Roy Williams has thumbed through three preseason basketball magazines in the past week.
“One had us picked second in the country. The other two had us picked first. I was just absolutely dumbfounded,” Williams, Kansas University’s 15th-year men’s basketball coach, said Tuesday night, capping an entertaining 2-hour, 7-minute teaching engagement at the Lied Center with an assessment of the 2002-03 Jayhawks.
Williams was the final guest professor in KU Continuing Education’s “KU for Lawrence” class on KU basketball a non-credit, four-week class attended by several hundred students.
Williams says he’s dumbfounded because the Jayhawks who are about to embark on “the most difficult schedule we have ever played” have five established players and a batch of question marks.
“We have five guys who have proven they can do it at this level: Aaron (Miles), Nick (Collison) and Kirk (Hinrich), who started, and Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien), who came off the bench. All five played big-time in big-time games at crunch time,” Williams said.
“I’ve never seen a big-time college basketball team be that successful with only five players. It is the least amount of depth we’ve ever had.”
The Jayhawks have just 10 scholarship players with junior Bryant Nash out with a broken thumb and newcomer Jeff Graves held out of pick-up games as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in early September.
“Michael Lee, Bryant Nash, Jeff Hawkins somebody has got to step up,” said Williams, whose other scholarship players are 6-foot-9 Graves and 6-10 frosh Moulaye Niang. “If we have one or two of those guys step up and give us a sixth man and a seventh man who can come in against Texas, who can come in against Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, UCLA, Tulsa, on and on and if we can stay away from injuries we’re gonna be pretty doggone good.
He believes the 6-6, 205-pound Nash, who should return soon, could be pivotal.
“If you see Bryant Nash walking around campus, tell him how good he looks. It doesn’t make any difference if you like the way he looks, just tell him he’s playing great ’cause that’s what I’m telling him,” Williams said with a smile. “I’m telling him he’s got to be the best offensive rebounder the school has ever had.”
Back from retreat: Williams headed straight to the Lied Center with his luggage, having just returned from Charleston, S.C., where he and KU’s assistants spent the past three days discussing the coming season.
“We spent three days talking basketball and watching tapes,” Williams said. “We’re trying to get ready, not for Friday night (Late Night With Roy Williams) but what happens after that.
“Kris McGrath (of marketing department) came up to see me about Late Night. I said, ‘I don’t want to know (what’s going to happen) so I can plead ignorance.'”
Emotional coach: Williams showed all his emotions during his two-hour presentation, passionately defending Drew Gooden’s decision to turn pro after three years of college “If you think Drew Gooden made a mistake you are not looking at it correctly. You are not looking at life!” noting any KU fan would accept $11.5 million guaranteed over three years rather than continue in college.
He was near tears when discussing his passion for recruiting and winning the right way. And he had the audience laughing with stories about former players and jawboning with officials.
Sound system: A new sound system priced under $50,000 will be in use for Friday’s Late Night. It is designed to improve the quality of sound on the lower level of Allen Fieldhouse as well as the upper deck. Several new speakers have been installed under the scoreboard.
Boone to attend Late Night: Josh Boone, a 6-9 power forward from Mt. Airy, Md., will be the only senior high school recruit to attend Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
Boone is a candidate for KU’s fifth and final scholarship. He’s also considering UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-9 forward from Carson, Calif., has been dropped as a KU recruit. He will choose either USC or Maryland.
“They are looking in a different direction,” Ibekwe told Russ Blake of rivalshoops.com. “They said that they are finished up with their scholarships for this year.”
Magazine watch: Williams didn’t say which magazines he was reading last week, but both the Sporting News and Basketball Times have KU No. 1. Lindy’s and several others have KU at No. 2.
Roy Williams has thumbed through three preseason basketball magazines in the past week.
“One had us picked second in the country. The other two had us picked first. I was just absolutely dumbfounded,” Williams, Kansas University’s 15th-year men’s basketball coach, said Tuesday night, capping an entertaining 2-hour, 7-minute teaching engagement at the Lied Center with an assessment of the 2002-03 Jayhawks.
Williams was the final guest professor in KU Continuing Education’s “KU for Lawrence” class on KU basketball a non-credit, four-week class attended by several hundred students.
Williams says he’s dumbfounded because the Jayhawks who are about to embark on “the most difficult schedule we have ever played” have five established players and a batch of question marks.
“We have five guys who have proven they can do it at this level: Aaron (Miles), Nick (Collison) and Kirk (Hinrich), who started, and Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien), who came off the bench. All five played big-time in big-time games at crunch time,” Williams said.
“I’ve never seen a big-time college basketball team be that successful with only five players. It is the least amount of depth we’ve ever had.”
The Jayhawks have just 10 scholarship players with junior Bryant Nash out with a broken thumb and newcomer Jeff Graves held out of pick-up games as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in early September.
“Michael Lee, Bryant Nash, Jeff Hawkins somebody has got to step up,” said Williams, whose other scholarship players are 6-foot-9 Graves and 6-10 frosh Moulaye Niang. “If we have one or two of those guys step up and give us a sixth man and a seventh man who can come in against Texas, who can come in against Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, UCLA, Tulsa, on and on and if we can stay away from injuries we’re gonna be pretty doggone good.
He believes the 6-6, 205-pound Nash, who should return soon, could be pivotal.
“If you see Bryant Nash walking around campus, tell him how good he looks. It doesn’t make any difference if you like the way he looks, just tell him he’s playing great ’cause that’s what I’m telling him,” Williams said with a smile. “I’m telling him he’s got to be the best offensive rebounder the school has ever had.”
Back from retreat: Williams headed straight to the Lied Center with his luggage, having just returned from Charleston, S.C., where he and KU’s assistants spent the past three days discussing the coming season.
“We spent three days talking basketball and watching tapes,” Williams said. “We’re trying to get ready, not for Friday night (Late Night With Roy Williams) but what happens after that.
“Kris McGrath (of marketing department) came up to see me about Late Night. I said, ‘I don’t want to know (what’s going to happen) so I can plead ignorance.'”
Emotional coach: Williams showed all his emotions during his two-hour presentation, passionately defending Drew Gooden’s decision to turn pro after three years of college “If you think Drew Gooden made a mistake you are not looking at it correctly. You are not looking at life!” noting any KU fan would accept $11.5 million guaranteed over three years rather than continue in college.
He was near tears when discussing his passion for recruiting and winning the right way. And he had the audience laughing with stories about former players and jawboning with officials.
Sound system: A new sound system priced under $50,000 will be in use for Friday’s Late Night. It is designed to improve the quality of sound on the lower level of Allen Fieldhouse as well as the upper deck. Several new speakers have been installed under the scoreboard.
Boone to attend Late Night: Josh Boone, a 6-9 power forward from Mt. Airy, Md., will be the only senior high school recruit to attend Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
Boone is a candidate for KU’s fifth and final scholarship. He’s also considering UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-9 forward from Carson, Calif., has been dropped as a KU recruit. He will choose either USC or Maryland.
“They are looking in a different direction,” Ibekwe told Russ Blake of rivalshoops.com. “They said that they are finished up with their scholarships for this year.”
Magazine watch: Williams didn’t say which magazines he was reading last week, but both the Sporting News and Basketball Times have KU No. 1. Lindy’s and several others have KU at No. 2.
Roy Williams has thumbed through three preseason basketball magazines in the past week.
“One had us picked second in the country. The other two had us picked first. I was just absolutely dumbfounded,” Williams, Kansas University’s 15th-year men’s basketball coach, said Tuesday night, capping an entertaining 2-hour, 7-minute teaching engagement at the Lied Center with an assessment of the 2002-03 Jayhawks.
Williams was the final guest professor in KU Continuing Education’s “KU for Lawrence” class on KU basketball a non-credit, four-week class attended by several hundred students.
Williams says he’s dumbfounded because the Jayhawks who are about to embark on “the most difficult schedule we have ever played” have five established players and a batch of question marks.
“We have five guys who have proven they can do it at this level: Aaron (Miles), Nick (Collison) and Kirk (Hinrich), who started, and Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien), who came off the bench. All five played big-time in big-time games at crunch time,” Williams said.
“I’ve never seen a big-time college basketball team be that successful with only five players. It is the least amount of depth we’ve ever had.”
The Jayhawks have just 10 scholarship players with junior Bryant Nash out with a broken thumb and newcomer Jeff Graves held out of pick-up games as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in early September.
“Michael Lee, Bryant Nash, Jeff Hawkins somebody has got to step up,” said Williams, whose other scholarship players are 6-foot-9 Graves and 6-10 frosh Moulaye Niang. “If we have one or two of those guys step up and give us a sixth man and a seventh man who can come in against Texas, who can come in against Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, UCLA, Tulsa, on and on and if we can stay away from injuries we’re gonna be pretty doggone good.
He believes the 6-6, 205-pound Nash, who should return soon, could be pivotal.
“If you see Bryant Nash walking around campus, tell him how good he looks. It doesn’t make any difference if you like the way he looks, just tell him he’s playing great ’cause that’s what I’m telling him,” Williams said with a smile. “I’m telling him he’s got to be the best offensive rebounder the school has ever had.”
