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Men's Basketball

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Former Jayhawk Vaughn to stay with San Antonio

By Gary Bedore

Jacque Vaughn

Jacque Vaughn

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Former Kansas University point guard Jacque Vaughn on Tuesday exercised his contract option with the San Antonio Spurs, meaning he will be under contract with the team through the 2008-09 season.

Vaughn, 33, is in the final year of a deal that pays him about $2.5 million total. He has been with the Spurs the past two seasons - including the 2006-07 championship season - serving as backup to Tony Parker.

The 11-year veteran has career averages of 4.6 points and 2.5 assists per game.

The Associated Press also reported Tuesday that Spurs guard Brent Barry opted out of his contract and became a free agent.

¢

Former KU guard Mario Chalmers, ex-Kansas State forward Michael Beasley and former KU and Louisville center David Padgett will play for the Miami Heat's summer-league team July 7-11 in Orlando, Fla.

Other teams at the summer league: Orlando, Chicago, New Jersey, Indiana and Seattle.

It remains to be seen whether Brandon Rush will be able to play summer-league games with the Indiana Pacers. On draft night, the Pacers and Portland agreed to swap draft picks Rush and Jerryd Bayless. Also, Ike Diogu was sent to the Blazers and Jarrett Jack and Josh McRoberts to Indiana.

Because of the timing of that trade and the involvement of veteran players, that deal reportedly must wait until July 9 to become official, midway through summer league.

The Indianapolis News reports Rush cannot compete at a Pacers' minicamp this weekend because of the NBA's July 9 edict.

¢Several former KU players will be competing at the Las Vegas summer league July 11-20 in Glitter City.

The unofficial list includes: Darrell Arthur (Memphis), Darnell Jackson, Wayne Simien (Cleveland), Keith Langford (Denver), Aaron Miles (Dallas), Russell Robinson (Houston) and Julian Wright (New Orleans).

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Comments

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

Would have been an interesting situation had the Spurs decided to take Mario.

July 2, 2008 at 7:06 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kushaw (anonymous) says...

Kind of Ironic that Big Dub is going be competing with D-Jack for a spot on Cleveland's Roster. I remember just 4 years ago when Simien was a far superior talent and Darnell was just scraping by looking for playing time. Crazy how things change in just 4 years. I hope Simien can't get healthy because some of the players that were in his class that are doing well amazes me. If Simien could only get healthy?

July 2, 2008 at 7:42 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DocBean (anonymous) says...

Vaughn was fun to watch wearing the Crimson and the Blue.Great to see him pulling in another paycheck.To this day he is still my favorite Jayhawk.He played a lot like Sherron Collins, a point guard that can drive and create offense immediately, just a naturally gifted passer. And he wore a rubber band around his wrist that he would snap anytime he made a mistake. - Great stuff.He was also the only Jayhawk in the past 10 years with NBA talent that sounded intelligent during interviews.Everyone else just makes me cringe. I hope I never have to see another interview of Darrell Arthur, or Kirk Hinrich.

July 2, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Toto_the_great (anonymous) says...

That pic has a similar resemblance to the one his SI cover.My favorite Vaugh moment: his 3 against Knight's Indiana in the Fieldhouse.

July 2, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

d_prowess (anonymous) says...

Vaughn is a favorite of mine too. I still have a cheesy t-shirt that the bookstore put out after he scored his 1,000 point. Never wore it because I used to think it would be cool to get signed some day.

July 2, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

My favorite Jacque moment also happened in the IU game...he did the fake behind-the-back pass (that just left the IU defender's jock at the top of the key) and went in for the layup.

July 2, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

What are you talking about, DocBean... didn't you see Cole's post-game press conference? He's got commentator written all over him!I'm just kiddin ya of course..I try to remember I wasn't the most comfortable public speaker at that age either... sometimes they may be brighter than they sound.I liked Jacque a lot, too. But I must say that Sherron has at no point reminded me of him, though. I just don't see it.... Sherron has a totally different mentality with the ball than Jacque did.... and I just see tons of differences in how they do things. Just my opinion. And did Jacque ever rub his genitals on anybody? I'm just kidding about that too, before people go flaming me... relax!! It's a joke!Jacque was a head coach on the floor... knew what direction the team and the offense needed to go throughout the game... and many of those pictures we all have of Roy just sitting there watching the game with his head on his hands... a lot of that had to do with Vaughn. I think he was the best "leader" to ever play at Kansas. Roy always said there were times he would not know what to do to coach those guys... they'd be on the same page without him even saying anything. He's who I desperately want to see come back to Kansas after his NBA career and get into coaching.

July 2, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

WisconsinJayhawk (anonymous) says...

Vaughn's a smart, smart guy. One of my favorite recollections about Jaque Vaughn was that he'd read Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar or other such heavy-duty works of literature in the locker room. Some of the guys, bless 'em, hardly seemed as though they could read at all. I blame society for that of course.Vaughn will be an NBA head coach (if Doc Rivers and Avery Johnson can, then Jaque's a lock) then maybe GM, then Congressman, then...2nd black President of the United States. I'm sure he can bwl better than the 1st one.

July 2, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

PaulDMeyer (anonymous) says...

Cheesehead, not sure where you're coming from with the illiteracy comment above.I think Jacque and Cedric Hunter are the two best guards KU has had since the Ted Owens coached the Jayhawks. Collins could be the next.

July 2, 2008 at 1:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kushaw (anonymous) says...

PaulDMeyer: Would have to disagree. I liked Adonis Jordan's game far greater than Jacque's. I also liked Hinrich and Pritchard probably more so than Jacque. Jacque was so one dimensional. I would have to agree that Cedric Hunter was a stud and is one of my all-time favorites. Everytime I think of Jacque I think of "Choke". Just think if he could have hit consistently from outside. Woulda coulda shoulda!

July 2, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Dang PaulD... in regards to talking about KU's best guards in recent eras... I don't know where exactly I'd put Hunter as I barely recall him (never watched sports at the age I was back then)But I must say the Mario Chalmers and Kirk Hinrich omissions are absolutely inexcusable!!! Saying a CBA guard is better than them is a stretch.Just for fun, here's my list, greatest KU guards from 88-08.Just a note... I'm not ranking on career achievement or longevity... but how good they became before it was all said and done. 1 - Chalmers 2 - Hinrich3 - Walters4 - Vaughn5 through 10 - order too hard to chooseJordan Pritchard Miles BThomas Langford RobinsonAnd Collins will surely squeeze someone from it.Newton, Robertson, Haase and Boschee get honorable mention in my book. Hope I'm not missing anyone significant, the top 4 are the clear cut best I've seen at Kansas, IMO. No big shocker to me that they'll be the 4 with the best NBA careers. I always said that Billy Thomas was underrated, and the shots in the NBA he has gotten have validated that a bit.I could argue with myself all day on the order between Rex, Mario and Kirk.

July 2, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

Lebowski - I count it a travesty that you have chosen to exclude Jelani Janisse from your esteemed list. Please reconsider. If you need stats, I've got stats:http://www.rockchalk.com/jayhawks/janisjel.sht

July 2, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

I basically agree with Lebowski, although I would not rank Jacque as highly as he and a lot of others have ranked him. I would put Pritchard third and Walters fourth. If Jacque had had even a decently consistent outside shot, I would put him in at number three--hard for ANYONE to top Chalmers and Hinrich.Kirk is still my all-time favorite KU player, but I agree that Mario deserves to be ranked slightly higher based on his overall skills.

July 2, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

extrapolater (anonymous) says...

I always put Jacque second on my favorite Jayhawks list. Danny Manning is #1, not just for winning his championship, but for coming back and being a great coach, as well.

July 2, 2008 at 3:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Great list of all time greats at KU:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0807/campus.kansas.top10/content.1.html?eref=sircrc

July 2, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

PaulDMeyer (anonymous) says...

I appreciate being corrected on KU pt. guards. Although, I was considering those who were on the 4 year plan. Chalmers owns the "Greatest Shot" for pt. guards though. One interesting fact about Cedric Hunter: his arms were / are so long that he could extend them around his back and be able to touch his belly button. Larry Brown mentioned this fact on a clinic for pt. guards at his basketball camp while Cedric demonstrated his instructions. He said Cedric had the arms to be a great pt. The were (2) other future big time coaches at this camp: Bill Self & John Calipari.

