Andrew Hartsock

Basketball players relishing new space

Kansas University’s new basketball practice facility is quite a sight.

Depth perception

Pick’s goal: play second fiddle to Reesing

There generally isn’t a lot of middle ground for the backup quarterback: Usually, he’s either the first or the last person fans want to see. Toiling to play his way into that football purgatory for Kansas University is Kale Pick, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound red-shirt freshman from Dodge City.

KU end is all business

Senior Onyegbule hopes to crack starting lineup

Maxwell Onyegbule hopes this is the year he breaks into Kansas University’s starting football lineup.

Hartsock: Freddy’s integrity inspiring

As soon as I started working at the Journal-World, I encountered a couple of local titans.

Aldrich learned plenty as freshman

Soph not awed by surroundings

A year ago at this time, Cole Aldrich would look out on the court and discern little more than crimson-and-blue blurs. “When I got on campus, it was an eye-opener,” said Aldrich, Kansas University’s 6-foot-11, 245-pound sophomore from Bloomington, Minn. “I didn’t know people could run that fast.”

Thomas disputes Darnell likeness

Freshman forward lauds Jackson, but wants to be himself

No less an authority than Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self has compared KU newcomer Quintrell Thomas to one of the most beloved former Jayhawks in recent history. And as touched as Thomas is to be likened to Darnell Jackson, he isn’t sure it’s the compliment he’d hoped to hear coming off his coach’s tongue.

Who’ll fill the void?

KU searching for B-Mac's replacement

Kansas University’s football team will miss Brandon McAnderson. Curiously, though, according to the guys whose job it will be to replace him, the nifty numbers McAnderson put up last season - 190 rushes, 1,125 yards, 5.9 per carry, 16 touchdowns, plus another 213 yards receiving - are the least of their worries.

State of the art: part II

Practice facility anchors renovations

If any members of Kansas University’s sports teams other than football were feeling left out, they shouldn’t feel that way for long. As the KU football team luxuriates in the Anderson Family Football Complex, its princely new home away from home, the rest of the Jayhawk student-athletes soon will get new digs of their own.

Meier relishing roles

Kansas receiver/QB/punter flourishing

Kerry Meier could have been the poster boy for taking one for the team. He ended up the Sports Illustrated cover boy instead. Meier, starting quarterback for the Kansas University football team for most of the 2006 season, lost that job last year to Todd Reesing. But the KU coaches thought Meier could help the team more on the field than the sideline, so they approached him about the possibility of becoming a slash - as in, quarterback/wide receiver - and Meier agreed.

Grand Opening

KU junior-to-be star-struck after U.S. Open

Emily Powers did her best to make it seem like she belonged among the best women’s golfers in the world. And while her deportment and play might have allowed her to blend in, the pen in her hand made her stand out.”I saw all of them,” Powers said. “I wanted to act like you’re one of them. At the same time, oh my God, it’s the first time I’ve seen an LPGA event. You’re not supposed to get autographs, but I got autographs there, too. Even though I was playing in it, it was my first time.”

The final countdown

Anderson football complex nearly complete

The television sets were delivered the other day - 57 of ‘em. Ranging in size from a piddling 32 inches to a massive 60 (measured diagonally), the flat-screen, high-def plasma wonders remain boxed, waiting to be hung. But the walls and the wiring and the 57 wall mounts are raised, wired and bolted on as work on the 80,000-square-foot Anderson Family Football Complex - the soon-to-be-home for Kansas University football - screams toward completion.

Celebrity status

President recognizes KU at Rose Garden

Nobody - not even the leader of the free world - knows just how rich the soon-to-be-professional members of Kansas University’s men’s basketball team will strike it. But none other than President Bush himself is sure at least some of the Jayhawks will be rolling in it. “I wish those of you going into pro ball the very best,” Bush said in a Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday recognizing the Jayhawks for their 2008 national championship. “Some of us are going to be out of work soon. I may be looking for loans.”

Jayhawks honored at White House

Question his policies or debate his legacy all you want. At least give President Bush props for this: He knows his Jayhawks. Or at least his speech writers do. During a brief ceremony Tuesday at the Rose Garden, Bush honored the 2008 men’s basketball national champions.

President Bush welcomes Jayhawks to the White House

President Bush welcomed Kansas University’s men’s basketball national champions to the White House.

