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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY APRIL 7.2005
BASEBALL
SPORTS
Former pitcher leaves majors joins minor league same day
HOUSTON — Rick Ankiel signed a minor league contract yesterday with the St. Louis Cardinals and will work on his conversion from a pitcher to an outfielder.
Removed from the major league roster Monday, Ankiel cleared unconditional release waivers yesterday, then re-signed later in the day. The Cardinals plan to send him to their Double-A farm team in Springfield, Mo.
Ankiel will spend a few more days at the Cardinals' spring training camp in Jupiter, Fla., then plans to join the Double-A club.
The Associated Press
He decided last month to end his pitching career but the Cardinals persuaded him to play in the outfield.
All-American
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6B
jersey. They agreed it would be best to wait a few years so he could fully appreciate the celebration with his family.
Looking forward
College career now finished, Simien now looks to the future. He works out everyday at 7:30 in the morning, preparing for the NBA Draft. He has signed Lee Steinberg as his agent.
Bid Dub said he was confident that he would be a first-round selection, but understood that he needed to work on his perimeter game to excel at the next level.
"From what I've been told I'll go anywhere from as high as the fifth pick to no lower than 20th," he said. "I'll know more about it once I get to some draft camps and let some NBA teams fall in love with my game and personality."
Simien is not a fan of any NBA team and said he didn't care who drafted him as long as he was wearing a iersev next year.
Though he is excited about becoming a professional basketball player,he said he would miss the college game.
"I'm going to miss it a lot," Simien said. "I've talked to my former teammates and they all tell me the biggest difference is that the NBA really is a business venue."
Preacher wayne
As a first-round draft pick, Simien will earn millions, but he doesn't plan on retiring once he makes his money.
Anyone who listened to his senior speech knows that he also dreams of becoming a minister.
A part of him wanted to join a church right now, but he said God gave him basketball abilities to show the world first. He also indicated that he didn't need a title with a church to minister and plans to preach to his future teammates.
"Someday I would like to have my own church," he said. "That would be great. But for now, I plan on preaching in the NBA locker room, to schools and fans. Wherever I get the chance to spread the word, I will."
Done
- Edited by Megan Claus
stretched to a 14-0 start.
The Jayhawks trailed most of its seventh game against a lightning-fast South Carolina team, but came back to win 65-60.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6B
The first seven games saw significant production from the KU freshmen. Russell Robinson, freshman guard, averaged almost 15 minutes and more than seven points per game. Freshman forward Darnell Jackson averaged 10 minutes and six points per game and C.J. Giles averaged eight minutes and almost four points. Each freshman forward — Alex Galindo, Giles, Jackson and Sasha Kaun — was competing not only for minutes, but also to potentially take the starting position occupied by walk-on junior Christian Moody.
Kansas coach Bill Self said, at that point, he just wanted to hold the team together. The Jayhawks outdid his expectations with an overtime victory against Georgia Tech on New Year's Day, their first Big 12 victory against Texas A&M and a tough road victory against Kentucky.
The freshmen's development time was cut short. They were thrust into the spotlight after All-American senior forward Wayne Simien tolge ligaments in his left thumb during the Dec. 18 victory against South Carolina that resulted in surgery and four missed games.
Kansas then had to face a tough three-game span against No. 9 Georgia Tech, a conference opener against Texas A&M and at No. 8 Kentucky without Simien.
In the Jayhawks' 65-60 victory against the Aggies, freshman forward Alex Galindo hit the game-winning shot with 40 seconds left in the game
Their first road test was against the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena. Giles started the game in place of Simien and scored eight of the Jayhawks' first 15 points. Senior guard Aaron Miles said the freshman players were the key to winning the game.
After the game, Self was ecstatic. Not only had his team improved to 11-0, but they won their first road game.
"That is the best we have played all season, practice included," Self said after the game.
Self said the victories against Georgia Tech and at Kentucky were the high points of the season.
"If you go 10-1 in the nonconference with Wayne out and you beat Georgia Tech and Kentucky, you had a great nonconference," he said.
Conference Season
Kansas narrowly defeated Iowa State on the road 71-66.
The Jayhawks struggled to match the intensity they had against Kentucky.
Then, on Jan. 19., KU players said they got lucky when guard Corey Simms missed a three-point at the buzzer that would have given Nebraska a one-point victory.
In Simien's return on Jan. 12,
"I could tell during the shootaround that we didn't have much bounce in our step," he said
After the game, Self said he knew that the lavwhaws weren't focused.
The lack of intensity carried over to the next game, a Jan. 22 match-up against Villanova in Philadelphia. Kansas' embarrassing 83-62 loss was its first of the season and its only nonconference loss. The Wildcats exposed the Jayhawks' lack of focus, their lackluster interior defense and their inability to get out to a good start early in the game.
Self said the Villanova loss had been coming.
Before the Villanova game, the Jayhawks had been winning despite not playing to their potential. They had won six of their last eight games by an average of 6.3 points, compared to their 26-point average margin of victory in the first six games.
"We put a lot of Band-Aids on our deficiencies," Self said. "Individual defensive deficiencies were camouflaged with good team defense. Our rebounding problems were camouflaged with getting a good rebound at an opportunistic time. We haven't done any of these things well, but we've been able to win games, and Villanova exposed all of them."
Bad weather forced the Jayhawks to stay an extra night in Philadelphia, which gave them time to meet as a team. The players said they did a great deal of soul searching. Sitting in their hotel rooms, they talked about how to get back to where they had been during the Kentucky game.
Kansas regrouped with easy victories against Baylor and Texas before facing Missouri on Jan. 31 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas showed its first-half struggles once again, trailing 36-28 at halftime. But like they had done all season, the Jayhawks rebounded in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 45-25 in the last 20 minutes. The Jayhawks' starting five players scored all but two of the team's points as the team improved to 17-1 and 7-0 in the Big 12.
During victories against Nebraska, Kansas State and Colorado, several freshmen faded to obscurity.
Robinson played only 14 total minutes in the six games following the Villanova game. Giles, who injured his right foot in the Kentucky game, reaggravated the injury during the first Colorado game and was sidelined for six games. Jackson played sparingly.
Kaun emerged as the front-runner in the freshman battle. Kaun's 6-foot11, 235-pound frame was an inside force and absorbing the plays quickly in practice made him less of a liability on the court. During a six-game stretch, he averaged almost seven points per game.
Season-ending woes
One traveling call on Miles and a last-second three-point shot by Texas Tech sophomore forward Darryl Dora changed the direction of the jayhawks' season.
Going into the Feb. 15 match-up with Texas Tech, Kansas was 20-1 and undefeated in the Big 12 Conference.
The double overtime 80-79 loss in Lubbock, Texas, was a heartbreaker for the Jayhawks. Langford continued his game-tying antics when he forced the first overtime. Moody took it to double overtime with a tip-in with one second left in the first overtime.
With Kansas leading by two points in the second overtime and seven seconds left in the game, Miles appeared to have the game-winning rebound secured. Instead, he was called for traveling, giving the Red Raiders the ball and one last shot at the victory. Dora capitalized and the Jayhawks lost their first Big 12 game of the year.
After the game, Self said he was proud of the way the team played. He said the players fought hard and regained some of the intensity they had lost in the previous games.
The Jayhawks had four days off before their next match-up against Iowa State in Lawrence. The Jayhawks lost their second straight game in overtime, 63-61. Self said his team was unprepared and not alert. The Jayhawks also played without Moody, who developed a staph infection on his knee from a floor burn in the Texas Tech game.
Kansas had no answer for Iowa State's match-up zone and Iowa State guard Curtis Stinson, who scored a game-high 29 points. The Jayhawks were also out-rebounded and had a season-high 18 turnovers.
"That was our worst performance of the season," Langford said. "Combine that with the fact that they were tough, and that is how you lose."
Just two days later, the Jayhawks lost their third straight game when they traveled to Norman, Okla., to face the Sooners. The Jayhawks were down by as many as 19 points and rallied in the second half to close the margin to one. But for the third straight game, Kansas fell short. 71-61.
After the game, Self challenged his seniors to re-evaluate their goals for their final season in a Kansas uniform.
"I don't think it's 'the guys.' My personal opinion, I think it's the seniors." Self said after the game. "Our
team, like every team, is only as good as the seniors. When a team is playing well, usually the seniors deserve most of the credit. When teams are not playing well, seniors have to shoulder the responsibility with the coach."
The most magnified game of the season to that point was the Feb. 27 match-up against Oklahoma State. Not only was the game nationally televised, but at least a share of the Big 12 title was on the line.
Simien responded to Self's challenge, scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing 16 rebounds in the Jayhawks' 81-79 victory.
Kansas split its final two games, prevailing against Kansas State on senior night, but suffering a 72-68 loss to Missouri. More importantly, Kansas lost Keith Langford, its second leading scorer, to a foot injury three minutes into the Missouri game.
Kansas finished its regular-season schedule 2-4 and surrendered a three-game conference lead to end up tied with Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship and headed into the Big 12 Tournament without Langford.
It ended too soon
The Jayhawks pounded the K-State Wildcats, 80-67, in their first Big 12 Tournament game.
Kansas played without Langford, who acquired a severe case of stomach flu and had to be hospitalized, for the second straight game.
A rematch with Oklahoma State awaited the Jayhawks in their second game. A second victory against the Cowboys would have put the Jayhawks in good position a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But the Cowboys got their revenge, winning 78-75. Langford sat on the bench, but did not suit up.
Two days later, on Selection Sunday, the Jayhawks gathered in Lew Perkins' suite in Memorial Stadium to eat barbecue and wait for their seeding. After receiving a No. 3-seed in the Syracuse regional, Self said he wasn't surprised considering the team finished the season losing three out of its last five games.
Kansas' first-round site in Oklahoma City was pleasing to the Jayhawks and the potential Sweet Sixteen match-up against Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels sparked conversation.
Kansas' first-round opponent, No. 14 Bucknell, appeared to pose a threat, but the Jayhawks didn't know just how threatening the Bucknell Bison would be.
Bucknell 64, Kansas 63
"This was a really, really good season with a really, really bad ending," Self said.
Edited by Ross Fitch
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