THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5.2012
RETURN OF THE JAYHAWKS
PHOG WARS
PAGE 3
"I'm excited, I like our guys," Self said. "We have great experience with our senior class, they've been through a lot of battles and then we have a lot of puppies, seven freshmen. I think it will be a good team in time."
The biggest challenge facing the most recent installment of the Jayhawk franchise will be replacing the leadership and scoring lost with the departures of national player of the year candidate Thomas Robinson and four-year starter Tyshawn Taylor.
Last season the Taylor-Robinson duo led the Jayhawk star fleet, accounting for 46.3 percent of the Jayhawks scoring.
" (Thomas) gave us an air of toughness
that made other players think that they were tough and fierce because he led by example," Self said. "That's something we've got to get our guys to buy into."
The backcourt returns two of its starters from last season's run to the title game in fifth year senior and jack-of-all trades Travis Releford and a former five-star recruit Elijah Johnson, who patiently waited behind others for his chance to lead.
"Yeah, I think (the tournament success) helps, and me being an upper classman is one of the reasons they look up and listen to me." Releford said. "And I've been here five years, so I kind of know a bunch about how coach wants things to go about around
here."
The front court will also rely on a pair of seniors for leadership. Kevin Young is a high-energy player, who spent most of last year as a spark off the bench.
The other, center Jeff Withey made great strides last season, emerging as one of the top defenders in the nation down low, but his offense was inconsistent despite benefiting greatly from the presence of Robinson.
"I'm definitely going into this season with a different mindset than I did last year where I was just focused on not being the weak link in the team," Withey said. "This year I just want to be more aggressive both offensively and defensively."
Despite the heavy toll the losses of Robinson and Taylor will have on the team, the other Big 12 coaches unanimously picked the Jayhawks to repeat and win the league for a ninth consecutive season.
And nationally, the sentiment is the same, with Kansas starting the season ranked seventh in the nation in both the AP and the Coaches poll.
"I feel like even when we didn't get picked, we still had a target on our back," Releford said. "A lot of teams want to come out and beat us. But this year, same goals we have every year since I've been here to win the Big 12 and try to get a good seed to make a good run in the tournament."
Whether this team fulfills the premonitions of the Big 12 coaches and the polls rests in how the group of seniors handles their time as the leaders of the Jayhawks, and how they help the younger players develop as they make the transition to college basketball.
"I don't think there's a jubilation that goes with winning the league that you would anticipate with our guys, because I think they take the approach that this is their job," Self said.
Edited by Ryan McCarthey
BASKETBALL
Camping rules to change in early November
IALLISON KITE
kallison@kansan.com
Student camping rules for basketball games could change after the first regular season home game at a meeting on Nov.10.
The tradition of camping adds to the one-of-a-kind basketball experience of the Jayhawk community. However, the rules of camping can be confusing and frustrating, especially for freshmen. Students, including Trey Johnson, a senior from Leesburg, Va., run camping. Johnson helps organize camping and supervise the lottery.
Lotteries take place at 6 a.m. the day after a home game. Groups must have at least five students to qualify for the main lottery, but the groups cannot be larger than thirty members. Having larger groups gives students an advantage because students are granted one draw for the lottery for every five group members. According to Johnson, "The lottery sets up camping, and the order of the camping list." The camping list determines the order that the groups will get to choose their seats on gameday.
The process is full of rules and requirements to make it to game-day.
"We're going to all file into the gym and sit down in the bleachers behind the basket, and then you'll have your groups signed up and I'll start calling roll. And everyone will draw a number." Johnson said.
Students draw numbers that represent their place in line for seating at the next home game. However, following the lottery, students must maintain their position by camping. According to Johnson, the number of days and time spent camping will be determined by how many groups are camping and when the next home game is. The larger games, for which seats are more in demand, camping may last from one home game until the next. For smaller games, it may be cut short. Students can also choose to stop camping if there is an unanimous vote to cancel the rest of the camping process for that game.
However, while camping is going on, students must have a group member present at all times. During the week, there must be a member of the group at the camping post from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. On the weekends, someone must be present between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Roll can be called for the camping groups at any given time throughout the process. If a group member is not present or if they do not announce their presence, the group will be eliminated from the overall camping list.
On gameday, students can bring 15 group members at one time and save seats for the remaining members. "If the game is at 7, KU Athletics people will pass out laminated numbers at 4" Johnson said. Student camping groups must arrive at Allen Fieldhouse three hours prior to game time.
According to Johnson, on Nov. 10, "After the first regular season home game, which is Nov. 9, are going to have a rule meeting and a vote and an official rule set put together." Students who wish to learn more about camping or take part in the vote should attend this meeting.
Edited by Laken Rapier
ANNA FALTERMEIER/KANSAN Irina Yaknis, a sophomore from Overland Park, talks on the phone while camping out for her group in Allen Fieldhouse Monday evening.
ANNA FALTERMEIER/KANSAN group in Allen Fieldhouse Monday
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