Roy Williams does not agree with critics who say Kansas is struggling in men’s basketball recruiting.
“We’ve basically lost one guy that I really wanted or was excited about or whatever,” Williams, Kansas’ 14th-year coach said at Thursday’s media day. “Every morning I read the paper how we lost such and such guy. One day we lost a guy I didn’t know we were recruiting. There are still some people out there we are extremely interested in and can help our program.
“I’m where I want to be (in recruiting), doing what I want to do.”
The recruit Williams really wanted may have been Bernard Cote, a power forward from Montreal who chose Kentucky over KU. Cote canceled a visit to KU because of travel concerns following the Sept. 11 national tragedy.
It’s believed Williams also wanted power forwards Shav Randolph (Raleigh, N.C.), Brad Buckman (Austin, Texas) and Shelden Williams (Midwest City, Okla.) but knew realistically early on those players were headed elsewhere.
Tonight, KU has three visitors here for Late Night With Roy Williams Jeff Graves, a 6-foot-9 forward from Iowa Western Community College; plus high schoolers Moulaye Niang, 6-9 from El Cajon, Calif. ,and Kevin Bookout, 6-8 from Stroud, Okla.
KU also is in the running for Hassan Adams, 6-5 from Los Angeles, who has visited KU, and Andre Igoudala, 6-6 from Springfield, Ill., who will visit a week from today.
Some high school juniors may attend tonight as unofficial visitors: Chris Reay, 6-8, Plano, Texas; Jason Horton, 6-1, Cedar Falls, Texas, and J.R. Giddens, 6-5, Oklahoma City and possibly others.
National tragedy: Williams was on a recruiting trip to Los Angeles on Sept. 11, the day of the national tragedy. The coach had some poignant statements about the situation Thursday:
“It was sort of eerie. I had no idea the magnitude of it early on. As the day goes along you get more reports, more reports the second plane, third plane, fourth and all that. It did cross my mind … I wondered what those people felt like when it happened in Pearl Harbor. The worst part is you have no control over things whatsoever.
“The people who lost their lives particularly in New York and Washington people on that plane, the courage of some of those people who stormed the cockpit. To have that plane still crash but not take hundreds of other lives with it is something I think we should always remember.”
In the past, Williams used to arrive at airports at the last minute for flights.
“Now sometimes I’ll go up and be the first person (in airport) through to get a boarding pass and first person though security and sit there wondering why I’m there an hour and 20 minutes early,” Williams said. “I also have stood in line an hour and 20 minutes to go through a security checkpoint. Traveling now is a lot more difficult. You have no idea what complications you will have at airports. I missed five (in-home) appointments that first week. It was a little bit of a scramble after that to get caught up and make up for those I did miss.”
Allen Fieldhouse rules: Williams wants Allen Fieldhouse to remain KU’s home for basketball, “As long as I’m the coach,” he said.
“I don’t want to coach at any other place. I think we’ve got one of the greatest places in the history of college basketball. I think it’s the best place standing today. We throw some paint out there every now and then and screws and bolts in places that need to have it, but I think it’s a fantastic place. … Also it wouldn’t do me any good to say I want a new place,” he quipped, “because by the time you go through all the red tape and build a new building I wouldn’t be coaching anyway. It’d probably take 15 years to get the thing done anyway.”
Artwork: Drew Gooden showed off his new tattoo Thursday. The tattoo, which is on his right bicep, is of a smiling basketball, wearing a crown and the phrase, “Bay Area’s Finest.” Several NBA players have similar art, like Stephon Marbury, who sports the phrase “Coney Island’s Finest” in reference to his hometown.
“I got it this summer,” he said. “My grandfather thought it was a pumpkin.”
On his other arm is a tattoo with “Dru,” as the inscription.
Dru?
“That’s slang,” he said.
Asked about his comment last season that he was a piece of stone that the Jayhawks are chiseling into a sculpture, Gooden said, “I think they’ve finished my lower body and half of my torso. I think now they just have to finish my neck and last, but not least, they’ve got to finish my face.”
Pumping iron: Williams said Thursday Gooden didn’t care for the weight room as much as the coach would like.
“Naw, that’s not right,” Gooden said. “I dedicated myself a lot in the weight room. I will be honest with you, I don’t believe in some of the stuff we do in the weight room, but I do it. But I think I’m a better lifter on my own time, going in there and by myself and pushing myself.”
Going home: Senior Jeff Boschee gets to play a game in his home state of North Dakota this winter. KU will meet North Dakota on Dec. 22 in Grand Forks, N.D.
“I talked to my mom a couple times, I think they’ve already sold 3,000 tickets to my hometown,” Boschee said. “They’ve got buses going up there or something like that. It’s going to be a special time for me, and I think a lot of people up there are looking forward to seeing a big-time program like Kansas come up there.”
Injuries: Junior Bryant Nash reports he has a case of tendinitis in his left leg. He also says he’s losing the toenail on the big toe of his left foot, but is hoping to not be hampered at tonight’s Late Night scrimmage. “I’m really excited to get going,” he said. “I worked really hard in the offseason and have really high hopes for our team this season.”
Jeff Carey on being a senior: “Sometimes I forget how old I actually am. I just turned 22. I’m in graduate school. I’m engaged. I’ve been here five years. I go to bed a lot earlier than a lot of other guys on the team, 10 p.m. I’m trying to be a mentor and show the younger guys how the system works.”
Let it begin: Kirk Hinrich, who Williams said is in incredible physical condition, is ready for practice to begin. “Practice will be a lot different. We have a lot of more smaller, wing type players out there which will change the style of play and make it more competitive. We have five new freshmen and all are very good.”
Gooden on KU’s new shorts: “It’s like some new material. I don’t know what this is. It’s kind of like silk almost. I don’t know. We usually have the authentic stuff. But it doesn’t matter how we look, it’s how we play out there.”
