6B the university daily kansan
sports
thursday, march 18.2004
ATLANTA: Atlanta bracket deep in talent
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3 Texas (23-7) vs. #14 Princeton (20-7)
The Longhorns are deep and talented. The problem is the players who Texas needs most are cold right now. Ten Longhorns average at least four points per game, but Brian Boddicker and P.J. Tucker must step up offensively if Texas wants to live up to its postseason expectations. Princeton is a team that plays at a pace that will frustrate Texas. The glue that holds the Tigers together will be center Judson Wallace, who will need to play the game of his life against the Longhorn's plethora of big men to give his team a
enance. Prediction — Texas 62,
Princeton 55
7 Xavier (23-10) vs. #10
Louisville (20-9)
Louisville was ranked in the top 5 at one point this season, but tanked in the season's stretch run. For all the talent Louisville brings with legendary coach Rick Pitino, Xavier is hot right. A name that could become well-known by the end of this tournament is Romain Sato. Sato, at just six-foot-five, leads the team in rebounding and scoring. The Musketeers will go as far as Sato can carry them. Prediction — Xavier 76, Louisville 60
2 Mississippi State (25-3) vs.
15 Monmouth (21-11)
Monmouth should just go ahead and book its plane tickets back right now. Mississippi State is a threat in the tournament's most talent-rich region. Baylor transfer Lawrence Roberts was the SEC Player of the Year, but has an outstanding supporting cast. The most important member of the group will be senior point guard Timmy Bowers. Bowers is the team's second-leading scorer behind Roberts, and is playing his best basketball. The tournament will be the perfect stage for him to improve his NBA stock. Prediction — Mississippi State 101, Monmouth 62
Edited by Ashley Arnold and Stephanie Lovett
ROBINETT: Fans can be optimistic with Self
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off Kansas.
on Kansas.
The Jayhawks had some future NBA players too — Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich and Drew Gooden — but Self's experienced team bested a young Kansas squad.
Self's recent history has been less successful, but explainable. His team lost in the Sweet 16 two years ago to a deep Kansas team that featured starters Hirich, Collison and Gooden plus current juniors Wayne Simien and Keith Langford off the bench.
Last year, without Williams who left early for the NBA, Self guided an inexperienced club to a close loss against Arizona.
The main reason for Self's relative tournament success has been his ability to adjust his coaching style during games and around his players.
When he was at Tulsa he had decent talent and ran the ball up and down the floor to maximize his teams' athleticism and shooting ability.
At Illinois, he inherited a more talented group of bruisers inside and played slow, physical basketball that wore down the opponent before delivering the knockout blow.
Self did well at those two jobs, but this Kansas team is the most talented team he has coached and can adjust to numerous styles of play.
So, Kansas fans can afford to be cautiously optimistic. With the first round of games at Kemper Arena in nearby Kansas City, Mo., and Self's legacy of not under achieving come tournament time, look for Kansas to perform well in March.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas junior in journalism.
Swanson attended high school at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. He learned to play five instruments at his high school, but was not able to play football, instead opting to play for nearby Lincoln High School. He played violin, piano, saxophone, flute and clarinet, and said the violin was his best instrument.
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Swanson said he was even talented enough to earn a scholarship offer to Michigan State.
FOOTBALL: Jayhawks firm up roster, try to improve
"It's not what I wanted to do," Swanson said. "I'm an athlete who just happened to be good at playing the violin."
Swanson said jokingly that being able to read notes on the fly aided his ability to improvise on the playing field. Mangino has compared his improvisation with former Jayhawk quarterback Bill Whittimore.
Quarterback is one of the wild card positions on a team that is returning most of its players from last season. The running back, wide receiver and linebacker positions will return all of the 2003 playmakers. The linebacking corps in particular returns three of Kansas's four leading tacklers and the team's leading sacker — Brandon Perkins, junior.
As loaded as the linebackers appear to be, Mangino said they
could be better.
"There's not a position on the field that couldn't use improvement," Mangino said. "But it's really hard to evaluate too much when you're not tackling or not wearing shoulder pads."
Kansas Football Notes:
Three's company: Kansas has just three defensive tackles taking part in spring drills right now. Travis Watkins, senior, and Chris Brant, sophomore, are working out with the first team. Brant is a walk-on from Edmond, Okla. Tim Allen, senior, is the third tackle. The group will welcome freshman James McClinton in the fall. McClinton was rated the No. 3 defensive tackle in Texas.
Two-way no more: Mangino said John Randle, sophomore, will not play defensive back. Randle is now a permanent running back. Meanwhile, Charles Gordon worked out with the defense on Sunday and the offense yesterday.
Depending on how the cornerback situation sizes up, Gordon could find himself on either end, but he won't start both ways. Mangino said Gordon could wind up specializing by playing 10 plays per game on the opposite side of the ball.
Pass rush: Senior defensive
ends John McCoy and David McMillan dominated in the pass rush drills and were two of the more impressive players yesterday.
McMillan started at end last season, while McCoy was a situational pass rusher after changing from linebacker. McCoy was a junior college All-American at linebacker, and showed flashes at defensive end last season while recording 11 tackles.
The two players garnering the most attention at this point are tackle Adrian Jones and quarterback Bill Whittemore, with Jones predicted by some as a first-day selection.
Senior Day: Kansas hosted its Senior Day yesterday, when seniors who are no longer eligible to play for the University worked out for NFL scouts and coaches in preparation for the NFL Draft. Mangino said representatives came from 14 teams to watch the drills.
Randle punishment: Mangino briefly addressed John Randle's legal situation. He said that the problem would be handled inhouse and that there would be consequences, but that Randle was owed due process. He said that punishment would not involve Randle's removal from the team.
Edited by Abby Mills
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