B14
CHAMPIONSHIPS BY THE DOZEN
KANSAN.COM
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Junior Jessica Washington dribbles down the lane during Late Night in the Phog. Baxter Semantize/RANS
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
Ashleu Hocking/KANSAN
Anthony Hocking/KANSAS Redshirt sophomore guard McKenzie Calvert handles the ball against Fort Hays State. Kansas won 98-71.
Calvert, Washington aim to put KU back on track
▶ JARED ANDERSON
@jAnderson_383
While Jessica Washington was listening to Young Thug before games on Kansas' European tour this past summer, McKenzie Calvert was coloring.
"I actually have to color sometimes before games, because I am too amped up," Calvert said. "I can't really listen to fast music or I'll go out there and get four fouls right away."
Regardless of how these two prepare for their games, Calvert and Washington know how to excel on the hardwood and hope to elevate the Kansas women's basketball team to success this year.
Kansas has drastically under-performed during the past two seasons. Due to its poor play, Kansas is projected to finish last in the Big 12 preseason rankings for the second straight year. The team went 0-18 in the Big 12 during the 2015-16 season and, as a result, finished with a 6-25 record.
During his first two
years as head coach, Brandon Schneider has been on a mission to bring in prized recruits to Kansas and improve the team's performance.
In his second season as head coach, he has done just that by bringing in Washington from North Carolina and Calvert from Southern California.
In her senior year of high school, Calvert was the No.15 overall recruit in the ESPN HoopGurlz rankings. Washington was the No.14 overall recruit in 2013 and is the second McDonald's All-American women's basketball player to ever attend Kansas.
Now that the two guards have both sat out a season due to NCAA rules, they are tasked with producing for Kansas in 2016-17.
This summer, on the team's European tour, when Calvert and Washington got their first opportunity to play, the Kansas women's basketball team went 4-0 while averaging 93 points per game. Although the competition may not have been the strongest, coach
Brandon Schneider said it was important to give them an early chance to work with the team.
"[Calvert and Washington] spent the entire season last year kind of working into things, but I thought they had really good summers," Schneider said. "I feel like they have a lot of experience already, even though it hasn't been on the court here in Allen Fieldhouse."
With the additions of these two players, Schneider said the style of play the Kansas team brings to the floor will change from last season.
"The pace that we play with will be quite a bit different, you know when you talk about [Washington] she's going to play some point guard and I think that we can move her off the ball a little bit too," Schneider said. "[McKenzie Calvert] can really score in a lot of different ways and I'm hopeful that McKenzie, maybe along with Aisia Robertson, will be two of our better on-ball defenders."
With both players watching the games from the bench last season, Calvert and Washington have formed a bond both on and off the court.
Everybody has a role and everybody has to play their role in order for us to be successful."
McKenzie Calvert Redshirt sophomore guard-
"We are attached at the hip, we work out together, we go to the gym together, we make sure we're on each other with our academics. We're in a lot of the same classes, so we are close, but we always make sure are teammates are included in what we do," Calvert said.
The hype surrounding Calvert and Washington has been sizable. Even with these high expectations, Calvert insists that it isn't about two players; it's about a team.
"At times it's overwhelming, because people are like
'Oh [McKenzie Calvert] and [Jessica Washington]', but we make sure to always tell everybody that it's not the 'Kenzie and Jess' show," Calvert said. "Yes we're here, yes we were ranked in high school, yes we're highly noted, but we're not going to win a single game without 13 other people on the team, everybody has a role and everybody has to play their role in order for us to be successful."
"When a lot of recruits come here, they know Coach Brandon is capable of bringing in top talent and that this isn't a place you should shy away from," Calvert said.
Calvert and Washington both hope to start winning games at Kansas. One of the reasons why they believe it will happen is because of the coaching staff's recruiting ability.
Schneider's sincerity, along with the addition of Calvert, is what ultimately led Washington to transfer to Kansas.
"I felt that the coaching staff was very genuine when they were recruiting me and
I also knew that when I took my visit here, I felt very comfortable with the girls on the team," Washington said. "[McKenzie Calvert was also a big part of me coming here too," she added.
Kansas is hopeful to land some more top recruits in November, but for now Calvert and Washington are focused on playing their first games in Allen Fieldhouse.
"I just want to come out and perform the way I know how to perform," Washington said. "The progress we've made is crazy."
Calvert, on the other hand, has been counting down the days.
"I made my own countdown in the locker room,' Calvert said. "It's amazing to see how hungry our whole team is ... It's al about basketball here at Kansas."
Calvert and Washington will make their regular season debuts on Sunday, Nov 13 against Missouri State.
Schneider creates family atmosphere for his team
Brandon Schneider, women's basketball coach.
File Photo/KANSAN
▶ MATT HOFFMANN
@MattHoffmannUDK
It must have been interesting to hear Kansas women's basketball coach Brandon Schneider tell his contractors that he wanted his new house to be able to regularly accommodate more than 20 people.
Now his house in Lawrence is finished and team members routinely drop by unannounced to work on homework, do their laundry, swim in the pool and
get home cooking from Schneider's wife, Ali.
"I finally have a house," the coach said. "I was living in an apartment all last year so the team wasn't coming over."
"They're over all the time, whether a recruit is in town or they just want to swim," he said.
Schneider's new home allows him to host his team more often than he has in the past.
Swimming is available for the players even when
Schneider isn't home. Transfer McKenzie Calvert described a time players came to visit one hot summer day.
"I was like, 'Guys, it's so hot, we have to go swimming,'" Calvert said. "I called him and we got his dog out and went in the backyard and swam."
The kitchen is an integral part of the floor plan, too.
"[Mrs. Schneider's] sweet potatoes are my favorite," said Calvert, a redshirt sophomore guard. "I don't have to put brown sugar on them, usually I do but hers are just great."
The family atmosphere is a tradition, Schneider says, one that dates back to the teams his dad coached.
"We're always going to have that family atmosphere and that's something that I think was lacking last year," Schneider said.
"It's what I grew up with, being a coach's kid," he said. "Players were over all the time. There'd be times when I'd come home and I didn't even know the players were going to be there."
Schneider hopes that having a close-knit team
There's no saying for sure if Schneider's house will impact recruiting but it certainly can't hurt. Kansas hosted the No. 6 and No. 12 overall recruits in the nation for Late Night in the Phog. Another top 15 recruit in NaLyssa Smith recently narrowed her list
will allow them to be more successful this season.
down to nine teams, including Kansas.
"It's a really nice house so that's great for recruiting," senior forward Jada Brown said.
Schneider lives with his wife, Ali, two sons Cash and Cole and the family dog, but he has made it clear his team is also welcome.
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- Edited by Chandler
Boese
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