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Men's Basketball

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Gary Bedore’s KU basketball notebook

By Gary Bedore

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Lots of schools considered: Willie Warren, a 6-foot-4 senior from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., will visit Oklahoma next weekend and Kansas University the weekend after that.

"Willie is getting ready to take his two visits, but as far as narrowing down his school list, we discussed it but never put anything down," Warren's mother, Malaika, told Rivals.com. "He's been so up and down with his recruitment, I'm just letting him have some fun with it right now. So I don't want to say how many schools or what schools it is down to because it might change tomorrow."

He's also looking at UConn, Cincinnati, Kentucky and others.

¢ Decisions, decisions: Mario Little, a 6-6 sophomore guard from Chipola (Fla.) Community College, who has said he has grown tired of the recruiting process following visits to KU, Kansas State and Illinois, enters the weekend still pondering his three finalists. Chipola coach Greg Heiar said a decision could be reached Sunday.

¢ Boot Camp over: Kansas University's two-week Boot Camp conditioning program concluded Friday.

The purpose in making the players report at 6 a.m. daily Monday through Friday for conditioning drills and sprints was twofold: to get in shape for the season and build camaraderie.

Mission accomplished.

"We got through it together. That's one of the things we strive for, team unity," freshman Cole Aldrich said. "It's given us team unity."

"It was everything I expected it to be," rookie guard Conner Teahan, of Rockhurst High, said. "It was a challenge. You could get through it as long as you did what you had to do. It's in your head pretty much. If you came in with a good attitude, you'd get everything done. I'm not saying it's not tough, but if you go in thinking it will be terrible, you already lost."

He said the seniors - Jeremy Case, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson and Rodrick Stewart - set great examples.

"In the locker room, they have fun. On the court, they take everything seriously. They set the tone for everybody else," Teahan said. "They showed us the way."

Next up is next Friday's Late Night in the Phog. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for Late Night, which should end about 9:30. KU's men's and women's teams will hold intrasquad scrimmages at the event.

¢ Pollard hobbled: Former Kansas University forward/center Scot Pollard has not practiced with the Boston Celtics yet this preseason at training camp in Rome. He has a left ankle sprain.

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Comments

flipborder02 (anonymous) says...

Whats the deal Wille just come to Kansas.

October 6, 2007 at 8:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Sounds like Mother Warren has narrowed here spirited son's visits to two and KU is one of them. Mother Warren is nobody's fool. She wants KU. She knows you've got to have a Plan B to keep KU honest. She's constrained the choice set with two visits. She's leaving the opportunity set open to keep her son from feeling too reigned in. I want to hire Mother Warren as my agent. Don't fool with Mother Warren. This looks good for KU.

October 6, 2007 at 9:28 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...

She is also letting him have "fun" with the process. He could drag this on and on forever. Her admitting he has been up and down is a sign he is open to anything anybody tells him. The problem is, who will tell him the biggest story?

October 6, 2007 at 9:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Sheron Collins, Tyrell Reed, Travis Releford, and Willie Warren. They can all shoot. They can all run. They can all put the ball on the floor. And they will all be great defenders when Self is done with them. Could this be the nucleus of Bill Selfs squad of great runts that let's him pull a Wooden?

I've never seen another team play the game like Wooden's first two ring teams other than Self's Tulsa team that went far.

If the bigs won't come to KU, shame on them. Coach Self will do it with runts. Cole, get ready to defensive rebound, make the quick outlet pass, and anchor the full court press. With these four guys, you won't even have to run the floor. They are going to get up and down the court so fast, they'll be finished and back on defense before you get to half court...and Cole, you're a mobile big.

This is what I like so much about having Bill Self as KUs coach. He can coach any tempo and adapt to any talent with Eddie Ball. Big, small, in between, this man can adapt, build teams that exploit your weaknesses, take what the opponent gives them, and masks team weaknesses with team work.

Yeeee Hawwwww! I'm out of fretting about big man. Free at last. Free at last. Thank god almighty, I'm free at last.

Go, Bill, go!!! You can do it!!!

October 6, 2007 at 9:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

what a diff. a year makes. last year it was kill bill and now hes great. me i went over to bills side but this is a new year. hes got to prove it again.
go big blue

October 6, 2007 at 10:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Bill's first two years I strongly believed he was the wrong choice even though I thought he was a good coach. I didn't want to see KU shift over to Eddie Ball.

Bill made me respect him his third year by showing that he could speed up Eddie Ball, though I still wished we had not gone to Eddie Ball.

Last year, Bill made me an unqualified supporter by winning over 30 games with out a true 5, without a true 2, and without a back up at the 3. Nobody did a better coaching job than Bill Self last year and he didn't get the credit for it that he deserved.

This year, things could go better or worse, but I am convinced Bill is the right guy at the right time. He is a good not a great recruiter. But he is a great coach getting better. Eddie Ball is where its at, unless Roy can find yet another wrinkle in his style of play to increase its strategic advantages, which he might do. But until Ref's change the way they call the game, Eddie Ball is the way to play the game.

October 6, 2007 at 12:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Regarding Mouth of Wilson, VA, where Willie Warren, like so many other phenoms, transferred to sharpen his game: What exactly is the Mouth of Wilson? In some Kansan's vernacular English, the phrase "Mouth of" sometimes refers to the point at which one river or creek flows into another larger river or creek. My father and his hometown friends, from a small town in eastern Kansas, for instance, referred to the Mouth of 110 Mile Creek, a point where 110 Mile Creek (one of my all time favorite names for a creek) entered the Marais de Cygne. Is there a Wilson River or Wilson Creek that flows into, say, the Potomac River in Virginia? Is the town Mouth of Wilson located at that point? Or are we talking about the mouth of Woodrow Wilson? :-) Or some thing else?

Since it seems Oak Hill Academy is going to be producing phenoms recruited to play a year there through out the known universe for longer than the half life of strontium 90, I would at least like to know the derivation of this peculiar town name. Anyone know it?

October 7, 2007 at 11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dagger108 (anonymous) says...

Mouth of Wilson (per Mapquest) is in the Appalachians near the NC/TN/VA border. The aerial does indicate that it is on a river/creek just above the confluence with a larger r/c. Doesn't give names.

There is a nice whitewater creek, Wilson Creek in that general area, though I thought it was farther south. Don't have my old kayak guide books out to check.

As for the rest of the posts Jaybate, have a drink and try to relax. Let's give Coach Self a chance to at least unofficially fill half of the 5+ roster spots he'll have available after this year before deciding what sort of game plan he should develop.

And lighten up on the mind reading. At least give the kid and his parents a chance to get to campus before deciphering what they really think from what you interpret their words to mean. Hopefully, the next month + will pass quickly so that you have something constructive to analyze.

October 8, 2007 at 12:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )