THE UNIVERSITY DARLY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008
SPORTS
9B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Team welcomes talented freshmen
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awiebe@kansan.com
Incoming Recruiting Class
All-Star Girls Report 2008 recruiting class ranking:53
Coach Bonnie Henrickson is slowly building the Jayhawks' talent pool while finding a delicate balance between post recruits and perimeter players. Kansas' only substantial loss will be the departure of senior forward Taylor McIntosh, who started nearly every game of her career under Henrickson. If sophomore forward Porscha Weddington can't build on some solid late season performances next season, the
HENRICKSON'S TAKE
Jayhawks' two freshman bigs may be called into action early. Either way, Henrickson is starting to accumulate the talent necessary to continue improving year to year.
"I think the three of those fit in the piece of the puzzle we're trying to complete. It ranks right up there with our sophomore class now, including Danielle (McCray) and Sade (Morris). They're a little bit different because we'll have a big kid inside and a true point guard, so they're comparable, but they're different positions."
Edited by Sasha Roe
Angel Goodrich 5-foot-3 guard
Anger Goodrich 5-foot-3 guard Sequoyah High School (Tahlequah, Okla.) Hoopgulz.com ranking: 48 (No. 9 ranked point guard) All-Star Girls Report ranking:109
HENRICKSON'S TAKE
Simply put, Goodrich is a winner. She won three straight state championships before falling short of a fourth title her senior season. The diminutive guard turned down the opportunity to attend Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas A&M to help Kansas continue building under Henrickson. Many believe she will step in and challenge junior guard Ivana Catic and sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs for significant minutes immediately.
"She has a poise and a calmness about her. She makes the game look easy, she's got a very low pulse, she has a calming effect on her teammates."
"She's a capable scorer and a fantastic passer and she makes it look simple. She doesn't do anything fancy, she just makes an easy pass, which for most people is a very difficult pass."
Ashley Ellis 6-foot-3 center
Harley Ellis 6-foot-3 center Deer Valley High School (Antioch, Calif.)
Hoopgulz.com ranking: 78 (No. 18 ranked center)
All-Star Girls Report ranking: 143
Ellis turned down Oregon State in order to come to Lawrence, and is another example of Henrickson's desire to bring in post players that can stretch the floor. Freshman forward Nicolette Smith was that player last season, if Ellis can make a similar adjustment to the college game, the Jayhawks will be deep even if they aren't experienced in the post. Look for Ellis to find minutes off the bench filling in for freshman center Krysten Boogaard and Porscha Weddington. She certainly won't shy away from contact. Hen-
rickson compared Ellis' body type to Oklahoma double-double machine, junior center Courtney Paris.
HENRICKSON'S TAKE
"She passes the ball well like Courtney does. She has a fade-away jumper, a three, a really skilled big kid inside. She will bring some size, athleticism and skill to that position that we need, so even if she's at the high post, you're still going to have to guard her because she shoots the ball really well."
Aishah Sutherland 6-foot-2 forward
Perris High School (Perris, Calif.)
All-Star Girls Report ranking: 291
Sutherland may not have garnered the national attention Goodrich and Ellis did, but Henrickson said she saw her athleticism as a major plus for the program. Her ability to play facing the basket is also a plus for Kansas. Henrickson said Sutherland narrowly missed dunking in a pick-up game she watched while on a visit.
HENRICKSON'S TAKE
"She can play a big three, face-up if you play four-out, one-in. She's explosive, a good face-up player, puts the ball on the floor, elevates, has great rebounding and is a really, really great athlete."
—Edited by Sasha Roe
TOP FIVE (CONTINUED FROM 8B) 5 things to do in the offseason
1. Find a point guard
Finding capable applicants won't be a problem but deciding which one will be the first game starter should present an interesting challenge for Henrickson. Junior guard Ivana Catic and sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs each made starts at the point position this year, and before her injury, Weldon saw some significant time as well. five-foot-three incoming freshman Angel Goodrich, who will participate in the WBCA/Nike High School All-America game in Tampa Bay on Saturday, may also factor into the equation. Weldon probably won't be at full strength until later in the season, but the other three should start jockeying for position immediately.
