Rock Chalk Talk

Keeping Tabs On Three 2012 Kansas Basketball Recruits

2012-05-16T14:01:10Z

Milton Doyle wanted to commit to Kansas in his visit but the staff wants him to wait, his mom told @SNYtv. He will now look elsewhere.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) May 15, 2012

Early this week Kansas hosted yet another potential player that could be added to the 2012-2013 roster. That player was 6'4" Chicago area shooting guard Milton Doyle. Doyle comes in a week after the Jayhawks hosted a potential transfer in South Carolina's Damontre Harris. Harris had originally planned to decide between Kansas and Florida this past weekend but as is often the case, these things seem to change and drag on.

Throw into the mix a current Kansas commit Anrio Adams, who is still waiting for official word on his qualifying status, and Kansas has it's eye on three players that could all have a different impact on the program. Adams is viewed as the more polished player over Doyle, but Doyle is said to be a diamond in the rough, high ceiling type of player. Harris would sit a year before joining the team in 2013, but his inside presence on the defensive end would be a welcome addition when Jeff Withey's eligibility runs out after this coming year.

Three players, limited space and another small circus late in the recruiting game for Kansas. Obviously Adams is less of a circus as his inclusion is all but assured provided he qualifies. But what about the other two? Last night Adam Zagoria tweeted that Doyle wanted to commit on his visit but Kansas told him to wait. The question is why? If Adams qualifies Kansas sits at 13 scholarship players. Is Doyle a backup plan for Adams?

Then one has to wonder where Harris fits in the plan? Does Wesley remain on scholarship? History seems to indicate that once you're on scholarship, Self tends to leave you on scholarship. Is there another transfer possible? Or could it be that Harris and Doyle are BOTH alternatives to Adams and the staff is waiting to hear final word on his recent college entrance scores?

Bill Self has and will continue to remain active on the recruiting front. Some years it has been VERY necessary to add roster depth late and things have always worked out. This year it wouldn't seem to be as critical and with three players still in active discussion with the Jayhawks, it creates an interesting dynamic. Adams, Harris and Doyle. Adams presents the easiest questions to answer. As for the other two; do they fit? Where do they fit? How do they fit and when might we find out?

Kansas Jayhawk News and Notes 5.16.12

2012-05-16T11:00:12Z

Kansas Athletics

Weis' two key lessons from South Bend - Notre Dame Football Blog - ESPN
Charlie Weis' struggles during his five-year tenure at Notre Dame are well-documented. Entering his first season at Kansas with a few familiar faces, Weis is looking to learn from those mistakes and bring a winning edge to a program coming off a two-win campaign in 2011.

Going deep: My early stab at filling out KU football's fall depth chart (for now) | Tale of the Tait | KUsports.com
Definitely some discussion opportunity here.

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth - The Triangle Blog - Grantland
After Paul Pierce single-handedly won Game 2 of the Atlanta series, a friend of mine e-mailed, "Has there ever been anyone quite like Pierce?" The short answer: No.

KU men's basketball leads conference in home attendance for 26th straight year | KUsports.com
It's just so easy.

Vacation's over: Self refreshed, ready for 10th season at KU | KUsports.com
Hard to believe it's been ten years. That also means that after this next season I will have been out of college 10 years. That's just a tiny bit depressing.

Big 12

Florida State-to-Big 12 seed could spark more conference realignment - Andy Staples - SI.com
Now, the ACC -- one of the few leagues that has avoided getting raided -- sweats as it holds its spring meetings. Two influential people spoke Saturday, and their words thundered across the college sports landscape.

Misc.

A study of percentages and philosophies - Luke Winn - SI.com
Twenty-five seasons have elapsed since college basketball added the three-pointer, and still, there is no consensus on the optimal way to defend it.

Kansas Jayhawk News and Notes 5.15.12

2012-05-15T11:00:19Z

Kansas Athletics

High school guard Milton Doyle expected to visit KU on Monday | KUsports.com
Another possible late addition.

Broncos sign Steven Johnson, undrafted LB from Kansas, with $12,000 bonus - The Denver Post
Broncos sign Steven Johnson, undrafted LB from Kansas, with $12,000 bonus

Realignment

FSU prez: Big 12 has pros, cons | KUsports.com
Barron wrote the Big 12 is at least as Texas centered as the ACC is North Carolina centered and that the Texas schools are expected to play each other. He wrote that the “most likely scenario” leaves Florida State playing Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State and West Virginia. Florida State already has problems selling out its home games. Barron wrote that playing those schools would not cure that problem.

Big 12 Realignment: Talk Out Of Clemson And Florida State Sounds Very Familiar

2012-05-14T14:13:17Z

Remember the talk coming out of Columbia just before the Tigers packed up and headed South? The entire Big 12 was committing to the Big 12, but Missouri was very noncommittal and as we all expected they eventually decided they would leave.

