Don’t be surprised if senior big man Jeff Carey resembles a shooting guard/small forward at times this season.
Carey he stands 6-foot-10 and weighs 250 pounds happens to have a soft touch from 15 feet.
He’s aiming to show off the shot his senior campaign.
“I’d say my jump shot may surprise people,” said Camdenton, Mo., native Carey. “I wouldn’t say it’s improved, I just haven’t taken many jump shots in the past. It’ll look different to people just because I haven’t shot it in the past.
“Coach talked to me and I’m sure he said something to Nick (Collison) and Drew (Gooden) also … he wants us to shoot from the outside a little more, draw the defense away from the basket.”
Carey might remind some this season of Eric Pauley, the former KU big man who used to regularly drill straight-on 15 footers.
“I think teams the past few years have tried to deny that a lot more, so guys are not open,” Carey said. “Last year I noticed defenses would sag off our big guys when we got the ball outside. We may make the defenses think more this year. I know it’s something I worked on this summer.”
Carey, in fact, worked on his skills rather than solely working on his body.
“Two summers ago I tried to gain weight and I gained too much weight,” Carey said. “This summer I wanted to maintain weight and stay in shape by running. I worked on my game a lot more than my body. I worked on shooting.”
Carey, who averaged 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games a year ago, is hoping for a big senior season.
“I really don’t set goals numbers wise points per game or anything like that,” Carey said. “To play the best I can is my goal. My goal is the same as the team’s. I want to win the conference, the conference tournament and go as far as we can in the NCAA Tourna-ment.”
As a fifth-year senior, he admits he knows the system “probably more than anyone here except the coaches.
“When I’m on the floor I like to lead by example. Hopefully the guys will follow that. If need be, I’ll lead by voice. Honestly someone else will have to lead on the court, like Nick Collison or Drew or Boschee. I most likely won’t be out there the whole game like they will. We’ll need that voice on the court.”
As far as issues most important to KU fans … how far can the Jayhawks go this season?
“We are really talented. We have some great athletes and shooters,” Carey said. “I’d say it’s like any other year. Every year we have a shot at being extremely good. People ask me how we’ll be.
“I say we’re always going to be good. Every year we have potential to be great. This year we have as much potential as any year.”
He likes KU’s newcomers. Freshmen Aaron Miles, Mic-hael Lee, Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and red-shirt Jeff Hawkins are on board.
“My impression is they are talented, very talented,” Carey said. “They are all very well built for freshmen, too.
“It’s almost embarrassing to say Wayne and Mike had the highest squats on the team. For freshmen … manchild is the way to describe ’em. What’s the plural of manchild? That’s the way to describe them.”
