Drew Gooden is the Big 12 men’s basketball player of the week again.
Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior forward from Richmond, Calif., on Monday earned the league’s weekly award for the third time this young season.
He became the first KU player to win the award three times in a season, passing Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Nick Collison who each snared the honor twice in a single campaign.
Gooden has been honored three times. Missouri’s Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert and Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker are the only other players to be lauded.
“He has been unbelievable in certain areas to say the least,” KU coach Roy Williams said of Gooden, who averaged 28.5 points and 16.0 rebounds in wins over Valparaiso and Colorado. “He’s been all over the backboards. He’s made big shots for us. He’s made baskets when we need them down the stretch.”
Gooden leads the conference in scoring (21.0 ppg) and the country in rebounding (12.5 rpg). He’s come a long way since his freshman year when Williams once referred to Gooden as “Hurricane Drew.”
“He is still Hurricane Drew, but he has a little more control of the hurricane and knows which direction to point it a heck of a lot better,” Williams said, still not thrilled with Gooden’s 42 turnovers against 21 assists. “His hurricane is now pointed in the direction of the other team.”
Gooden has dominated so much of late he has five straight double-doubles it’s made the media start to ask questions about the NBA again.
Gooden, who pondered leaving KU after his sophomore season, is sticking to his guns in saying he’ll consider his options after the season ends.
“It’s going to be the same process as last year,” Gooden said Monday. “I’ll think about it, look at my options and talk with coach Williams and my family and then come up with a decision. It’s something I’ll look at, but if not, I’ll probably be here for my senior year.
“I like playing for Kansas, especially now that I am one of the leaders on the team, one of the upperclassmen. I’m teaching some of the younger guys now. I’m just having fun right now.”
He said the fact KU figures to remain strong next year would factor in his ultimate decision.
“Oh yeah, no doubt,” he said. “I think any competitive player would always look at that, leaving school or trying to win another national championship or contend for a national championship. It’s something I will look at in my decision.”
More on the letter: Colorado coach Ricardo Patton on Roy Williams’ assertion that he’s 99.9 percent sure he did not write CU frosh David Harrison a letter during recruiting last year. Patton had accused Williams of trying to steer Harrison to either North Carolina or Vanderbilt instead of Colorado.
“If he says he didn’t do it I wasn’t able to secure a letter to that regard,” Patton said Monday. “You know 99 9/10ths percent if you ask me if I robbed a bank, I’d tell you I was 100 percent sure I didn’t rob the bank. I’d rather hear 100 percent sure (from Williams).”
Patton said he brought up the issue at last spring’s conference coaches meeting because. …
“I was told by the kid he (Williams) wrote the letter,” Patton said. “He received a letter from Kansas that explained he should go to North Carolina or Vanderbilt.”
Where is the letter?
“The kid threw away a lot of letters. That’s a dead issue with me at this point,” Patton said. “I accept his 99.9 percent answer he didn’t do it. We’ve moved on since then.”
Patton was asked if somebody could have sent a letter to Harrison pretending he was Williams.
“I don’t know I’ve ever heard of any cases where one school’s stationery was sent to someone anonymously from somewhere outside the institution. I’m not familiar with that at all,” Patton said.
Williams says he will not address the issue again. He explained his side of the story after Saturday’s game.
FSU fever: Williams phoned former-Jayhawk assistant Steve Robinson after Robinson’s Florida State team nudged then-No. 1 Duke, 77-76, on Sunday night.
“He’s been down sometimes,” Williams said of Robinson, whose Seminoles have had one winning season and three losing seasons. “It’s been a struggle. They lost to American and to Western Carolina at home. It’s not been very pleasant even to the extent last night he said, ‘We’ve got to figure out what to do now against N.C. State.’ I told him, ‘The heck with N.C. State. Enjoy the heck out of this one at least until sometime tomorrow.’
“I think he’s got to enjoy these moments because he hasn’t had enough of them. He’s a great person, a guy who does know what he is doing. It’s just a very difficult job (at FSU).”
Williams watched the FSU victory on TV.
“I just got very nervous watching that game,” Williams said. “It was a great, great win for him and his kids and it was one of those ‘huggers.’ I’m sure he ran around and hugged everybody and didn’t care how sweaty they were.”
Buffs a rival?: Gooden addressed whether Colorado has become one of KU’s rivals. The past couple games in Boulder have been physical with players exchanging words at various times.
“It’s starting to feel like it. I don’t know if they are trying to make it a rivalry,” Gooden said. “It’s starting to get kind of heated. I’m 5-0 against Colorado and I don’t want to lose to Colorado. I guess there’s been a lot of trash talking going on, but I don’t want to even get into that, though.”
KU has won 25 straight against the Buffs, including 11 straight in Boulder, Colo.
Fan behavior: A fan at Saturday’s Oklahoma State-Texas game in Stillwater attacked Texas’ T.J. Ford after Ford sailed into the stands while chasing the basketball.
Somebody asked Gooden if he’s concerned about getting whacked after diving into the crowd.
“I mean that incident in Stillwater how many times does that happen. It was a freak accident,” Gooden said. “It doesn’t bother me with fans being close to the floor, cheering their team on. If I fall in the stands and some fan is trying to beat on me, I want my teammates helping me get away from the heat,” he added.
Several years ago, a fan at the University of Oklahoma stood over former-Jayhawk Jerod Haase and several fans screamed obscenities at the KU player after he tumbled into OU’s student section. Williams entered into the fray and received a technical foul for leaving the bench area to protect Haase.
Drew Gooden is the Big 12 men’s basketball player of the week again.
Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior forward from Richmond, Calif., on Monday earned the league’s weekly award for the third time this young season.
He became the first KU player to win the award three times in a season, passing Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Nick Collison who each snared the honor twice in a single campaign.
Gooden has been honored three times. Missouri’s Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert and Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker are the only other players to be lauded.
“He has been unbelievable in certain areas to say the least,” KU coach Roy Williams said of Gooden, who averaged 28.5 points and 16.0 rebounds in wins over Valparaiso and Colorado. “He’s been all over the backboards. He’s made big shots for us. He’s made baskets when we need them down the stretch.”
Gooden leads the conference in scoring (21.0 ppg) and the country in rebounding (12.5 rpg). He’s come a long way since his freshman year when Williams once referred to Gooden as “Hurricane Drew.”
“He is still Hurricane Drew, but he has a little more control of the hurricane and knows which direction to point it a heck of a lot better,” Williams said, still not thrilled with Gooden’s 42 turnovers against 21 assists. “His hurricane is now pointed in the direction of the other team.”
Gooden has dominated so much of late he has five straight double-doubles it’s made the media start to ask questions about the NBA again.
Gooden, who pondered leaving KU after his sophomore season, is sticking to his guns in saying he’ll consider his options after the season ends.
“It’s going to be the same process as last year,” Gooden said Monday. “I’ll think about it, look at my options and talk with coach Williams and my family and then come up with a decision. It’s something I’ll look at, but if not, I’ll probably be here for my senior year.
“I like playing for Kansas, especially now that I am one of the leaders on the team, one of the upperclassmen. I’m teaching some of the younger guys now. I’m just having fun right now.”
He said the fact KU figures to remain strong next year would factor in his ultimate decision.
“Oh yeah, no doubt,” he said. “I think any competitive player would always look at that, leaving school or trying to win another national championship or contend for a national championship. It’s something I will look at in my decision.”
More on the letter: Colorado coach Ricardo Patton on Roy Williams’ assertion that he’s 99.9 percent sure he did not write CU frosh David Harrison a letter during recruiting last year. Patton had accused Williams of trying to steer Harrison to either North Carolina or Vanderbilt instead of Colorado.
“If he says he didn’t do it I wasn’t able to secure a letter to that regard,” Patton said Monday. “You know 99 9/10ths percent if you ask me if I robbed a bank, I’d tell you I was 100 percent sure I didn’t rob the bank. I’d rather hear 100 percent sure (from Williams).”
Patton said he brought up the issue at last spring’s conference coaches meeting because. …
“I was told by the kid he (Williams) wrote the letter,” Patton said. “He received a letter from Kansas that explained he should go to North Carolina or Vanderbilt.”
Where is the letter?
“The kid threw away a lot of letters. That’s a dead issue with me at this point,” Patton said. “I accept his 99.9 percent answer he didn’t do it. We’ve moved on since then.”
Patton was asked if somebody could have sent a letter to Harrison pretending he was Williams.
“I don’t know I’ve ever heard of any cases where one school’s stationery was sent to someone anonymously from somewhere outside the institution. I’m not familiar with that at all,” Patton said.
Williams says he will not address the issue again. He explained his side of the story after Saturday’s game.
FSU fever: Williams phoned former-Jayhawk assistant Steve Robinson after Robinson’s Florida State team nudged then-No. 1 Duke, 77-76, on Sunday night.
“He’s been down sometimes,” Williams said of Robinson, whose Seminoles have had one winning season and three losing seasons. “It’s been a struggle. They lost to American and to Western Carolina at home. It’s not been very pleasant even to the extent last night he said, ‘We’ve got to figure out what to do now against N.C. State.’ I told him, ‘The heck with N.C. State. Enjoy the heck out of this one at least until sometime tomorrow.’
“I think he’s got to enjoy these moments because he hasn’t had enough of them. He’s a great person, a guy who does know what he is doing. It’s just a very difficult job (at FSU).”
Williams watched the FSU victory on TV.
“I just got very nervous watching that game,” Williams said. “It was a great, great win for him and his kids and it was one of those ‘huggers.’ I’m sure he ran around and hugged everybody and didn’t care how sweaty they were.”
Buffs a rival?: Gooden addressed whether Colorado has become one of KU’s rivals. The past couple games in Boulder have been physical with players exchanging words at various times.
“It’s starting to feel like it. I don’t know if they are trying to make it a rivalry,” Gooden said. “It’s starting to get kind of heated. I’m 5-0 against Colorado and I don’t want to lose to Colorado. I guess there’s been a lot of trash talking going on, but I don’t want to even get into that, though.”
KU has won 25 straight against the Buffs, including 11 straight in Boulder, Colo.
Fan behavior: A fan at Saturday’s Oklahoma State-Texas game in Stillwater attacked Texas’ T.J. Ford after Ford sailed into the stands while chasing the basketball.
Somebody asked Gooden if he’s concerned about getting whacked after diving into the crowd.
“I mean that incident in Stillwater how many times does that happen. It was a freak accident,” Gooden said. “It doesn’t bother me with fans being close to the floor, cheering their team on. If I fall in the stands and some fan is trying to beat on me, I want my teammates helping me get away from the heat,” he added.
Several years ago, a fan at the University of Oklahoma stood over former-Jayhawk Jerod Haase and several fans screamed obscenities at the KU player after he tumbled into OU’s student section. Williams entered into the fray and received a technical foul for leaving the bench area to protect Haase.
Drew Gooden is the Big 12 men’s basketball player of the week again.
Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior forward from Richmond, Calif., on Monday earned the league’s weekly award for the third time this young season.
He became the first KU player to win the award three times in a season, passing Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Nick Collison who each snared the honor twice in a single campaign.
Gooden has been honored three times. Missouri’s Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert and Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker are the only other players to be lauded.
“He has been unbelievable in certain areas to say the least,” KU coach Roy Williams said of Gooden, who averaged 28.5 points and 16.0 rebounds in wins over Valparaiso and Colorado. “He’s been all over the backboards. He’s made big shots for us. He’s made baskets when we need them down the stretch.”
Gooden leads the conference in scoring (21.0 ppg) and the country in rebounding (12.5 rpg). He’s come a long way since his freshman year when Williams once referred to Gooden as “Hurricane Drew.”
“He is still Hurricane Drew, but he has a little more control of the hurricane and knows which direction to point it a heck of a lot better,” Williams said, still not thrilled with Gooden’s 42 turnovers against 21 assists. “His hurricane is now pointed in the direction of the other team.”
Gooden has dominated so much of late he has five straight double-doubles it’s made the media start to ask questions about the NBA again.
Gooden, who pondered leaving KU after his sophomore season, is sticking to his guns in saying he’ll consider his options after the season ends.
“It’s going to be the same process as last year,” Gooden said Monday. “I’ll think about it, look at my options and talk with coach Williams and my family and then come up with a decision. It’s something I’ll look at, but if not, I’ll probably be here for my senior year.
“I like playing for Kansas, especially now that I am one of the leaders on the team, one of the upperclassmen. I’m teaching some of the younger guys now. I’m just having fun right now.”
He said the fact KU figures to remain strong next year would factor in his ultimate decision.
“Oh yeah, no doubt,” he said. “I think any competitive player would always look at that, leaving school or trying to win another national championship or contend for a national championship. It’s something I will look at in my decision.”
More on the letter: Colorado coach Ricardo Patton on Roy Williams’ assertion that he’s 99.9 percent sure he did not write CU frosh David Harrison a letter during recruiting last year. Patton had accused Williams of trying to steer Harrison to either North Carolina or Vanderbilt instead of Colorado.
“If he says he didn’t do it I wasn’t able to secure a letter to that regard,” Patton said Monday. “You know 99 9/10ths percent if you ask me if I robbed a bank, I’d tell you I was 100 percent sure I didn’t rob the bank. I’d rather hear 100 percent sure (from Williams).”
Patton said he brought up the issue at last spring’s conference coaches meeting because. …
“I was told by the kid he (Williams) wrote the letter,” Patton said. “He received a letter from Kansas that explained he should go to North Carolina or Vanderbilt.”
Where is the letter?
“The kid threw away a lot of letters. That’s a dead issue with me at this point,” Patton said. “I accept his 99.9 percent answer he didn’t do it. We’ve moved on since then.”
Patton was asked if somebody could have sent a letter to Harrison pretending he was Williams.
“I don’t know I’ve ever heard of any cases where one school’s stationery was sent to someone anonymously from somewhere outside the institution. I’m not familiar with that at all,” Patton said.
Williams says he will not address the issue again. He explained his side of the story after Saturday’s game.
FSU fever: Williams phoned former-Jayhawk assistant Steve Robinson after Robinson’s Florida State team nudged then-No. 1 Duke, 77-76, on Sunday night.
“He’s been down sometimes,” Williams said of Robinson, whose Seminoles have had one winning season and three losing seasons. “It’s been a struggle. They lost to American and to Western Carolina at home. It’s not been very pleasant even to the extent last night he said, ‘We’ve got to figure out what to do now against N.C. State.’ I told him, ‘The heck with N.C. State. Enjoy the heck out of this one at least until sometime tomorrow.’
“I think he’s got to enjoy these moments because he hasn’t had enough of them. He’s a great person, a guy who does know what he is doing. It’s just a very difficult job (at FSU).”
Williams watched the FSU victory on TV.
“I just got very nervous watching that game,” Williams said. “It was a great, great win for him and his kids and it was one of those ‘huggers.’ I’m sure he ran around and hugged everybody and didn’t care how sweaty they were.”
Buffs a rival?: Gooden addressed whether Colorado has become one of KU’s rivals. The past couple games in Boulder have been physical with players exchanging words at various times.
“It’s starting to feel like it. I don’t know if they are trying to make it a rivalry,” Gooden said. “It’s starting to get kind of heated. I’m 5-0 against Colorado and I don’t want to lose to Colorado. I guess there’s been a lot of trash talking going on, but I don’t want to even get into that, though.”
KU has won 25 straight against the Buffs, including 11 straight in Boulder, Colo.
Fan behavior: A fan at Saturday’s Oklahoma State-Texas game in Stillwater attacked Texas’ T.J. Ford after Ford sailed into the stands while chasing the basketball.
Somebody asked Gooden if he’s concerned about getting whacked after diving into the crowd.
“I mean that incident in Stillwater how many times does that happen. It was a freak accident,” Gooden said. “It doesn’t bother me with fans being close to the floor, cheering their team on. If I fall in the stands and some fan is trying to beat on me, I want my teammates helping me get away from the heat,” he added.
Several years ago, a fan at the University of Oklahoma stood over former-Jayhawk Jerod Haase and several fans screamed obscenities at the KU player after he tumbled into OU’s student section. Williams entered into the fray and received a technical foul for leaving the bench area to protect Haase.
Drew Gooden is the Big 12 men’s basketball player of the week again.
Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior forward from Richmond, Calif., on Monday earned the league’s weekly award for the third time this young season.
He became the first KU player to win the award three times in a season, passing Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce and Nick Collison who each snared the honor twice in a single campaign.
Gooden has been honored three times. Missouri’s Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert and Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker are the only other players to be lauded.
“He has been unbelievable in certain areas to say the least,” KU coach Roy Williams said of Gooden, who averaged 28.5 points and 16.0 rebounds in wins over Valparaiso and Colorado. “He’s been all over the backboards. He’s made big shots for us. He’s made baskets when we need them down the stretch.”
Gooden leads the conference in scoring (21.0 ppg) and the country in rebounding (12.5 rpg). He’s come a long way since his freshman year when Williams once referred to Gooden as “Hurricane Drew.”
“He is still Hurricane Drew, but he has a little more control of the hurricane and knows which direction to point it a heck of a lot better,” Williams said, still not thrilled with Gooden’s 42 turnovers against 21 assists. “His hurricane is now pointed in the direction of the other team.”
Gooden has dominated so much of late he has five straight double-doubles it’s made the media start to ask questions about the NBA again.
Gooden, who pondered leaving KU after his sophomore season, is sticking to his guns in saying he’ll consider his options after the season ends.
“It’s going to be the same process as last year,” Gooden said Monday. “I’ll think about it, look at my options and talk with coach Williams and my family and then come up with a decision. It’s something I’ll look at, but if not, I’ll probably be here for my senior year.
“I like playing for Kansas, especially now that I am one of the leaders on the team, one of the upperclassmen. I’m teaching some of the younger guys now. I’m just having fun right now.”
He said the fact KU figures to remain strong next year would factor in his ultimate decision.
“Oh yeah, no doubt,” he said. “I think any competitive player would always look at that, leaving school or trying to win another national championship or contend for a national championship. It’s something I will look at in my decision.”
More on the letter: Colorado coach Ricardo Patton on Roy Williams’ assertion that he’s 99.9 percent sure he did not write CU frosh David Harrison a letter during recruiting last year. Patton had accused Williams of trying to steer Harrison to either North Carolina or Vanderbilt instead of Colorado.
“If he says he didn’t do it I wasn’t able to secure a letter to that regard,” Patton said Monday. “You know 99 9/10ths percent if you ask me if I robbed a bank, I’d tell you I was 100 percent sure I didn’t rob the bank. I’d rather hear 100 percent sure (from Williams).”
Patton said he brought up the issue at last spring’s conference coaches meeting because. …
“I was told by the kid he (Williams) wrote the letter,” Patton said. “He received a letter from Kansas that explained he should go to North Carolina or Vanderbilt.”
Where is the letter?
“The kid threw away a lot of letters. That’s a dead issue with me at this point,” Patton said. “I accept his 99.9 percent answer he didn’t do it. We’ve moved on since then.”
Patton was asked if somebody could have sent a letter to Harrison pretending he was Williams.
“I don’t know I’ve ever heard of any cases where one school’s stationery was sent to someone anonymously from somewhere outside the institution. I’m not familiar with that at all,” Patton said.
Williams says he will not address the issue again. He explained his side of the story after Saturday’s game.
FSU fever: Williams phoned former-Jayhawk assistant Steve Robinson after Robinson’s Florida State team nudged then-No. 1 Duke, 77-76, on Sunday night.
“He’s been down sometimes,” Williams said of Robinson, whose Seminoles have had one winning season and three losing seasons. “It’s been a struggle. They lost to American and to Western Carolina at home. It’s not been very pleasant even to the extent last night he said, ‘We’ve got to figure out what to do now against N.C. State.’ I told him, ‘The heck with N.C. State. Enjoy the heck out of this one at least until sometime tomorrow.’
“I think he’s got to enjoy these moments because he hasn’t had enough of them. He’s a great person, a guy who does know what he is doing. It’s just a very difficult job (at FSU).”
Williams watched the FSU victory on TV.
“I just got very nervous watching that game,” Williams said. “It was a great, great win for him and his kids and it was one of those ‘huggers.’ I’m sure he ran around and hugged everybody and didn’t care how sweaty they were.”
Buffs a rival?: Gooden addressed whether Colorado has become one of KU’s rivals. The past couple games in Boulder have been physical with players exchanging words at various times.
“It’s starting to feel like it. I don’t know if they are trying to make it a rivalry,” Gooden said. “It’s starting to get kind of heated. I’m 5-0 against Colorado and I don’t want to lose to Colorado. I guess there’s been a lot of trash talking going on, but I don’t want to even get into that, though.”
KU has won 25 straight against the Buffs, including 11 straight in Boulder, Colo.
Fan behavior: A fan at Saturday’s Oklahoma State-Texas game in Stillwater attacked Texas’ T.J. Ford after Ford sailed into the stands while chasing the basketball.
Somebody asked Gooden if he’s concerned about getting whacked after diving into the crowd.
“I mean that incident in Stillwater how many times does that happen. It was a freak accident,” Gooden said. “It doesn’t bother me with fans being close to the floor, cheering their team on. If I fall in the stands and some fan is trying to beat on me, I want my teammates helping me get away from the heat,” he added.
Several years ago, a fan at the University of Oklahoma stood over former-Jayhawk Jerod Haase and several fans screamed obscenities at the KU player after he tumbled into OU’s student section. Williams entered into the fray and received a technical foul for leaving the bench area to protect Haase.
