SPORTS
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | THURDAY, AUG. 27, 2015
Senior defensive lineman T.J. Semke launches himself at the Texas offense on Sept. 27, 2014. Semke is projected to be a leader on the team this season.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Football Notebook: Jayhawks look to find leaders and finalize roster before taking on South Dakota State in season opener
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@hardynf
Football season is nearing. Though a starting quarterback has been named, there have been plenty of other developments as preseason practice comes to a close. Here are some quick notes to recap what's happening with the program.
Finding the leaders
Beaty says his players will vote on captains on Friday after a "leadership council" was elected on Tuesday. Although quarterback Montell Cozart is a likely candidate on the offensive end, senior defensive end T.J. Semke seems to have already placed himself into one of those positions.
For the first time this year
that I have seen — a player called out the warm-ups and stretches to start practice. That player was Semke. It was interesting to see someone step up and get everyone in sync. Semke is a high-motor, high-energy player who is expected to start opposite of Ben Goodman on the defensive line this year.
"Senior DE T.J. Semke is calling out warm ups in the middle of the field. First time I've seen that. #KUfball."
- Christian Hardy
One more body
On Tuesday, Beaty added some depth to defensive end, a position that already has a lot of bodies. Timmy Hamilton, a product of Wichita Kapaun Mount Carmel and Coffeyville
Community College, announced that he is transferring to Kansas from the University of Arizona, where he signed in February and had started fall camp.
"You're where God wants u to be at this very moment. Every experience is part of his plan. Thank God for the new home."
- Timmy Hamilton II
Hamilton was a three-star recruit who made a name for himself at Coffeyville after failing to pick up any significant offers out of high school. The 6-foot-4 strong-side defensive end will be able to practice with the team right away as a walk-on, but will have to sit out games until 2016, when he will have a chance to earn a scholarship.
Preparing for South Dakota State
The Jayhwaks have had two weeks to prepare for their first opponent of the season. Beaty made it clear even though SDSU is an FCS team and lost five games in 2015, coming out with a win won't be an easy task. Two of SDSU's 2014 losses came against the eventual national champions, another was to the runner-up, another to Missouri, and a three-point lost to Youngstown State. Essentially, SDSU is no slouch.
Beaty has tried to put his team into high-stress situations as the game approaches, running them through even the most unlikely game situations such as onside kicks.
"We're preparing for everything," Beaty said, adding that wet footballs would be used in practice on Wednesday. "We
put them in those situations now, they know how to react. Then they aren't there for the first time out there on the big field.'
Beaty has stressed uncomfortable situations, and said he hopes that will pay off for a large portion of his squad that has never played at the Division I level before.
Not to be confused...
DeVonte Wilson, who was called a Kansas running back by ESPN and some others who shared his Instagram videos, is not with the team.
Wilson only had a single workout with the Jayhawks in the spring, which is why he was included on the spring roster, but he didn't make the cut. Wilson hardly played any high school football and is raw and unpolished as a football
player.
Beaty said that the running back/pure athlete could return at some point, but also offered some advice to the sophomore, who still attends the University: "You've got to be careful with all the cone work."
Update on Booker
Beaty said that he would be "shocked" if wide receiver Jeremiah Booker has not returned by the time the team plays Rutgers. Booker, as previously reported, has a slight crack in his collarbone, but he's expected to fight for a starting spot when he returns if he's up to speed on the offense. If he's not back by the Rutgers game, Beaty all but guaranteed him to be there for Big 12 play, which starts with Iowa State on Oct. 3.
— Edited by Maddy Mikinski
Kansas volleyball senior Tiana Dockery honors best friend's memory through collegiate career
AMIE JUST
@AmieJust
Four days before Christmas 2011, Tiana Dockery received a call that would change her life forever.
One of her best friends,
Fatima Barrie, was stabbed to death.
Dockery and Barrie were teammates on their high school track team. Dockery, then a freshman, and Barrie, a senior, were on the same 4-x-400 and 4-x-200 meter relays.
"It hit me really hard," Dockery said with tears in her eyes. "She was the one person I wanted to do well for."
