Kansas University senior forward Wayne Simien was named the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball player of the week Monday, the third weekly honor of his college career.
Simien had 25 points and 14 rebounds in KU’s season-opening win over Vermont.
Oklahoma forward Taj Gray, a transfer from Redlands (Okla.) Community College, was the conference’s rookie of the week. In his debut with the Sooners, Gray had 29 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Cal State-Northridge.
Kansas University sophomore Caroline Smith has been named Big 12 Conference offensive player of the week for the third time this season.
Smith helped KU tie and set a school record for season wins last weekend, netting three goals for six points in wins over Oklahoma and Michigan.
The Edina, Minn., native registered one goal against OU, then scored both KU goals at Michigan to extend her school-record season total to 18. Smith leads the Big 12 in points (38), points per game (2.00), goals (18) and goals per game (0.95).
Kansas (14-4-1) wraps up its regular season at 3 p.m. Friday against Oklahoma State at SuperTarget Field.
Kansas University pitcher Kevin Wheeler was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
The senior lefty posted a career-high 12 strikeouts with no walks, allowed five hits and no earned runs in 82¼3 innings of the Jayhawks’ 3-1 victory Friday over Eastern Michigan.
Wheeler is 2-0 with a 2.49 earned run average. The Omaha, Neb., native leads the team in innings pitched (212¼3), strikeouts (20) and opponents batting average (.190).
The award is KU’s third this year from the Big 12. Junior first baseman Ryan Baty and sophomore third basemen Travis Metcalf have both been named players of the week. Wheeler’s selection marks the first time in school history that KU has received three Big 12 Player/Pitcher of the Week honors in the same season.
KU next will face Middle Tennessee State at 3 p.m. Friday in the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn.
Kansas University junior Quentin Blakeney has been named Big 12 Conference men’s tennis player of the week.
Blakeney, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., has won five straight matches
Earl Richardson/Journal-World PhotoKansas University’s Jeff Carey has been named to the 2001 men’s basketball academic All-Big 12 Team, conference officials announced on Wednesday.
Carey is a three-time member of the all-academic first team. The Camdenton, Mo., junior is seeking a degree in business administration.
KU’s Nick Collison earned second-team all-academic honors. The 6-9 sophomore from Iowa Falls, Iowa is majoring in communication studies.
First-team members consisted of those who maintained a 3.2 or better grade-point average in the fall, while second-team members were those who have a 3.0 to 3.19 GPA.
First team members were Carey, Paul Shirley, Iowa State; Ivan Sulic, Kansas State; Donnie Wallace, Kansas State; Brian Grawer, Missouri; Nate Fleming, Oklahoma State; Fredrik Jonzen, Oklahoma State; Yair Harari, Texas; Chris McColpin, Texas; Ronald Hobbs, Texas Tech and Johnny Phillips, Texas Tech. Fleming was killed in a plane crash in January that claimed the lives of 10 members of the Oklahoma State basketball program.
Second team members were Collison, Tajudeen Soyoye, Missouri; Craig Wortmann, Nebraska; Jason Keep, Oklahoma State.
(3.2 grade point or higher)
Paul Shirley, Iowa State, Sr., Mechanical Engineering, Meriden.
Jeff Carey, Kansas, Jr., Business Administration, Camdenton, Mo.
Ivan Sulic, Kansas State, Jr., Business, Split, Croatia
Donnie Wallace, Kansas State, Soph., Undeclared, Goddard
Brian Grawer, Missouri, Sr., Secondary Education, St. Louis, Mo.
Nate Fleming, Oklahoma State, Soph., Edmond, Okla.
Fredrik Jn, Oklahoma State, Jr., International Business, Uppsala, Sweden
Yair Harari, Texas, Sr., Finance, Houston, Texas
Chris McColpin, Texas, Sr., Accounting, Lake Dallas, Texas
Ronald Hobbs, Texas Tech, Soph., Undeclared, Fort Worth, Texas
Johnny Phillips, Texas Tech, Sr., Institutional Management, Fort Worth, Texas
(3.0 to 3.19 grade point)
Nick Collison, Kansas, Soph., Communications, Iowa Falls, Iowa
Tajudeen Soyoye, Missouri, Sr., Biology, Lagos, Nigeria
Craig Wortmann, Nebraska, Sr., Finance, Hartington, Neb.
Jason Keep, Oklahoma State, Jr., University Studies, Moscow, Idaho
Kansas University’s Nick Collison has been named Big 12 men’s basketball player of the week.
