Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Texas Relays start today
THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010
The track and field team heads south to Austin, Texas, to compete. TRACK | 2B
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KANSAN and
Jayhawks take a beating
Kansas falls behind 7-0 in Wednesday's match against Kansas State. TENNIS | 4B
Weston White/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
PAGE 1B
Teahan fights for the ball in a game against Texas Tech Jan. 16 at Allen Fieldhouse. This year Teahan played in 19 games and averaged 1.1 points per game.
Conner Teahan, a junior from Leawood and a member of the men's basketball team, dons a No. 9 jersey Wednesday afternoon at the practice fields southeast of Memorial Stadium. TeAH is competing for the starting quarterback position among five other potentials.
Tanner Grubbs/KANSAN
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From the court to the turf
Conner Teahan practiced as a QB on Wednesday
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
Five quarterbacks wearing red jerseys stood on Kansas' practice fields Wednesday afternoon, and each practiced handing off to a running back.
But 10 yards away, with a football spinning in his hands, stood another player wearing red — the established color for quarterbacks during practices.
Conner Teahan.
A 6-foot-5 guard on coach Bill Self's basketball team, Teahan practiced for the first time Wednesday in an attempt to join the football team as a quarterback. Coach Turner Gill said the decision came from Teahan and then was approved by Self.
Teahan will have three years of football eligibility.
"Coach Self gave him his blessing, and I was willing to give him an opportunity," Gill said. "Obviously it's a long shot starting from all over. Even right now, we're two days in, and he's catching up on terminology."
Mark Nusbaum, Rockhurst's basketball coach, said Teahan could've received more recruiting attention in football, but he alerted suitors early that his athletic interests rested on the basketball court.
Teahan starred as a two-sport athlete at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., and drew interest from Division 1 teams in both sports. Still, he hasn't played organized football since his senior year of high school.
Used as a reserve guard on Kansas' basketball team, Teahan played in 19 games this season.
"I'm biased, but I think he's a good enough athlete to play Division I football or basketball," Nusbaum said. "But at the Big 12 level, I guess we're about to find out."
During the 15 minutes when
media members were allowed to watch Wednesday's practice. Teahan completed basic passing drills with the rest of the quarterbacks.
He wore the No. 9 jersey and blue shorts, but did not wear pads with the rest of the jayhawks. He threw only short distances at the beginning of practice, but his passes spiraled tightly and generally appeared on target.
"You just get him in throwing drills to begin with," offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Chuck Long said. "You don't put him in any team drills at this point. Just some throwing
one-on-one drills."
Teahan enters the football program at a time when every player truly has a fresh start. With the departures of quarterback Todd Reesing and one-time backup Kerry Meier, the Jayhawks enter the spring with an unproven cast.
Reesing's backup, freshman Kale Pick, will return as well as freshmen Jordan Webb and Christian Matthews and junior Jacob Morse.
Teahan will also compete with junior college transfer Quinn Mecham.
"We're going to get him out
here to see him throw and do things of that nature," Gill said. "Then at the end of spring football practice, can he be at the top of the list as far as challenging for a starting job?"
Before the start of Wednesday's practice, Gill announced that three players were saddled with injuries while one more wouldn't participate in any drills this spring.
INJURY UPDATES
Gill said that freshman defensive end D.J. Marshall wouldn't compete during spring practices. Marshall was diagnosed with
Hodgkin's lymphoma last season. He attended Wednesday's practice in his jersey.
Gill said that junior defensive end Jake Laptad, freshman defensive tackle John Williams and junior linebacker Drew Dudley were battling shoulder injuries.
All three started at times last season.
"Those guys will be limited," Gill said. "They probably won't participate in any full and live scrimimages, but they will be participating in practice."
Edited by Allyson Shaw
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Grades add up to promising future
BY MAX ROTHMAN mrothman@kansan.com
On the surface, a 17-16 record looks like a wasted year. It featured season-ending ACL injuries to guards Danielle McCray and Angel Goodrich, no NCAA tournament bid and a loss in the WNIT sweat 16.
There were several near misses throughout the schedule. The Jayhawks lost three games by three points or fewer at Allen Fieldhouse against ranked opponents (No. 15 Oklahoma State, No. 14 Texas and No. 13 Iowa State). They almost handed then-No. 3 Nebraska its first loss of the season in a 67-60 loss at the Fieldhouse on Feb. 10.
But not all was lost in the 2009-10 campaign. Because of the injuries, coach Bonnie Henrickson was able to grant valuable playing experience to the now established future of the program, freshmen Monica Engelman and Carolyn Davis.
tive season grades for some of the main players on the team, scaled A to F, taking into account their preseason expectations, individual playing performance, improvement (or lack thereof), leadership and strength as a teammate.
