THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 127
ANOTHER YEAR
Taylor and Robinson to stay at Kansas
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor ended weeks of speculation with a joint announcement that they will return to Kansas to play basketball next year.
Taylor
Taylor, who would have been a second round pick at best had he declared for the draft, strongly hinted that he'd return immediately after the Jayhawks lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the Elite Eight. He said then that he didn't think of himself as a guy who had a
Robinson
decision to make, but the decision wasn't made official until Kansas sent out a press release Wednesday afternoon.
"The year was up and down for me, but I feel like I finished on a strong note and I am ready to car
ry that momentum into the summer and next year," Taylor said in the release.
Taylor averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 assists in the 2010-11 campaign, but his spot was challenged often by sophomore Elijah Johnson and freshman Josh Selby. With the graduations of Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar, two starting guard roles will open up.
With the expected defection of Josh Selby to the NBA—he was in Las Vegas this week working out and gauging his draft stock, but has not made a decision yet — Taylor
and Johnson will fill two of those starting spots, possibly alongside forward Travis Leford.
Should the Morris twins declare for the draft — they too are expected to make that announcement after being spotted in Los Angeles with agent Jason Martin — Robinson would likely be the focal point of the Jayhawk offense. He averaged 7.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in just 14.6 minutes per game. Flesh out those numbers over a little more than 28 minutes
— what Marcus Morris averaged this season — and he's approach-
all-American territory, or at the very least All-Big 12.
Robinson's decision to return to Kansas is certainly the more surprising of the two. He was viewed as a mid-to-late first round prospect and ESPN's Chad Ford had him as the highest-rated Jayhawk prospect. He also had to deal with the death of his mother this season, and the care of his little sister Jayla, who is now living with her father.
"This was the most trying year of my life," Robinson said in the release. "I want to thank everybody and I can't wait to run up and down the court in a packed Allen Fieldhouse next year. I plan on busting my butt this summer to improve my game."
It's likely too early to guess at a starting lineup for next season — Bill Self's recruiting class probably isn't complete even with the recent commitment of St. Louis shooting guard Ben McLemore — but Taylor and Robinson are certainly locks for it.
— Edited by Corey Thibodeaux
INDEX
Classifieds...6A Opinion...5A
Crossword...4A Sports.
Cryptoquips...4A 10A
WEATHER
Forecasts by University students. For a complete detailed forecast for the week, see page 2A
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
CAMPUS | 3A
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LAWRENCE
Final Four T-shirts to be donated or destroyed
After the NCAA tournament loss two weeks ago, business owners who pre-ordered KU Final Four T-shirts are forced to either donate the shirts outside the United States or destroy them.
Wilkerson
Almost two weeks after the Kansas basketball team's loss to Virginia Commonwealth University in the NCAA tournament, Jayhawk Spirit owner Tom Wilkerson, whose store sells KU apparel, is still agonizing over the game. But while the rest of Jayhawk
nation can turn off ESPN and try to forget the loss, Wilkerson has to deal with the daily reminder of lost revenue and the question of what to do with the boxes of KU Final Four T-shirts he pre-ordered.
BY ADAM STRUNK
astrunk@kansan.com
When the men's basketball team made the Elite Eight this year, Lawrence businesses such as Jayhawk Spirit and Jock's Nitch ordered hundreds of pre-made KU Final Four shirts to sell to the crowds that would have appeared on Massachusetts Street had Kansas won the next game.
"Right now they are sitting in a warehouse," he said. "As long as we don't distribute them, they can sit there forever I guess, but obviously space is important for us so wed just as soon get them on their way."
However, what happened — well,
happened and now stores are left with
boxes and boxes of T-shirts commemorating a Final Four berth that never
happened.
"I don't really want to give you the exact number, but it's in the hundreds." Wilkerson said referring to the number of T-shirts he ordered. Now Wilkerson is looking for an organization to take
the shirts and distribute them to people in need.
"My guess is the NCAA and Adidas enter into an agreement that none of them will be on the market unless they win," he said referring to the T-shirts.
At first, entities like Goodwill or Salvation Army come to mind, but the donation of the shirts has a catch. According to the contract Wilkerson signed with Adidas, the company that made the shirts, the shirts must either be donated to somewhere outside of the U.S. or destroyed.
Wilkerson said he had destroyed pre-ordered shirts in 2003 when Kansas lost the national championship, but this year he hoped he would be able to find a place to take the shirts.
"It's the idea that they might actually do some good," Wilkerson said. "If we had a contact or something that was going to take them to Japan that would be a perfect place for them to go."
Wilkerson has another reason to donate the shirts. The last time he destroyed shirts, he had to destroy each shirt by hand with scissors.
Jock's Nitch is also looking for a place to donate their Final Four T-shirts. Jock's Nitch general manager Ryan Owens said the company hopes to hear back in the next few days from World Vision, an organization that accepts product donations and distributes the donations as humanitarian aid. He said the shirts would then be shipped overseas, likely to Africa.
According to World Vision, product donations can be counted as tax deductions for qualifying companies.
When asked how long the destruction took he laughed and answered, "Too long; that's why I would rather donate them."
Edited by Erin Wilbert
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