The Keegan Ratings: King Arthur’s Court

By Staff     Nov 2, 2006

_After each KU basketball game this season, this is where you can find out the basketball equivalent of The Nielsen Ratings from Journal-World sports editor Tom Keegan. He’ll rate the Jayhawks’ individual performances from top to bottom, telling you who was worth tuning in to watch and who has seen better days. If you agree or maybe even differ, make sure to comment and tell Tom how you really feel._**1. Darrell Arthur**: Julian Wright is an even more explosive jumper, but in terms of overall athleticism, nobody on the team matches Slim Shady. In 22 minutes, he had 21 points, six rebounds, six steals and two blocked shots. He’s Cool Papa Bell-quick. **2. Darnell Jackson**: Had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Showed a nice mid-range touch, hustled non-stop and had a more confident air about him. **3. Julian Wright**: Rocked the place with a couple of vicious slams and took away thousands of breaths with the quickness he showed following his own missed shot. Also, pull-up jumper on the baseline was a beauty. **4. Brandon Rush**: Looks to have expanded already impressive range. His speed helps his shooting because he comes around picks so quickly he’s more open than most when the ball gets to him. **5. Mario Chalmers**: All-around solid game offensively, defensively and on the boards. **6. Sherron Collins**: Built like a catcher and moves like a center fielder. Shook off a nervous first half to finish strong. Showed fancy passing skills and soft three-point shooting touch. **7. Rodrick Stewart**: Applied nice pressure defensively, fed Arthur beautifully on a pick-and-roll, and flushed a three-pointer in 12 energetic minutes. **8. Russell Robinson**: Not a good shooter, he has a knack for hitting big shots and since there really are no big shots in exhbition games this wasn’t his night. Gambled too much defensively. **9. Brady Morningstar**: His high school coach, Jack Schreiner, nearly jumped out of his seat when his former player showed typical perfect follow-through and hit a three-pointer. **10. Brennan Bechard**: Swished his only attempt, a three-pointer, to bring his mother out of her seat, cheering wildly, while his father, Ray, KU’s volleyball coach, fought back a smile in stoic coach fashion. **11. Matt Kleinmann**: Had more personal fouls (three) than rebounds (two). **12. Brad Witherspoon**: If he made his three-point attempt, it would have sent the Jayhawks into triple digits. It missed.

King Arthur’s court

By Gary Bedore     Sep 15, 2006

Nick Krug
Kansas University freshman Darrell Arthur goes up for a putback attempt over the other Jayhawk big men. The Jayhawks held a blue-and-red scrimmage in mid-June at the Bill Self basketball camp in Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

Sandra Arthur was in town a couple weeks ago.

The drive up from Dallas had nothing to do with her son – Kansas University freshman basketball forward Darrell Arthur – being homesick.

“I got my teeth pulled that weekend. She came to check on me,” explained the 6-foot-9, 230-pound McDonald’s All-American out of Dallas South Oak Cliff High, who had his wisdom teeth extracted Sept. 1. “I didn’t have to have any stitches. It went well.”

A late-week trip to the oral surgeon went so well Arthur was able to accompany his mom to KU’s season-opening football game against Northwestern State. The two sat with Darrell’s KU teammates in the Jayhawk student section.

“She liked it. She said the game was crazy,” said Arthur, glad to spend some quality time with his mother after not speaking with her as much since early June, when he first left the nest for summer school.

“I am pretty much over it,” Arthur said of typical freshman homesickness. “I call my mom less now that I’m here. Hanging out with the guys, I keep my focus away from home. I keep my focus here.”

Arthur has been diligently working on his body – he’s put on 10 pounds of muscle the past 31â2 months – and his game while participating in unsupervised pickup games with his KU teammates four times a week.

“Speed. It’s fast,” Arthur said, asked the biggest difference between the high school and college game. “You have to think more now on the court. The players are so fast. Players anticipate what you are trying to do. If you make a lazy pass, it gets stolen.”

Arthur – who plays both center and power forward during pickup action – defends returnees Sasha Kaun, C.J. Giles and Julian Wright during the scrimmages.

“Darnell (Jackson) and I are usually on the same team. We switch it up,” Arthur said.

University of Texas freshman forward Kevin Durant was the toughest player Arthur ever had to shadow before college. That honor now goes to the 6-8, 225-pound Wright.

“Julian is versatile. He can dribble, pass, shoot, jump. He has some great jumping ability,” Arthur noted.

Wright returned the compliment Arthur’s way.

“He has a nice inside game, nice go-to moves,” Wright said. “He plays inside a lot, but steps outside to show his perimeter skills. He is a good outside shooter.

“On defense, when he gets going, he alters shots,” Wright added. “A lot of players try to block everything. Sometimes it’s just as good to alter a shot and try to get the rebound.”

Wright said Arthur (his first name is pronounced ‘Dur-rell’ with the nickname ‘Shady’) would contribute immediately.

“I know one thing. He has experienced success before. He has tasted it at the high school level,” Wright said of the player who led South Oak Cliff High to a pair of state titles.

“He knows how to win so he brings a lot of that to the table. He is a hard worker. No one on this team will let him take a day off because we know his potential, how good he can be, how much he can help this team.”

Arthur is ready to help in any role, while realizing there’s a chance he could be tapped a starter from Day One.

“It depends how hard I’m working. We were just talking about it earlier,” he said of he and the coaches. “How hard I’m working, how hard I’m beating the other dude up. That’s about it.”

Arthur will be a candidate for preseason freshman of the year in the Big 12 with point guard teammate Sherron Collins and Texas’ Durant.

“I’ve not thought about that. If it happened it would be a great honor to achieve,” Arthur said, lauding the above-mentioned duo.

“Sherron is a pit bull. He locks down on defense,” Arthur said. “He can dribble, handle the ball, can see the court, has good passing ability, can shoot the outside jumper. He is a good, complete guard.

“Kevin runs the court well,” he added of the 6-9 graduate of Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md. “It’s hard to keep up with and guard him on the perimeter.”

Arthur said he’s not thinking about another personal matter – how soon he’ll pack up and leave for the NBA.

“I really don’t know,” he said of the length of his college stay. “I’ll see what happens. It depends. Everybody is only thinking about one thing. We are trying to win the national championship. We are not trying to get anything other than that. The national championship is our goal.”

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Recruiting: KU coaches on Thursday watched an open workout of Romero Osby, a 6-7 junior from Meridan, Miss. He also likes Mississippi, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Florida, Memphis, Tennessee, North Carolina and others. … Jon Leuer, a 6-10 senior from Orono, Minn., received an in-home visit from KU coach Bill Self on Sunday. He said he might visit KU the first weekend of October. “Kansas is a school that I definitely have a lot of interest in, so I would like to get down for a visit and get a better feel for the school and community,” he told rivals.com. Leuer is considering KU, Louisville, Minnesota, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Indiana and Iowa.

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