Sorry, mom: Collins focused

By Ryan Greene     Mar 17, 2007

? No distractions means no distractions.

If you need further clarification, ask Kansas University freshman guard Sherron Collins. His mother, Stacey Harris, was seated about 15 feet behind the Kansas bench, and Collins could hear her voice all night as he raced up and down the United Center floor.

But he dared not look up to give a wink, a smile or even blow her a kiss.

“I tried not to,” he said with a sly grin following KU’s 107-67 bashing of Niagara on Friday. “I mean, that’s my mother, but no distractions on the court.

“And my mother’s so loud.”

Collins’ mom was surrounded by a group of his friends, wearing T-shirts with an enlarged photo of Collins in his red KU uniform and the greeting, “Welcome back home Chicago’s finest.”

He didn’t get to see them up close until after the game, when he was able to hang out with them in the stands for a bit before heading back to the team hotel.

While off-court distractions might have played a damaging role for Collins in his first homecoming as a Jayhawk, a 64-57 loss at DePaul on Dec. 2, extra precautions were taken this time around. Collins, playing the NCAA Tournament roughly a mile from his old high school, and Julian Wright, a 2005 Homewood-Flossmoor graduate, were told by coaches to have ticket situations finalized by Wednesday night. They also had to shut off their cell phones Thursday evening, and they were to remain that way until after Friday’s game.

The minor tweaks and – as Collins pointed out – 20 pounds of body weight gone helped make a major difference. Collins, who had five points and five rebounds in his first return to the Land of Lincoln, was much more efficient in the return, with 15 points and six assists in just 20 minutes on the floor. He also had four of the Jayhawks’ 14 steals, which created a break-neck pace late in the first half and early in the second half for KU that ultimately took the Purple Eagles out of contention.

The steals were just part of it for KU’s trio of guards. Combined, Collins, sophomore Mario Chalmers and junior Russell Robinson had 50 points and 16 assists to go with a dozen steals.

“Just knowing that if we play lock-down defense and make a team shoot bad shots, they miss shots, and our bigs are able to get rebounds,” Collins said. “And we’re off to the races.”

KU tallied 27 points off 21 Niagara turnovers, allowing Collins to show off his open-court skills to complement a pair of three-pointers he hit from the top of the key.

It also was Collins’ second straight major offensive output following a two-game drought in the points category. He had 20 points in Sunday’s 88-84 victory over Texas in the Big 12 title game. While that performance helped net a second conference trophy in eight days, this one was unique.

“It feels like you’re back home, but you’re not back home because you can’t leave and go home after the game,” he said. “But it feels good to play in front of my family and friends and old coaches. It’s pretty sweet.”

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