Notes involving Kansas basketball.
KU sophomore forward Nick Collison, who had surgery to remove a sometimes painful bursa sac from his right elbow on April 10, had stitches removed from his elbow last week.
He has been participating in workouts and pick-up games for the last eight days.
Meanwhile, junior guard Jeff Boschee still has his right thumb in a cast as he heals from April 19 surgery to reconstruct a ligament.
He will be in the cast for three more weeks and will begin shooting drills as soon as the cast comes off.
Duke guard likes KU
Duke junior-to-be Jason Williams was asked by sportingnews.com what player he’d pay to see next season.
“My boy, Drew Gooden. I think Kansas is going to be good next year. I would pay to see their team, actually. They’ll have Kirk Hinrich, who’s a good point guard. Drew. I think they’re going to be good,” Williams said.
There’s a chance KU and Duke could meet at the 2001 Maui Invitational. No pairings for the tourney have been announced, but it’s safe to say KU and Duke will be on opposite sides of the bracket, setting up a possible meeting in the finals.
Participating teams in the tournament, to be held Nov. 19-21: KU, Duke, Chaminade, Ball State, Houston, Seton Hall, UCLA, South Carolina.
KU’s Kenny Gregory and Eric Chenowith are two of 43 players at this week’s Nike Desert Classic for NBA prospects at Arizona State University’s Wells Fargo Arena.
Kimani Ffriend (Nebraska), Nolan Johnson (Oklahoma), Darren Kelley (Texas) and Martin Rancik (Iowa State) also will represent the Big 12 Conference.
Other possible picks in the June 27 NBA Draft on hand include Pac-10 player of the year Sean Lampley (Cal), Big Ten defensive player of the year Ken Johnson (Ohio State), West Coast Conference player of the year Casey Calvary (Gonzaga), Midwestern Collegiate Conference player of the year Rashad Phillips (Detroit), plus Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Jarron Collins (Stanford) and Terence Morris (Maryland).
The rest of the invitees: Carlos Arroyo (Florida International), Calvin Bowman (West Virginia), Bryan Bracey (Oregon), Damone Brown (Syracuse), Zarko Carbarkapa (Yugoslavia), Joe Crispin (Penn State), Eugene Edgerson (Arizona), Anthony Evans (Georgia), Tony Harris (Tennessee), Jason Heidle (Oregon State), Chris Heinrich (Saint Louis), Kyle Hill (Eastern Illinois), Andre Hutson (Michigan State), Horace Jenkins (William Patterson), Kaspars Kambala (UNLV), Terrell Lyday (BYU), Monty Mack (UMass), Marques Maybin (Louisville), Brian Merriweather (UT-Pan American), Dean Oliver (Iowa), Rashad Phillips (Detroit Mercy), Jeryl Sasser (SMU), Brian Scalabrine (USC), Gregory Stevenson (Richmond), Damon Thornton (N.C. State), Jeff Trepagnier (USC), Isiah Victor (Tennessee), Brian Wardle (Marquette), Earl Watson (UCLA) and Brandon Wolfram (UTEP)
KU assistant coach Neil Dougherty met with Xavier athletics director Mike Bobinski about the vacant Muskateer coaching job on Sunday in Kansas City. Butler head coach Thad Matta and UNC Greensboro coach Fran McCaffrey have interviewed for the job.
Simien honored
Kansas University men’s basketball signee Wayne Simien has been picked to play in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Assn. all-star game Aug. 1 at Washburn University’s Lee Arena. He will have to miss the game because of his recent shoulder surgery.
Shavlik Randolph, a 6-foot-9 junior forward from Raleigh, N.C., tells recruiting analyst Clint Jackson he has an early list of Duke, Florida, North Carolina, N.C. State, Kansas, Kentucky and Stanford.
Arizona has received a commitment from 6-3 Portland prep junior guard Chris Rodgers, who had KU on his early list of possibilities. Insidersreport.com says either Florida or Villanova on Thursday will snare a commitment from Matt Walsh, 6-6 junior from Germantown Academy in Pennsylvania. He also had KU on a preliminary list of schools.