Way in the back of Marian Washington’s mind there might be this soft, whispering voice. It’s not loud, mind you, but she can definitely hear it.
It’s probably saying something like this, “This season could be a long one, Marian. You lost your best three players from last year’s team and half of this season’s team was in high school or a junior college this time last year.”
Tonight, Washington will see what her team can do when Kansas opens its regular season against Grambling State at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks beat the Tigers 122-71 in last year’s season opener. Grambling, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, return 11 players from last season’s 18-12 squad.
“Grambling has most everyone back from last year,” she said. “They put up a lot of threes and if you’re not careful they’ll knock some of them down. Our advantage will definitely be inside. We’ll look to both Kristin (Geoffroy) and Nikki (White) to help us immediately.”
Washington said she wasn’t sure which center would start, but the one that didn’t would likely begin the second half on the court and not on the bench.
At least with that situation Washington knows what she’ll get. With a batch of six newcomers, half of the team, on the roster, Kansas’ coach knows that there will be a learning curve to battle.
“I’ve said from the very beginning we’re very young,” Washington said. “I think we’re at a point where we can move forward. They’re great players and they just need some time.”
In the Jayhawks’ two exhibition games it was apparent that they lacked a forward who can rebound, but did get much needed offensive production from senior guard KC Hilgenkamp.
Hilgenkamp, who averaged 7.6 points per game and made 41.6 percent of her three-point attempts last year, was hesitant to shoot the ball last season, but knows that a lot of Kansas’ offensive onus is on her shoulders.
“I know I have to shoot more and that coach wants me to shoot more,” she said. “It’s something that I’ve accepted and it’s really not a problem.”
But the lack of a true power forward is something that might give Washington fits this year, if it hasn’t already. The Jayhawks were out-rebounded by Fort Hays State 48-30. Freshman Blair Waltz played power forward near the end of that game and Kansas’ coach said she has tinkered with the idea of playing Waltz there tonight.
Depending on what Kansas does tonight and who can play what position, Washington might fiddle with the line-up more than a few times this season.
Way in the back of Marian Washington’s mind there might be this soft, whispering voice. It’s not loud, mind you, but she can definitely hear it.
It’s probably saying something like this, “This season could be a long one, Marian. You lost your best three players from last year’s team and half of this season’s team was in high school or a junior college this time last year.”
Tonight, Washington will see what her team can do when Kansas opens its regular season against Grambling State at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks beat the Tigers 122-71 in last year’s season opener. Grambling, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, return 11 players from last season’s 18-12 squad.
“Grambling has most everyone back from last year,” she said. “They put up a lot of threes and if you’re not careful they’ll knock some of them down. Our advantage will definitely be inside. We’ll look to both Kristin (Geoffroy) and Nikki (White) to help us immediately.”
Washington said she wasn’t sure which center would start, but the one that didn’t would likely begin the second half on the court and not on the bench.
At least with that situation Washington knows what she’ll get. With a batch of six newcomers, half of the team, on the roster, Kansas’ coach knows that there will be a learning curve to battle.
“I’ve said from the very beginning we’re very young,” Washington said. “I think we’re at a point where we can move forward. They’re great players and they just need some time.”
In the Jayhawks’ two exhibition games it was apparent that they lacked a forward who can rebound, but did get much needed offensive production from senior guard KC Hilgenkamp.
Hilgenkamp, who averaged 7.6 points per game and made 41.6 percent of her three-point attempts last year, was hesitant to shoot the ball last season, but knows that a lot of Kansas’ offensive onus is on her shoulders.
“I know I have to shoot more and that coach wants me to shoot more,” she said. “It’s something that I’ve accepted and it’s really not a problem.”
But the lack of a true power forward is something that might give Washington fits this year, if it hasn’t already. The Jayhawks were out-rebounded by Fort Hays State 48-30. Freshman Blair Waltz played power forward near the end of that game and Kansas’ coach said she has tinkered with the idea of playing Waltz there tonight.
Depending on what Kansas does tonight and who can play what position, Washington might fiddle with the line-up more than a few times this season.
