Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
All-Big 12 awards decided McCray and Davis both nominated to All-Big 12 teams. SPORTS | 4B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2010
Kansas struggles in south The men's golfers enter last day of tournament in 15th. SPORTS|5B
CHARISMATIC COACH
PAGE 1B
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Coach Turner Gill speaks to news reporters at the Kansas Sports Museum in Newton earlier this year. Gill has been winning over new recruits with his sincere approach and his desire to build strong relationships with players
Gill wins recruits the right way
The head coach's genuine character is a perfect complement to his football plan
BY JAYSON JENKS
jienks@kansan.com
Outside the windows of Reggie Mitchell's office sit the tangible products of an improved program:
Two sharp-green turf practice fields and a high-definition video screen still under construction.
But when talking to recruits, those items are nothing more than props. They aren't the end all reason for a football recruit to attend Kansas.
They aren't the main selling point.
"The thing that's really going to help us is Turner Gill," said Mitchell, Kansas' recruiting coordinator. "People make the place; the place doesn't make the people."
At the start of Kansas football's new era — at a time when two Big 12 coaches left last season under allegations of verbal and physical abuse — Gill carries a reputation of being a man with high character. He is respected as much for the way he handles himself as he is for his ability to build a Buffalo program from disjointed scraps.
You've heard similarly-themed declarations before: He's a man with
declaration... a strong religious spine. He preaches the importance of an education, of building relationships and of using football as a platform to transform young men.
These ideas have been spread
any Kansas assistant speaks with possible recruits, they always pass these ideas along.
"People don't believe it when
"You have to sit down and talk to him and understand that that's what he's about."
have been spread throughout college football so frequently and are normally considered cliche. But when Mitchell or
believe it when they hear it," Mitchell said. "But then you have to sit down and talk to him and understand that that's what he's about."
REGGIE MITCHELL Football recruiting coordinator
--beginning. Gill is part of the recruiting process. He develops guidelines for recruitable players. He evaluates
every player offered or, in many cases, not offered scholarships.
And when a recruit and his family visit campus, he meets with them.
"Really it is like a relay, but he's in it from the very beginning," Mitchell said. "There are three phases of recruiting and he's in every single phase. He's in the evaluation part, he'll call and e-mail them and then, in the end, if he needs to close it out, he'll close it out."
It's these moments — when recruit-coach interaction simply becomes a back-and-forth exchange between two people — when Gill most connects with recruits.
"It's good because they get a chance to see him out of the football part," Mitchell said. "He gets to sell
This is the first part of a two-part story. Read part two in tomorrow's Kansan.
SEE GILL ON PAGE 6B
Coaches on the look for best mid-week starters
BASEBALL
Junior infielder Brandon Macias prepares to rifle the ball to first base. The junior college transfer has displayed good range and a quick glove.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY WARD
bward@kansan.com
twitter/bm_dub
Today's game will give younger pitchers opportunities to play
Price brought in the Division II Spires to play what he called a "developmental game" - which he says will provide opportunities for young pitchers to see time that they missed because of games lost to bad weather early in the season.
When coach Ritch Price was scheduling make-up games and brought St. Mary's College (0-2) to come play at Hogland Ballpark, he wasn't doing so to provide Kansas (7-3) with a non-conference test.
One such youngster is freshman Tanner Poppe, who will get the start for Kansas. Price said one of the main goals for the game against the Spires is to evaluate which pitchers will make the best mid-week starters.
"We've got to get him on the mound and find out if he can make progress in the next three weeks before we go
KANSAS VS.
ST. MARY SPIRES
(LEAVENWORTH)
WHEN: 3 p.m.
WHERE: Hoglund Ballpark
to Bavlor." Price said.
Poppe will need to show improvement if he intends to be relied upon both as a spot starter, and out of the bullpen.
In his last noteworthy appearance, 1/3 innings in relief against Arkansas on March 2, Poppe was plagued by a lack of command. He gave up four runs, two of them unearned, on two hits and four walks to suffer the loss. Poppe did strike out two, but also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.
The issues with control have prompted Poppe to spend extra time working with pitching coach Ryan Graves on his fundamentals on the mound.
"Coach Graves and I have been working getting me on time." Poppe said. "Just getting my balance right
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 6B
COMMENTARY
Essential recruiter may be leaving
BY MAX VOSBURGH
In a roundabout way,
I suppose you could
thank assistant
thank assistant coach Joe Dooley for winning the 2008 National Championship for Kansas. After all, he was the man who recruited Mario Chalmers.
Unfortunately, his contributions to Kansas may be disappearing soon. Yesterday foxsports.com reported that Dooley is currently in negotiations with East Carolina to become the school's next head coach.
Later that afternoon, Bill Self refuted that report.
"Nothing has been offered," Self said. "Nothing is imminent at all. (They are) still gauging interest."
If Dooley were to leave, it would be a huge loss for Kansas. He has the accolades to be considered one of the best recruiters in the country. Since becoming an assistant coach in 2003, Dooley has had a major role in recruiting for the Jayhawks. In the spring of 2008, foxsports.com rated him as the sixth best recruiter in the country. The recruiting website rivals.com rated Dooley as the fourth best recruiter after the 2007 class of Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed committed.
If Dooley were to go back to East Carolina, Kansas would lose an assistant with a lot of influence in the eastern part of the country.
Dooley, who is from West Orange, N.J., and played basketball at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., has connections in that part of the country that have helped him recruit a few current players, including Thomas Robinson.
Robinson, a Washington D.C., native, has appeared in all but two of Kansas' games this year.
"A major impact," Robinson said of the effect Dooley has had in his college career thus far. "He stays on me. He helps me out. He's the reason why I progress throughout the season. He's a big part of why I'm here."
In addition to Chalmers, Aldrich, Reed and Robinson, Dooley also has assisted in the recruiting of Sasha Kaun as well as east coast natives Tyshawn Taylor and Marcus and Markieff Morris.
Dooley has previously been the head coach at East Carolina. He had a 57-52 record in four seasons with the Pirates from 1995-96 through 1998-99. If Dooley were to return to coach there, Kansas may have a hard time finding an assistant coach who is as talented a recruiter.
Edited by Anna Archibald