SB Nation User Blog: KCsince88

Lew Perkins schedules Football Press Conference for 4 PM today. Will he stay or will he go? Edit:...

KCsince88 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:19:19 -0000

Lew Perkins schedules Football Press Conference for 4 PM today.

Will he stay or will he go?

Edit: Looks like most stations are reporting no meeting scheduled. Definitely sounds like something is in the works but perhaps today is not the day.

810 Sports Radio's Nate Bukaty

Big 12 - Pac 10 Challenge Primer / Post-Game Thread & Recap

KCsince88 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:51:13 -0000

Well, that was about as expected. Alcorn State wasn't supposed to be much of a challenge. And, they weren't. The 'Hawks started slowly (for a minute and a half) and from there on out, it was all the men in crimson.

What We Learned

Xavier Henry can jump. Over a man.
Cole Aldrich is still a bigger badass than Markieff Morris, no matter how much he has improved. See: pushing Markieff out of the way for a rebound at the 13:45 mark in the first half.
Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson look too much alike. Throw in the fact that I'm still getting used to the number switch, and I can't tell them apart for nothing!
Xavier is very smooth. Reminds me of a better, more skilled Keith Langford, with the lefty shot and what not.
It's hard to lose when you go on a 36-0 run. On that note, this is undoubtedly the Comment of the Night

Anyways, about that B12-P10 Challenge Primer...

Sunday should be really fun against UCLA. I mean, when you get a chance to beat up on another "national power" or "blue-blood," you should savor it - which we will.

The Big 12 - Pac 10 Challenge is something that hasn't been discussed, I think, at all here on RCT, so I thought a little informative primer and history of said series would be beneficial to at least someone. Also, as we are part of Jayhawk Nation, college basketball is kind of what we do (not saying we don't care about football, but it just doesn't hold a candle to the basketball team), so it would be cool if we got some open threads up for the next few nights when these games will be taking place.

This is also something that would be nice to see continued into the Big 12 portion of schedules. Again, college basketball is what we do. It is our job to be the best, most educated and informed fans in the conference with the broadest knowledge of every other team in the conference. At least for some of the bigger games.

History of Challenge

2007 (inaugural season): Pac 10 (7-5)
2008 : Tied 6-6
All-time: Pac 10 (13-11)
Kansas History: 2007 - @USC, W 59-55 (this game - MARIO!!!) 2008 - @Arizona, L 84-57

Interestingly, the Jayhawks have never hosted a game in the B12-P10 Challenge. Perhaps the organizers want to keep it fair? Obviously, there are more teams in the Big 12 than the Pac 10, so the scheduling includes ten games in the next four days (Thursday through Sunday), and two more games, for whatever reason, two weeks and three weeks from now, respectively. So, basically, that means we won't know who actually won this history-filled, monumental, nation captivating challenge until basically Christmas. The Big 12 actually is already leading this season, 1-0, thanks to a Nebraska victory in Los Angeles last Sunday.

The remaining matchups are as follows:

Thursday, December 3
Washington @ Texas Tech
USC @ Texas
Baylor @ Arizona State

Friday, December 4
Colorado @ Oregon State

Saturday, December 5
Oregon @ Missouri
Iowa State @ California
Washington State @ Kansas State

Sunday, Decemeber 6
Kansas @ UCLA
Arizona @ Oklahoma

Wednesday, Decemeber 16
Oklahoma State @ Stanford

Tuesday, December 22
Texas A&M @ Washington

So, USC and Washington are the two Pac 10 teams that get to represent the conference twice by playing two games. It's a good thing they decided to keep it fair and not let (probably) the two best teams in the conference play twice. I say the Big 12 goes 7-5 this year, evening up the all-time series.

Nebraska already won. So, that's 1-0. Texas will beat USC, Baylor should beat Arizona State but I give Washington the win over Texas Tech. 3-1, Big 12. Oregon State, as the rest of post-1650 A.D. basketball teams should, will beat Colorado. 3-2, Big 12. Missouri is sketchy (they lost to Richmond for Quin Snyder's sake), Cal is good and Frank Martin hates his team right now. 5-3, Pac 10. Oklahoma is hit or miss, but still better than Arizona. KU wins, obviously. Tied, 5-5. Oklahoma State will beat Stanford and Texas A&M will shock the entire sports world and beat world-power Washington. Bada bing bada boom, 7-5, Big 12. You heard it here first.

Thoughts? Am I wrong about any of these games? (Surely not.)

A Jayhawk Basketball Countdown: Greatest Number Collection

KCsince88 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:30:44 -0000

Editors Note: Nice job KC...thought we'd do a little Front Page Friday for your efforts. - Denver

As we all know, there is quite a bit of history that goes along with Kansas Basketball. Understatement, I know. There are only so many things that can be said of the pageantry, prestige and history of one of the utmost, tip-top athletic programs in all of college sports. We all know the players, the coaches, the games, the conference titles, the national titles, etc. It has all been discussed ad nauseun.

