SPORTS
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KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, NOV. 9, 2015
CONTRIBUTED BY EVAN PLUGRADT
Cheick Diallo speaks with the media on Oct. 1.
Diallo's status remains uncertain before season
SHANE JACKSON
@jacksonshane3
Most college basketball coaches enjoy the day of the first exhibition game. It's a chance to finally put all the hard offseason work on display. It's supposed to be the first true test for any program.
While his players prepared to step on the court in front of 16,300 fans and went through their usual gameday routines. Self was stuck in a meeting room.
But Bill Self did not enjoy his first gameday of 2015, and it had nothing to do with the result of the game.
"I did not prepare for the game. I didn't go practice. I
didn't eat with the team or anything." Self said. "This was the worst day that a coach could have to open the season. You should be excited to start the season, but you spend all day dealing with other things that is more important than your actual season."
The reason for that: Freshman forward Cheick Diallo's eligibility remains in question. Self spent all day on Wednesday leading up to the exhibition game against Pittsburg State meeting with NCAA officials to discuss Diallo's status.
"The talks are ongoing, and the process is still playing itself out," Self said. "I'm hopeful everyone is working diligently to resolve this at the
earliest manner possible."
Evident by his lack of a uniform on Wednesday night, NCAA did not declare Diallo eligible to play. At about 4 p.m., Self had to tell Diallo that he would not suit up tonight for the Jayhawks.
The talks are ongoing, and the process is still playing itself out," Self said. "I'm hopeful everyone is working diligently to resolve this at the earliest manner possible.
BILL SELF Head Coach
"I was very disappointed for Cheick," Self said. "But that's the nature of the business. But it wasn't from the lack of effort on our part."
Diallo's eligibility remains in doubt as Kansas' attention turns toward the second exhibition contest against Fort Hays State on Nov. 10. Self hopes Diallo's status will be certain by, at the very least, the regular season opener on Nov. 13 against Northern Colorado.
However, Self admitted it's possible this issue may not be resolved by then. Kansas could potentially play some regular season games before the NCAA reaches a conclusion.
"I would like to say that's
Many speculate that Diallo is a likely candidate to start in the place of Lucas at the center position if cleared to play at any point this season.
On Wednesday, Kansas rolled out the starting lineup of junior guard Frank Mason III, sophomore guard Devonte' Graham, junior guard Wayne Selden Jr., senior forward Perry Ellis and senior forward Landen Lucas.
not possible," Self said. "But after going through the process, anything is possible. Not putting blame or fault on anything — there [are] just a few moving parts, and the NCAA has to follow policy on those parts."
Lucas started in 14 games as a sophomore last season,
including four of the last six contests. However, against the Gorillas he struggled; he was pulled in the first minute and a half after picking up a pair of fouls.
Because of the foul trouble, Lucas notched just eight minutes against Pittsburg State. In eight minutes, he missed the only shot he took, hauled in two rebounds and committed a turnover.
Kansas has an abundance of options in the frontcourt with seniors Hunter Mickelson and Jamari Traylor, as well as freshman Carlton Bragg.
Still, if Wednesday night was any indication, the Jayhawks would prefer to have their athletic big freshman if they have championship aspirations.
KU falls to Texas Tech in final
SKYLAR ROLSTAD @SkyRolSports
It took 85 minutes to determine a winner between Kansas and Texas Tech in the Big 12 Women's Soccer Tournament final that pitted a five- and sixseed together for the first time, as a theme of missed chances was established quickly for Kansas.
Freshman midfielder Grace Hagan dribbles the ball.
MISSY MINEAR/KANSAN
Tech won the game and Big 12 Championship, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at Swpe Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo.
"Our sport sometimes is cruel," said Kansas coach Mark Francis. "I think we should have been one or two up at half, to be honest."
He added: "I thought we played really well. I thought we did more than enough to win the game, we had the better opportunities [to score]."
Kansas senior midfielder Liana Salazar stepped up to the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and missed her second penalty kick in three games at the tournament. Texas Tech goalkeeper Lauren Watson dove to her left to make the save, one of her three on the way to the win.
