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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior forward Carolyn Davis goes for a lay-up last season. Davis joins the preseason all-Big 12 team after leading the team in scoring and rebounding last season.
Forward honored with spot on Big 12 team
KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
At the end of the first official practice for the Kansas women's basketball team, coach Bonnie Henrickson asked junior forward Carolyn Davis
Davis
to meet in her office. Fear spread across Davis' face before she asked.
"Is this thumbs up?"
Henrickson confirmed, yes, this was thumbs up.
Davis was named to the preseason all-Big 12 team after leading-the team in scoring and rebounding last season.
"It is a big honor and I am glad
that other coaches in the league feel the way that my coaches feel about me and have confidence in me and my teammates do to," Davis said.
Davis was joined on the list by four players to a tie: Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims of Baylor, Toni Young of Oklahoma State, Chassidy Fussell of Texas and Tyra White of Texas A&M.
Henrickson was proud, but not surprised by the news.
"Quite honestly I would have been surprised if she had not been recognized," Henrickson said. "She has the respect of the coaches in our league about how she has performed at a high level consistently and what she brings to the table for us and certainly enhances our chance to be successful."
Davis was also named to the preseason Wade Watch List,
which looks for the NCAA player of the year.
"It is a lot of energy, but it is a lot of pressure to meet those expectations," Davis said. "It is a challenge for me to play well this season."
Henrickson is looking to take a more direct approach to coaching Davis this season. It will center on candid conversations about what she needs to do to continue to move her game forward from here.
"When you are at that level it is about doing all the things to you do really well all the time," Henrickson said.
For now, the team is focusing on getting back to practice and preparing for Late Night in the Phog next Friday. Davis is positive about how the team worked in their first practice.
"It went great," Davis said. "We had a lot of energy, a lot of competitiveness and so it was looking really good."
FOOTBALL FROM PAGE 10
demanding on the players and coaches pre-game preparation.
Edited by Alexandra Esposito
In response to the nonstop Oklahoma State offense, Shealy said Kansas has switched to one-word defensive calls, as opposed to the three or four worded calls it used to have. He said it just takes too long for it to get its three-to-four worded defensive signals across as the players simultaneously try to get lined up.
Along with an adjusted play-calling format, the Jayhawks will have to change the way they substitute against Oklahoma State.
In the Texas Tech game last
week, the Jay hawks learned their lesson of not substituting as much as necessary against another face tempo offense. Junior defen-
Opurum
Opurum said the team did not keep its speed up in the second half against the Red Raiders.
It is a mistake that Kansas will be sure not to make again.
"The thing that we've emphasized with our defense is that we want to be able to play full-speed
all the time." Opurum said. "You keep your starters out there the whole time and they're not going full-speed, then you're really not being as effective as you can."
Edited by Sarah McCabe
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, right, celebrates with tight end Travis Tannahill (80) and offensive linesman Colten Freeze, left, after Klein ran for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Kent State earlier this season.
CHARLIE RIEDEL/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Quarterback shows passion, toughness against Miami
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANHATTAN — Anyone who might have wondered about Collin Klein's toughness got a definitive answer when Kansas State played at Miami a couple of weeks ago.
The quarterback absorbed one bone-jarring hit after another, and with time ticking down as the Wildcats prepared for a final stand, the 6-foot-5 Klein breached the defensive huddle, jumping up and down, smacking guys on the shoulder pads.
His message: They would not let this game slip away.
"I've never seen him come over and try to motivate the defense
That toughness is a big reason the Wildcats are off to a 4-0 start and will approach Saturday's game against Missouri with a No. 20 ranking, their highest since 2003.
"He will take a hit for the team," Voelker said. "Down in Miami, he was bleeding all over, so that shows us the toughness that he has."
"If he has two broken legs, he's still going to be waving the trainers off, trying to stay on the field," safety Tysyn Hartman said. "It's that competitive nature that we've come to expect from Collin."
Klein's coach at Loveland High School in Colorado, John Poovey, characterized him as a kid with a great set of intangibles, but players take note of one in particular.
like that, " defensive end Jordan Voelker said. " That was great."
The City of Lawrence invites residents and small businesses
The City of Lawrence invites residents and small businesses to recycle unused or obsolete electronic equipment. Electronic recycling will be provided by Extreme Recycling, Inc. A recycling fee applies for computer monitors ($10) and televisions ($15). Cash or check only. There is no charge for other electronics. Items accepted for recycling: Computer Monitors, Deskets, Laptops, Keyboards, Other Peripherals, TVs, VHS/DVD Drives, Small Appliances (Microwaves and Taster Ovens).
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Free State High School
Parking Lot
4700 Overland Drive
City of Lawrence
PUBLIC WORKS
WASTE REDUCTION & RECYCLING
For further information call 832-3030 or visit www.LawrenceRecycles.org
"I don't think I've ever seen him give up on anything," said Klein, who has another son, Kyle, on the team. "He will finish it and do it until the end. He doesn't give up on people, he doesn't give up on the project, he just never gives up."
Part of that competitive nature comes from his mother, Kelly Klein, who said she takes pride her son's determination, discipline and teamwork.
"I really admire that because sometimes I feel like I could give up," she added. "He never does."
Klein earned a reputation as a running quarterback last season, when he torched Texas for 127 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start. He's still dangerous with his legs — he's run for 423 yards this season — but he's also showing an increasingly effective arm to keep defenses off balance.
Klein's completed 47 of 85 passes for 481 yards and six TDs this season, including the go-ahead score to save Kansas State from an embarrassing loss to Eastern Kentucky. Wide receiver Chris Harper,
who used to play quarterback and who first met Klein when the two were in high school, has seen the difference in his throwing motion over the years.
"The mechanics have changed a little bit," said his father, Doug Klein. "I know his release is a little faster. His arm speed is better. I don't know exactly what they've changed. I think it's been more fine-tuning than anything, and reps.
Between playing for a high school team with a run-oriented philosophy and splitting time between football and basketball—he had as many college offers to take the court as he did the gridiron — Klein simply didn't have the same number of throwing reps that most college quarterbacks do.
"Collin's a great student," he said, "so whatever little adjustments here and there that they make. I'm sure he takes it very serious, and he works at it and will progress along that very well."
"It's a lot smoother than what it was," Harper said. "He's put the time in. Even that year that he played receiver, he was putting time in every day after practice. People were catching him every single day. There wasn't a day that went past that he wasn't throwing
Povey said Klein always had great fundamentals, even though his throwing motion is the subject of snickers to this day.
"You've just seen the progress," Harper said, "even the progress from earlier this season."
Players have always been privy to Klein's work ethic — he's usually at the front of the pack during sprints — but Harper senses something else, something he hadn't noticed until recently.
"This year it's like he has more fire," Harper said. "I didn't know he had that kind of fire and that kind of passion, and he's starting to show that a lot more."
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