SPORTS BATTLE OF THE BIRDS PAGE 6B STEELERS SINK DOLPHINS 3-0 PAGE 6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27, 2007
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HOMEGROWN
Self stays close to home when recruiting, fills roster with seven skilled area natives
mdent@kansan.com
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
Sometimes during pickup games at practice, Matt Kleinmann can't contain his excitement when he looks at the other four guys on his team: Tyrre Reed, Conner Teahan, Brady Morningstar and Brennan Bechard.
All of them are from Kansas.
"We'll be like, 'It's the natives versus the out-of-towners,'" Kleimann said.
And the natives are taking over. This year's team has seven players who are either from Kansas or the Kansas City metropolitan area. Junior guard Brandon Rush hails from Kansas City, Mo., while six native Kansans stretch across the eastern part of the state from as far north as Leawood (Conner Teahan) to as far south as Humboldt (Brad Witherspoon).
almost entirely to the out-of-towners. Former Kansas coach Roy Williams' best teams were overrun with Californians. Nineteen players came from the Golden State while Williams was here, from blue chips such as Adonis Jordan, Paul Pierce and Drew Gooden to walkons such as Joel Branstrom. Before Williams, just six Californians had played for Kansas, and only one has since he left in 2003.
For whatever reason, Williams didn't mine the local talent. Only two local plays on the 1991 Final Four team, and the 1993 Final Four team had only three. That's the same number of local players that the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 teams had. Those teams are generally regarded as the two best in the Williams era.
A few years ago, Kansas basketball belonged
It's not like Kansas or the Kansas City area was devoid of talent during this time. Matt Freije, JaRon Rush, Kareem Rush, Maurice Evans, Earl Watson, Taronn Lue
and Korleone Young are just a few highly touted players whom Kansas didn't recruit or lost to other schools in the 1990s and early 2000s.
More local players arrived toward the end of Williams' stay at Kansas. Five of them played for the Jayhawks in the 2001-2002 season, the most from 1990 until this year. Kansas coach Bill Self said he had recruited several local players because they could all play good basketball.
"I don't look at it that way, that we have to get an in-state guy," Self said. "I look at it as we have to get the best guys. And if you have a player in state that's one of the best guys, you have to get him."
freshman guards, played on the same AU team as Kansas City area native and future Jayhawk guard Travis Leeford. Teahan said that relationship probably helped Kansas sign Releford for next season.
Of course, an abundance of local talent on the team isn't a bad thing. One local player can influence several more local players to come. Teahan and Reed, both
"I think it would because he played with Tyrel and me so I could see him making a decision because he feels more comfortable around us," Teahan said. "It's good to have those connections."
The local players also benefit by playing for their area college. If they ever get homesick or want to go home for a holiday, family is a short car ride away. Witherspoon lives the farst away of any of the locals, and his hometown of Humboldt is less than two hours from Lawrence. The short distance also means that players' families can watch their loved one play. Former Jayhawk and Leavenworth-native Wayne Simien's parents came to nearly
Simien had been a fan of Kansas basketball all his life. Except for Rush, who said he only started following KU basketball when Self became coach, all the local players have been watching the Jayhawks since they were younger and playing for Kansas is the ultimate benefit. They adored Kansas basketball players when they were younger and wanted to be like them. Getting the opportunity to play for Kansas and carry on the tradition means something extra to the seven local players on the team.
every home game and most road games.
"That's the reason I chose KU," Teahan said. "Just because I love the tradition. I love everything around it. I was in awe every time I came to the games so I made my decision to come here pretty much strictly from being around here and seeing how special KU basketball is."
Edited by Elizabeth Cattell
the best local players
Danny Manning, Lawrence,
1985-1988 — Manning led an
average team to a national
championship. He is not only the best
local player, but the best player not
named Wilt Chamberlain in Kansas
history.
B.H. Born, Medicine Lodge,
1951-1954 — Born finished third in career points after he finished his career and was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1952 NCAA Tournament. Kansas won the national championship that year.
Wayne Simien, Leavenworth,
2001-2005 — Kansas coach Bill Self
called Simien the best player he's ever coached. Unfortunately, his career was marred by injuries.
Darnell Valentine, Wichita,
1978-81 - Valentine was named to
the All-time Big Eight second team.
He finished his Kansas career as
the all-time leader in games, starts,
minutes, assists and steals.
HONORABLE MENTION
Brandon Rush, Kansas City, Mo., 2005-present — Rush needs to lead the Jayhawks to a national championship if he wants to be remembered as fondly as some of the other players on this list.
Dean Smith, Topeka, 1951-1953 and Adolph Rupp, Halstead, 1920-1923 — Well, they weren't great players, but they ended up pretty good at coaching.
Bob Billings, Russell, 1957-1959
A street is named after him. Not too many people can claim that.
Forest "Phop" Allen, Independence, Mo., 1905-1907 — He was James Naismith's star pupil on the court as a player and star learner off of it as a coach.
the ones who got away
Some of these players just didn't want to play for Kansas. Others didn't get recruited. For whatever reason, here are a few of the best local players Kansas missed out on.
Lucius Allen, Kansas City, Kan.—Alen spurned his home state for John Wooden's UCLA Bruins in the 1960s. After college, he was drafted No. 3 overall and played in the NBA for 10 seasons.
Maurice Evans, Wichita — Evans was heavily recruited by Kansas but chose Wichita State in 1997. He was supposed to bring the Shockers back to prominence but transferred after two seasons
Earl Watson, Kansas City, Kan.—Roy Williams major target for point guard in 1997 was Baron Davis, a stud point guard from California. He was lukewarm about recruiting Watson, and Watson committed to UCLA while Williams waited for Davis' decision. In the end, Davis picked UCLA too. Watson started every game for his four years as a Bruin and now plays in the NBA for the Seattle Supersonics.
to Texas. After not getting drafted, Evans is playing in his fourth NBA season and was recently traded to the Orlando Magic.
Tyronn Lue, Raytown, Mo.—Lue
won the grades or test scores
necessary for a Division I program so
most big-time programs backed off. Nebraska was the only one that stuck around and picked up Lue, who played for three seasons before entering the NBA Draft. Lue's biggest claim to fame throughout his nine-year NBA career was guarding Allen Iverson for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals.
Matt Freiele, Overland Park—Williams heavily recruited Wayne Simien out of Leavenworth High School in 2001, but he forgot about Matt Freiele, Simiens conference rival from Shawnee Mission West the year before. Freiele went on to Vanderbilt where he led the Commodores to a sweet 16 appearance. He played in 19 games with the Atlanta Hawks last year.
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