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Volume 128 Issue 55
kansan.com
Thursday, December 4, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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COMMENTARY Height doesn't matter on the court
Alexander's woes opened the starting role to redshirt sophomore Landen Lucas, who's shooting 81 percent from the field since being placed in the spot. Lucas also gives Kansas' frontcourt slightly more length in the paint, as Lucas is 6-foot-10 compared to Alexander's 6-foot-8 frame. But Self believes height isn't the most important thing on the court. He says Kansas has enough height to win.
Coach Bill Self doesn't believe the starting lineups
"And it's true," Self said. "You go from seven foot and long to 6-6.5 and not long guarding you and you can play your butt off, but still there's a comfort level being able to score over that. Doesn't mean you're playing worse defense."
Edited by Kelsey Phillips
The right decision might be to stay with the slightly taller Lucas. Opposing players even agree. Self said he talked to Iowa State forward Georges Niang over the summer, and they discussed how Kansas won the first two games but couldn't win the third in the Big 12 tournament. Niang said it was easier to score on Kansas without Embiid.
starting lineups matter, and he's right. Some players are better off the bench. Take freshman forward Cliff Alexander for example. Alexander's fouling troubles have kept him from starting, Self said.
"We had (Jeff) Withey, and we had Joel (Embiid), but we won a National Championship and started 6-8, 6-8 guys." Self said. "You know, the twins (Marcus and Markieff Morris) were 6-7, 6-8 or 6-8, 6-9 maybe. But we've had teams this size before."
"It's always a nice luxury to have somebody back there to block shots and correct mistakes, but not every team has those," Self said. "Kentucky obviously has three or four of them."
University students Keaton Prather, Dakota Hamelund, Bryce Platt, Chris Sims and Alvaro Papa show their support of interim head coach Clint Bowen at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 8. Prather and Platt are part of a group of students who show up to each football game with painted chests.
"I don't know if you noticed this, but Cliff has a tendency sometimes to put his hands on others wearing a different jersey that would lead to a whistle," Self said. "And at least this way, if he gets two quick fouls, he's not going to get it at the 14 or 13-minute mark as opposed to getting it at the 18-minute mark."
Student fanatics support football team by painting chests for each game
When Self was asked about the possibility of Alexander starting, Self said he will start some point in the season. This will be a similar situation to Emibi, who wasn't a consistent starter until his start on Dec. 14 against New Mexico last year.
THROUGH THICK AND THIN
Self thinks size doesn't matter, but he remembers the outcome of the Kentucky game.
DAN HARMSEN
@udk_dan
Lawrence, located just off the banks of the Kansas and Wakarusa rivers, is home to the free-thinking individual. From afternoons spent along Clinton Lake to evening concerts at the Granada, poetry slams at The Raven, to short road trips up to Kansas City, this college town caters to wide-ranging interests and impromptu weekend adventures.
But for a handful of University students, there is really only one thing to do on a fall Saturday in Lawrence.
"What started it was two kids on my floor spelled "KU" on their chests," junior Keaton Prather from Sterling said. "Two more kids joined in for "GO KU" the next week, and the week after we had 10 guys
— it caught on and the whole
floor was doing it."
foot was using Along with juniors Bryce Platt and Jonathan Crookham, the trio spends its Saturdays in the front row, chest-painting for Kansas football games.
"It's been just about every game," said Platt, a Horton native. "We missed one or two games freshman year, but haven't missed any since then."
The three juniors are the mainstays of the group, but several other students join the group from the fabled floor in Ellsworth Hall from the students' freshman year.
"I get texts from my teachers back at home and my relatives," Prather said. "Oh hey, we saw you on TV screaming like a madman." Or a text from my mom saying I need to put a
The group has made countless television appearances, swelling with pride; family members, not so much.
Despite their unquestioned love of the football team, the Jayhawks haven't given the chest-painters reason to have much hope. With a 7-29 record in the three years the students have been attending the University; Kansas football has seen as many head coaches as conference victories since 2012.
shirt on."
each game.
