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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

By Gary Bedore

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Little to visit KSU

Mario Little, who learned everything there is to know about Kansas University basketball last week, this weekend will become immersed in Kansas State hoops.

Little, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Chipola (Fla.) Community College, said Wednesday he will honor his promise to KSU coach Frank Martin and make an official recruiting trip to KSU.

On Monday, former Chicago Washington High standout Little indicated he might cancel visits to finalists KSU and Illinois (Sept. 28) and orally commit to KU.

"The (KSU) coaches are telling me I can come in and replace Bill Walker in their lineup if he goes pro," Little told gopowercat.com. "They think I can come in right away and make an impact on the team and the whole organization.

"I like Kansas quite a bit. Kansas State has been telling me a lot of good stuff, and they are an up-and-coming program. I really like the coaches at Kansas State, too. And Illinois is close to home, so I've always liked them," Little added.

Morris twins have new list

Markieff and Marcus Morris of Living Faith Christian Academy in Cherry Hill, N.J, who this week asked out of their letters-of-intent to Memphis, will attend either KU, West Virginia, Villanova, Rutgers, St. John's or LaSalle.

"We could wind up anywhere," 6-foot-10 Markieff Morris told the Philadelphia Daily News. "Right now, we have the same perspective on all of them. No favorite. We're going to make three visits - and they'll be starting up soon - and then make a decision."

Why did the Philadelphia natives decommit to UM?

"It's just like with high school. If you're going somewhere and you don't feel 100 percent comfortable with it, you transfer," Marcus said. "We don't think Memphis would be our best fit."

Tyshawn Taylor update

KU coaches Bill Self and Joe Dooley on Wednesday visited the home of Tyshawn Taylor, a 6-3 guard from St. Anthony High in Jersey City, N.J.

"The in-home visit with Kansas was a huge success," Taylor told Rivals.com. "I don't know when I'm going to officially visit, but it's going to happen. Kansas is definitely an option for me, and one that I'm going to seriously consider."

He will visit Virginia Tech this weekend, Georgia Tech on Oct. 12 and Virginia on Oct. 19.

Eight vie for Monroe

Greg Monroe, a 6-10 forward from Helen Cox High in Harvey, La., will welcome KU's coaches into his home on Sept. 22. The country's No. 1 prospect already has met with coaches from Duke, LSU and Georgetown and has scheduled visits with USC, Baylor, UConn and Texas.

St. John's back in

Mookie Jones, 6-6 from Peekskill (N.Y.) High, told the West Paterson (N.J.) Herald-News that St. John's is back on his list. Others: KU, DePaul, Rutgers, Syracuse, Marquette and Michigan.

Juniors on radar, too

Daniel Orton, a 6-9, 275-pound junior from McGuinness High in Oklahoma City, tells Rivals.com he'll probably visit KU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and some Texas schools unofficially this school year. UConn, UCLA, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio State are also on his early list.

Also, in a surprising development, Rivals reports that Xavier Henry, 6-6 junior from Putnam City (Okla.) High, said he will visit Memphis, not North Carolina for Midnight Madness. He also likes KU, Oklahoma, Louisville and Ohio State.

More on McDonald

Phillip McDonald, 6-5 from Cypress Springs (Texas) High, who committed to New Mexico on Tuesday night, canceled his weekend visit to KU. He also was considering Oregon and Oklahoma.

McDonald told the Albuquerque Journal that UNM assistant Chris Walker proved the deciding factor. Walker, who coached McDonald's AAU team, was hired by New Mexico coach Steve Alford in August.

"I've known him (Walker) for a long time, and I'm really close with him," McDonald told the Journal. "I know he will always be there for me. It makes it much easier leaving home with him being at New Mexico. He's like a father- figure for me."

Digger coming to town?

ESPN's Digger Phelps indicated on Jack Harry's 38 Sports Spot that he'd be traveling to Lawrence this winter for ESPN Game Day festivities.

It long has been rumored the KU-Kansas State game on March 1 will be one of ESPN's Game Day Saturdays. KU officials have not yet been informed if that indeed is the case.

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Comments

Nutflush21 (anonymous) says...

"It's just like with high school. If you're going somewhere and you don't feel 100 percent comfortable with it, you transfer," Marcus said.

