Wichita Eagle: Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas is one step closer to the Big 12 championship game.

Kellis Robinett — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:18 CDT

The No. 6 seed Jayhawks downed the No. 2 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys 5-3 for their second straight victory at the Big 12 Tournament on Friday at Bricktown Ballpark. They are now one win away from playing for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Reaching the postseason was their top goal before arriving in Oklahoma City. It remains within reach thanks to a key home run from Tucker Tharp, a timely RBI single from Alex Suiter and the composure of closer Jordan Piche, who stymied Oklahoma State’s comeback chances in the final two innings for his 11th save.

Kansas took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and held it until the top of the fifth behind the quality pitching of starter Wes Benjamin, but Oklahoma State quickly took a 2-1 lead after chasing him and held a 3-2 lead after six innings.

Sprinter Daniels learns to love Kansas

RUSTIN DODD — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:27 CDT

Paris Daniels just hated the idea of going to Kansas. She was a Missouri girl for one, raised in St. Louis, and after spending two years on the track team at Coffeyville Community College, Daniels was ready to get the heck out of Dodge.

Too small. Too quiet. Too Kansas.

“Whatever I do,” Daniels told her family, “I don’t want to go to school in Kansas.

KU shortstop Kuntz learns to love baseball nomad’s life

Rustin Dodd — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:43 CDT

For years, the routine was the same. Baseball game. Then a phone call. Kevin Kuntz knew no other way.

His father, Rusty, would be on the road in some major-league city, coaching on another big-league staff, and the phone calls were the best way to share the game they both loved.

“I’d basically call him,” Kuntz says, “and we’d just talk to him about the games. It had to be good enough.”

Former top Miami (Ohio) receiver transfers to Kansas

RUSTIN DODD — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:39 CDT

Sitting in the lobby of the Ramada Convention Center on Wednesday evening, Kansas football coach Charlie Weis was getting eager to announce his latest addition to the Kansas football program.

He was working on something big, he said, and he was hoping to unveil it before he finished a “Happy Hour” event with fans on KU’s annual spring football tour.

That addition, Weis would announce later, was receiver Nick Harwell, a transfer from Miami (Ohio) who completed his junior season last fall. And from a football standpoint, Harwell appears to be a perfect fit for a program plagued by a middling receiving corps. Harwell, 6-1 and 193 pounds, was the nation’s second-leading receiver in 2011, piling up 97 catches and 1,425 yards. He added 68 receptions for 870 yards last season while missing three games for a knee injury.

KU baseball players pitch in for Oklahoma tornado relief

RUSTIN DODD — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:15 CDT

The Kansas baseball team was supposed to have a day off on Tuesday, a day to rest before the scheduled start of the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City on Wednesday. But with the tournament pushed back to Thursday after a deadly tornado struck Moore, Okla., on Monday, the Jayhawks used the day to join the relief effort and gather money and supplies for the area’s storm victims.

According to KU officials, the team raised $1,200 and went shopping at a local Target store for bottled water and other supplies. The Jayhawks then took the supplies to a local drop-site at the Edmond Christian Church.

They weren’t the only Big 12 team in action on Tuesday. West Virginia, the Jayhawks’ opponent on Thursday, also gathered supplies for storm victims.

Memphis big man transfers to Kansas

RUSTIN DODD — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:48 CDT

Kansas has added another big body to a burgeoning roster overhaul.

Former Memphis big man Tarik Black has signed a grant-in-aid agreement to play basketball at Kansas, the school announced Tuesday.

Black, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound power forward, elected to leave Memphis after averaging 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season, his junior year. He graduated with a degree in organizational leadership earlier this month and will be eligible to play right away under the graduate-transfer rule.

Ben McLemore breaks silence about payments to former AAU coach

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:53 CDT

Former KU guard Ben McLemore spoke Thursday at the NBA Combine in Chicago about AAU coach Darius Cobb’s revelation that he accepted $10,000 in cash payments to steer McLemore toward Rodney Blackstock, a middleman with connections to agents and financial advisers in Los Angeles.

McLemore gave an interview to Sports Illustrated and Campusinsiders.com in which he said he would be willing to meet with NCAA investigators even though he is no longer a player for the Jayhawks.

“I would tell them the truth and tell them what I know, and just cooperate with them,” McLemore told reporters from SI and Campusinsiders. “Hopefully they’ll cooperate with me and hear my side.”

