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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Ballard promoted; Keller joins KU basketball staff

By Gary Bedore

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Bill Self didn't need long to find Ronnie Chalmers' replacement. On Tuesday, KU's head basketball coach named for KU guard Brett Ballard the new Director of Basketball Operations.

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Brett Ballard

Kansas University coach Bill Self has promoted from within to fill the position of KU director of basketball operations.

Brett Ballard, who has worked in KU's hoops office the past five years as KU's administrative assistant/video coordinator, on Tuesday was named replacement for Ronnie Chalmers, who resigned his director of basketball post on Aug. 12.

Kyle Keller, who worked on the staffs of Eddie Sutton and Sean Sutton at Oklahoma State the past nine years, will replace Ballard as video coordinator, Self indicated.

"When Ronnie Chalmers resigned, we didn't have to go too far to fill that position," Self said. "Brett has been with us the past five years and has done a fabulous job. He certainly deserves this title. I am very pleased with the job he has done thus far and it was very easy to move him into that slot."

A native of Hutchinson, Ballard played at KU from 2000 to 2002. An Academic All-Big 12 pick, he earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education in 2003.

"Being from Kansas, having played at Kansas and getting the opportunity to work at Kansas has been great," Ballard said. "I feel very fortunate and blessed. I especially appreciate the opportunity that (athletic director) Mr. (Lew) Perkins and coach Self have given me."

Keller was promoted to assistant coach at OSU in 2005-06, after serving the previous four years as the director of basketball operations for the Cowboys.

"I have known Kyle since 1987 when he was a student at Oklahoma State," Self said. "He has done every job imaginable, from being a student assistant to a graduate assistant to a part-time assistant to a head coach, and in charge of every duty you could handle in a basketball program at his various stops over the last 20-plus years. We're very excited to add him. I think he will be a great addition. He will fit in very well with his expertise as far as bringing in some fresh ideas to our staff."

A native of Dallas, Keller worked as head coach at Tyler Junior College from 1997 to '99. He started his coaching career as an aide at Louisiana Tech from 1990-94 before moving to Tyler JC as an assistant coach the next two years. He then served one season at UT-San Antonio (1996-97) before returning as head coach at Tyler.

"I'm really excited with the opportunity to work with coach Self," Keller said. "He is one of the top coaches in all of basketball and has a great staff with Joe Dooley, Kurtis Townsend, Danny Manning and Brett Ballard, whom I have had an opportunity to get to know and respect through my years in coaching.

"I just want to try and fit in as best I can and contribute to one of the most tradition-rich programs in the country. I'm looking forward to walking out of Allen Fieldhouse for the first time ever with a win."

At his alma mater, Okie State, Keller served as an assistant coach from 1999-2002, as director of basketball operations from 2002-06 and assistant coach from 2006-08.

Comments

swishymcjayhawk (anonymous) says...

so much for hiring Carl Henry...

August 26, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NH_JHawk (anonymous) says...

Wonder what ole T. Boone thinks about Self employing OSU guys?

August 26, 2008 at 6 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawk52 (anonymous) says...

Interesting......going from assistant coach at OSU to video coordinator at KU. Is that a job promotion?

August 26, 2008 at 6:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

halogenlamps (anonymous) says...

Going from Dean of a school at OSU to untenured professor at KU is a job promotion...

August 26, 2008 at 6:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

njjayhawk (anonymous) says...

T. Boone was so busy selling windmills and solar panels to the public in an effort to solve the energy crisis and global warming (didn't the Farmer's Almanac just announce the coming of the Ice Age to America, starting this winter?) that he let one get away from him and OSU. Keller will be a nice addition to JayhawkNation. Score: KU 1; OSU 0.

August 26, 2008 at 6:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

shockjay (anonymous) says...

Just found out that C.J. Henry, Xavier's older brother, has just signed on to play for Memphis for the 2008-09 season. How this will sway Xavier's decision is another story.

August 26, 2008 at 6:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

Ballard played on traveling teams with my brother through grade school and into junior high. If you want to see the definition of the word hustle, watch a family video of Brett playing in 7th grade. Kid has bball in his blood. Congrats Brett.

August 26, 2008 at 7:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayViking (anonymous) says...

Any position you can take within KU Basketball is likely a promotion or at least a parallel step from another school.

:)

August 26, 2008 at 7:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kvskubball (anonymous) says...

When a new head coach is hired, the assistants of the previous coach often have to find a new home. Sounds like Keller has lots of experience and should be a good addition.

August 26, 2008 at 7:56 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

farmerhawk (anonymous) says...

Keller is a class guy with lots of quality recruiting under his belt. Definitely a plus for the hawks. Welcome aboard, Kyle.

August 26, 2008 at 8:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkliz (anonymous) says...