Something that I don't think I've ever heard was a discussion about the greatest collection of players to wear the same jersey number for Kansas Basketball. There's been some great players to play for Kansas, obviously. But, off the top of your head, who would you say is the best collection of players to wear the same number? What jersey number has the most history in Kansas Basketball history?

My personal opinion and reasoning ahead...

(Note: Special shoutout to rockchalk.com (Historical stats section) for every single one of these wonderful stats cited in this post. Quite possibly, the greatest website ever for a Jayhawk junkie. An incredible database of everything Kansas Basketball. Be sure and check it out sometime. You will learn something you might not have known already.)

The Numbers

3 Players with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds

3 National Player of the Year Award Winners

5 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Awards

11 Olympic Gold Medal and 1 Bronze Medal Winner(s)

15 Current Players, Coaches and Executives in the NBA

16 Players and Coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame

25 Player Jerseys Retired

28 First Round NBA Draft Picks (69 Total Draft Picks)

57 First Team All-American Selections

132 Consecutive Games Scoring in Double Figures - Danny Manning (NCAA Record)

Quite impressive, eh? You would have to be a Missouri fan to think not. Of course, those are overall numbers for every jersey number.

Jersey Number Facts

Most Popularly Retired Number - 15 (3 players)

T-2 - 5, 10 and 13 (2 each)

Most Commonly Worn Number of All-Time - 20 (27 players, including Kenny Gregory - video here. That's high school, by the way.)

2nd - 12 (25 players - including Brady Morningstar (current), Billy Thomas and Wilt Chamberlain (before switching to 13)

T-3 - 13, 22 and 24 (24 players each - including (13): C.J. Henry (current), Jeff Boschee, Carl Henry and Wilt Chamberlain; (22): Marcus Morris (current) and Dean Smith; (24): Travis Releford (current), Sasha Kaun, C.B. McGrath, Chris Piper, Dean Smith, George Dick (for namesake purposes only)

6th - 15 (23 players - including Elijah Johnson (current), MARIO CHALMERS, J.R. Giddens (I had to), Bud Stallworth and Jo Jo White)

T-7 - 3, 10 and 32 (21 players each - including (3): Russell Robinson (most recent), Lester Earl and Ray Frisby (once again, for namesake purposes only); (10): Tyshawn Taylor (current) and Kirk Hinrich; (32): Tyrone Appleton (most recent), Darnell Jackson and T.J. Pugh)

T-10 - 14 and 23 (20 players each - including (14): Tyrel Reed (current), Kevin Pritchard and Darnell Valentine; (23): Mario Little (current), Wayne Simien and Rex Walters)

12th - 44 (19 players - including David Padgett (most recent), Eric Chenowith and Ron Kellogg)

13th - 25 (18 players - including Brandon Rush (most recent), Michael Lee and Danny Manning)

T-14 - 5, 11 (17 players each - including (5): Jeff Withey (current), Rodrick Stewart and Keith Langford; (11): Quintrell Thomas (most recent), Aaron Miles and Jacque Vaughn)

16th - 4 (15 players - including Sherron Collins (current), Nick Collison and Ryan Robertson)

The Countdown

#5: 11
Players Responsible for Ranking: Aaron Miles and Jacque Vaughn
Possibly the two greatest true point guards to every play for the Jayhawks, Miles and Vaughn are 1-2 in career assists (954 and 804), assists per game (6.9 and 6.4) and 4th and 5th, respectively in assist/TO over ratio (2.293 and 2.290). Vaughn ruled the point guard record book at Kansas by the time his stellar career as Jayhawk floor general had been completed. One of my very first favorite players, he ran Roy Williams breakneck speed, transition offense to near perfection. Never known for his scoring ability, he did score over 1,200 points in his career, averaging nearly 10 ppg. Vaughn's records all stood strong for eight years. Then, a very similar player, a kid from Oregon, came into the program. Aaron Miles started from day one, racking up 137 career starts of the 138 games in a Jayhawk uniform. He actually had his career high for assists in a season his freshman year, when he dropped 252 dimes (6.8 apg). Another thing Vaughn and Miles both had in common was their reputation as sticky-handed thieves on the defensive end. Miles ranks third in career steals with 214; Vaughn twelfth with 160. Floor generals, to say the least. Very fitting they shared the same number.

