Mario Kinsey wants to stick to the plan the one that has him red-shirting in football and switching over to basketball on Oct. 13.
“I’m really ready to go play basketball. I hope the plan goes through,” Kansas University’s two-sport athlete said Wednesday after football practice.
“I’m hoping to go over to basketball on the 12th or 13th because I want to participate at Late Night. Coach (Terry) Allen told me to give him all I’ve got this week for K-State, then when the time comes he’ll make that decision,” Kinsey added.
Late Night With Roy Williams is next Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.
There’s always a chance Kinsey’s red-shirt could be pulled before Late Night perhaps during Saturday’s KU-Kansas State football game at Memorial Stadium.
The 6-foot-2 freshman quarterback/receiver nearly lost his red-shirt two weeks ago when he considered entering as a receiver late in KU’s 42-0 victory over Southern Illinois.
“Coach Wyatt (Darrell, receivers coach) asked me, ‘Do you want to go in?”‘ Kinsey said. “At first I said, ‘Yes.’
“Two minutes later, coach Allen came up to me and said, ‘Are you sure you want to go in?’ I said, ‘No, coach,’ because there were only seven minutes left.
“If I played now, I’d rather play receiver than quarterback. With the receivers we have, there’s no room. At quarterback, we have Dylen (Smith). He is doing a heck of a job.”
Some fans thought Smith should have been pulled during the second half of last Saturday’s loss at Oklahoma. Smith threw for a career-high 258 yards but had five interceptions.
“Anybody can have a bad game. (Michael) Jordan had a bad game,” Kinsey said. “Dylen threw for a career high (yardage) against Oklahoma. He had a few mistakes all of them weren’t his.”
Kinsey says he’s been content sitting and watching during his rookie campaign. “It was tough learning the plays. It’s still tough. We’re adding plays every week,” Kinsey said. “But it hasn’t been that difficult. I just keep my mind focused.
“I’m not dreading that,” he added, referring to learning the basketball playbook. “I am trying to make the change now. I go watch basketball film every now and then and see if I can learn some stuff.”
His roommate is Bryant Nash, a 6-6 basketball player from Carrollton, Texas. The Texans were AAU teammates.
“Bryant keeps telling me, ‘You need to red-shirt so you can get out here and we can get off on a good note,”‘ said Kinsey, a Waco native. “Every day most of the basketball team asks me if I’m going to red-shirt so I can get out there and practice.”
Allen said Kinsey could possibly particpate at Late Night With Roy Williams and still suit up for next Saturday’s game at Missouri.
“I don’t think I could do both right now,” Kinsey said of practicing football and basketball at the same time. “That might be a little too much. Coach Williams said whatever I do he will back me up on it.”
Kinsey is confident he’ll be KU’s starting quarterback next season.
He’s exhibited a strong arm at practice. He’s also displayed his speed as a scout team receiver and kickoff return man.
“I don’t get a lot of reps at quarterback, but when I do I feel things are coming along,” he said.
“We have great coaches who make me confident that when I step to the line I know what is open and what is not.”
He’s so confident that he had an exchange with hecklers at Oklahoma.
“They were giving me a hard time saying, ‘You need to get on the field,”‘ Kinsey said. “They were cheering loud. I raised my hands up and told them to make more noise. Then they’d say, ‘You get on the field.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. You will remember my name, my number (14). I will be back.’
“I mean it so much,” he added. “I mean it on the court and on the field.”
Recruiting update: Dennis Latimore, 6-9 from Halstead, who had hoped to move up his visit to Kansas to this weekend, will visit KU on Oct. 20. He’ll visit Arizona on Oct. 13-14.
“Bringing in three kids on one weekend spreads the coaches too thin,” Halstead High coach Mark Fox said. “So Dennis will visit on Oct. 20.”
Latimore is expected to commit to Arizona following his visit. “Dennis told someone today he has not made up his mind,” Fox said. “I kidded him and said, ‘You know where you are going (Arizona). He insisted he hadn’t made up his mind. So I said, ‘OK.’ So yes, he’s still considering KU.”
Jamar Howard, 6-5 from SM Miege and Jeff Hawkins, 5-11 from KC Sumner, will make official visits to KU this weekend.
