WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2005
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5C
In with the new
Photos by Jared Soares/KANSAN
Freshman Brandon Rush
Freshman Micah Downs
Sophomore Roderick Stewart
Wright said his wide-open style of play enabled him to play so many different positions on the court.
"On defense, I just like to rebound hard and alter people's shots," Wright said. "On offense, I just want to make sure we are flowing well and I'm slashing toward the basket. But, I'm just going to stay focused and play wherever coach Self wants me to play."
In high school, Wright said he primarily played the small forward position, the same position as both Downs and Rush.
Rush comes to Kansas after wavering between schools until September. Rush went through a number of hurdles to become
eligible to play at Kansas, but was finally cleared to play by the NCAA in early September.
Rush flirted with the idea of going straight to the NBA from high school. He attended the Chicago pre-draft camp, where scouts told him he still had things to work on before he tried to play in the NBA. Rush considered Oklahoma, Indiana and Illinois but ultimately decided on Kansas because it was close to home and because he was impressed with the other freshmen who had signed with Kansas.
Self said of all the freshman, Rush might have the biggest expectations to live up to because of the success of his older brothers. Besides Kareem, Self
referred to Brandon's other brother JaRon as one of the best high school players ever to come out of Kansas City. JaRon played his college ball at UCLA.
Self said Brandon made the right decision when he decided to come to college before trying the NBA.
Rush said the past six months had been crazy with him trying to pick a school and attending the NBA Draft workouts, but he said he was happy that he was finally able to settle down and
"There's a reason why he isn't in the NBA," Self said. "He needs to get better. Expectations might be high for him, but he's a big boy. He can handle it."
start adjusting to college life.
Downs comes to Kansas with two main objectives. First, he would like to gain weight and secondly he wants to put the controversy he has experienced in his past behind him.
Downs also experienced some controversy in high school because he had trouble settling down and also voiced his displeasure with the McDonald's All-American game, after he didn't play as much as
Downs enters his freshman season weighing only 180 pounds and stands at six feet eight inches tall. Downs said he knew how important it was to put some muscle on to compete against players in the Big 12 Conference.
he would have liked.
Now, with the team's first game only a week away, Downs said he was looking forward to starting over at Kansas.
"With this fresh start, I just have to take advantage of it fully," Downs said. "I just need to go out there and play hard and just focus on basketball. Everything else will take care of itself."
Downs had an impressive senior year at Juanita High School where he averaged nearly 25 points per game and also averaged more than 12 rebounds a game.
Downs said he was familiar with the other three freshmen and their style of play, and said he thought he fit in well with
the other guys
The recruiting class of Downs, Wright, Chalmers and Rush was ranked the No.1 class in the country by several media outlets and is already being referred to by Kansas fans as the "Fab Four," making reference to Michigan's Fab Five.
The only problem that might still exist with the incoming freshmen is how much each of them will play and who out of the four, will start for this year's team.
"If playing time is the sole thing that keeps them happy, then we could have some problems," Self said. "If we play the right way, I think we can play nine guys and keep them all happy."
Edited by Patrick Ross
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