#4: 25
Players Responsible for Ranking: Brandon Rush and Danny Manning
Danny Manning is arguably the most famous, popular and best player during his Kansas career. 2,951 career points (20.1 ppg) (nearly 1,000 more than second place), 1,187 career rebounds (8.1 rpg) - both records. 250 steals (1.7 spg) - second all-time. 200 blocks (1.4 bpg) - fifth all-time. And, on and on and on. Danny's numbers are undeniable. But, what he will forever be immortalized for is the run to the 1988 National Championship. I was six full months from birth when Danny and The Miracles cut down the nets in my hometown of Kansas City, but no matter how old you are, if you are a Jayhawk, you know all about the '88 title. Danny is so great that he's a quickly rising assistant coach, starting to creep onto the radars of programs around the country. (Please do whatever it takes to keep him here, Bill. Please.) Brandon Rush is one of my all-time favorite Jayhawks, without a doubt. When he first came to Kansas, the sky was the limit. He showed brief flashes of brilliance and what-could-be-to-come throughout his freshman year. Known as a flashy scorer in hugh school, from day one Coach Self's number one project was to make Brandon an elite, lockdown defender that he could put on the opposing team's best player, and know that he would be taken nearly out of the game. Brandon became just that by his junior year, when he was giving the unenvious task of guarding Kevin Durant on two occasions. Though he gave up three or four inches in height, Brandon put the clamp on Durant down the stretch, something the longer, more suited Julian Wright couldn't do. That year, Brandon also did something that Danny did - raise the NCAA hardware after an historically epic national championship game. Thank you, to both of you gentlemen for those lovely trophies.

#3: 15
Players Responsilbe for Ranking: Mario Chalmers, Bud Stallworth and Jo Jo White
Between the 15's, two retired jerseys and a national title are accounted for. Stallworth and White are names that are commonly mentioned, but most, or at least myself, know little about. At the conclusion of their careers, Stallworth and White finished third and fourth respectively on the all-time scoring list. So, there's that. They've both got their names hanging in the rafters of the Fieldhouse. So, there's also that. White was even named to the All-Time Big 8 squad. Only in a program like Kansas would players with such accomplishments go somewhat unspoken for in conversation of all-time greats. So, why do they rank third among collective groups of players to share a number? I think that's quite obvious. Mario. I think this says it all.** Without doing too much brain-racking research, I would venture to say that the tandem of Mario and Russell Robinson were the most notorious bandits in Kansas history. You couldn't make a pass anywhere around the perimeter without one of those two getting a hand on it, tipping it down court and finishing with two the other way. It would have been really great if Mario came back for his encore senior year, but it seems as if he made the right decision and has settled in the starting role alongside Dwayne Wade. Not a bad gig - even for a guy that hit the biggest shot in Kansas Basketball history.

** Dear Mario Chalmers,
Thank you. Thank you for undoubtedly the most exciting, fulfilling, joyous and memorable moment of my life to this point. You will forever live in the hearts and minds of Jayhawk fans for not only having a great career and being a tremendous ambassador to the university, but foremost, for your answered prayer of Jayhawk Nation when you let fly the prettiest, sweetest three point basket seen this side of Jupiter. In one fleeting moment, you paid every single fan back that has been with the program through the very best of times, and the very worst of times, with the stuff that dreams are made of. As fans, we invest so much of ourselves into a team and sometimes forget that we're not even really a part of the team. You brought something that, as much as I believe and am an eternal Kansas Basketball optimist, I wondered whether I would ever see. Every heartbreak every year in the tournament, Bucknell, Bradley, Mike Bibby and Hakim Warrick were all removed as the proverbial monkeys on our back. With that one act of clutch, you erased every ounce of pain, sadness and tear ever shed over Kansas Basketball. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not a single one of us will ever forget exactly where we were, what we did or how we felt in that moment. It's amazing how one little moment can become so ingrained into your heart and mind, and never, ever leave you. I think I speak for everybody associated with the University of Kansas when I say you will always have a special place in my heart.
Once again, thank you,
KC

#2: 0/00
Players Responsible for Ranking: Darrell Arthur, Drew Gooden and Greg Ostertag
The battle between number one and number two on this little countdown was really difficult to decide. Once again, very similar groups. One National Player of the Year big man, one '90's throwback type player and one member of the 2008 title team each. I chose to go with the number before numbers as the runner-up. Nobody sent more balls back from whence it came than The Big Double Zero. If you were blessed with a monstrous 7 foot, 2 inch frame, do just what Ostertag did - be as awkward and goofy looking as possible, bully guys half your size, jump as little off the ground as possible and ride your way to a multi-million dollar NBA career doing it. Drew Gooden was arguably the best player to play for Kansas during the last decade. If you think about it, there might only be one other better, more complete player than Drew. And, he has a leg up on Drew, because he played out all four seasons of eligibility. Had he come back for his senior year, Gooden would have almost assuredly become the all-time leading rebounder and reached top three on the scoring list. Not bad for three years. Now, if we could just get him to do something less ridiculous with his hair. The history of Darrell Arthur is fresh enough in our minds that not much need be said about him. The one memory I will always have of Shady is the alley-oop flush in overtime of the '08 title game. It was at that point that I was one hundred percent positive we were the champions. It would have been nice to have DA back for a third season last year and witnessed he and Cole form another dominant frontcourt duo, but once again, strike while the iron is hot. Kinda odd that there were that many great players to wear 0 or 00.

