Kansas University power forward C.J. Giles has a chance to play organized basketball this summer.
Giles, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound sophomore-to-be from Seattle, has been invited to try out for USA Basketball’s under-21 world-championship team and World University Games team.
Tryouts for the World Games team will be July 28-31 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Survivors will participate in the Games, set for Aug. 11-21 in Izmir, Turkey.
Tryouts for the under-21 team will be July 21-23 in Dallas. The U-21 squad will play at the Global Games on July 26-30 in Frisco, Texas, and at the U-21 championships Aug. 5-14 in Argentina.
The World Games squad is more prestigious.
“Anything he can do to get time on the court and hopefully stay healthy I think would be a huge benefit to him,” KU coach Bill Self said of Giles, who averaged 2.8 points and 2.4 boards in 21 games his freshman season.
There’s a chance other Jayhawks, like junior-to-be J.R. Giddens, could be invited to the USA Basketball trials depending on what college players enter the NBA Draft.
“There are players across America, including KU guys on the board, who may still go to the tryouts,” Self said, “depending on some things and how they play out.”
Complete lists of tryout participants are expected to be announced by USA Basketball in coming days and/or weeks.
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Committee work: Self has accepted a position on USA Basketball’s collegiate-competition committee. He and a handful of other coaches will help pick players for tryouts for U.S. squads.
“I’ve always wanted to be involved with USA Basketball,” said Self, set to begin his third year at KU. “The timing the last five, six years has never permitted itself (with Self making job changes). It’s an honor for me to be on the committee. The committee is one a lot of coaches would love to be on.”
Self was asked to join the committee by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Members of the committee are expected to be announced in coming days.
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Boys of summer: All of KU’s returning men’s players, plus incoming freshmen Mario Chalmers, Micah Downs and Julian Wright, will attend the first session of summer school, which begins June 7.
“Most (players) will be at both sessions,” Self said.
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Improvement: The Jayhawks have been taking part in individual workouts and weight lifting since season’s end.
“I’d say the guys who stood out as ones who improved the most may be four guys — Sasha (Kaun), Jeremy (Case), J.R. (Giddens) and Russell (Robinson),” Self said.
Self said Robinson, a 6-1, 190-pound point guard from New York, had put on 26 pounds the past 11 months.
“It’s all good weight,” Self said.
He said the starting lineup definitely would be up for grabs. “I really don’t know,” Self said of early returns on the opening five. “It’s more up for grabs maybe than any time I’ve ever been a head coach.”
Self said he could envision 6-9 freshman Julian Wright playing point guard as well as shooting guard and small forward.
“He’s pretty good with the ball. I could see having a lot of interchangeable parts,” Self said.
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Air Force job: The Colorado Springs Gazette lists KU assistant Tim Jankovich as a possible candidate for the head coaching job at Air Force. Leading candidate is former Denver Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik. Others mentioned by the paper: Air Force assistants Mike McKee and Larry Mangino, Northwestern assistant Craig Robinson, Indiana assistant Kerry Rupp and SMU assistant Dean Christian.
