BASEBALL
Kansas falls to Kentucky, ends season
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The Kansas baseball team fell to Kentucky 8-6 in the NCAA Regionals Sunday, ending the Jayhawks' season. The team finished the year with a record of 35-26.
The Jayhawks beat the Wildcats on Friday, following numerous rain delays, which set them up with a game against the regional host the Louisville Cardinals. Kansas fell to Louisville on Saturday, which set them up with a rematch with Kentucky on Sunday.
MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2014
The NCAA Regionals are double elimination, and each team came into the day with a 1-1 record. The winner would take on Louisville and the loser would go home.
— GJ Melia
The Wildcats jumped out quickly to a lead, which grew to 8-0 by the top of the sixth inning. The game looked all but over before junior outfielder Connor McKay hit an RBI single to start the scoring game for Kansas.
The Jayhawks were able to string a few runs together before the sixth inning ended, leaving the score at 8-5 heading into the seventh. Senior catcher Ka'iana Eldredge was able to hit a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-6, his first home run of the year.
Kansas was unable to do much of anything in the ninth inning, though, and the dramatic comeback fell two runs short. The team will return much of their lineup next year, but will lose key seniors including Eldredge, outfielder Tucker Tharp and right-handed pitcher Jordan Piché.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE BREW Newest recruit strengthens team
Kansas coach Bill Self and his coaching staff brought in another highly sought-after recruit to the 2014 class in Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk from Cherkasy, Ukraine. Mykhailiuk is the fourth signee for the incoming class, joining Cliff Alexander, Kelly Oubre and Devonte Graham, each of which are in the Rivals Top 40 Rankings for 2014.
Mykhailiuk is listed at 6-foot- 8-inches and can play guard or forward.
Most recently, Mykhailiuk shined in the 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, leading Ukraine with 25.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He was named to the all-tournament team. Mykhailiuk also played for the professional basketball.club Cherkaski Mavpy in the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague from 2012-2014.
Lawrence, and 2013 is considered by many to be the best he has ever had.
The commitment of Mykhailiuk only adds to Kansas' incredible ability to pick up some of the best recruits over the past few years. In particular, the coaching staff's last two recruiting classes have been the most talented in Self's 11 years in
But with three top 40 recruits coming in, and with a kid whose nickname is the "foreign phenom," that statement becomes debatable.
Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid are some of the best recruits to come through Lawrence, and are likely to be taken early in this year's NBA Draft. As far as individual talent, it can't get much better than those two. As a whole, however, this recruiting class holds more unified talent.
I'm not saying any of these incoming guys will be the first two picks off the NBA Draft Board when nextJune comes around; but the four recruits in this year's class have the capacity to fit into Self's system far better than
last year's class. The 2013-2014 Kansas basketball team was a type Self had never coached before. The team possessed so much talent, but was also much different than any team he had previously encountered.
First, a commonality with last year's team was that the team did not have a consistent point guard. Naadir Tharpe had moments of brilliance, but many of those instances were followed by costly mistakes. Devonte Graham brings a skillset to Lawrence that hasn't been seen in years. He is, as all scouting reports say, a game manager—a pass-first point guard who distributes more than he shoots.
Some of Self's best teams have had a workhorse in the paint—a strong, sturdy power forward that can score and rebound as well as play defense. Most notable players have included Thomas Robinson, Darnell Jackson and Markieff Morris. Both Robinson and Jackson were on Final Four teams. Cliff Alexander is a mirror image of these players, and can only get better.
Kelly Oubre is similar to a Brandon Rush. His strong suit comes on the
defensive end, but boy can he shoot. His offensive game is polished and has come a long way since he first signed his letter of intent.
That brings us to Mykhailiuk. With him, we don't know what to expect. He'll still be adjusting to American life when he first steps on the basketball court in October for a preseason game. He could be the most talented player in this class. He has the skillset and the talent to do big things in Lawrence.
Self said it best when describing Mykhailiuk as an "immediate impact guy" and that statement reaches further than just him. Every player in this class has the ability to contribute immediately.
Edited by Tom DeHart
COMMENTARY
Wiggins, Embiid hold bright NBA futures
See the full column on Kansan.com.
As the NBA draft approaches, former Kansas stars Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embid find themselves atop most experts' draft boards.
Wiggins is being considered the best
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athlete of this year's draft class while Embiid has been given the highest ceiling.
Coming to Kansas, Wiggins was the number one overall recruit. He didn't disappoint in his freshman season, breaking the Kansas freshman scoring record, averaging 17.1 points per game.
Wiggins is the type of player that can shine on the right NBA team. Kansas' offense runs as one fluid system, it is structured and there is not a lot of room for a player like Wiggins to operate and create his own shots. In a restricted system, the 6-foot-8-inch Canadian was still able to score
Joel Embiid entered Lawrence as the number-one ranked center in the country and the sixth best prospect overall. However, he had only been playing basketball for a few years and his skills were still very raw. He was a skinny seven-footer and no one really knew what to expect.
597 points his freshman year.
Embiid answered all the questions, averaging 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Embiid was an absolute force down low, anchoring Kansas to their 10th straight Big 12 title.
Between Wiggins and Embiid, the Jayhawks have a legitimate chance of having the first and second picks in the NBA draft, making them the first collegiate teammates to be drafted consecutively since Kentucky's Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in 2012.
The Cameroonian center is drawing interest from each one of the 30 NBA
For now, the Cleveland Cavaliers are on the clock, and Wiggins, Embiid and all of Jayhawk nation are awaiting their decision.
franchises, partly due to comparisons to NBA Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olaiuwon.
Edited by Emma LeGault
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