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Volume 128 Issue 71
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
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COMMENTARY
Beaty eyes Texas as base for recruiting
Matt Corte
@Corte UDK
Not one that features a James Bond like car chase or Jason Bourne taking down a whole agency. This mission trumps those fictional stories and then some.
Kansas football head coach David Beaty is on a mission right
now.
Rebuilding the Kansas football program is a tall task, but luckily the Jayhawks have a coach who is crazy enough to believe he can.
From Beaty's first day on December 5th to now, the former Texas A&M wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator has blazed a trail in recruiting. Just under two months into his tenure, Beaty has already signed 17 players to national letters of intent.
What does this impressive number of recruits mean? Not a whole bunch, at least for now. Former coach Charlie Weis was doing much of the same, but what's different in Beaty's case is where the majority of players are coming from.
texas has been known to produce some of the best football players in the nation, and with Beaty's footprint all over that state as well as his knack for recruiting, he's taking advantage.
Of the 17 recruits that Beaty has signed, 14 have come from the longhorn state alone.
While none have the prestige of a four- or five-star recruit, 12 of them have a grade of three stars according to ESPN, which could serve as a catalyst to acquire even better players in the future.
Oh and before you ask, yes they're all from Texas.
It is worth noting that because there are less JUCO players than high school players, it is easier to be ranked higher as a JUCO player. However, there's only three high school recruits coming to Kansas ranked in the top 100 of their positions, which means a healthy percentage of Jayhawk Freshman football players won't be quite ready to contribute on every down.
Where Beaty is taking advantage though isn't with prized high school players, but rather, he's signing highly valued JUCO players.
Of course all this recruiting hoopla may fall on deaf ears of countless Jayhawks fans, and I don't blame them for not caring. But after seeing only twelve wins in the past five years — Beaty's aggressive Texas recruiting is enough to give some football fans hope.
Committ D'Andre Banks and Jayson Rhodes are ranked as top ten JUCO offensive guards, while Ke'aun Kinner and Brandon Stewart are top ten JUCO players at the running back and cornerback positions, respectively.
For the JUCO commits, this translates into a host of them undoubtedly progressing their way near the top of depth charts next fall, making these players all the more important
Edited by Miranda Davis
Freshman guard Kelly Oubre Jr. dunks during the Iowa State game on Monday night. Oubre scored 16 points in the game, his highest since playing Oklahoma on Jan. 19. Kansas beat the Cyclones 89-76.
FIELDHOUSE MAGIC
Kansas defeats Iowa State 89-76
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
BEN FELDERSTEIN
@Ben_Felderstein
With junior forward Perry Ellis trailing behind, sophomore point guard Frank Mason III led Kansas' fast break up the floor with 8:40 to play in the first half. Mason turned around and found Ellis for the easy three on the fast break to bring Kansas within one point. The Jayhawks eventually came out on top of a hard fought conference matchup, 89-76.
The Jayhawks came out of the gate sluggish in the first half, failing to reach double-digits in the first 10 minutes. Iowa State hit consecutive three-pointers on its first two baskets.
As the Jayhawks were down seven with 9:20 to play in the first half, they received a boost from a familiar face. Entering the game shooting 62 percent from beyond the arc in Big 12 play, two three-pointers from sophomore guard Brannen Greene found Kansas right back in it.
"Brannen hit some big shots for us," coach Bill Self said. "There's been a lot of games where he has bailed us out when he have no momentum."
With seven minutes to go in the half, a Greene free throw put the Jayhawks on top for the first time since the opening possession. Freshman Kelly Oubre Jr. found his range from deep as well, connecting on consecutive three-pointers to give Kansas a five-point lead.
Iowa State guard Monte Morris came into the game leading the Big 12 in assists per game, but struggled in the half with three assists and two turnovers. Mason, his counterpart, recorded seven assists and only one turnover as Kansas took a 35-28 lead into the half.
Mason helped Kansas run the floor with ease against the Cyclones Monday night as the
Jayhawks outscored the Cyclones 14-12 on the fast break. Kansas' transition game was its downfall against Iowa State earlier this season in Ames when the Cyclones outscored the Jayhawks 21-10 on the fast break.
"We weren't as committed to running as we were in Ames," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They defended it well."
Sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr. led the Jayhawks, storming out of the locker room with eight of Kansas' first 12 points in the first five minutes of the half. Selden helped Kansas extend its lead to 15 with 15:24 left.
