“It’s really sweet,” said Hill, a junior wide receiver out of Wichita. “It looks so nice, and it’s awesome to run on.”

Hill knows of what he speaks. Hill and senior quarterback Dylen Smith served on the advisory committee that looked into AstroPlay the synthetic grass surface the Jayhawks settled on for Memorial Stadium and rival FieldTurf, which already has been installed at Nebraska.

Hill, Smith, KU coach Terry Allen and a handful of others visited Lindenwood University outside St. Louis and NU in Lincoln, Neb., on fact-finding trips to find a replacement for the aging AstroTurf that since has been removed from Memorial Stadium.

When the question which was better asked of Hill, his response was, “Flip a coin.”

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

“Both are sweet,” Hill said. “Nebraska’s seems a little shorter, a little harder, a little firmer. This stuff is a teeny bit longer and softer, but both of ’em felt sweet. I would have been happy with either one. Dylen and I talked about it, and we were both indecisive. They’re the best of both worlds, grass and turf. It feels like grass and plays like grass. It’s awesome.”

Installation of the new rug is nearing completion. Southwest Recreational Industries, which makes AstroPlay, currently is installing the rubber in-fill around 40 tons of used tires that will help put a spring in Hill’s step this fall.

“We put on different cleats and ran on it, and both shoes felt fine,” Hill said. “I’ll try to play in cleats, because I like cleats better. Will it play slower than turf? I don’t know. I’d have to play a game on it first, but I didn’t feel slower on it. I still felt good. The big thing is injuries. You might still get some rug burns, but practicing and playing on turf is a lot of wear and tear on your joints. Your body doesn’t feel as good when you play on turf. This stuff is so much easier on the legs.”

Faced with an AstroTurf rug that was showing wear, KU officials went looking for a replacement last spring. They wanted something that would be superior to Turf, but would be able to be removed and re-installed once they continue with plans to lower the field.

Natural grass was immediately ruled out.

Ben Bigler/Journal-World Photo

They settled on AstroPlay for a $330,000 project that should be completed within a week.

“We’re all happy to get rid of that old Turf,” Hill said. “Whenever you add something like that, whenever you do something for the football team or the stadium, it’s good. It’ll be great to play on.”

Hill has had a busy summer, working out, attending classes and participating in twice-a-week 7-on-7 passing games.

“We stay after and do 1-on-1 stuff,” Hill said. “That’s when we get the most out of it. Dylen’s throwing good. His arm’s looking good. And I like (new juco wideout) Roger Ross. He’ll be a good player. He’s short, but he’s quick and he’s got good hands. He’s a lot smoother than I thought. I heard he was supposed to be pretty good, and he is. He’s really smooth on his routes.”

Academic casualties: KU lost two roster players to academic difficulties this summer. Red-shirt freshman defensive end Lance Carson, who was competing for a starting job at the end of spring drills, and reserve quarterback Jeff Hilliard failed to maintain eligibility and won’t return in the fall.

Illustration courtesy of Southwest Recreational Industries

No Bruins: Don’t look for Kansas to fill in for Missouri on the UCLA football schedule now that MU has begged out of a home-and-home series with the Bruins.

UCLA contacted Kansas associate athletics director Richard Konzem for just that purpose after Mizzou, apparently concerned that its 2001 schedule featured both UCLA and Michigan State, said it planned to back out of its deal with the Bruins. The contract called for UCLA to visit Columbia, Mo., in 2001 and MU to play at UCLA in 2002.

A Bruins athletic official suggested to Mizzou that UCLA would play at Kansas in 2001, and the Tigers would visit Los Angeles in 2002. Missouri balked.

“I told the UCLA guy at the time I didn’t believe Missouri would go for that,” Konzem said. “I heard they wouldn’t do that, and that was the end of that.”

Still, Konzem would listen if the Bruins wanted to start their own home-and-home series. The problem is, Kansas wants UNLV to be its only nonconference road game in 2002, and UCLA is booked through 2009.

“UNLV is a game we don’t want to give up,” Konzem said of a Sept. 7 game in Sin City. “That’s a very attractive game for our fans. After that, the earliest UCLA has an opening is 2009. If they wanted to do that, we’d ask Terry Allen. But from UCLA’s standpoint, that’s not fair to go on the road and not get the return game for eight years. That’s not common scheduling practice. You usually have different athletics directors and different football coaches at both schools.”

On the road again: Kansas’ one-day high school football camps on the road will begin next week. Here’s the schedule: July 18, Garden City; July 19, Wichita; July 20, Pittsburg; July 21, Topeka; July 22, Kansas City.