05
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10,2005
SPORTS
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Freshmen
Coach Bill Self yells at his players as they try to break a full-court press put on by Fort Hays State. The Jayhawks won their first exhibition game of the season Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
"We had a little speech during the halftime and (coach) told us to come out and have fun," Rush said. "It was hard at first with everyone being so loud and screaming, but after a while you kind of got used to it."
Jared Soares/Kansan
The entire Jayhawk team settled down in the second half. Leading at the half 44-27, the game was never in question, but Kansas had yet to put on its best offensive display.
The Jahawks scored 52 second-half points, showing off their new, up-tempo offense. Pushing the ball up the court, Kansas played a well-rounded game, nailing some outside shots and dominating inside the paint.
Sophomore guard Russell Robinson led the charge with 11 assists, seven of which went to sophomore forward Sasha Kaun.
Kaun led all scorers with 23 points, thanks largely to Robinson's passes. Robinson found Kaun in the paint on three
"Russ can just have a feel on when to pass it and where to pass it," Kaun said.
straight plays early in the second half.
Freshmen Mario Chalmer, Julian Wright and Micah Downs played 16,23 and 17 minutes respectively. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said overall, he thought the freshmen were effective.
Senior guard Jeff Hawkins dives for a loose ball against Fort Hays State guard Loranja Owens during the first half. The Jayhawks defeated the Tigers Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, 96-62.
"Brandon was very good, Mario was good in spurts but he wasn't sound defensively and he gambled too much." Self said. "Julian, I thought, was not very good early but was very good late, and Micah did some good things too."
Chalmers finished with 10 points, Wright with eight and Downs with three.
Everybody on the Jayhawks' roster scored last night, including walk-on freshman forward Matt Kleinmann and sophomore guard Jeremy Case, who swished a threepoint shot with three seconds left in the game.
"It is good that everyone scored," Self said. "Everyone should walk out of here feeling pretty good."
Notes:
With both senior guard Stephen Vinson and senior forward Christian Moody starting the game, two former walk-ones were in Kansas' starting lineup.
Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar signed national letters of intent to play at Kansas. Collins, a 5-foot-11-inch guard from Chicago, is rated the No. 2
point guard in the class of 2006 by recruiting Web site www.rivals.com.
He averaged 25 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds a game last season for Crane High School.
"We are very excited about Sherron's decision," Self said. "Sherron is thought of by many to be one of the best point
guards prospects out of Chicago since Isaiah Thomas."
Morningstar, whose father, Roger Morningstar, played at Kansas during the 1974 and 1975 seasons, is a Lawrence native. The 6-foot-3-inch, 170-pound Morningstar will play prep basketball this season at the New Hampton School.
Sophomore forward Darnell Jackson was not in uniform last night. Self said he was not injured.
"There is an eligibility issue with Darnell that we thought was going to be resolved today, and it wasn't, so hopefully it will be resolved and he can play Monday." Self said.
He would not elaborate further on the issue.
Former Kansas guard Ryan Robertson was in attendance last night. He received a round of applause from the Kansas faithful midway through the second half.
Wednesday was senior guard Jeff Hawkins' birthday and today is sophomore guard Jeremy Case's.
- Edited by Anne Burgard
Swanson
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"It will be kind of interesting to see it in a game one day when I'm older, playing with my kids."
This was only a dream to Swanson 10 weeks ago. Before the season, he was recovering from a knee injury, and most experts considered him the fourthbest quarterback on the team.
Swanson said he kept his head up and hoped for the best, but he knew it would take hard work and patience to get back to 100 percent.
SWANSON'S STATS
Just cracking the active roster looked tough.
Seeing legitimate playing time seemed far-fetched.
KU offense before and after Swanson
Leading Kansas to victory appeared impossible.
after Swanson
Three conference games without Swanson:
♦ Completions: 13.3 per game
♦ Total Yards: 201 per game
♦ Points: 7.66 per game
But as the season wore on, Swanson began to improve, and the quarterbacks in front of him—junior Adam Barmann and
Three conference games with Surrogacy
Swanson:
★ Compolitions: 18.3 per
- Completions: 18.3 per
- game
Total Verde: 360 per
- Total Yards: 360 per
Points:22 per game
Source: www.kuathletics.com
senior Brian Luke — struggled so mightily that Kansas' offense failed to score a touchdown in consecutive games.
As the weeks passed, Swanson moved up the depth chart.
he was named offensive scout player of the week. The following week, he was promoted to backup quarterback.
Before the K-State game,
Then, against Colorado, he got his chance. Luke suffered an injury during the first half, and Swanson was sent into the game.
Instantly, the offense improved.
A unit that couldn't gain 100 yards against Oklahoma racked up more than 350 against Colorado. Running backs were suddenly breaking off long runs; wide receivers started catching fade passes; and, most importantly, the Jayhawks began scoring touchdowns.
Swanson led Kansas to 13 points in the loss to Colorado and the same total the following week in a victory against Missouri. Then, against Nebraska's highly regarded defense, the Jayhawks exploded for 40 points, with senior wide receiver Mark
Simmons, junior running back Jon Cornish and senior running back Clark Green each having 100-yard games.
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said Swanson was learning how to read defenses and managed a game well, but that alone didn't explain the offense's complete turnaround.
Not even Swanson could figure it out.
"I have no idea," he said. "I just tried to keep doing what I was doing the previous six or seven weeks. I'm not sure why we started scoring points. I guess you'd have to ask them what clicked in their heads."
Simmons said Swanson improved the offense because even when he made mistakes he approached the next play with confidence.
Senior linebacker Kevin Kane said Swanson's demeanor rubbed off on everyone on the field.
"He's a savvy player," Kane said. "He's not afraid to take chances. The rest of the offense feeds off that attitude, and he's just given them a spark."
The rejuvenated offense has helped the Jayhawks get back into bowl contention. With one more victory, Kansas will qualify for its second postseason game in three years.
Swanson said he would do everything he could to snag that last victory, not because he wanted glory or to finally be noticed on campus, but just to extend the time he has remaining to play football and be around his teammates.
He said his friendship with them was what he enjoyed most since he transferred to Kansas from the City College of San Francisco after his sophomore year.
"Grinding out nine to 10 months of work can seem pointless after a while, even make
you ask 'Why am I doing this?' he said. "But if you have guys that are really good and positive, it gets you through those tough times. It really makes it enjoyable."
Swanson said he was 95 percent sure his football career would be over after this semester. So, if Kansas becomes bowl eligible, that feeling will last until late December.
If not, Swanson only gets two more weeks.
Either way, he said he would leave Kansas happy that he got to experience a true college atmosphere and play in big games.
When it's finished, he'll turn into a normal guy with a regular job.
Until he hears his name called on a trivia card. Then, maybe he'll feel like a big man on campus.
— Edited by Tricia Masenthin
Congratulations to the 2005 HSC for putting together an outstanding Homecoming week!
Jen Bedore Dustin Curzon Sarah David Jennifer Denny Laura Fleming
Amber Hall Lauren Jesse Jake Kenyon Melva Landrum Sarah Lathrop Richard littrell Katie Rash
Adam Sechrist Katie Smith Kyle Stearns Jennifer Alderdice Laura Burrows Leon Hayner David Mucci
Apply TODAY for the 2006 Homecoming Steering Committee! Applications online @ www.homecoming.ku.edu