Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Rush’s rehab picks up

Junior hopes to dress for KU's first practice

By Gary Bedore

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As a high-profile Kansas University basketball player, junior Brandon Rush is used to drawing both stares and comments from passers-by on The Hill.

There have been more gazes than ever this semester ... all eyes fixed on the 6-foot-6 Kansas Citian's surgically repaired right knee.

"Every time I walk to class, they say, 'Looking good,'" Rush said Tuesday.

He's feeling great as well.

Rush on Tuesday gave an optimistic update on his steady recovery from June 1 right-ACL surgery.

Cleared to begin jogging Aug. 22, he just recently picked up the pace.

"I am sprinting now," said Rush, who ran "a mile worth of sprints" and worked out in the weight room Friday, then gladly accepted an offer of a hard-earned holiday weekend off.

"I've been running awhile now. I should start jumping on Friday."

Rush, whose timetable all along has had him returning "Dec. 1 or a month either way," has turned heads at individual workouts. Players are allowed to practice with coaches two hours a week in the offseason in accordance with NCAA rules.

"I shoot and do dribbling drills," Rush said. "I've been shooting about a month. I can run into my shot. I just can't do hard cuts or leave my feet yet. I can't really jump."

He hits the weights hard on a daily basis.

That's upper- and lower-body weights.

"I started squatting two weeks ago. I probably leg press more than anybody on our team already," Rush said of presses with his surgically repaired leg. "I can do 250 (pounds) on my bad leg. My leg always has been strong for some reason."

Maybe that's why he's felt so little pain during the rehab process.

"All those horror stories that scared me a little bit are not true," Rush said. "Probably the first two to three weeks there was a little pain. After that, no pain at all.

"I think a few years ago this injury was more serious. Now with the technology we have - we have a machine that builds your quads up strong - players can recover quicker than maybe they could years ago."

Rush is doing so well he thinks he'll be able to dress with the rest of the KU team at the Oct. 12 Late Night in the Phog and first official practice of the season Oct. 13.

"I think I can start practicing when we start practicing," he said. "I won't be able to do everything. I won't be able to get through all the drills. I will probably be able to go up and down the court. They are not giving me a date (to return to games)," he added. "I'm still hearing Dec. 1, six months. But nobody sets an exact date. We'll see how it goes.

"I think the thing is your knee needs to be healed. It feels weak at first when you start playing games. You've got to give it some time. I think it'll take me a little time, I don't know how many games, to get back to the old Brandon, probably a few games to get back."

His teammates are impressed with Rush's work ethic.

"Just being around him you can tell he's doing well. He's in good spirits. He looks great when he's working out," senior Jeremy Case said.

"I think he'll be back soon. I think he'll be playing soon," senior Russell Robinson said. "When he'll be back to the old Brandon ... I'd say November or December. He's doing great in his rehab."

And Rush says he is doing well in class. Last spring after announcing plans to return to KU, the NBA prospect admitted he wasn't looking forward to attending classes a third year.

"I'm taking 12 hours. It's not a killer schedule now. I don't have to take math or anything. I think I've got a little walk in the park," he said with a smile.

He reiterated he'd like to play in the NBA perhaps sooner than later. "Everybody here wants to be in the NBA," he said. "I'll think about that after the season, see how my leg holds up."

Recruiting: Mario Little, a 6-5, 210-pound sophomore forward from Chipola Junior College, will make an official visit to KU this weekend. He tells Rivals.com he will visit Kansas State on Sept. 14 and Illinois on Sept. 28 and make a decision shortly after that. Little, who averaged 10 points and six rebounds a game last season, played high school ball at Chicago's Washington High.

"Mario wants a future in basketball. I think that's one of the reasons he is so interested in Kansas," Chipola coach Greg Heiar told Rivals.com. "The Chicago kids are close, so he knows about the Chicago kids (Julian Wright, Sherron Collins) that have played at Kansas.. The tradition at Kansas speaks for itself."

Comments

billhawk (anonymous) says...

