Currently: - Game info: 8:30 pm EST Sun Nov 16, 2008
When the Kansas Jayhawks left the court for the final time last season, they were celebrating their first NCAA tournament title in 20 years.
This season, coach Bill Self will try to quickly mesh the few holdovers he has from that team along with some talented newcomers as the 24th-ranked Jayhawks open with Missouri-Kansas City at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas won a school-record 37 games last season, capped by an overtime victory over Memphis in the championship game after rallying from a nine-point deficit late in regulation. But the key players from that team—Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun—all were NBA draft picks in the offseason, leaving Self to reload the Jayhawks as they begin a bid for a second straight NCAA tournament title.
“We’re not as talented as we were last year,” Self said. “We lost five guys to the draft and replaced them with young kids. But we are comparable to where we were three years ago when those guys that got drafted were all real young.”
Kansas’ top returning player is junior Sherron Collins, who averaged 9.3 points in his first two seasons. Collins, who scored 11 points in the national semifinal win against North Carolina and in the title game victory versus Memphis, takes over at point for Russell Robinson following a tumultuous offseason.
Collins drew the ire of Self for arriving to campus overweight and played only 22 total minutes in three exhibition games in Canada. On Thursday, a Douglas County District Court judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Collins, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in an elevator in May 2007.
“I’m glad it’s officially over and I can now focus entirely on school and basketball,” Collins said in an e-mailed statement.
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich hopes to build off last season’s Final Four performance against North Carolina where he had eight points, seven rebounds and four blocks in Kansas’ 84-66 victory.
Aldrich, who averaged 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds last season, will play a more significant role on a roster with five freshman and two transfers.
Self, who signed a new 10-year, $30 million deal in August after averaging nearly 29 wins in his first five seasons with Kansas, was able to parlay the NCAA tournament title into one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.
Quintrell Thomas and twins Markieff and Marcus Morris give the Jayhawks some much-needed size, while fellow freshmen Tyshawn Taylor and Travis Releford provide depth in the backcourt.
Self also brought in two of the nation’s top three junior college players— guards Mario Little and Tyrone Appleton.
“I’ve thought a lot about last year, and why last year was so special, and how we can put ourselves in position to duplicate that in the near future,” Self said. “It’s going to be difficult, but it is for everybody.”
While Kansas goes for its 36th consecutive home-opening win at Allen Fieldhouse, Missouri-Kansas City (0-1) hopes to rebound from Friday’s 61-56 loss to North Dakota.
Sophomore Reggie Hamilton, who scored 16 points in an 85-62 loss to Kansas on Nov. 11, 2007, went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and scored a team-high 22, while Spencer Johnson added 15 for the Kangaroos.
The Jayhawks, who will play Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday before playing their final two CBE Classic games at Kansas City, Mo., have won all four of their previous matchups with Missouri-Kansas City.