In addition to the Salazar penalty kick, Texas Tech withdrew 11 first-half shots from Kansas to claim the win in the 85th minute. Texas Tech forward Gwennie Puente scored the only goal of the game from a rebound after Kansas goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns made a save to throw Kansas into desperation for an equalizer in the game's last five minutes.
Arming Kansas' golden opportunities to get a goal in the half was a 30-yard shot from junior forward Ashley Pankey that nearly hit the crossbar. In the 29th minute, sophomore defender Kayla
Morrison nearly nodded the ball in off a set piece, but her header went over the bar.
Salazar's bad luck on the day continued in the 34th minute as she beat two Tech defenders, forcing Watson into a save.
["Texas Tech] had more of the ball than they did in the first half; Francis said of the difference between halves. "I still thought once we settled down in the second half we played well, we still found our wide players. After we changed things up and started doing what we needed to do, we were doing fine."
Kansas would have locked up an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's College Cup with a win, but now the team's tournament chances are in doubt. Still, the Jayhawks advanced to the first Big 12 Tournament final in school history.
Finally, a close offside call on what looked like a senior forward Ashley Williams goal nullified the lajayhwaks' chances of taking the title.
"By being here, we made history today, and this is somewhere we should expect to be
After the Jayhawks ended the regular season with losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, and a 1-1 home draw to TCU, Francis had a bleak outlook on his team's chances at making the tournament.
The field for the tournament will be decided on Monday afternoon.
every year," Francis said.
"We're probably an outside shot," Francis said. "We'll watch tomorrow and see what happens. We're good enough to be in the tournament but we'll have to wait and see."
"After TCU, we thought there was no way we were going to make it," Francis said. "We thought wud probably need to win the Big 12 tournament!"
But with wins in the Big 12 Tournament against Texas and Baylor and the first appearance in the Big 12 final in school history, Francis said his hopes turned a bit more positive. Still, a dry eye was difficult to find on the Kansas sideline after the loss. To Francis and the players at Swope Park, a trip to the tournament seemed doubtful.
Bill Self shouts to his players from the sideline on Nov. 4.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
KU looks for bounce-back performance against FHSU
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
There's almost always a substantial amount of rust that carries over from the offseason, as was the case last Wednesday when the Jayhawks took on the Pittsburg State Gorillas.
"I thought it was disappointing that we didn't play better," Kansas coach Bill Self said after the game. "We obviously didn't guard the ball. We don't slide very well."
The first exhibition game for any team is almost never pretty.
The team shot just 21.1 percent from three; Perry Ellis was the only player to shoot better than 35 percent from distance, as all of the other players shot a combined 3-of-18 (16.7 percent).
However, there's no reason to overreact to the first game of the season.
While an exhibition generally
The team struggled out of the gates. The margin was within a basket for much of the first 10 minutes, while the Jayhawks pretty much couldn't buy a basket outside of the paint.
Last year, the Jayhawks won their opening exhibition game by 32 points against Washburn. After a stellar first half, the team didn't look sharp at all in the second, outsourcing Washburn by only three points. The team lacked the killer instinct to pull away, but that was not the case in the second game.
carries little meaning, there's a little bit of history that should bring the Jayhawks some solace.
It was a performance that showed how dominant the team could be, and it was clear that Self was happier with his team's performance in the second game, rather than the first.
And similarly, this time
"We played a lot better tonight," Self said after the game, which took place on Nov. 11, 2014, according to a University release. "I thought we looked more cohesive."
The Jayhawks came out and blew the rails off of Emporia State, winning by 53. The Jayhawks nearly doubled up Emporia State, outscoring them by at least 20 points in both the first and second half.
around the Jayhawks will be looking for another bounce back performance against Fort Hays State University on Tuesday, specifically with regards to guard play.
Point guards Frank Mason III and Devonte' Graham combined to shoot just 1-of-8 from three, while junior guard Wayne Selden Jr. managed just five points on 2-of-9 shooting.
"Our perimeter play [against Pittsburg State] was just deplorable," Self said. "[With] the five main perimeter guys that played, that's about as poorly [as] we can play."
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But with a week to figure things out, things should be different.
The expectations for this team are already increasingly high. The Jayhawks are ranked in the top five in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, and many view this team as a legitimate National Championship contender.
Now it's time for them to show how dominant they can be.
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- Edited by Madeline Umali
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