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12 FEATURE
Kansas thrower Brian Bishop continues his family's tradition of throwing the discus
BY COREY SHADOWITZ cashku33@ku.edu
Brian Bishop shouldn't have been that surprised when his dad brought him home a discus instead of the baseball glove Bishop had requested. His family's history with the sport made it unavoidable for Bishop. His grandfather Chic, father Charles, uncle, older brother Ben, sister, and cousins have all been throwers at some point. For the Bishops, discus does not begin or end at a meet or at a practice facility, it continues at home in their front yard where they have their own ring set up, it occupies conversation at the dinner table, and family get-togethers revolve around the progress in throwing.
"If I am going to pursue something I want to give it my all.I want to see growth, there is no end result."
Brian Bishop is a senior discus and shot put thrower from Cantrall, Illinois. The Bishop family contains four generations of collegiate discus players. The Bishop family has been dominating discus since 1912, when Brian's great-grandfather set high school records. Brian's great-uncle also set records. Where does the motivation to succeed come from? Chic says that the Bishop family motivation comes from a belief that success should be the aim for everything you try your hand at
BRIAN BISHOP
senior discus and shotput thrower
"We live the cowboy way", Chic says.
Bishop's grandfather, Walter "Chic" Bishop, serves as the family's all-purpose discus expert and coach. He's well versed in the sport's history of the last hundred years. His hero and favorite thrower is Al Otert who won the gold medal at the Olympics four consecutive times from 1956 to 1968. Otert was a thrower at the University of Kansas, foreshadowing where Chic's grandson would end up.
Brian set seven records for Athens High School. As a junior he was a state runner-up in the discus, and as a senior he set a Midwest Sangamo Conference record for a throw of 185-11 feet. Despite his records Brian was not recruited to throw in college. He attended Southern Illinois-Edwardsville because his older brother Ben was a threerower. In his first year at SIU-Edwardsville he was a walk-on for the track and field team and was named first team all-conference, competing indoors and outdoors.
In 2008, Brian participated in the Junior World Championships in Poland where he met Andy Kokhanovsky the throwing coach at KU.The two formed an immediate bond and Brian transferred from SIU-Edwardsville to the
THE WAVE NOVEMBER 19,2010
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Can
foul trouble?
With Jeff Withey healthy, this is less of a concern than it was in the preseason, but when Markieff Morris had to sit with two early fouls against Valparaiso, it made frontcourt depth an issue for the rest of the first half. There aren't enough bodies in the Jayhawk frontcourt to withstand serious foul trouble, and the Mean Greenied the nation in free throws made per game last season. If two of the Jayhawks bigs get into foul trouble, Mario Little could be forced to spend some time in the frontcourt, which offers opponents a size mismatch in their favor.
Morris
HEARYE, HEARYE
"I never expect to lose here. This is the best home-court advantage in the country. Coming in here and getting those chills before the game, I definitely don't expect to lose here."
Robinson
Markieff Morris, junior center
Markieff has unquestionably established himself as the best rebounder on this Jayhawks team (with an honorable mention to Thomas Robinson off the bench). His 14 boards per game are just one shy of what Marcus and Robinson are averaging combined. Markieff played just five minutes and pulled down three boards in the first half against Valparaiso because of foul trouble, but had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone.
SIXTH MAN
Thomas Robinson, supporter forward Robinson is getting almost as many minutes as the starters (or more, in the case of Releford) with 20 per game. It's hard for Self to keep him off the floor, as he has the ability to be a double-double player, even off the bench. Self has taken to playing both Morris twins and Robinson at the same time, creating size mismatches at the three and four against most teams. Robinson gets a fourth star for the first time.
Marcus Morris
Thomas Robinson, sophomore forward
George Odufuwa, senior forward Odufuwa was named to the Sun Belt's preseason All First-Team. He is currently averaging 10.5 points and 13 rebounds per game. He is averaging 35 minutes per game as well. A season ago, Odufuwa averaged 11.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He started 32 of North Texas' 33 games.
George Odufuwa, senior forward
SIXTH MAN
Dominique Johnson, senior guard Johnson is averaging 16.5 points off the bench this season in 31 minutes. Johnson may crack the starting lineup if his play continues. However, having two 5-foot-10 guards in the lineup makes the Mean Green very small in the frontcourt. Johnson is North Texas' best three-point shooter. He is currently 8-13 on the season. He was one of four players to average double figures (11 ppg) last season.
Tim Dwyer
compared with north texas. The Mean Green caught the attention of the Jayhawks last season when both teams played in Oklahoma City for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. North Texas lost to Kansas State 82-62. The Mean Green entered the tournament with an 11-game winning streak, but had it snapped by the Wildcats. North Texas hung with Kansas State for the first 10 minutes until Kansas State pulled away. The games against Texas Tech regained Kansas' attention if it was lost during the NCAA Tournament.
Mike Lavieri
HEARYE, HEARYE
"He was truly a pioneer at North Texas because he showed that you could have success here. His willingness to share his experiences helped in my transition to North Texas. I have fond memories of him, and he will be sorely missed."
— North Texas coach Johnny Jones on legendary Mean Green coach Bill Blakey, who passed away on Oct. 26, according to a news release.
FRIDAY BIG 12 SCHEDULE
Time (CT)
Teams Time
Texas vs. Pittsburgh 6 p.m.
Nebraska vs. Davidson 2:00 p.m.
Texas A&M-International at Texas A&M 7:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at Texas Tech 7:00 p.m
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE WILL ROCK IF...
Kansas allows Josh White to do what he did to Texas Tech light up the scoreboard in a stunning Mean Green upset. White is excellent against Big 12 competition, but there's a difference between a team picked to finish in the middle of the pack,and a team ranked No.6 in the country.
The team ties the school record for consecutive wins in the building with 62. Marcus Morris said he "can't, can't, CAN'T" lose a game in his home building, so he may have a little extra fire with the streak on the line. If he does, look out North Texas. He could go for 30.
BABY JAY WILL BREAK DOWN AND CRY IF...
Prediction:
SCHEDULE
Kansas 98, North Texas 64
Date Opponent TV Channel Time
Nov. 23 Texas A&M-CC Jayhawk TV 7 p.m.
Nov. 26 Ohio Jayhawk TV 7 p.m.
Nov. 27 Arizona Jayhawk TV 7 p.m.
Dec. 2 UCLA ESPN2 9:30 p.m.
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