Kansas’ Withey beginning to push back more often

Blair Kerkhoff — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:54 CST

Oklahoma State at No. 7 Kansas

Oklahoma St.

Wichita Heights' Perry Ellis selected as McDonald’s All-American

Joanna Chadwick — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:05 CST

Heights senior Perry Ellis was named a McDonald’s All-American on Thursday and will be one of 24 seniors playing in the annual all-star game March 28 at Chicago’s United Center.

“This was one of my goals coming in, to show that hard work really pays off,” Ellis said. “I’m just really blessed to be selected. I just thank God for giving me the ability to do all this. I’ve been working real hard, too. Hard work really pushed me through this.”

Ellis, who averages 26.1 points and 9.7 rebounds, set the City League scoring record this season, breaking the record set by Kapaun Mount Carmel’s Greg Dreiling in 1981. Ellis is a three-time All-State selection, a three-time Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and a three-time Class 6A champion.

No. 7 Kansas blows past No. 6 Baylor

Blair Kerkhoff — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:13 CST

Maybe it was the afterglow of a big victory, but Kansas coach Bill Self rolled out some eye-opening superlatives Wednesday.

Jeff Withey played “about as good a game offensively as we’ve had by a big man.” That includes players like lottery draft pick Cole Aldrich.

The Jayhawks’ streak of 228 games without consecutive losses, “of all the things these teams have accomplished that may be one of the more impressive ones.”

Kansas heads straight to another road test with highly-ranked opponent

BLAIR KERKHOFF — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:54 CST

Kansas

KU needs help from bench

BLAIR KERKHOFF — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:42 CST

Thomas Robinson came off the bench for Kansas last season. So did Josh Selby. In previous years, Markieff Morris was a top reserve, as was Cole Aldrich.

The Jayhawks were the team with the future NBA draft picks in the reserve tank. It made them deep and dangerous.

Not so with this team, at least not the deep part.

Jayhawks move up one spot to No. 7 in AP basketball poll

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:02 CST

Kentucky is on top of The Associated Press' college basketball poll for a third straight week.

The Wildcats, who were also No. 1 for two weeks earlier this season, received 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.

Syracuse, which got the other No. 1 votes, Ohio State, Missouri, North Carolina and Baylor held second through sixth from last week. Kansas moved up one spot to seventh, while Florida jumped four places to eighth. Murray State, the lone unbeaten in Division I, moved one spot to ninth and Duke dropped three places to 10th.

Missouri stuns Jayhawks with late rally

BLAIR KERKHOFF — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:02 CST

Until the final three minutes Kansas played the game coach Bill Self deemed necessary to win at fourth-ranked Missouri.

The Jayhawks pounded the ball to Thomas Robinson in the second half after riding Tyshawn Taylor in the first half.

The result was an eight-point lead on Taylor’s dunk with 3:25 remaining. Just stay in control down the stretch and Kansas would close the Big 12 history between the schools in Columbia with a glorious triumph.

Missouri's Haith gets first taste of Kansas-Missouri rivalry

MIKE DEARMOND — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:30 CST

Frank Haith — heading into his first Kansas game as Missouri’s basketball coach — said he did not want to imply that the Border War was just another game.

And then he did.

“We have talked about not getting distracted, about us staying true to who we are and what we’ve done all year,” Haith said. “We don’t want to go into this game looking at it as any more than it is.”

KU prepares for Mizzou’s unusual challenges

Blair Kerkhoff — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:23 CST

To Kansas coach Bill Self, Missouri’s biggest advantage is a player who doesn’t lead the Tigers in scoring, rebounds or assists.

But Kim English, the 6-foot-6 senior, is the guy few teams have. English brings a backcourt game to a frontcourt position, creating a classic mismatch.

“They have made a perimeter guy a four man,” Self said. “How many uncontested looks has he gotten this year because a big man can’t get to him?”

Grunhard brings enthusiasm to KU football staff

Blair Kerkhoff — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:16 CST

The passion wells up in Tim Grunhard, and because he’s sitting inside the Kansas football complex and not working with players on a practice field, the release is hand gestures and pounding the table with his fingers.

“You need people in your life who care about you to have success,” Grunhard said. “They give you the opportunity to be the best you can be.”

The ideas vary, but a general theme guides perhaps the most enthusiastic member of coach Charlie Weis’ new Jayhawks football staff. Grunny appreciates everybody who helped him carve out a wonderful life in football and wants to be that influence.