#1: 4
Players Responsible for Ranking: Sherron Collins, Nick Collison and Ryan Robertson
Ironically, the last three guys to pay homage to Brett Favre (as if we didn't need another reference to that guy on the internet) are the ones to bring the power to the number. Ryan Robertson was never really an outstanding, mind-blowingly good player, but he was scrappy, tough and always seemed to kill Missouri when doing so was most needed. That, and he was always the one that I chose to take the buzzer beater in my driveway when I played out every KU game, calling out player names and broadcasting as I went along. That has to be worth something, right? Nick Collison is the Player of the Decade, as far as I'm concerned. Second in points, third in rebounds, 20th in assists and second in blocks. I don't think anybody worked harder to get more out of what they had than Nick did. The climax of his career, unfortunately, would probably have to be his 24 point, 23 rebound performance against Texas in the Fieldhouse. You know, the one where Dick Vitale had a man-gasm on air and joined in the standing ovation. I mean, Dickie V never exaggerates, right? So, it had to be of epid proportions. Actually, he did get that one right. Still, to this day, the greatest single game performance I've seen. It may just be my opinion, but I think Nick, along with Kirk, were the reasons that Roy stuck around as long as he did. Those were his babies, and I don't think he could have stood not finishing out their careers with him. Nick and Kirk graduate, Roy bolts. Hmmm. As the only current player of any group to make the top 5, that says something about the legacy of Sherron Collins. Still being written, he carried enough clout to vault the number four into the top position. There's not much to say about Sherron that hasn't already been said, and will be said the rest of this season. One day, his number four jersey will join that of Nick's high atop Allen Fieldhouse, and he will be remembered as one of the very best to ever lace them up for the Jayhawks. Sheron Collins' excerpt - still to be written.

That's a lot of quality history, right there, folks. I don't know about you, but putting it into perspective like that, with even some the better, more popular players (Clyde Lovellette (16), Scot Pollard (31), Jerod Haase (35), Matt Kleinmann (54 - five-time Big 12 Champion and National Champion) not even getting a mention in here based on the fact of an uncommon number, you really realize how lucky you are to be a Jayhawk Basketball fan. For that, I am thankful. Thanksgiving came early, I guess.

A Day Off Work Brings New Jayhawk Confidence Index (JCI)

KCsince88 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:54:52 -0000

So, here's the deal: Kansas Basketball season has started and we are all undoubtedly excited about the possibilities of this coming season. Kansas Basketball is the lifeblood of this site (no offense to Denver and his awesome coverage of the football team all summer and current season long. So, a special thanks to Denver for all of his hard work, time and effort that he has, and will continue to, put in. We will unquestionably continue to support the football team, but Kansas Basketball is where it's at. Hell, you can't write Kansas Basketball without capitalizing the word "basketball.") and this season should only be bigger than last year's here at RCT.

It does seem a bit crazy that the season is here already. It seems just a couple weeks ago I was in Indy, walking out of Lucas Oil Stadium, head hung, but already thinking ahead to next year and how I'm going to be back there again for this year's Final Four. (Plan still stands - see you all there!) We all know the roster and the depth that Coach Self has at his disposal, so I won't go on and on about that like the entire national media has done already.

Instead, I wanted to bring something new to everybody here at RCT. This is something that I have seen on a few other SBNation sites for their respective teams, and found to be very interesting and fun. (Explanation here.) As big as Kansas Basketball is, let's see if we can't make this a semi-regular/ monthly kind of thing here. I'll go ahead and take the reigns and run with it, so just keep an eye out each time you log in on RCT and always, always, always participate. Because, everybody is right, here. (Unless, of course, you are a part of this.)

The Questions (give explanation if you feel inclined to do so.)

Answer accordingly, 1-10.

1. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas backcourt?

2. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas frontcourt?

3. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas offense?

4. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas defense?

5. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas coaching staff?

6. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas recent results?

7. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas upcoming schedule?

8. How do you feel about the 2009-10 Kansas expectations?

Go ahead, give your answers, explanations and even any suggestions on how to make the Jayhawk Confidence Index (JCI) better.

And, as always, ROCK CHALK!

