Kansas University baseball coach Ritch Price was one of many surprised to hear of Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson’s decision to take the coaching job at Oklahoma this past weekend.
Stephenson, though, topped even himself with shocking news. Stephenson took back his decision and announced through a statement late Monday his intentions to stay at WSU — several hours after putting on an Oklahoma jersey at a news conference in Norman, Okla.
The move — and reversal — came with the KU baseball program watching closely. Stephenson’s final resting point had quite an impact on KU. If he went to OU, his renowned staff suddenly was a Big 12 Conference rival. If he stayed at WSU, it still was a gorilla for Price to face head-to-head during in-state recruiting — not that Price feels he’s not getting the job done in that area.
“I feel like we’ve made phenomenal strides, and we’ve done a good job recruiting against him,” Price said Monday afternoon before Stephenson changed his mind. “We’re going to keep going at it like we’ve always done.”
Of course, that makes sense now that nothing is changing.
In all, the Shockers have appeared in the College World Series seven times under Stephenson’s watch — although it’s been nine years since the last appearance. Stephenson has said that the changing times in college athletics have made it harder for schools from smaller conferences like the Missouri Valley to compete on a national stage, one of his reasons for his interest in the big-budget Oklahoma job.
But the Wichita State job has its perks, too. The facilities — including Eck Stadium — are among college baseball’s best, and the Missouri Valley Conference doesn’t come close to the all-around power of the Big 12, making WSU’s opportunities at NCAA Tournament berths that much easier.
“It’s a winnable league,” Price said. “You’ve got to be a national power to win the Big 12 Conference. But I think the most attractive thing about that job is that it’s a winnable league and you can be in regionals every year.”
Van Slyke, who was drafted in the 23rd round by the St. Louis Cardinals last month, is hitting .380 in rookie ball with two home runs and 14 RBIs in 13 games for the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League.
“I actually thought he’d get off to a good start,” Price said. “He did well with wood (bats) last summer. He’s in a league where they throw a lot of fastballs, and he’s a good fastball hitter.”
Travis Metcalf, who last played for KU in 2004, is hitting .294 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs for the Bakersfield Blaze, a Class A-advanced affiliate of the Texas Rangers. He’s among the team’s best in nearly all offensive categories.
Elsewhere, 2001 grad John Nelson has made his way to Triple-A Memphis for the St. Louis organization. He’s hitting .271 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs for the Redbirds.
Mike Zagurski, who just started his professional career after pitching for KU this spring, is 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four starts for the Batavia Muckdogs, a rookie-league team in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Kansas City, Mo. ? Jeff Graves’ suspension from Kansas University’s basketball team couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Jayhawks, who will be without the 6-foot-9, 255-pound senior until at least Monday, enter today’s game against Oregon (1 p.m., Kemper Arena) extremely thin at the power forward and center positions.
Freshman power forward David Padgett suffered an ankle sprain at practice Thursday and couldn’t finish Friday morning’s practice.
Junior power forward Wayne Simien, who, like Padgett, is expected to start today, has been slowed by a slightly strained groin the past couple of weeks.
“We have two starters hurt, and the first guy off the bench will not be with us. We may play Keith at the 5 (center position),” KU coach Bill Self said of 6-4 junior Keith Langford.
KU’s coach wasn’t smiling, but he presumably was joking.
Self said to look for Christian Moody and Moulaye Niang to perhaps play more than usual today against the 3-0 Ducks.
Moody, a 6-8, 215-pound sophomore walk-on, scored four points and had a rebound while playing 11 minutes in Wednesday’s 80-40 victory over Fort Hays State. Niang, a 6-10 sophomore, had three points and five boards in 18 minutes of that game.
“I was surprised,” Moody said of being KU’s first big man off the bench against FHSU. “Coach told me I’d been looking good at practice and to just be ready whenever. I was really excited when he put me in the game.”
Excited about playing significant minutes, Moody called his parents in Asheville, N.C., after the game.
“I called as soon as it ended,” Moody said. “They actually watched the game on satellite. They were excited. I realize when J.G. (Graves, whose status with the team will be re-evaluated Monday), Dave and Wayne are all healthy and playing their best, they are our three best big guys. Whatever I can do to help them get better, I will do.”
“I’ve not been in there in a long while. I played there in ’83,” he said of Oklahoma State’s 1983 Big Eight Conference tournament double-overtime title game victory over Missouri.
