SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FANTASY PREVIEW
CHECK OUT KANSAN.COM
23
WWW.KANSA
NATION COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW CHECK OUT KANSAN.COM
WWW.KANSAN.COM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9,2007
CROSS COUNTRY
PAGE 1B
Team stars competing for berths in nationals Men, women racing for automatic bids
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
"I sure hope it is not my last race, but you do have to approach it with the possibility that it could be," Wissel said. "I think the main thing is that you have to run it smart. There are a lot of good runners out there, and you have a very specific goal, and that is to qualify for nationals."
This weekend will mark the biggest race of the year for the University of Kansas cross country team. The men's and women's teams will travel to Peoria, Ill., to take part in this year's Midwest Regional Championships. The men will look to build off last year's success in which they finished second, and the women will try to improve on their 12th place finish. With tensions rising for each team, the men's superstar All-American Colby Wissel is unfazed.
This will be the last chance for the teams to qualify for nationals this year. The system is similar to the men's college basketball bracket because 31 teams will receive
BASKETBALL
berths from their respective regional. The top two finishing teams from each of the nine regions automatically qualify for nationals. The remaining 13 at-large bids are awarded based on performance throughout the year. Additionally, four
Wissel
invitations for each region are extended to the top four individual competitors whose teams did not advance. With these expectations weighing heavily, the pressure is heaviest on those in the senior classes. There is a lot of excitement building for a race of this magnitude, and senior Paul Hefferon understands the task before him.
"If anything, I have to settle myself down." Hefferon said. "I was putting my stuff together this morning, and I took my Kansas jersey out. I was thinking how if I don't run well this weekend, it is my last race in a Kansas jersey, and I don't want it to be my last one."
With such a big race this weekend, the
teams have actually done less than in weeks past. With such demanding training throughout the year, coach Stanley Redwine has prepared the teams for success.
"During this time of year we always have a saying," Wissel said. "When in doubt, do less."
Hefferon
We have cut back on our miles, and we are very prepared for this meet."
Edited by Jeff Briscoe
Although less may be more, the two teams still expect to compete on the highest level. Although the motto encourages taking it easy, coach Redwine understands the stakes.
"Of course there are expectations because this is the Midwest Regional." Redwine said. "This could be the last chance to run this year, so I think the kids understand that and are ready to run."
Four individual runners from teams that did not qualify will be selected from each region.
>> Thirteen at-large bids will be announced Monday, Nov. 12.
The two teams look to continue their quest to nationals at Bradley University on Saturday. The gun for the men sounds at 11 a.m., with the women following shortly after at 12:15 p.m.
>>> Thirty-one automatic births are for teams who finish in the top two of their region. There are nine regions.
qualifying for nationals
Narrowing the options
Guard Brandon Rush considered UMKC, but chose KU and coach Self over friends
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
Rich Zvosee never saw this coming.
Zvosec, a former UMKC basketball coach, walked into the locker room of the UMKC practice center one day in the summer of 2005 to find the lights turned off. Someone had dozed off on the locker room couch.
The Brandon he spoke of was Brandon Rush, now a Jayhawk junior guard, spent several summer days training with UMKC before he made his decision to come to Kansas. Rumors swirled for weeks that Rush was considering signing with his hometown team, which plays the layhawks on Sunday. Rush said it was never a serious option, but for one summer he gave people reason to think hed be a Kangaroo.
"I thought it was one of my guys." Zvosec said, "but it was Brandon."
CITY BUZZ
During his senior year of high school, the thought of Rush playing for UMKC was laughable. Recruiting experts and Kansas City basketball junkies knew Rush had one thought on his mind while he played at Mt. Zion Christian Academy; the NBA
That all changed on June 22, 2005. Rush.
who had declared to the NBA Draft a month earlier, withdrew when it was apparent that he wouldn't be a first-round pick.
Rumors started flying.
One had Rush going to a prep school for a year before trying the NBA again. One had him going to Illinois or Indiana, the schools he listed as favorites during his senior year. UMKC wasn't on the radar yet.
Then Rush showed up on the UMKC campus.
"My best friend was over there who plays for them right now," Rush said. "I was there working out."
His best friend is Tim Blackwell, a senior guard for the Karangaroos. The two met in seventh grade while playing for KC Rocktown, an AAU team. Rush said he played with Blackwell and the rest of team about five or six times that summer.
"Look at what he's done in the Big 12. Just imagine what he would have done in our conference."
While Rush hung out with him on campus, Blackwell mentioned to Rush the idea of playing in the same college backcourt.
"I took the avenue of we played together a lot during AAU" Blackwell said. "I told him it would be fun to play together in college."
TIM BLACKWELL UMKC senior guard
If Rush wasn't serious about the Kangaroos, the media didn't give that impression. The Kansas City Star reported multiple Rush sightings on the UMKC campus, including when Rush and his brothers JaRon and Kareem were all there. Blackwell said he got phone calls for interviews every day. A radio station once invited him to the 810 Sports Zone where Blackwell answered questions about Rush on-air.
Rush's presence at UMKC was enough to make Kansas City basketball fans wonder about the possibilities. Here was Rush, a top-20 recruit, working out with UMKC, a school whose basketball team was best known for producing Tony Dumas. Dumas played in the NBA for a grand total of four years and averaged about seven points per game.
"The buzz around the city just when it was a rumor about him coming was huge," he said. "It was crazy."
