Big 12 wide open after Kansas stranglehold ended last season By: AP Sports Writer October 23 2019 3:28 PM Updated: October 23 2019 3:27 PM KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Kansas State coach Bruce Weber shrugged off the early predications that the Wildcats, who just a few months ago were still reveling in the glow a shared Big 12 championship, would be scratching and clawing just to stay out of the cellar.
“Obviously it’s not great for your fans and selling tickets,” Weber said, “but at the same time, for us, it doesn’t matter.Every year here’s somebody that’s picked eighth or ninth, seventh that ends up being in the top of the league — that ends up like Texas Tech, playing for a national title.”
Yet it’s been a while since the league appeared this wide open.
As coaches and players convened Wednesday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, where the conference will crown a tournament champion in March, just about all of them had hopes of a title.A big part of it was the talent pool, but another reason is that the impenetrable wall that Kansas had built around the gleaming crystal trophy was finally cracked by the Wildcats and Red Raiders last season.
Their regular-season triumphs ended the Jayhawks’ unprecedented run of 14 consecutive Big 12 titles, and gave fresh hope to everyone else that it could be done.
“You have to validate what you’re doing,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said.”Along our journey, it’s going to be important to find some success.We look for that success in practice.We look for that success in daily workouts and certainly in games.Any coach and player would agree on that, as you build something, you got to have some success to validate what you’re doing.”
Yet it will be hard for the Red Raiders to follow their incredible postseason run with another; they have 10 new players, including seven freshmen.
And it will be just as hard for the Wildcats to climb into the upper echelon of the Big 12 after the foundational trio of Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade were lost to graduation.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon certainly knows the challenge facing him.The Horned Frogs return Desmond Bane and Kevin Samuel and that’s about it, leaving them to be picked near the bottom as well.
“We’re excited about the new guys — nine new players — which is a lot even in today’s game,” Dixon said.”But at the same time the league is wide open.So many teams are bringing in about the same amount of players.It’s just the way of college basketball.”
That includes Kansas, which is picked to return to the top of the league.Gone are the Lawson brothers, Dedric and K.J., and guards Quentin Grimes and Lagerald Vick.
In their place are freshmen Jalen Wilson, Tristan Enaruna and Christian Braun along with Iowa transfer Isaiah Moss.
Yes, the Jayhawks have more coming back than most teams in the league, but even they will likely rely on a couple of those newcomers if they want to start another Big 12 title streak.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said, “but I like our guys.I think we got big bodies.
I think we got a little bit of depth.We got some speed on the perimeter.A big question will be, ‘Can we defending the perimeter and can we shoot consistently beyond the arc?’
“If we’re able to do those things,” he said, “I think it could be a pretty fun season for us.”
MUM’S THE WORD
Self mostly deflected questions related to the school’s alleged NCAA violations, though he did say that many of those answers will come “at the appropriate time.” But he did say the violations, and the charge of lack of institutional control, could provide ammunition for opposing fans.
“To be honest, we deal with hostile environments everywhere we go,” Self said.”I will tell you this: Our guys have always enjoyed playing in the toughest atmospheres.
Usually that bonds us together, unites us.Hopefully we will put a better performance out because of that.”
HUDY DUTY
One of the intriguing moves of the offseason was longtime Kansas strength coach Andrea Hudy’s departure for Texas.The Jayhawks have reorganized their strength and training programs, and Longhorns coach Shaka Smart made Hudy an offer financially that made it hard for her to say no.
“She has a very, very different philosophy in terms of strength training and performance than our former strength coach,” Smart said.”There’s a lot of ways to skin a cat, but obviously she has had phenomenal success over the past 25 years as a strength coach.
We’re really excited to have her.”
LOOK OUT, BIG BOYS
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is on the NCAA rules committee, and he had some input on the plan to clean up post play.But he scoffed at any notion that the game will return to a bygone era in which guys in the paint were rarely touched and often got easy layups.
“How are you going to clean up post play when you’re have 6-foot-10, 270-pound guys leaning on each other? There’s going to be contact,” he said.”This thing that we’re going to have a no-contact sport, those people have never played our game.There’s going to be some contact.”
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 Read More CRAZY VIDEO: Driver runs into Jeep to stop it from hitting family crossing road Police in Arizona are calling the driver of a Chevrolet Cruz a hero for plowing into a driver who nearly hit a couple pushing a stroller across the street.>> Read more trending news The Phoenix Police Department posted video of the incident from last week on its Facebook page.The video shows the family crossing the street when a Jeep runs the light with the family directly in its path.
The driver of the Chevrolet Cruz then speeds up and hits the Jeep just seconds before it hit the family.The 23-year-old driver of the Jeep, Ernesto Otanez Oveso, and a woman then took off running after the accident, police said.Police later caught Oveso, who has been charged with DUI and aggravated assault.Police also found a gun in the Jeep and charged him with prohibited possession.Investigators said they have not been able to find the woman who was with Oveso.As for the driver of the Cruz, police only identified her as a 27-year-old woman.
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Officers investigated.
They told me about 20 storage bins had been burglarized with the locks broken off.Police won’t know if there’s any surveillance video until the owner responds.Mayoral push for Improve Our Tulsa extension Tulsa Mayor G.
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Thursday to discuss the importance of the vote November 12.2 men accused of shooting at cars Tulsa police have two men behind bars, accused of shooting at cars with people inside including children.Police say Marcus Gilbert and Darian Young were involved in shootings over the weekend near Pine and MLK.Police say the suspects blew through stop signs and almost hit people that were walking, nearly causing several accidents.
We’re told Darian Young is the brother of Caleb Young, charged back in May with shooting four people that he saw standing near his ex-girlfriend.Two of those people died.GOP lawmakers invade hearing room, delay impeachment testimony Denouncing the impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump undertaken by Democrats in the House, several dozen GOP lawmakers stormed into a secure hearing room in the bowels of the Capitol on Wednesday, demanding that the proceedings be made public, and delaying a scheduled deposition involving a Pentagon official for a little over five hours.’We’re going to go, and see if we can get inside,’ said Rep.Matt Gaetz (R-FL), as a group of several dozen Republicans pushed their way into the room, unhappy with how Democrats are handling this investigation.’This is very unfair to the President,’ said Rep.Debbie Lesko (R-AZ).
‘The American people deserve a public and open process,’ said Rep.
Mo Brooks (R-AL), as Republicans prevented three different committees from moving ahead with Wednesday’s hearing.Those interrupting the proceedings included Republican lawmakers who are allowed into the secure hearing room – because they are on one of the three committees involved in these closed door depositions – Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs.Democrats labeled the sit-in a political stunt that smacked of desperation.’Trump wanted a foreign government to investigate his political opponent,’ said Rep.Tim Ryan (D-OH).’That is a crime.’ “Today’s circus-like stunt will delay but it will not prevent our search for the truth about the president’s stunning misconduct,” said Rep.
Val Demings (D-FL).’GOP ‘storming’ a classified deposition was a ridiculous stunt,’ said Rep.
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).Democrats also criticized the GOP effort for violating rules on security, as a number of Republican lawmakers brought cell phones into the secure facility, which is prohibited.It resulted in officials having to conduct a sweep of the rooms, to make sure no electronic devices had been left behind.
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diplomat in Ukraine – he testified Tuesday before investigators, making the case that President Trump was withholding military aid for Ukraine in a bid to get the Ukraine government to publicly announce investigations which might help Mr.Trump’s re-election bid.In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, the President took direct aim at Taylor.Reports indicated the President may have been told by allies in the U.S.
House of their Wednesday plans.
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Work on the tax question involving vaping comes at a time where Congress is asking more questions – and getting alarming answers.
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military aid to Ukraine was held up by the White House in an effort to pressure Ukraine to publicly announce investigations which could benefit the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump, a charge the White House has repeatedly denied.’President Trump did insist that President Zelenskyy go to a microphone and say he is opening investigations of Biden and 2016 election interference,’ William Taylor said in a 15 page opening statement.
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elections,’ Taylor told lawmakers.Burisma is the company which involves Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden.The other request was related to President Trump’s belief that the DNC server hacked by Russia in 2016 was somehow being hidden in Ukraine.Democrats said the testimony was dramatic.
‘Trump committed a blatantly impeachable act and lied about it,’ said Rep.Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).“In my ten short months in Congress, this is my most disturbing day in Congress so far,” said Rep.Andy Levin (D-MI), after listening to testimony delivered by Taylor on Tuesday morning.
“This testimony is a sea change,’ said Rep.Stephen Lynch (D-MA).’I think it could accelerate matters.’ At the White House, President Trump made no statement to reporters, as his Press Secretary stepped in to knock down the Taylor testimony.“President Trump has done nothing wrong — this is a coordinated smear campaign from far-left lawmakers and radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the Constitution,” said Stephanie Grisham.
“There was no quid pro quo,” she added.““Today was just more triple hearsay.”.