Jayhawk fans in Wichita eager to hear hope from Weis

TAYLOR ELDRIDGE — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00 CDT

In Charlie Weis, fans of the Kansas football program see hope.

And the second-year coach embraces the role with one stipulation: He doesn’t want the faith the be blind.

So when close to 150 Jayhawk-clad supporters filled the Wichita Marriott banquet hall for Thursday’s luncheon in conjunction with the 2013 Kansas Football Preview Party, Weis made his mission clear.

Linebacker commits to Kansas

RUSTIN DODD — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:23 CDT

It’s not often that a highly recruited high school football player cancels a campus visit to Michigan and then commits to Kansas. But that’s what Kyron Watson, a 6-foot, 226-pound linebacker, did on Tuesday.

Watson, a native of East St. Louis, Ill., offered his verbal commitment to KU, according to Rivals.com. He becomes the second commitment in Kansas’ 2014 class, joining Gardner Edgerton running back Traevohn Wrench, a four-star recruit.

It’s an early coup for Kansas coach Charlie Weis, who relied heavily on juco players in his last class. Watson, a three-star recruit ranked as the 19th best linebacker in the country, already had offers from a list of schools that included Michigan, Missouri, TCU and Illinois, according to Rivals. But KU running backs coach Reggie Mitchell made a strong connection in the recruiting process. Watson also has a relationship with KU running back Tony Pierson, who attended the same high school in East St. Louis.

Andrew Wiggins, consensus No. 1 basketball recruit, picks KU

RUSTIN DODD — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:12 CDT

The lines of communication had been dead for weeks. Andrew Wiggins had been in his own world, processing information, school by school, guarding his secret from a curious basketball world.

Bill Self was back in Kansas, waiting to hear if he would get the opportunity to coach a once-in-a-generation talent. On Tuesday morning, a few hours before Wiggins unveiled his college choice, Self reached for his cell phone and crafted one final recruiting pitch.

“Hey, man, I hope you have a great day today,” Self wrote.

First-place K-State Wildcats top Jayhawks

Sat, 11 May 2013 07:16 CDT

Kansas State beat Kansas 4-3 on Friday night in Lawrence and moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 baseball standings.

Mitch Meyer went 2 for 5 and hit his fourth home run of the season for K-State, a blast on the first pitch of the sixth inning that gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. Meyer also scored the game’s first run, coming home on Austin Speer’s second-inning sacrifice fly. Tanner Witt singled in a run in the fifth, and Austin Fisher hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

KU sophomore Connor McKay hit for the cycle. His solo homer in the sixth inning made the score 4-2. He tripled leading off the bottom the ninth and scored on a groundout by Ka’lana Eldredge to pull the Jayhawks within one.

K-State, KU still in thick of Big 12 baseball race

RUSTIN DODD — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:13 CDT

You probably know some of the natural disadvantages that curb the baseball programs at Kansas and K-State. Cold weather is one, of course. So is history. And so is the fact that four Big 12 rivals ply their trade in baseball-rich Texas.

But here we are, closing in on the college baseball postseason, and the in-state rivals are both firmly entrenched in the Big 12 regular-season title race. And that makes this weekend’s three-game series in Lawrence, which begins on Friday, one of the most intriguing in the recent history of the Sunflower Showdown: Baseball Edition.

K-State (34-15, 11-7 Big 12) is tied atop the conference standings with Oklahoma and West Virginia, while the Jayhawks (31-18, 12-9) have won six straight games and sit just a half-game out of first.

KU raises basketball ticket prices

Rustin Dodd — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:08 CDT

Sitting on an unprecedented nine straight Big 12 league titles, Kansas will now do something it hasn’t done in five years: Increase season-ticket prices.

Kansas has increased all three tiers of its season tickets, which go on sale at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

The price for Tier 1 season tickets has increased from $1,255 to $1,600 for the entire season, while Tier 2 seats will cost $1,225 (from $1,155). Tier 3 seats are now $925 (from $855). 

Team effort lifted KU to Big 12 title

BLAIR KERKHOFF — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:33 CDT

Kansas sprinter Diamond Dixon owns a gold medal from the London Olympics for her participation on a relay team.

But Sunday, when Dixon helped the Jayhawks women win their first Big 12 championship for outdoor track, the feeling of satisfaction was just as strong.

