Well, folks, that’s all you get of Kansas University men’s basketball in 2008.
Tuesday night’s 73-49 dispatching of Albany in Allen Fieldhouse brought one of the most memorable years in school annals to an official close.
What did we learn?
In the first third of the year, the Jayhawks proved that a solid group of talented and experienced players could win an NCAA championship.
Then in the last sixth of the year, the next edition proved that a group of talented and inexperienced players could go into the new year unranked, albeit not unloved.
Putting it another way, in the world of college athletics, a freshman is a still a freshman, and the Jayhawks have five freshmen in their rotation.
Some freshmen are more precocious than others. Danny Manning, for example, averaged 14.6 points and 7.6 rebounds during his first year in a KU uniform. And Darnell Valentine averaged 13.5 points as a frosh.
Those are the two highest scoring averages I could find since the early 1970s when freshmen were ruled eligible.
What about Paul Pierce, now an NBA All-Star with the Boston Celtics?
Records show that Pierce averaged 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds as a freshman and that he shot just 41.9 percent from the field and a sluggish 60.6 percent from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-6 guard-forward was also guilty of 80 turnovers.
What about Kirk Hinrich, an established pro with the Chicago Bulls?
Hinrich had a forgettable freshman season, averaging 5.5 points a game while shooting just 43 percent.
What about Drew Gooden and Nick Collison, two more NBA first-round draft choices? Their first seasons on Mount Oread were remarkably similar. Gooden averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds, while Collison came in at 10.5 and 6.9.
Raef LaFrentz and Norm Cook, two more NBA first-rounders, both averaged 11.4 points as yearlings.
On paper, the current KU freshman making the biggest impact is Tyshawn Taylor, a smooth 6-3 guard from Jersey City, N.J., who wears one of the Jayhawks’ most hallowed jerseys — the No. 15 also worn by Ray Evans, Jo Jo White, Bud Stallworth and, as you know, most recently by Mario Chalmers.
Prior to Tuesday’s tilt with the Not-So-Great Danes from New York’s capital city, Taylor was leading the Jayhawks with 19 steals, was second in assists with 44 and third in scoring at 10.6 points a game.
Yet Taylor — as so often happens with freshmen — was almost invisible during 19 minutes on the floor. About four minutes after tipoff, Taylor drilled a three-point goal, and he didn’t shoot again until midway through the second half, when he bricked another three.
So, for the night, Taylor had three points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, one blocked shot and one turnover. If the Jayhawks hadn’t won by such a substantial margin, everybody would have wondered what was wrong with Tyshawn Taylor.
Nothing’s wrong with him. He’s a freshman. Heck, Taylor could have a breakout game Saturday against Tennessee, for all we know.
Taylor is this Kansas team in microcosm. Sometimes they’re going to be really good and other times — remember UMass — forgettable.