KU adds two more football recruits, and Weis says he’s not done

Blair Kerkhoff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:48 CST

Kansas sprung a couple of signing day surprises. Schyler Miles, a linebacker from Tampa, Fla., committed to the Jayhawks late last week but Coach Charlie Weis managed to keep it a secret until Wednesday.

Nasir Moore, a defensive back who played at Los Angeles College last season, was a late addition.

But perhaps the biggest news was Weis’ expectation that more newcomers would join this class of 20 before next season.

Kansas overcomes slow start, blasts OU

Blair Kerkhoff — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:24 CST

Whatever happens in the Kansas locker room at halftime against Oklahoma, the Jayhawks need to bottle it.

For the second time this season, Kansas changed identity at the break and wound up pounding the Sooners 84-62.

Any idea that the eighth-ranked Jayhawks would be caught in a look-ahead with No. 4 Missouri looming in Columbia on Saturday vanished shortly after Allen Fieldhouse fans settled back into their seats after getting popcorn, and in the process the players restored some of Coach Bill Self’s faith.

Kansas native Spoonhour made an impact in college basketball

Josh Wood — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:57 CST

By Blair Kerkhoff

Next to Norm Stewart, no major college basketball coach had a greater influence in Missouri than Charlie Spoonhour, who died on Wednesday.

At Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State, and Saint Louis University, Spoonhour created winners with a defensive brand called “Spoonball.”

OU women rally by Kansas in overtime

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:34 CST

Sharane Campbell scored a career-high 23 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer in overtime as the Oklahoma women beat Kansas 74-68 on Tuesday in Lawrence.

Angel Goodrich had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists for KU.

The Jayhawks used an 11-2 run midway through the second half to build a 53-44 lead. OU, trailing 59-53 with 4:01 to play, held KU scoreless for more than three minutes and went up 62-59. KU forced overtime when Monica Engelman hit a three with six seconds left.

Transfers boost KU football recruiting class

BLAIR KERKHOFF — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:31 CST

The recruiting service Rivals.com doesn’t include the value of four-year transfers in its rankings.

Which means for the sake of class evaluation, the three highest rated newcomers to the Kansas program won’t count for the Jayhawks.

But they will on the field.

KU's Teahan battles slump

Blair Kerkhoff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:28 CST

Everybody notices a shooting skid. A player might be slumping defensively or in playmaking, and perhaps only the trained eye notices.

But have a player brick deep shots for a few games, and there’s no place to hide.

So it is for Kansas guard Conner Teahan, the team’s designated bomber who is battling a nasty case of the shooting yips.

Iowa State dumps No. 5 Kansas

Blair Kerkhoff — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:39 CST

Iowa State thought it owed Kansas, so Saturday’s 72-64 triumph over the fifth-ranked Jayhawks came as no great revelation to the Cyclones.

Oh, it felt good enough. And any time students get to rush the floor it’s a fun thing.

“We felt like we should have beaten them the first time,” Iowa State forward Royce White said. “So this was basically a must-win for us.”

Board approves Berglund’s request for release from KU scholarship

Blair Kerkhoff — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:22 CST

Quarterback Brock Berglund won his case before the KU Student-Athlete Appeals Board on Friday, which clears the way for the once-high profile recruit to transfer and be awarded an athletic scholarship elsewhere.

The ruling didn’t come without some strong comments from new Kansas football coach Charlie Weis.

“This wasn’t about whether or not you give a kid permission to contact other schools, it’s about doing it the way everybody else does it,” Weis said. “Everybody should follow the same protocol. One guy shouldn’t be able to just send emails and just try to make phone calls.”

KU basketball finding success on the road

Blair Kerkhoff — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:16 CST

You don’t forget games like the one Fred Hoiberg had against Kansas, even 17 years later.

“Everything I threw up there went in,” Hoiberg said. “It was one of those games you dream about.”

That January day in 1995, Hoiberg scored 32 points, but the damage to KU was the timing as much as the total. At one point, Hoiberg scored 17 straight for the Cyclones, personally erasing a six-point deficit in the final four minutes of Iowa State’s 69-65 victory over the third-ranked Jayhawks.

KU looks to win rebound war

Blair Kerkhoff — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:21 CST

LAWRENCE — Nobody accuses Kansas of being soft inside. The Jayhawks rank at or near the top of the Big 12 in all rebounding categories, have the league’s leader in Thomas Robinson and two of the top 10 when Jeff Withey is included.

So it was something of an eye-opener two weeks ago when Iowa State came to Lawrence and, by Kansas’ standards, hammed the Jayhawks on the boards.

The Cyclones’ advantage that day was 49-41, and it was the most rebounds by a KU opponent since 2004.

Wichita Eagle: Kansas Jayhawks