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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016
Bragg and Ellis highlight Kansas basketball banquet
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChosenKU
Kansas coach Bill Self talks about the players at the 2015-16 Kansas men's basketball Awards Banquet. Scott Chasen/KANSAN
As donors, season ticket holders and those associated with Kansas men's basketball filled Abe & Jake's Landing, the mood was positive. The Men's Basketball Awards Banquet, held Wednesday night, was a steep contrast from two-and-a-half weeks earlier when the team fell in the Elite Eight to the eventual national champion, Villanova.
The staff did their best to keep the mood that way. As the video recapping the season played, a grand total of two seconds was dedicated to that game. From then on, it was right back to the happier times.
As the video wound down and Kansas coach Bill Self took the stage, that mood continued. Right away, Self came out firing jokes left and right.
He poked fun at Sheaon Zenger, Kansas' athletics director, for announcing his own birthday during his speech earlier in the day, rather than waiting for someone else to wish him a happw birthday.
Scott Chasen/KANSAN
He even joked about the starting backcourt of last
After talking about Bob Davis' retirement, he brought up Kobe Bryant's "retirement tour," followed by more laughter and applause.
year's team earning All-Big 12 Defensive honors, considering what Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield was able to do against each of them.
"They got put on a team because one was able to hold [Hield] to 46 and one was able to hold him to 24." Self ioked.
However, the one thing Self didn't do was paint a false picture. After speaking for several minutes, he talked about the Final Four. He talked about the disappointment for the team, although he did say the players weren't as upset as they had been at the time.
"We didn't get it done,
These guys hurt for a while."
Self said. "I talked to some of them, and they didn't watch the game."
But in the end, the address from the coach was one of positivity. As his speech wound down, he talked about how good the team could be in the next season, even with all the losses from last year's squad.
"Frank [Mason III] will be better than Frank this year. Devonte' [Graham] will be better than Devonte' this year. Landen [Lucas] will be better than Landen this year," Self said. "We're going to be really good next year."
Managers win a national championship.
men's basketball team are some of the best in the country when it comes to actually playing themselves.
National championship Throughout the year, those that follow @KPI-ports on Twitter know that the managers for the Kansas
For those that weren't as familiar, Self informed the crowd that "based on some unknown poll," they had actually been named national champions. Two tables back of the stage, the managers looked on with smiles as Self recognized them all by name.
However, Self did place one asterisk on the managers winning the honor.
"Of course they also had Wayne Simien playing for them," Self joked.
Danny Manning "Mr. Jayhawk" Award
"He's very deserving," Self said. "I'm really happy
For the second year in row, senior forward Perry Ellis was tabbed for the Danny Manning Award, following a season in which he led the team in scoring for the second year in a row.
"It's all about my teammates helping me and putting me in situations," Ellis said. "It has meant so much to me that Kansas is on my chest."
Self was complimentary of the senior's choice in returning to the University to finish out his senior season instead of getting a jump on his professional basketball career. During the banquet, he said there wasn't a smarter player or more unselfish player out there, which he reaffirmed afterward.
for P "
Ellis will be headed to Houston this week to train for the NBA Draft. He said he'll be working on increasing his range, improving his ball handling and continuing to be himself.
Carlton Bragg Jr.'s announcement
Last year, Ellis delighted the crowd at the banquet with the announcement that he'd return for his senior season. This year, it was a similar situation, even if there wasn't necessarily as
much drama for those up on stage.
"I've actually known that for two weeks," Self said. "I told him the banquet would be the perfect opportunity [to announce]."
During his speech, Self mentioned he was unsure about the players that would be returning to the team. At that point, Bragg called out to the stage, announcing his return to those that could hear, which essentially amounted to those within a 15-foot radius of the stage.
"I threw him a softball. All
he had to do was come up and take the mic and say, 'Coach, relax. I'm coming back," Self joked after the banquet. "Instead he announced it from his chair."
Self would go on to call Bragg up to the podium to make his announcement. Bragg announced his return in similar fashion to recruits announcing their college choice, saying he'd play next year at the University of Kansas.
- Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
File photo/KANSAN
File photo/KANSAN Junior Janae Hall celebrates after a hit against Texas.
Janae Hall to forgo senior season
@dSherwoodku
Junior middle blocker Janae Hall announced in a KU Athletics release on Tuesday that she would forgo her senior season and retire.
After Kansas' run to the 2015 Final Four, the first such run in program history, one player has decided to call it quits.
Hall will remain at Kansas, but she will focus on her academics, according to Kansas coach Ray Bechard in the release.
The junior was a 2015 Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection and was the winner of the Elite 90 Award in December. The award was given to Hall as
"I am so thankful to have been a part of such an incredible volleyball team and can't thank my teammates and coaches enough for everything they have given and taught me," Hall said in the release.
shs was the player in the Final Four with the highest overall GPA.
Her GPA to date is 3.95.
"Janae has had a really solid career for us while battling different lingering injuries." Bechard said in the release.
In her three seasons at Kansas, Hall averaged 1.7 kills per set, while hitting .328 in 56 career matches.
west toward Josh Jackson, right, from Justin-Siena high school/Prolific Prep Academy in Napa, Calif., blocks East forward Jayson Tatum from Chaminade College Preparatory school in St. Louis during the McDonald's All-American boys basketball game, Wednesday, March 30, 2016, in Chicago.
Jackson: Josh Jackson gives Kansas Big 12's best backcourt
▶ SHANE JACKSON @jacksonshane3
Just a few weeks ago, Kansas suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the Elite Eight to the eventual national champion, Villanova. Since that five-point loss on March 26, the Jayhawk faithful have desperately needed a win this offseason.
AP PHOTO
At last, on Monday, April 11, the fans got their offseason victory when wing Josh Jackson announced via Twitter he would play college basketball at Kansas next season.
The 6-foot-7 wing is viewed by some recruiting metrics as the top-overall player in the 2016 recruiting class, which makes him the third top prospect Kansas coach Bill Self has inked.
With the commitment, the Jayhawk faithful can at last celebrate and begin counting down the days until Late Night in the Phog and the start of the 2016-17 season.
And fans have every reason to be counting down the days to a fresh, new start. Because quite honestly, next year's team has a chance to be even better. This seemed like a mere pipe dream after the loss of Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden Jr., the top two players on the team in terms of usage rate.
But Jackson is that good.
Jerry Meyer of 247Sports called him the best shooting guard he's ever scouted, comparing him to Andrew Wiggins, a former one-year sensation at Kansas. Jason King of Bleacher Report tweeted Jackson will have a larger impact at Kansas than Wiggins did, who set the freshman scoring record.
All across the board, different scouts and basketball experts praise Jackson's ability on the court. They consider him one of the best athletes in the class and say he has the ability to go above the rim. He will be extremely gifted in transition. He gets a lot of praise as a passer, and he's often credited with his ability to play at an elite level at both ends of the floor.
The list goes on and on,
but the fact of the matter is
Guard Frank Mason III will return for his senior season. He's continued to improve every season under Self and does everything well. His ability to score, pass, rebound and play defense makes him the most important player on the team.
Guard Devonte' Graham broke out last season as a sophomore. He was second
Jackson shows promise to be an immediate factor on this team. With him likely in the starting lineup, Kansas has a chance to boast the best backcourt in not only the Big 12 but perhaps the nation.
Add in one of the most prolific freshman wings in this year's class, and Kansas has the perfect blend of proven veterans and a young phenomenon to be considered lethal in the backcourt.
To top it off, these three play with such swagger on the court that it will be fun to watch.
on the team in three-pointers and took on the role as a scorer when the team needed it the most. Graham scored 20 or more just three times last season but did so in the two games against Oklahoma and the Big 12 Championship against West Virginia.
Graham and Mason are both known to do a bit of jawing on the court with opponents, but Jackson may have them both beat in terms of trash talk. After all, he did trash talk with former NBA star Gary Payton in a game a couple months ago.
This type of intensity will make Kansas' backcourt even more fun to watch this year. Jackson will certainly go through some growing pains but when he adapts to the collegiate level — which he will — the Jayhawks' backcourt has a chance to be better than anyone on any given night.
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