Mondav. March 4, 2013
Volume 125 Issue 82
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
E PHOTO
en Field-
orned
COMMENTARY
Steadfast seniors to be honored
kansan.com
The night is finally here. The Kansas band dresses up in turndresses. Roses and
The Kansas band dresses up in tuxedos. Roses and framed jerseys are placed at the center of James Naismith Court. After the game, a microphone gets passed around to four different players to make their last few memories in Allen Fieldhouse.
Senior night for the Kansas men's basketball team is truly special.
Tears may be shed. Coach Bill Self might have to place a time limit on a speech.
Still, every senior has a chance to leave their mark.
The thing is, the four seniors not only have left a lasting impression with this program, but they exceed expectations.
Senior forward Kevin Young joined Kansas a few years ago. A transfer from Loyola-Marymount was undersized. A role player that was just supposed to relieve former forward Thomas Robinson when in foul trouble or keep the seat warm for freshman Perry Ellis.
He is the straw that stirs the Kansas drink. Diving after loose balls, getting offensive rebounds and slam dunking the ball all compliment the play of the other senior big man: Jeff Withey.
The 7-foot tall transfer from the University of Arizona was known as an athletic big man who needed some work. Withey wasn't big enough to bang down low in the post, fouled plenty, suffered injuries and lacked offensive prowess.
A big question before the season started was if Withey could control the paint after Thomas Robinson left.
Speaking of defense, senior guard Travis Releford seems like he's been at Kansas for more than five years.
The Kansas career shot-block leader answered that question with a performance worthy of a spot on the All-American first team. No other player will have drove of students forming their hands into a "W" after a block.
Releford played right away as a freshman and showed his defensive capabilities, but he had no shot-making ability and was constantly in Self's doghouse.
Surely Kansas couldn't succeed this season if * only had two shooters that could make jumpshots.
And then there is the fascinating story of senior guard Eliah Johnson.
Johnson always had the ability to be a great player, but early in his career transferring was a rumored option. After coming off a knee injury and a strong NCAA tournament run, fans had high expectations for the leader.
No longer does Kansas have to worry about those problems, as Releford has developed into one of the most efficient scorers in the nation. Releford is still one of the best defenders, but he compliments the defense with his terrific transition offense.
The same guard who yelled, "Put your shoes on" after sinking a full court shot struggled to find his groove during Big 12 play and took the criticism from everyone.
That all changed after the most clutch road performance against Iowa State in which he scored 20 points in the last 5.32 regulation and overtime.
The road is never easy when under the spotlight of a dominant basketball program.
Still, these four players never gave excuses. Instead, they kept working and left memories that will never be forgotten.
Thanks for your hard work, seniors. You might forget us, but we will never forget you.
— Edited by Julie Etzier
SCORING WITH SENIORITY
TRYING FOR 1,000
Releford proves his scoring ability, within reach of 1,000-point goal
Kansas coach Bill Self yells formation to his players before senior guard Travis Reeford throws the ball in bound during the game against West Virginia on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks defeated the Mountaineers 91-65.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
Senior guard Travis Telefoon thinks it was at the postseason banquet after his second year, which he redshirts, that coach Belf Sand told him something that surprised him.
He only had 86 points to his name as a jayhawk, but Self told Releford that he could reach 1,000 points in his Kansas career.
"I was just like, wow, that crazy to think that I can accomplish that," Releford said. "From that point on, I knew he had faith in me."
As he prepares to play his final home game Monday at 6 p.m. against Texas Tech, Releford owns the most career points in a Kansas uniform by any of the four members of Kansas' senior class.
Releford has 880 career points, five more than senior point guard Elijah Johnson. Senior forward Kevin Young has 1,004 points, but 658 of them came at Loyola Marymount before he transferred to Kansas.
About three years after Self made his prediction to Releford, the senior finds himself within reach of 1,000 points. He's averaging 12.2 points per game this season. If Kansas makes it to the Big 12 Tournament final and the NCAA Tournament final, Releford can reach 1,000 points by averaging exactly 12 points per game over that span, starting tonight.
While Releford said he always felt he had the talent to reach 1,000 points, he didn't believe Self when he told Releford he could reach the benchmark.
"I mean, not really I didn't because it was like how can I get that many points if I'm not playing?" Releford said. "I was young when I heard him say that so it was just like, what, you think I can get that? I always felt that I could go and play and maybe reach and get 1,000 points. But at the time when he said that I wasn't playing much so it kind of confused me."
Releford had plenty of reason to doubt Self at the time. He averaged seven minutes per game as a freshman, and decided to redshift in 2009-2010 because there weren't going to be any minutes available
for him with the addition of swingman freshman Xavier Henry.
But even entering his sophomore season in 2010, he had to wait behind a stacked rotation of guards, averaging only 3.6 minutes per game.
