Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Two players leave program
Rhea Codio, Annette Davis to transfer to other schools. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL | 7B
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
HS sophomore commits to KU
Plano, Texas, forward Zach Peters will come to KU in 2012 BASKETBALL | 3B
KANSAS 1, MISSOURI 0
Taylor in command at The K
Freshman pitcher Thomas Taylor pitches home during the first inning Wednesday night against Missouri at Kauffman Stadium. Taylor stuck out eight batters in just over five innings, giving up two hits. The RBI single by catcher James Stansfield in the second inning was the only run of the game, which had an announced attendance of 2,294.
Weston White/KANSAN
Freshman pitcher shuts the Tigers' offense down
Taylor, who grew up in the Kansas City area and went to Blue Valley West High School, was sharp right from the time he stepped on the mound — quickly striking out the side in the first inning. Price said Taylor's strong first inning was a sign that the youngster was feeding off the adrenaline of playing at Kauffman.
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter/bm/dub
PAGE 1B
as they watched third strikes pop into Stanfield's mitt.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Forget the storied and bitter rivalry. If only for a fleeting moment, the night belonged to freshman pitcher Thomas Taylor.
After he was spotted a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by sophomore catcher James Stanfield in the second, Taylor trotted back out to the mound and quickly sent two more Tigers back to the dugout
"I think one of the good things about coming here is, you pitch a young man from Overland Park who's grown up a Royals fan; you can't walk into a better environment. You dream about this your whole life and you can be pretty jacked," coach Price said.
"He's right on the verge of being an impact guy, and that's what we expected him to be when we recruited him," coach Ritch Price said.
In his first start against a Big 12 opponent — and in the Border Showdown no less — Taylor's stellar performance led Kansas (24-14-1, 5-6-1) to a slim 1-0 victory over Missouri.
Taylor pitched a scoreless third, but looked to be in a bit of trouble in the fourth after surrendering a one-out double. No problem. Taylor overpowered the next two batters with his sixth and seventh strikeouts of the evening.
Taylor dominated against Missouri at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday, turning in an outing worthy of the Major League stage.
As he walked back to the dugout, Taylor gave a small fist pump, which Price said is as much emotion as he ever shows.
With the layhawk bats silenced by the 'Tigers' pitchers, Taylor cruised through the fifth, getting the first two outs before being taken out of the game to keep his arm rested enough to pitch this
Taylor ended up throwing five and two-thirds innings with eight strikeouts, and allowed only two hits. He walked none.
weekend.
"I told Thomas, 'I'd like to see that guy pitch every time,' junior left fielder Jimmy Waters said.
Earlier this season, Kansas' bullpen had made a habit of allowing teams to climb back into games, but built off of Taylor's success, and it protected the 1-0 lead.
"Two weeks ago we wouldn't have won this game, we would have found a way to lose it," Waters said. "So that says a lot about our bullpen."
Junior Wally Marciel pitched
the next one and one-third innings before turning the ball over to senior Travis Blankenship — another local and avid Royals fan.
Blankenship worked a scoreless eighth, and came out for the ninth, where he fell behind to the Missouri's leadoff hitter and top slugger, Aaron Senne, three balls and no strikes.
But Blankenship fired the next two pitches in the strike zone before elevating his next pitch with a fastball, which Senne feebly swung at and missed. With Senne
SEE TAYLOR ON PAGE 4A
GAME RECAP Kansas 1, Missouri 0
UP NEXT
Kansas vs. Texas Tech
WHEN: 7 p.m., Friday
WHERE: Hoglund
Ballpark
Stuckey, Briscoe among NFL draft hopefuls
FOOTBALL
BY JAYSON JENKS
jenks@kansan.com
jjenks@kansan.com
Darrell Stuckey isn't excited for the NFL draft. Well, he insists he's not that excited.
Entering the draft, which begins tonight and runs through Saturday, Stuckey is taking a nonchalant approach to the festivities. After all, his draft position is out of his hands at this point.
Not surprising, though, are Stuckey's plans for watching the draft: He'll be in Lawrence playing Rock Band and other video games.
