SAN
2009
Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 14
LOSS KEEPS JAYHAWKS FROM NCAA TOURNEY
Iowa State defeated Kansas on Saturday. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 18B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009
KANSAS WINS 3-FOR-3 AGAINST NW WILDCATS
Rain delays final game of Jayhawks' sweep at home. BASEBALL18B
KANSAS 83,TEXAS 73
PAGE 1B
AGAINST ALLODDS
Young team wins Kansas' fifth-straight conference championship
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Excuse Big 12 Conference Commissioner Dan Beebe for not making Kansas' Big 12 regular season championship sound monumental.
The conference championship was Kansas' 52nd in its 111 years of basketball. But after losing its entire starting five and seven of its eight top players from last year's national championship team, this one was the most improbable of the bunch.
Even Kansas coach Bill Self, who stressed all year that expectations would not change because of a young roster, shared a secret about this season after the victory.
It's just that Kansas has now won five straight — and seven of the last eight — Big 12 titles. So it seems the situation Beebe was in Saturday had become inevitable — awarding Kansas with a conference crown.
But junior guard Sherron Collins
"I will tell you this: The other times I've been here, it would be a poor year if we didn't win the league," Self said. "This one, I wouldn't have thought that."
SEE MEN'S ON PAGE 6B
"I'm proud to present to you yet another Big 12 Conference championship trophy," Beebe said to the jayhawk coaches and players after Kansas beat Texas 83-73 to win the championship outright.
For full coverage of the men's basketball game against Texas, check out The Rewind on page 6B.
Weston White/KANSAN
Junior guard Sherron Collins hoists the championship trophy after the game Saturday. The team won its fifth consecutive regular season championship after defeating Tampa
Self calls seniors Brennan and Kleinmann his 'two favorites'
Max Falkenstein couldn't have said it any better. The legendary Jayhawk broadcaster stood near center court after Kansas' victory over Texas on Saturday and turned his attention to this year's two seniors.
"Every once in a while these guys get in a game," Falkenstein said. "And it's so much fun to watch the other guys on the bench when they do."
Of course, after 60 years of broadcasting Kansas basketball, Falkenstein sees things that many don't with the program. But this was something everyone could see. Matt Kleinmann and Brennan Bechard, two invited walk-onns who make up the Kansas class of 2009, will never be remembered for what they brought to the Kansas program on the court.
"I tried to get Max to roll off some of Sherron's accolades or stats as mine." Bechard joked. "I guess he wouldn't do that."
Instead, Kleinmann and Bechard will be remembered for the unbridled joy they brought to the game of basketball. For Kleinmann, it was the ear-to-ear grin that creased his face whenever his number was called. As the announcer called his name for one last time — this time as a starter, that grin was seen again.
It was fitting, though, that he was the second senior introduced in the starting lineup on Saturday. Bechard never did stay on the bench too long. At every break, every timeout, Bechard would be the first one up. Hed be at midcourt with high fives and words
SEE DWYER ON PAGE 7B
FOOTBALL
Mangino lays out his plans for spring
BY STEPHEN MONTEMAYOR
montemayor@kansan.com
Spring brings with it change. And despite entering 2009 under the leadership of a strong senior class, Kansas football's spring practices — beginning today — won't be bereft of alteration and experimentation.
Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Hatch, who started 12 games last year at right and left tackle, will move to his natural position at center while freshman Tarner Hawkinson opens practice at left tackle. Redshirt junior Angus Guigley,
On Friday, coach Mark Mangino laid out plans for how his staff will address holes left by graduating players in the heart of the offensive line and in all three linebacker positions.
Today: Practice starts
Tuesday: Kansas pro day
Wednesday: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.
March 27: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.
April 11: Spring game, 2 o.m.
Check the Through the Uprights blog for more on the start of spring practice.
second on the team in rushing last season, has permanently moved to linebacker.
Members of the KU football team square off during the 2008 spring game in Memorial Stadium.
The 6 foot-6, 266 pound Hawkinson came to Kansas as a tight end and moved to defensive end before
his third and current swap. Hawkinson's unfamiliarity with the position did not stifle Mangino's expectations.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
"He's very talented and could play a lot of positions for us," Mangino said. "We think that he has a chance to develop into one of the next great left tackles here."
Repetitions will be equally essential for Hatch as he adjusts to his old position for the first time in college.
"I've never played center here," Hatch said. "I played center in high school, so playing center here at this level is new to me. I just have to start over and learn the position."
Equally pressing this offseason is the void at linebacker, where James Holt, Joe Mortensen and Mike Rivera stand no more. Within the last three seasons, each graduating play
Mangino indicated a wide-open competition for the linebacker position and said this year's defense would run upwards of 80 percent of its plays with just two linebackers and an extra safety.
has been the top tackler and they have a combined 103 starts.
"We are playing less and less with three linebackers on the field because of the way the offenses have evolved in the Big 12," Mangino said.
Part of the spring agenda will be gradually removing senior wide receiver Kerry Meier from the quarterback depth chart and developing the team's other reserve quarterbacks.
Mangino said that he was not yet ready for Meier to exclusively practice at receiver but that was his
ideal scenario. At the outset, Meter will receive more snaps at backup quarterback but freshman Kale Pick will receive about a third of the reps and recently signed freshman Jordan Webb will also contend for the number two spot.
OTHER NOTABLES
Sophomore Isiah Barfield has
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moved from cornerback to wide receiver. The position lost five letter winners from 2008, including starter Dexton Fields.
Sophomore Drew Dudley, who played in all 13 games as backup linebacker and on special teams, has need to follow back.
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Edited by Liz Schubauer