@approxinfinity great pt, wish TRob and twins would come back more often, Withey too!
Crimsonorblue22
42577 posts
By Jesse Newell
jesse.newell@cjonline.com
LAWRENCE — The Kansas men’s basketball team will represent the United States at the 2015 World University Games, and if history is any indication, the challenge could be immense.
At the 2013 Games, a U.S. team made up of college all-stars like Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Michigan State’s Adreian Payne finished ninth.
Now, a 12-person KU roster will look to fare better in the event from July 3-14 in Gwangju, Korea — a test of consecutive day games that Kansas coach Bill Self jokingly compared to an NCAA Tournament on steroids.
“It also could potentially be very humbling, because we could go there and get waxed,” Self said. “That’s why we’re going to take it very serious and go over there and compete and try to win.”
This is only the second time a college team will compete in the World University Games. In 2007, Northern Iowa represented the United States and finished ninth.
Because of some conflicts in the international calendar for 2015, USA Basketball decided it would be best this time to select a college team to represent America in the international event.
Deputy head of USA Delegation Craig Jonas said he looked at a matrix of criteria to help pick the college team, including five-year record (KU was No. 1), next year’s preseason rankings, returning players and last year's RPI finish.
“When you went through the machinery of all those factors,” Jonas said, “KU was our number one choice.”
The tournament will provide a unique opportunity for KU, which will be able to have unlimited practices in the 2015 summer term to prepare. Normally, college teams are limited to one foreign summer exhibition tour every four seasons, but this exception falls outside that, as the Jayhawks’ last foreign tour came in 2012.
The games will be played under FIBA rules, which includes four, 10-minute quarters, a deeper 3-point line and a 24-second shot clock.
Perhaps the most intriguing part will be KU’s roster construction. The U.S. team can only have 12 players, and incoming recruit Svi Mykhailiuk will not be eligible to play, as he will compete for his native Ukraine.
The Jayhawks, who have no scholarship seniors this year, are likely to have a few guys declare for the NBA draft. Incoming freshmen are allowed to play, though, so any players Self signs this year could be added to the roster.
There’s another wrinkle, as well: Recent graduates are eligible for the event as long as they were born in 1990 or later and are taking a class at KU. That means Self could potentially add players like Jeff Withey or Xavier Henry if they wanted to participate and received clearance through their agents and teams.
“If our roster is 10, we could literally have tryouts of ex-KU players,” Self said, “to see who would best fit the criteria or best fit our team.”
Self also didn’t rule out the possibility of having a selection process for his own scholarship players. KU is limited to a total party of 24 for the trip, and that includes a team doctor, trainer and administrator.
After doing the math, KU has figured out that two players could attend the trip as non-playing members of the team.
It could turn into an interesting situation next year when Self has to select his roster of 12 — especially if a few talented former players return and have the potential to help KU win.
“You want to make kids happy without question and provide them opportunities, but that’s not what this is about,” Self said. “This is about going over there and being as competitive as you can be.”
Self also said he has thought about how KU will adjust its schedule after the trip ends. After going hard for the early part of the summer, he plans on shutting his players down.
“That means they’d have basically five weeks to get their legs back under them, which is plenty of time," Self said. “So they still get their summer break. They still have all that. Then start back up again maybe Sept. 1.”
Obviously, KU should receive other benefits from the trip, as well. Though television details haven’t been finalized, the games are likely to be broadcast nationally.
Getting international exposure could help future recruiting.
“Certainly it will be great for our program and great for our young kids and great to be seen, you stop and think about it, not only by every NBA team, but also all the international teams and agents throughout America,” Self said. “I think it can do nothing but open doors and opportunities for us.”
The games should be difficult. Jonas said many times international teams use the World University Games as a tuneup for the World Championships or even the Olympics.
Self promised his team would take its responsibility “very seriously.”
“It’s not going to be a fluff trip in which we just get to go on a vacation,” Self said. “We’re going to go over there and do everything we can to represent the United States in a big-time way.”
@joeloveshawks I expected more from oubre too.
@MoonwalkMafia not me!
@nuleafjhawk obviously!
@Kip_McSmithers I did think when we talked about this earlier, in depth, that we could get past players that were in the nba. I thought we discussed whether their owners would allow them too. Someone had posted a rules page back then that seemed like nba guys were good. Did you see that?
@oldhwkfan no way, they sure wouldn't jump on ours! I'd rather see wv beat Kentucky then play WSU, if WSU can get by nd.
@nuleafjhawk but I agree w/coach.
@nuleafjhawk WSU fans probably think he's Self-ish cause he won't play them!
