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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BASEBALL TOPPLES ST. MARY 13-0 PAGE 68
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON IN REVIEW PAGE 8B
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008
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KU fan still tries to catch games while in Iraq
It's been a tough year for Cesar Millan. The '97 Kansas graduate is a Captain in the United States Army and is currently stationed in Rhamadi, Iraq. As a diehard Kansas fan, Millan has missed out on one of the best seasons in the history of Kansas athletics.
"At first, especially when the football season started, I was really, really disappointed," Millan said. "I was just so disappointed that I couldn't be there because years like this just don't come around. Things just aligned for us."
Rhamadi is nine hours ahead of Lawrence, meaning a 1 p.m. game starts at 10 p.m. in Iraq. A 7 p.m. primetime game begins at 4 a.m. Still, Millan stays up late or wakes up early to watch as many Jayhawk games as he can on the Armed Forces Network.
"The 7 or 8 oclock games are not a problem, they are easy to watch because I just wake up an hour or two earlier than normal," Millan said. "They are the easiest. It's the ones earlier in the day, that start in the afternoon at one or whatever, that cause me some problems and force me to miss most of them."
Millan spends plenty of time on the internet each day, reading kusports. com and newspaper Web sites such as those of the University Daily Kansan and the Kansas City Star to stay up to date with everything going on with the football and basketball teams.
Quiet guard, fierce battle cry
But because he is the lone Jayhawk in a unit filled with Missouri Tigers fans, Millan has trouble finding anyone willing to talk Kansas sports with him these days.
"None of them even went to Mizzou." Millan said. "But like all
Mario Chalmer drives to the basket against Davidson Sunday in KU9-59-57 victory, displaying his versatile ability to both shoot from outside and get to the hoop on the inside. Chalmers may be a quiet player, but his teammates know him as a leader on and off the court.
KANSAN File Photo
SEE RAINS ON PAGE 3B
Enigmatic guard deals strong game playful personality
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
For a few fleeting moments after Kansas clinched its spot in the Final Four with a last-minute victory against Davidson, Mario Chalmers stood alone. With his shiny white Regional Champions T-shirt covering his game jersey, and a Kansas Final Four hat worn slightly askew, Chalmers turned from his Ford Field locker and gazed around Kansas' locker room.
The few moments of solitude treated Chalmers just fine.
After all, Chalmers admits he isn't much of a talker.
He doesn't offer up philosophical thoughts on basketball like Russell Robinson is prone to do. He doesn't reminisce about deeply personal memories like Darnell Jackson either.
"I don't try to boast, I don't try to brag too much," Chalmers said. "I just keep quiet."
By all accounts, Chalmers is a tough guy to get to know. But he actually isn't, according to the guys who know him best.
Ask sophomore Darrell Arthur, his roommate of two years, or senior Rodrick Stewart, and you'll hear about a different side of Kansas' junior shooting guard.
You'll hear about the guy who comes out of his shell during a game of cards. The guy who continually rips on teammate Brandon Rush for having a crooked arm and teases Matt Kleinmann for having the biggest hat size on the team.
"He loves to play around, he's one or the most joking guys on the team," Stewart said. "He's just so comfortable around the guys."
Chalmers may not be the most outgoing individual on the Kansas team. But Chalmers is about to be introduced to the nation this weekend. Chalmers was an AP Honorable Mention All-American this season, and this Final Four is stocked with talented guards — freshman Derrick Rose from Memphis, sophomore Ty Lawson from North Carolina and junior Darren Collison from UCLA immediately come to mind.
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If Kansas wants to win its third national championship in school history, Kansas' vocally reluctant shooting guard might have to be the best guard in San Antonio.
GROWING UP IN THE LAST FRONTIER
Alaska isn't exactly a mecca for high
school hoops. The harsh winters and sparse population put Alaska at a natural disadvantage.
But with a population close to 600,000 people. Alaska has produced nearly as
many NBA players as the state of Kansas during the past 10 years. Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz grew up in Juneau, and Trajan Langdon, a native of Anchorage and nicknamed the Alaskan Assassin, played
three seasons for the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this decade.
"I'm not going to say it's a hotbed."
SEE CHALMERS ON PAGE 3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
UCLA's Kevin Love reacts during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball tournament West Regional final against Xavier, Saturday, in Phoenix. Love is a first team All-American, a distinction no KU player can boast.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
No All-Americans, all spirit Self, players undaunted as they go into the Final Four
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BY MARK DENT mdent@kansan.com
They wore black suits and ties, and rolled up to Allen Fieldhouse a couple hours before midnight in the back seats of Corvettes, Benzes, Hummers and BMWs.
Escorts opened the doors, and the KU players stepped out of their rides onto a red carpet where Survivor winner Damni
That was Late Night in the Phog earlier this season. Only a courtside sighting of Jack Nicholson could've made it more Hollywood. With their suits, sunglasses, and red carpet, the KU players were make-believe stars that October
Boatwright interviewed them in front of 15,000 fans.
.
"We never anticipated having a first team All-American because of how everyone was scoring." Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We talked about that. That's not a big deal, but those guys who received that honor are certainly worthy because they are very good players."
have any.
night. Nearly six months later, those players will have to face basketball players whose star power blings as bright as the kind they pretended to have so long ago.
Yes, they are. North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough stands out among all the
"The strength of our team is balance, and if you're going to make a negative of it, the weakness of our team is balance."
BILL SELF Men's basketball coach
Memphis, UCLA and North Carolina, the other three teams in the Final Four, boast five first, second or third team All-Americans among them. Kansas doesn't
stars. He's already been named National Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated, averaged 23 points and 10.4 boards a game and earned the nickname "Psycho T" for his intensity.
Hansbrough was joined on the All-American first team by UCLA's Kevin Love and Memphis' Chris
Rose, a freshman, got third team billing, but many think he's the reason Memphis was able to jump from the Elite Eight status
Douglas-Roberts. Love and Douglas-Roberts each have their point guard on the All-American third team:Darren Collison for the Bruins and Derrick Rose for the Tigers.
for the past two seasons to the Final Four. His coach, John Calipari, remembered how in an earlier game against USC this season, Rose willed the Tigers to win.
"He just stepped out of it," Calipari said in a teleconference, "and said I'm going to get a block. I'm going to get a steal. I'm going to go get a rebound above the rim and I'm going to get an assist and we're going to win.' That's what he did, and we won. Some guys think 'well I am going to step it up and I'm gonna score now,' but you know that's not how he plays."
Rose will probably be the No. 2 pick in this year's NBA Draft if he declares. Love and Collison are supposed to join him in the lottery if they enter, and Hansbrough and Douglas-Roberts should go in the first round if they skip their senior season. In addition to Collision and Love, UCLA's Russell Westbrook could be among the top 10 picks.
Despite all that star power, Russell Robinson doesn't see the Jayhawks as the least favored of the four teams.
"I don't feel like we're the underdog," he said. "Part of it has come from us being unselfish and sharing the spotlight and everybody contributing."
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