I juco kid that averages 10 pts and 6 boards? Am I missing something?

September 5, 2007 at 7:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dsmith84 (anonymous) says...

yes, you are missing something.
we'll be filling somewhere between 5 and 8 roster spots after this next season, and it is hardly reasonable to have all 8 of them be Top 100 guys... so this is a guy we can say "let's see how the season goes, see how you do, see how we do, and if you perform, you're coming to Kansas."
every team has to have role players... Jeff Hawkins, Jelani Janisse, Jeremy Case... you'll have mutiny if you have 8 deserving starters! (or you'll just lose a bunch of people early and have to completely rebuild!... again)
that should light a fire under any recruits backside.

September 5, 2007 at 7:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dbegert (anonymous) says...

He was just a freshman last year. I know 10 and 6 for a juco freshman doesn't seem impressive, but he was sharing time with national juco player of the year Jamarcus Ellis (going to Indiana this year), and will now be expected to take over sole possession of that wing spot. His coach actually said he wouldn't be surprised if Little beats Ellis' average and puts up more than 17 a game.

Also, Chippola JC has a reputation for taking Chicago area ballers and coaching them up to be ready for D1. Along with Ellis, Indiana's DeAndre Thomas went there, as did Stefon Hannah, and he's about the only thing working out for Mizzou right now.

September 5, 2007 at 8:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Hey, if Little wants to play ball at KU and if KU wants him, then let the chips fall where they may. If he's from Chicago, I'm sure he's a real scrapper.

I just wonder about his decision-making skills... what is it that landed him at a JuCo in Florida in the first place (instead of going straight to a Div1 school)?

September 5, 2007 at 9:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

I think it was academics JayCeph. Test scores is the indication, i.e. wouldn't have been eligible as a frosh at D-1.

September 5, 2007 at 9:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

wi_jayhawk (anonymous) says...

Some players, and students, can't always handle a four-year, d-1 school right away. It's better if they can do the juco thing and move up when they are better suited.

September 5, 2007 at 9:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

When big-time HS athletes don't go straight to D-1, 99.9% of the time it's because of academics. It's a good way to get your grades/test scores up to NCAA D-1 snuff while at the same time improving your game by playing against good competition. Whomever balks at that should know that the talent is pretty darn rich in the juco ranks, which means that 10 and 6 isn't necessarily all that bad for a frosh.

I knew the juco thing is huge with college football, but I didn't know it was becoming prevalent in basketball too. Guess that's because we haven't had a big time juco transfer that I can remember, and if we have it's been a long, long time ago--correct me if i'm wrong on that.

September 5, 2007 at 10:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Jeff Graves was from a JuCo.

September 5, 2007 at 11:18 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

Ah gravy train! Forgot he came from a juco.

September 5, 2007 at 12:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

SDJhawk (anonymous) says...

Wasn't Darrin Hancock a juco transfer?

September 5, 2007 at 1:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

Alonso Jamison was, too if I remember correctly.

September 5, 2007 at 1:50 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaydub (anonymous) says...

David Johanning, Brett Ballard and Chris Zerbe, No disrespect to those guys, but I think Little is better than them.

SDJhawk, you're right Hancock played at Garden City CC

September 5, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kylecisnum1 (anonymous) says...

lol, maybe brandon can maybe get out of part of Boot Camp? and if not, im sure he'll be better conditioned than the rest of the team! good to hear ur recoverin good and hope to see u this winter!

September 5, 2007 at 10:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralsterKUMed95 (anonymous) says...

Nice to read Brandon is doing well. Rush is just vital to our team being at its best. I am reminded of other people's posts in the last few weeks/months about how our 2 guards are only 6-1" and how we need a true 2...Well, sometimes you do even better--you get the 2 or 3 stellar guards, AND you have a 6'6" guy (Rush) listed as a guard, that can really do it all. Add major motivation, and barring an injury setback, should be dazzling, as should this veteran team. Its time.

September 6, 2007 at 3:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )