WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008 Sports WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
21
FRESH FACES
Kansas City's Releford is battle-tested
Freshman spends summer playing for U.S. team in Argentina
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
Incoming freshman guard Travis Releford sits behind the bench during a Kansas basketball game. After moving to Lawrence in June, Releford played for the USA U-18 team in Argentina in July.
Travis Releford sightings have been scarce this summer at the Releford household in Kansas City, Mo.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Releford, an incoming freshman on the Kansas basketball team and one of seven newcomers to the program, settled into the Jayhawker Towers in June, enrolled in summer classes and started preparing for his first season of college basketball. Releford's younger brother, Trevor, has hardly seen him since.
Of course, that's partly because Releford spent the last three weeks playing for USA Basketball at the 2008 FIBA Americas Under 18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina. The U.S. won the silver medal.
gifted and traveling in Argentina. Sounds like a pretty nice way to spend the summer, huh? But according to Trevor, going to Argentina wasn't the real thrill.
Let's see: 18 years old, athletically
"He's played in China and Germany before," Trevor said, so big brother wasn't easily awed by international travel.
No, the real joy came from surviving the team's tryout camp in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Releford proved himself against some of the best young players in the country.
"He made it over Lance Stephenson," Trevor said. "So he was real excited about that."
game. But they had to settle for silver after losing 77-64 to Argentina in the final. Releford scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting against Argentina, and averaged 7.2 points per game during the tournament.
For the uninitiated, Stephenson is one of the top high school players in the 2009 recruiting class.
Releford and his teammates won their first four games at the championships, advancing to the gold medal
Releford returns home this week, but Trevor still might not be seeing much of his older brother. Growing up in Kansas City, it didn't take much for Releford to say no to a list of schools that included Missouri and Oklahoma amongst others.
Releford's mother, Venita Vann, said Releford leaned toward Kansas.
"There were other choices, but he was going to go with KU all the way," Venita Vann said in January while watching her son finish up his high school career at Bishop Miege in Kansas City.
Rush, Mario Chalmers and Roderick Stewart — Releford, a 6-foot-5 guard, should get ample opportunity for playing time this season.
And thanks to the departure of five Kansas guards from last year's team — Russell Robinson, Brandon
So if the Releford family wants to see Travis this winter, the best place to do it might be on the floor of
Allen Fieldhouse.
— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
LITTLE (CONTINUED FROM 19)
35-2 record and a tournament appearance.
But he played his last game as an Indian in March. He started to concentrate on schoolwork and qualifying academically for the next three months, which left barely any time for basketball.
His Kansas debut in June was even more impressive considering he hadn't played regularly. Only a little more than 12 hours after moving to Lawrence, Little played in a scrimmage game with teammates and alumni as part of Self's youth basketball camp.
The campers chanted the name of current NBA forward Julian Wright when he entered the gym. The player who had to guard Wright, Little, didn't garner any applause.
But Little got the best of Wright on that day. Little's team won the game after he held Wright to three rebounds.
"He's coming here and expecting to produce," Wright said. "I think that's the thing he's going to do. He's long and athletic so he can
give people fits on the defensive end."
The scrimmage wasn't Wright's first run-in with Little. The two used to play together on a Chicagobased AAU team. Wright said some people made a mistake and forgot about Little after he went to junior college.
Fellow junior college transfer Tyrone Appleton had no trouble remembering him. Appleton's junior college, Midland, beat Little and Chipola in the junior college national championship two years ago. Appleton said he joked with Little about it but that he looked forward to being teammates at Kansas.
"We should be pretty good together this year," Appleton said. "He's a great player and I like to play with good people."
And he's got the measurements and qualities that should remind Jayhawk fans of a great player.
Edited by Rustin Dodd
FRESH FACES
Thomas begins New Jersey trend
BY RUSTIN DODD dodd@kansan.com
Beware Kansas fans, the bad puns involving the state of New Jersey are coming shortly. That's what happens when four of the seven newcomers to the Kansas basketball program played their high school basketball in the Garden State.
Kansas coach Bill Self ventured from the fruited plains and found four top prep players along the leather turnpike.
Incoming guard Tyshawn Taylor played at St. Anthony's in Jersey City, NJ., and incoming forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris — who actually hail from Philadelphia — played ball at Apex Academy in Pennsauken, N.J..
But it's Quintrell Thomas, a 6-foot-8 incoming freshman forward, who can be blamed with starting the trend.
Thomas, a native of Elizabeth, N.J., committed to play at Kansas last October. The Morrises and
Taylor followed, and now Kansas is stocked with East Coast talent, a commodity that was once quite scarce in Lawrence.
As an undersized power forward, a few recruiting experts have likened Thomas' game to that of former Jayhawk, Darnell Jackson. Thomas showed glimpses of that game at two alumni scrimmages earlier this summer. Thomas was physical and an active rebounder, although while standing next to former Jayhawk Julian Wright, Thomas showed he might be closer to 6-foot-6 than the 6-foot-8 he has often been listed at.
The Jayhawks may need Thomas to play an important role early on in his career. And if Thomas and mates from New Jersey are successful, fans may hope Self journeys out to the Jersey shore more often.
With Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun graduated and Darrell Arthur's early entry into the NBA draft, sophomore Cole Aldrich is Kansas' only returning front court player.
3. $x^{2}+y^{2}=9, x+y=3, 4 x-3 y=1$.
Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
Rivals.com
player profile
Quintrell Thomas
Power forward
Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick
AAU:Team Jersey Elite
Ht: 6-foot-8
Wt: 225 lbs
High school class: 2008