July 2, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

midwestjhawk (anonymous) says...

Lebowski you have got to be kidding me? Chalmers as the best guard ever at KU, no way!He did hit one of the most clutch "Shots" in history but he is no where near Kirk Hinrich's level. Let's not forget, Chalmers played on a great team.I think Chalmer's is more like an Eddie House or Bobby Jackson type player. And in this list, how could you possibly forget JoJo White?

July 2, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

garybedore (Gary Bedore) says...

Jacque's a classy guy. Really like him.Kind of private, though.He keeps a low profile which is his prerogative of course.If all players were like Jacque Vaughn, coaches would never get gray hairs.

July 2, 2008 at 8:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

IndyJHawk (anonymous) says...

Jacque is my favorite Jayhawk. I don't know where I would rank him as a guard and his scoring ability was certainly behind Hinrich and Chalmers. But he was the best leader the KU team has ever had. My favorite Jacque moment is actually one where the basket was (wrongly) not called. The 360 layup against defending champions UCLA, where KU came back from 15 down and won by 15. That was my first game ever at the Fieldhouse.

July 2, 2008 at 11:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

gregncw (anonymous) says...

buyers beware:i ordered the championship DVD from the CBS store because it's advertised at the end of these web articles. Unfortunately, the DVD has been horribly edited, leaving out significant minutes of the semifinal game with UNC, at least 8 minutes in the first half alone, when KU was dominating unc. the cbs store does not say this in their ad copy when ordering!!!!

July 2, 2008 at 11:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

100 (anonymous) says...

The only point guard (offensively speaking), besides Vaughn (an obvious #1) you could put at #2, would be the point guard who not only led Danny and the Miracles to the national championship, but also sliced Kentucky up, 150-95. He attacked the basket with a vengeance, could shoot from anywhere inside 22 feet, could leap out of the gym, and LOVED to pass. These two (Pritch and Jacque) are by far the most intelligent, effective point guards, offensively speaking, we've had in the last 3 decades.

July 3, 2008 at 2:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

Congrats to Mr. Bedore for having put his finger on the pulse of the Jayhawk readership regarding the use of the word "former" to describe athletes who have suited up for the crimson and blue in days gone by. It IS an important distinction.Be judicious, however. There are those who would usurp your generousity and hijack the articles. Not everyone, no. Not even most people (the majority come here to simply post with an opinion), but some want to be editors and quibble over the most trivial things.

July 3, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

txrockchalk... i'm still crackin up. Good stuff! He did have some amazing shooting %'s though!Jross, hope your hijacking concerns aren't related to the enjoyable discussion of former Kansas guards! :)midwestjhawk... look closer... I"m only talking guards between the championships (88 to 08). I'm not going to argue between Hinrich and Chalmers. Hinrich is probably my favorite jayhawk of all time, too.. but I think the comparison to Chalmers is a very close one... and the edge goes to Chalmers in my opinion because of that fact that was surrounded by more talent... he had to share the ball more. And Chalmers was able to force turnovers against even the best of guards. A lot of guards can steal the ball, but that ability disappears against the top talent. Mario is elite at that ability. And I also felt he was much more mistake-free on offense.If Mario had played under our ex-coach, he would have had a lot more shot attempts and a lot higher scoring average. Kirk played in a much more run-and-gun style offense, and Mario would have thrived in that too. That's just where I'm coming from... there's certainly a strong argument to be made for Kirk being the best, too.

July 3, 2008 at 10:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...

The poster who said he never wanted to see another interview by Arthur and Hinrich has 50% of it right.Hinrich is just awful when speaking. Arthur isn't all that bad for such a young kid. Wright was THE worst in public speaking as he never opened his mouth or moved his lips. It was painful to listen to him. However, many of these players do the same thing.......forcing noise through their clenched teeth.

July 3, 2008 at 11:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

Keith...These are basketball players, not orators. Furthermore, these are YOUNG basketball players. Most kids in college havent had enough experience with speaking or dealing with the glare of scrutinizing media attention to be as fluent in a sports interview as you are.

July 3, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )