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Hoffmann Beaty's recruiting strategy is strong
- MATT HOFFMANN
@MattHoffmannUDK
Rome wasn't built in a day. My guess is it probably took at least a football season.
For Kansas coach David Beaty, turning around an 0-12 football team will take much longer than a week. However, Beaty is off to a good start, landing four threestar recruits, according to Rivals.com.
While three-star recruits don't exactly jump off the page, three-star recruits are the foundation to a somewhat decent college football team, especially considering that there are no five star recruits from the Midwest.
You read that right. According to 24/7 Sports and SB Nation, there are ZERO five-star recruits in area greater than the size of the Louisiana purchase.
- "hanging tough" in recruiting. By eliminating five-star recruits, it means that three-star recruits are the second highest "level" of recruit a team can land.
The Jayhawks are — to use a sports term
Back to the Rome analogy, David Beaty isn't going to turn this program around overnight, probably not even in a season or two. By comparison, Iowa State, who finished second to last in the Big 12 has nine three-star recruits and one four-star recruit.
While four is clearly less than nine, it says something about the recruiting ability of David Beaty to lure in four three-star recruits to a team that just went 0-12.
However, for Beaty and Kansas football, recruiting should not be about comparison. Kansas won't be ready to win meaningful Big 12 games for a while, but that's not the point. The point is that Beaty is truly starting from the ground up. Landing four three-star recruits this season (with more possibly on the way) will only lead to additional three-star recruits in 2017 and so on and so forth.
Take Beaty's recruiting to a micro-level, one of those three-star recruits in fact. Kyle Mayberry is a defensive back from Tulsa, Okla. Mayberry received offers from Virginia Tech, Air Force, Houston (who went to a New Year's Six Bowl) and Kansas State among others, according to Rivals. Beaty and the Kansas coaching staff convinced him to turn those offers down and join a winless team.
While three-star recruits aren't necessarily flashy or jaw-dropping, they are the foundation of a capable football team. That says something about David Beaty's ability to recruit four three-star recruits to a winless football team in a region of the country where three-star recruits are the new four-stars.
Beaty's Kansas program won't be built in a day but if he keeps this recruiting strategy it will probably be shorter than the eight centuries it took the Romans to build their empire.
Edited by Vicky Diaz-Camacho
KU set for second-straight matchup vs. 'Wildcats' as Big 12 play resumes
▶ SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
On Saturday, Kansas defeated the Kentucky Wildcats in a game that Kansas fans may view as one of the biggest of the year. However, to the coaches and players, it's the upcoming game against a different Wildcats team that carries more weight.
File Photo/Jakuban Kansas guard Frank Mason III drives on Kansas State forward Wesley Iwunda. The teams will face off in Allen Fieldhouse this Wed.
As Kansas gets set to take on Kansas State in the Sunflower Showdown, it may not seem like it, but there is far more at stake than was in the game against Kentucky.
File Photo/Kansan
Not only is it a conference game for the Jayhawks, who sit one game back of three teams in the race for a 12th consecutive Big 12 title, it's also the first of two meetings against the Wildcats this year.
And while the game has seemingly lost a lot of its luster, as the Wildcats have been close to irrelevancy in terms of national accolades in the last two seasons, they've still managed to beat the Jayhawks twice in that time, although both times came in Manhattan.
However, that doesn't mean the Jayhawks can afford to overlook the task at hand, according to Kansas coach Bill Self.
"They've lost some close games in the league, but they've had a great year," Self said of Kansas State. "I know the crowd may never be like it was tonight as far as anticipation and all that stuff, but there's no reason why we can't have the same energy in the building on Wednesday as we had tonight."
However, while Kansas State's year may be "great" in terms of overcoming expectations - mostly in non-conference play - the team is still just 2-6 in Big
12 competition.
A lot of the problems for the team come from the fact that there is no go to player. Wesley Iwundu leads the team in scoring at just 12.2 points per contest, which is far from ideal as the mark of a leading scorer.
And while Iwundu is probably the best player on the team, he's been far from a sure thing, especially against top competition.
In fact, there are just three teams in the Big 12 Texas Tech, TCU and Kansas State that don't have a scorer averaging at least 13.0 points per game.
On the road against the No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers, Iwundu managed just six points, posting more turnovers (six) than assists (four) in the loss. Two games earlier, against the No. 13 Baylor Bears, Iwundu nearly racked up a triple-double, with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but it was his shooting numbers (3-of-10) and turnover issues (seven turnovers) that bogged the team down once again.
However, he's still a threat to go off at any time. He has the ability to affect the game in several different areas, and he said he thinks the team's last win will only serve to spark the team, coming into a game against Kansas State.
nents; including Ole Miss guard Stefan Moody, who scored just 10 points in the game, nearly 14 points below his season average. However, very little of that success has been on the road, where the Wildcats are winless this year.
One area the team has asserted itself this year has been on defense. The Wildcats have been able to shut down some oppo-
"We needed this game. It was very important to us as a team," Iwundu told K-State Athletics after the win over Ole Miss. "[Now] we need to keep getting in the gym, coming to practice focused and learn[ing] how to be more assertive."
In fact, in games played either on the road or in
neutral sites, the Wildcats have just two wins. One was in Wichita over Colorado State; the other was in Kansas City, Mo., against Missouri. How they've played won't be good enough to get the job done in Allen Fieldhouse, and, unless something changes, the Jayhawks will have a
chance to make 36 home games in a row without a loss.
Grant Nicholson also contributed to the research in this article.
Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
Guard Chavla Cheadle drives baseline against an Iowa State defender on March 2 inside Allen Fieldhouse. Cheadle finished with 10 points in the 68-64 Kansas victory.
Missu Minear/Kapsan
Jayhawks look to take advantage of struggling Iowa State Cyclones
SEAN COLLINS
@seanzie_3
Weathering the storm of tough Big 12 play, the Kansas Jayhawks turn their attention to the conference's third-worst ranked team, the Iowa State Cyclones, on Tuesday.
The Jayhawks find themselves desperately looking for any kind of win in the Big 12 and have been unable to break their 12- game losing streak. In their last outing, the Jayhawks lost 54-44 to the Red Raiders, who are only one slot above the Jayhawks in the
The same story of low shooting percentages and slow starts continues to plague the young team.
"We had four starters go 4-27," Schneider said in the University release. "We really struggle to make shots, and I think that's what happened to us today."
Although the Cyclones haven't struggled as much as the Jayhawks, they are also on a five-game losing skid that includes an overtime loss to the Red Raiders. The Cyclones losing streak may be a bright spot for the Jayhawks if they can take advantage of another struggling team.
The Jayhawks have the home court advantage in this matchup, and if they can get off to a quick start, they may be able to snatch their first win of conference play.
Big 12 play. Even though they got off to another slow start against the Red Raiders, Schneider was able to find a silver lining in the loss.
The Jayhawks have made small but noticeable improvements throughout
"Something really positive that I think we accomplished today was holding Texas Tech to six offensive rebounds," Schneider said. "Tech leads the Big 12 conference in offensive rebounds with about 16. This is an area that I think we really performed well in."
It'll take an all-around effort from Kansas to get the elusive Big 12 victory, but if sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge gets some
help from the supporting cast there is a good chance the team will stay competitive for the entire game.
The key to the game will be to stay defensively sound because although the Cyclones have lost five straight, they have still averaged just below 68 points per contest. If the Jayhawks have a defensive performance such as the one against the Red Raiders, they can expect a close game.
- Edited by Cele Fryer