2005
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
ule
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
BIG SKY TO BIG TIME
TIM HALL
THALL@KANSAN.COM
Points for good behavior
The KU football team is coming off its two biggest victories since Mark Mangino was hired four years ago and is one victory away from bowl eligibility.
But what is most impressive about this group of guys is how they have respected the coaches, the organization and each other by staying out of trouble off the field — a problem that had been growing in KU Athletics.
Much of the credit for the team's recent good behavior goes to Mangino for developing such a good bond with his players, but he should be commended for making the difficult decision back in March to kick former running back John Randle off the team.
J. R. Giddens' altercation at the Moon Bar in May and Bruce Ringwood's fight at a Kenny Chesney concert in August brought criticism to the whole athletics program.
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Randle was arrested for the fourth time after getting into a fight on March 13. Two days later, Mangino had enough of the extra baggage and dismissed Randle from the team.
Yes, the name John Randle is merely dust in the wind around these parts these days. He's been forgotten completely.
He chose to get rid of a player with huge offensive potential, a player who elevated Kansas to its biggest victory of the 2004 season at homecoming against Kansas State. Randle had a lot of talent and possibly could have been a huge help to this program, but Mangino decided that didn't matter.
Another example involves the Philadelphia Eagles and Terrell Owens. The organization suspended one of the best football players for conduct detrimental to the team. They are admirably sending Owens home for bone-headed comments to the media about his contract and, most recently, about how the team would be better with Brett Favre as quarterback.
It's a shame to see players with talent give it all up because they can't behave in an orderly fashion, and it's a problem that's becoming more common.
Sophomore running back Jon Cornish stepped in this season and helped KU fans forget about Randle by making the most of his opportunity. And don't forget about Gary Green II, the redshirt freshman who is waiting to show what he can do.
Both are examples of poison for a team. Give credit to Eagles coach Andy Reid and Mangino, who have the spines to take action on this type of player.
The situations aren't identical, but they do have similarities. While John Randle's ability to get along with his teammates was never a question, his presence in the media for negative reasons was. Owens is a poor teammate who mouths off to the press just for attention, and John Randle got arrested repeatedly and spent some nights in jail.
As for Kansas, the running game hasn't missed a beat. Senior running back Clark Green has played excellently in the past two weeks.
It doesn't matter how much talent you have in sports. If you aren't going to act respectfully off the field, you run the risk of getting suspended or dismissed. Anyone can be replaced.
Hall is a Woodbridge, Va. senior in journalism.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Big stage debut
Season begins with tonight's exhibition
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SEIHOR.SPORTSWITTER
Russell Robinson chuckles when he talks about his roommate Micah Downs' first game in Allen Fieldhouse.
"I know Micah's first shot is going to be an air ball," the sophomore guard laughed. "He will be so nervous."
Downs, along with his three freshmen counterparts, Mario Chalmers, Julian Wright and Brandon Rush, will make his debut in a Kansas uniform as Kansas opens its exhibition season against Fort Hays State at 7 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse. Despite playing in big games in
high school and the McDonald's All-American game, Downs and the other freshmen know it will be a nerve-racking experience to take the court in the Fieldhouse for the first time.
"I'm already nervous." Downs said Monday before practice. "I mean, we played in front of some big crowds in some tournaments and stuff, but I don't think I've ever played in front of 16,000."
Downs isn't the only one who might be shaking in his Adidas' tonight. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said Rush was so nervous before Late Night that he was relieved to find out he wasn't starting.
"We picked starting line-ups at Late Night by flipping a coin, and he called it," Self said. "When lost he went 'yeah' because he was so nervous."
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
Freshman guard Micah Downs lays a shot past freshman brandon Rush during Late Night in the Phog. The men's basketball team begins its season at 7 p.m. with an exhibition game against Fort Hays State at Allen Fieldhouse.