@BeddieKU23 I have no idea, we do need a big, hopefully one is coming!
@BeddieKU23 they could enroll for a summer class or an online class.
@ralster it's hard to stomach!! I get the wichita stations. I've never seen a man so full of himself as Gregg Marshall.
@jhawkintexas or very low bb IQ!
@approxinfinity lookin good!
@tundrahok wonder if the walk ons will be part of the staff?
@Blown maybe we'll platoon? Jk
@tundrahok Svi can't play w/us.
@justanotherfan best 2 graduating, Gibson and williams
High school boys basketball: VASJ super seniors depart Viking Village
Jeff Forman/JForman@News-Herald.com
VASJ head coach Babe Kwasniak, center, poses with senior players before their last practice in their school gym March 24. With Kwasniak are, clockwise from the top, Carlton Bragg, Dererk Parson, Simon Texidor, Tremayne Harvell, Brian Parker, Vaughn "Mo" Johnson and Tre'Von Williams-Scruggs. Senior Jeff Grudzinski was not available for the photo. The Vikings are preparing for their state semifinal championship game March 26 in Columbus.
By Alex Hooper, The News-Herald
POSTED: 03/24/15, 8:14 PM EDT | 0
When the senior basketball players from Villa Angela-St. Joseph left Viking Village after practice March 24, they left what was their final time as active members of the storied program.
When they return from Columbus after a state semifinal with Columbus Eastmoor on March 26 and a potential state final March 28, they hope there will be room to be made for a sixth state championship banner in the rafters of the gym the team’s eight seniors spilled blood, sweat and tears in.
“Most of them have everything they could want, with the exception of another state championship,” VASJ coach Babe Kwasniak said. “If things go right this weekend, Dererk Pardon will end up as the all-time blocks leader, Brian Parker has played more games and won more games than anyone else who has ever played here, Simon Texidor is the all-time leading 3-point shooter, Mo (Johnson) will go out near the top in assists, Carlton Bragg is a McDonald’s All-American.
“Now it’s about whether we can do something collective as a unit. This would be that feather in the cap.”
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Seven of the eight seniors — Pardon, Parker, Texidor, Johnson, Bragg, Tre’von Williams-Scruggs and Tremayne Harvell — began their last practice at Viking Village in a number of ways.
Johnson and Harvell warmed up with other members of the team. Bragg made his rounds upon arrival, greeting everyone in the gymnasium with a joke and his signature smile. Texidor caught a nap in the corner.
Missing from action was the eighth member of the Viking senior class, Jeff Grudzinski, a three-sport standout who missed his second consecutive day of school due to an illness, despite not missing a day of classes since enrolling at VASJ.
Johnson, Texidor and Bragg said they hadn’t thought about the fact their final practice at Viking Village was about to commence, but it didn’t take time for them to start reminiscing.
“One of my favorite stories was when we were ordering our shoes freshman year, Carlton got the wrong color — of course — the day before the game,” Johnson said. “He had a dark blue, everyone else had a light blue, and it was a sellout game — everyone was there. It was a little embarrassing, but it is funny and one of my first memories here. He had to wear them, and he looked different than everybody.”
When Bragg was reminded of the snafu, albeit a minor one, it set off stories at the expense of the Associated Press Ohio Division III player of the year.
“Oh, my Royals? They be hatin’,” Bragg said with a laugh. “They be like that.”
Johnson and Texidor weren’t finished, and the tales kept coming.
“I’ll remember the funny moments we had, like injuries,” Johnson added, drawing an inquisitive look from Texidor. “How guys overreacted like when Carl flipped and broke his toe and we thought he broke his back instead. And when I cut my eye and he started crying.
“Carl went for a dunk on a fastbreak ...” Johnson continued before being cut off by his much taller teammate.
“Hold up. No, no, no,” Bragg interjected. “We were doing a drill, so I’m coming full speed down the lane. I dunk and didn’t mean to hang on the rim and just flip back and hit my toe. It was really my back, but I don’t know how my toe got broken.”
“The next day, he comes in with a boot, saying, ‘My toe is broken,’ ” Johnson finished.
Texidor, head in hands, chided Bragg for missing the next seven games as Johnson continued with another injury story.
“Sophomore year, I cut my eye,” he said. “I think I’m fine, I’m getting up and I see Carl look at me. He started screaming and going ballistic, like, ‘Look at your face!’ Then I felt the blood dripping, and Coach Kwas was talking about licking blood up off the floor, and it was weird and funny at the same time.”
