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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016
KANSAS 2016 NBA DRAFT GUIDE
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChosenKU
Players can announce their intentions to play professionally by declaring for the NBA Draft. However, a
declaration doesn't necessarily mean a player can't come back to play at the University.
Players have until 10 days after the NBA Draft Combine — which runs
per year," according to an NCAA release.
May 11-15 this year — to withdraw their name from draft consideration, according to the new NCAA rules. In addition to the combine, players can participate in "one tryout per NBA team
This change, which was announced in January, allows players to test the NBA Draft waters and receive "specific feedback" from the
league, with the safety net of knowing they can return to college.
However, if a player has hired an agent or representation — or has agreed to be represented by an agent
once his or her eligibility ends — his or her status as an amateur athlete is essentially terminated, officially, it's referred to by the NCAA as "jeopardized."
OVERVIEW
On Monday, Diallo became the first Jayhawk to declare for the NBA Draft, doing so without representation. After missing the first five games of the year due to an NCAA investigation into his eligibility, Diallo made his debut against Loyola (Md.), scoring 13 points. Diallo showed flashes of what he could be, but struggled to find minutes behind a few talented Kansas big men.
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Diallo has the potential to be the best Kansas prospect in the draft. He has a ridiculous 74 wingspan and runs the floor exceptionally well. The high-motor big man is projected as an early second-round pick by DraftExpress. ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford has him slotted as the 36th best prospect in the class.
figures in all four of Kansas' NCAA tournament games. He closed out the year with sixstraight performances of at least 11 points and five combined assists and rebounds.
GONE FOR
GOOD?
On Tuesday, Selden announced his intentions to declare for the NBA Draft with representation, thus ending his time at Kansas. Selden finished second on the team in points per game last season, and scored in double
CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein said in a tweet that Diallo is declaring without
55th on his big board noting that Selden looked the part of an NBA player against the UConn Huskies in the Round of 32.
DraftExpress projects Selden as a second-round pick. Right now, the site has him listed as the 44th best prospect in the draft. Ford has him ranked
On Wednesday, Greene declared for the NBA Draft, as was confirmed by Kansas coach Bill Self in a KU Athletics release. In the release, Greene thanked his teammates, coaches and the fans. Self said he thinks Greene's
the upcoming weeks, which all but guarantees he won't be returning.
competiveness and talent "should allow him to play professionally for many years," adding that he wishes him nothing but the best.
In the release announcing his departure, Selden said he plans to hire representation in
Neither DraftExpress nor Ford has Greene slotted as a top-100 prospect. However, that doesn't mean he's without a shot at playing pro basketball. Greene is heralded as one of the
best three-point shooters in college basketball not to mention that CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie pointed out on Twitter that "anyone who can shoot like that at his size will get looks."
In the release announcing his departure, Self said Greene has the intent of hiring an agent,
which would mark the end of his Kansas basketball career.
Bowen and Kansas defense go back to fundamentals in offseason
Kansas football defensive coordinator Clint Bowen talks to his defense in a huddle.
File Photo/KANSAN
▶ CHRISTIAN HARDY
@ByHardy
After two losses to begin what would be a winless season in 2015, David Beaty used his first off week as Kansas' coach to go back to the fundamentals: Footwork, technique, alignments and hand placement, and, most importantly, doing it all correctly.
It made sense. Kansas had just dropped a game to an FCS opponent at home, then another one by 32 points to a non-conference opponent. And through the next ten games, fundamentals kept popping up, especially on the defensive end; tackling was subpar, basic cornerback skills seemed to be lacking at times, and the defensive line was regularly silenced.
Over the offseason, in the few hours he spent with his players every week, defensive coordinator Clint Bowen overhauled those fundamentals once again. This time, though, he went to the bare essentials of football.
"To the degree we did it, I've never gone this far back. We went back like we were coaching second graders and started from there," Bowen said. "And I think it was necessary."
For Bowen, during this offseason, emphasis has been on one thing at a time.
Under the NCAA's rules, coaches get eight hours a week with players in the offseason, and most of that time is spent with strength coach Je'Ney Jackson. With what was left — usually two or three hours per week — Bowen, along with the position coaches, cemented the basics of football into the defense's mind.
During spring practice, the focus has been tackling and the details of it. But in winter, fundamentals were all Bowen focused on. As he put it: "All of the things that are going to happen every single game, no matter who you're playing."
"There are a lot of little steps [...] that we were able to, during the course of the winter time, to just focus on one little element every day," Bowen said. "Let's just get great at an inside-out alley. Let's get great at planting our power foot and throwing our two uppercuts."
That process of getting the very small things down pat, though, was tedious at times. It was repetition after repetition on small, mind-numbing details. Sophomore defensive back Tyrone Miller called it "annoying." Sophomore defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. was hesitant to say he learned anything at all.
"I knew it all already,"
And the players have seen it benefit them too, in hindsight. While it was repetitive, it served a purpose for a team that oftentimes fumbled its fundamentals on gameday last season.
Armstrong said with a smile. "It felt weird [...] But it just let us focus on it more, get it down completely so we don't have to start over again."
Now, seven practices into spring, the fundamentals are paying off. Compared to last year's raw personnel that were sometimes utterly lost in practice while learning a new 4-3 scheme, this team is far ahead.Bowen has been able to move forward, with the team learning the schematics he and Beaty expect, and just play football.
"When they come in there this year, they're able to not think about so much what they have to do," Bowen said. "They can think about more how to do it and do it better and keep focusing on their fundamentals."
"We needed it," Miller said. "We needed to work on our footwork more — we just needed to work on our raw game. [...] We've made it into a habit now. Instead of just doing it through drills, I've got to do it through games."
- Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
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