Below are the cumula
CAROLYN DAVIS,
FRESHMAN FORWARD
a starter in a 72-59 victory against Missouri on Jan. 17, Davis averaged 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.She was a member of the all-Big 12
Davis
Despite a
pete a few defensive lapses and lazy play here and there. Davis greatly exceeded expectations in her freshman season. Since becoming
Weston White/KANSAN
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 6B
Senior second baseman Robby Price high-fives teammates after scoring a run against Missouri State. Price batted 2-for-4 on one home run, two runs and two RBIs.
BASEBALL
Eighth-inning home run leads to 7-6 Kansas victory
BY BEN WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter.com/bm_dub
Elgie unloaded on a hanging curve ball, blasting it over the leftfield fence for his second home run of the season and giving the Jayhawks a 7-4 lead.
What initially appeared to be an insurance run and a feel-good moment for Eligie proved to be the difference in the game for Kansas (17-9), who ended up needing the run to edge Missouri State 7-6.
After a timely pep talk from hitting coach John Szefc, sophomore Zac Elgie stepped to the plate to lead off the eighth inning with a vote of confidence.
Elgie got the opportunity to start as designated hitter for Kansas, where coach Rich Price hoped to get his slumping bat jump started.
"We've had a lot of different guys contribute so far this year," Elgie said. "To go out there and add to it, it's kind of special."
His first two at-bats were unsuccessful, as he got jammed both times and popped up harmlessly to a member of the Bears infield.
Discouraged by two at bats that bore no hits, Elgie went back to the dugout and hung his head until he
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 3B
See a photo gallery of Wednesday's game kansan.com/photos/galleries.
KANSAS VS.
TEXAS A&M
COMMENTARY
WHEN: 6 tonight
WHERE: Hoglund
Ballpark, Lawrence
SEE BASEBALL GAMEDAY ON PAGE 8B
Successful campaign for QB unlikely
BY CLARK GOBLE
cgoble@kansasan.com
twitter.com/clark ooble
In theory, walk-on basketball player Conner Teahan's attempted switch from reserve shooting guard to quarterback seems plausible.
But in reality it is unreasonable to expect Teahan to make a Greg Pauluslike leap and take the starting position, or even first backup, for the 2010 Kansas football team.
In high school, he was an all-district quarterback in a dominant football program at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo. As a senior, he started ahead of Nathan Scheelhaease, a sophomore with a 4.5-40 yard dash who later committed to Illinois as a four-star quarterback.
"If he were to concentrate on football, I think held be the No.1 quarterback in the country and one of the top 10 players regardless of position." Rivals.com recruiting expert Bobby Burton said of Paulus in 2004.
Paulus, a Duke point guard turned Syracuse quarterback, had the resume for the move. In high school, he wasn't ranked against other football recruits because he was leaning toward playing college basketball. But Paulus was nevertheless a five-star quarterback.
Teahan's situation is quite different.
But with the offer to play point guard under Coach K at Duke, Paulus turned in his cleats for sneakers, only to return to football last year.
Programs like Stanford, Washington and Wisconsin were interested in Teahank's potential as quarterback, but he chose to be a preferred walk-on at Kansas for the opportunity to play basketball for the team he loved as a kid.
As football recruits, Paulus and Teahan are on completely different levels.
In his first season as Syracuse's quarterback last year, Paulus didn't exactly blow the Carrier Dome roof off. Paulus threw 13 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Granted, he improved as the season wore on.
If the potential No. 1 QB in 2005 didn't excel five years after taking off the helmet, expecting much more from a recruit that didn't make the top 250 three years after his last snap is ridiculous.
Paulus was given the keys to the Syracuse offense from day one. The move generated such high publicity that it would have been silly for anyone else to run the helm. His presence was a big reason Syracuse's attendance in 2009 was up 14.3 percent from 2008.
Even if Teahan could put up Paulus-type numbers, I would bet Gill would opt for the more dangerous Kale Pick or the more experienced Quinn Mecham.
Paulus also faced no competition, as new coach Doug Marrone was content to ride through his quarterbacking bumps.
But Teahan's presence won't fill Memorial Stadium. He also faces considerable competition. Pick's mobility, Mecham's experience and freshman Jordan Webb's tenacious drive for the job present large obstacles.
You can be sure Gill won't hand over the keys to the Jayhawks' offense without letting the quarterbacks battle for the position.
If Teahan can resurrect the talent he showed in high school, he has a shot to pass his spring tryout and play some role on next year's football team.
But winning the starting job? Improbable at best.
- Edited by Katie Blankenau