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Women's basketball opens season with two exhibition games
DYLAN SHERWOOD
@dmantheman2011
The Kansas women's basketball team will get its first tune-up this Sunday before the regular season starts on Nov. 15 against Texas Southern. Kansas will play two teams out of the MIAA conference — Pittsburg State and Emporia State. Coach Brandon Schneider is familiar with both teams, as Schneider was the head coach of the Emporia State Hornets from 1998 to 2010.
The opponent
Pittsburg State is coached by Lane Lord, who took the Gorillas to the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament. They would win one game in the tournament, defeating Northern State and then falling to the Final Four participant Emporia State. In the 2015 MIAA Preseason Poll, the Gorillas were picked fourth behind Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Central Missouri.
The Gorillas were 27-7 last season and have not played Kansas in exhibition play
since Oct. 30, 2013, when the Gorillas were defeated 85-54. Only three players who were on the 2013-14 team are now upperclassmen.
Pittsburg State returns seven letter-winners from last year's team, including two seniors in Cathy Brugman and Kylie Gafford. Returning players include junior Paige Lungwitz and Hadyn Herlocker. Between sophomores and freshmen, the Gorillas have 12 underclassmen. Kansas has nine newcomers, including six freshmen.
Schneider mentioned at Women's Basketball Media Day earlier this month that a sophomore is basically a veteran, so this may be a more even matchup with inexperienced teams.
A familiar foe
During his days in Emporia, Schneider was 21-4 all-time against Pittsburg State and 5-1 since Lord has been in Pittsburg. Lord won the last meeting against the two coaches on Feb. 7, 2010, when Pittsburg State defeated Emporia State 71-66 in Lord's sixth try against Schneider.
A new era and new format
Schneider was hired in April to become the sixth head coach for Kansas women's basketball. Schneider has a Division II National Championship at Emporia State in 2010. He also led Stephen F. Austin to back-toback Southland Conference Championships in 2014 and 2015.
The women's game will now be a four-quarter game. The NCAA approved the women's college game instead be four 10-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves.
Schneider also mentioned at Media Day that the media timeouts will occur at the five-minute mark of each quarter. When the first timeout is called, the media timeout will occur also, which could mean a lengthy period of playing time without a stop.
Tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Edited by Dani Malakoff
Freshman guard Lauren Aldridge drives to the basket in the first half of the game on March 2. Aldridge finished with 10 points and seven assists in the Jayhawks' victory in Allen Fieldhouse.
MISSY MINEAR/KANSAN
Putting Kansas quarterback Ryan Willis in perspective
BRIAN MINI @daftpunkpop
Ryan Willis.
Despite the numerous concerns for Kansas football, it seems as if the quarterback position has found its temporary fix in freshman
His performance against Texas Tech — 330 yards and two touchdowns — cemented his position as the go-to quarterback after a couple injuries to starters forced him into the starting role.
Last Saturday's game
against Oklahoma State seemed to bring him back to earth, but in the five games he's appeared in, his 191 passing yards against Oklahoma State was his second best total of the year.
So does this mean Willis is the next great Big 12 quarterback?
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Willis is on pace to finish his freshman year with 1,558 yards with 8 touchdowns. The quality of defense for the next five games won't be on the same level as Oklahoma State, but passing for over 1,500 yards as a freshman would be a step in the right direction.
His performance against Texas Tech set freshman records and, as a result, garnered a lot of Todd Reesing comparisons. The problem with these comparisons is Reesing's lack of playing time as a freshman. In three games as a freshman, Reesing threw three touchdowns and three interceptions.
When looking at Ryan Willis's possible future, the current Big 12 passing leaders show some encouraging signs. Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech threw for 1,547 yards as a freshman and currently leads the Big 12 in passing. Heisman candidate and TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin threw for 2,054 yards as a freshman. While it's probably unlikely, if Willis can average 305.25 yards passing for the next five games, he could reach the 2,000-yard mark this
When Reeing graduated, redshirt freshman Jordan Webb took over and did a serviceable job before transferring to Colorado before the 2012 season. Since then, Kansas has struggled to find someone who can compete in the Big 12.
According to 247 Sports's recruiting, Willis was ranked as the 27th best pro-style quarterback in this year's recruiting class. The last three at this rank are Illinois' Chayce Crouch, Princeton's Chad Kanoff, and Miami's Preston Dewey. The list contains some good schools, but even in his freshman year, Ryan Willis has outperformed those three.
With Willis outplaying his ranking, it's easy to get too excited about the freshman. The entire team is fairly young, but as the offense grows with Willis, Kansas will be better suited for success in the Big 12.
Ryan Willis will lose one of his best receivers when Tre' Parmalee graduates next year, but most of Willis's favorite targets will be here for a couple more years at least. Couple that with a recruiting class with numerous offensive prospects, and Kansas seems to be setting Willis up for success.
The only real knock on Willis so far has been his decision-making on his four interceptions, which seems to be a combination of inexperience and playing against top defenses. Even top freshman quarterback Josh Rosen has thrown seven interceptions. It's hard to blame Willis for mistakes that freshmen are expected to make.
While Willis's numbers look slightly under par for a Power Five conference, freshman quarterbacks like Lock prove that Willis is right where he should be expected to be. It's true that Kansas football hasn't given fans many things to cheer about, but Ryan Willis's future is certainly one of them.
In passing yards, Willis ranks 113th. That position is one above Missouri freshman quarterback Drew Lock, who was thrown into the starting position around the same time this year as Willis
Edited by Maddy Mikinski
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Kansas quarterback Ryan Willis fastens his helmet before running onto the field on Oct. 17.
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