THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
BASKETBALL | 7A Coaches pick Jayhawks second Kansas gets two first-place votes but Kansas State is expected to win the Big 12.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6,2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
BASKETBALL BUDS
PAGE 8A
Juenemann enjoying life as a walk-on
The junior guard has made life-long bonds and career ambitions since he walked on
Sophomore center Jeff Withew (left) and junior guard Jordan Juvenemann formed an instant bond when Withew arrived on campus in January 2009. The two consider each other family now.
Howard Ting/KANSAN
Jordan Juenemann gets off the bench to pump his arm after a Kansas basket against Pittsburgh State in an exhibition game last year. Juenemman has plans to become an athletics director after he graduates with a degree in exercise science and a minor in business.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter/c/_cthibodeaux
Jeff Withey has the ultimate pick-up line. Jordan Juenemann just couldn't wait to reveal it.
"It's 'Hey, baby girl,'" Jordan said. Then Jeff repeated it in his own trademark fashion.
Because when girls hear it, it apparently, it can only mean Jeff Withey.
"Oh, they know what's up," he said.
"Jeff Withey, man," Jordan said. "He knows what to say. He's good with words."
These guys know everything about each other. Almost too much.
I was just thinking if I came all the way from California and I didn't have any of my family, I'd want to have someone to take me in like that," Jordan said.
Their friendship has since grown. Take this summer for instance.
The two were seen in Las Vegas, Denver and briefly in Jordan's hometown of Hays. But the bulk of their summer adventures came when they traveled to Jeff's hometown of San Diego, staying in a beach house for two and a half weeks.
"Yo, baby girl, what you doin?"
be said
One of those sunny southern California days, jordan was driving an 18-passenger van in downtown San Diego. They saw a girl running by, and Jeff called her out.
J o r d a n , watching his big man at work, didn't notice a car backing up in front of him. He slammed on the breaks to avoid colliding into the other vehicle with his giant van and
"Jordan is a little smooth talker. He knows how to get what he wants."
o1amed Jeff for the distraction.
"I was like, 'I saw it the whole time' Jordan said.
"lordan is a little smooth talker," Jeff said. "He knows how to get what he wants."
But Jordan couldn't take all the credit.
Later on, they went to the mall. And without flaunting his Kansas basketball status, Jordan made friends with a girl. She worked at the store. And she hooked him up with free clothes.
"It's not just me," he said. "It helps having a seven-foot attractive dude."
The fun in San Diego wasn't over. For three weeks, Jordan and Jeff fooled everyone with what appeared
Jeff said this is not uncommon. Jordan likes to befriend people and get discounts wherever he goes.
to be tattoos on their arms.
to be tattoos on their arms.
"I will never get a real tattoo," Jordan said. "My parents were freaking out when they saw pictures of it."
Jeff, too, said he will never get one.
But then pictures surfaced with Jordan flaunting his initials with a cross on his arm.
Jeff had one of Marilyn Monroe, which he soon regretted. Jordan was trying to touch his up then caught Jeff in the bathroom trying to wash it off.
They were henna tattoos, a temporary dye lasting about a month on the skin if kept in good condition.
"It was funny because Jeff always talks about getting tatted up" lordan said. "I'm going to get the state of California, or whatever. He gets in the henna shop and he freezes up."
But aside from all the jabs on
Jordan said he shaved his head at the end of last year before going to San Diego and was just going to let the face grow with it. Jeff decided to do the same to prepare for the upcoming winter.
If you see them walking on the street, the tats have since faded, but they do have another bodily accessory new for fall 2010: facial hair.
The once baby-faced Jordan now had girls saying they didn't like his new beard or that he looked like a "mountain man." He doesn't see it that way.
"I trimmed this bad boy down," he said. "This is a nice five oclock shadow."
Then Jeff defended his beard's status.
"His is nice and thick," Jordan said of Jeff's stubble. "Mine is more GQ-esque."
JEFF WITHEY
SOPHOMORE CENTER
each other, the two have a close bond, confiding everything into one another. They've been roommates for the past two years and they do everything together, outside of class. They
said it was just as close as the Morris twins' relationship.
