FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5,2004
BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
13B
Eventual successes hinge on recruits
Freshmen forwards Taylor McIntosh, left, and Jamie Boyd will try to transfer their high school skills to the Jayhawks this season.
Boyd, who was Miss Iowa Basketball last year, will add depth in the frontcourt, where McIntosh will join her after making a transition from the guard position.
Jared Soares/KANSAN
By PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWINTER
To start kicking around the Big 12 competition, Kansas women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson needs to recruit thoroughbred players.
"You can train the donkey all you want, but it's not going to win the Kentucky." Henrickson said.
For Kansas, the Kentucky Derby equivalent is an eventual run at a Big 12 Championship. A conference title could not seem further away for a team that finished 11th in league play and has not finished higher than ninth since 2000.
"A lot of times people bring in freshmen who may need to develop a year or two," said junior forward Crystal Kemp. "But the ones she has picked that I have seen look like they are ready to play."
The first step at changing the success of the program is changing the face of the recruiting class, and that mission is well under way.
Shortly after taking the job in April, Henrickson signed on her first recruit, freshman forward Jamie Boyd. In high school, Boyd was the recipient of the 2004 Miss Basketball Award in Iowa, the highest individual honor given in the state.
That same commitment has sent the coaching staff all over the country with a goal of filling between eight and 11 scholarship spots during the next two years. For Henrickson to meet her high recruiting ambitions, she does
"I was sold on the determination of Coach," Boyd said of her reasons for coming to Kansas.
not impose geographical restrictions on potential talent.
"If you can go east, why can't you go west?" Henrickson said. "If you can go north, you can go south."
In terms of building a broader recruiting base, Henrickson plans on borrowing a page from the men's book.
"There is a tremendous amount of talent in the south and west coast," she said. "And the men have had success in the west."
High school star to adapt
"Bill Self has been wonderful in our transition," Henrickson said. "He will meet with every recruit we have. Danny Manning has been fantastic as far as meeting people and families."
The women's program is also benefiting from the success of the men's program to boost name recognition, Henrickson said.
"When you look at our first two and three recruiting classes, that will be the biggest key for us." Henrickson said. "As you know, we are all better coaches with talent."
Recruiting in the same regions as Big 12 powerhouses such as Kansas State, the Jayhawks are looking for any edge available. It is a long road from an 11th place conference finish in 2003-2004 to a roster that Henrickson wants to be league champions within five years, and the influx of talent is critical to that development.
For Kansas' first-year coach, the race to get "thoroughbred" recruits has already started and Hendrickson wants it to produce rosy results.
— Edited by Neeley Spellmeier
BY FRANK TANKARD
ftankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITTER
Jamie Boyd knows she was good in high school.
The Jayhawks' 6-foot freshman forward was named Miss Iowa Basketball last year, won back-to-back state championships for Underwater High School, scored 1,920 points and grabbed 1,007 rebounds in her four years of high school.
She earned 14 letters in basketball, volleyball, softball, golf and track.
Now she has to adapt to a faster, more physical style of play, a new coach and a new city. Boyd views it as a challenge.
"I'm excited," she said. "But I'll definitely have to work at it."
Boyd is from Underwood, Iowa, a town of 700 people, 20 miles northeast of Omaha. Neb. It's a middle-class, hard-working town with one Lutheran church, a high school with about 250 students and a volunteer fire
department.
Boyd starred for the Underwood Eagles. She dominated the entire state of Iowa. In her senior season, she averaged 17.8 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game. Her rebound total ranks eighth all-time in the state and her almost 2,000-point total ranks 15th.
But her most precious memory of high school wasn't when she grabbed her 1,000th rebound or won Miss Basketball — the highest individual honor in the state — or being named to the all-state team three times.
It was leading Underwood to a 94-11 record in her four years and winning back-to-back class 2-A state titles her junior and senior seasons.
"We were a little school, and we kind of showed people that little schools can be just as good as big schools," she said.
In making the jump from high school to the Big 12, Boyd is going from being the most athletic player on her high school court to competing against the likes of Texas' preseason All-American, 6-3 sophomore Tiffany Jackson and preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, Kansas State's Kendra Wecker, 5-11 senior forward. Boyd is excited about the opportunity to prove herself.
"I look forward to being able to step up and playing in the Big 12," she said.
Boyd said the main reason she chose Kansas instead of South Dakota and New York University was the coaching staff's "determination to make this program succeed."
The team's veteran players have been helping her adjust to the University, she said, but the coaching staff was new for every one.
- Edited by Jon Ralston
"In a sense, we're all kind of freshmen because of the new coaches, in the sense of what they expect and how they run things," Boyd said.
Successful high school guard becomes a forward for Kansas
BY JESSE NEWELL
jnewell@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWINTER
Taylor McIntosh didn't give it a second thought.
After signing with Kansas and coach Marian Washington last fall, McIntosh never wavered in her decision to become a Jayhawk, even after Washington announced her retirement in the spring.
"Coach Bonnie called and said how she was excited to get the new job, and she still wanted me to play for her." McIntosh said. "I still wanted to come here. She just kind of pumped me up about this year."
McIntosh, a 5-foot-11 forward from Wichita, has become motivated in a different sort of way after achieving amazing success in high school.
In her four seasons at Wichita Heights, McIntosh helped lead the team to an astounding 89-8 record, scoring more than 1,400
She won the 6A state championship her sophomore and junior seasons, hitting the game-winning shot in the title game of her sophomore year.
But she failed to win a title her senior season.
"It kind of ended bad." McIntosh said. "So that got me motivated more for college because I didn't want it to end like that."
Though she was a guard in high school, McIntosh will be asked to play forward because of the Jayhawks' lack of post players.
After averaging 17.5 points, nine rebounds and three steals her senior year of high school, McIntosh will experience a different game as a forward in college.
points in her career.
"I'm used to being taller or the same height as a lot of people I play against." McIntosh said. "I will have to shoot more outside instead of catching and facing up and going around people like I did when I had a size advantage."
McIntosh and freshman teammate Jamie Boyd have already started to make adjustments to play against taller competition.
"I know the Big 12 has a lot of big post players." McIntosh said. "We're just going to try to use our speed and get in the best shape of our life to do good."
McIntosh said that sophomore forward Alicia Rhymes had the most impact on her in the early season workouts.
"We just kind of clicked; we seem to get along." McIntosh said. "She's just showing me the ropes."
Rhymes, who is also adjusting to becoming a forward, said the two related because of their similar positions and easygoing natures.
"We always hang out, and I think she's kind of got my personality," Rhymes said. "We both just lay back and don't worry about too much."
- Edited by Danielle Hillix
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