kansan.com
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Volume 125 Issue 107
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY BANSAN
DOOM$DAY
COMMENTARY Smart's return makes Cowboys the favorite
The cards all seemed to be stacked in Kansas' favor to take its string of consecutive Big 12 Championships into the double digits.
Oklahoma State was already viewed as a threat to take down the reigning champs. Of the top nine scorers in the Big 12 last season, only two players were returning to school: Oklahoma State's Markel Brown and Le'Brvan Nash.
Although the Jayhawks lost their entire starting five, a stellar recruiting class, coupled with defections and graduates at other schools, made all signs point to Kansas.
Now, Oklahoma State will feature the top three returning scorers in the conference. And Smart is the most important of all.
Oklahoma State is more than a threat now. It is the favorite.
That is, until freshman Marcus Smart decided to turn down millions of dollars and return to Oklahoma State.
That is the effect of having a top-five pick return to school. Smart is a disruptive force for the Cowboys at the point guard position and is an especially bad match-up for the Jayhawks, who are shaky at point guard. He has quick hands and his size relative to his position makes him a superior rebounder.
In Oklahoma State's upset at the hallowed grounds of Allen Fieldhouse, Smart had 25 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. He held Elijah Johnson to eight points on 3-14 shooting. After the game was over, he celebrated his accomplishments by channeling his inner gymnast and completing a perfect back-flap at mid-court.
Self certainly has the talent on his squad to replicate that success.
What will make Smart even scarier if he can develop an outside shot, the one cog missing from his game.
Kansas can certainly spoil that recipe. Smart's decision is very similar to Blake Griffin's in 2008. That year, Kansas lost its entire starting five, and Griffin turned down surefire lottery money to return to school, making Oklahoma the odds-on favorite.
An even scarier aspect of his game might be the chip he will have on his shoulder. Fans always decry the marginal player who declares for the draft, but also do so to the star player who returns to school. Smart is as his last name would suggest. He knows the risks of returning to school.
As Kansas's streak of championships would suggest, Bill Self and the Jayhawks found a way to win the Big 12 that year.
He also knows his own abilities Smart would not turn down the NBA if he were not confident in his ability to maintain his draft stock. With pundits and fans criticizing his decision, using choice words such as "horrible" and "stupid," he will have the motivation to prove to his doubters that his decision was the right one.
Add a year of experience, a sprinkle of renewed motivation, with a dash of a jump shot, and Oklahoma State has a recipe for a Big 12 Championship.
But if 10 straight is going to happen, the Jayhawks will have to earn it.
Edited by Tyler Conover
DUNK CITY DOOLEY
1988
Dooley graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
1988-1991
1988-1991 Dooley coached at South Carolina.
-1991-1995
Dooley was an assistant coach at East Carolina University in Greensville, N.C. In 1993, he contributed to the Pirates' first NCAA tournament appearance in 21 seasons.
Dooley was the head coach at ECU. He led the team to a 57-52 record. He was the winningest first-year coach at ECU in more than 20 years when he tallied a 17-11 season. His tenure there included a 22-point victory over South Carolina in 1998.
1995-1999
1999-2002
Coach Bill Self and Coach Joe Dooley watch Kansas take on Texas in Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 16. The Jayhawks defeated the Longhorns 73-47. Dooley is leaving Kansas after 10 seasons as an assistant coach for the Jayhawks. He will assume the head coaching duties at Florida Gulf Coast University.
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
2002-2003
Dooley was the primary recruiter for the University of New Mexico Lobos.
1
Dooley was an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. He helped coach the Cowboys to a 21-11 record and an NIT appearance.
2003
Dooley signed on as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas.
2007
He was rated the fourthbest recruiter in the nation by Rivals.com for the recruiting class that included McDonald's All-Americans Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed. He also recruited NBA draftees Sasha Kaun and Mario Chalmers.
2008
He moved up to the No.1 ranked assistant coach in the Top 25 High-Major Assistants by Foxsports. com. Since his arrival at Kansas, nine Jayhawks have been drafted into the NBA.
Dooley was ranked No. 6 in the Top-25 High-Major Assistants by Foxsports.com.
He moved up to the No.1 ranked assistant coach in the Top 25 High-Major Assistants by Foxsports. com.
2010
2010
Dooley announced he was leaving Kansas to become the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Joe Dooley leaves Kansas after 10 seasons, will become Florida Gulf Coast head coach
2013
Coach Bill Self and Coach Joe Dooley work on the game strategy against St. Louis University on Nov. 20, 2012. Kansas won 73-59. Dooley is leaving Kansas for Florida Gulf Coast University.
@FAKEJOEDOOLEY RESPONDS TO THE REAL JOE DOOLEY NEWS
FakeJoeDooley
PakeejoDobley Whether its swagmatic players or twitter accounts.
Kansas Basketball doesn't rebuild, it reloads...
All questions will be answered soon
All questions will be answered soon
Offen    Antworten   Ratenwert    Faßvierten    Mein
--introduce Dooley is scheduled for Monday at 1:30 p.m.
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
After spending 10 seasons at Kansas as one of coach Bill Self's assistants, Joe Dooley is leaving to be-
Florida Gulf Coast's Director of Athletics, Ken Kavanagh, announced the move Wednesday and a press conference to
Doolev
Gulf Coast head coach.
"It's been a great 10 years and a great experience at KU for me and my family," Dooley said on his new Twitter account, @FGCUCoach-Dooley. "It is a great situation
opportunity to build on some great success that they have had. Were really looking forward to the challenge."
Doley served as an assistant for all of Self's 10 seasons at Kansas. Rivals.com named Doley the
fourth-best recruiter in the nation in 2007 after helping secure a class that included Tyreel Reed and Cole Aldrich. Dooley was also responsible for signing Sasha Kaun and Mario Chalmers. Foxsports.com ranked Dooley No.1 in its list of the 25 best high-major assistant coaches in 2010.
Dooley's only other head coaching job was at East Carolina for four seasons from 1995-1999, where he finished with a 57-52 record. His first East Carolina team won 17 games, the second-most wins
by a first-year ECU head coach. He began his coaching career in 1988 and has been an assistant at South Carolina, East Carolina, New Mexico, Wyoming and Kansas.
"it's been a great 10 years and a great experience at KU for me and my family."
Florida Gulf Coast, located in Fort Myers, Fla., became the first No.15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the Sweet 16, and is entering only its seventh year of competition in Division I. Last season, the Eagles finished 26-11 and won the Atlantic Sun Tournament. According to a Florida Gulf Coast press release, Dooley has invited two of the Eagles' current assistant coaches to remain with the program.
The Eagles' press release cited Kansas' scoring ability as one reason why Dooley is expected to fit in well at Florida Gulf Coast. The Jayhawks averaged at least 75 points per game during nine of the 10 seasons Dooley was in Lawrence, and three times they averaged at least 80.
JOO DOOLEY
head coach Florida Gulf Coast
on Twitter @FGCOUCoDooley
Florida Gulf Coast, which has taken on the nickname "Dunk City" averaged 73.5 points per mile
game last season and its Tournament run featured plenty of highlight-reel dunks and alley-oops, resulting in the nickname.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the popular parody Twitter account, @FakeJoeDooley, had not announced what would happen to the account, but it did tweet, "Whether its swagtastic players or twitter accounts... Kansas Basketball doesn't rebuild, it reloads... All questions will be answered soon."
Edited by Tyler Conover
9