Volume 124 Issue 113
kansan.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Kansas team to p' esteemed Duke, etc., Tournamet
LOVE
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Celeb Dish: JAYMIE STOKES // ALIZA CHUDNOW
In the spring of 2011, Jaymie Stokes, a junior, took the semester off from KU to prepare for the 2011 Miss USA pageant where she competed as Miss Kansas. Jaymie traveled to Las Vegas for three weeks that summer and made appearances with the other Miss USA contestants, and on June 19, 2011, Jaymie competed in the pageant. She did not place among the top contestants, but still had a wonderful time and met some amazing people. Now back at KU studying journalism, Jaymie has great stories and memories to share from her time representing the sunflower state as Miss Kansas USA.
WHAT WAS A DAY IN THE LIFE LIKE TO BE MISS KANSAS?
When I was Miss Kansas USA, my life was pretty hectic. On an average day I would get up, go to the gym for two hours, come back and get hair and makeup ready for an appearance at an elementary school, and then at night I would watch the news for about two hours to stay up to date on current events. Some days I would have meetings with my pageant directors and I would practice interview questions, work on walking on stage and design my evening gown and my other wardrobe for Miss USA.
WHO WAS THE MOST ATTRACTIVE CELEBRITY YOU MET WHEN YOU WERE PARTICIPATING IN MISS KANSAS?
I look for someone who can make me laugh. I think in a relationship it's important to joke around and be yourself around them. I search for someone I can feel comfortable around. While being Miss Kansas USA I had to be dressed up with hair, makeup, heels and dresses but I think it is important to find someone who you feel comfortable wearing sweatpants and no makeup around.
I was given the opportunity to meet Donald Trump in New York City. He may not be the most attractive celebrity, but he sure was a flirt! Everyone always asks me what his hair looked like up close and I must say it was not as bad as it looks on TV. Mr. Trump was a very pleasant man and was not as harsh as I thought he was going to be. The first thing he said to me after he shook my hand was "Wow, you are tall!" (I am 5'11").
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DATE SPOT IN LAWRENCE?
Whether it's going out to dinner, going shopping, or just going on a walk I think Mass. Street is such a fun place to have a date. There are so many options there and the walk is beautiful.
WHAT CHARACTERISTICS DO YOU SEARCH FOR IN GUYS?
DID YOU GET MORE ATTENTION FROM GUYS WHEN THEY FOUND OUT YOU WERE MISS KANSAS?
I did notice a bit more attention from guys when they found out I was Miss Kansas USA, but it didn't matter to me. My boyfriend, Tyler (a KU junior), and I have been dating for almost two years and we started dating before I even won the title. I don't want a guy that only wants to talk to me because I was Miss Kansas USA and I feel lucky to have found Tyler before this whole experience.
because they are more motivated and ravenous when they play teams that BCS schools.
It's hard for a big name program like Kansas to get motivated to play against a mid-major team even if it's for a trip to the Final Four, as fans saw last season. Not to discredit VCU's performance against Kansas, but Kansas played its worst game of the season, shooting 35.5 percent from the court, 9.5 percent from behind the arc and a paltry 53.6 percent from the free-throw line. Statistically, Kansas was awful, but the team's effort and energy was just as bad. The Jayhawks were simply flat and lethargic. They simply overlooked and undermined Cinderella.
The Jayhawks have what it takes to go all the way, but they also did last year. Cinderella is waiting, and Jayhawk Nation hopes that her slipper won't fit this time around.
If Kansas played against a BCS school instead of a mid-major in last year's Elite Eight game, I firmly believe that they would have played much better and advanced to the Final Four.
on Kansas City and the big 12 tournament.
— Edited by Tanvi Nimkar
"Going into the season, a lot of people didn't have faith in us because we lost so much last year," junior guard Travis Releford said Monday afternoon. "But if you think about it, all the guys that are playing, we've been here a while. We know what coach wants and we know how to run the system."
The Jayhawks earned the tournament's top seed for the ninth time in its 16-year existence and are looking to capture their 13th Big 12 tournament championship.
A head-scratching loss to Davidson in December made Bill Self question just how good his team was, but a 16-2 league record and eighth consecutive conference regular season championship re-assorted Kansas as the cream of the crop in the Big 12.
Teleford said the team has had something to prove since the beginning of the season because of doubting fans.
"I haven't been defending how I was at the start of the season and I feel that going into post-season that I can step it up a lot more," Releford said. "He knows that I can be that guy that can step up and stop someone on the opponent's team."
The team is 19-2 since that loss to Davidson but Self thinks the team still has room for improvement heading into postseason play.
He's stressed the importance of finding a "defensive stopper" on numerous occasions and admitted his words were a message to a few players.
But the month of March brings more than just on-court adjustments.
Self said great defense was all about a person's mindset, not something a team can just decide to practice one week and magically get better at. He thinks Releford, junior guard Elijah Johnson and senior guard Tyshawn Taylor can all improve defensively.
"I think distractions have
FOLLOW THE JAYHAWKS IN THE TOURNAMENT
things I probably won't use about more than anything else"
"It would be great," Self said. "Because that means we won two games."
In the short term, the biggest distraction might be the talks of a possible meeting between Kansas and Missouri in the tournament championship Saturday night.
Edited by Katie James
Use our bracket to keep track of wins and losses
PAGE 10
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior guard Travis Releford drives into the lane during the second half of a game against Missouri earlier this season. The Jayhawks could face the Tigers again in the Big 12 Tournaments.