4C THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2005
Out with the old
from left to right: Boderick Stewart, sophomore transfer, and freshmen Mario Chalmers, Micah Downs, Julian Wright and Brandon Rush. These five must make up for the four departed seniors.
Jared Soares/KANSAN
DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRITER
The word most often associated with this year's freshman class is pressure.
All Mario Chalmers has to do is make Kansas fans forget about Aaron Miles, one of the school's best point guards in history
Julian Wright and Micah Downs will try to replace the scoring voids left by Keith Langford and Wayne Simien. While Brandon Rush will try to live up to the expectations brought on him by his brother Kareem, who was a star at the University of Missouri and now plays for the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.
Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said he knew the four freshmen — Chalmers, Downs, Wright and Rush — would not be able to fill the void left by the four graduating seniors, but said all four were gifted players that would contribute to this year's squad.
"These guys are going to have their ups and downs." Self said. "There will be some fans that will say they're great one game and some that will say they aren't quite as good the next game."
quite as good the new game.
Chalmers comes to Kansas after giving fans a glimpse of his game last year during the McDonald's High School All-American game. Chalmers wowed the South Bend, Ind., crowd last year when he led his team with 20 points.
Chalmers showed his ability to take over a game when he scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half. Chalmers comes to Kansas from Anchorage, Alaska, where he became only the second player in history to be named Alaska 4A Player of the Year three times. Former Duke standout Trajan Langdon is the only other player to accomplish that feat.
Chalmers will try to take over the point guard position much like Miles did in his freshman season at Kansas when he started the majority of the time. Chalmers said he learned a lot from watching Miles play, but that he was a different player, so fans shouldn't expect the same things.
Chalmers averaged more than 25 points per game his senior year in high school and will contend for the team's starting point guard position with senior left Hawkins.
"Me and Aaron are two different players," Chalmers said. "We each still do whatever it takes to make the team better, but we do things a lot differently."
Chalmers is considered more of a shooter and slasher — capable of "slashing" through defenders to get to the net — than Miles was. Chalmers led the state of Alaska in three-point shooting and displayed that ability when he made a number of three-point
shots in the McDonald's game.
One of the players hoping Chalmers does share the ball a little bit is Julian Wright. Wright joins Chalmers as a freshman coming in with big expectations. Wright was
already named preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Wright is a versatile player who can play four of five positions on the floor. Wright can handle the ball and play point guard, or he
can be the main shooter and play shooting guard or he can play either of the forward positions, small forward and power forward.
Wright joined Chalmers and Downs on the McDonald's All-
American roster. Wright averaged 14 points a game his senior year and also averaged nine rebounds and six assists per game.
Wright is also a candidate to start for Kansas immediately like Chalmers. Self said that the coaching staff had not decided where Wright will play on the floor yet, but that he could be a starter for the team.
Every Wednesday is College Night! Buy one, Get one free with a KUID
COLD STONE CREAMERY 647 Massachusetts 785.842.8900
Russell Stover
CANDIES·COFFEE·ICE CREAM It's Apple Time! Caramel Apples Starting at $2.99
Buy One, Get One Free!
Purchase One Caramel Apple Receive the
Second Apple of Equal or Lesser Value Free.
KU Basketball Fanatical Mention this ad at time of purchase. Limit 1 Free Apple per Visit.
Offer good through November 19th, 2005
Jayhawk
Boutstore
...at the top of the hill
1420 Crescent Rd
VINEYARD
23rd & Naismith • Lawrence, KS • (785) 830-8603
The only Home Grown Bookstore (no pesticide used)
kansan.com The online edition of The University Daily Kansan
Front Page News.Sports Arts. Opinion Extra
X