Kansas’ Drew Gooden and Missouri’s Kareem Rush some day could be teammates in the NBA.
That’d be OK with Gooden, the Jayhawks’ 6-foot-10, 230-pound junior forward, who is a big fan of Rush, MU’s slick 6-6, 218-pound junior small forward.
“I’d take Kareem Rush, that’s my guy,” Gooden said, asked what player in the Big 12 he’d add as a teammate if a roster spot was allowed to open on KU’s roster.
“We were at Michael Jordan’s camp last summer and talk on the phone every once in a while. He’d be a perfect three-man for us. One thing we’ve been missing (the past few years) is a three-man.”
Like Gooden, Rush toyed with the idea of leaving college for the NBA Draft after his sophomore season. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and both Rush and Gooden returned for their junior seasons.
Gooden is averaging a Big 12-best 20.6 points and 11.8 rebounds for the Jayhawks (17-2, 6-0) and Rush 19.3 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Tigers (15-5, 5-2) entering tonight’s KU-MU game at Allen Fieldhouse.
Tipoff is 8:05 p.m. with a live telecast on ESPN.
Rush will provide some mismatch problems for the Jayhawks, who likely will start out defensively with Kirk Hinrich (6-3) on Rush. Jeff Boschee (6-1), who gave up four inches in guarding Texas A&M’s Bernard King in the Jayhawks’ 86-74 victory on Saturday, also could be used on Rush, along with freshman Keith Langford (6-4) and others.
“We have several matchup problems against different teams and Missouri is one of them. Oklahoma State is one of them,” KU coach Roy Williams said. “I’m hopeful we’ll create some matchup problems for them, too.”
Rush and 6-2, 194-pound senior Clarence Gilbert provide quite a 1-2 scoring punch for the Tigers.
“They are so difficult to guard,” Williams said. “Kareem can score from the outside and can put it on the floor and pull up in the mid-range game. He can also take it all the way to the basket and accelerate and explode and dunk it or put it above the rim where nobody else can get it. He can defend.
“He does have the total game. I do believe if he had decided to enter the NBA Draft last year he would have been a top 10 guy. I honestly believe that. I thought he had everything. He chose not to go and that is great. Kids who choose to not go and stay in college basketball … I love that part of it, too.”
Rush has hit 43.7 percent of his floor shots, including 63 of 150 threes for 42 percent. But he’s taken some criticism for not dominating this year.
It’s unwarranted criticism, Gooden said.
“At the beginning of the year, people asked me what I thought about him being Preseason Player of the Year,” Gooden said. “I said, ‘It’s preseason. He’s still got to play when the season starts off.’
“He averages 20 points a game. A lot of people had these high expectations that he’d score 30 or something. He’s still playing well.”
“I’ve seen the stats,” Williams said. “My guess is when he sees us his eyes will light up and he’ll make some shots.”
Meanwhile, Gilbert averages 16.5 points a game. He’s hit 61 of 165 threes for 37 percent.
“Clarence is so electric. When he gets it going, he can make any shot, regardless of how well he’s defended,” Williams said. “They (Rush and Gilbert) really are two great scorers on the same team and it’s something you have to aim your defense at.
“If they get it going, there are sometimes when particularly Clarence will take some shots and you’ll say, ‘Why did he take that?’ and it goes in. I think those kids are just as good as they can be.”
Kansas recruited Rush’s older brother JaRon, who ultimately picked UCLA. JaRon is now with the Kansas City Knights of the ABA.
The Jayhawks never were involved with Kareem.
“JaRon played extremely hard and was a very gifted athlete. Kareem is more skilled as a basketball player. He’s a better shooter,” Williams said. “JaRon didn’t have the ballhandling skills to put it on the floor or shoot it like Kareem does.”
The Tigers had a three-game winning streak snapped last Monday at Oklahoma, 84-71. MU bounced back to slug Kansas State, 86-74, on Saturday in Columbia.
Rush hit seven of 10 shots the first half, scoring 18 of his 22 the first 20 minutes. He hit four of 15 shots at Oklahoma, scoring 13 points. Forward Rickey Paulding (10.3 ppg) scored 15, while Gilbert and center Arthur Johnson (11.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg) contributed 14 apiece.
