Thursday, April 12, 2007
Brandon Rush has yet to make a decision on whether he’ll enter the NBA Draft, but two other Jayhawks who were on the fence have committed to another season.
Freshman forward Darrell Arthur and sophomore guard Mario Chalmers received attention from pro scouts this year, but both reaffirmed Tuesday that they’ll be back for another season.
Chalmers asked coach Bill Self to look into where he might be drafted, and ultimately decided he could improve his standing with another year in Lawrence.
“From what they were saying, I would have been in the first round,” Chalmers said. “But I think it’s better for me to come back. I’ve made my decision, and I’m ready to come back for another great year.”
Arthur took less time to make up his mind, saying that he’s known since the end of the season that he would be back.
“I haven’t really talked to anybody about it, because I wasn’t even thinking about it,” he said. “I never decided, because I always knew I was coming back.”
With the departure of Julian Wright, Arthur will likely earn a starting spot next season. He plans on working on his strength and conditioning during the offseason to prepare for his new workload.
Self said that Arthur, nicknamed Shady, would be a strong NBA prospect in the future.
“People like Shady a lot,” Self said. “But he’s just a freshman. He’s young, and it’s going to be a strong draft.”
Spoon’s uncertain future: There are no worries that junior guard Brad Witherspoon will bolt for the NBA, but it’s not known for sure yet whether he’ll be invited to join next year’s roster.
The team will add a new walk-on, guard Conner Teahan of Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo. Still, Self said he had yet to make a decision about Witherspoon, who became a fan favorite after joining the team during open tryouts.
“I like him,” Self said. “I haven’t decided what we’re going to do.”
Sherron’s rumor control: Assistant coach Kurtis Townsend was talking with freshman guard Sherron Collins on Monday, and mentioned that a rumor was circulating that Collins was transferring to DePaul.
Collins laughed.
“This is for everybody,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from, but Sherron Collins will not be leaving Kansas. I’m staying at Kansas through my whole career. Whatever it takes.”
Since the rumor first hit the internet, Collins has received more than 700 messages on Facebook from people asking him about it or urging him to stay at Kansas. Collins was in Chicago last week, but he was there to help take care of his newborn child.
“People come up with stuff all the time that’s not even remotely close to being true,” Self said.
Collins will return for his sophomore season, but has yet to recover from a knee injury he suffered at the end of March. He is staying off the court, but still working out daily, and says the knee is about 90 percent healed. Even as he struggled through the final weeks, he said there was no chance of him missing the tournament.
“There wasn’t anything that was going to stop me from playing in those games,” he said. “It hurt pretty bad, but in a game like that your adrenaline starts rushing and you don’t think as much about your knee.”
Decision time looms for Rush: Sophomore guard Brandon Rush has until April 29 to decide if he’s leaving for the NBA Draft, and he intends to use all of his time.
“I’m just going to wait and see,” he said. “It’s going to come down to the last few weeks, when I can get a feel for who is going to get picked.”
If several other underclassmen declare for the draft, Rush might be more inclined to stay in Lawrence another year instead of going up against a strong rookie class. If fewer players declare, it would improve his position.
Rush said that even if he left, he wouldn’t immediately hire an agent. Right now he’s gathering information about how different teams view him, as well as meeting with Self and talking on the phone with his brother, Kareem.
“I’ve been able to relax, but it’s going to come to the point where I have to make a decision,” Rush said.
His teammates said that they would encourage him to stay, but understand why he would want to leave for the NBA.
“It’s all on Brandon right now,” Chalmers said. “We all want him to come back, but it’s his decision. He’s going to do what’s best for him.
A new addition? If Rush left, a scholarship would become available for next year that Self was not anticipating. Rumors are already swirling about whether he would pick up a junior college player so the team would remain at full scholarship capacity, but Self refused to speculate.
“Finding somebody, in large part, will more than likely depend on our roster status,” he said. “If everybody’s back, there’s a great chance we won’t. If somebody leaves, there’s a chance we will.”
Self said that he will be taking the weekend off, and will continue his offseason recruiting early next week.
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@kansan.com.
—Edited by Lisa Tilson
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