Jayhawks arrive in capital

Players, coaches begin visit with sobering trip to army hospital

Players on Kansas University’s national-champion men’s basketball team have a busy, carefree couple of days in store in the nation’s capital. There are monuments to visit and heads of state to meet. First, though, came a sobering trip to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the self-described “clinical center of gravity of American military medicine.”

A new chapter

After five years, Williams, KU meet

Maybe someday, say 10 years hence, the idea of a Roy Williams-led team playing against the university that gave him his first head-coaching gig might be old news.

Hansbrough has Heels humming along

Do-it-all big man, North Carolina rolling into postseason

Tyler Hansbrough has done it all for North Carolina’s basketball team, not just this season but pretty much throughout his career.

KU women to play first game of WNIT at home

Kansas University’s women’s basketball team caught a break Monday night. Make that two breaks.

Jackson grasping last opportunity

It’s hard enough holding onto a basketball when former Kansas University All-American Danny Manning is trying to knock it from your grasp.

KU women’s recruit sets sights on dunking

Aishah Sutherland isn’t shooting for a particular scoring or rebounding average her senior year at Perris (Calif.) High. But she does have one specific goal. “I’m going to try to dunk in a game this year,” Sutherland said. “I’m close. I’d like to dunk to get my name in the paper.”

“A.C.” right for wrong sport

Basketball player at heart finds home on O-line

Anthony Collins generally is regarded as one of the Kansas University football team’s top NFL prospects. Not bad for a guy who played a different position a year ago, on the other side of the ball three years ago and with a different kind of ball altogether just over five years ago. “A.C. came to us having only played one year of football,” said KU offensive-line coach John Reagan.

The heir apparent?

'Loner' Sharp ready to help carry the load for Kansas

Let the Kansas University running-back battle begin. No, not that battle, the one where the leading candidates to be The Man who gets all the touches are trying to catch the coaches’ eyes. No, this is about the other battle in the backfield, the escalating war of words that often arises when a group of guys so confident - and different - in their abilities on the field and so comfortable with their relationships off it tend to, well, pop off.

Postage duo

Hinrich, Pierce included in NBA stamp series

Jeff Lough is a Kansas University basketball fan and a stamp collector. Leave it to the NBA to bring two of his hobbies together. His interest piqued by an article in Linn’s Stamp News - the world’s largest weekly stamp newspaper - Lough purchased a sheet of legally valid postage stamps featuring Kansas University product Kirk Hinrich, now with the Chicago Bulls.

Chalmers listened, learned after Cal

Self, Hawkins helped guard click following clunker against Bears

Glaring doesn’t begin to describe how Mario Chalmers’ performance against Cal last season sticks out from the other 32 games in which he played for Kansas University’s men’s basketball team. Chalmers’ line: 0-for-3 from the floor, 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 6 turnovers, 1 point in 11 minutes.

What’s his age again?

Sophomore Chalmers savvy beyond his years

During Kansas University’s recent men’s basketball media day, a glad-handing electronic-media journalist stuck a microphone in Mario Chalmers’ grill.

Allen hopes less is more

Ballyhooed KU defensive end 'lean, mean'

Now that Kansas University football fans can expect to see more of The Next Great Thing, there’s less of The Next Great Thing to see.

Ready to rumble

McAnderson could see expanded role

Truth be told, the Kansas University football offense never will be known as the B Mac Attack.

Creepy peepers

Nike's new MaxSight lenses designed to aid outdoor athlete

Nike would lead you to believe better sporting performance comes in a box. That’s the implied promise behind the shoes the corporate giant shills, but it’s also the allure of another boxed bit of athletic gear Nike is pitching: MaxSight contact lenses.

Pitching, defense key for Rainbows

WAC runners-up hit just 15 homers this season, but allowed just 18

The University of Hawaii baseball team isn’t about to overpower anybody in the Corvallis, Ore., NCAA regional. The Rainbows belted a mere 15 home runs this season en route to a 43-win season and a runner-up finish in the Western Athletic Conference.

Beavers dismiss slight

The team to beat in the Corvallis, Ore., baseball regional isn’t wasting any energy stewing about the NCAA’s decision not to award it a top-eight national seed.

Coach makes Wright choice for his career

If Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price had his way, Rob Cooper might well be headed to Corvallis, Ore., for an NCAA Tournament regional - as part of Price’s coaching staff.

Hawaii no paradise for baseball

Hawaii: Nice place to visit, but few want to play baseball there.

KU team diverse, dandy

Jayhawk squad melting pot of gung-ho cyclists

What do a gung-ho German, an against-all-odds ironwoman and a 34-year-old former forester have in common?

