2C THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE3C
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2005
Boss is a Topeka senior in journalism
Moulaye Niang no longer plays on the men's basketball team, but he is still a part of Kansas basketball.
Five newcomers join the men's basketball team, but can they make up for the loss of Keith Langford, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien?
Kansas women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson takes a page from K-State football coach Bill Snyder.
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
Two women newcomers hail from across the Atlantic ocean. What roles will they play this season?
C.J. Giles
Photo by Jared Soares
Men's schedule to test team
- RYAN SCHNEIDER
rschneider@kansan.com KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in espn.com's preseason poll. Kansas could also potentially play three other teams ranked in the top 10. The Maui tournament includes Connecticut, ranked fourth, Michigan State, ranked fifth and Gonzaga, ranked seventh. The Jayhawks' performance in Maui against several ranked teams will be an early indication of how the highly-touted freshman class has progressed early in the season.
The Kansas men's basketball team's first test of the season comes in its second game, against Arizona, Nov. 21, at the Maui Invitational.
might-contact team at Class 1 this spring.
"We're going to find out what we are pretty fast," senior guard Stephen Vinson said. "If we weren't as successful as we wanted to be out there, it might be a little tougher for the young guys. But some of us girls that have been here for a while understand that it doesn't matter in the beginning of the year as much."
matter in the beginning of the year. The non conference schedule includes three games against NCAA tournament teams from this season. Kansas will play eight of those games at home in Allen Fieldhouse.
"I think the early season games will put pressure on our guys and give them a sense of urgency that tells them we need to get pretty good, pretty fast," said Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self. "The season won't be determined in November, however."
Kansas cannot afford any major early-season struggles, though, with the Big 12 Conference shaping up to be one of the best in the country. In preseason national rankings, Texas and Oklahoma are both ranked in the top 10. Big 12 north foe Iowa State also returns preseason first-team all-Big 12 guard Curtis Stinson. Self said he expected his team to make mistakes early, but hopefully adjust in time for conference play.
"I think there will be more ups and downs," Self said. "We'll be more inconsistent, and I think we won't be as tough as we should. We'll probably make some mistakes early that hopefully we won't make in February."
The nonconference schedule, once again, looks to be one of the toughest in the nation. Added to that is a conference schedule that includes road games against highly-ranked Texas and a much-improved Texas A&M. With a young team, Kansas is likely not to be
MEN'S SCHEDULE
11/09/05 Fort Hays State (Exh.) Lawrence 7 p.m.
11/14/05 Pittsburg State (Exh.) Lawrence 7 p.m.
11/18/05 Idaho State Lawrence 7 p.m.
11/21/05 Arizona Maul, Hawaii 8 p.m.
11/22/05 Arkansas/Connecticut Maul, Hawaii 3 p.m./6:30 p.m.
11/23/05 TBA Maul, Hawaii TBA
12/01/05 Nevada Lawrence 8 p.m.
12/03/05 Western Illinois Lawrence 7 p.m.
12/06/05 Saint Joseph's New York 6 p.m.
12/10/05 Cal Kansas City, Mo. 11 a.m.
12/19/05 Pepperdine Lawrence 8:30 p.m.
12/22/05 Northern Colorado Lawrence 7 p.m.
12/29/05 New Orleans Lawrence 8:30 p.m.
10/14/05 Yale Lawrence 7 p.m.
01/07/06 Kentucky Lawrence 11 a.m.
01/11/06 Colorado Boulder, Colo. 8 p.m.
01/14/06 Kansas State Lawrence 12:45 p.m.
01/16/06 Missouri Columbia, Mo. 6 p.m.
01/21/06 Nebraska Lawrence 3 p.m.
01/25/06 Texas A&M College Sun, Texas 7 p.m.
01/28/06 Iowa State Ames, Iowa 11 a.m.
01/30/06 Texas Tech Lawrence 8 p.m.
02/05/06 Oklahoma Lawrence 12 p.m.
02/08/06 Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 6:30 p.m.
02/11/06 Iowa State Lawrence 3 p.m.
02/13/06 Oklahoma State Stillwater, Okla. 8 p.m.
02/18/06 Missouri Lawrence 2:45 p.m.
02/21/06 Baylor Lawrence 7 p.m.
02/25/06 Texas Austin, Texas 8 p.m.
03/01/06 Colorado Lawrence 7 p.m.
03/04/06 Kansas State Manhattan 3 p.m.