2. Lock Boogaard in the weight room
Lock her in and throw away the key. Coaches can send her food and water through a slot in the door. Boogaard, at 6-foot-5, has the height, but everybody in the Big 12 knocked her around and early in the season she spent way too much time on the ground. Lower body work will give her
better balance to handle the hits while beefing up above the waist will help Boogaard dish out some hits of her own next season.
3. Run every practice outside of Lawrence
Clearly the team needs to become more comfortable with itself outside of Allen Fieldhouse. Maybe they could go on a tour this summer to every other Big 12 city and spend a few days playing in it's stadium with only a smattering of KU fans in the stands. Either that or petition the Big 12 for 16 home league games. One of those two ought to work.
4. Decrease turnovers
There are plenty of drills that Henrickson can make her team perform again and again, but she's already done that throughout the season. The key to dropping the total number of turnovers next year will be finding a fun way for her players to hang onto the ball. Perhaps constructing some basket-balls with yo-yo strings attached, ala the Harlem Globetrotters, would make the players realize how enjoyable it can be to hold onto the ball.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
5. Beg Courtney Paris to leave early
OK, this is probably a futile effort, but it's at least worth a shot. Paris, a junior, was named to the AP All-America team for the third time this
season and the only thing keeping her around is Oklahoma's lack of success in the NCAA tournament. Of course, even if Paris were to leave there's still twin sister Ashley, but one Paris is better than two, Just ask France.
Edited by Jared Duncan
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Struggling star eager to bounce back
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awihoe@kansas.com
awiebe@kansan.com
Kelly Kohn never could find the form that saw her lead Kansas in minutes played as a freshman. It wasn't that she had lost a step or couldn't play.
The culprit? A nagging ankle injury that had sidelined the sophomore guard since around the New Year, limiting her to only four starts compared to 31 starts in 31 games last season.
Without Kohn for a chunk of the season, Kansas didn't necessarily collapse but it never looked entirely comfortable either. Though Kohn only missed a grand total of five games, she was never really the same as the ankle continued to bother her. Would things have been different with her at full strength? No doubt.
Henrickson said that she expected Kohn to come back even stronger next season and that her biggest affect on the game may not necessarily show on the score sheet.
Sophmore guard Kelly Kohn takes contact by a Nebraska defender on her way to the basket during the first game of the Big 12 Tournament. Kohn struggled this season after leading the team in minutes her freshman year.
"She is a tough kid," Henrickson said. "She is a competitive kid. She has the intangibles to weather the storm when someone makes a run or in a possession battle." While fellow sophomore guards Danielle McCray, Sade Morris and LaChelda Jacobs were stepping up their games and gaining
invaluable experience by playing 20 plus minutes per game, Kohn was forced to take a back seat. After averaging 9.8 points, 3 assists and 3.3 rebounds as a freshman, her production plummeted to 3 points per contest.
She said it was difficult to watch, knowing she couldn't contribute the way she wanted or was capable of. Even more difficult was returning in the midst of Big 12 play while not fully healthy.
"It is tough to come back from an injury in any sport, but it was especially tough for me to have to try to come back during conference play," Kohn said after Kansas' WNIT victory against Evansville. "You are playing against such good competition and it is hard to get your rhythm back in the couple of minutes you are out on the floor."
Although it would have been easy to become negative about her injury, Kohn's teammates said she remained mentally strong while recovering and during the struggles that followed. Morris said bringing Kohn back in the fold is only going to make the Jayhawks that much more dangerous.
"Hey, we've got a girl that can
shoot lights out back," she said. "Now instead of having to guard two or three people, they are going to have to guard five or six."
Once she had finally battled her way back to full health late in the season, Kohn gave Kansas a glimpse of what she was capable of. In games against Nebraska and Evansville in the final weeks of the season, Kohn made 8-11 shots and showed court vision and tenacious defense.
Henrickson said that boded well for months until the first exhibition games, and that Kohn was chomping at the bit to begin preparing.
"She is probably in a hungry place right now than she was coming off a freshman year when she had played so much," Henrickson said. "She said she is just really ready and excited to have a great spring and great summer."
—Edited by Jeff Briscoe
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