KU basketball team down to two Kansans

By Gary Bedore Jul 2, 2011

Kansas basketball notebook. …

Senior scholarship player Conner Teahan and senior walk-on Jordan Juenemann will be the only Kansans on the KU basketball roster next season following the graduation of Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed.

Junior forward Travis Releford, who attended Roeland Park’s Bishop Miege, hails from Kansas City, Mo.

Potential reinforcements from the Sunflower State could be coming in KU’s next two recruiting classes.

Perry Ellis, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound Wichita Heights senior-to-be, has a list of KU, Kentucky, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Wichita State. The three-time state Gatorade Player of the Year, who is Rivals.com’s No. 19-rated player in the Class of 2012, averaged 22.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game in leading Heights to a 25-0 record last season and third-straight Class 6A state title. He’s said he will make up to five official recruiting visits this fall.

The Jayhawks on Thursday offered a scholarship to Conner Frankamp, a 6-foot, 160-pound junior-to-be out of Wichita North High School. Frankamp, who plays for KC Pump and Run AAU, is the No. 65-rated player in the Class of 2013. The combo guard averaged 27.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals his sophomore season at North. Frankamp recently traveled to Cancun with USA Basketball’s Under 16 team. He exploded for 22 points off 10-of-13 shooting with nine assists in the gold-medal game against Costa Rica. “I was pretty surprised when he (KU’s Bill Self) offered, and I was in awe, because it’s pretty cool to be offered by Kansas. I was trying to hold back my emotions on the inside,” Frankamp told Rivals.com. “On the drive home, we (he, mom, dad) were still in awe with what happened. It really was a great day for us.” Frankamp’s early list includes KU, UCLA, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas State, Boston College and others.

Lockout talk: Former KU forward Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics was a rookie during the 1998-99 season — a season shortened to 50 regular-season games because of the last NBA lockout.

“Me, I had no knowledge of it (possible lockout). So I got drafted, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a lockout,”‘ Pierce, the 10th pick in the 1998 draft, told A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. “I was pretty much on my own. I didn’t have a trainer or anything. It was just, ‘Stay ready.’

“That’s the thing about lockouts,” Pierce added. “I’ve seen a lot of guys end their career during the lockout, pretty much by weight gain. They couldn’t get back to the level of play. It’s always about staying ready. I think a lot of guys … November comes and guys my age (33) get lazy probably and don’t work out. And then it bites them when they lift the lockout.”

Former KU forward Drew Gooden of the Milwaukee Bucks told the Journal-World recently that he could see former Jayhawks flocking to Lawrence if the lockout stretches into the 2011-12 season.

“I’m one of the guys that would say, ‘Hey, if this does go into November, December … I mean, Kansas, what better place would there be to train than in Kansas?’ At least practice with the team and be around the facility and have access. I think that’s a great idea,” Gooden said.

“It’s been brought up. The union is trying to prepare some places in certain cities where a lot of NBA guys stay in the offseason and set up some workouts like that. There will be stuff for us to do if there is a lockout, but to come back to your school, there’s no better atmosphere and focusing on the season than that.”

KU coach Self, of course, has an open-door policy to the Jayhawk facilities for former players. Jayhawks such as Aaron Miles, Cole Aldrich, Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard and Sasha Kaun are some of those who have worked out at KU in past offseasons.

“The guys have to work out someplace. All these KU guys, the ones without their degrees, should be enrolling in the fall semester and going to school,” said one NBA source who did not wish to be identified. “The facilities there are great. The coaching staff there is great about working with guys. That’s exactly what they should be doing, at least if they still want to earn their degree.”