World University Games, July 3-14.
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Now that the dust begins to settle, time to look ahead. Unless Kansas can lure a few accomplished grads back for summer play, there is bound to be much negative speculation regarding Jayhawk selection to represent USA Hoops. Quite possibly we will be without our two top freshmen recruits, Alexander and Oubre. Will Greene and Mickelson commit to another year in Lawrence? Will TRob or others return? Will a 7 ft. newcomer appear upon the scene to add depth to SelfBall? Is there a cold chance in hell that Self can draw troops together for an international onslaught on the world stage? At this moment, hopes would appear to be more than somewhat bleak. That said, I do tend to focus upon the hole of a doughnut.
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@approxinfinity Man, this is prime time for Adidas to step to the fore to deliver us some gunboats!
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Is this the first college team to do this? They’ll be competing against countries all star teams if I’m correct. In some ways this sounds a little risky in that the chance of injury is there. A season ending injury in July is pretty devastating as there’s no way to replace someone at that time.
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Huh. I’m curious as to why this thread is not listed among current topics today. I figured it would stir lots of interest and debate. I don’t see it listed anywhere among recent topics for discussion.
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If KU landed Thon Maker would he qualify to play in the games? He’s currently playing in Canada (I believe), but I have no idea what his nationality is. A legit 7’ stud would change the team overnight!
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No he wouldn’t qualify if he’s not a US citizen. I’m assuming he is not as he was born in Sudan. Even though he’s been to 3 American High School’s I’m just not sure of his eligibility. He’s got red flags with him anyway, I’m assuming if he does go to college that he wouldn’t be cleared until the fall. And the freshman we sign must be enrolled in summer school in order to compete.
I doubt any former players will be playing either, they have to be enrolled in school to do so.
Right now if everyone comes back but the usual suspects we will have everyone but Svi and maybe a few more prospects.
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@BeddieKU23 they could enroll for a summer class or an online class.
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what’s the likelihood that happens though? We’d all love former greats to come back but if they have NBA obligations/contracts its hard to see teams being okay with that and having say a Paul George situation happen. Although that possibility is unlikely I think Self will role with whoever remains minus Svi so that he can set his team up for the most success next year.
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@BeddieKU23 I have no idea, we do need a big, hopefully one is coming!
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yes we do need a big.
Diallo is our best bet. Self and company have now checked on him twice recently. Maker & Zimm are unknown’s.
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Self and Roberts are supposedly visiting Diallo today. Hopefully all goes well and we get him to sign soon. This is the only good thing about our early exits, coaches can now solely focus on recruits. Unfortunately iSu can also hit the recruiting trail now and Freddy is schedule to meet Cheick on Thursday.
And to answer the question about Thon Maker, Thon would not be eligible. Neither would Joel or Andrew.
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Also I’m not certain if Cheick signs he would be able to play for us during the games. He’s originally from Mali so I’d venture a guess he’d have to play for them. Again, not certain. I’ll see if I can confirm this either way.
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@Kip_McSmithers I did think when we talked about this earlier, in depth, that we could get past players that were in the nba. I thought we discussed whether their owners would allow them too. Someone had posted a rules page back then that seemed like nba guys were good. Did you see that?
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By Jesse Newell jesse.newell@cjonline.com LAWRENCE — The Kansas men’s basketball team will represent the United States at the 2015 World University Games, and if history is any indication, the challenge could be immense.
At the 2013 Games, a U.S. team made up of college all-stars like Creighton’s Doug McDermott and Michigan State’s Adreian Payne finished ninth.
Now, a 12-person KU roster will look to fare better in the event from July 3-14 in Gwangju, Korea — a test of consecutive day games that Kansas coach Bill Self jokingly compared to an NCAA Tournament on steroids.
“It also could potentially be very humbling, because we could go there and get waxed,” Self said. “That’s why we’re going to take it very serious and go over there and compete and try to win.”
This is only the second time a college team will compete in the World University Games. In 2007, Northern Iowa represented the United States and finished ninth.
Because of some conflicts in the international calendar for 2015, USA Basketball decided it would be best this time to select a college team to represent America in the international event.
Deputy head of USA Delegation Craig Jonas said he looked at a matrix of criteria to help pick the college team, including five-year record (KU was No. 1), next year’s preseason rankings, returning players and last year’s RPI finish.
“When you went through the machinery of all those factors,” Jonas said, “KU was our number one choice.”