A Couple Randoms Up for Discussion

RCT t-shirts - KUGrad08, SlowDance - what's the deal on these? Talks heated up back in August(?), but nothing ever materialized. giants9107 I'm sure would like his free shirt for the Fantasy Baseball League he won on the last day of the season. (I'm not still bitter about that, I swear.) I mean, who wouldn't want a shirt with this on it?! Utopia, I tell you!
I work Tuesday night, the night of KU-Memphis. I get off at 9:30. The game starts at 9:00. I will get home just before 10:00. Should I start the game on DVR as soon as I get home and fast-forward through commercials, timeouts, etc. and attempt to catch up with all of you in the Open Game Thread by the end, or just start from whatever point the game is at when I get home? I'm torn. Please help.

Poll

Continue the Jayhawk Confidence Index next month?

Yes.

7 votes

No.

1 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed

OT: So random, but absolutely, positively, undoubtedly THE best video ever made in the history of...

KCsince88 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:45:54 -0000

OT: So random, but absolutely, positively, undoubtedly THE best video ever made in the history of history. You know you are top-of-the-line when you can take the downs and spin them into something so magnificent, like this.

Just, wow.

Jayhawk Recruit Round-up: Sept.18 Weekend

KCsince88 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:09:24 -0000

Quick Notes:

Defensive back Antonio Burton is no longer committed and will look elsewhere. Not a bad thing, in my opinion. The secondary (he projected as a safety) is the one place where more depth might be more of a waste than anything.
Visitors to the Duke game included, but were not limited to the following: Justin Castor, Jaqwaylin Arps, Jimmay Mundine, Dave Clark, Nduka Onyeali and Keeston Terry.

I apologize for the rather abrupt post this week, but it was a hectic weekend and I had no time until Monday afternoon to put this together.

On to the numbers...

Offense - Week

Defense - Week

Offense - Season

Photo of Geneo Grisson from front of Hutchinson newspaper's Prep Sports section (85)

Jayhawk Recruit Round-up: Sept.11 Weekend

KCsince88 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:14:42 -0000

As exciting and action-packed as last week was for Kansas football recruiting, this week was equally boring. Two brand-new, shiny commits last week, and none this week. Therefore, I will attempt to keep this week's version of the Jayhawk Recruit Round-up as short and concise as possible.

As was briefly talked about last weekend, current commits WR's Keeston Terry and Ricki Herod Jr., along with beast-child DE Geneo Grissom. The game went well, obviously; the recruits had a great time, so these are three players that the coaching staff and "recruitniks" alike should all feel at ease about. Reports are that Geneo was recognized by some fans in the stands and at the concession stands and they showed him a lot of love. I'm sure it's rare that he gets recognized at his size and demeanor. When I asked Geneo about being recognized earlier this week, he said he couldn't believe that so many fans knew who he was already. He's quite a nice guy away from the field apparently. It's a good thing, because if he wasn't, well... Let's just say that he could rip you limb for limb. All of you. At once. Just because you took the brownie that he wanted.

Also, of note, JUCO cornerback Dave Clark, who is currently out for the year with an ACL injury, was given a four-star rating by Rivals. So, that's good.

****UPDATE: Just so I can say I was first to tell you, Justin Castor will be taking official visit to the Duke game this week.****

Now, on to the weekly round-up!!

As promised, this week is a little heavier on the numbers side of things. When KC says he's going to deliver, you can count on me like you can count on Cris Collinsworth to say something insightful on Sunday Night Football all year long.

Offense - Week

Defense - Week

Offense - Season

Defense - Season

Jacoby Walker Video here

Video of Castor's TD and a few of his PAT's (second video on the media player - Arvada West v. Montbello)

(Committed) Performer of the Week: The big "knock" on Jacoby Walker as the lone quarterback in this year's recruiting class is a supposed inability to throw the ball effectively. Clearly, if you watched the above video of Walker, he may not be the most perfectly-formed passer, but he can chuck the rock. A 65 percent completion percentage with 233 yards, with touchdown passes of 22, 26 and 28 yards is good enough to nab the (C)PotW Award for Jacoby. Oh, yeah... Did I forget to mention that he can run a little, too? 11 rushes for 36 yards and another score. Tally it up for 269 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in a 67-35 win.
(Special consideration goes to running back James Sims)

(Prospective) Performer of the Week: For those that love the high-scoring shootouts, surely you noticed the score of the Ryan HS game. 70-63. That's not a typo. That was done in only twelve minute quarters, by the way. When you think about it, Bud Sasser's three touchdown catches, while sounding very impressive, only accounted for 30 percent of his team's touchdowns. Only kidding. That's impressive. One other receiver had three, as well, with another hauling in two, respectively. Sasser scored on receptions of 22, 29 and 18. Now, if we can just get him to agree to rockchalk's proposition of giving his commitment to the school that wins the Big 12 North, as he has Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska in his Top 3.

