THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
See how Colorado and Kansas stack up
MEN'S BASKETBALL 6A
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2011
Check out the prospects for tonight's match-up between Colorado and Kansas. Will the Jayhawks prevail against a strong Buffalo offense? The Kansan's basketball writers think they might.
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BLAZIN' BUFFALOES
Kansas defense put to test
Senior quarri Mario Little tries to save the ball from going out of bounds Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks lost to the Longhorns 74-63 and face a tough test on the road tonight.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDKbasketball
The scouting report on the Colorado Buffaloes is startling in its simplicity. The Buffaloes can score, plain and simple.
Senior guard Cory Higgins has averaged more than 15 points per game in each of the last three seasons in Boulder. Sophomore wing Alec Burks is a legitimate Big 12 Player of the Year contender and is second in the Big 12 at 19.6 points per game. And Levi Knutson has evolved into a three-point snipter extraordinaire, hitting 49.4 percent of his efforts from deep. He's so efficient that, according to Ken Pomeroy's comprehensive offensive rating statistic, Knutson is actually the best offensive player in the country.
"They've got Higgins and Burks who are both great players," senior guard Tyrel Reed said. "They've got Knutson coming off the bench who is leading the Big 12 in three-point percentage. So we definitely need to be better defensively."
The good news for Kansas is twofold, though. First, guarding the perimeter has been the Jayhawks' defensive strength all year. Knutson isn't likely to see many open looks and Higgins and Burks will have to deal with the hassling defensive tandem of Tyshawn Taylor and Brady Morningstar.
"Burks is a pro and Higgins will probably be a pro," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I think they're the top scoring duo in our league and probably as good of wings that we have in our conference."
Second, Kansas' greatest strength is Colorado's greatest weakness. The Jayhawk frontcourt, led by Marcus and Markieff Morris, is one of the best in the country, though the presence of Thomas Robinson will be missed. Robinson left Monday after practice to return to Washington, D.C., to be with his family after losing his mother to an apparent heart attack Friday night.
LaceDarius Dunn, the Big 12's leading scorer with 21.3 points per game, and Jordan Hamilton, third in the conference with 19.5 points per game, were both held below their scoring averages. Higgins and Burks may likewise struggle to find the hoop.
"Thomas said yesterday that he positively wanted to go to Boulder," coach Bill Self said Monday, "but I think that was out of emotion. Then after visiting with his sister last
night, you know, she's 9 years old and she wants her brother home, and that's where he needs to be."
Robbinsons eight points and 6.1 rebounds per game won't go
unnoticed, but teammates and coaches alike are unwaveringly supportive of his decision to be with his family.
"You just have to be there for
him," senior Brady Mongstaring said. "In no way could I imagine what he is going through right now. He is a 19-year old and having all that happen to him is just terrible,
so you just have to stay close to him and give him your love and affection"
Edited by Danielle Packer
COMMENTARY
Three defensive recruits help fill in the gaps
BY KORY CARPENTER kcarpenter@kansan.com
2010 was rough. There aren't many cool or catchy headlines that can sum up the year better than that. The coaching staff was new, the players were largely young and inexperienced, injuries took out a few key players for the entire season, and it showed on the field.
As bad as the results were last season, Turner Gill and his coaches have been able to land a number of talented recruits for 2011. Rivals.com has the Jayhawks with the 31st best recruiting class, and it seems, so far at least, that the coaches have filled the holes they felt were missing on last year's 3-9 team, a team that finished ninth in the Big 12 Conference in total defense. One of those holes was the defensive line, which was a large reason Kansas was 11th in the conference in sacks and rushing.
In the last few days, the staff filled two more of those holes. How? By landing not only one three-star defensive end, but two.
