Kansas University’s basketball players don’t call Bob Chipman “coach.”
They call him “boss.”
All of KU’s returning scholarship players have worked as summer camp counselors for Chipman, Washburn University’s 22nd-year coach.
“We’ve had them all. They are all great,” Chipman said. “Gosh, you’d think a couple of those guys would be bad apples or not be good kids. They are all good kids. They have the whole package.
“You take a Jeff Boschee on the road he’s almost a cult figure in some areas in Kansas,” Chipman explained. “Eric Chenowith . with his size, he’s very recognizable and very good with kids. Kenny Gregory you’d think he’d go into a hot gym in Kansas and go sit on the side. He’s out there doing everything I’m doing or more. All those guys are fabulous.”
Chipman lauds the character and ability of the Jayhawks, who take a 4-0 record into tonight’s game against the NCAA Div. II Ichabods (2-0).
Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
“They seem to score so easily,” Chipman said. “KU plays extremely hard. They get some of the best teams in the country standing around.”
The Ichabods, who are led by center Ewan Auguste (17.0 ppg), forwards Eric Carter (16.5) and Randolph Williams (15.5), plus point guard Shannon Kruger (12.5 ppg), are ranked fifth in the country in NCAA Div. II. The Jayhawks are ranked third in Div. I.
“This is the best team we’ve brought to KU,” said Chipman. His Ichabods fell to Kansas, 90-65, in 1996 and lost, 82-68, in 1993. “This is a team. We are totally together. We are a unit. In the past, I’ve always had to try to invent some defense to somehow stay in the game.”
“I will not have to try to conjure up something this year. We will be outmanned at different positions, but we’re going to try to execute what we do.”
The Ichabods’ most intense player is Kruger, a 5-foot-10 sophomore from Silver Lake and the nephew of former Kansas State guard Lon Kruger.
“He’s a tough kid, as good a competitor as I’ve had,” Chipman said. “I played with Lonnie (at K-State). Shannon does things on a daily basis that remind me of those things Lonnie did. The first loose ball in a live scrimmage this year Shannon dives 10 feet in the air and breaks his nose.”
Auguste, 6-8, 220-pounds, hails from Castries, St. Lucia.
“We are dominant on the Div. II level with Ewan inside,” Chipman said. “We can dominate in Div. II from the perimeter with a bunch of guys who can shoot it.”
Kruger has made seven of nine threes this season. As a team, Washburn has hit 21 of 50.
“We don’t have a Jeff Boschee or Luke Axtell, but we have guys who can shoot the three. We let them shoot it. We like them to shoot it,” Chipman said.
Expectations are high in Topeka this season.
“This group I’ve got is unbelievable. They practice so hard, play together and try to outhustle the other team,” Chipman said.
He’s also a big fan of KU’s team.
“I know I take pride in what they’ve accomplished,” Chipman said. “They are fun to watch because they play hard, every night.”
The Jayhawks will meet Middle Tennessee State on Monday in another 7:05 p.m. tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse.
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