DAILY KA
ie your shoes tight, young man. Velcro doesn't bind them any longer. Remove the training wheels from your bicycle, young man. Those have no use now. Wipe that milk from your upper lip, young man. It's time to look the part.
Big brothers Morris, Morningstar and Reed are gone. Their timely threes and jokes about Philly cannot save you now.
This team belongs to you.
"That's not a bad way to start a team," coach Bill Self said.
Let's start with senior guard Tyshawn Taylor and junior forward Thomas Robinson — the obvious leaders.
In other words, Self doesn't want you to feel too bad about his younger, but not too young, group Taylor, the agile facilitator who has been more "D'oh!" than
"It makes coach's job a little easier knowing that his point guard is an extension of him." Taylor said.
Robinson, the kid who lost his mother in January and had to become a man, wants to be completely unguardable. He practiced against Cole Aldrich and the Morris twins for the last two years, learning from his predecess-
sors how to better his game. He outplayed Jared Sullinger of Ohio State and Anthony Davis of Kentucky and received praise from LeBron James this summer.
It's easy to forget that Robinson, a preseason All-American, came off the bench last year. Now he's expected to play at least 30 productive minutes and limit his fouls every game.
"It makes coach's job a little easier knowing that his point guard is an extension of him."
TYSHAWN TAYLOR senior guard
"He's been the icing, the dessert," Self said. "Now he's got be the main course."
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Behind these two, there's all mystery, no proof. Juniors Jeff Withey, Travis Leeford and Elijah Johnson will likely start alongside Taylor and Robinson. Off the bench, there's freshman Naadir Tharpe, sophomore Justin Wesley, junior Kevin Young and senior Conner Teahan. Guards Christian Garrett, Merv Lindsay, Niko Roberts and Jordan Juenemann will
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Braden Anderson, Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor, three of Self's top recruits this year, were declared partial qualifiers, preventing them from playing this season. Anderson committed to Fresno State on Oct. 21 and McLemore and Traylor will redshirt this season and so.
be given every chance to succeed, but have more to prove if they want to approach significant playing time.
lesson and play the next with Kansas. They will be eligible to practice on Dec. 16.
"Those guys" are all Jayhawks not named Taylor and Robinson. They are unproven, but they've also never been given a chance.
"Recruit six and only get three," Self said. "Our depth situation is not great, but it's fine as long as those guys develop."
Withey was a highly regarded recruit, transferred from Arizona and was supposed to be the next Aldrich. Then Aldrich went to the NBA and Withey was still nothing more than that tall guy off the bench who riled up the student section with the occasional blocked shot. He was lovable, not dependable. A fan favorite, not a poster on your kid's wall.
One could argue that Withey was nothing but a victim of last
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