Michael Reynolds, a 6"4" 220 pound defensive end from Wichita's Kapaun Mt. Carmel High committed Sunday morning after a trip
The three-star lineman did a little bit of everything in high school, including returning kicks and lining up at tight end periodically. There's little to no chance he will do either of those while in a Kansas uniform, but the fact that a defensive end was a successful kick returner in high school really speaks to the athleticism he brings to Lawrence. Kansas wasn't the only major conference school after Reynolds, however. Kansas State and Rose Bowl Champion TCU recently offered him scholarships but Reynolds will head to Lawrence this summer.
to Lawrence to watch the men's basketball team take on the Texas Longhorns.
Joining Reynolds next season is fellow three-star defensive end Javonte Daniel. Standing at 6'4" 215 pounds, Daniel is a near clone of Reynolds and boasts an impressive offer sheet, with schools including Southern Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas. Both Reynolds and Daniel will offer immediate help to the Kansas defense, which was more than likely a huge selling point Turner Gill and defensive coordinator Carl Torbush harped on: playing time. And lots of it.
DYLAN ADMIRE
Along with the defensive line, the Jayhawks are beefing up their offense with recruits Admire, Berglund and Miller.
After landing the pair of defen
Location: OL
Hometown: Overland Park, KS
High School: Blue Valley West
Rating: ★ ★ ★
PAGE 8A
BROCK BERGLUND
**Position:** QB
**Hometown:** Highlands
Ranch, CO
**High School:** Valor
Christian
**Rating:** ☆ ☆ ☆
DARRIAN MILLER
Position:RB
sive ends, the staff received more good news on Monday afternoon, as scout.com reported the commitment of junior college linebacker Tunde Bakare. The three-star linebacker from Highland Community College garnered interest from Boise State and Oregon State, as well as a formal offer from Minnesota
Hometown: Blue Springs,
MO
High School: Blue Springs
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆
Bakare was reportedly deciding between Kansas and East Carolina before committing to the Jayhawks Monday afternoon. Bakare should be an early factor in the linebacking rotation and see plenty of game action in the fall.
which should excite any Kansas fans who were disappointed last season. Turner Gill and staff are bringing in a lot of speed on both sides of the ball, defense especially, which was oftentimes missing in 2010.
All three defensive commits have one thing in common: speed,
Edited by Tali David
COMMENTARY
Chiefs' 2011-12 season uncertain
BY KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
I'm not a Chiefs
hater, but there is
one thing I can't
stand. It's that "home of the Chiefs" chant I have to hear every time I'm in Allen Fieldhouse. Why is it the home of the Chiefs? They play in Missouri. I thought we despised everything about Missouri. And why during the national anthem? So yeah, besides that, I don't mind the Chiefs.
So now, I'm trying to figure out how the Chiefs will win half of their games next year. Most of my friends are Chiefs fans, and they obviously won't like this or agree with it, but I think 2010 was a mirage. Here's why:
In 2009, Todd Haley called the plays for the offense. The results? A 4-12 record. The six game turnaround and playoff berth this year was nice. But how did it happen?
Charlie Weiss was hired as offensive coordinator and play caller. He's one of the best offensive coordinators of the last decade, so that helps. Or shall I say helped. Because Weiss is gone. Shortly after Kansas City's firstround playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Weiss accepted the offensive coordinator position at the University of Florida.
Like a domino effect at the Chiefs facilities, Todd Haley has hinted he might call the plays himself next year. I realize that he successfully called the plays as offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, but he had a lot of help, Calling plays for Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, and Larry Fitzgerald was easy, but he doesn't have that kind of talent in Kansas City. He has a great running back in Jamal Charles, and a potential star in tight end Tony Moeaki, but the rest are a bunch of afterthoughts.
Who leaves an NFL coordinator position for an identical job in the college ranks? Florida is a great college job, sure. But at the end of the day, it's still a college job. It doesn't hold a candle to an NFL position. Not many people outside of Chiefs insiders truly know why Weiss left the Chiefs, but I'm guessing he didn't like his boss. There's not many other reasons why you leave an NFL job like that after one year. So now that he's gone, what else will change?
Storm Schnake, a sophomore from Olathe and diehard Chiefs fan, disagrees.
"We had a stellar draft class last year and we were really young," Schnake told
SEE CHIEFS ON PAGE 6A