It is with great sadness that I inform you that there will be no Closer Look: Edition this week. I spent the bulk of the week (attempting to) contact head coaches and assistant coaches of many of these players in an effort to bring together more stats, so I guess it all evens itself out. I was rather successful, actually. But, in place of the Closer Look: Edition this week, I bring to you the promised Video Time: Keeston Terry Edition (minus the video still...)**, which was teased last week, but was held off due to techical difficulties. Actually, this was going to be its own past this last week, but has been merged with this one to form what is, in essence, the 8th Wonder of the World.

**Still no video, as I am waiting on a special cord to finish the mini-DVD so that I can put it on my computer. As soon as I get that done, I will post the video, though. It will be worth the wait. Just read about the game and my thoughts on Keeston instead.

So, without any further ado, I bring to you:

When Blue Springs HS wide receiver Keeston Terry verbally committed to the Kansas Jayhawks on August 1, he immediately became the highest ranked recruit to ever do so during the Mark Mangino era.* Surely you know the story of how his commitment came about. If not, though, here's a little refresher. Then, a couple weeks later, he spoke directly with Rock Chalk Talk about his change of heart. It goes without saying that assuring the Terry legacy continues at Kansas is nothing but good news for the program.

* Maybe ever, too.

So, given my plethera of free time due to unemployment and a total lack of anything interesting to do, ever, I decided to make the convenient ten minute trip east to Blue Springs to check out the four-star wide receiver. Being a member of numerous sites, message boards, premium boards, etc., I had read plenty of things about Keeston - some positive, some less so. One of the biggest questions about Keeston's game is his speed. Some that follow Kansas recruiting closely feel that he might lack top-end speed to be a consistent threat at the next level, but I would counter by saying that maybe that was last year, and you haven't seen him play this year...

I may have been trigger happy with my first impression of Keeston during warmups. He is certainly every bit of the 6'4" that he is listed at. He was at least four or five inches above nearly every one of his offensive teammates. When a player, especially a receiver, is that much bigger than everyone else, you expect him to be physical and have his way on the field. Such expectations were left unfulfilled during pregame warmups. In his very first bit of action of which I witnessed, what I saw Keeston do was run a nice fade route to the corner of the endzone with a defender on his inside hip, seperate at the goal line, go up for the ball and stone-hand an easy what-would-have-been, during a game, touchdown catch.

Instantly, I feared that somewhere along the way, the "rating experts" at Rivals had been more wrong than this. He certainly looked to have the physical ability and know-how to be a big time talent. But, as Coach Mangino has showed us, it's not about the guys with the most stars, the biggest stats or the most outright talent. It's about the "want-to", having a chip on your shoulder and wanting nothing more than to prove everyone wrong. I feared that Keeston didn't have that. All over one stinkin', stupid, meaningless drop in warmups. Don't ever listen to me again.

The real game started. The Real Keeston Terry took the field and I nearly didn't have my camcorder set up in time to catch what he did next. Kid. Is. A. Player. On the first play from scrimmage, he burst off the line of scrimmage, beat his defender, broke wide oped and coolly welcomed a perfectly thrown deep ball down the right hash into his hands, high-stepped a diving tackle attempt and waltzed into the endzone. BOOM! One play, 60 yards and a score. I had seen him play one down and he had already done more than my high school team during its entire four years worth of games. So, you would expect a seventeen year old kid to showboat, thump his own chest and do some incredibly awesome touchdown dance, no? Wrong. He tossed the ball to the ref and chest-bumped nearly every one of his teammates racing down field to congratulate him. I liked him already.

Come Blue Springs' second possession, Keeston was a target again. He ran another great route (this will become a theme) on a corner route, complete with a hard fake inside, into wide open space and made a textbook leaping catch for a 23 yard gain. Being the big threat in the passing game that he is, a wise coach will use that to his advantage even when not throwing the ball Keeston's way. On numerous occasions (and, I mean numerous), Keeston was run in motion and used as a decoy on the fake end around handoff, something that worked a couple times last week and helped him compile 82 yards rushing on just a pair of carries. Keeston only took the rock directly from the quarterback's hands once on this night. He gained three yards. Nothing exciting to report there. He did, though, make a catch out of the backfield on a pass into the flats, put his head down and gained eight yards. No nancy running out of bounds here.

His next reception, a 16 yard gain on an eight yard out-route, was missed by both yours truly and camcorder. Thanks for that go to the small child standing near the right leg of my tripod who felt the need to bump it right as the ball left the quarterback's hand. As if I need any help breaking expensive electronics.

Keeston's final big contribution of the game came on the very next play and was yet another piece of beauty. With thanks to another perfectly thrown fade route by quarterback Jared Lanpher, Keeston glided under another rainbow right on the money, hauled it in and found the endzone once again. The play covered the final 44 yards of the field and all but put the game away for the BSHS Wildcats, now 2-0 on the season. Disappointingly, there were four balls thrown Keeston's way that he didn't end up with. Although, none of which were really to be blamed on Keeston. A goal line jump ball out of reach, a low and away swing pass, agoal line slant two yards behind him and a badly underthrown ball for an interception (in which he raced back and made the tackle) round out the list of passes thrown Keeston's way.