Back from retreat: Williams headed straight to the Lied Center with his luggage, having just returned from Charleston, S.C., where he and KU’s assistants spent the past three days discussing the coming season.
“We spent three days talking basketball and watching tapes,” Williams said. “We’re trying to get ready, not for Friday night (Late Night With Roy Williams) but what happens after that.
“Kris McGrath (of marketing department) came up to see me about Late Night. I said, ‘I don’t want to know (what’s going to happen) so I can plead ignorance.'”
Emotional coach: Williams showed all his emotions during his two-hour presentation, passionately defending Drew Gooden’s decision to turn pro after three years of college “If you think Drew Gooden made a mistake you are not looking at it correctly. You are not looking at life!” noting any KU fan would accept $11.5 million guaranteed over three years rather than continue in college.
He was near tears when discussing his passion for recruiting and winning the right way. And he had the audience laughing with stories about former players and jawboning with officials.
Sound system: A new sound system priced under $50,000 will be in use for Friday’s Late Night. It is designed to improve the quality of sound on the lower level of Allen Fieldhouse as well as the upper deck. Several new speakers have been installed under the scoreboard.
Boone to attend Late Night: Josh Boone, a 6-9 power forward from Mt. Airy, Md., will be the only senior high school recruit to attend Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
Boone is a candidate for KU’s fifth and final scholarship. He’s also considering UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-9 forward from Carson, Calif., has been dropped as a KU recruit. He will choose either USC or Maryland.
“They are looking in a different direction,” Ibekwe told Russ Blake of rivalshoops.com. “They said that they are finished up with their scholarships for this year.”
Magazine watch: Williams didn’t say which magazines he was reading last week, but both the Sporting News and Basketball Times have KU No. 1. Lindy’s and several others have KU at No. 2.
Roy Williams has thumbed through three preseason basketball magazines in the past week.
“One had us picked second in the country. The other two had us picked first. I was just absolutely dumbfounded,” Williams, Kansas University’s 15th-year men’s basketball coach, said Tuesday night, capping an entertaining 2-hour, 7-minute teaching engagement at the Lied Center with an assessment of the 2002-03 Jayhawks.
Williams was the final guest professor in KU Continuing Education’s “KU for Lawrence” class on KU basketball a non-credit, four-week class attended by several hundred students.
Williams says he’s dumbfounded because the Jayhawks who are about to embark on “the most difficult schedule we have ever played” have five established players and a batch of question marks.
“We have five guys who have proven they can do it at this level: Aaron (Miles), Nick (Collison) and Kirk (Hinrich), who started, and Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien), who came off the bench. All five played big-time in big-time games at crunch time,” Williams said.
“I’ve never seen a big-time college basketball team be that successful with only five players. It is the least amount of depth we’ve ever had.”
The Jayhawks have just 10 scholarship players with junior Bryant Nash out with a broken thumb and newcomer Jeff Graves held out of pick-up games as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in early September.
“Michael Lee, Bryant Nash, Jeff Hawkins somebody has got to step up,” said Williams, whose other scholarship players are 6-foot-9 Graves and 6-10 frosh Moulaye Niang. “If we have one or two of those guys step up and give us a sixth man and a seventh man who can come in against Texas, who can come in against Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, UCLA, Tulsa, on and on and if we can stay away from injuries we’re gonna be pretty doggone good.
He believes the 6-6, 205-pound Nash, who should return soon, could be pivotal.
“If you see Bryant Nash walking around campus, tell him how good he looks. It doesn’t make any difference if you like the way he looks, just tell him he’s playing great ’cause that’s what I’m telling him,” Williams said with a smile. “I’m telling him he’s got to be the best offensive rebounder the school has ever had.”
Back from retreat: Williams headed straight to the Lied Center with his luggage, having just returned from Charleston, S.C., where he and KU’s assistants spent the past three days discussing the coming season.
“We spent three days talking basketball and watching tapes,” Williams said. “We’re trying to get ready, not for Friday night (Late Night With Roy Williams) but what happens after that.
“Kris McGrath (of marketing department) came up to see me about Late Night. I said, ‘I don’t want to know (what’s going to happen) so I can plead ignorance.'”
Emotional coach: Williams showed all his emotions during his two-hour presentation, passionately defending Drew Gooden’s decision to turn pro after three years of college “If you think Drew Gooden made a mistake you are not looking at it correctly. You are not looking at life!” noting any KU fan would accept $11.5 million guaranteed over three years rather than continue in college.
He was near tears when discussing his passion for recruiting and winning the right way. And he had the audience laughing with stories about former players and jawboning with officials.
Sound system: A new sound system priced under $50,000 will be in use for Friday’s Late Night. It is designed to improve the quality of sound on the lower level of Allen Fieldhouse as well as the upper deck. Several new speakers have been installed under the scoreboard.
Boone to attend Late Night: Josh Boone, a 6-9 power forward from Mt. Airy, Md., will be the only senior high school recruit to attend Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
Boone is a candidate for KU’s fifth and final scholarship. He’s also considering UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-9 forward from Carson, Calif., has been dropped as a KU recruit. He will choose either USC or Maryland.
“They are looking in a different direction,” Ibekwe told Russ Blake of rivalshoops.com. “They said that they are finished up with their scholarships for this year.”
Magazine watch: Williams didn’t say which magazines he was reading last week, but both the Sporting News and Basketball Times have KU No. 1. Lindy’s and several others have KU at No. 2.
Roy Williams has thumbed through three preseason basketball magazines in the past week.
“One had us picked second in the country. The other two had us picked first. I was just absolutely dumbfounded,” Williams, Kansas University’s 15th-year men’s basketball coach, said Tuesday night, capping an entertaining 2-hour, 7-minute teaching engagement at the Lied Center with an assessment of the 2002-03 Jayhawks.
Williams was the final guest professor in KU Continuing Education’s “KU for Lawrence” class on KU basketball a non-credit, four-week class attended by several hundred students.
Williams says he’s dumbfounded because the Jayhawks who are about to embark on “the most difficult schedule we have ever played” have five established players and a batch of question marks.
“We have five guys who have proven they can do it at this level: Aaron (Miles), Nick (Collison) and Kirk (Hinrich), who started, and Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien), who came off the bench. All five played big-time in big-time games at crunch time,” Williams said.
“I’ve never seen a big-time college basketball team be that successful with only five players. It is the least amount of depth we’ve ever had.”
The Jayhawks have just 10 scholarship players with junior Bryant Nash out with a broken thumb and newcomer Jeff Graves held out of pick-up games as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered in early September.
“Michael Lee, Bryant Nash, Jeff Hawkins somebody has got to step up,” said Williams, whose other scholarship players are 6-foot-9 Graves and 6-10 frosh Moulaye Niang. “If we have one or two of those guys step up and give us a sixth man and a seventh man who can come in against Texas, who can come in against Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona, UCLA, Tulsa, on and on and if we can stay away from injuries we’re gonna be pretty doggone good.
He believes the 6-6, 205-pound Nash, who should return soon, could be pivotal.
“If you see Bryant Nash walking around campus, tell him how good he looks. It doesn’t make any difference if you like the way he looks, just tell him he’s playing great ’cause that’s what I’m telling him,” Williams said with a smile. “I’m telling him he’s got to be the best offensive rebounder the school has ever had.”
Back from retreat: Williams headed straight to the Lied Center with his luggage, having just returned from Charleston, S.C., where he and KU’s assistants spent the past three days discussing the coming season.
“We spent three days talking basketball and watching tapes,” Williams said. “We’re trying to get ready, not for Friday night (Late Night With Roy Williams) but what happens after that.
“Kris McGrath (of marketing department) came up to see me about Late Night. I said, ‘I don’t want to know (what’s going to happen) so I can plead ignorance.'”
Emotional coach: Williams showed all his emotions during his two-hour presentation, passionately defending Drew Gooden’s decision to turn pro after three years of college “If you think Drew Gooden made a mistake you are not looking at it correctly. You are not looking at life!” noting any KU fan would accept $11.5 million guaranteed over three years rather than continue in college.
He was near tears when discussing his passion for recruiting and winning the right way. And he had the audience laughing with stories about former players and jawboning with officials.
Sound system: A new sound system priced under $50,000 will be in use for Friday’s Late Night. It is designed to improve the quality of sound on the lower level of Allen Fieldhouse as well as the upper deck. Several new speakers have been installed under the scoreboard.
Boone to attend Late Night: Josh Boone, a 6-9 power forward from Mt. Airy, Md., will be the only senior high school recruit to attend Friday’s Late Night With Roy Williams.
Boone is a candidate for KU’s fifth and final scholarship. He’s also considering UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
Ekene Ibekwe, a 6-9 forward from Carson, Calif., has been dropped as a KU recruit. He will choose either USC or Maryland.
“They are looking in a different direction,” Ibekwe told Russ Blake of rivalshoops.com. “They said that they are finished up with their scholarships for this year.”
Magazine watch: Williams didn’t say which magazines he was reading last week, but both the Sporting News and Basketball Times have KU No. 1. Lindy’s and several others have KU at No. 2.