"My teammates found me in open spots," Selden said. "I remained confident. Before I hit the three, I knew it was going in."
The Cyclones began chipping away at the Jayhawks' lead behind the strength of forward Georges Niang. Niang finished the game with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field. While Kansas never lost the lead since taking it, it struggled with burying Iowa State for most of the night.
Selden continued to keep the Cyclones at bay, covering on two more three-pointers, extending Kansas' lead to 16 with 9:13 to play in the game. As time wound down, Iowa State's full-court pressure was giving Kansas trouble getting the ball across half-court.
When [selden] is playing well, they're tough to stop." Niang said. "When they shoot the way they did, they're hard to guard."
"Wayne is such a key," Self said. "His success makes us much harder to guard.
We were better tonight. They knew we had to take care of business tonight. That would have been three losses in a row"
Mason's stellar play continued to outperform Morris.
On top of his league-leading assist totals, Morris came into the contest leading the nation in assist to turnover ratio.
Mason extended his streak to 19 straight games with more than 10 points more than two assists, posting 12 points and eight assists
Monday. Morris recorded 12 points and five assists, but added four turnovers — two more than Mason.
"I thought [Mason] played a good floor game." Self said "He played a great game against Morris."
Behind Mason's eight assists
and a 20-point outing from Selden, Kansas extended its lead over Iowa State in the Big 12 to two games. Up next, the Jayhawks travel to Stillwater, Okla., Saturday to take on Oklahoma State.
Edited by Emma LeGault
Three-point shooting holds off Iowa State
BLAIR SHEADE
The Kansas bench celebrates a big play in the win against Iowa State on Monday night.
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
@realblairsheady
The Lajahwacks took a page out of the Cyclones playbook on Monday night.
Iowa State leads the Big 12 in three-pointers, averaging over 12 per game, but it was Kansas' three-point shooting that led the Jayhawks to an 89-76 win against its conference rival.
"I think one thing is that they're shooting a lot better than they have," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said. "When they're shooting the ball like that, it's hard to stop."
Kansas only hit 10 three-pointers in the contest, but it was the timing of each one that was crucial. When the Jayhawks were down, a three-pointer gave them momentum. When Iowa State was surging back, a Kansas three-pointer padded the lead.
As Iowa State was pacing ahead, up seven with 15 minutes left in the first half, the Kansas three-pointers started to fall.
"For us to make three more shots and the same attempts, that was big for us," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
In the past, Self has laud.
ed sophomore guard Brannen Greene for bailing out the team with a big shot. When Kansas was down seven in the first half, a Greene three-pointer seemed to kick start the team.
forward Perry Ellis hit his 12th three-pointer of the season, a career high for Ellis After the Ellis three-pointer, Kansas was down by only one. The crowd knew it was Kansas' time to take over, and that's exactly what happened.
The next possession, junior
Before the takeover, Iowa State junior forward Georges Niang extended the one-point lead to three when he scored his first of nine field goals. Niang scored a game-high 24 points.
Another Greene three-pointer ignited the takeover, his second and last three-pointer. With seven minutes left in the first half, Kansas held its first lead since the start of the game, but this time they didn't let it go.
"Greene is on a hot streak and he was really shooting it when he made those tough threes — it was tough to get going after that," Niang said.
The three-point frenzy didn't stop there. Freshman guard Kelly Oubre Jr. hit back-to-back three-pointers to close the half and give Kansas a 35-28 lead.
The second half was the same story but different characters.
The leader of the three-point parade in the second half was sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr., who hit five of his six three-point-attempts and scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half. Selden was one point shy of tying his season-high.
Selden was held to one point
"My teammates found me, that was the biggest thing," Selden said. "I remained confident and just knew that my next three-pointer was going to go in."
in the first half, but that didn't break his confidence. He said when he isn't shooting well early, the last thing he would think about was to pass up on open shots.
The Jayhawks started the second half on a 12-6 run, which was led by Selden and his three-point shooting. Selden's first three-point attempt was good, and he said after that made basket, he knew he was feeling it. After that first three-pointer, Selden went on to score the next eight points for the Jayhawks and gave Kansas a solid 49-34 lead.
Three-pointers were the key to the Monday night win, and it was a collective effort. The Jayhawks not only outshot the number one three-point shooting team in the Big 12, but also held Iowa State to a season-low seven three-pointers and for the Jayhawks that was just as important as making the threes.
Edited by Miranda Davis
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