KANSAS CITY DREAMING
Kangaroo seasons have been filled with NCAA Tournament pipe dreams that have never been answered since it became Division I almost 20 years ago. Rush could have changed that.
During the 2004-2005 season, Blackwell and Quinton Day became eligible after transferring from other schools, and the Kangaroo started to click late in the year. Day
If Rush came, UMKC basketball could have reached the big time. Think about it. Two popular Kansas City players in Blackwell and Day would join Rush, the youngest member of Kansas City's most famous basketball family. The players would have likely drawn near-capacity crowds and
and Blackwell led UMKC to 11 straight victories. Kansas City loved it. Record crowds of 6,000 people came to Municipal Auditorium to watch two Kansas City boys give life to a program that had rarely shown signs of breathing.
When the Jayhawks play the Kangaroos on Sunday, Rush will be sitting
on the bench because of an ACL injury. His best friend Blackwell is also injured and won't play. The Jayhawks are also Final Four contenders, and the Kangaroos are probably headed for another losing season.
As for Zvosce, he'll have to watch the game on TV if he wants to. He was fired last year after a 12-20 season. Zvosce is out of coaching right now and is getting ready to start doing commentary for the Big 10 Network.
Edited by Jeff Briscoe
He would have liked to have seen Rush become a Kangaroo and see where he could have taken the program, but Zvosec always knew landing Rush was more of a dream than a reality.
"It would've put us over the top, and I would probably still be the coach there," Zvosec said jokingly. "But I have to be honest. I'm glad Brandon's done so well. He's handled all the attention well. I've seen him work out, and I think he'll have a great junior year."
Photo Illustration by Brenna Hawley
Well, no. The two teams pray in the same conference, but the similarities end there. The Kangaroos are coming off a 12-20 season in which their coach was fired.
UMKC & Oral Roberts?
New coach Matt Brown inherited a team that lost its top two scorers to graduation and a talented freshman to transfer. Oh yeah, Tim Blackwell, the team's best returning player, is out Sunday because of injury. He knows UMKC has an uphill battle this season.
Does UMKC have a little Oral Roberts in it?
"It's obviously going to present a huge challenge for us," Blackwell said. "We have some young guys without much college experience. It's going to be a challenge."
FOOTBALL
Gentle giant Collins is leader, life of offense
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
Everything about Anthony Collins is big: His arms are freakishly large and strong enough to stop an oncoming defensive end dead in his tracks. His legs are even bigger: They wouldn't look out of place among California's redwoods. Bigger still is his 100-watt smile.
But the most powerful weapon in Collins' arsenal could be his personality. The junior is cordial but not hesitant to voice his opinion — making him the de facto leader of the Kansas offense, a role he relishes.
Right tackle Anthony Collins celebrates with his teammates at a Kansas football game. Collins said he liked to maintain a lighthearted spirit with the team but was not afraid to correct them when a play went wrong.
"All of our coaches' job is to get on us and make us be better." Collins said. "So when we get away from them I try to keep everyone loose. I try to crack jokes."
How else does Collins keep his teammates loose? For one, he keeps them on the lookout, leaping into their arms after most Jayhawk touchdowns. That wouldn't be a problem, but Collins happens to outweigh sophomore running back Jake Sharp by 120 pounds and sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing by 110. Collins' celebratory leaps might seem a bit dangerous, but no one has been injured so far.
"I'm just so excited and happy that we're scoring and everybody's having fun because when we're losing, it's no fun," Collins said. "When we're happy and we're scoring that means we’re winning and it’s more fun. I'm
just enjoying myself — I hope I don't hurt nobody though.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
"My mama and my daddy and everybody says, 'Stop hitting people's kids, and please don't hurt them.' I told them I'd stop, but I haven't yet stopped."
But Collins does not rely solely on fun and games to motivate his teammates. On several occasions this season, Collins has chastised receivers in mid-game for dropping passes. Oddly enough, Kansas receivers dropped just one pass last week against Nebraska. There must be something persuasive about Collins' 6-foot-5, 310-pound frame.
"They only have one way to respond, and that's come back the next play and do something better," Collins said. "If they drop a pass or anybody does something wrong, I'm going to be on them. I feel like everything is run through the O-line, and I'm the leader of the O-line, so if something goes wrong I'm going to get on them."
The junior's mouth is a source of entertainment and inspiration for his teammates, but his body has not hurt Kansas' cause, either. Collins moved to left tackle from right tackle before this season because of his pass-blocking ability and has made a seamless transition. With Collins fending off all pass-rushers, Reesing's blind side is more than adequately protected. His size, speed and track record have many asking a reasonable question: How long before Anthony Collins the Jayhawk becomes Anthony Collins the NFL player?
Collins, who said earlier this year that he wanted to play in the NFL because "Mama's gotta eat," said Wednesday that he still planned on making the jump to the professional ranks, but not as early as many expected.
"She isn't eating yet, but she's going to eat pretty soon, I hope," Collins said. "Next year she'll eat. But don't take that nowhere — I see your eyes light up. She'll eat next year,
after my senior year."
After all, there still plenty left for Collins to accomplish at Kansas.
"I hear a lot of people say this is a dream come true, but it isn't because we work hard every morning just like everybody else," Collins said. "Everything's just connecting — we've got a good coach, good staff, good quarterback. Everybody's just connecting as one, and we're winning more games."
Edited by Amelia Freidline
4