Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Just one letter separates Darrell and Darnell. The two forwards have a similar position, coming off the Kansas bench to replace the starters. They’ve also both improved their performance in the final weeks of the season.
After those surface-level observations, though, Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur couldn’t be more different.
Arthur, a freshman, came to Kansas as one of the most highly sought-after recruits in the country. After attending high school in Dallas, he leaned heavily toward going to school at Baylor, but the recruiting efforts of coach Bill Self paid off and he came to Kansas. Since joining the team, he’s continued to stay in the national spotlight, and ESPN projects that he would be selected in the lottery portion of this year’s NBA draft if he made himself eligible.
Jackson will probably never hear his name called by the NBA commissioner. He initially joined the Jayhawks carrying a different label — overrated.
“When he first came to Kansas, people said he wasn’t good enough to play at Kansas. He wasn’t on J.R. Giddens’ level,” his mother, Shawn, said. “I told him not to worry about what other people say. It’s the man who’s coaching that matters.”
Self saw potential in Jackson, but it wasn’t realized immediately. He started with a sluggish freshman season. Then, as he was getting ready to start his sophomore season, he found out he would be suspended for the first nine games because he violated NCAA rules by “accepting impermissible benefits from a Kansas donor.”
Now in his junior season, Jackson has finally earned a spot in the Jayhawk rotation. His large size disguises a speed and athleticism that comes in handy when he guards players who can make longer shots. When Julian Wright picked up his fourth foul, Jackson was called on to guard Texas superstar Kevin Durant.
“He was making shot after shot,” Jackson said. “I was like, man, it’s a 6-foot-10 big man bringing the ball down and making threes.”
Jackson was able to hold Durant in check, though, and Brandon Rush helped out defensively as Kansas forced overtime, ultimately winning the game.
But while Jackson was making big plays in a nationally televised game, Arthur was sitting on the bench in pain.
He had taken an elbow to the groin from a Texas player, and was suffering a bruise that was keeping him out of the game. On Monday, Self updated his status.
“He’ll be getting four or five treatments a day over the next few days,” he said. “He was hurting pretty good last night.”
After a fast start to the season, Arthur began to come back to earth during the opening weeks of conference play. He finished the season strong, though, scoring 15 points in 20 minutes against Iowa State and following that up with 7 points in 19 minutes against Texas in Lawrence.
During the NCAA tournament, both Arthur and Jackson will be called on to play significant minutes. They’ll relieve junior center Sasha Kaun and sophomore forward Wright when the two need a break or get into foul trouble.
Darnell and Darrell each took different paths to the Kansas bench, but now that they’re there, both are working to make the most of their time in the postseason spotlight.
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@kansan.com.
— Edited by Darla Slipke
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Dar(r/n)ell off the bench
okay.....so recycling stories now? Come On Kansan. You can do better than this.
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