03/09/06 Big 12 Championship Dallas TBA
03/10/06 Big 12 Championship Dallas TBA
03/11/06 Big 12 Championship Dallas TBA
03/12/06 Big 12 Championship Dallas TBA
03/12/06 Big 12 Championship Dallas TBA
tavored in many games this season. Vinson said he thought the team could handle the role of the underdog.
Women's schedule chock full of home games
Edited by Patrick Ross
"We have a lot of pride because of all the banners that hang in here and because of all the players that have played here before," Vinson said. "For people to finally start to doubt us, we have enough pride to go out and prove some people wrong."
- JACK WUSTIN
jweinstein@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
The 2005-06 Kansas women's basketball team plays one of the most home-heavy schedules in the NCAA with 22 games inside the comfy confines of Allen Fieldhouse.
comfy counties of Alameh Fethahem.
The Jayhawks hope to improve on last year's record (12-16, 5-11 Big 12 Conference) this season, but will have to fight through 12 games against teams that reached the postseason a year ago. The 'Hawks only play eight games on the road plus the Big 12 tournament.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson joked about the number of home games at women's basketball media day on Oct. 19.
"I think we're the envy of most programs right now," Henrickson said. "I get a lot of phone calls and e-mails, harassing e-mails, from my colleagues in this business. 'How on earth did that happen?'""
The schedule includes Detroit (Nov. 22), Northeastern (Nov. 27), Birmingham-Southern (Dec. 2), New Orleans (Dec. 3), UMKC (Dec 7), Wisconsin (Dec. 11), Florida International (Dec. 18), Creighton (Dec. 21), Pepperdine (Dec. 28) and La Salle (Dec. 30).
The Hawks were originally scheduled to play in the Privateer Tournament on Dec. 2 & 3 at the University of New Orleans, but games against the Birmingham Southern and New Orleans have been moved to Lawrence.
WOMEN'S SCHEDULE
"I think right now we'll grow and we'll play on the road a little bit more, and we have already talked about that as our recruiting classes improve, our schedule, strength of schedule, those things will improve," Henrick-
Baylor (qar. 20).
Kansas returns to the fieldhouse for games against Big 12 north division opponents Colorado (Feb. 1) and Iowa State (Feb. 4) before traveling to Norman to play Oldahoma (Feb. 8) and Columbia to play Missouri (Feb. 11). Kansas then plays at home against Nebraska (Feb. 15) before going to Ames to take on Iowa State (Feb. 18) and Lubbock to play Texas Tech (Feb. 22). The 'Hawks return home to face their biggest rivals to finish off the regular season. Kansas faces Missouri (Feb. 25) and Kansas State (Mar. 2) to close the regular season before the Big 12 tournament begins.
Kansas opens Big 12 play with Texas (Jan. 3) at home. The 'Hawks then travel to Nebraska (Jan. 7) and Colorado (Jan. 10) before heading home to take on Big 12 south foes Texas A&M (Jan. 15) and Oklahoma State (Jan. 22). Kansas then heads to in-state rival Kansas State (Jan. 25) before going to Waco, Texas, to play defending national champion Baylor ( Jan. 28).
11/06/05 Pittsburg State (Exh.) Lawrence 1 p.m.
11/20/05 Binghamton Lawrence Noon
11/27/05 Northeastern Lawrence 1 p.m.
12/03/05 New Orleans Lawrence 1 p.m.
12/11/05 Wisconsin Lawrence 1 p.m.
12/21/05 Creighton Lawrence 7 p.m.
12/30/05 La Salle Lawrence 7 p.m.
01/07/06 Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 7 p.m.
01/15/06 Texas A&M Lawrence 1 p.m.
01/25/06 Kansas State Manhattan 7 p.m.
02/01/06 Colorado Lawrence 7 p.m.
02/08/06 Oklahoma Norman, Okla. 7 p.m.
02/15/06 Nebraska Lawrence 7 p.m.
02/22/06 TexasTech Lubbock, Texas 7 p.m.
03/02/06 Kansas State Lawrence 7 p.m.
son said. "It's important for us right now to learn how to win, be successful, gain some momentum in the program and we certainly think believing, having the opportunity to play in Allen Fieldhouse as much as we can will enhance our chances."
The Big 12 tournament will be held March 7,8,9 and 11 at Reunion Arena in Dallas.
- Edited by Patrick Ross
WORDJUMBLE What extraordinary event occurs when the team scores big?
GIB ULEB DONMAY
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