SPORTS
PETER L. BONDY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BILL SNYDER COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT
Kansas State to hold a morning press conference to announce the return of its former coach BIG 12 FOOTBALL|3B
JAYHAWKS FACE HUSKIES IN CBE CLASSIC PLAY TONIGHT
WWW.KANSAN.COM
The tournament continues as Kansas matches up with Washington in Kansas City tonight at 9 p.m. GAME DAY | 6B
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008
CBE CLASSIC
PAGE1B
Taylor to play a big role against UW
The freshman tries to fill the shoes of Mario Chalmers as starting guard
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Sherron Collins has noticed a change in Tyshawn Taylor since he arrived at Kansas five months ago.
Collins, a junior guard, wouldn't go as far as to call Taylor, a freshman guard, "scrawny" when he first moved to Lawrence. That might be a little too harsh. But Collins said he often joked around with Taylor about being "light."
Taylor never lifted weights much in high school. That changed, of course, when Taylor came to Kansas. Since he began working out with his teammates in the summer, Taylor has gone from weighing 165 pounds to 180. Collins says Taylor is proud of it. Too proud.
"He might be getting out of the shower, taking his shirt off, looking and flexing
a little bit, Collins said. "I'm just looking at him like, 'put your shirt back on'."
Taylor's stronger, but not quite burly. He's confident, but not quite cocky. Yes, a lot has changed for the Jersey City, N.J. guard since he committed to Kansas just weeks after it won the national championship in April.
He's transformed from a recruiting afterthought to the most hyped player of the class of seven jayhawk newcomers. The veterans on Kansas' roster don't like to single out one freshman as ahead of the rest of the class.
and speed that the Jayhawks don't have otherwise. He showed it all throughout the summer when he dominated in scrimimages and exhibition games with teammates.
"Tyshawn is really good," sophomore guard Brady Morningstar said. "I mean, they're all really good. But Tyshawn is quick, jumps real high and can handle the ball. He's the type of player you don't see a whole lot."
When asked who could impact the team the most, they try to answer politically and share positive traits about each one. But most of them mention Tyshawn Taylor first.
But Jayhawk fans should be seeing him plenty for the rest of the season, starting tonight when Kansas plays Washington at 9 p.m. at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Taylor broke into the starting lineup as a shooting guard during Kansas' second game of the season, an 85-45 victory against Florida Gulf Coast.
Kansas coach Bill Self said it was because Taylor brought an element of athletism
"Tyshawn (Taylor) is quick, jumps real high and can handle the ball. He's the type of player you don't see a whole lot."
An argument can be made that Taylor's role at Kansas is even more significant than the one he held last year at St. Anthony's High School in New Jersey. That's because the Friars were dominant.
He even scored 47 points in a Kansas City Pro-Amateur game. Taylor averaged 14 points during the team's three-game trip to Canada during Labor Day weekend. Although he hasn't broken out in either of the two regular season games with six points in each, Taylor isn't going to be short on chances.
BRADY MORNINGSTAR Sophomore guard
"He's got to play a big role as a freshman," Collins said. "I need him. We need him."
USA Today crowned them the high
school basketball national champions. Six Division I basketball players — Rutgers' Mike Rosario, Fordham's Jivanny Fontan and Alberto Estwick, Pittsburgh's Travon Woodall, St. Joseph's A.J. Rogers and Taylor — filled St. Anthony's roster.
With such a loaded roster, there were only
so many shots to go around. Taylor only averaged 10 points per game.
"That was his job," Self said. "He never played the third and fourth quarter for the most part largely in part to the score differential. But he's good."
He also committed early to Marquette and coach Tom Crean. When Crean left Marquette at the end of last season, the Golden Eagles let Taylor out of his letter of intent.
Three lajhawk underclassmen had just declared for the NBA Draft so self possessed scholarships to award. He offered one to Taylor. Taylor visited and knew he wanted to come to Kansas.
The nature of his high school team may have caused Taylor to be a bit overlooked. Rivals.com only ranked him as the 77th best player in the class — second lowest of Kansas' freshmen — and gave him four stars.
"Right now, I feel like I'm in the best situation." Taylor said. "I'm grateful for it."
And so is Self. Lately, Self spoke about
SEE TAYLOR ON PAGE 4B
**Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor glides between two UMKC defenders for a bucket during last Sunday's game at Allen Fieldhouse. The team plays Washington tonight in the CBE Classic and Florida or Syracuse tomorrow, giving the Jenkins javahawks their first major challenge.**
Jon Goering/KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Hawks prevail after slow start
Kansas wins against Saint Louis University despite sloppy first half
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
They missed shots. They made bad passes. They didn't grab rebounds. And Danielle McCray, their leading scorer, started just one of seven from the field.
The results weren't positive — an 18-10 deficit to Saint Louis University midway through the first half.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Playing a team picked to finish last in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the jayhawks didn't exactly have the flying takeoff that they had hoped for on Sunday afternoon.
"We were emotionally hungup or something," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "We weren't very good early."
But the Jayhawks soon woke up, storming back to take a 33-31 lead at the half, eventually beating the Billikens 75-56 at the Chaifetz Arena.
Playing without 6-foot-5 sophomore center Krysten Boogaard, who will miss two weeks with a stress reaction in her femur, the layhawks had just one offensive rebound in the first half and were out-rebounded 23-13 by the smaller Billikens
SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 5B
Contributed by Bryan Giacomoino / The University News (Saint Louis University)
Junior guard Kelly Kohn dribbles against the Billikens' defense during her team's victory on Sunday. The Hawks defeated their opponents 75-56.
Contributed by Ryan Giacomino / The University News (Saint Louis University)
VOLLEYBALL
Team finds small victories after its loss against Texas Improves defense, couldn't stop stampede
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe@kansan.com
When playing against teams such as Texas, it's hard not to try and find moral victories.
That is exactly what Kansas (12-15, 6-12) tried to do after Saturday night's three-set loss (25-18, 25-11, 27-25) to the No. 4 Longhorns (23-3, 16-2).
"If we can create that kind of level against Texas then we should create that level against anyone," Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington said of Kansas' effort in the third set.
Sadly set three was the only true competitive set of the match. Texas dominated sets one and two, hitting .389 for set one and an even better .478 in set two. Although Kansas did a stand-up job on junior All-American Destinee Hooker, holding her to only nine kills at a .111 percentage, other Longhorns had big days, like Juliann Faucette's match-high 14 kills.
"We did a pretty good job, probably as well as anyone's done all year (against Hooker)," coach Ray Beachard said. "Then Faucette had a big night."
It is those sort of small victories within
the match that Kansas can at least take with them into their final week of play. The Jayhawks also take a three match losing streak into next week. What they might not take with them is the strategy Bechard used against Texas. Bechard said he wanted to try to take away Texas' physicality and try to match up with their superior athletes. While it helped at moments defensively, for example against Hooker, it made Kansas out of sync on offense. Once Bechard returned to his normal system in set three, that's when Kansas became competitive.
But all is not lost in the players and coaches' minds. Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart understands her season is not over yet, and her last two matches still mean something.
"We want to go in and win both of them, that's what we want to do," she said. "That's what will satisfy us for this season."
Bechard also didn't sugarcoat the lajayhawk's post-season chances. Sitting at 6-12 in conference doesn't exactly stand out to the NCAA tournament selection committee.
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 5B
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