Collison, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from Iowa Falls, Iowa, averaged 24 points in a pair of victories last week. He scored a career-high 26 points in a 91-79 win against Colorado and followed that with 22 points and five blocks in Sunday’s 76-72 victory at Nebraska.
Collison, who also garnered Player of the Week honors on Dec. 19, is the first Jayhawk to win the award twice in one season since Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz won it two times apiece in the 1997-98 campaign.
“Without Drew Gooden, who is our second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, we needed to get more concentrated scoring from Nick,” KU coach Roy Williams said.
“I think we tried consciously to get him the basketball. He’s shooting 60 percent and really having a great year for us. It is hard for a young man to score when the other team’s defense is aimed at him and I think that’s what other teams have done the last couple of games. But still he has come through and done a nice job for us.”
Kansas University senior Charlie Gruber has been named Big 12 male track athlete of the week, the conference announced Monday.
Gruber set the school record and an Anschutz Pavilion record in the 1,000-meter run in 2:21.71. The Denver, Colo., native outran a 14-year-old record by more than two seconds. The senior also ran a leg for KU’s 3,200-meter relay team that finished second.
Gruber ranks first in both the 1,000-meters and the mile in the Big 12. His mile time of 4:00.79 last week ranks third nationally.
“Even though the 1,000 isn’t an NCAA event, I think that 2:21 by himself shows how good of shape he is in and I’m looking for a lot of big things from him in the next few weeks in the 800 meters and the mile run,” distance coach Doug Clark said.
“With the great middle distance tradition that Kansas has and you break a record by more then two seconds it’s definitely significant.”
Algie Atkinson, Kansas University’s junior outside linebacker from Skokie, Ill., is the Jayhawks’ first Big 12 defensive player of the week.
And no one could be more pleased to see Atkinson honored for his on-field abilities than KU coach Terry Allen.
“Algie’s a good football player,” Allen said Monday, an off day for the Jayhawks. “Algie’s getting his life straightened out. He’s had some problems. We know what. Saturday night’s game is hopefully something he can build on. He’s obviously a talented football player. Hopefully he’s becoming a more mature individual.”
Atkinson had 10 tackles eight unassisted and two quarterback sacks in the Jayhawks’ 23-20 victory Saturday over Alabama-Birmingham.
On Sunday, he was named co-defensive player of the game by the Kansas coaches, and the Big 12 award came on Monday morning.
Both awards were given to a player who has had a couple of off-field problems. He was charged with misdemeanor purchase/consumption of alcohol by a minor on April 12 and received a diversion agreement from Douglas County prosecutors.
And he was involved in another infraction over the summer, though he has not yet been charged with a crime in that case.
Allen thinks Atkinson’s involvement with KU football has proved beneficial.
“In the case of Algie, I think being a part of the football team is something he can focus on,” Allen said. “He’s a kid from a tough background. He has some responsibilities, and he’s taking them on. One of the things our coaches take pride in is helping them become better people.”
Now Allen is eager to turn his attention to making the Jayhawks better players. Specifically:
Offensive line.
“I think we can obviously get better there,” Allen said. They went with the ebb and flow of the whole football game. They played well early, when we went up 14-0. Then we had a couple of penalties, not necessarily on the offensive line. They, like the rest of the team, came back in the fourth quarter. They can definitely get better, but I think they have some possibilities.”
Punt team.
“I haven’t slept when I thought about the punter,” Allen said. “It’s obviously been a terrible nemesis for us. You can’t have that. It’s such an emotional part of the team. Our punting game has caused our team to kind of lose faith in ourselves. It’s been costly. It led to the loss at SMU and led to a bad situation Saturday night. That’s something we’ll spend a lot of time on it this week and try to get some confidence back there.
“Is it correctable? Absolutely. We have to be more consistent with the snapper. Our punter, when he’s gotten it off, has done a good job. But he’s lost a little confidence back there. The team’s lost confidence. But that’s something you can repair with some good, quality practice time.”
Quarterback Dylen Smith.
“That’s one of the things we’re disappointed in at this stage of the game,” Allen said. “If you look back, Dylen made some plays that allowed us to come back and win the football game. But we had some turnovers he was responsible for. His sharpness hasn’t been what we’d hoped for. But he’s only started, like, eight games.
“He need to be more consistent. It’s not fair to say focus. One of the things is, he tries too hard. He overthrows some balls. He just has to relax.”
Also Monday, Kansas learned its Sept. 30 meeting at Oklahoma was not picked up for telecast, so kickoff time was set at 2 p.m. in Norman, Okla.
The Jayhawks will practice again today. They’ll play host to Southern Illinois on Saturday. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
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