And, by the way, he does block, too. I caught a couple pancake blocks on his part, which is always impressive for a receiver. Also, anytime somebody else on his team scored, he seemed to always be at their side as they raced toward the endzone and was ALWAYS the first to greet his teammate in the endzone after they scored. What a swell guy. That's about it now, though. Oh... He also wears some really sweet eye black. As if I need another reason to like him...

The lone thing that is pretty apparent to anybody that knows anything about football is that Keeston needs to put on some extra padding. 6'4" is plenty long for a college receiver, but at a supposed 185 lbs. (probably more like 170 if you ask me), that's murder across the middle waiting to happen. All in all, though, in my humble opinion, Keeston should be an important contributor to the Kansas football team after a likely redshirt year to bulk up. But, if that happens, Big 12 defenses watch out!! This kid can play!!

J. Brady on Dezmon and his father's relationship

KCsince88 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:59:07 -0000

J. Brady on Dezmon and his father's relationship

I've seen this one linked on a couple different places, and normally I don't read most newspaper articles because they all say the same things, but this one sounded different, so I read it.

It's a good article and all, for sure, but I don't know... I think Brady might have overstepped the boundaries a bit on this one. If you can't get the subject of the story to talk about it at all, then maybe you should just leave it alone.

It sounds to me like Dez would rather keep this personal stuff personal. Just within the last week, Dez and the girlfriend quoted in this article broke up, too, so I don't know... He obviously doesn't want this out there for everybody. I feel for the guy. Hopefully, this isn't a distraction and he comes out against UTEP and takes it all out on them.

12 catches, 153 yards, 2 TD's is what I'm thinkin'.

New AP Poll out.

KCsince88 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:52:01 -0000

New AP Poll out.

Kansas up one spot to #24. Misery #25. Also, The U from not ranked to #20. I'm just sayin'....

Jayhawk Recruit Round-up: Sept. 4 Weekend

KCsince88 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:32:08 -0000

First off, before we get started on this week's version of Jayhawk Recruit Round-up, let's recap what happened in Jayhawk recruiting this past week.

Monday morning, Jaqwaylin Arps (pronounced: JAH-KWAY-LIN), a 6'3" 230 pound defensive end from Denison, TX., switched his commitment from Texas Tech to the Jayhawks. As Denver said at the time, this was not an unexpected move by any means. There were rumors for a while that he and high school teammate Jimmay Mundine had a strong desire to play together in college. When Mundine committed in late-July, Arps decided to reconsider his decision, took a visit to Lawrence, and... VOILA!... obviously made the right choice.

The final week before the start of the season left us with little downtime, as Tuesday brought another, actually bigger, commitment from another very highly thought-of player with offers from the likes of OU, OK State, Texas Tech and Arkansas. It is debatable, but in my opinion, Trayvon Henry is the biggest pledge that head coach Mark Mangino has picked up on the defensive side of the ball during his time in Lawrence, based on area of need combined with sheer talent. Many people in-the-know from Jayhawkslant have said that Trayvon has NFL-caliber talent. Long story short - Trayvon tried to commit to OU a while back, they told him to wait, which made him weigh his options, he became more interested in Kansas, Bill Miller is a miracle-worker and, once again... VOILA!... obviously he made the right choice. So, please don't hide your excitement for this one to reach campus.

Also, there isn't much factual information to report, but there are rumors that there could be a "secret, silent commit" in the works. The goods just keep coming!!

Finally, on to the weekend round-up!!

To go along with stats from the current week, I also have a running tally of season statistics for every player (thanks to my wonderful MS Excel skills and use of Formulas) and will post both the weekly numbers and season numbers every week, beginning this week. So, here is what you really read this post for - not to hear what I think, but the stats.

(Note: Many traditional stats are hard to come by only via the internet, so I was unable to find numbers for most of the players. I have, however, taken the steps to acquire more reliable numbers, so hopefully next week looks much better. Also, I anticipate numbers for this past week's games to come in within the next couple days, so I will add them in accordingly. I apologize for lack of numbers this week. I will get better with time, I promise you. So, this week, just study and memorize the names. Yeah. That's your job this week.)

Offense - Week

Defense - Week

Offense - Season

Defense - Season

(Committed) Performer of the Week: After taking in the KT3 Show in person on Friday night (special Keeston Terry reports to come), there is no way I can pick anybody else. He was simply everything advertised. This now concludes your teaser for my Video Time: Keeston Terry post.