KU coach discounts advantage

Jayhawks hosts for cycling nationals

For the second straight year, Kansas University will serve as host for the USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals. To hear coach Christopher Hess tell it, that might not be the advantage it would seem.

City hopes to get on the board for K.C.’s Super Bowl revenue

Cashing in on the big game

If Kansas City ends up hosting a Super Bowl sometime in the next decade, tens of thousands of football fanatics will descend upon the region, and they’ll need places to sleep, eat and fritter away their cash.

KU: Allen Fieldhouse will be fire-ready

Games aren't expected to be disrupted

Kansas University and fire officials met Wednesday morning to ensure the fire safety of Allen Fieldhouse during the upcoming college basketball season.

Giddens pays visit to law enforcement center

J.R. Giddens is back in Lawrence. Giddens, wearing a protective boot and his trademark headband, was greeted by a police officer at the Douglas County Judicial & Law Enforcement Center at about 11:15 a.m. A police spokesman said Giddens was picking up items — including a set of keys — taken by the police the night of the Moon Bar incident.

Athens-bound Gruber stunned

Somebody pinch Charlie Gruber. He must be dreaming. Gruber, a former Kansas University track and field distance standout from Denver, is headed to the Olympics — and he can hardly believe it.

KU Cycling Club optimistic heading into nationals

Andy Phelps refuses to define a specific goal for the Kansas University Cycling Club’s upcoming trip to nationals.

Self’s showmanship shines at coaching school

Kansas University hired Bill Self to coach basketball players, not other coaches. But Friday, the Jayhawks’ new skipper spent his morning dissecting basketball strategies with more than 1,400 coaches during his keynote speech at the 71st annual Kansas State High School Activities Assn. coaching school at the downtown Ramada Inn.

Walrond catches on with Royals

In his first two years on Kansas University’s baseball team, Les Walrond had a good enough bat and was adroit enough in the outfield to support a professional baseball career. However, it was destined to be a short, low-paying career on baseball’s bottom rung.

Self plans to visit recruits

It took David Padgett 21Â¼2 years to pick a college. It should take less than a day to determine if he plans to stick with the university he selected — once he meets, face-to-face, with the new head basketball coach.

K-State coach fond of new Jayhawk boss

No team has tormented Kansas State quite like Kansas University, and no coach had his way with the Wildcats quite like Roy Williams.

Recruits optimistic about Self

Giddens 'excited,' but Wilkes, Padgett eager to meet KU coach

The pending announcement of Bill Self as Kansas University’s next head men’s basketball coach came as something of a relief for the Jayhawks’ ballyhooed incoming freshman class.

Recruits stunned by move

Wilkes 'pretty sure' he'll come to KU anyway

Kansas University’s incoming freshman class generally is regarded as one of the best in the country, a deep, talented group former KU coach Roy Williams referred to as a “core” class.

Demolition foes direct harsh words toward KU

The gloves are off. A hearing Tuesday night on the fate of three houses in the 1300 block of Ohio featured the expected he-said, she-said debate between the demolition proponents at Kansas University and opponents from the Oread Neighborhood Assn. and Lawrence Preservation Alliance.

Graves changes stance on Ohio Street property hearing

By Joel Mathis Flip. Flop. First, Gov. Bill Graves said he wouldn’t take public input before deciding the fate of houses in the 1300 block of Ohio Street. He changed his mind last month, but his office said at the time he wouldn’t conduct a public hearing.

Mideast issues divide students

By Joel Mathis It was near the beginning of spring semester at Kansas University when Israeli tanks rolled through Rajaa Abujabr’s hometown of Deir El-Balah in the Gaza Strip. There’s a refugee camp in the town that Israeli military officials said was the source of rocket attacks. They responded with force.

Students hear stories of space from native-Kansan astronaut

By Joel Mathis There are people who have been into space more often than Kansas-bred astronaut Steve Hawley. But nobody, he said Friday, has taken more trips to the launch pad with the intent to fly. It took Hawley 15 launch attempts to make his five space shuttle trips; 10 launches were aborted in the final seconds for safety reasons.

Coalition unites Lawrence, university

By Joel Mathis While a state official mulls a dispute between Kansas University and an adjacent neighborhood, a new group is trying to prevent similar rifts in the future. The KU Neighbors Coalition brings together representatives from the city, university and surrounding neighborhoods to talk about common issues.

Staff

Stories by Andrew