Friday, June 6, 2008

Kent State added to slate

By Gary Bedore

Kansas' Sherron Collins steals the ball from Georgia Tech with seconds left in the game at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday in Atlanta, Ga.

Photo by Thad Allender

Kansas' Sherron Collins steals the ball from Georgia Tech with seconds left in the game at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday in Atlanta, Ga.

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Kansas men's basketball

2008-09 Non-Con Schedule

  • Kent State, UMKC, Washington (in K.C.), Syracuse or Florida (in K.C.), Belmont, UMass (in K.C.), Temple, at Arizona, Tennessee, at Michigan State

Kansas University's men's basketball team will play defending Mid-America Conference champion Kent State next season in Allen Fieldhouse.

No date has yet been determined for the game, KU senior associate athletic director Larry Keating said Friday.

The Golden Flashes return three starters off last year's 28-7 squad, including MAC player of the year Al Fisher, a 6-foot-1 junior from Pennsauken, N.J.

Kent State will have a first-year coach in Geno Ford, who replaced new TCU coach Jim Christian, who went 138-58 at Kent State the past six seasons. The Golden Flashes won at least 20 games in each of those seasons. Ford had been an assistant at KSU the past four years.

KU also will play Belmont on Nov. 21, Temple on Dec. 20 and Tennessee on Jan. 3 in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks will travel to Arizona on Dec. 23 and Michigan State on Jan. 10.

KU will meet Massachusetts on Dec. 13 in the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. KU also will play Missouri-Kansas City on either Nov. 16 or 18 in an early-round College Basketball Experience Tournament game in Allen Fieldhouse. KU will meet Washington in a CBE semifinal on Nov. 24 in Sprint Center. Florida and Syracuse will play in the other semi, with the finals and consolation finals the following night.

Comments

KU (anonymous) says...

Paul.......Pierce.

June 6, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

I'm not exactly sure how that tournament is structured (CBE Classic) but isn't it a little (albeit reasonable) presumptive to assume KU is going to be playing Washington in the semi-final round at the Sprint Center? Don't they need to get past UMKC first?

What happens if (*GASP*) UMKC wins?

For those of you prepared to deride this question, let us not forget Richmond (in Allen!!!) and ORU and DePaul...

June 6, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

I thought I read where KU automatically goes to the semis and UMKC automatically goes elsewhere to play with the other mid-majors, no matter the outcome of their game.

June 6, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

The CBE classic is slated so that all of the teams play two games at campus sites in the first two rounds, then they advance to the finals. The four hosts in the first round (KU, Washington, Florida and Syracuse) all advance to the Sprint Center for their final two games. The rest of the teams meet on different campus sites for their final two games. Each team gets four games guaranteed, but it lets the organizers dictate the "dream" matchups. That way, you avoid the possibility of a marquee team losing in the first or second round and not advancing to the Sprint Center.

June 6, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says...

I hear ya JayCeph, a National Championship does not confer immunity to such types of losses.

I am glad to see the pre Big XII schedule is not just a bunch of NAIA schools.

June 6, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rawkhawk (anonymous) says...

Paul Pierce indeed! He was the superstar last night. Some related him to Muhammud Ali in Zaire coming back from that injury. James Brown jumping back up after the cape has been thrown on him also came to mind. It's awesome to see the former Jayhawk as the star of the NBA finals. Go Celtics!

June 6, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUFan90 (anonymous) says...

What about Willis Reed jogging back out on the court to play Wilt? That's what I was reminded of when Pierce came back.

June 6, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldalum (anonymous) says...

Or Hinrich coming back with a sprained ankle in the NCAA?

June 6, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

NH_JHawk (anonymous) says...

Nothing sweeter than seeing PP leading the chant "BEAT LA" on national TV after winning the Eastern Conference, then backing it up in Game 1 with a gutsy performance. Not bad for a kid who grew up in LA hating the Celtics and claiming his "most hated Celtic" was (ironically) Danny Ainge!

BEAT LA BEAT LA BEAT LA!!!!

June 6, 2008 at 1:53 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

OklahomaJayhawk5 (anonymous) says...

Wow our schedule is absolutely loaded! Some of those games will be very tough to win, but it can only help us come tourney time!

June 6, 2008 at 2:31 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

garybedore (Gary Bedore) says...

The CBE like you said is two games here, one against UMKC and one against somebody else. KU then goes to KC and plays Washington no matter the outcome of the games in Allen. Then the final night KU plays either Syracuse or Florida depending on the results of the previous night's games in KC.

June 6, 2008 at 11:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

garybedore (Gary Bedore) says...

I posted this also in another story comment section.

Somebody wanted to know the schollie situation for 09.
Making the very strong assumption (certainty) that Mario turns pro now, KU will enter next season with 11 scholarship players (four returnees, seven new guys).
KU in 09 picks up a scholarship with the probation over, so KU will have two scholarships to give (since there are no seniors on the team).
So KU has two scholarships to give.
Collins could turn pro after his junior year, there's probably a very good chance of that, so that would be three available schollies. If Cole has a monster year, he could consider leaving for the draft, though I do not think that will happen (see Tyler Hansbrough staying four years at UNC).
Any additional scholarships would involve current players leaving or giving up scholarships.
I don't want to get into that what-if game. It's stupid to speculate on things like that.
It's safe to say one scholarship will be reserved for Xavier Henry (whether he accepts it or not is his call). So at this time, with all those recruits out there, there is only one scholarship available aside from the one going to Henry.
If KU inks more than two players, then there will be oversigning going on, which coaches have to do nowadays with the NBA stealing all the players early.

June 7, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )