Weighed down while wearing a boot on his right foot, Kansas University freshman Devonté Graham whizzed through the Iowa Street Wal-Mart on a motorized shopping cart Thursday night.
“It was Kelly’s idea. He said, ‘Dude, you should get on the scooter because of your boot.’ That’s my boy taking care of me. I just hopped up here to do some shopping,” Graham, KU’s point guard who is out a month or more with a sprained right big toe, said, smiling.
Graham, Oubre and their KU basketball teammates bought Christmas gifts for individuals in 15 different families as part of the Jayhawks’ “Santa’s Helpers” program. It’s the 18th straight year KU’s players have shopped with money raised by former KU player Roger Morningstar and his wife, Linda, the KU Roundball Club and KU coach Bill Self.
“This is a great time of year,” said Graham, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, who is definitely not feeling sorry for himself in spite of his injury sustained against Georgetown on Dec. 10. “Nobody is letting me get down. Everybody is keeping me positive. I’m just waiting to recover,” added Graham, who had some dolls, boots and jackets in his cart.
Fellow freshman Oubre enjoyed looking for gifts for one boy and four girls.
“It makes me happy. It’s definitely a blessing to do this for these kids. To do this with my teammates, my brothers, is definitely something I’ll keep in mind forever,” the New Orleans native said. “I’ve got some Hot Wheels here. Everybody loves Hot Wheels when they are 4 years old. He’s the only boy in the family. I’m trying to give him the biggest Christmas he can ever imagine. I’m trying to do it for him.”
Sophomore Brannen Greene was trying his best to locate a “Crank Style Weather Radio,” while dodging frosh Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who breezed by while riding his cart like a bike.
“I’ve got boots, a blender, a vacuum for a 15-year-old boy and 36-year-old mom,” Ukraine native Mykhailiuk said, wishing there were more toys on the wish list of the family provided to him by Salvation Army.
Of the annual trip to Wal-Mart, KU coach Self said: “We’ve been blessed in so many ways. Because of the generosity of some people that helped us with funding, we’re able to do some things for families that may not have the chance to have the Christmas they want or their kids would dream of. It means something to our guys to give back. I think they get more out of it than the recipients do. Our guys really enjoy coming out here.”
Practices have been dandy: Self said the Jayhawks have had a good week of practice during finals week. The Jayhawks have been practicing about 90 minutes a day in preparation for Saturday’s 2 p.m., home game against Lafayette.
“We’ve gotten better. Key guys have gotten confidence. Guys are seeing the ball go in the hole,” Self said. “It doesn’t guarantee you are going to shoot it well in games, but certainly we’ve been a little more free-flowing, seem to be playing with more of a purpose offensively. I think we’ve gained on it.”
It’s Frank, then, who?: “Our point guard situation is thin but not dire straits or anything,” Self said. “Wayne (Selden Jr.) is very capable. I will try to put Evan (Manning) back there some and try to get him some minutes if at all possible, in spot duty. Frank (Mason III, starting point) is probably as valuable as anybody we have on our team.
“It’s not easy just to say, ‘Somebody go play point.’ Let’s have a tight end play quarterback. It just doesn’t happen. Evan has a great idea of what we’re trying to do. With young kids, they are trying to survive, not be responsible for all five guys and everything going on out there. I said Jamari (Traylor) … Jamari is not even close to being a point guard. I never said that, but he could be a guy that we could put at the top of the key and say, ‘OK now we can run offense,’ or he could bring it up against pressure because he’s plenty fast enough to do that,” Self added.
Sensitive mock drafters: Self was asked about having “stirred up” some folks who run NBA mock drafts, who this week have responded to Self saying mock drafts are “ridiculous” (article at web address ljw.bz/1x2jtDA).
“I don’t care if they are stirred up or not. It’s true. I don’t know what’s been said. I guess everybody can have a mock draft. Maybe they have a mock draft in football for kids coming out of high school, too. I’ve never seen it if they do,” Self said. “I don’t think they are the best things for our kids or our programs especially before kids have had a chance to prove themselves. What people don’t understand, it’s a big step from high school to college and then it’s a huge step from college to pro. Sometimes trying to make kids go strictly from high school to pro … I don’t think it’s really fair to those kids or their families because you set them up by creating such an expectation that anything less than that is a failure. It takes kids different times to develop. We have four good freshmen and I think they all four will play in the league. I’m not going to put a timetable on when that’s going to occur.”