Expect to see Kansas at, or near the top of the polls this college basketball preseason.
“I don’t mind that. I think we’re gonna be pretty doggone good, too,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said at his 13th-annual Media Day Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I am confident with this basketball team.”
“Confident” because the Jayhawks return all five starters from last year’s 24-10 squad a squad that took Duke into overtime before succumbing, 69-64, in a second-round NCAA Tournament clash in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“We are pleased to have a veteran team. We have five guys who started for us at the end of last year. I think they’ll do well for us,” he said of sophs Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich, plus junior Jeff Boschee and senior Kenny Gregory.
“Two question marks I think could be the most important part when you tally up our end of the year success could be Eric Chenowith who struggled last season, and Luke Axtell who wasn’t here at the end.
“They may hold more of a key to how our team does than any other individuals.”
Seven-foot pivot Chenowith is back for his senior season 10 pounds heavier and ready to bounce back from a sub-par junior campaign. Senior shooting guard Axtell is healthy after leaving the team after 20 games last year because of an undisclosed medical condition.
The Jayhawks possess so much experience Williams won’t tolerate mental mistakes.
“I’ve already told them, ‘No more Mr. Nice Guy,”’ Williams said. “I’m going to be the toughest guy I’ve been around here in several years.
“We’re going to be extremely demanding for their work on the backboards, the pride they have in guarding their own man. We’re going to be more demanding than ever in the kind of shot they are getting.
“If they do not buy into those things, then it’s going to be a long year for them because I’ll be the meanest son of a gun in the valley when it comes to those three things.”
Williams actually started his No More Mr. Nice Guy philosophy right after last year’s Duke loss.
He held official practices hard practices through the day of the national championship game.
“I think those kids realize the feeling they had at the end of the Duke game the finality, the suddenness which you finish,” Williams said. “I am challenging them from the beginning to remember that and let’s do everything in our power so it doesn’t happen again.”
It appears seven players will vie for the five starting spots. Will the usual 10 or 11 be used in the regular rotation for the exhibition opener on Nov. 1?
“I think it will be harder to go that deep unless some guys surprise me,” Williams said. “I feel we have eight guys who have already proven they can be put in a game and accomplish some things.”
He listed Hinrich, Boschee, Gregory and Axtell in the backcourt Chenowith, Collison, Gooden and Jeff Carey in the frontcourt.
“I’ve always thought eight or nine was the best,” Williams said. “If we find somebody else that can do that (contribute), it’d make it easier to say the least.”
Depth might be a problem if injuries hit.
Another potential weakness?
“A big hole was created when Marlon London went back home to DePaul,” Williams said of the Chicago shooting guard, who transferred after his soph season.
“We lost his defensive potential in the backcourt. We recruited a youngster in DeShawn Stevenson who we thought would be fantastic. He went straight to the NBA. Not having that 6-4, 6-5, 6-6 defensive player in the lineup is something we’ve got to see if we can camouflage as much as we can. We realize it is a hole.”
Gregory may yet emerge as the defensive stopper, but he figures to play small forward as well as his preferred spot shooting guard.
“Kenny and I have talked about it. What does he do best? Jump. Why not use it? They can’t keep him off the backboard if he is relentless,” Williams said of Gregory heading inside.
The 6-5 Gregory doesn’t mind rebounding, but he also is intent on stroking jumpers his final season in college.
“My jump shot is 10 times as good as it was last year,” Gregory said confidently. “I want to be known as a shooting guard. I’ll do whatever I can do to make that happen.”