Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Taylor to visit today

By Gary Bedore

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Blue chip basketball recruit Tyshawn Taylor should feel right at home during his official recruiting visit to Kansas University today and Thursday.

Like his Jayhawk hosts, he's a national champion.

Taylor, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound senior point guard who recently asked out of his letter of intent with Marquette, helped St. Anthony High of Jersey City, N.J., to a perfect 32-0 record and top spot in USA Today's high school rankings.

"We beat everyone. I'll run with it," Taylor told ESPN after scoring 17 points off 7-of-7 shooting in a 69-36 victory over Science Park in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title game.

He finished the season with a 10.0 scoring, 5.0 assist average and spot on the Associated Press' first-team all state squad.

"I'm a winner. I think that's the best part of my game," Taylor said.

Taylor, who is currently rated No. 101 in the Rivals.com top 150, figures to move up in the final rankings, Rivals analyst Shay Wildeboor said.

"He is a born winner who comes from the famed St. Anthony program (national-record 25 state titles). He's a great defensive player. He attacks the basket and brings a certain swagger to the table," Wildeboor said.

Taylor asked to be released from his Marquette letter after coach Tom Crean left the Big East school for Indiana. He's also considering Georgia Tech, Florida, Texas and Virginia Tech. KU also is recruiting Dominic Cheek, a 6-5 junior from St. Anthony.

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Rush update: KU junior Brandon Rush reportedly has chosen Priority Sports Entertainment of Chicago as his representation. Priority Sports has a comprehensive pre-draft program that puts its clients through twice-a-day workouts leading up to the draft.

KU coach Bill Self said Rush is free to leave for workouts before the end of the academic year only "if his academics are in order. When he takes care of his academic responsibilities, he is free to leave. He is well ahead of the curve."

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Golf outing: Self on Tuesday played in the Byron Nelson Championship celebrity Pro-Am at Vaquero Golf Course in Westlake, Texas. Others on hand included Roger Staubach, Tim Brown, Brett Hull and Matt Doherty. Self was in a group with Dallas business exec Steve Van Amburgh, the Dallas Morning News indicated.

Comments

Brickwall1 (anonymous) says...

How is Coach Self still able to tell Brandon whether he can stay for classes or leave?

April 23, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Royaljayhwk (anonymous) says...

Wow, imagine landing another great player. The boys could be right back at the top of the rankings with a completely different team. Would be absolutely wild!

April 23, 2008 at 8:31 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

RockchalkNup (anonymous) says...

For those of you who have been clamoring to hear Bob Davis' call on "The Shot", here is a link that should make your day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwvDRW...

April 23, 2008 at 8:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

d_prowess (anonymous) says...

Great post RockchalkNup.
I just love the video of when Mario is walking onto the court before OT and takes a deep breath while shaking his head. The camera person caught an incredibly real moment of a player taking a breath and appreciating the unbelievable moment he just had. I loved it!

April 23, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DCJayhawk0208 (anonymous) says...

Kid seems pretty full of himself for only being a 3-star recruit. I'd understand that out of Tyreke Evans or Willie Warren. Coach Self has his work cut out for him.

April 23, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Brickwall, I kind of wondered the same thing... like what's the point, now?

But I'm guessing there's some sort of legal recourse for the agencies themselves that they can only assist college athletes if things are in order. It's probablynot so much that "Brandon can't do this or that"... but more of a " PSE won't allow Brandon to do this or that".

Just my guess, I could be way off base there. But, I can definitely see the need for there to be something in place like that. What if a player signs with an agent, skips all his classes and his finals, then goes to workouts to impress NBA scouts and breaks his neck?

April 23, 2008 at 9:31 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldalum (anonymous) says...

Brickwall1: Completing his academics is probably part of everyone's scholarship agreement. Besides, if he leaves without being in good scholastic standing, it hurts our graduation rate figures and could result in us losing a scholarship. I think that would give Coach Self every right to say whether he could leave.

April 23, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkdon (anonymous) says...

Having Brandon complete his junior year is part of compliance with NCAA rules. Even though he won't graduate this year, it still goes toward acceptable advancement/completion towards a degree.

April 23, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

thetagger (anonymous) says...

Speaking of Bob Davis' call on Mario's shot, does anyone know if the entire Jayhawk Radio broadcast is available anywhere? Anyone know anybody who recorded it? In the excitement, I never thought to turn on the radio and listen to the local guys.

April 23, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

What do you mean DC. The kid said

"We beat everyone. I'll run with it"
and
"I'm a winner. I think that's the best part of my game"

Those don't seem to be particularly arrogant statements in my mind. He ran the point for a team that just completed an awesome high school season.

He didn't say anything about it being all about him or something. He said he's a winner and that's his strongest asset. I like guys that are winners. Winners know how to make the extra little plays at the end of close games to get the win, even if it means nobody notices that you made the extra pass, or slid the extra step to cut off the driving lane and force the ball back outside. That's what winners do. He went to a good high school program (Bobby Hurley's dad was his coach), so I have no doubt that he has been well schooled in basketball. I think he would be an excellent pick up, as I said earlier this year before he signed with Marquette.

