Tonight is Senior Night for two Kansas University women’s basketball players.
One — Aquanita Burras — will be logging considerable minutes when the Jayhawks tangle with Big 12 Conference leader Baylor, but the other — Blair Waltz — most likely won’t.
Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised live on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.
“I can’t get my emotions up high and get too pumped up,” said Burras, a 5-foot-9 guard from Colorado Springs, Colo., “because when I get too pumped up I go too fast.”
Burras has been a workhorse for coach Bonnie Henrickson, averaging about 35 minutes a game.
“She’s been a defensive leader since we got here,” Henrickson said. “Aqua really might be the best on-ball defender that I’ve ever coached. When she comes with a focus and intensity, and the discipline to understand what her responsibilities are, she’s a very, very good defender.”
Waltz, however, has seen her minutes decrease since Henrickson took over. After averaging 23.5 minutes in her first three seasons — and making 52 starts — Waltz, a 6-0 forward from Blue Valley North, is averaging only 11.4 minutes as a senior and is averaging 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds a game.
Nevertheless, Henrickson stressed Waltz’s value runs deeper than the stat sheet.
“The kid comes right every day,” the KU coach said, “and if you watched practice, you’d think she played 40 minutes a game. You can’t discount or underappreciate a young lady like that.”
Kansas will have its hands full with No. 6-ranked Baylor. The Bears are 21-3 overall and 11-2 in Big 12 games. Kansas is 12-12 overall and 5-8 in the league.
Baylor’s 1-2 punch of Sophia Young and Stephanie Blackmon has been virtually unstoppable. The two post players are averaging a combined 33.9 points and 17.7 rebounds a game.
“They have tremendous athleticism, obviously, and arguably the best post tandem in the country, with speed and athleticism out around the corners,” Henrickson said. “They’re going to try and create some offense from their defense, which they have all year, so we’ve got to be able to take care of the ball on our end.”
After tonight, KU will have two road games remaining, also against upper-echelon league teams. The Jayhawks will travel to Kansas State on Saturday, then to Iowa State on March 1.
The Big 12 tournament will begin March 8 at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
There was something missing from Kansas University’s spring football practice Monday afternoon at Anschutz Pavilion.
Make that, someone.
KU assistant coach Mark Farley wasn’t present while the Jayhawks were going through drills. As originally was reported in Monday’s Journal-World, he’ll be in Cedar Falls, Iowa, today where he is to be named the next head coach at Northern Iowa.
KU coach Terry Allen told the media Farley “had some personal matters that came up” Monday, but told the players at the conclusion of practice their linebackers coach was leaving.
“I look at it as it’s good for coach Farley that he’s got a head coaching job,” KU senior middle linebacker Marcus Rogers said. “We’ll miss having him around here, but we’ve just got to get ready to play for the next coach.”
Who that next coach will be remains to be seen.
KU assistant Dick Mosley, who had been reassigned as an administrative assistant to make room for the promotion of Clint Bowen to a full-time position, will return to the field until a replacement for Farley is found.
“If Mark Farley were to get that job at Northern Iowa, we would do an expedited search and try to get somebody in here just as soon as possible,” Allen said. “Obviously we had a sense that those things could possibly happen so we tried to have some ducks in line, but we still need to go through the process.”
Allen had been bracing himself for the possibility he’d lose an assistant, especially since both Farley and KU running backs coach Bill Salmon were among the five finalists at UNI.
The Kansas coach said he hoped to have someone hired by the end of the week, but that he would follow university policy while going through the process.
Allen, who already had to hire four assistants and promoted Bowen to tight ends/special teams coach during the offseason, said he did have some names in mind.
“We have a couple of names in the pool that I’m excited about,” Allen said without elaborating.
KU junior offensive lineman Tony Damiani, who is listed as the starting right guard on the spring depth chart, suffered a subluxation or partial dislocation of his right shoulder during Saturday’s practice, Allen said.
Also Saturday, freshman walk-on defensive back Val Robinson suffered a knee injury and will have to undergo major reconstructive surgery.
Kansas has canceled today’s spring practice, and will practice Wednesday instead.
Kansas-Baylor game notes (.pdf)