“I believe in that game I had two points and three rebounds. There have been a lot of great ones, but go back to that date, that was a great game. The end of regulation and overtimes all ended on last-second shots. It was a great, great game. I have fond memories of the place. I always thought Kemper was a great venue.”
KU held a shootaround Friday night in Kemper Arena after practicing Friday morning at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It’s not going to be a homecourt like Allen,” Self said, “still I think enough people will be there, getting excited. Hopefully it’s an opportunity for people who can’t come to Allen and see us on a regular basis to see us there. That creates energy and enthusiasm, people who don’t get to see us often getting to see us play.”
Graves, who will not be on KU’s bench today, shot free throws after practice Friday at Allen Fieldhouse with a big brace on his right elbow, which he bruised while diving for a loose ball in Wednesday’s game.
Graves also has been bothered by tendinitis in both knees. He was asked if his nagging injuries — he broke his nose earlier in the season — might have contributed to his missing or arriving late for practices and meetings.
“I think it might be like that, too, with injuries it builds up frustration and hurts your confidence,” Graves said.
Dana Stubblefield has changed teams. So have Kwamie Lassiter and Don Davis.
Davis, Lassiter and Stubblefield are among 15 former Kansas University football players listed on the preseason rosters of National Football League teams.
Stubblefield, a three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, was released last March by the San Francisco 49ers, but was quickly picked up by the cross-the-bay Oakland Raiders. Lassiter, who spent the last eight seasons as a free safety for the Arizona Cardinals, signed with the San Diego Chargers early last month while Davis, a linebacker who was with the St. Louis Rams the last two seasons, joined the New England Patriots in May.
Technically, offensive guard Rod Jones will be with a new team this summer, too. The 6-foot-4, 355-pound Jones signed with the Washington Redskins after spending the 2001 season with the Rams, but missed all of the ’02 campaign after suffering an elbow injury in a preseason game. Jones last played at Kansas in 1995.
Stubblefield is the dean of the former Jayhawks in the NFL. This is his 11th season. Gilbert Brown, Green Bay’s 350-pound nose tackle, is in his 10th year while Lassiter, Davis and safety Gerald McBurrows of the Atlanta Falcons are in their ninth NFL campaigns.
With NFL camps scheduled to open later this month, three nondrafted members of the 2002 KU football team are hoping to hook on as free agents. Offensive tackle Justin Sands will have a trial with the Buffalo Bills, wide receiver Byron Gasaway will try out with the Philadelphia Eagles and linebacker Greg Cole will get a look-see from the San Diego Chargers.
Last year former KU defensive back Andrew Davison earned a roster spot with the New York Jets despite being overlooked in the draft. The 5-11, 185-pound Davison played in six of the Jets’ games, mostly on special teams.
Davison was one of three seniors from the 2001 season who were NFL rookies last year. Nose tackle Nate Dwyer, Arizona’s fourth-round draft choice, spent most of the 2002 season on the practice squad and offensive guard Justin Hartwig, sixth round draft choice of the Tennessee Titans, played in only three regular-season games.
The other former Jayhawks on NFL camp rosters this summer are fullback Moran Norris (Houston), linebacker Chaz Murphy (Detroit) and defensive end Ron Warner (Tampa Bay).
Missing from an NFL roster is former KU wide receiver Isaac Byrd. The 6-1, 188-pound Byrd caught 14 passes for the Carolina Panthers in his sixth pro season last fall, but Byrd has not landed a contract with an NFL club. He is an unrestricted free agent.
It’s a long, long way from March to December and the two Big 12 Conference basketball teams that reached the NCAA Final Four last March appear to have taken divergent paths into December.
Oklahoma has lost only to No. 1-ranked-and-unbeaten Alabama while Kansas already has dropped three games — to North Carolina and Florida in New York City, and to Oregon in Portland, Ore.
Consequently, Oklahoma now is the team to beat for the conference championship, even though Kansas was the preseason choice to repeat. In retrospect, KU’s preseason ranking by the coaches and media was curious in that Oklahoma lost only one starter (Aaron McGhee) and Kansas lost two (Drew Gooden and Jeff Boschee).
Those prognostications must have been based primarily on the fact Kansas had two potential first-round NBA draft choices returning in Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich while Oklahoma had none. OU’s best players, Ebi Ere and Hollis Price, both are projected as second-round NBA selections.