Now we're about a week or so removed from the Big 12 securing a television contract putting them on par with the rest of the major BCS conferences for the time being. During that same time the ACC finalized a deal that was below the new $20 million benchmark that seems to have been established. That contract, along with Big 12 comments regarding potential expansion have set off a little bit of posturing in the last few days and it feels an awful lot like Missouri.

For the most part the talk out of the ACC has been positive. A "basketball" conference landing a deal awarding $17 million per year to each member institution seems like a pretty solid pay day. But two schools that have been very noncommittal are Clemson and Florida State.

First Florida State started to openly discuss the possibility of exploring other options before backtracking just a day later. It's hard to say where the thinking is in Seminole country right now, but the back and forth would certainly seem to indicate the door is cracked and they are willing to listen.

For their part Clemson, the Tigers of Clemson, seem about as committed to the ACC as Missouri was to the Big 12. Florida State and Clemson are football schools in a conference that seems to be positioning itself as the 'basketball' conference.

"I do know that if we get any direct overtures from any conference the board is going to take it up and consider it and do what's best for Clemson, no matter what it is. But if we get ahead of ourselves and talk about whether we do this or that when the opportunity does not exist, it's not the healthiest thing. So I'm not going to do it." - David Wilkins, Board of Trustees chairman via TigerIllustrated.com

So are things heating up this summer or is this all just talk and overblown talk in the middle of the college sports offseason? The Big 12 is 10 strong with a new contract and what appears to be long term stability. Louisville has openly jockeyed for positioning and now both Clemson and Florida State seem to have interest in opportunities. Could the Big 12 move back to 12 or go beyond and reach 14 even? What's the preference? And does further expansion East take away from the league or does it only help since West Virginia has already been added?

Kansas Jayhawk News and Notes 5.14.12

2012-05-14T13:24:37Z

Kansas Athletics

Sunflower mowdown: KU wants to reverse trend of in-state defeats - KansasCity.com
A pretty pathetic look at our athletic issues from this Saturday's Star.

Big 12

FSU would benefit Big 12 | KUsports.com
Guess we won't have a realignment talk free offseason this year. I would have to think that any combination of FSU, Clemson, Louisville, Rutgers would really solidify the league. I hate the regional layout, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

Coach: FSU should give Big 12 a look | KUsports.com
Jimbo Fisher is on board with whatever is best for FSU and the talk out of Clemson is very much the same. Neither school has come out in full support of the ACC. Just for the sake of discussion, how silly is it that we could lose Missouri to the Southeast Conference and add Clemson and/or Florida State...maybe at some point. Stupid.

Kansas Spring Game Attendance Stacks Up Nicely On A National Scale

2012-05-11T14:59:22Z

Hope brought about by a new coach, good weather, a glance at changes to the program and perhaps the excitement surrounding a pair of quarterbacks added during the offseason. These are all great reasons why the Kansas spring game was well attended this year. As an optimistic football supporter I'd like to think the 15,000 reported fans spending a Saturday afternoon in Lawrence during the month of April shows that the fanbase wants to see and support a successful program.

Spring game attendances for BCS schools were compiled and releases by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal and Kansas recorded an attendance in the top half of those holding a spring scrimmage. Charlie Weis and the Jayhawk program's 15,000 fans was actually enough to pull into a tie with recently departed Texas A&M. Kansas ranked ahead of several notable programs and fanbases although the attendance still trailed in state rival Kansas State. That's to be expected given what the Wildcats have coming back and the optimism in Manhattan.

Weis has made no secret that he is targeting the success at Kansas State as model for what can and should be done with the flagship University in the State of Kansas, so this is just another carrot to dangle out in front. All in all, it looks pretty good for Kansas and Weis in year one, but next spring Weis will be selling results and hope instead of just hope and that can be a little more difficult.

NCAA FOOTBALL: SPRING GAME ATTENDANCE FOR BCS CONFERENCE SCHOOLS
SCHOOL	ATTENDANCE	SCHOOL	ATTENDANCE
Ohio State	81,112	Iowa	15,000
Alabama	78,526	UCLA	13,000
Penn State	60,000	Washington	11,802
Texas	46,000	Oklahoma State	11,000
Arkansas	45,250	Washington State	10,713
Oregon	44,129	Wisconsin	10,479
Georgia	44,117	Miami	10,000
Auburn	43,427	California	8,812
Florida State	40,631	Virginia	8,500
Florida	38,000	Vanderbilt	8,500
South Carolina	34,513	West Virginia	8,000
Tennessee	34,421	Colorado	7,100
LSU	33,000	Connecticut	5,500
Notre Dame	31,582	Wake Forest	5,500
Clemson	28,000	Arizona State	5,142
Ole Miss	25,000	Stanford	5,000
Michigan	25,000	Arizona	5,000
North Carolina State	24,797	Iowa State	5,000
Mississippi State	22,604	Pittsburgh	4,607
Michigan State	21,000	Kentucky	4,500
Oklahoma	20,509	Virginia Tech	4,000
Missouri	18,614	Syracuse	3,716
Georgia Tech	18,125	Minnesota	3,500
Kansas State	18,048	Texas Tech	3,000
North Carolina	17,000	Illinois	3,000
USC	15,515	Baylor	2,750
Rutgers	15,000	Temple	2,500
Texas A&M	15,000	Maryland	2,000
Kansas	15,000	Oregon State	1,000
Louisville	15,000	Boston College	200

Kansas Jayhawk News and Notes 5.11.12

2012-05-11T11:00:19Z

Kansas Athletics

salina.com - an online service of the Salina Journal
"This is not an up-for-discussion conversation. They either bought in or they're not here, and there's a lot of 'em not here any more, as you've noticed."