Maybe C.J. signing on at Memphis, Xavier will want to play at a different school! Carl would have been a sweet deal. I wish Ronnie Chalmers would have stayed another year with all the cow poop going on right now!

August 26, 2008 at 8:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KEITHMILES05 (anonymous) says...

Twenty years and the guy can only get Ballard's previous job? That most certainly doesn't say much.

August 26, 2008 at 8:48 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

So how will Bill Self be able to recruit Xavier Henry?

August 26, 2008 at 10:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

keithmiles05,

I beg to disagree. Anytime you can get someone of this experience on your staff you tke them. Call them whatever you want from a job title. They are part of the "brain trust" now.

August 27, 2008 at 5:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Self proves his loyalty to the Eddie mafia.

Self gets an experienced Okie he can relate to, one with a lot of juco experience and ties to OSU recruits in the pipeline. Travis Ford, you've been raided.

Self anticipates losing Dooley or Townsend and having Keller step up.

Self anticipates not hiring another Dad for awhile. It has to be tough hiring a Dad to get a player, whether you announce it at the time, or string the hiring out till later to keep it from looking so bush. My guess is, Self is VERY happy to have enough job security that he doesn't HAVE to hire another Dad to carry on.

Self also anticates rightly that juco players are going to become vastly more important to D1 than in the past and gets himself a juco coach. Why? Continuity is going to involve at most two year blocks of time, rather than three or four year blocks. Frankly, continuity may just go out the window entirely.

KU would NOT have won its ring had Rush not gotten injured and stuck around another year. Self knows this. He knows one can't build for even three or continuities. A two year window is all any serious nucleus will be around from now on.

Also, all the TV has made empowered the recruiting of a ton of schools, so you've got to make do with a thinner supply even when you are a limousine program. So: with all the early jumps to the pros, you have to patch with jucos.

And as more one and doners opt for Europe, rather than a year of college, still more pressure will be placed on patching with jucos.

The successful D1 coach is increasingly going to have to have a closely allied juco farm system. And to get that, he's going to have to hire juco coaches to his staff to make the others think there is reason to develop players for the particular D1 coach; the reason being that they might get hired eventually. In Self's case, that means he needs to create ties with juco coaches that want to teach defense first, so the player is ready to play immediately. Mario Little is going to test this direction this year. I hope he works out. Frankly, since players play so much more at an early age, not only the superstars are more developed and ready to play sooner, but so are the juco players, at least in theory. Let's hope theory proves valid for Coach Self.

August 27, 2008 at 7:38 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

jaybate.....You're a fairly intelligent human being and sometimes you have great insights. But it bothers me when you make these prophetic posts that state "Self knows" or "Self believes" or "Self anticipates".

You are just SPECULATING about what Self knows, believes and anticipates. Please substitue "Jaybate" for "Self" when speculating on these things.

August 27, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

100 (anonymous) says...

Xavier more than likely will be here for late night. Keep in mind, CJ had agreed to play for KU. His reason he chose Memphis is a "good chance" at a national championship this year. Xavier won't go either place for a full year: in short its a very different situation for him -- this is not about appeasing his older brother. This is about learning a skill set that will earn him millions a year more a year. Calipari's offense (as we've seen with Rose) works nice in college. And his defensive teachings (lotsa zone against Conf USA competition) doesnt do a lot for a player who could be great in the NBA. Ask Jordan -- he wouldnt have been the same NBA player at all without Dean Smith and a competitive ACC. Xavier has this same delimna to ponder before making his final decision. Does he want to work in college on NBA pertinent aspects (Self) or take the easy way out and go have a brotherly (fun for sure) reunion in Memphis, where the practices are less intense because the competition is less intense? He's smart, he'll make the best decision for himself...

August 27, 2008 at 1:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

KU,

You are absolutely right. I stand corrected. I will try to remember to change the language I use to refer to Self's thinking. I will try to write "I believe Self must know..." or "I figure Self must know..." or whatever. The reason I don't is that I was taught in English and Journalism that one does not need to refer to one's opinions in the first person. The teachers taught that it was mastering the obvious, when one is already known to be the author. But in the internet age, and with particular style, perhaps doing what you say would help clarify my meaning and intent.

I never intend to put words in Self's head, or thoughts in his mind. I only intend to speculate on what both might probably, or possibly, be.

For what its worth, I also never presume I know more than the coach, or the players, or any of the professionals or student athletes actually playing the game. Whenever it comes off that way, it is entirely unintended. I have my opinions and limited base of experience and my enthusiasm for the game and that is all.

August 27, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

jaybate......Like I said, you have some prescient comments from time to time and I think they would be better-received by your audience if they came off as YOUR ideas rather than unintentionally attributing thoughts to Self.

One thing we CAN all agree on: It's great to be a Jayhawk. Three days and counting until kickoff!

August 27, 2008 at 6:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )