Four devoted Kansas University basketball fans marched around James Naismith court Friday night carrying oversized, homemade replica jerseys for the recruits in attendance at Late Night With Roy Williams.
The crowd cheered wildly for jersey Nos. 35 (J.R. Giddens), 10 (Jeremy Case) and 44 (David Padgett), representing the three high school players who all have orally committed to KU, plus No. 21 for Josh Boone, who is considering Kansas, UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Case, a 6-foot guard from McAlester, Okla., who made the five-hour drive to Allen Fieldhouse with his entire high school team. “It was cool to see your name on a jersey in front of all those KU fans. I thought we might possibly be on TV.
“I wanted to put it up in my room,” Case added, settling for signing the jersey for the fan who created his jersey and opted to keep it as a memento.
Case and all the high school players in attendance, including junior Darnell Jackson of Oklahoma City, had big smiles on their faces during Friday’s as-always wacky Late Night attended by 16,300 fans who crammed into the fieldhouse.
“I’d graduate right now if I could,” said Case, who still has a final year of high school ball to play.
“It was so exciting,” said Giddens, 6-5 from Oklahoma City’s John Marshal High. “Coming here you see how much Kansas fans appreciate basketball.”
The fans also appreciate the Jayhawks’ attempts at dancing and acting. The crowd rocked the building with applause and foot stomping on numerous occasions.
“The fans were just fantastic,” KU coach Williams said. “Late Night has gotten to be more a celebration of the opening of the season than anything else. I really enjoy watching the kids ‘acting a fool.’ Some of them ‘act a fool’ more than I would. They always get me to ‘act a fool’ a little at the end.”
That’s when the Jayhawks pull the coach on the court to dance.
Williams danced with his men’s players, just as Marian Washington danced with her KU women’s players.
“Neither of us had heard of the songs,” Williams said of he and Washington. “We’ve got to get some Marvin Gaye and Billy Ocean next year so we can do some of those things ourselves. It was a nice night. I really enjoyed the tribute to Marian they showed on the (four portable) videoboards. It was classy and nice.”
Indeed, a short, poignant video honored Washington, who was beginning her 30th season as KU coach.
Williams, in his 15th year, shed some tears later when highlights were shown of the end of last year’s Final Four season.
“It showed me talking to our fans at the hotel after our last game in Atlanta,” Williams said. “I was a little emotional at that time. I don’t mind saying I had tears in my eyes tonight. I wanted that team to win the whole thing. We didn’t, but I still remember how much fun I had. Really the most fun I had in my life coaching.”
Walk-on excellence: Walk-on Christian Moody of Asheville, N.C., scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday’s 20-minute midnight scrimmage. Stephen Vinson of Lawrence had two points, two boards and three assists, including a crisp pass to Moody for a bucket.
Vinson had been listed as questionable for the scrimmage because of back pain.
“Stephen did a great job the last 24 hours doing exactly what (trainer) Mark Cairns told him to do. Today he felt a heck of a lot better,” Williams said of Vinson, who actually has had off and on back pain since his high school days. “Stephen and Christian both walk-ons didn’t look out of place at all. I’m proud to have ’em here.”
Saturday’s opener: KU practiced for real on Saturday, going hard for two hours. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who was held out of the Late Night scrimmage, practiced, as did Bryant Nash. Nash, a junior forward, who broke his thumb three and a half weeks ago, will wear a splint on his thumb while practicing the next two weeks.
Nash had three boards and three points Friday, stroking a three-pointer.
Junior Jeff Graves now has been cleared to do more than ride the stationary bike. The 6-9, 280-pounder did some “dummy” work during practice and worked on accepting passes and inside shooting during 1-on-1 work with assistant Joe Holladay. He did not scrimmage, but did take part in post-practice sprints.
Helping out at practice Saturday were former Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Steve Woodberry, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann.
Hawkins has fun: Jeff Hawkins had a riot imitating Dick Vitale in a skit Friday, wearing a bald wig.
“It was funny going out there and wearing wigs and doing some acting,” Hawkins said. “Late Night is really a lot of fun for everybody.”