The Big 12's spring superlatives - Big 12 Blog - ESPN
With the spring in the Big 12 over, it's time to hand out some awards.

Ranking KU's defensive position groups, plus daring predictions for KU's defensive MVP in 2012 (Spodcasters) | KUsports.com
Who likes a good podcast?

Chat with Matt Tait | KUsports.com
Some Q&A on the football front.

Misc.

Big 12 coach rankings: Tricky task to rank the quality here - NCAA Football - Sporting News
Bill Snyder should be higher.

Realignment Today: What's the status with Conference Realignment Round 3 and how does it affect KU and the Big 12? | Tale of the Tait | KUsports.com
Don't say the word.

A KU license plate in Missouri? It could happen | KUsports.com
A Jayhawk on a Missouri license plate? No need to check to see if those pigs have sprouted wings. It could be a reality as soon as June 2013.

RCT Mailbag!

2012-05-10T15:00:31Z

I'm moving out of my apartment starting today, and my last final was yesterday so it was a long night, so let's get right to it.

Half of these are sent in under pseudonyms, and I'll let the actual author reveal himself in the comments if he so chooses:

Q: Out of all the KU basketball players from the past decade, which has surprised you the most in that they didn't make it in the NBA? I always thought Wayne Simien was gonna be a pro fa sho.

From T Cash

I wouldn't say I'm terribly surprised at who made it and who didn't from the last decade or so, but one guy who I'm surprised never got more of a look than he did is Russell Robinson. He was one of the best on ball defenders in college basketball and he really improved his jumpshot in the D League when he went there. He's bounced around Europe the past couple years, spending 2011-12 in Turkey with Trabzonspor, where he averages 13.4 ppg and is shooting almost 40% from three. One thing that I suspect hurt him is his tendency to turn it over a bit much without being able to make the spectacular play to make up for it, but (and I certainly am biased) I have a tough time thinking he wouldn't do better at defending a lot of the league's point guards than the people currently trying to do it.

Q How big of a jump do you see Jeff Withey making next year? A big leap, or will not playing next to TRob be a bigger factor than most realize?

From Kenneth O.

I think not playing next to T Rob will definitely be a big deal on offense, as he won't have as many free dunks or put backs, but I think he got quite a bit better offensively over the course of the year, and got to the point where if he caught it in the post and he wasn't doubled he was going to score more often than not. Plus teams can't foul him and force him to shoot free throws like they can with most bigs. So while he might be a bit less effective next year, if he gets doubled it should open things up for Perry Ellis and whomever else down low, and defensively I expect him to be the best interior defender in the country like he was last year, or at least very close to it.

Q: Is Yellowsub overrated? I mean shoot, it's good and all, but you wait like 20 minutes for a sandwich and all the people that work there are weird hipsters.

From: Quincy P

I have actually never been. How's that for a letdown? I'll go for lunch tomorrow since I have no more groceries in my pad.

Q: Lets say aliens land in your backyard. All they want to do is give you a slice of pizza that far and away the greatest slice of pizza you will ever taste in your life. When its gone they fly away and will never return. You will never be able to really enjoy pizza on earth again if you eat it. Do you eat it and chase "the pizza dragon" for the rest of your life or do you turn them down?

From Andrew F

I think I'd have a lot more questions for them. First, how would they know how to make good pizza? Second, why pizza and not another type of food? But to answer your question yes I would take it. Don't come at me with pitchforks but I have never been gaga for pizza. I love Rudy's to death and would eat it pretty much every day if I could but too many places these days sacrifice quality for speed of preparation or quantity or whatever else they prioritize over quality of ingredients.

Q: How many games do you think the football team wins this year?

From Jeff M.

I probably should make this team and staff prove it to me, but something tells me that the team will have no problem winning the games they should win. So I'll mark 2 guaranteed wins over South Dakota State and Rice. While it is in DeKalb, Northern Illinois shouldn't be demonstratively better than they were last year, so I am going to tentatively mark that as a win as well. Last year's team "should" have beaten Texas Tech and Baylor and had a real chance of beating Iowa State, so I am going to bank on them winning one of those games and settle on 4. I really do think though that there is an outside chance, if they overcome the conditioning issues they had last year and some of the mental issues they had last year (and have everything break right of course), to get to 6 and make a bowl game. Call me crazy.