The tournament will provide a unique opportunity for KU, which will be able to have unlimited practices in the 2015 summer term to prepare. Normally, college teams are limited to one foreign summer exhibition tour every four seasons, but this exception falls outside that, as the Jayhawks’ last foreign tour came in 2012.
The games will be played under FIBA rules, which includes four, 10-minute quarters, a deeper 3-point line and a 24-second shot clock.
Perhaps the most intriguing part will be KU’s roster construction. The U.S. team can only have 12 players, and incoming recruit Svi Mykhailiuk will not be eligible to play, as he will compete for his native Ukraine.
The Jayhawks, who have no scholarship seniors this year, are likely to have a few guys declare for the NBA draft. Incoming freshmen are allowed to play, though, so any players Self signs this year could be added to the roster.
There’s another wrinkle, as well: Recent graduates are eligible for the event as long as they were born in 1990 or later and are taking a class at KU. That means Self could potentially add players like Jeff Withey or Xavier Henry if they wanted to participate and received clearance through their agents and teams.
“If our roster is 10, we could literally have tryouts of ex-KU players,” Self said, “to see who would best fit the criteria or best fit our team.”
Self also didn’t rule out the possibility of having a selection process for his own scholarship players. KU is limited to a total party of 24 for the trip, and that includes a team doctor, trainer and administrator.
After doing the math, KU has figured out that two players could attend the trip as non-playing members of the team.
It could turn into an interesting situation next year when Self has to select his roster of 12 — especially if a few talented former players return and have the potential to help KU win.
“You want to make kids happy without question and provide them opportunities, but that’s not what this is about,” Self said. “This is about going over there and being as competitive as you can be.”
Self also said he has thought about how KU will adjust its schedule after the trip ends. After going hard for the early part of the summer, he plans on shutting his players down.
“That means they’d have basically five weeks to get their legs back under them, which is plenty of time," Self said. “So they still get their summer break. They still have all that. Then start back up again maybe Sept. 1.”
Obviously, KU should receive other benefits from the trip, as well. Though television details haven’t been finalized, the games are likely to be broadcast nationally.
Getting international exposure could help future recruiting.
“Certainly it will be great for our program and great for our young kids and great to be seen, you stop and think about it, not only by every NBA team, but also all the international teams and agents throughout America,” Self said. “I think it can do nothing but open doors and opportunities for us.”
The games should be difficult. Jonas said many times international teams use the World University Games as a tuneup for the World Championships or even the Olympics.
Self promised his team would take its responsibility “very seriously.”
“It’s not going to be a fluff trip in which we just get to go on a vacation,” Self said. “We’re going to go over there and do everything we can to represent the United States in a big-time way.”
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Found this on Team USA website:
Only current university student-athletes or recent graduates, born between Jan. 1, 1990 (1987 all other sports), and Dec. 31, 1997, are eligible for the 2015 Games. For Kansas’ participation, only U.S. citizens can compete and incoming freshmen and transfers qualify.
Since Cheick was born in Mali we can count him out for the WUG. Damn!
@Crimsonorblue22 : There a NBA guys that could play, like Thomas, Jeff, Ben. And I know they can play if they so choose. But like @BeddieKU23 's example of Paul George, the Kings would be apprehensive about letting Ben play in these games. As for Jeff and Thomas, since they aren’t starters and are more role players maybe their NBA clubs would be more open to them playing. That’s if their clubs don’t have them in Summer League games. Who really knows? I’m just speculating here. Maybe someone like @Jesse-Newell would have more and better information on this.
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@Kip_McSmithers because we lost everyone in 2012 and then had Naadir quit and BMac went pro, our new guys lost the opportunity to really experience the culture that preceded them. Playing alongside some of out 2012 studs could be massive for the young guys.
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@Crimsonorblue22 Psyched!!! Unlimited practices! Big time exposure. Adidas cashing in their NBA monopoly and jumping into NCAA couldnt have come at a better time. Considering KU NEEDS A HUGE recruiting class next year and this will help immensely. Plus, the unlimited practicing time for our guys this summer will basically do for KU what it did for the evil empire Kentucky last summer. KU will be exponentially better next season. I can see it.
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@approxinfinity great pt, wish TRob and twins would come back more often, Withey too!
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By next year do you mean this year? We need to sign as many kids as we can this year. With the way KU has seen kids leave its not likely the train stops with Oubre & Cliff. Bragg being the lone commit won’t do it. Full court press for Diallo, Brown, Newman, transfers is a must.
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@BeddieKU23 Oh yeah, we absolutely need big recruits this year. I also meant next year too.