April 23, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

notabandwagonfan (anonymous) says...

I turned on the radio as the final seconds ticked off the clock. Just hearing bob davis' voice as the buzzer sounded is something I will NEVER in my life forget. It literally gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes! If anyone has it taped or has a digital recording of it, i'll pay for it.

April 23, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

Brandon will do the right thing and leave in good academic standing. It's not just about him. KU needs their players to be in good academic standing to have an acceptable APR. (Just ask Tom Crean about that!)

April 23, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

I was in school when Pierce left, and I'm pretty sure he didn't fulfill his requirements for that semester. Things may have changed since then, but he was gone.

April 23, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ohioburg (anonymous) says...

Mario rightly gets praised for the shot but Collins does an unbelievable job of getting the ball to him while falling down. Watch it again, it's incredible.

April 23, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

hawkman1031 (anonymous) says...

yeah. after the game the stupids were criticizing the coach for not fouling. The replay, and Bob Davis' call, show they did indeed try to get a foul of Collins called. Fortunately it wasn't.
Hawks rule, tigers drool

April 23, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmkjayhawk (anonymous) says...

I wouldn't say the replay shows an attempted foul. At one point, Rose puts both hands in the air as though he's backing off, trying to avoid committing a foul.

April 23, 2008 at 8:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NH_JHawk (anonymous) says...

RockchalkNup - Thanks for the link. Fox Sports Radio on XM played the clip quite a bit the day after we won and I've been waiting to hear it again ever since. awesome!

April 23, 2008 at 9:43 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

For a man who likes to play 7 guys a lot of minutes, it sure seems like Coach Self is loading up a heaping plate here with what he can get now, while the grill is still hot.

Bill Self seems like a man who thinks he has a new hunch about how to play 70 point take what they give us without the blue chips.

He's already mentioned a couple time the phrase "interchangeable parts" in talking about the guards in this batch of recruits.

I have a hunch Bill's hunch has to do with that first ten minutes of the KU-UNC game--specifically the defensive play by KU--more specifically the gambling, walnuts to the walls, jump in every passing lane defense that the '08 team got too tired and too encumbered with fouls to keep playing after the 10 minute mark.

Imagine if you will, for a moment, what it would be like to see KU play the first 15 minutes of both halves of EVERY game entirely in the passing lanes on defense!!

You would have to have about 5 guards to do it, with three in at any given time and two resting.

Plus you'd need a 3 big rotation with a 4th doing 6-10 minute Aldrich duty.

Let's look at what Coach Self is likely going to have on hand next year.

Guards: Collins, Releford, Marcus Morris, Reed, Taylor, Appleton, Mario Little, Teahan, Morningstar.

I reckon he can find 6-7 out of that 9 that can go walnuts -to-the-walls the first 10-15 minutes of each half and then play protect the lead the rest of each half.

But do we have the bigs?

Bigs: Aldrich, Markieff Morris, Quintrell Thomas, and Kleinmann. Well, no wonder Coach Self is looking for one more big. He's one big shy of being where he needs to be, unless Kleinmann transmogrifies, or Marcus Morris plays out of position, which of course he could. But cross fingers for the kid from the Sudan. If he comes, Bill gets to play his new game with enough of everything.

Figure it will take a year to perfect.

Figure this is Bill's lasting contribution to basketball.

Figure the era of the uncontested pass is over.

And just imagine what'll happen when he lands some Mickey D's again.

I have seen the future of defense and it is attack and disrupt all lanes of ball communication, until the clock becomes your opponent.

April 23, 2008 at 11:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

jaybate....You make it sound like Self wrote a thesis before the UNC game about a NEW brand of basketball. Personally, I think he just told his guys to go out and have fun and take what was theirs.

April 24, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

I'm comfortable no matter who else we get.

We'll be better suited to match up well and still rebound the ball with four "guards" on the floor this year than we were last. We have size in the guards we haven't really had before.

What I'm concerned about is how unfairly people are hiking up their expectations of Aldrich. Poor kid is going to face criticism for not meeting the rest of your lofty goals. He did great, I'm proud of his progress. But he's still not a likely candidate for all-american or even all-conference, like some of you are referring. It's not as easy as "triple his minutes, triple his production." First, if you triple his PT, he's going to be playing a large portion of the game with less energy (fatigue). Second, if you TRY to triple his PT, he's going to be in more foul trouble. Third, if you CAN try to triple his PT, it's because you no longer have DA, DJ, or Sasha on the floor. Granted the guys we have coming in are no slouches, but sharing frontcourt time with two seniors and a lottery pick are going to help anyone's effectiveness at least a little bit.

Cole is a great player and has a bright future, but please... lets be careful not to inflate our images so high that we are bound for disappointment... even when he still does fairly well.

April 24, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

KU,

He did write a thesis before and during the UNC game. They've never played the lanes like that before or since. They will this next season.

Lebowski,

Agreed on Aldrich. He's got a year of brutal up and down ahead of him, before he stabilizes.

April 25, 2008 at 12:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )