THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011
BASKETBALL
PAGE 7
Q&A with returning player about this year's chances
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
Sophomore forward Carolyn Davis reaches up to grab an offensive rebound Monday at Allen Fieldhouse. Davis recorded her second straight double double with 27 points and 14 rebounds.
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
Junior forward Carolyn Davis returns to Kansas women's basketball after leading the team in scoring last season. She had an impressive run in Italy and was just named as a co-captain for the second straight season. Looking toward the upcoming year, she shared her thoughts on early practice and the team's chances this year.
University Daily Kansan - So what does it feel like coming back as a big team leader?
Carolyn Davis - It feels good.
I have had a lot of experience the last couple years, so I was used to it. I knew it was coming, so it is not really anything different.
UDK - I saw you are a captain this year. It is you and fellow juniors Angel Goodrich and Monica Engelman. What worked for you guys as captains last year?
CD - I feel that we showed our leadership on and off the court by doing the right things and helping our teammates when they needed help, playing at a high level, pushing our teammates to play at a high level and essentially just leading them at practice.
UDK - Do you work outside of practice on what you are going to do or does it just flow for you guys?
CD - We talk about different things, like if we need to work on something as a team or if we see things at practice that we are struggling on. Monica and Angel will take the guards and I will take the post players. Aishah does a lot too. She does not have the title, but she is a leader for us as our only senior. We get together when we want to have pickup time or team outings to go see a movie or get dinner. We try to stay as close as possible.
UDK - For the second year in a row, you are a young team with five freshmen. I would assume you have a little bit of a job wrangling them in these first few weeks.
CD - It was funny to have to deal with basically the same summer again: teaching them the ropes and getting them in the gym. It is fun, though, because young players are eager to learn and it is a great group of freshmen that love to get better.
UDK - You guys had some turnover with seniors and transfers. How are you filling those positions?
CD - We have a great group of returners that will do a good job and we have five freshmen, so essentially two or three of them will be playing big minutes. Right now everyone is fighting for those minutes and, with those practices we had in the summer, that was a good chance for the coaches to see what they could bring to us and they were fresh. They did not really know a lot, but it was good to see that they will be willing to learn and try new things. It is good for us because we need players out there that other teams have not seen. They are raw, so they are going to get out there and do what they can.
UDK - You have seen several practices so far. What has impressed you about this class so far?
CD - Fiesty. They are scrappy. They want to get out there and play. It is fun because it is not as structured. They just play and want to have fun. We play in transition and that is where we thrive. We brought in five players who can do that, too, so we added on to what we already have.
CD - Discipline. A lot of times we did not finish games and that is what hurt us in the beginning, like losing to Texas Tech after having a big lead and even the loss to Michigan in preseason. It was just the little things and not showing up for games, and I think when we come to play, we win games. We need to come into every game ready to play, ready to win and not playing down to our competition, if that is the case. That comes with discipline. we need to go in and not focus on the other team as much.
UDK - What do you guys think you need to make that jump to the NCAA Tournament after four years in the WNIT?
UDK - You guys have a tough schedule coming up where you face difficult teams in non-conference and play Big 12 South schools twice. What was your reaction when you saw the schedule?
CD - As far as the Big 12, I was excited. It is always good to play them twice. When you play them once and you lose, you think: "If we had one more chance we would beat them," and now we have that second chance to redeem ourselves and show that the North can compete with the South. As for non-conference, we need a challenge. We need to be ready for conference play.
UDK - The conference has a lot
CD - It is me, Aishah and Tania's job to compete with them and push them in practice to get them ready for the teams we play. We need to compete really hard in practice and that will get us ready.
of really powerful forwards. How are you preparing the young forwards?
UDK - I know you guys just got back from Italy, so what is next on the schedule?
forward to for your junior season.
CD - We want to get over that barrier and get to the Tournament, not the NIT, and place higher in the conference. We have been placing in the middle and we are only a couple of games off. It is frustrating, but a good frustrating where we want this year to be different.
I am sure no one wants to lose anymore.
CD - The coaches gave us a week off to rest, but we are going to play pickup a couple of times this week. A couple of the girls went and played at the student recreation center earlier in the week. Next week we will start in the weight room and do some individual workouts.
Edited by Sarah McCabe
UDK - What are you looking forward to for your junior season?
Memorial Stadium's crowd to its feet.
Kale Pick — A player who had never played receiver in his life, will be in the starting rotation at receiver all season.
FOOTBALL 110
Playing receiver in the final two games of last season, Pick caught three passes for 18 yards. While the numbers aren't big, Pick did raise some eyebrows, enough so that the coaching staff thought it was worth it to make the move full time.
The lack of experience could hurt Matthews early in the year, but he should improve accordingly, as the young team comes of age during the season.
Wide receiver Chris Omigie is tackled by a Missouri defender after making a catch.
Omigie hopes to crack the startline up by the end of the season.
At 6-1, 208 pounds, Pick has decent size to go along with a 4.5 forty time. His time at quarterback has helped him make the transition quicker; as he already knows the routes he has to run.
While no one has seen Matthews on a consistent basis, his 53-yard touchdown catch in a spring game helped show fans his big-play capabilities once again.
Matthews has shown small flashes of being a big-time player for Kansas, but it's yet to be seen if he can do it against the tough competition of the Big 12.
He's got decent size at 6-1, 186 pounds and runs a 4.6 forty, making him an all-around threat on the field.
Another advantage Pick has at receiver is his superior knowledge of reading a defense and anticipating what they are going to be doing. He can make his read and find a spot in a defenses zone better, or recognize man coverage and respond accordingly.
Something that made the transition take a little more time is the blocking aspect of receiving. As a player who has never had to block before, Pick had to work extra-hard at learning blocking, starting from the ground up. He says he's caught up now, and with wide receiver coach David Beaty running the show, Pick wouldn't be playing if he wasn't telling the truth, seeing as you don't play for Beaty unless you block.
Matthews is one of the least experienced receivers on the team, but before the start of fall camp, he was slated as one of the starters on this year's team.
Chris Omigie — It's time to put the 6-4, 194-pound sophomore's talents on display, as Omigie was a big recruit for Kansas out of high school. Omigie chose Kansas over offers from Iowa, Ole Miss, and Nebraska.
A reserve last year, the sophomore out of Arlington, Texas played in eight games, catching one pass — a 41-yard touchdown catch against New Mexico State.
Christian Matthews — Another converted quarterback, this time out of high school, Matthews brings big time athleticism to the position.
JERRY WANG/KANSAN
He's worked his way up the depth chart in practice and has made a natural transition to the new spot.
As a freshman last year.
Omigie started the final two games of the season and played in all 10 with seven catches for 73 vards.
Omigie will be on the field more often this season and will be one of the top targets for Webb this year. He's the tallest of the projected receivers to get frequent playing time and brings big-time athleticism along with the height.
Omigie is currently sitting behind Christian Matthews, another unproven yet talented receiver on the depth chart. This should make for an interesting competition between the two as the year goes on.
If Omigie can play up to his potential, it wouldn't be shocking to see him crack the starting lineup by the end of the year.
D. J. Beshears — Doing a little bit of everything has made Beshears the team's utility man in the past. He'll still be doing a lot in 2011, but he has cut down his responsibilities a bit.
Playing as a kick-returner, receiver, and running back last year, spread out Beshears' talents. He started three games at running back and finished third on the team in rushing with 213 yards on 55 carries. At receiver, he caught 10 passes for 69 yards.
The coaching staff decided
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He has some bowling ball characteristics to him, as he's 5-9, 185 pounds. He has big time potential to make big gains after he makes the catch, as it will be hard for most players in the secondary to bring Beshees down.
He is a wild-card addition the receivers this year, as no one has seen him play receiver full-time. The coaches must see something they like from Beshears catching the ball and they'll try to take advantage of his talents this year.
Beshears is a dark horse to potentially be one of the top receivers at Kansas this year.
Edited by Josh Kantor
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