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MEN'S BASKETBALL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2008
PAGE1B
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins moves amid Davidson players at the Elite Eight game in Detroit. The Jayhawks clinched a victory 59-57 sending them to their third Final Four in the last seven years on Sunday.
Collins eager to play
Recurring injuries, illness prevent him from feeling 100 percent
BY MARK DEN1
mdent@kansan.com
A knit KU cap hung low over Sherron Collins' eyes in the locker room at Ford Field in Detroit. His words were barely audible, partially because of a quiet voice and even more so because he rarely moved his gaze from the ground.
That was Saturday. A day later, he smiled and cheered with his teammates in celebration of their Final Four berth. Happiness returned briefly, but Collins wants more.
A tournament that's been so successful for Kansas has been sour most of the time for Collins, a sophomore guard. The Jayhawks have won 35 games and are two victories away from a national championship, but Collins laments that he hasn't been able to do as much as he wants for his team because of injuries and most recently, an illness that Bill Self said was tonsillitis.
"I just don't feel like myself," Collins said. "I feel out of touch with myself."
Then, another injury returned. Two days before Kansas' first round game against Portland State, he dove for a loose ball at practice and collided with senior guard Rodrick Stewart, bruising his knee. Collins slogged through the first game before erupting for 10 points in the second half against UNLV. He was back, right?
The unhealthy Sherron story was supposed to be on its final chapter two weeks ago — the one that ends with Collins recovering from regular season injuries to play a big role in the postseason. Everyone expected that to happen after Collins finished the regular season earning Big 12 Player of the Week honors because of his 13-point, seven-assist performance at Texas A&M. Collins followed that game up with a solid Big 12 Tournament.
Little did he know that more bad luck struck earlier that day. Stewart had come down with a bad case of tonsillitis and missed Kansas' second round game against UNLV. Stewart holed up in his hotel room for the day. No one was supposed to visit. Collins did.
"You cool?" Collins asked Stewart. "You feeling any better?"
He didn't walk into the room, but he came to the door.
Stewart said Collins was the only player who came by to see him while he was sick. Collins came down with a similar illness later the next week.
"I don't know if I got him sick" Stewart said. "I hope not."
"When he's not injured I feel like he's a top-five point guard in the country," sophomore guard Brady Morningstar said. "He's only a sophomore and he's that good. He can do so much with the ball, with his quickness, but right now, his explosiveness isn't the same."
On Friday against Villanova, Collins struggled again, going for four points and three turnovers in 21 minutes. Self said his player wasn't himself because of the tonsillitis. Collins played more minutes on Sunday but missed seven of his eight shots. He was hurting from his sickness. Kansas, though, might be hurting more without its electric guard.
If Collins' tonsillitis still lingers against North Carolina, Kansas could be in trouble. Ty Lawson, a McDonald's All-American from the same graduating class as Collins, will provide a challenge for all the guards. The Tar Heels will run, and no other Jayhawk performs as well in fast-paced games as Collins.
Few players can drive to the basket with
the same speed as Collins. Even with his knee not at full strength against UNLV, he still mustered a couple of his mind-blowing offensive moves.
Whether he can be a force on Saturday is unknown, but Collins is not lacking desire.
"He sees everyone else healthy," Morningstar said, "and he's like man, 'If I was healthy, winning these games, I know we could win by so much more.' It hurts him, but I know deep down he knows he's got to play for the team because we still need him. He's taking it all in stride."
Before practice on Tuesday, Collins said he was fully recovered from his bout with tonsillitis, but that he didn't feel as good as he has when he's been at his best this season.
Edited by Russell Davies
HISTORY
62 years in the making
Marla Keown/KANSAN
Dick Carson, 82, returns to Allen Fieldhouse after 62 years. Carson was the chartkeeper for Forrest "Phog" Allen on the 1946 men's basketball team.
Chartkeeper for "Phog" Allen comes home
BY WHITNEY HAMILTON
whamilton@kansan.com
Speechless. That's all Dick Carson could be as he stood next to coach Forrest "Phog" Allen's statue in front of Allen Fieldhouse. It had been 62 years since he had been back to the University of Kansas and seen the coach.
"Does it look like him, Dad?" Jim Lloyd, Carson's stepson-in-law, asked. Carson could only shake his head in amazement.
Carson was Phog Allen's chartkeeper during the 1946 season. Carson attended Washburn University for two years before he came to the University as a student. Carson played on the basketball
team that had beater Kansas. When he came to Kansas, he spoke with Allen and told him he was on the team that beat Kansas. Allen was intrigued and asked him what position he played. Carson lowered his head and muttered, "Benchwarmer."
The legendary coach still wanted to give Carson something to do on the team so he could feel like a part of it, and he said, "I got a place for you."
up to the coach and had very fond memories of him.
"Lawrence, Kansas, made a good impression on basketball for a dinky town."
The game has changed since Carson played. While watching Kansas' thriller against Davidson on Sunday, he said he wasn't used to seeing so many players get knocked down. In Carson's day, the scores were lower, and the shorts were shorter.
Even though he wasn't allowed to travel to away games with the team, he served as an assistant to Allen by giving him the chart so Allen could see what the team needed to improve on in practice or at halftime.
In his blue Allen Fieldhouse shirt that said, "Beware of the Phog" on the back, Carson walked around the Booth Family Hall of Athletics. He reminisced with his wife about the years gone by. As he walked to the back wall that displayed the greatest Kansas teams and athletes, he searched for familiar faces and stopped at Ralph Miller, a Kansas basketball and
Now 82 years old, Carson hadn't had a chance to see Allen Fieldhouse, because the team played in Hoch Auditorium during his semester here. Still, Carson had the opportunity to get to know coach Allen, and his son, Bobby. His bashfulness when asked about memories of Allen showed that Carson really looked
DICK CARSON Chartkeeper, 1946
His job as the chartkeeper was to write down each player's number during a game if he shot the ball, then if the shot was good he would circle the number. Not only did he keep score at all home games, but he also went to every team practice.
football player that had grown up two houses down from Carson. As children, they would play sandlot basketball in their neighborhood with each other.
Carson pointed at Miller's square picture and said, "Ralph Miller was Kansas' best athlete."
As Carson searched for other faces to jog his memory, he came across Wilt Chamberlain. He knew in an instant who the long, limber body in the picture belonged to. Although Carson left before Chamberlain came to Kansas, they met and reminisced about Kansas basketball while Chamberlain was traveling with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Carson came up to Wilt and said he knew Allen, and from there the pair shared stories about Kansas basketball. They continued to see each other at different events and chat about Kansas, but Carson still said they were merely acquaintances, even after years of bumping into each other.
When he turned around to see a photograph of Allen Fieldhouse from a television perspective, he said that "this is what I see on the television." He searched for Allen's name on the court and once he
SEE CARSON ON PAGE 3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Self dispels rumor he will go to alma mater
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
The last time Kansas played in the Final Four, in 2003, speculation centered on whether Roy Williams would take the vacant North Carolina coaching job. As Kansas enters the Final Four this week, there's talk again about its coach possibly leaving for another school.
"I do care deeply about my alma mater," Self said, "but nobody from there has contacted me. If they did, I would strongly recommend that they move in a different direction."
This time, Bill Self is being linked to Oklahoma State, his alma mater. Sean Sutton resigned as head coach of the Cowboys on Tuesday, and Self gave his thoughts about the vacant position.
Self got a phone call late Tuesday morn-
They discussed the possibility of Sutton's resignation and talked about how they would evaluate Self's contract situation at the end of the season, as they had planned to do throughout the year.
said he went to speak with Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins.
ing from a fan who warned him that Sutton might resign later in the day. Immediately after he got the call. Self.
cussing the situation with the team after practice on Tuesday. Self pointed out that
"We're just focused on North Carolina and the Final Four. We're not focused on any other jobs or anything,just the weekend."
Self doesn't think the speculation about him leaving for Oklahoma State will cause a distraction this week for himself or his players. He planned on dis-
JEREMY CASE Senior guard
be pointed out that Florida coach Billy Donovan dealt with rumors last season about him leaving to coach Kentucky, and his team went on to win the national championship.
"I bet Kentucky wasn't talking to Billy," Self said, "but it was a story. The media made it out to be a story that didn't have any legs, and I will
expect this to be the case" Senior guard Jeremy Case was a
senior in high school when Williams was linked to the North Carolina job and then left after losing in the national championship game. He said the rumors about Williams didn't bother him then, and he doesn't think these will bother this team.
"We're just focused on North Carolina and the Final Four," Case said. "We're not focused on any other jobs or anything, just the weekend."
Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
Self played at Oklahoma State from 1981 to 1985 and worked as an assistant coach under Leonard Hamilton and Eddie Sutton for seven seasons before getting his first head-coaching job at Oral Roberts in 1992.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Coach Bill Self thanks fans after victory against Davidson on Sunday. Media whispers are linking Self to the newly vacant head basketball coach position at Oklahoma State, his alma mater. Sean Sutton resigned as coach of the Cowboys Tuesday.
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