It’s not easy to walk on to a D-I men’s college basketball team, especially a prestigious program such as Kansas University. But Overland Park native Matt Kleinmann did just that, a year ago.
The Blue Valley West product took a red shirt his first year in the program and now looks to turn heads despite a powerhouse of sophomores and freshmen.
“There’s always going to be new guys coming in,” said Kleinmann about the incoming talent on the roster. “I think that my perspective on it is what’s important. I have to look at it — these guys are future Jayhawks, they’re my teammates. Coach (Bill Self) determines who plays in the end.
“As long as I work hard and push these guys along and they push me — the best players are going to play, everyone is going to get better, and that’s going to help the team overall.”
Despite seeing numbers of scholarship athletes coming in each year, Kleinmann has his own form of motivation in knowing that walk-ons Christian Moody and Stephen Vinson have earned scholarships through hard work.
“It’s unbelievable motivation. I came in here — there’s no scholarship being offered in the future,” Kleinmann said. “It’s just work hard and good things will happen, and it’s a testament to how hard Steve and Christian have worked. They worked their butt off every day in practice and they earned a scholarship, and hopefully they’ll be earning a lot of playing time with that, too.
“I know I’m paying my own way (through college) but it’s definitely something I push myself every day, thinking there’s a chance that guys like Christian are successful. He obviously worked extremely hard to get to where he is and he’s doing great, doing that. So that’s definitely a motivation in the back of my mind.”
Kleinmann has been impressing his teammates, including Moody.
“He gained a lot of confidence through playing with this group of big guys here and playing against Wayne (Simien) last year,” Moody said. “He’s really come a long ways. And myself and the other seniors like Jeff (Hawkins), Mou, and Steve, I feel like we’ve been encouraging Matt and trying to help him understand that he can really help us this year.”
Though his confidence continues to grow, he said he still had his moments.
“I feel like sometimes I have to prove myself every day, ‘How can I get myself better?’ ‘How can I help other guys on the team get better?'” he said.
|
Pickin’ up the pace KU coach Bill Self on what each player needs to do to enable the Jayhawks to play a more up-tempo style this season: “He’s doing what he needs to do: working hard, pushing these guys in practice. He’s a great sealer in the post. If our big guys can guard him before he catches it he’s done his job making those guys better.” |