Anyway, one member of the national college basketball media has gone so far as to label Kansas a troubled team. “It’s a little bit of a stretch to say the Jayhawks are in trouble,” penned Robyn Norwood of the Los Angeles Times, “but they are by the standards in Lawrence, Kan.”
Depends, I guess, on how you define troubled. For instance, my definition of a troubled team is one torn by internal strife, and I’ve seen no evidence of that. The only trouble Kansas has had has been caused mostly by Hinrich’s bad back. When Hinrich wasn’t healthy, the Jayhawks sagged. If it’s troubling that coach Roy Williams has a thin bench, then you can call the Jayhawks troubled.
Oklahoma, by way of contrast, has a deep bench. Not a single Sooner is averaging more than 30 minutes a game while Kansas has four players logging 30-plus on the floor. But the Sooners can’t match the Jayhawks on inside firepower.
OU coach Kelvin Sampson’s best in-the-paint producers are senior Jabhari Brown and freshman Kevin Bookout. Neither is averaging in double figures. Meanwhile, KU has the league’s most potent 1-2 inside punch in senior Collison and soph Wayne Simien.
Oklahoma has been relying almost entirely on wingmen Ere (19.9 points a game) and Price (17.4) for offense. Then again, OU didn’t make the Final Four last year because of its offense. The Sooners’ defense was — and still is — deadly. Who can forget the championship game of last year’s Big 12 Tournament? OU made Kansas, an offensive juggernaut, look like a high school team in posting a 64-55 victory in Kemper Arena.
Quannas White may be the prototypical Sampson player. White is the Sooners’ point guard and he doesn’t scare anyone when he shoots. This season, for example, White is shooting a dismal 27.9 percent from the floor. Still, White plays Velcro defense and his assist-to-turnover ratio is a glossy 4.5-to-1.
On paper, Oklahoma is the same team as last season with one exception. Bookout, a touted 6-foot-8 high schooler from Stroud, Okla., who was wooed by Kansas, has replaced McGhee, OU’s leading scorer (17.4) and rebounder (8.1). It may be oversimplifying, but basically that’s it. Bookout for McGhee. Incidentally, Bookout is OU’s third-leading scorer (9.4).
Kansas, as you know, filled its two starting-lineup vacancies quite nicely by promoting super-subs Simien and Keith Langford.
So is Oklahoma really the team to beat in the Big 12 now? Or will Kansas rise from the heap of its perceived November-December ashes and cut down the nets again? From what we’ve seen so far, Oklahoma appears to have the edge based on depth and schedule (the KU-OU regular-season game is in Norman).
Still, few will remember in March what the perceptions were in December.
It’s a long, long way from March to December and the two Big 12 Conference basketball teams that reached the NCAA Final Four last March appear to have taken divergent paths into December.
Oklahoma has lost only to No. 1-ranked-and-unbeaten Alabama while Kansas already has dropped three games — to North Carolina and Florida in New York City, and to Oregon in Portland, Ore.
Consequently, Oklahoma now is the team to beat for the conference championship, even though Kansas was the preseason choice to repeat. In retrospect, KU’s preseason ranking by the coaches and media was curious in that Oklahoma lost only one starter (Aaron McGhee) and Kansas lost two (Drew Gooden and Jeff Boschee).
Those prognostications must have been based primarily on the fact Kansas had two potential first-round NBA draft choices returning in Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich while Oklahoma had none. OU’s best players, Ebi Ere and Hollis Price, both are projected as second-round NBA selections.
Anyway, one member of the national college basketball media has gone so far as to label Kansas a troubled team. “It’s a little bit of a stretch to say the Jayhawks are in trouble,” penned Robyn Norwood of the Los Angeles Times, “but they are by the standards in Lawrence, Kan.”
Depends, I guess, on how you define troubled. For instance, my definition of a troubled team is one torn by internal strife, and I’ve seen no evidence of that. The only trouble Kansas has had has been caused mostly by Hinrich’s bad back. When Hinrich wasn’t healthy, the Jayhawks sagged. If it’s troubling that coach Roy Williams has a thin bench, then you can call the Jayhawks troubled.
Oklahoma, by way of contrast, has a deep bench. Not a single Sooner is averaging more than 30 minutes a game while Kansas has four players logging 30-plus on the floor. But the Sooners can’t match the Jayhawks on inside firepower.
OU coach Kelvin Sampson’s best in-the-paint producers are senior Jabhari Brown and freshman Kevin Bookout. Neither is averaging in double figures. Meanwhile, KU has the league’s most potent 1-2 inside punch in senior Collison and soph Wayne Simien.
Oklahoma has been relying almost entirely on wingmen Ere (19.9 points a game) and Price (17.4) for offense. Then again, OU didn’t make the Final Four last year because of its offense. The Sooners’ defense was — and still is — deadly. Who can forget the championship game of last year’s Big 12 Tournament? OU made Kansas, an offensive juggernaut, look like a high school team in posting a 64-55 victory in Kemper Arena.
Quannas White may be the prototypical Sampson player. White is the Sooners’ point guard and he doesn’t scare anyone when he shoots. This season, for example, White is shooting a dismal 27.9 percent from the floor. Still, White plays Velcro defense and his assist-to-turnover ratio is a glossy 4.5-to-1.
On paper, Oklahoma is the same team as last season with one exception. Bookout, a touted 6-foot-8 high schooler from Stroud, Okla., who was wooed by Kansas, has replaced McGhee, OU’s leading scorer (17.4) and rebounder (8.1). It may be oversimplifying, but basically that’s it. Bookout for McGhee. Incidentally, Bookout is OU’s third-leading scorer (9.4).
Kansas, as you know, filled its two starting-lineup vacancies quite nicely by promoting super-subs Simien and Keith Langford.
So is Oklahoma really the team to beat in the Big 12 now? Or will Kansas rise from the heap of its perceived November-December ashes and cut down the nets again? From what we’ve seen so far, Oklahoma appears to have the edge based on depth and schedule (the KU-OU regular-season game is in Norman).
Still, few will remember in March what the perceptions were in December.
It’s a long, long way from March to December and the two Big 12 Conference basketball teams that reached the NCAA Final Four last March appear to have taken divergent paths into December.
Oklahoma has lost only to No. 1-ranked-and-unbeaten Alabama while Kansas already has dropped three games — to North Carolina and Florida in New York City, and to Oregon in Portland, Ore.
Consequently, Oklahoma now is the team to beat for the conference championship, even though Kansas was the preseason choice to repeat. In retrospect, KU’s preseason ranking by the coaches and media was curious in that Oklahoma lost only one starter (Aaron McGhee) and Kansas lost two (Drew Gooden and Jeff Boschee).
Those prognostications must have been based primarily on the fact Kansas had two potential first-round NBA draft choices returning in Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich while Oklahoma had none. OU’s best players, Ebi Ere and Hollis Price, both are projected as second-round NBA selections.
Anyway, one member of the national college basketball media has gone so far as to label Kansas a troubled team. “It’s a little bit of a stretch to say the Jayhawks are in trouble,” penned Robyn Norwood of the Los Angeles Times, “but they are by the standards in Lawrence, Kan.”
Depends, I guess, on how you define troubled. For instance, my definition of a troubled team is one torn by internal strife, and I’ve seen no evidence of that. The only trouble Kansas has had has been caused mostly by Hinrich’s bad back. When Hinrich wasn’t healthy, the Jayhawks sagged. If it’s troubling that coach Roy Williams has a thin bench, then you can call the Jayhawks troubled.
Oklahoma, by way of contrast, has a deep bench. Not a single Sooner is averaging more than 30 minutes a game while Kansas has four players logging 30-plus on the floor. But the Sooners can’t match the Jayhawks on inside firepower.
OU coach Kelvin Sampson’s best in-the-paint producers are senior Jabhari Brown and freshman Kevin Bookout. Neither is averaging in double figures. Meanwhile, KU has the league’s most potent 1-2 inside punch in senior Collison and soph Wayne Simien.
Oklahoma has been relying almost entirely on wingmen Ere (19.9 points a game) and Price (17.4) for offense. Then again, OU didn’t make the Final Four last year because of its offense. The Sooners’ defense was — and still is — deadly. Who can forget the championship game of last year’s Big 12 Tournament? OU made Kansas, an offensive juggernaut, look like a high school team in posting a 64-55 victory in Kemper Arena.
Quannas White may be the prototypical Sampson player. White is the Sooners’ point guard and he doesn’t scare anyone when he shoots. This season, for example, White is shooting a dismal 27.9 percent from the floor. Still, White plays Velcro defense and his assist-to-turnover ratio is a glossy 4.5-to-1.
On paper, Oklahoma is the same team as last season with one exception. Bookout, a touted 6-foot-8 high schooler from Stroud, Okla., who was wooed by Kansas, has replaced McGhee, OU’s leading scorer (17.4) and rebounder (8.1). It may be oversimplifying, but basically that’s it. Bookout for McGhee. Incidentally, Bookout is OU’s third-leading scorer (9.4).
Kansas, as you know, filled its two starting-lineup vacancies quite nicely by promoting super-subs Simien and Keith Langford.
So is Oklahoma really the team to beat in the Big 12 now? Or will Kansas rise from the heap of its perceived November-December ashes and cut down the nets again? From what we’ve seen so far, Oklahoma appears to have the edge based on depth and schedule (the KU-OU regular-season game is in Norman).
Still, few will remember in March what the perceptions were in December.
It’s a long, long way from March to December and the two Big 12 Conference basketball teams that reached the NCAA Final Four last March appear to have taken divergent paths into December.
Oklahoma has lost only to No. 1-ranked-and-unbeaten Alabama while Kansas already has dropped three games — to North Carolina and Florida in New York City, and to Oregon in Portland, Ore.
Consequently, Oklahoma now is the team to beat for the conference championship, even though Kansas was the preseason choice to repeat. In retrospect, KU’s preseason ranking by the coaches and media was curious in that Oklahoma lost only one starter (Aaron McGhee) and Kansas lost two (Drew Gooden and Jeff Boschee).
Those prognostications must have been based primarily on the fact Kansas had two potential first-round NBA draft choices returning in Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich while Oklahoma had none. OU’s best players, Ebi Ere and Hollis Price, both are projected as second-round NBA selections.
Anyway, one member of the national college basketball media has gone so far as to label Kansas a troubled team. “It’s a little bit of a stretch to say the Jayhawks are in trouble,” penned Robyn Norwood of the Los Angeles Times, “but they are by the standards in Lawrence, Kan.”
Depends, I guess, on how you define troubled. For instance, my definition of a troubled team is one torn by internal strife, and I’ve seen no evidence of that. The only trouble Kansas has had has been caused mostly by Hinrich’s bad back. When Hinrich wasn’t healthy, the Jayhawks sagged. If it’s troubling that coach Roy Williams has a thin bench, then you can call the Jayhawks troubled.
Oklahoma, by way of contrast, has a deep bench. Not a single Sooner is averaging more than 30 minutes a game while Kansas has four players logging 30-plus on the floor. But the Sooners can’t match the Jayhawks on inside firepower.
OU coach Kelvin Sampson’s best in-the-paint producers are senior Jabhari Brown and freshman Kevin Bookout. Neither is averaging in double figures. Meanwhile, KU has the league’s most potent 1-2 inside punch in senior Collison and soph Wayne Simien.
Oklahoma has been relying almost entirely on wingmen Ere (19.9 points a game) and Price (17.4) for offense. Then again, OU didn’t make the Final Four last year because of its offense. The Sooners’ defense was — and still is — deadly. Who can forget the championship game of last year’s Big 12 Tournament? OU made Kansas, an offensive juggernaut, look like a high school team in posting a 64-55 victory in Kemper Arena.
Quannas White may be the prototypical Sampson player. White is the Sooners’ point guard and he doesn’t scare anyone when he shoots. This season, for example, White is shooting a dismal 27.9 percent from the floor. Still, White plays Velcro defense and his assist-to-turnover ratio is a glossy 4.5-to-1.
On paper, Oklahoma is the same team as last season with one exception. Bookout, a touted 6-foot-8 high schooler from Stroud, Okla., who was wooed by Kansas, has replaced McGhee, OU’s leading scorer (17.4) and rebounder (8.1). It may be oversimplifying, but basically that’s it. Bookout for McGhee. Incidentally, Bookout is OU’s third-leading scorer (9.4).
Kansas, as you know, filled its two starting-lineup vacancies quite nicely by promoting super-subs Simien and Keith Langford.
So is Oklahoma really the team to beat in the Big 12 now? Or will Kansas rise from the heap of its perceived November-December ashes and cut down the nets again? From what we’ve seen so far, Oklahoma appears to have the edge based on depth and schedule (the KU-OU regular-season game is in Norman).
Still, few will remember in March what the perceptions were in December.
Emotional Stephenson opts to return to WSU (07-12-05)