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
Beer, bicycles and Jelly Bellies
Taylor Miller/KANSAN
Brian Jensen (second to the right), Denmark junior, signed with Billy Belly Pro Cycling Team last night at Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts St. Phil Groniger, a former racer for the Kansas City Bicycle Club, spoke at the dinner, along with Josh Crowe, a racer for the Heartland Raceclub, and Mike Vickers, who rides for Free State.
PROFILE
Former redshirt ready to wear crimson and blue
Kansan file photo
Sophomore guard Jeremy Case is considered one of the best pure shooters on the team. Case took a redshirt last season and will compete for time at both guard positions.
by MIRANDA LENNING mlenning@kansan.com KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWITTER
Jeremy Case feels like it has been forever since he played in a basketball game. The sophomore guard from Oklahoma City took a redshirt last season and played
in a reserve role his freshman year, making this the first season he could contribute to the team.
So, as the days crawled by, Case said today's game couldn't come soon enough. He has put on a practice Jersey every day for the past three years and played only mop-up minutes
during game situations.
There are seven guards in the Kansas backcourt who have the potential to be successful at their positions, so Case knows the competition for minutes will be intense. But with so many young players, he is one of the veterans — an element that he thinks will help squeeze him into the rotation.
"I am extremely anxious," Case said. "I might even be a little nervous since it's been so long since I played in a game."
"I feel like I have a chance to get a lot of time," Case said. "I plan on that. I just work hard and show that I can be a leader and help the young guys out, and I think I could really help the team."
During his redshirt year, Case said watching former players like Keith Langford and Aaron Miles helped him better understand the leadership role. He also hit the weight room, put on 10 pounds and spent a lot of time in the gym working on his shot. Case and his teammates went home for only two weeks during the summer, and spent the rest of their time off school in Lawrence, participating in individual workouts with their coaches.
Case said he felt like his shooting ability and defensive tenacity would be his ticket on the court this season. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self agreed, saying if Case played his
cards right, he could have the chance to help the lajwhaws.
"He is our best shooter on our team, easily the best shooter as far as a perimeter shooter, and if he continues to work and get stronger and get better defensively, he can be a guy that can make a team a lot better because he brings a dimension to the game that other teams are going to have to guard," Self said. "He is a much-improved guy. The biggest thing is his strength because his redshirt year really helped him."
Self wants to make the Jayhawks play a faster game with more defensive pressure, which could be to Case's advantage. Defensively, the Jayhawks will apply more full-court pressure to their opponents, an effort to utilize their quickness.
"We are going to do a lot of full-court press," Case said. "And you know, I've got to be able to guard my man 94 feet."
Right now, neither Self nor the players know who will fill the Kansas rotation. Self said that in a perfect world, he would like to play with nine players — four big men and five guards.
He said that if they played at the up-tempo pace he hoped for, players would be fatigued after 20 or 25 minutes. Case said he was looking forward to playing this new, fast-paced style because it fit his game perfectly.
"As of right now, we have a
lot of depth, a lot of guys that play the same position. So that is one key that is going to help us be able to play quick," Case said. "If somebody gets tired, somebody else can come right in and play. That is how I think I am going to be able to come in and contribute."
Self wants Case to contribute in another way as well. With few candidates to step up as leaders on this team, the Jayhawks would need Case to fill one of the leadership roles.
"I think that Jeremy and Russell and J-Hawk and Christian are the best candidates for that leadership role," Self said. "And I'd say they are all 25 percent of what they could potentially be. It is unfair, though, to say that they are more than that because right now they don't know what their roles are going to be either. I think it is much easier to be a leader if you are totally secure with where you are on that particular team."
Although no one really knows his role yet on this team, Case said he would do whatever he could to help the Javahawks.
"We all just need to work together and figure out what it is going to take, as a team, for us to win," Case said. "As far as an individual standpoint goes, I am going to do whatever coach asks of me and whatever is good for the team."
— Edited by Becca Evanhoe
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