Family matters: Parents of all KU’s players, except Senegal’s Moulaye Niang, attended. Collison had about 30 relatives on hand.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Williams, who stresses a family atmosphere. “And parents of some prospects attended.”
Niang, a 6-10 freshman, had six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also had three rebounds and showed a nice touch on a hook shot.
Case on recruit: Jeremy Case liked how Boone enjoyed Late Night.
“He was smiling the whole time,” Case said of the recruit. “Even when I asked him about it he started smiling.”
At one point, Williams rushed into the stands to shake hands with the prospects as a highlight video appeared on the four screens.
Jackson, 6-9 from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen, attended with his mother.
“I think there’s a good chance he will come to Kansas. We are good friends. There’s a real good chance,” Giddens said.
Miffed: Williams opened his postgame Late Night media session with a critique of newspapers’ coverage of Thursday’s Media Day. He was miffed the Journal-World gave considerable attention to the coach’s statement that Jeff Graves was “not officially on the team” until he passed his running tests.
“I was stunned,” the coach said. “It’s not the biggest story. We have two guys who are potential All-Americans, who chose to come back to college instead of taking the money and running (to NBA) and half the daggum articles in the paper after Media Day are about Jeff Graves.”
The 6-9, 280-pound Graves had some monster dunks and acted in skits at Late Night as he continued to rebound from his September concussion.
Four devoted Kansas University basketball fans marched around James Naismith court Friday night carrying oversized, homemade replica jerseys for the recruits in attendance at Late Night With Roy Williams.
The crowd cheered wildly for jersey Nos. 35 (J.R. Giddens), 10 (Jeremy Case) and 44 (David Padgett), representing the three high school players who all have orally committed to KU, plus No. 21 for Josh Boone, who is considering Kansas, UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Case, a 6-foot guard from McAlester, Okla., who made the five-hour drive to Allen Fieldhouse with his entire high school team. “It was cool to see your name on a jersey in front of all those KU fans. I thought we might possibly be on TV.
“I wanted to put it up in my room,” Case added, settling for signing the jersey for the fan who created his jersey and opted to keep it as a memento.
Case and all the high school players in attendance, including junior Darnell Jackson of Oklahoma City, had big smiles on their faces during Friday’s as-always wacky Late Night attended by 16,300 fans who crammed into the fieldhouse.
“I’d graduate right now if I could,” said Case, who still has a final year of high school ball to play.
“It was so exciting,” said Giddens, 6-5 from Oklahoma City’s John Marshal High. “Coming here you see how much Kansas fans appreciate basketball.”
The fans also appreciate the Jayhawks’ attempts at dancing and acting. The crowd rocked the building with applause and foot stomping on numerous occasions.
“The fans were just fantastic,” KU coach Williams said. “Late Night has gotten to be more a celebration of the opening of the season than anything else. I really enjoy watching the kids ‘acting a fool.’ Some of them ‘act a fool’ more than I would. They always get me to ‘act a fool’ a little at the end.”
That’s when the Jayhawks pull the coach on the court to dance.
Williams danced with his men’s players, just as Marian Washington danced with her KU women’s players.
|
Late Nite Video Gallery
Late Nite Pix
Late Night a great night for KU players, recruits
Audio from Roy Williams’ post-Late Night
Panorama of Allen Fieldhouse
MORE: All the Late Night stories
6News video report: Students get reserved seating (6 p.m.) 6News video report: KU students get reserved seating sections (10 p.m.)6Sports video: Basketball season opens with Media Day and Late NightAudio from Roy Williams’ Men’s Basketball Media Day
“Neither of us had heard of the songs,” Williams said of he and Washington. “We’ve got to get some Marvin Gaye and Billy Ocean next year so we can do some of those things ourselves. It was a nice night. I really enjoyed the tribute to Marian they showed on the (four portable) videoboards. It was classy and nice.”
Indeed, a short, poignant video honored Washington, who was beginning her 30th season as KU coach.
Williams, in his 15th year, shed some tears later when highlights were shown of the end of last year’s Final Four season.
“It showed me talking to our fans at the hotel after our last game in Atlanta,” Williams said. “I was a little emotional at that time. I don’t mind saying I had tears in my eyes tonight. I wanted that team to win the whole thing. We didn’t, but I still remember how much fun I had. Really the most fun I had in my life coaching.”
Walk-on excellence: Walk-on Christian Moody of Asheville, N.C., scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday’s 20-minute midnight scrimmage. Stephen Vinson of Lawrence had two points, two boards and three assists, including a crisp pass to Moody for a bucket.
Vinson had been listed as questionable for the scrimmage because of back pain.
“Stephen did a great job the last 24 hours doing exactly what (trainer) Mark Cairns told him to do. Today he felt a heck of a lot better,” Williams said of Vinson, who actually has had off and on back pain since his high school days. “Stephen and Christian both walk-ons didn’t look out of place at all. I’m proud to have ’em here.”
Saturday’s opener: KU practiced for real on Saturday, going hard for two hours. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who was held out of the Late Night scrimmage, practiced, as did Bryant Nash. Nash, a junior forward, who broke his thumb three and a half weeks ago, will wear a splint on his thumb while practicing the next two weeks.
Nash had three boards and three points Friday, stroking a three-pointer.
Junior Jeff Graves now has been cleared to do more than ride the stationary bike. The 6-9, 280-pounder did some “dummy” work during practice and worked on accepting passes and inside shooting during 1-on-1 work with assistant Joe Holladay. He did not scrimmage, but did take part in post-practice sprints.
Helping out at practice Saturday were former Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Steve Woodberry, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann.
Hawkins has fun: Jeff Hawkins had a riot imitating Dick Vitale in a skit Friday, wearing a bald wig.
“It was funny going out there and wearing wigs and doing some acting,” Hawkins said. “Late Night is really a lot of fun for everybody.”
Family matters: Parents of all KU’s players, except Senegal’s Moulaye Niang, attended. Collison had about 30 relatives on hand.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Williams, who stresses a family atmosphere. “And parents of some prospects attended.”
Niang, a 6-10 freshman, had six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also had three rebounds and showed a nice touch on a hook shot.
Case on recruit: Jeremy Case liked how Boone enjoyed Late Night.
“He was smiling the whole time,” Case said of the recruit. “Even when I asked him about it he started smiling.”
At one point, Williams rushed into the stands to shake hands with the prospects as a highlight video appeared on the four screens.
Jackson, 6-9 from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen, attended with his mother.
“I think there’s a good chance he will come to Kansas. We are good friends. There’s a real good chance,” Giddens said.
Miffed: Williams opened his postgame Late Night media session with a critique of newspapers’ coverage of Thursday’s Media Day. He was miffed the Journal-World gave considerable attention to the coach’s statement that Jeff Graves was “not officially on the team” until he passed his running tests.
“I was stunned,” the coach said. “It’s not the biggest story. We have two guys who are potential All-Americans, who chose to come back to college instead of taking the money and running (to NBA) and half the daggum articles in the paper after Media Day are about Jeff Graves.”
The 6-9, 280-pound Graves had some monster dunks and acted in skits at Late Night as he continued to rebound from his September concussion.
Four devoted Kansas University basketball fans marched around James Naismith court Friday night carrying oversized, homemade replica jerseys for the recruits in attendance at Late Night With Roy Williams.
The crowd cheered wildly for jersey Nos. 35 (J.R. Giddens), 10 (Jeremy Case) and 44 (David Padgett), representing the three high school players who all have orally committed to KU, plus No. 21 for Josh Boone, who is considering Kansas, UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Case, a 6-foot guard from McAlester, Okla., who made the five-hour drive to Allen Fieldhouse with his entire high school team. “It was cool to see your name on a jersey in front of all those KU fans. I thought we might possibly be on TV.
“I wanted to put it up in my room,” Case added, settling for signing the jersey for the fan who created his jersey and opted to keep it as a memento.
Case and all the high school players in attendance, including junior Darnell Jackson of Oklahoma City, had big smiles on their faces during Friday’s as-always wacky Late Night attended by 16,300 fans who crammed into the fieldhouse.
“I’d graduate right now if I could,” said Case, who still has a final year of high school ball to play.
“It was so exciting,” said Giddens, 6-5 from Oklahoma City’s John Marshal High. “Coming here you see how much Kansas fans appreciate basketball.”
The fans also appreciate the Jayhawks’ attempts at dancing and acting. The crowd rocked the building with applause and foot stomping on numerous occasions.
“The fans were just fantastic,” KU coach Williams said. “Late Night has gotten to be more a celebration of the opening of the season than anything else. I really enjoy watching the kids ‘acting a fool.’ Some of them ‘act a fool’ more than I would. They always get me to ‘act a fool’ a little at the end.”
That’s when the Jayhawks pull the coach on the court to dance.
Williams danced with his men’s players, just as Marian Washington danced with her KU women’s players.
|
Late Nite Video GalleryLate Nite Pix Late Night a great night for KU players, recruitsAudio from Roy Williams’ post-Late Night Panorama of Allen FieldhouseMORE: All the Late Night stories 6News video report: Students get reserved seating (6 p.m.) 6News video report: KU students get reserved seating sections (10 p.m.)6Sports video: Basketball season opens with Media Day and Late NightAudio from Roy Williams’ Men’s Basketball Media Day
“Neither of us had heard of the songs,” Williams said of he and Washington. “We’ve got to get some Marvin Gaye and Billy Ocean next year so we can do some of those things ourselves. It was a nice night. I really enjoyed the tribute to Marian they showed on the (four portable) videoboards. It was classy and nice.”
Indeed, a short, poignant video honored Washington, who was beginning her 30th season as KU coach.
Williams, in his 15th year, shed some tears later when highlights were shown of the end of last year’s Final Four season.
“It showed me talking to our fans at the hotel after our last game in Atlanta,” Williams said. “I was a little emotional at that time. I don’t mind saying I had tears in my eyes tonight. I wanted that team to win the whole thing. We didn’t, but I still remember how much fun I had. Really the most fun I had in my life coaching.”
Walk-on excellence: Walk-on Christian Moody of Asheville, N.C., scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday’s 20-minute midnight scrimmage. Stephen Vinson of Lawrence had two points, two boards and three assists, including a crisp pass to Moody for a bucket.
Vinson had been listed as questionable for the scrimmage because of back pain.
“Stephen did a great job the last 24 hours doing exactly what (trainer) Mark Cairns told him to do. Today he felt a heck of a lot better,” Williams said of Vinson, who actually has had off and on back pain since his high school days. “Stephen and Christian both walk-ons didn’t look out of place at all. I’m proud to have ’em here.”
Saturday’s opener: KU practiced for real on Saturday, going hard for two hours. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who was held out of the Late Night scrimmage, practiced, as did Bryant Nash. Nash, a junior forward, who broke his thumb three and a half weeks ago, will wear a splint on his thumb while practicing the next two weeks.
Nash had three boards and three points Friday, stroking a three-pointer.
Junior Jeff Graves now has been cleared to do more than ride the stationary bike. The 6-9, 280-pounder did some “dummy” work during practice and worked on accepting passes and inside shooting during 1-on-1 work with assistant Joe Holladay. He did not scrimmage, but did take part in post-practice sprints.
Helping out at practice Saturday were former Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Steve Woodberry, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann.
Hawkins has fun: Jeff Hawkins had a riot imitating Dick Vitale in a skit Friday, wearing a bald wig.
“It was funny going out there and wearing wigs and doing some acting,” Hawkins said. “Late Night is really a lot of fun for everybody.”
Family matters: Parents of all KU’s players, except Senegal’s Moulaye Niang, attended. Collison had about 30 relatives on hand.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Williams, who stresses a family atmosphere. “And parents of some prospects attended.”
Niang, a 6-10 freshman, had six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also had three rebounds and showed a nice touch on a hook shot.
Case on recruit: Jeremy Case liked how Boone enjoyed Late Night.
“He was smiling the whole time,” Case said of the recruit. “Even when I asked him about it he started smiling.”
At one point, Williams rushed into the stands to shake hands with the prospects as a highlight video appeared on the four screens.
Jackson, 6-9 from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen, attended with his mother.
“I think there’s a good chance he will come to Kansas. We are good friends. There’s a real good chance,” Giddens said.
