THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 54
THURSDAY AUGUST 16,2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FALL SPORTS
2012-2013 Non-Conference Basketball Schedule
Oct. 30 - Emporia State, Lawrence (Exhibition)
Nov. 5 - Washburn, Lawrence (Exhibition)
Nov. 9 - Southeast Missouri State, Lawrence
Nov. 13 - Michigan State, Atlanta (Champions Classic)
Nov. 16 - UT Chattanooga, Lawrence
Nov. 16 - UT Chattanooga, Lawrence
Nov. 19 - Washington State, Kansas City,
Mo. (Sprint Center CBE)
Nov. 20 - St. Louis/Texas A&M, Kansas City Mo (Sprint Center CBE)
Nov. 26 - San Jose State, Lawrence
Nov. 30 - Oregon State, Kansas City, Mo.
(Sprint Center)
Dec. 8 - Colorado, Lawrence
Dec. 15 - Belmont, Lawrence
Dec. 18 - Richmond, Lawrence
Dec. 22 - at Ohio State, Columbus, Ohio
Dec. 23 - at Ohio State, Columbus, Ohio
Dec. 29 - American University, Lawrence
Jan. 6 - Temple, Lawrence
FRESH FACES
VIRAJ AMIN
vamin@kansan.com
While the men's basketball team has a few familiar faces returning to the court, freshman will play a bigger role this season. Anrio Adams, Milton Doyle, and Andrew White discuss how they became Jayhawks and what they expect from their first season in Lawrence.
Anrio Adams
The decision for Anrio Adams to play basketball at the University of Kansas was easy for the freshmen from Seattle. The difficult part for Adams was becoming academically eligible in the last six months.
The 6-foot-3-inch guard attended three different high schools in Washington, and at one point was supposed to join St. Patricks (N.J.) his senior year but ended up finishing his high school career at Rainer Beach in Seattle.
"Hard work and dedication," Adams said. "It was on me if I wanted to be here or not. So I worked as hard as I could.
"The toughest part for me was politics. A lot of people that shake your hand you don't know are working against you. I didn't realize it until I went back home."
Adams, who prefers to be called 'Rio, is the godson of Bull Stewart, who is the father of former Kansas guard Rodrick Stewart.
Adams said Rodrick told him
about the family atmosphere at Kansas, how tradition rich the school was and, of course, about the passion of the fans in Lawrence.
"You can't really beat it," Adams said. "It's a basketball state, and this is where I wanted to be."
Rainer Beach has a long history of producing basketball talent, not only at the collegiate level but also in the NBA. Players such as Ryan Anderson, Doug Christie, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, Lodrick Stewart, Rodrick Stewart and C.J. Giles all came from Rainer Beach.
Kansas head coach Bill Self said Adams has a chance to be special.
"I really think Anrio, based on what we've been told and what we've seen, has a chance to be one of the very best ones to come out of there." Self said. "He's capable of being an elite guard."
Last season, Adams was named the Associated Press 3A state player of the year in Washington. Adams had offers from Arizona, Washington and Washington St. among other schools but committed to Kansas on Nov. 19.
"A lot of schools were involved in the Pac-12," Adams said. "I felt like I was a little bigger than the Pac-12. I mean, I didn't really want to stay home."
Adams will add depth to the Kansas backcourt and looks to be a prototypical combo guard in Self's offense.
"I think he can handle like a one, and he can score like a two," Self
Adams said all the hard work he has done off the court will only help him going forward.
said.
"I put a lot of emotion in the game because this is what I want," Adams said. "I love this game. It's gotten me this far. I'm hoping it continues to let me go further from here."
Milton Doyle
Incoming freshman guard, Milton Doyle, knew he wanted to play for Kansas.
Doyle, who de-committed from Florida International University after coach Isaiah Thomas was fired, re-opened his recruitment in the spring, but knew he wanted to play basketball in Lawrence even before taking an official visit.
"Basically I was sold before I came, knowing the history of Kansas." Doyle said. "Finally being here, I was able to put it together."
Doyle, a 6-foot-4-inch, 175 pound guard from Chicago, mainly played point guard in high school, but Coach Bill Self sees Doyle as a combo guard.
"I do think he can play some point," Self said. "I think there's a difference in being a point guard and being able to play some point. The way we play, whoever gets it brings it. Tyshawn (Taylor) wasn't a true point, at least the way we played. Elijah (Johnson) is not a true point. We've got a lot of combo guards. He'll be one of those combo guards."
Kansas Football 2012 Schedule
DATE
OPPONENT
Sept. 1
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Rice
Oct. 20
Oct. 6
Oct.13
TCU
Oct.27
Northern Illinois
Source: KUAthletics.com
Nov. 3
Oklahoma State
Kansas State
Nov.10
Nov.17
Dec. 1
Oklahoma
Texas
Baylor
Texas Tech
Iowa State
West Virginia
Self said Doyle, who averaged 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals per game his senior season, could earn playing time this season.
"He is a good athlete, has great length," Self said. "He has to get stronger, which is natural for all freshmen. He probably has to get where his stroke is a little more consistent. We have minutes to be earned back there from a depth standpoint. He should provide us extra depth, no question."
Doyle said he was happy to be settling in Lawrence when he arrive in late June.
"It feels good to be here," Doyle said. "It feels good to finally workout, be around the team and be around the guys. They welcomed me in good. It felt like I was already a part of the team from the beginning."
Andrew White
Freshman Andrew White prides himself on shooting the ball. From Paul Pierce to Brandon Rush and more recently Xavier Henry, the 6-foot-6-inch small forward from Virginia looks to continue the lineage of great shooters in the small forward position.
While White says his strength is shooting the ball, he understands he still needs to work on parts of his game.
"I still need to work on creating my own shot, getting better footwork and just getting stronger for the next level," White said.
Senior Travis Releford will likely retain his starting spot at small forward, and freshman Ben McLemore could also see playing time at the 3. White says he will have to earn playing time heading into next season.
"I would hope I have an opportunity to earn some minutes; I don't want to make any promises," White said.
"I'm going to have to earn playing time in practice"
As the summer has heated up, so has the competition on the court. White says the upperclassmen have been pushing the young Hawks to get better every day.
"The competition during practice has been very intense, high speed and high energy." White said. "I think I have been handling it very well.
"The older guys don't take it easy on us and I wouldn't want it any other way because I want to progress and continue to get better."
Edited by Megan Hinman