FEATURE 9
WIDE OUT GETS IN
Patience pays off for freshman wide reciever
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Heading downfield with a pass intercepted in the game against Kansas State, freshman wide receiver Erick McGriff does his part for the team
By Blake Schuster pschuser@kansan.com
Regret is a word seldom used in sports. Most players go out and give it everything they've got. They make choices during the game, they live with them, but they don't regret them.
One of the biggest choices a high school player can regret is where they will attend college. After all, college is where the promising high school player will hopefully break out and become a star. Contemplating where this transformation will happen is no easy task.
For wide reciever Erick McGriff, his choices came out to Kansas and Auburn. He chose Kansas. Auburn now sits in the top five of the BCS standings. After a year of being redshirted, Erick McGriff finally caught his first reception in his college career against Kansas State, with no regrets of how it came to be.
McGriff was brought into the game when KU was losing badly and the fans were letting the team know they weren't happy. Still, McGriff placed himself in formation, ran his route as best he could, and reached his goal that he had been working so hard to achieve. Yet after his three receptions for 37 yards, McGriff was put back on the bench for the next game against Texas A&M. McGriff wouldn't give up, he went back to work to stay mentally prepared for his next opportunity.
"It was tough fighting every week and make sure I know the playbook." McGriff says.
The fighting finally paid off for McGriff when he made the first start of his college career last week at Iowa State. While Kansas lost, McGriff made another three receptions for 24 yards.
On Tuesday, McGriff walked into the media room at the Anderson Complex, sat down, and immediately started bouncing his legs, maybe out of excitement or nervousness. Both emotions are acceptable for him at this point in time: McGriff's collegiate career was finally underway and still with no regrets to how he got to this point.
To understand Erick McGriff's determination to play, it is important to look at his background. McGriff's father, Fred, was a 19-season veteran of the MLB, a World Series champion and a five-time All-Star. That legacy is a lot to live up to. McGriff did play baseball before college but ultimately it just wasn't for him.
"Hitting was the hardest part for me as I got older," McGriff says. "Pitchers started throwing harder and faster and the ball started moving more, so it started to get harder."
There would be no one to carry on the "Crime Dog" nickname his father had in the MLB, but that didn't mean that Erick McGriff wasn't going to be an athlete. At his Tampa Bay,
When it came to making his choice McGriff was very adamant about what led him to Kansas.
"When I came for my visit, there was a lot of team bonding, the team is really close together, and I liked how they gelled and were all one unit." McGriff says.
McGriff's true freshman year took an unexpected turn when he had to make the tough
eran wide receivers Christian Matthews and Jonathon Wilson. It would take hard work and determination for McGriff to move up the chart, but most importantly, it would take patience.
McGriff sat through games against NDSU. Georgia Tech, Southern Miss, New Mexico State, Baylor and the K-State game. A mid-game injury to Christian Matthews gave McGriff the
"It was tough fighting every week and making sure I know the playbook."
—ERICK MCGRIFF Freshman wide receiver
Fla., high school, McGriff played basketball and football. His talent for football had him playing three positions: wide receiver, defensive back, and punt/kick returner.
call to redshirt for the year. Given how his father was naturally dominant in his sport, it was hard for McGriff to sit out. McGriff acknowledged the fact that there was some pressure on him given his father's talented history, but doesn't let that get to him.
McGriff went into his senior year of high school with a Rivals.com position rank of 50th in the wide receiver class, and on Dec. 5th, 2008, committed to KU, leaving behind offers from Cincinnati, Troy, and of course, Auburn.
Entering his redshirt freshman season with the Jayhawks, McGriff found himself sitting third on the depth chart behind proven vet-
opportunity he had been seeking for so long. With his father on hand, McGriff made his first career college reception, his long struggle to make it onto the stat sheet finally over. McGriff's dedication, heart and work ethic paid off, but his place on the stat sheet is just beginning.
THE WAVE NOVEMBER 5,2010
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kronos, the classic Greek god (Billy Clark, a junior from Topeka) and his assistant (Jeanne Klein, professor of the Children and Drama class) try and figure out what happened after he was kidnapped. The class hosts an environment in which the children can display their individuality through improvisation.
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Jerry Wang/KANSAN
Senior kicker Jacob Branstetter celebrates with strength coach John Williams after Kansas recovered an onside kick during the fourth quarter. Kansas scored five touchdowns in the fourth quarter and recorded its first Big 12 victory of the season. After losing the previous four games, the Jayhawks beat the Buffaloes 52-45. The game will air on local FOX television stations this Wednesday and Friday. See pages 4B and 5B for a rewind of the game.
N PAGE 3A
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Dalton Gomez/KANSAN
with seven countries all vying for territory, sparkles and a bigger population. Each of the children have created their own character names and have aligned themselves with various countries
CAMPUS
Local kids play, act at KU
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
nroesler@kansan.com
The Douglas County AIDS Project uses funds raised from the art donated from students to help with its services.
SEE KIDS ON PAGE 3A
and Drama.
Enoch, like many of the students enrolled in the class, is not a theater major. Professor Klein
There is conflict in LaLa Land, a small world created every Thursday in a classroom in Murphy Hall.
This may sound like a political science experiment or an economics lesson, but it's actually a drama lesson for Lawrence kids. Every semester for 27 years, professor Jeanne Klein has brought in middle school children to act and play with University of Kansas students in her class, Children and Drama, taught through the theater department.
The Floating Isle of Terror declared war on New York. Meanwhile, the country of Gumenheimer sat back and watched these two warring lands come to an agreement of boundaries and shared resources like a peaceful adviser.
The Lawrence Public Schools do not offer drama classes to middle school children. That is why Klein began this free class for local kids when she arrived at the University.
"This really shows how we can teach socialization skills," said Rachel Enoch, a senior from Manhattan enrolled in Children
Lala Land was created by this semester's group of fourth through sixth graders. It's a world
like New York, Lands R' Us and Spartel.
holds art auction to raise funds
LOCAVORE|3A
Former student eats, lives localized
Graduate Jennifer Kongs ate only foods located within a 100-mile radius of Lawrence for one month last year for a class.
BASKETBALL | 1B
Jayhawks take win over Lady Blues
With a confident offense, all players scored against Washburn.
INDEX
Classifieds...7B
Crossword...4A
Cryptoquips...4A
Opinion...5A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...4A
TODAY'S WEATHER