THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012
FOOTBALL
PAGE 3C
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
The 2012 Kansas football team stretches before its open practice Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.
Fans get first peek at team
FARZIN VOUSOUGHIAN
fvousougian@kansan.com
The Kansas Jayhawks took to Memorial Stadium early Saturday morning, ready to practice on Fan Appreciation Day. Fans were in attendance and excited to see what the Jayhawks look like with Charlie Weis as the new head coach. Throughout scrimmage, fans could not help but like what they saw on the field out of the Jayhawks.
For every big play, Kansas fans cheered their team on, showing their excitement during practice as they wait for the season opener in three weeks against South Dakota State.
Freshman wide receiver and kick returner Tre Parmalee was a standout during Fan Appreciation Day. The biggest thing fans took away from Saturday's practice was Parmalee's speed and agility.
Parmalee caught a short pass from sophomore quarterback Turner Baty. Parmalee managed to turn the short reception into a touchdown play by dodging his defender and using his breakaway speed to reach the end zone. Parmalee said showed off his quickness again, putting fans on their feet with two kick return touchdowns during special teams practice.
"I're turned into a great football player," senior quarterback Dayne Crist said. "He's incredibly motivated as a freshman who is not scared to compete. He's coming in with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder and trying to make his case that he should be playing. That's great and we encourage that. He's done a great job so far and I've been impressed by him."
Following practice, Crist Iod his team to the 50-yard line, standing before the crowd in attendance and performed the Alma Mater in uniform with the fans. Shortly afterwards, the Jayhawks welcomed fans onto the field to sign autographs for 30 minutes.
While Crist continues to prepare, he gets his first big taste of the welcoming Kansas fans.
"It's exciting and it's flattering."
"The people here are so warm to everyone and receptive to myself and the team," he said. "It's great and it's encouraging. We play for them."
in Lawrence and enjoys the positive remarks he has received from his new fans.
FOOTBALL 2012 CAPTAINS
With tables setup on the track at Memorial Stadium, Crist had the biggest line with many fans thrilled to meet and greet him for the first time. Crist feels very comfort-
Crist said. "I feel bad that I was not able to get to everyone that came out today because I am really appreciative of them for coming out and for being around today."
Hawkinson
Odurum
Edited by Rvan McCarthy
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
"He was very blunt, very straight forward," Quinn said. "A lot of us knew that was going to be his coaching style. As I started to get to know him, he started teaching the playbook. You understood how smart he was and how good of a teacher he was. He was able to walk into a room, take an NFL offense and teach it to guys who are in college."
Weis continues to keep a close relationship with some of his past.
Coach Charlie Weis watches open practice from the end zone Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.
Although current Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn was never under Weis' guidance in the professional ranks, he played two seasons under Weis at Notre Dame before entering the NFL draft in 2007. Quinn was impressed with Weis during his first encounter and was pleased with his coaching abilities.
WEIS FROM PAGE 1C
know that he can turn the Jayhawks around.
This isn't the first time in recent memory Weis has been near the Jayhawks. In 2010, he was the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs.
players, Quinn being one of them.
Quinn, who now considers his former coach a friend, wants to open up his schedule on Saturday and catch Weis and the Jayhawks.
With Sept. 1 around the corner, Weis wants his football team to come out strong. The game against South Dakota State will be his first game as a head coach since Nov. 28, 2008, and he has waited a long time for another shot at being a head coach.
"He is someone who is a friend now more than anything else," Quinn said. "I'm a big supporter of him and I'm a believer in him as a coach. If I have an opportunity to go out there, I'll definitely make sure to go visit him. If one of those days I'll be able to, I'll try to go see a game."
Weis' past success with players in the NFL and in college has earned him the trust of his players and the hope that it translates into improvement this season.
"I've been antty to get back to work," he said. "It's time to go to work."
EUROPE FROM PAGE 1C
Edited by Ryan McCarthy
The 2011-12 Big 12 defensive player of the year also led the Jayhawks by grabbing 12 rebounds.
GAME 2: KANSAS 83,
SWISS NATIONAL TEAM 79
Young tied the score at 79 when he grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot by senior guard Eljiah Johnson and put it into the hoop.
For the second consecutive day, Young came up big for the Jayhawks in the closing minutes of the game.
White followed up his 10-point effort from the night before by leading all Kansas players with
16 points in the victory. Only two other Kansas players, Johnson and Withey, scored double-digits in both games. Withey's 10 points and 10 rebounds gave him his second double-double of the trip.
The Jayhawks grabbed a late, one-point lead 73-72 over AMW when Young dunked the ball with 22 seconds left, but Kansas couldn't hold on as AMW's Antoine Diot made two free throws with 6.1 seconds left to get the victory.
Young then slammed home a dunk on the jayhawks' next possession, a fast break caused by a Withey block with the assist going to senior guard Travis Releford. Six of Young's 12 points came in the home stretch as he helped Coach Bill Self win his 41st straight exhibition game and helped him improve to 27-0 coaching the Jayhawks.
Kansas entered the second half of the game with a two point lead, but AMW came out hot and the Jayhawks found themselves down 10 in the third quarter before they fought back to make it a game again.
Releford led the Jayhaws with 10 points, freshman guard Perry Ellis, sophomore guard Nadir Tharpe, and Withey each added eight points of their own in the contest.
GAME 3: AMW FRANCE 74,
KANSAS 73
The game was the first of the
The loss was Self's first at Kansas in an exhibition game.
Sophomore quarterback Turner Baty passes to sophomore wide receiver Connor Embree in open practice on Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium.
TARA RRYANT/KANSAN
trip that Withey failed to record a double-double.
GAME 4: AMW FRANCE 79,
KANSAS 60
Ellis led the Jayhawks with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough, as a young Jayhawk squad could not keep up with the French professionals.
The Jayhawks played without four of their regulars as Self decided to sit a trio of seniors, Withey, Johnson, and Releford to give younger players more time on the court.
Freshman guard Ben McLemore also sat out the game because he is still recovering from an injury.
The Jayhawks had a 34-31 lead entering halftime, but a 10-2 run by AMW in the fourth quarter proved to be too much for the Jayhawks to overcome.
White continued to play well on the European tour; he scored 15 points in the final contest of the trip.
Edited by Vikaas Shanker
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