Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
2010 football preview New names step up to lead the team this season. FOOTBALL| 4B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2010
Athletics summer recap Wrap-up of a tumultuous offseason for Kansas, Big 12 ATHLETICS|9B
REPLACING REESING
PAGE 1B
Starting QB still to be determined
Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb throws to sophomore quarterback Kale Pick during the Jayhawks' first practice of the season Aug. 4. The two are competing for the starting quarterback position.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Sophomore Kale Pick, freshman Jordan Webb fight to fill vacancy
BY MATT GALLOWAY mgalloway@kansan.com
He is the Jayhawks' career passing leader by a 4,784 yard margin. He is the only quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season, and he did it three times. He holds each of the top three records in single-season passing yardage, touchdown passes and completion percentage.
He is Todd Reeing, and he is no longer on the Kansas football team.
Replacing him will be either sophomore Kale Pick, who has just 22 career passing yards, or freshman Jordan Webb, who has zero.
"We obviously have big shoes to fill." Webb said. "Todd was one of the greatest to ever play here. It will be hard to replace him, but I think we're both up to the task."
Luckily for whoever wins the ongoing quarterback competition, the layhawks have a recent history with unproven quarterbacks finding success on the field. Reesing only had 204 of his record 11,194 career yards passing under his belt when he was awarded the starting job his sophomore year in 2007.
Naturally, in addition to battling each other for the position of starting quarterback, Pick and Webb are also battling the constant comparisons to the man affectionately referred to as Sparky by fans and teammates
the gridiron. Pick is seen as more of a scrambler who can make plays with his legs, while Webb is viewed as the traditional NFL prototype. Regardless of who seizes the job, the offense will be developed around what the new quarterback brings to the table.
"Whoever wins the job, we're going to tailor our offense to them," said offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chuck Long. "I'm not so stubborn to say, 'This is it, and if you don't fit it, you can't play.' We want to put our best players on the field, and we're going to tailor it to whoever's in there."
"They don't move around the pocket as much as Todd," said senior wide receiver Johnathan Wilson. "He would be running around and then he would turn around and run the other way."
While they may not be Reesing reincarnate, both quarterbacks bring their own unique abilities to
Coach Turner Gill , a legendary quarterback in his own right, has no timetable on when the decision at quarterback will be made.
"We obviously have big shoes to fill. Todd was one of the greatest to ever play here."
"It can go right up until the day before the game," Gill said. "Chuck and I don't have a deadline or a timeline to make a decision. Whenever we believe that it is the right time to make the decision and the person has earned it and deserves it, then we'll do that."
Junior offensive lineman Jeff Spikes' season-ending leg injury may appear to give the swiver Pick a leg up on the competition, but ultimately the most talented player
JORDAN WEBB Freshman quarterback
will win the position regardless of the team around him.
"You want to play the guy that earns the job," Long said. "We have confidence that we're going to have an offensive
line come first game that is solid and good and regardless of who's back there."
Both underclassmen understand the importance of securing the job now and making this squad their own.
- Edited by Tim Dwyer
COMMENTARY
Excitement not always better when it comes to controversies
hope you all enjoyed it while it lasted. The past 365 days were as entertaining as it can get.
Think about how much this beloved university was on the news in the past year. It had to be more than any other college. Be proud, Jayhawk Nation.
What other university can claim to have its high-profile football and basketball teams duke it out on school grounds? How many coaches and athletic directors were surrounded by controversy? Where else can you find the most illustrious ticket hijacking scheme in recent memory?
I'm sad to tell you, but 2010- 2011 cannot compete. Nothing can.
The Big 12 exists now as 10 schools in a summer with twists not even M. Night Shyamalan could have written. Now we're stuck seeing how long that lasts.
The men's basketball team fell in the second round in an ESPY award-winning upset by Northern Iowa. Sorry to open up old wounds, but think about it in terms of this season: there's nowhere to go but up.
BY COREY THIBODAEUX
thibodeaux@kansan.com
And the football team. So promising last season.The Jayhawks won their first five games but then — splat. Lost the final seven.
You can fill in the blanks with any other newsworthy story surrounding the University of Kansas. Not even USC and its chaotic summer can't compete. It may be more affected, but it's not as widespread as Kansas.
I want to point out track and field middle distance runner Lauren Bonds graduated with a 3.93 grade point average and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year. Sophomore thrower Mason Finley was the best discus thrower at the NACAC Under-23 Track and Field Championships in early July.
But corruption in the organization they were part of masked those achievements.
Perhaps the only way to salvage the thrill of Kansas Athletics and make us forget about 2009-2010 is to win an NCAA championship. A football bowl berth would help. There is no substitute for winning on the greatest stages.
But there is a positive to all of this: I will promise that this year will be better than last year. "Exciting" doesn't always mean "better". And there is hope in the revenue sports.
The basketball team is poised for something special. The Morris twins are looking excellent this summer, working out three times a day. Freshman Josh Selby is skilled enough to perhaps make his own shoes to fill someday.
Coach Turner Gill sat down this summer and said his purpose on life was to teach 18- to 22-yearold men how to be better people. Whatever side I'm on, I want him on my team, whether he wins or loses.
And how can you not like where the football team is at?
And whether it's exciting or not, it's going to be a good year.
Edited by Clark Goble
Twins reunite at Adidas Nations
MEN'S BASKETBALL
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
He was in Las Vegas to practice with Team USA. He spent time in Chicago for Amare Stoudemire's big-man camp. He was in Akron, Ohio, for the LeBron James Skills Academy. He missed time with his Kansas teammates in order to further his game — his mid-range game, in particular, he said — against some of the best competition in the nation.
Marcus Morris had a whirlwind summer.
Marcus, Markieff attend camp after summer apart
Most recently, he was back in Chicago for the Adidas Nations summer camp. And he finally had some company from his Jayhawk teammates, including his twin brother, Markieff.
"It was different having my teammates there," he said. "It was more fun."
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com said Morris
SEE MORRIS ON PAGE 7B
Mike Gunnoe/ KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Junior forward Marcus Morris launches a shot over former Iowa State forward Craig Brackins in Allen Fieldhouse Feb. 13. Morris practiced with Team USA during the swine
.