 2014 on Tuesday. He picked the Wildcats over Duke.
Fville Observer


My 2012 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