When Kansas lost Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed, Josh Selby and Mario Little, among other guards and swingmen, before Releford's junior campaign last year, he finally had the opportunity to begin to prove Self right, and show the fans why he never let the idea of transferring become more than just brief flickers across his mind.
"I think it would have crossed any kid's mind in my situation," Releford said. "But I told myself coming into school that if I had to sit out or didn't play as much as I wanted to I'm going to prove to the coach, to myself that I belong here."
He's more than proved himself this year. Releford has scored in double figures in 22 of 29 games this season, and his 12.2 points per game are third-best on the team. He's shooting 59 percent from the field, the best in the Big 12 Conference. Discounting his 0-11 streak from 3-point range in the first three games of the season, he is making 51 percent of his 3-point attempts.
"Travis has been better than what I even thought he would be." Self said. "He's been great, as evidenced the other night the way he played in Ames. He was fabulous."
That night in Ames, one week ago today, Releford contributed 19 points on 6-12 shooting, including 5-9 from 3-point range. In the final 11 minutes of regulation, Releford showed how valuable his versatility is to Kansas.
He hit a 3-pointer and missed another, but then got the assist when the Jayhawks got the offensive rebound and he passed it to senior guard Elijah Johnson for a 3-pointer. He assisted on another Johnson 3-pointer, and hit two free throws after rebounding his own missed shot and drawing a foul.
else. I think he gives us an element of toughness probably as good as
"He's probably the personality of our team more than anybody else," Self said. "He's probably the glue to our team as much as anybody
that a lot of teams weren't able to do. Although we've had three or four lottery picks on certain teams I think that this team can do something that we haven't been able to do before."
"I think this is a special group," Johnson said. "Not the most talented, but definitely probably one of the toughest. I think that we can go far. I think we can do something
— or better than — anybody else. He's as valuable to our team as any of the guys we've had on our team without question."
It's probably no surprise, then, that Releford is part of what Johnson called the toughest group he's been a part of at Kansas.
The Jayhawks will honor Releford and the other three seniors' value Monday night after playing the Red Raiders in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
Although Kansas can usually count on Releford for a consistent basketball performance night in and night out, he said he has no
idea what he'll say during his senior speech. But he isn't trying to compete with Wayne Simien's 25-minute Senior Day speech in 2005.
"I think I'm going to break the record for the shortest speech ever because I don't like doing all the talking," Releford said. "It's just going to be a fun, fun, fun, fun game and fun environment to be in."
Edited by Tara Bryant
BASEBALL
Jayhawks go 2-2 against Eastern Michigan
FARZIN VOUSOUGHIAN
fvousoughian@kansan.com
After sweeping Eastern Michigan in a doubleheader on Saturday, Kansas fell behind early on Sunday and had to play catch up the entire game in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Kansas sophomore pitcher Drew Morovick, who filled in for senior Tanner Poppe, got off to a good start with three strikeouts in two innings. But the tide shifted after he got into a jam in the second inning and could not control batters early in the fifth innning.
"I thought when he had the ball in the zone, he was really good," Kansas coach Ritch Price said. "He just kind of got out of the rhythm and couldn't find his release on it. That got him into a lot of trouble."
Morovick, who was charged with his first loss of the season, allowed seven hits and four runs. He was pulled in the fifth inning.
but that did not stop the Eagles' offence from hitting a stride.
Kansas allowed a season-high 11 runs in Sunday's loss. The Jayhawks tried to respond on offense, but faced problems of its own as Eastern Michigan sophomore pitcher Paul Schaak finished with six strikeouts in nearly five innings.
But the opportunities were there for the Jayhawks. They scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it a two-run game going into the seventh inning. In the end, Kansas left as many as 10 players on base, but was limited in its attempt to comeback.
After going 2-2 on the series, Kansas is now 6-5 on the season with all of its games this season
"We had our stances with guys in scoring position," senior third baseman Jordan Dreiling said. "We were maybe a couple of clutch hits away from tying the game up and putting us in a good position to win, but our offense struggled."
being on the road. Kansas used five pitchers from the bulpen and had to put sophomore right fielder Dakota Smith as a pitcher in the ninth inning.
Price said that in the four games the team played, there were two innings total from this weekend that set them back and allowed Eastern Michigan to prevail. Those two innings cost Kansas two victories; now the Jayhawks are looking to play better at home.
Edited by Elise Reuter
After having to push back its home opener the past two weekends due to winter weather, Kansas expects to host its first game at Hoglund Ballpark on Thursday against Niagara in a four-game series.
"Wed like to come out with at least three wins," Drreiling said. "We need to get after this week, then get ready for Big 12 play."
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior infielder, Jordan Drolling, from Lawrence, tags his Agile opponent at second base during the Kansas Jayhawk's game against Texas Tech.