Jayhawks move on after losing star player to NBA

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt remembers excitedly watching the nation’s No. 3 team on ESPN early in the 2003-2004 season. Each glimpse of the ranked team made him realize his team could still compete despite unexpectedly losing his best player, Chris Bosh, to the NBA Draft that summer.

“I told them, ‘if that’s the third best team in the country,” Hewitt said, “‘then we can win this whole thing.’”

They almost did. The Yellow Jackets lost to Connecticut in the 2003-2004 national championship. Kansas can look to Georgia Tech as a model for how to move on after losing a star player early to the NBA Draft.

Kansas’ star player is Julian Wright. Wright left after his sophomore season despite promising he’d return throughout the year. The New Orleans Hornets selected him with the 14th overall pick.

Last year, Wright did almost everything for the Jayhawks. He scored 12 points per game. He led the team in rebounds. He passed as well as any big man in recent school history. Kansas won two regular season and two postseason conference championships during his two years.

Wright also energized Allen Fieldhouse crowds with fancy passes and highlight-reel dunks. His personality and bowling skills made him a fan favorite.

Still, the Jayhawks aren’t too concerned.

“We’re going to make up fine for it,” junior guard Mario Chalmers said. “We’re going to miss him, but we have big men who can fill his shoes.”

Chalmers said senior center Sasha Kaun, freshman center Cole Aldrich, sophomore forward Darrell Arthur and senior forward Darnell Jackson are all ready to improve in Wright’s absence.

All of Kansas’ players have been doing individual workouts three days a week this fall that consist of conditioning and fundamental drills. Hewitt said individual player workouts like those were key to Georgia Tech’s run in 2004. Hewitt said they gave his players confidence that they could succeed without Bosh.

It also helped that the Yellow Jackets were loaded with skillful veterans. Sophomores and juniors Jarrett Jack, Will Bynum, Luke Schenser, Marvin Lewis, B.J. Elder and Isma’il Muhammad led the team.

“Experience is huge,” Hewitt said. “The experience level was great enough that it let them have confidence at the start of the season.”

Kansas is definitely not short on experience. Junior guard Brandon Rush has started every game of his college career. Arthur led the team in scoring in five games as a freshman. Jackson, Kaun, Chalmers, senior guard Russell Robinson and sophomore guard Sherron Collins have all played significant roles.

But experience only goes so far. The players coming back have to perform, especially on the offensive end. Hewitt said replacing scoring is the most important part after losing a star player early to the draft.

The Jayhawks’ balanced offense should solve that. Kansas never relied too heavily on one player last year. Although Wright practically scored at will against Missouri and Florida, he was only the team’s third-leading scorer for the season. Rush and Chalmers averaged more points than him last season, and five other players averaged five or more points. Add freshmen Cole Aldrich and Tyrell Reed to the mix, and it’s obvious that Kansas has plenty of scoring options.

The Jayhawks will have to wait at least two months before games begin to find out how they play without Wright. Early games against USC and Arizona could test Kansas. Arthur said his team doesn’t need Wright to win.

“We’re not really even thinking about it,” Arthur said. “We’re just trying to get more wins up and hopefully more Big 12 Championships and National Championships.”

— Edited by Kaitlyn Syring

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