Their families have connected to the point where Jeff's mother calls Jordan "son." Then Jordan's little brother, Jayden, considers Jeff a brother. It's one big family, just a thousand miles apart.
"In life," Jordan said. "I see him as a brother, too."
If Jordan Juenemann had more experience, maybe he could be former athletics director Lew Perkins' replacement.
"Ten to 15 years from now, I wish I had a little bit of credentials and could slide into that," Juenemann said. "That'd be a nice deal."
JUST JORDAN
This summer, the hed examined his life and had a revelation on what he wanted to do after basketball. It just came to him: athletics director.
He thought about how much he likes to interact with people and the intricacies of Kansas' athletic department. It just made sense to aspire to becoming head of the organization.
He also said the events that transpired this summer with Kansas Athletics didn't sway his decision either way.
"It's a thriving environment," Juenemann said. "I could still affect young kids' lives. I could make rightful decisions for the university for something people care about."
But his future is a long way away.
For now, it's all about basketball.
In the past six months, if any player that didn't get a lot of minutes on the men's basketball team was in the news, it had to do with leaving the team.
Chase Buford left the team to focus on academics. C.J. Henry left Kansas for a situation where he could play a lot of minutes at Southern Nazarene University. Conner Teahan tried out for the football team at the end of last
SEE BUDS ON PAGE 7A
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Jett Withey dunks the ball over Iowa State forward LaRon Dendy last season. Withey received a visit from Juenemann to his house in San Diego for a couple of weeks this summer.
COMMENTARY
Lack of passion demonstrated by coach isn't a good sign
Nice guys finish last. Society has deemed that cliche worthy of general use.I deem it worthy of use in describing the Kansas football team.
Is it too soon? Does that break the love affair that exists between the Athletics Department, coach Turner Gill and the loyal Kansas football fans? No, no and no.
During the football offseason, only words such as "positive," "great," "nice" and "supportive" were used to describe Gill. These words came from players, coaches and fans alike.
BY NICOLAS ROESLER
nroesler@kansan.com
Everybody got sucked into it. It was refreshing. It was hopeful. It was change.
Then, during Saturday's game as well as games almost every recent Saturday — my eyes were
frozen by the lack of fire displayed on Gill's face. I know that Gill has the makings of a great coach. But none of that could be seen anywhere on the field during the 6-3 loss to North Dakota State, or during the 31-16 loss against Southern Miss., or especially during the 55-7 loss at Baylor.
I first noticed a puzzling lack of passion at a press conference with coach Gill four days before the North Dakota State game. At first I wrote it off as "coach talk," meaning he didn't want to show his emotions to the media. "Coach talk" holds those emotions back
for the team."Coach talk" follows guidelines set by the Athletics Department as a whole, and Kansas football needs a calm, collected, positive voice in the media after last year.
But at that week's press conference, when a reporter asked Gill if he was especially excited for his first game in Memorial Stadium. Gill responded with a slight shoulder shrug and said he was in the way he is for every other football game he's coached.
Good "coach" answer. But really? It was your first game as the head coach of Kansas football and
I would prefer to see a coach actually angry that his team is down 30 points than see a coach chewing on gum with his arms crossed like he is waiting for a bus. Even the Dallas Cowboy's head coach, Wade Phillips, has learned to act excited when coaching his team. Let's see some fire!
Football is a cutthroat sport, let's be honest. Everybody on the team is fighting for a starting job, everybody wants to win and everybody wants to be respected. Many times in football, achieving
a shoulder shrug is the physical manifestation of that excitement?
This is not supposed to be a lesson on coaching, this is simply a concern born at noon on Saturday when Baylor, one of the lowest-ranked teams in the Big 12, began to look like the University of Alabama playing against Kansas.
the goal of wining games requires the coach acting as the bad guy.
Cliches and superstitions aside. Being nice, calm and collected is great. But some changes need to come out with a steel fist and passion for the rest of the season.
- Edited by Emily McCoy
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