"I'm a huge fan of KU football." Prather said. "I have such a good time. It's a really fun atmosphere, you're supporting KU, hanging out with friends. I don't see why students don't come."
But that hasn't deterred the group from painting up for each game.
And, by and large, the students don't come.
dents down.
After setting the stadium's attendance record in 2009 with an over-capacity,52,530 against Northern Colorado, Memorial
Stadium's announced attendance for the final home game of 2014 against No.4 TCU was 30,889. The actual attendance was closer to half that number.
"If we want the program to start doing better, we should start showing support for the team." Crookham, a Houston, Texas, native, said. "We as a student body should have more people there. Apart from that, I don't really care much. I enjoy going."
Other members of the group are unfazed by the lack of student attendance.
"It is understandable," Platt said. "It doesn't bother me. I go there with my friends to have fun. If other people are there, then that's good too."
Watching the 21 senior Jayhawks play for the final time at Memorial Stadium as 28-point underdogs in frigid conditions, the group of six, shirtless and
painted, faced its biggest test of character yet.
The students tined up, iron row an entire 90 minutes before the game, as they have every week, with a cold wind blowing and a light snow falling. One word was painted across their chests: "SENIORS."
"We made sure everyone had hats and gloves," Platt said. "Personally, I had two pairs of pants on. It wasn't as cold as it looked."
looked
In a near-upset, a 34-30 Kansas loss, the game was enough to distract from the elements
"We were cheering — a lot of movement to stay active in the game," Crookham said. "It wasn't bad because it was the best game I've seen."
For some members of the group, next year's season will be their last as students. Others
SEE FANS PAGE 2B
Seniors lead Kansas into NCAA Tourney
MATT CORTE
@Corte_UDK
Kansas volleyball's two seniors, Chelsea Albers and Sara McClinton, have been here before. In fact, the duo has played more NCAA Tournament matches (six) than any player in Kansas history.
That experience will be needed as Kansas (22-8), which earned the No. 16 overall seed, heads to the NCAA Tournament to take on Arkansas-Little Rock (29-4) on Friday, with the winner facing the winner of Creighton and Oregon State on Saturday. Kansas will host the first and second rounds for the third consecutive year, with the matches taking place at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.
"Sara and Chelsea have played at an All-Big 12 level for years now," coach Ray Bechard said. "I think more than anything, they would rather see their postseason run go a little bit longer, a little bit deeper in years past. I think their career could be
With the two being blanketed in accolades, it's not hard to see why the team has
much more complete, but to this point they've been at a high level for many, many years."
"I think their career could be much more complete, but to this point they've been at a high level for many, many years."
RAY BECHARD Coach
and such tremendous success.
Albers gained First Team
All-Big 12 honors in the 2014
season, duplicating her First
Team selection from a year
ago, and was named an AVCA
Honorable Mention All-
American in 2013 as well.
had such tremendous success.
Statistically, Albers' career totals of 912 kills and 874 digs make her the seventh Jayhawk ever to reach 900 career-kill and 800 career-dig plateau.
her partner in crime. McClinton, has been just as
good.
good.
With 1,533 career kills and counting, McClinton ranks seventh on the Kansas all-time kills list, eclipsing the 300-kill mark this season for an impressive third straight year
Arkansas-Little Rock receives strong contributions from the outside hitter position as well.
A 2013 AVCA All American honorable mention, McClinton will also walk away with two First Team All-Big 12 selections and three All-Big 12 teams overall, earning honorable mention this season.
A big reason for Arkansas Little-Rock's success and first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000 is senior outside hitter Edina Begic. A three-time reigning conference MVP including 2014, Begic leads the team with 517 kills, averaging 4.66 per set, and is second on the team in aces, while placing third in digs.
At 24 games, the Trojans hold the longest winning
SEE VBALL PAGE 2B
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Senior outside hitter Chelsea Albers (1) and freshman middle blocker Kelsie Payne (8) block an attack by Texas Tech on Oct. 25. No. 16 seed Kansas is heading to the NCAA Tournament this Friday.