Nearly four years later, Dockery strives to do her best to memorialize her best friend. She's on track to be the first Kansas volleyball player to play in four-straight NCAA tournaments, and coach Ray Bechard has made sure she's well aware.
"Coach B has made it very right there in my face." Dockery said of how often her appearance in the tournament comes up in conversations. "I think it's awesome. Just being here makes you feel like you can do anything."
Dockery never dreamed of being at Kansas. Before Bechard started recruiting her, she knew nothing about Kansas — not even its storied basketball success. But since her arrival, she's been all in, and it's all because of Barrie.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
"Everything is more to me than just playing," Dockery said. "It's a passion from my heart.
Straight outta Richmond, Texas, Dockery broke onto the scene at KU in 2012. As a freshman, she started in 20 matches and saw time in all but two. Halfway through the season, she was tabbed as Big 12 Rookie of the Week.
Senior Tiana Dockery, attempts to tip over alumni players Taylor Tolefire and Sara McClinton. Dockery recorded nine kills and four dings against the alumni players on Aug. 22.
She played in 94 sets and had 132 kills, 4 aces, 177 digs and 56 total blocks. It came as no surprise when she was named to the 2012 All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
She added: "Thinking of Fatima, watching her run, she [dominated] every race. It didn't matter what it was, every practice, every race, everything. Her mindset is so wonderful. I wanted to do that. I felt like I could do that."
Dockery takes her mind off of her intense schedule by hanging out with fellow volleyball player Janae Hall. Dockery said Hall keeps her in the pop culture loop by taking her to movies and concerts. Recently, the two went to see "Straight Outta Compton."
That 2012 season was Kansas'
She said it was one of her favorite movies.
Her momentum from her freshman season carried into her sophomore campaign. Dockery hammered down 37 kills during the Inntowner Invitational against Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Bowling Green, and was named to the Inntowner Invitational All-Tournament Team. Shortly after, she was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after she had 14 kills against Georgia during the Kansas Invitational.
"Everything is more to me than just playing. It's a passion from my heart."
first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2005. Dockery appeared in three of the four sets in Kansas' loss against Wichita State. Statistics from the first round against Cleveland State were unavailable.
TIANA DOCKERY
Senior Volleyball Player
That season, Dockery amassed 196 kills, 81 digs and 40 total blocks, including 18 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks in Kansas' first ever run to the Sweet 16.
"It was a great opportunity for us." Dockery said, looking back. "We were so determined
to get there. When we did, it was a shock."
Last season, Dockery saw game time in every match and started in 21 of them. During her junior campaign, Dockery was awarded with another Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award for her individual performance against Texas Tech. In those four sets, she amassed 20 kills and 13 digs.
During that season, Dockery compiled a stat ledger of 229 kills, 159 digs and 63 total blocks in total, which boosted her to earn the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolade.
Dockery isn't exactly ready to start her final season, she said, but she hasn't given it much thought either.
"Everyone has four years, some have five," Dockery said. "It's kind of exciting. I haven't thought about it that much, because we still have an entire season to worry about. Senior night is when it will really hit everyone."
Dockery tries not to feel old, even though there is a moderate age gap between her and the majority of the team. Before senior transfers Anna Church and Ashlyn Driskill came in, there were four juniors on the squad, the rest of which were sophomores.
Sometimes though, she says she feels like a mother figure — similar to how Barrie was
- similar to how Barrie was
to her — especially when she watches the younger players excel.
Dockery, along with Kelsie Payne and Ainise Havili, were invited to train with the Collegiate National Team this summer. Dockery said she watched both Payne and Havili when she had some down time.
"[Seeing them play] was just awesome," she said. "They're so much younger and are so talented. Watching them was definitely a parent moment."
Even though Dockery has one more season left, she's already thinking about her future.
After her playing days are over, she wants to coach, and she believes she has what it
In retrospect, Dockery feels accomplished knowing how far she's come with volleyball and in her everyday life.
"I was between if I wanted to be a college coach or not," Dockery said. "I think that I can be. It's not too late to think about it now."
takes to coach at the collegiate level.
"I have tried to take whatever Fatima taught me and instill it in myself and put that out to everyone else," Dockery said. "She's had a big impact on my life, she's the motivation behind it all."
Edited by Emma LeGault
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