Way in the back of Marian Washington’s mind there might be this soft, whispering voice. It’s not loud, mind you, but she can definitely hear it.
It’s probably saying something like this, “This season could be a long one, Marian. You lost your best three players from last year’s team and half of this season’s team was in high school or a junior college this time last year.”
Tonight, Washington will see what her team can do when Kansas opens its regular season against Grambling State at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks beat the Tigers 122-71 in last year’s season opener. Grambling, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, return 11 players from last season’s 18-12 squad.
“Grambling has most everyone back from last year,” she said. “They put up a lot of threes and if you’re not careful they’ll knock some of them down. Our advantage will definitely be inside. We’ll look to both Kristin (Geoffroy) and Nikki (White) to help us immediately.”
Washington said she wasn’t sure which center would start, but the one that didn’t would likely begin the second half on the court and not on the bench.
At least with that situation Washington knows what she’ll get. With a batch of six newcomers, half of the team, on the roster, Kansas’ coach knows that there will be a learning curve to battle.
“I’ve said from the very beginning we’re very young,” Washington said. “I think we’re at a point where we can move forward. They’re great players and they just need some time.”
In the Jayhawks’ two exhibition games it was apparent that they lacked a forward who can rebound, but did get much needed offensive production from senior guard KC Hilgenkamp.
Hilgenkamp, who averaged 7.6 points per game and made 41.6 percent of her three-point attempts last year, was hesitant to shoot the ball last season, but knows that a lot of Kansas’ offensive onus is on her shoulders.
“I know I have to shoot more and that coach wants me to shoot more,” she said. “It’s something that I’ve accepted and it’s really not a problem.”
But the lack of a true power forward is something that might give Washington fits this year, if it hasn’t already. The Jayhawks were out-rebounded by Fort Hays State 48-30. Freshman Blair Waltz played power forward near the end of that game and Kansas’ coach said she has tinkered with the idea of playing Waltz there tonight.
Depending on what Kansas does tonight and who can play what position, Washington might fiddle with the line-up more than a few times this season.
Way in the back of Marian Washington’s mind there might be this soft, whispering voice. It’s not loud, mind you, but she can definitely hear it.
It’s probably saying something like this, “This season could be a long one, Marian. You lost your best three players from last year’s team and half of this season’s team was in high school or a junior college this time last year.”
Tonight, Washington will see what her team can do when Kansas opens its regular season against Grambling State at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks beat the Tigers 122-71 in last year’s season opener. Grambling, a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, return 11 players from last season’s 18-12 squad.
“Grambling has most everyone back from last year,” she said. “They put up a lot of threes and if you’re not careful they’ll knock some of them down. Our advantage will definitely be inside. We’ll look to both Kristin (Geoffroy) and Nikki (White) to help us immediately.”
Washington said she wasn’t sure which center would start, but the one that didn’t would likely begin the second half on the court and not on the bench.
At least with that situation Washington knows what she’ll get. With a batch of six newcomers, half of the team, on the roster, Kansas’ coach knows that there will be a learning curve to battle.
“I’ve said from the very beginning we’re very young,” Washington said. “I think we’re at a point where we can move forward. They’re great players and they just need some time.”
In the Jayhawks’ two exhibition games it was apparent that they lacked a forward who can rebound, but did get much needed offensive production from senior guard KC Hilgenkamp.
Hilgenkamp, who averaged 7.6 points per game and made 41.6 percent of her three-point attempts last year, was hesitant to shoot the ball last season, but knows that a lot of Kansas’ offensive onus is on her shoulders.
“I know I have to shoot more and that coach wants me to shoot more,” she said. “It’s something that I’ve accepted and it’s really not a problem.”
But the lack of a true power forward is something that might give Washington fits this year, if it hasn’t already. The Jayhawks were out-rebounded by Fort Hays State 48-30. Freshman Blair Waltz played power forward near the end of that game and Kansas’ coach said she has tinkered with the idea of playing Waltz there tonight.
Depending on what Kansas does tonight and who can play what position, Washington might fiddle with the line-up more than a few times this season.