Whatever happened to going to the high school in your neighborhood. You can tell transferring is out of hand when that is the kids mindset.

September 13, 2007 at 6:31 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Sanity (anonymous) says...

The growth process is alive and well. Add LaSalle, Rutgers, 'Nova, and Huggies to your shopping lit and you may just grow from 6'8 to 6'10 in one day. Wander for 40 days and 40 nights across the desert and you may see the Albuquerque mirage with your head swelled big enough to become the "face of the program" at the pit.

To increase one's skill, one need only travel an hour wets of Lawrence to the Blackout hole city of guaranteed victory, and one can instantly become as skilled as Bill Walker. In such a land of make believe, a juco recruit who might contribute well as a senior in other programs, can be assured that he will have major impact as he arrives on campus two years after the departure of Huggins, and one year after the departure of the two best players recruited at K State since Mich Richmond.

We can only hope that another month or so doesn't leave all these gullible lads permanently disfigured.

September 13, 2007 at 6:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jfos4 (anonymous) says...

BTW, it is confirmed that the KU v. KSU game is College Game Day.

September 13, 2007 at 7:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rohdek (Kyle Rohde) says...

Confirmed by who?

September 13, 2007 at 8:18 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

quigley (anonymous) says...

nutflush, I had copied the same comment and was going to say the same thing. It is getting out of control when kids are transferring from high schools. Next up on Sportscenter, 12 year old de-commits from Junior High.

September 13, 2007 at 9:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

quigley,

Clearly you have missed what high school coaches will do to get a big time player to come to their school. I have seen coaches who enlist other parents to buy or pay rent on apartments within their school district so that a kid and his family could move to the district just to play sports, then, if it doesn't work out or the kid doesn't play as well as envisioned, cut off the money supply. I've seen this happen in KC, even.

My best friend was a football qb who was approached by several Johnson County schools, as well as some private schools, offering him the chance to play for them, with apartments, a job in the district for his dad, etc. They had other parents willing to make arrangements to make sure the whole family could move out there before two a days, provided he would play.

In that type of world, a commitment to one school is pretty shallow, so you get kids with the mindset that if they don't like it, they can leave because it works both ways.

September 13, 2007 at 10:13 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

The whole HS thing is hard for me to wrap my head around. I could never have imagined holding a press conference saying I have "decommitted" from my HS, people would've thought I was touched in the head. The way I grew up, you just went to school, that's it, didn't give it a second thought. If the athletic programs stunk, so be it--you dealt with it. The whole transferring thing in HS seems a little silly to me. However, if you've got an inner-city kid that may be putting his life on the line every day by attending his nearest HS, that's a different thing altogether...

And also:

"Mario Little, who learned everything there is to know about Kansas University basketball last week, this weekend will become immersed in Kansas State hoops."

hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

Anyone else laugh at that??

September 13, 2007 at 11:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

RckChalkJeff (anonymous) says...

LOL....he'll be immersed in the smell coming from the north side of the campus....where the Cows and Animal Husbandry school is. Other than that, the tour of the Campus and the rest of town should take about 8 minutes.

September 13, 2007 at 11:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Sanity,

If you travel an hour west of Lawrence, you might end up in in Wamego if you drive like a maniac.

But seriously though, I think Little is just humoring a fair coach who stated he believes in him. And let's face it, if it is playing time a kid wants, KU cannot offer the same quantity as other programs.

But KU CAN offer more quality playing time than most. Self's sales pitch must be centered around the theme that quality is more valued than quantity.

September 13, 2007 at 1 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

dagger108 (anonymous) says...

"Mario Little, who learned everything there is to know about Kansas University basketball last week, this weekend will become immersed in Kansas State hoops."

Just the thought of that immersion makes me feel like I need a shower.

September 13, 2007 at 2:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Great local props in this article. Both of KC's mighty venues (Sprint Center & Municipal Auditorium) as well as Allen Fieldhouse, get some serious attention. Nice work!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_b...

September 13, 2007 at 2:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jpstrayer (anonymous) says...

Lebowski,
With all of the open scholarships in the next two years, KU definitely can deliver quantity of playing time.

September 13, 2007 at 5 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

palewhale (anonymous) says...

Nice article JayCeph, thanks for forwarding

September 14, 2007 at 9:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )