Each week during the University of Kansas’ sports seasons, the Journal-World staff will select one athlete from a KU men’s sports team and one from a women’s sports team as athletes of the week.
For the week of Feb. 2 to Feb. 8, the selections are Bryce Barkdull and Jaliya Davis.
Bryce Barkdull, men’s basketball
The sophomore from Andover won the pole vault at the Iowa State Classic by clearing 5.44 meters, his best result of the indoor season to this point. That contributed to a sweep of the event for KU, as Madi Snody took first place on the women’s side.
Jaliya Davis, women’s basketball
Davis has earned five straight freshman of the week honors from the Big 12 and is now in pole position for a record-tying sixth after what might have been her best week yet. She had 28 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes of a win over BYU on Wednesday for her first career double-double, then 28 points and eight boards in a second home win against Cincinnati on Saturday, including perhaps her longest shot attempt of the season on a deep jumper that iced the game in the final minute. Her 21.9 points per game have her up with Northern Arizona’s Naomi White as the highest-scoring freshmen in the nation.