(Prospective) Performer of the Week: We'll go with another wide receiver here. Bud Sasser, who has Kansas in a Top 3 along with Missouri and Nebraska, had a pretty good game from what I could find. Video here (0:15 mark) shows him scoring on a 43 yard touchdown reception. Based on the 64-36 final score, you would probably be in the clear to assume he had a couple more catches, at least. Adding Sasser to the Terry-Herod duo would solidify the wide receiver position for the 'Hawks for the next five years, for sure. He is former teammates with current Kansas wide receiver D.J. Bashears, a true freshman from the 2009 recruiting class.

Closer Look: D.J. Jones Edition

Last week, I gushed about how much I wanted D.J. Jones to be the next commit, or a commit, period. I got so excited over him and decided that he was the second running back commit that I wanted in this class; but did so really without having much knowledge of his game or abilities. It was more based on statistics. Now, while 76 yards rushing on only seven carries is certainly impressive, Colt Brennan also threw for a gazillion yards and had more touchdowns at Hawaii than Paris Hilton had boyfriends/ boy-toys/ "directors"/ cameramen/ "co-stars" in 2004, but isn't translating so well to the NFL game. For that reason, I decided to take a closer look at Jones and make him the subject of this week's Closer Look: D.J. Jones Edition.

After watching his Rivals film, I came away with these short notes: (keep in mind, this is all highlight film, so it only shows positive plays)

Fast for a big "bowling ball" type running back
Gets his pads low and runs over defenders
Has good vision coming to the line, but tries to bounce it outside too much - negates his strength advantage
When tackled, which is rare, he falls forward
Shifty hips running through the linebacker's area
Has the speed to reach the corner on outside runs and inside runs broken outside
On one play, carried a defensive back or linebacker for about ten yards in the open field
Benefits from great blocking, but at the same time makes his own yards at the second level with lateral moves and power
Looks somewhat comfortable coming out of the backfield, catching the ball (although, lets it get in to his body) and turning up field

Also, this YouTube video, which was supposed to serve as a highlight for his team's season last year, but it ended up being just about a 50/50 split between the #21 Show and the rest of the team will give all the non-Jayhawkslant members a glimpse of D.J. You may have also noticed that the Denison defense looked pretty aggressive and tough there, too, right? Well, that's nothing but a good sign for Kansas fans, because two of those defensive stars are none other than Jaqwaylin Arps and Jimmay Mundine, Jones's high school teammates. Two cheers for Big Bear!!

Simply Mind-Numbing: While preparing for this week's edition, I came across this article from October 7, 2008 where Jones was named The Lone Star of the Week.

Lone Star of the Week

D.J. Jones- Denison

In a 65-64 victory over McKinney, Jones rushed for 432 yards and scored eight touchdowns. Jones scored on a 37-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter with 3:32 remaining to bring Denison within a point at 64-63. Instead of opting for the game-tying extra point, Denison went for two. The gamble paid off, with Jordan Taylor running in the game-winning two-point try.

To go along with his late touchdown, Jones scored on touchdown runs of 78, 70, 77, 9, 10, and 30 yards and also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Taylor. McKinney's Zach Lee threw for 440 yards and six touchdowns in a losing effort. Taylor also rushed for 147 yards to pace the victors.

Is there somewhere we can "stuff the ballot box," so to speak to get this kid to Lawrence?

A Good Fit?: The biggest question, though, as is with every recruit, is not just how good they are; but more how they fit into a certain program and system on their respective side of the ball. "How would D.J. Jones fit into the Kansas program if he were to sign with the Jayhawks?" is what all of you inquisitive minds out there must be thinking right now. Well, really, he would be a perfect fit, in my opinion. As we have seen, Ed Warrinerr likes to use a quick, shifty back alongside of a big, powerful bruiser-type as a sweet 1-2 combo. Obviously, assuming all things go according to plan this year, Toben Opurum will get plenty of opportunity to carry the ball and acclamate himself to Big 12 football. He should head into the 2010 season as the de facto, clear-cut number one running back. That said, Jones would be a great compliment to Toben in 2011 with an outside shot that Jones could steal some carries from Daniel Porter and Rell Lewis as a true freshman in 2010. While Jones might not be your typical "scat-back" that you would envision in the mold of a Jake Sharp, he still runs a 4.5-40 while weighing in at a solid 210 pounds. With size and speed like that, there's no way he wouldn't fit in at Kansas.

Can We Get Him?: Now that you are probably all excited and pumped to think about D.J. in Crimson and Blue next year, I'll bring you back down to earth a bit and remind you he is not one of our lovely, uber-talented commits. At least not yet, anyway. All things considered - opposing suitors: OU, Florida, Arkansas, Texas Tech; having two of his teammates currently committed; and the fact that Kansas will have a chance for some early playing time next year - I think the Jayhawks stand a legitimite shot at winning the battle for this four-start running back.

Hopefully, you've learned something from all of that. More to come next week.