Volume 124 Issue 8
kansan.com
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
A&M EXPECTED TO LEAVE BIG 12
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Of course, the real statement will be made when he his name is announced in the Fieldhouse on Sept. 24. When the fans will award him with his laurey, the only question that remains is will the fans boo or cheer Josh Selby
Edited by Jayson Jenks
SPORTS MAILBAG
In his last 13 games, Selby's field goal percentage never got above 40 percent compared to his first 13 games when he reached as high as 66 percent.
Where his turnovers used to be cute mistakes when he was making it rain from behind the arc, they became costly when he couldn't buy a bucket.
Might that be a little too soon, and maybe even a little arrogant of him? Don't get me wrong Josh Selby will forever be a Jayhawk, but a "Legend of the Phog" is more than just a stretch.
Am I to understand that there is an alumni game titled "Legends of the Phog" and Josh Selby is not only invited, but expected to play?
COMMENTARY Selby not a Phog legend
Was it wrong to expect the No. 1 overall recruit to average more than 7.9 points, 2.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game? Not a chance.
Kudos to KU Athletics. There hasn't been this much excitement for a KU bve week since last season.
If there was an "infamous of the Phog" he could headline, but let's leave this "Legends" stuff to the guys who earned the right to the title.
The Legends of the Phog alumni game on Sept. 24 will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the school year. Just look at the guest list so far: Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Paul Pierce, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, Cole Aldrich, Nick Collison, Drew Gooden, Marcus and Markieff Morris, Brandon Rush, Xavier Henry, Josh Selby, Julian Wright ... Wait, what? Selby?
EYES ON THE PRIZE
Selby was touted as a playmaker that could take over games when needed, and he showed everyone in his debut that he could be that guy — 21 points and 5 rebounds coming off the bench.
What the fans were waiting to see was the making of a legend, and Selby was unable to provide.
Selby had potential to become a true "Legend of the Phog" and instead of staying in Lawrence and developing his game, he chose the glamorous path of being drafted 49th to a league that doesn't know when their next regulated game will be.
It's impossible to blame a kid for pursuing his dream, but isn't it fair for KU fans to feel a little bitter about the whole Selby era? He showed everyone he could play. He proved that he could start, but everyone expected that to be a given.
TOO FOCUSED TO WORRY
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
It seemed as though Selby was about to pick up where Xavier Henry left off a year earlier, and he kept feeding us what we wanted to see.
Through his first 13 games, Selby failed to score in double digits only four times. All seemed to be going according to plan until he missed three games in the middle of the season with a foot injury.
Selby failed to score in double digits for the remainder of his Kansas career and started to average as many turnovers as he did buckets.
Perhaps his foot wasn't completely healed when he made his return, or maybe his head just wasn't in the right place. But when he returned, the Josh Selby we got wasn't anything like the Selby who started the season.
CHRIS BRIDGEN/ANSAIM Head coach Turner Gill discusses the condition of the 2011 football team after the team's first five practices at Media Day in Anderson Family Football Complex. One of Gill's focuses for the team is to find speed and quickness from his players both on offense and defense. The Kansas Jawahres open the season against McNeese State on September 3 at Memorial Stadium.
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
The Big 12's shaky future and conference realignment has reigned supreme as the biggest story of college football's offseason for the second year in a row. The fans of college football have been feverishly discussing what will happen next, while the media has been constantly digging for that answer.
Yet two of the Big 12's coaches, including Kansas coach Turner Gill, said during Monday's Big 12 Teleconference that it has not
been a distraction to them or their team.
Although Texas A&M has continued to pursue leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, the remaining nine Big 12 schools have remained calm, assuring everyone that they will stay with the conference.
Athletics directors have met to discuss the conference and administrators have been working diligently to make sure their school will be safe come any impending conference collapse.
At Kansas, there have been many questions regarding the
doomsday scenario in which the Big 12 would liquidate and the Jayhawks would have to scramble to find a conference.
Gill says the hazy future of the conference has not diverted his attention from this year's team.
"I don't worry about it," Gill said. "They've hired me to coach this football team here at the University of Kansas. Whatever team we're playing against, you've got to be able to play against that opponent and win that football game against that opponent.
"No matter what conference you're in or not in, you've got to
Even though the officials have been working together to make sure the Big 12 remains stable, coaches and players at the center of the realignment talk do not see it as a distraction.
play the best you can and beat that team. That's what I'm here to do and that's my focus."
"We just focus on what's in front of us," Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "We've developed a mentality where we live in the present and don't worry about that stuff. I don't think it's just coach-speak. If you talk to our players, they will tell you the
same thing."
Still, Texas A&M will be playing in the Big 12 this season.
"We have a bunch of seniors on this team that will never play in that conference, and they really at this point could care less about it," Sherman said. "They're concerned about winning this season."
At Kansas and across the Big 12, it's time to stop worrying about the rumors and reports this season and start getting ready for the football season.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Edited by Jayson Jenks
New locker room no longer a dive
It was a different type of excitement for the Kansas swimming and diving team as each member made her way back to Lawrence for the fall. The usually bleak, sauna-like facility that awaited the team at the Robinson Center had been transformed into a swim-team paradise with some much-needed renovations.
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
After collecting $200,000 in donations via friends of jayhawk swimming and diving, the team was able to build itself a brand new locker room to call home.
The new facility includes 32 sit-in wood stalls — each with its own safe — new flooring complete with Jayhawk logo in the center and an epoxy coat, a training area, two swimsuit dryers, a 40-inch flat screen TV, along with a sofa and chairs allowing for the swimmers to lounge before their meets.
"The new locker room is incredible," captain Shannon Garlie, a senior from Ft. Collins, Colo., told KU Athletics. "It is definitely going to give us some motivation and excitement going into the season."
The buzz about the new locker room helped get senior Abigail Anderson through the summer, who had been waiting to check out the new digs since the project's inception.
"It still doesn't feel real," Anderson said. "We had the opportunity all summer to look at the progress, but as a senior I refused to do that. I wanted to wait until the day that it was done to even look at it."
According to Anderson the upgrade was well warranted. Problems with the old locker room ranged from frequent mice sightings to no air conditioning.
"We put in so much work as a team, and the fact that people would invest so much into swimming, which is a sport that not many people pay attention to, it really means a lot to us," Anderson said. "We are all just ecstatic."
Of course with new facilities comes the benefit of showing it off to potential recruits, which has head coach Clark Campbell excited.
"It's a big deal to student athletes," Campbell said. "They spend so much time in the locker room. Now they have a place to do their physical therapy, watch TV, and build bonds."
Campbell and Anderson both agreed that with the team located in a facility that was built in 1966, any sort of upgrade makes the program look better. While the Kansas swimming and diving team may not be as well accommodated as some of the top 25 programs in the nation, these renovations are more than just a step in the right direction.
Edited by Sarah Champ
JEFF JACOBSON/KAI
The newly remodeled Kansas Swimming and Diving team locker room sports 32 new wooden stalls, a new Jayhawk logo and a lounge for swimmers to wait in before meets. $200,000 in donations made the remodel possible. JEFF JACOBSON/KA
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