Kansas University’s men’s basketball team will play three teams from the state of Oklahoma during the 2006-07 season.
The Jayhawks, who meet Oklahoma State and Oklahoma each campaign in Big 12 play, will also tangle with Oral Roberts University of the Mid-Continent Conference on Nov. 15 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Tulsa, Okla., school, which is where KU’s Bill Self started his head coaching career, loses six seniors from last year’s 22-12 squad – one that won the league’s regular season and postseason tourney titles and advanced to the NCAAs for the first time in 22 years.
The Eagles return two-time Mid-Con Conference player of the year Caleb Green, a 6-foot-8 senior from Tulsa who averaged 20.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game last season. Green hit 224 of 425 shots (52.7 percent), hoisting 136 more shots than anybody else on the ORU team.
Also back is two-time all-conference pick Ken Tutt, a 6-1 senior from Garland, Texas, who averaged 14.2 points per game.
The Eagles are coached by Scott Sutton, the son of former Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton and brother of current Cowboy coach Sean Sutton.
Self, who was ORU coach from 1993-97, hired Scott Sutton as an Eagles’ aide in 1995.
“I owe a lot to coach Self. He got me over here, and it was a great experience working for him. I learned a lot,” Sutton told the Tulsa World. “It is one of those places you look forward to going as a player,” he added of Allen Fieldhouse. “It has so much tradition, and it will be fun to take our guys there.”
In December 1999, Sutton’s Eagles beat Self’s University of Tulsa team, 60-59, at Mabee Center on ORU’s campus. Self’s Golden Hurricane reached the NCAA Elite Eight that season.
“I had a lot of unbelievable memories from the Mabee Center, but the last time I was there wasn’t so memorable, so maybe we can turn the page on them this year,” Self said.
ORU replaces William & Mary on KU’s schedule. After agreeing to play in the Las Vegas Invitational and host Towson University on Nov. 19, Tennessee State on Nov. 21 and also meet Ball State (Nov. 24) and Florida (Nov. 25) in Vegas, the Jayhawks needed to change the date of a proposed William & Mary game, which was set for Friday, Nov. 17.
“When the schedule changed and we had to play tournament games that week, we didn’t want to play Friday, Sunday and Tuesday,” KU senior associate athletic director Larry Keating said. “They could not move back a couple of days. Oral Roberts needed a game and had an opening as well. They’re good. They went to the tournament last year.”
KU has one remaining date to fill on the nonconference schedule. Keating said it would be a guarantee game, which like the ORU contest, would not require a return contest.
KU will play DePaul and South Carolina on the road and play additional home games against Boston College, Dartmouth, Detroit Mercy, Northern Arizona, Rhode Island, Southern California and Toledo (at Kemper Arena). Exhibitions will be contested against Washburn and Emporia State.
Mavs fan: KU freshman forward Darrell Arthur naturally is rooting for his hometown Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
“I was telling Julian … we were signing autographs for kids and we were betting on who would get the most votes,” Arthur said of an autograph session at Self’s basketball camp in which he and Julian Wright polled the campers on the team that would win it all.
“Everybody was going for Miami,” Arthur said. “I told ’em, ‘You are all going against Dallas. Dallas will pull it off now because you are all jinxing Miami.”‘
Arthur attended some Mavericks games this season. “I am going for them. Everybody is against them. I’m for them,” he said.
The first session of Self’s hoops camp ended Thursday morning, with orientation for session No. 2 on Sunday.
Camp Bonnie on tap: KU women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson will be holding her Elite Camp for high school and some advanced junior high players this weekend at Allen Fieldhouse.
Tyra White, a 5-11 junior from Hickman Mills High in Kansas City, Mo., who attended Late Night in the Phog, will be at the camp as well as Joanna McFarland of Derby; Shantel Harvey of Rockton, Ill.; Danielle Bird and Taylor Bird of Lawrence as well as several players from Norman (Okla.) High’s team.