“Winning the gold was special, but I wasn’t as close with that team as I am with these ladies,” said Dixon, who repeated as the 400 champion. “We made history, and when I look back years from now I will know I helped them get that banner.”

KU outlook murky in McLemore case

RUSTIN DODD — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:12 CDT

There are plenty of pressing questions now, in the aftermath of Saturday’s revelation that a former AAU coach of Ben McLemore has alleged to have accepted $10,000 and free travel from a man seeking to connect McLemore with agents and financial advisers in Southern California.

The allegations, which were first reported by USA Today, came from Darius Cobb, a St. Louis-based AAU coach, who claims to have received two cash payments from Rodney Blackstock, the founder of a sports-mentoring organization in Greensboro, N.C.

In addition to revealing the sometimes seedy underbelly of grassroots basketball and agent culture, the story could have an impact on the Kansas basketball program. But how much?

Report: Ben McLemore’s AAU coach took agent payments

Rustin Dodd — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:03 CDT

Kansas officials confirmed Saturday that they were reviewing a report that Ben McLemore’s former AAU coach accepted cash payments from a middleman who was attempting to attract the KU freshman on behalf of sports agents and financial advisers in Los Angeles.

The payments, which were detailed in a report by USA Today, were made from Rodney Blackstock, the founder of a sports mentoring organization based in Greensboro, N.C., to Darius Cobb, the St. Louis-based AAU coach who served as a coach and mentor to McLemore during his childhood in St. Louis.

Cobb told USA Today that he accepted two payments of $5,000 each and twice traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Blackstock, sports agents and financial advisers who wanted to represent McLemore in the NBA. On the second trip, which came at the end of January, Cobb was reportedly accompanied by Richard Boyd, a cousin of McLemore's who lives in the St. Louis area. Boyd has denied taking the trip.

Breaking down the Jayhawks' 2013-14 schedule

rustindodd — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:09 CDT

LAWRENCE — It could be the most daunting non-conference schedule that KU coach Bill Self has ever encountered. Duke. Florida. Georgetown. And a month-long span without a game at Allen Fieldhouse in November and December.

Did we mention Kansas will have five new starters next season?

Self, of course, is optimistic that the challenging schedule will accelerate the learning curve of a young team. But for now, here's a breakdown of the Jayhawks' non-conference schedule in 2013-14:

McLemore part of big underclassmen list

Kirk Seminoff — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:41 CDT

When Kansas freshman Ben McLemore declared for the NBA Draft on April 9, he became just the third Jayhawk to leave school after just one season in Lawrence. (The others: Xavier Henry and Josh Selby)

McLemore's decision was expected... and sound. He is a projected top-five pick (maybe even higher) and actually spent two seasons at Kansas after taking a redshirt for academic reasons in 2011-12.

But even after projected first-round picks Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State), Isaiah Austin (Baylor) and Adreian Payne (Michigan State) returned to school, the list of early NBA Draft entries is long and crowded. Missouri junior guard Phil Pressey also declared early for the draft — and so did more than 40 other college players.

Kansas’ Tanner Hawkinson goes to Bengals in fifth round

RUSTIN DODD — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:49 CDT

The story goes that Kathy Hawkinson forced her son to take piano lessons during his first years of elementary school. She wanted her children to be well-rounded. And perhaps she didn’t realize that young Tanner would grow to be 6-foot-5 and more than 300 pounds.

But on Saturday afternoon, as Kansas senior and McPherson High grad Tanner Hawkinson bided his time at an NFL Draft party at his brother’s place in Lawrence, those piano lessons came in handy.

The Cincinnati Bengals were impressed enough with Hawkinson’s character and intangibles — in addition to his potential on the offensive line — to select him with the 23rd pick of the fifth round on Saturday.

Recruiting doesn’t stop for Jayhawks

RUSTIN DODD — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 07:31 CDT

In many ways, Arkansas transfer Hunter Mickelson represents exactly what Kansas coach Bill Self looks for in a player.

A former top-100 recruit, Mickelson will sit out next season and use a redshirt year to grow into a mature, program player. It’s a long-term addition, though, and that’s one reason Self is still looking to add instant-impact pieces to the Jayhawks’ roster for next season.

“I think the current roster could add a piece or two to make it great,” Self said on Friday, after officially announcing Mickelson’s transfer. “I’ve said all along, our recruiting class, I think, is really, really good. Adding Hunter to the mix, although he won’t play next year, makes it better.