Bragg, despite being the brunt of his teammates’ light-hearted jabs, recalled a fine moment from Texidor from 2012 when the shooting guard took a break from his sharpshooting from 3 and tossed down an unexpected dunk on teammate Jacob Stauffer.
When Kwasniak arrived for practice, he took time to reflect on the memories of one of the best classes in program history.
“There are so many,” he said. “One of them is, before we played Archbishop Carroll this year, I talked about having standards and not rules, because standards are harder to break. Simon Texidor has talked about doing things and doing them together.”
Kwasniak also shared a story many of the players would likely wish to forget.
“When they were sophomores, they got mad because Carlton went to get a haircut instead of studying for math and allegedly, I made them run — the number is all folklore — it’s probably about 25 suicides, but they swear it was 40,” he said. “But, (Duane “Boo” Gibson) was throwing up in the garbage can. They always bring up those memories. The best part is, I’m not coaching at a place where not just kids, but parents — especially this year — get in my way. I mean, I’m rough on them, I don’t placate them. You can’t do that everywhere.”
After the memories were shared and laughs ensued, the demeanor of the fun-loving group of seniors changed. It was time to get down to business and prepare for the final push of a long and emotionally exhausting title run.
“For us, fun is about being competitive,” Johnson said, now with a straight face. “We’re going to go out after each other and get ready for Columbus Eastmoor, who is a great team. That’s going to be fun for us, preparing for another option that we have to go through.
“After this, I’ll be officially like an alumni, basically. So now I’ll be coming here to play against the guys, seeing the great things they’ll be doing. It hasn’t really kicked in yet, but I guess it will later on tonight when I realize it’s my last practice here. I have a lot of great memories here, and I’m blessed to be here.”
Added Texidor: “We do want to have more fun, but we still have our main goal intact, so that’s more important.”
With the past addressed, it was back to the present as assistant coach Rich Newlon — better known around the Village as “Coach Juice” — blasted on his whistle.
“Everyone on the baseline,” he ordered.
It was business as usual.
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@sfbahawk he can't, wigs, Embiid can't
@sfbahawk will he play w/Ukraine ?
@jaybate-1.0 mrs slime ball said she had more definition in her arms than KU. Oregon news reporter twitted. Birds of a ........
In other wichita, kake tv news..... Kake calling out KU and wsuck fans for booing our not so liked governor. Ha ha 2 colleges where he's cutting funding. Dumbass, what did he really think would happen? Sorry if you like him, not really though.
@approxinfinity good one!!! Tell us how u really feel!!! Dukes a dog.
@JayHawkFanToo think he'll go to 'Bama? Cf make the rotation next year? Put baker at 3, cf 2, and back up pt? Baker checked the draft out last year.
@wissoxfan83 you do need to change!!!
@iheartjayhawks he's the gift that keeps on giving!!! Can't keep his slimy mouth shut. Class less!
@DoubleDD I prefer to keep the other team from scoring. Just me!
@sfbahawk thx!
@DoubleDD he said that, our d against their 3.
@Lulufulu tekele cotton is a super athletic freak. He's had dunks on top 10.
@cragarhawk sucks!
@JayhawkRock78 I'd like to punch Gregg Marshall!
@jaybate-1.0 I didn't think oubre hustled much either.
Players saying Wessel a better player than Perry
@brooksmd or dribble
@brooksmd i know! It's torture!!
Now the wichita news and smugass Gregg Marshall!
Just saw a video where Fred vv summed the game up on the play their kid out hustled oubre at half and dunked it. Said perhaps oubre shouldn't have been taking a nap during their game. Something about him being a draft pick.
@That-Is-All better have a couple!
@Hawk8086 calling it like I see it. Lucas is limited.
@brooksmd seriously I want to work on their defense!
Just wanted you fans to know that some of us keep in touch all year round. Brooks, global, Wissox, jayhawkfantoo, slayer , jayhawkrock78 and others talk about royals-we chat during games, talk about recruiting, gardening, history, and other crazy things. Maybe some KU track, baseball whatever. Feel free to join us and update recruiting, Cliff ordeal, gossip or whatever. We are friends!
@Hawk8086 our flow was hurt by fouls and Perry going to locker room.
@DanR seriously I thought w/Embiid we would go far, I knew he wasn't coming back. I expected and planned to go far. This team, just not that tough or talented. No consistency. Cliff was a bust, but ended up more of a bust w/whatever happened. To much crap and no heart.
@betterfireE someone that doesn't pull what that one guy or his family did!
@JayhawkRock78 I'm very upset too! Can't believe u don't watch!
Think oubre will leave on that?