Can Kansas Reload to Defend 2008 Title?

UPDATE: Mario Chalmers announced that he would go pro in the afternoon after I published this. So, we're definitely in a "Florida 2008" situation rather than a "Florida 2007" situation with the Jayhawks. We'll also be taking odds on how soon Mario's dad is asked to clean out his locker as Kansas' Director of Basketball Operations, an appointment that oh-so-coincidentally coincided with Mario's decision to attend KU.


The Florida Gators' repeat championship was an anomaly.

In today's game, players who are talented enough to go pro, do it. If Brandon Rush hadn't pulled the classic "hurt myself playing pickup", followed by intense rehab, the Jayhawks probably would have never stood on that podium. But now that they have, players are launching themselves into the pros based on that momentum. Kansas graduated six seniors this year, with only Sasha Kaun likely to play in the Association. Underclassmen Rush and Darrell Arthur are probable first-rounders, bringing the total of players gone from the championship squad to eight. That's a lot of shoes to fill, with the biggest losses coming up front.

Graduating:

Russell Robinson - 6'1" Guard
Rodrick Stewart - 6'4" Guard
Jeremy Case - 6'1" Guard
Sasha Kaun - 6'11" Center
Darnell Jackson - 6'8" Forward
Brad Witherspoon - 6'1" Guard

Early-entry NBA:

Darrell Arthur - 6'9" Forward
Brandon Rush - 6'6" Guard/Forward

Of the remaining nine players, a whopping five are from the state of Kansas. Meaning lots of benchwarmers. I hate to bag on my home state, but nobody wins a repeat championship with all Sunflower Staters playing big minutes.

The good news (for now) is that the backcourt is solid, with buzzer-beating hero Mario Chalmers still in school, and Sherron Collins ready to play starters minutes if his injury woes subside. The only remotely experienced post player is Cole Aldrich, who acquitted himself very well against North Carolina (8 pts, 7 rebs, 4 blocks) in limited tournament action, and should be able to do his part.

Beyond that, it's (yecch!) recruiting. I'm not going to get into who was a McDonald's All-American or where they played AAU, because I don't care. I'm just going to try to guess which guys will get a shot to start, and who might fill out the rotation. If we assume a Chalmers/Collins backcourt, and Aldrich in the middle, we have two starting forwards to find.

The candidates:

Marcus Morris - 6'8", 220lb F, Philadelphia
Markieff Morris - 6'10", 230lb F/C, Philadelphia
Quintrell Thomas - 6'8", 235lb F, Elizabeth, NJ

That's right, KU is trying for a little bit of that Lopez brothers action, bringing in a pair of twins (obviously not sporting identical pituitary glands-they're fraternal twins) to shore up the inside. If I know Bill Self, I'd expect a rotation of all three of these guys, with Markieff spelling Aldrich and playing alongside him when necessary. Strangely enough, the Morris brothers initially committed to Memphis, but changed their minds long before the NCAA championship game was played.

Self can also play small, as he's recruited a couple of 6'5" wing players, and a 6'3" guard. If one or two of the bench jockeys show some spark, the Jayhawks could be OK in the Big 12 once again. Texas has the inside track on a championship, however, with D.J. Augustin saying he'll be back. A repeat is likely not in the cards, but a good year? Yeah, I think Bill Self can make hay with the kind of talent he recruits.

STF Off-Season Outlook: The Coaching Carousel

This is start of STF’ s Off-Season Outlook series , which are basically roundups of the many, many offseason moves in the world of college hoops. Look for about one per week, going on as long as we can think of college hoops stuff to write about over the summer. Today, we take at look at the always revolving coaching carousel

2008 Coaching Carousel




Staying - Bill Self, Kansas - Now that both basketball champion Self and football champion Les Miles have turned done major offers from their alma maters, can sports writers just chill out before calling the next championship coach a “sell out” before anything happens? Self makes the smart decision to reject Boone’s play money and stay in Lawrence to enjoy being king for awhile

Tony Bennett, Washington State - This one is still somewhat surprising. Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance, Bennent said no thanks to Indiana, Oklahoma State and LSU, instead deciding to stay in Pullman where he’ll be sans the services of Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low getting paid much less money than he could be making. But hey, can’t mess with happiness, something Bennent appears to have at Wazzu.

Bill Grier, San Diego, Randy Bennent, SMC - Both WCC coaches will be returning tons of talent next season and decided to take the Mark Few route and stay in the WCC instead of bailing for the Pac-10. That last sentence is liable to change the longer that Stanford job stays open.

Jim Larranagra, George Mason - Another coach that decided to spun his alma mater, Larranagra was just the first of many to turn down Providence.



On the Move

Keno Davis, Providence - Well now, raise your hand if you saw that one coming. It’s less surprising when you consider that David grew up in Boston when his father coached at BC, but still, surprising that Davis jumped that quickly and that someone finally said yes to Providence. Davis is basically the opposite of Bennett, as he turned exactly one good season and zero NCAA Tournament wins into a Big East job. Still, we can't wait to see the Friar launch the threes.

Travis Ford, UMass - Boone Pickens may have failed in his home run hire attempt, but at least the Cowboys were able to salvage themselves from future embarrassment by nabbing one of the hottest mi-major coaches available. After turning down LSU and Providence, he heads to Stillwater where he'll look to bring his up-tempo style to the Big 12 and resurrecting a program that has been sinking over the past four seasons.
Craig Robinson, Oregon State - Even more impressive than Davis, Robinson has turned two Ivy league season and zero conference titles into a Pac-10 job. Granted, it’s an Oregon State job that most coaches avoided like the plague, but that’s still an impressive jump. Hopefully his Obama-relation will do something to bring some positive attention to the mess known as Oregon State basketball.

Trent Johnson - LSU - Not sure if there could be two more different college situations than LSU and Stanford, but the fact that LSU apparently doubled his salary gives an idea as to why Johnson may have jumped ship.
Tom Crean - Indiana - The Hoosiers stay in the Midwest to hire a proven power conference winner in Crean, who already seems at home in Bloomington. Marquette then counters by hiring assistant and former UNO coach Buzz Williams.

Mike Montgomery- Cal - Great hire for a Cal squad that has fallen into mediocrity over the past five season. Not only do they acquire a guy who was a pretty damn successful college coach until he ran Golden State into the ground, but they take him away from Stanford, who is still currently looking for a head coach. Ben Braun, The man Montgomery is replacing, took the opening at Rice, which just completed an 0-16 season in C-USA. Have fun.

Other Hires of Note:

South Carolina - Darrin Horn (WKU)
TCU - Jim Christian (Kent State)
Drake - Mark Phelps (Arizona State)


Still Open


Stanford - Please don't tell me we have a second coming of the Providence situation here. It's been 13 freakin' days since Trent Johnson left and they jsut interviewed the first candidate.....assistant coach Doug Oliver. Wasn't this team just in the Sweet 16? Isn't Stanford the best academic/athletic school in America?

Bucknell - This is somewhat biased since Flannery is from near my hometown and that I used to work at Bucknell, but what he did to turn tiny Bucknell into a household name is pretty damn amazing. After 14 seasons, Flannery stepped down as coach on Friday. Now it will be up to his replacement to bring the Bison back to the top of the Patriot League and keep the program moving forward. Wouldn't it be great if son of Skip Prosser/current assistant Mark Prosser got the job?


Coming Soon: Player Movements, Super-Early Top 25, Key Games of 2009, Freshman Watch