Senior strong safety Darrell Stuckey catches the open kickoff. Stuckey returned the kick 20 yards in Kansas 49-3 win against Northern Colorado. Stuckey is predicted to not as a mid-round selection in this season's draft, effectively fulfilling his childhood dream to play in the NFL.
"I try to be calm in situations like this," Stuckey said, "because then you'll always be surprised."
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TODD REESING?
Once the draft is completed and the dust settles, Stuckey said he might celebrate by going bowling.
DRAFT SCHEDULE
ROUND 1:
Tonight, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN,
NFL Network)
ROUND 2-3:
Friday, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
ROUND 4-7:
Saturday, 9 a.m. (ESPN)
Mock drafts give Reesing low grades.
DRAFT SCHEDULE
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
"I'm really not a party-party type of guy," he said.
A starting safety and captain on last season's team, Stuckey is predicted by various mock drafts to be a mid-round selection.
He's expected to join teammate and wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe, another likely midround pick, as former Jayhawks selected in this year's draft.
Wide receiver Kerry Meier and quarterback Todd Reeing are considered longer shots to hear their names called.
Stuckey's dream of reaching the NFL started when he was still a
young player back in Kansas City, Kan. After starring at Washington High School, Stuckey accepted a scholarship offer from Kansas.
His dream of making the NFL,
remained etched in the back of
Yet Stuckey, who recorded 294 career tackles, developed into
one of Kansas' most consistent defenders. As a junior, he picked off five passes while being named to the All-Big 12 First Team.
"I was a long ways away from that when I first got here," Stuckey said. "Coming from Kansas City,
his mind, even when his on-field play didn't indicate as much early in his career.
Kan., I wasn't fundamentally sound. I was very raw, I couldn't even back peddle like I wanted to."
SEE DRAFT ON PAGE 8B
COMMENTARY
To predict season, look to returning players
BY ALEX BEECHER abeecher@kansan.com
Of course super-recruit Selby's commitment to Kansas has inspired a lot of optimistic speculation.
I don't know how good new basketball recruit Josh Selby will be at Kansas. And if I'm being honest, I'm not particularly interested in the matter either.
Of course, for all of that rosy-cheeked optimism, there must be a more realistic perspective. Sure, Selby could be John Wall. He could dominate from the get go and lead
Will he do for Kansas what John Wall did for Kentucky? Can he be that kind of standout point guard, taking over games and filling Sherron Collins' shoes so well that the senior will hardly be missed? Will Kansas still be a national championship contender, even after losing two first round player plays?
Kansas to a 1-seed (and maybe even a deeper tournament run than either the Jayhawks or Wildcats managed this past season). But he could also be Avery Bradley, the Texas point guard
Selby
who was rated by some services as a better recruit than Wall. Bradley had a decent enough year, but he and his Longhorns ultimately fell well short of expectations.
What does this mean for Selby?
It means you, me and everyone else have no clue how he's going to affect Kansas' team. There simply is not enough evidence to form an opinion.
Selby is a stud recruit. Stud recruits are sometimes stud players. But some times — if not as frequently — they are disappointments.
There is no way to surmise what Selby will do at Kansas this early. Instead, Kansas fans should speculate about players they've actually seen.
How about his twin, Markieff? The other Morris didn't put up as gaudy of numbers — but then he was playing behind Cole Aldrich, former center. With Aldrich off to the NBA, Markieff should get to play more minutes.
For example, we might look at Marcus Morris' remarkable improvement from his freshman to sophomore season. His evolution took him from a frustrating role-player to perhaps Kansas' most consistent contributor. Given another year of seasoning, how much better might Marcus get?
Will Brady Morningstar rediscover his three-point range? Perhaps Tyrel Reed will continue the upward tick he ended the season with, and he could give Kansas a dynamic perimeter scorer. And speaking of dynamic perimeter players, what about Elijah Johnson? He was a five-star recruit only a year ago, and he showed flashes of ability in his limited court time.
Even disregarding Selby, the back-court brings plenty to speculate on.
These are all players Kansas fans have seen enough of to form an educated opinion, so they're also players about whom speculation can be based on something more tangible than star ratings and high school all-star games
If you absolutely must try and predict college basketball outcomes in April, do so based on who is coming back, not who is arriving. Realize that, at least for now, Selby is not a savior.
Edited by Allyson Shaw