Miffed: Williams opened his postgame Late Night media session with a critique of newspapers’ coverage of Thursday’s Media Day. He was miffed the Journal-World gave considerable attention to the coach’s statement that Jeff Graves was “not officially on the team” until he passed his running tests.
“I was stunned,” the coach said. “It’s not the biggest story. We have two guys who are potential All-Americans, who chose to come back to college instead of taking the money and running (to NBA) and half the daggum articles in the paper after Media Day are about Jeff Graves.”
The 6-9, 280-pound Graves had some monster dunks and acted in skits at Late Night as he continued to rebound from his September concussion.
Four devoted Kansas University basketball fans marched around James Naismith court Friday night carrying oversized, homemade replica jerseys for the recruits in attendance at Late Night With Roy Williams.
The crowd cheered wildly for jersey Nos. 35 (J.R. Giddens), 10 (Jeremy Case) and 44 (David Padgett), representing the three high school players who all have orally committed to KU, plus No. 21 for Josh Boone, who is considering Kansas, UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Case, a 6-foot guard from McAlester, Okla., who made the five-hour drive to Allen Fieldhouse with his entire high school team. “It was cool to see your name on a jersey in front of all those KU fans. I thought we might possibly be on TV.
“I wanted to put it up in my room,” Case added, settling for signing the jersey for the fan who created his jersey and opted to keep it as a memento.
Case and all the high school players in attendance, including junior Darnell Jackson of Oklahoma City, had big smiles on their faces during Friday’s as-always wacky Late Night attended by 16,300 fans who crammed into the fieldhouse.
“I’d graduate right now if I could,” said Case, who still has a final year of high school ball to play.
“It was so exciting,” said Giddens, 6-5 from Oklahoma City’s John Marshal High. “Coming here you see how much Kansas fans appreciate basketball.”
The fans also appreciate the Jayhawks’ attempts at dancing and acting. The crowd rocked the building with applause and foot stomping on numerous occasions.
“The fans were just fantastic,” KU coach Williams said. “Late Night has gotten to be more a celebration of the opening of the season than anything else. I really enjoy watching the kids ‘acting a fool.’ Some of them ‘act a fool’ more than I would. They always get me to ‘act a fool’ a little at the end.”
That’s when the Jayhawks pull the coach on the court to dance.
Williams danced with his men’s players, just as Marian Washington danced with her KU women’s players.
|
Late Nite Video GalleryLate Nite Pix Late Night a great night for KU players, recruitsAudio from Roy Williams’ post-Late Night Panorama of Allen FieldhouseMORE: All the Late Night stories 6News video report: Students get reserved seating (6 p.m.) 6News video report: KU students get reserved seating sections (10 p.m.)6Sports video: Basketball season opens with Media Day and Late NightAudio from Roy Williams’ Men’s Basketball Media Day
“Neither of us had heard of the songs,” Williams said of he and Washington. “We’ve got to get some Marvin Gaye and Billy Ocean next year so we can do some of those things ourselves. It was a nice night. I really enjoyed the tribute to Marian they showed on the (four portable) videoboards. It was classy and nice.”
Indeed, a short, poignant video honored Washington, who was beginning her 30th season as KU coach.
Williams, in his 15th year, shed some tears later when highlights were shown of the end of last year’s Final Four season.
“It showed me talking to our fans at the hotel after our last game in Atlanta,” Williams said. “I was a little emotional at that time. I don’t mind saying I had tears in my eyes tonight. I wanted that team to win the whole thing. We didn’t, but I still remember how much fun I had. Really the most fun I had in my life coaching.”
Walk-on excellence: Walk-on Christian Moody of Asheville, N.C., scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday’s 20-minute midnight scrimmage. Stephen Vinson of Lawrence had two points, two boards and three assists, including a crisp pass to Moody for a bucket.
Vinson had been listed as questionable for the scrimmage because of back pain.
“Stephen did a great job the last 24 hours doing exactly what (trainer) Mark Cairns told him to do. Today he felt a heck of a lot better,” Williams said of Vinson, who actually has had off and on back pain since his high school days. “Stephen and Christian both walk-ons didn’t look out of place at all. I’m proud to have ’em here.”
Saturday’s opener: KU practiced for real on Saturday, going hard for two hours. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who was held out of the Late Night scrimmage, practiced, as did Bryant Nash. Nash, a junior forward, who broke his thumb three and a half weeks ago, will wear a splint on his thumb while practicing the next two weeks.
Nash had three boards and three points Friday, stroking a three-pointer.
Junior Jeff Graves now has been cleared to do more than ride the stationary bike. The 6-9, 280-pounder did some “dummy” work during practice and worked on accepting passes and inside shooting during 1-on-1 work with assistant Joe Holladay. He did not scrimmage, but did take part in post-practice sprints.
Helping out at practice Saturday were former Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Steve Woodberry, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann.
Hawkins has fun: Jeff Hawkins had a riot imitating Dick Vitale in a skit Friday, wearing a bald wig.
“It was funny going out there and wearing wigs and doing some acting,” Hawkins said. “Late Night is really a lot of fun for everybody.”
Family matters: Parents of all KU’s players, except Senegal’s Moulaye Niang, attended. Collison had about 30 relatives on hand.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Williams, who stresses a family atmosphere. “And parents of some prospects attended.”
Niang, a 6-10 freshman, had six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also had three rebounds and showed a nice touch on a hook shot.
Case on recruit: Jeremy Case liked how Boone enjoyed Late Night.
“He was smiling the whole time,” Case said of the recruit. “Even when I asked him about it he started smiling.”
At one point, Williams rushed into the stands to shake hands with the prospects as a highlight video appeared on the four screens.
Jackson, 6-9 from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen, attended with his mother.
“I think there’s a good chance he will come to Kansas. We are good friends. There’s a real good chance,” Giddens said.
Miffed: Williams opened his postgame Late Night media session with a critique of newspapers’ coverage of Thursday’s Media Day. He was miffed the Journal-World gave considerable attention to the coach’s statement that Jeff Graves was “not officially on the team” until he passed his running tests.
“I was stunned,” the coach said. “It’s not the biggest story. We have two guys who are potential All-Americans, who chose to come back to college instead of taking the money and running (to NBA) and half the daggum articles in the paper after Media Day are about Jeff Graves.”
The 6-9, 280-pound Graves had some monster dunks and acted in skits at Late Night as he continued to rebound from his September concussion.
Four devoted Kansas University basketball fans marched around James Naismith court Friday night carrying oversized, homemade replica jerseys for the recruits in attendance at Late Night With Roy Williams.
The crowd cheered wildly for jersey Nos. 35 (J.R. Giddens), 10 (Jeremy Case) and 44 (David Padgett), representing the three high school players who all have orally committed to KU, plus No. 21 for Josh Boone, who is considering Kansas, UConn, Georgetown and Virginia.
“It gave me goosebumps,” said Case, a 6-foot guard from McAlester, Okla., who made the five-hour drive to Allen Fieldhouse with his entire high school team. “It was cool to see your name on a jersey in front of all those KU fans. I thought we might possibly be on TV.
“I wanted to put it up in my room,” Case added, settling for signing the jersey for the fan who created his jersey and opted to keep it as a memento.
Case and all the high school players in attendance, including junior Darnell Jackson of Oklahoma City, had big smiles on their faces during Friday’s as-always wacky Late Night attended by 16,300 fans who crammed into the fieldhouse.
“I’d graduate right now if I could,” said Case, who still has a final year of high school ball to play.
“It was so exciting,” said Giddens, 6-5 from Oklahoma City’s John Marshal High. “Coming here you see how much Kansas fans appreciate basketball.”
The fans also appreciate the Jayhawks’ attempts at dancing and acting. The crowd rocked the building with applause and foot stomping on numerous occasions.
“The fans were just fantastic,” KU coach Williams said. “Late Night has gotten to be more a celebration of the opening of the season than anything else. I really enjoy watching the kids ‘acting a fool.’ Some of them ‘act a fool’ more than I would. They always get me to ‘act a fool’ a little at the end.”
That’s when the Jayhawks pull the coach on the court to dance.
Williams danced with his men’s players, just as Marian Washington danced with her KU women’s players.
|
Late Nite Video GalleryLate Nite Pix Late Night a great night for KU players, recruitsAudio from Roy Williams’ post-Late Night Panorama of Allen FieldhouseMORE: All the Late Night stories 6News video report: Students get reserved seating (6 p.m.) 6News video report: KU students get reserved seating sections (10 p.m.)6Sports video: Basketball season opens with Media Day and Late NightAudio from Roy Williams’ Men’s Basketball Media Day
“Neither of us had heard of the songs,” Williams said of he and Washington. “We’ve got to get some Marvin Gaye and Billy Ocean next year so we can do some of those things ourselves. It was a nice night. I really enjoyed the tribute to Marian they showed on the (four portable) videoboards. It was classy and nice.”
Indeed, a short, poignant video honored Washington, who was beginning her 30th season as KU coach.
Williams, in his 15th year, shed some tears later when highlights were shown of the end of last year’s Final Four season.
“It showed me talking to our fans at the hotel after our last game in Atlanta,” Williams said. “I was a little emotional at that time. I don’t mind saying I had tears in my eyes tonight. I wanted that team to win the whole thing. We didn’t, but I still remember how much fun I had. Really the most fun I had in my life coaching.”
Walk-on excellence: Walk-on Christian Moody of Asheville, N.C., scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday’s 20-minute midnight scrimmage. Stephen Vinson of Lawrence had two points, two boards and three assists, including a crisp pass to Moody for a bucket.
Vinson had been listed as questionable for the scrimmage because of back pain.
“Stephen did a great job the last 24 hours doing exactly what (trainer) Mark Cairns told him to do. Today he felt a heck of a lot better,” Williams said of Vinson, who actually has had off and on back pain since his high school days. “Stephen and Christian both walk-ons didn’t look out of place at all. I’m proud to have ’em here.”
Saturday’s opener: KU practiced for real on Saturday, going hard for two hours. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who was held out of the Late Night scrimmage, practiced, as did Bryant Nash. Nash, a junior forward, who broke his thumb three and a half weeks ago, will wear a splint on his thumb while practicing the next two weeks.
Nash had three boards and three points Friday, stroking a three-pointer.
Junior Jeff Graves now has been cleared to do more than ride the stationary bike. The 6-9, 280-pounder did some “dummy” work during practice and worked on accepting passes and inside shooting during 1-on-1 work with assistant Joe Holladay. He did not scrimmage, but did take part in post-practice sprints.
Helping out at practice Saturday were former Jayhawks Jeff Boschee, Steve Woodberry, Brett Ballard and Todd Kappelmann.
Hawkins has fun: Jeff Hawkins had a riot imitating Dick Vitale in a skit Friday, wearing a bald wig.
“It was funny going out there and wearing wigs and doing some acting,” Hawkins said. “Late Night is really a lot of fun for everybody.”
Family matters: Parents of all KU’s players, except Senegal’s Moulaye Niang, attended. Collison had about 30 relatives on hand.
“I’m really proud of that,” said Williams, who stresses a family atmosphere. “And parents of some prospects attended.”
Niang, a 6-10 freshman, had six points on 3-of-4 shooting. He also had three rebounds and showed a nice touch on a hook shot.
Case on recruit: Jeremy Case liked how Boone enjoyed Late Night.
“He was smiling the whole time,” Case said of the recruit. “Even when I asked him about it he started smiling.”
At one point, Williams rushed into the stands to shake hands with the prospects as a highlight video appeared on the four screens.
Jackson, 6-9 from Oklahoma City’s Northwest Classen, attended with his mother.
“I think there’s a good chance he will come to Kansas. We are good friends. There’s a real good chance,” Giddens said.
Miffed: Williams opened his postgame Late Night media session with a critique of newspapers’ coverage of Thursday’s Media Day. He was miffed the Journal-World gave considerable attention to the coach’s statement that Jeff Graves was “not officially on the team” until he passed his running tests.
“I was stunned,” the coach said. “It’s not the biggest story. We have two guys who are potential All-Americans, who chose to come back to college instead of taking the money and running (to NBA) and half the daggum articles in the paper after Media Day are about Jeff Graves.”
The 6-9, 280-pound Graves had some monster dunks and acted in skits at Late Night as he continued to rebound from his September concussion.
