Thursday, December 11, 2008
If a performer ever fails to show up for a halftime show at Allen Fieldhouse, the organizer could always grab Mario Little off the end of the Kansas bench.
After all, the junior guard has served as the team comedian since being sidelined with a stress fracture in his left leg before the season began. During games, he points. He laughs. He dances.
Little does anything he can to keep teammates “wired.” Little says he loosens the mood at practice even more by cracking jokes in the ears of teammates who are struggling.
“He might do something stupid or say something stupid,” junior guard Sherron Collins said. “Even Coach has to laugh, and then we all laugh.”
And everyone loves it. No one, however, is dreading Little’s entertainer role inevitably changing in the next few weeks.
Little returned to practice Friday and has participated in half-court drills. He’s eyeing the Dec. 20 game against Temple at Allen Fieldhouse as his first official appearance as a Jayhawk. Although his comedic relief has entertained coaches and teammates, they think Little will be even more valuable on the court.
“I think he’s a very important piece to our team that we need,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I think it’s pretty evident that we need a big wing.”
Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar is currently starting at Little’s position of small forward. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed also logs 22 minutes per game playing mostly at small forward.
Problem is Morningstar and Reed are only 6-foot-3 and are naturally shooting guards. It’s more difficult for them to get into the paint and compete with big men for rebounds and loose balls.
Little shouldn’t have the same problems. He’s 6-foot-5 and weighs 210 pounds. He even spent time playing in the frontcourt during Kansas’ three exhibition games in Canada — where he averaged nearly 13 points and five rebounds per game — because the freshmen Morris twins hadn’t qualified academically yet.
Little takes pride in his rebounding ability and lists it and defense as his strongest skills. Collins agrees. Collins, who was teammates with Little on a Chicago-based AAU team in high school, knows what Little will add for the Jayhawks.
“A sense of toughness,” Collins said. “Suddenly, we’ve got someone else who is going to get in there and fight. He’s going to bring a whole other dimension to the team.”
Toughness is a word that’s often attached to Little’s name. Sometimes, Little might be too tough.
He transferred to Kansas from Chipola, a junior college in Marianna, Fla., as the top-ranked junior-college prospect in the nation. But he also had that stress fracture in his leg.
He played through the pain all summer and in Canada. It didn’t bother him. He said he was Chicago tough. In the end, however, playing irritated his leg more and forced him to miss the past month.
It’s against Little’s nature to not practice as hard as he can, but after that experience he knows it’s necessary.
“I tried to go out there full speed before and it cracked it in a different spot,” Little said. “So I can’t do too much stuff.”
Little plans to start working out at full speed either Friday or the practice after Saturday’s game against Massachusetts at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Self said there was no way Little would play against Massachusetts. That means he’ll once again be at the end of the bench trying to keep his teammates calm. The smile and laughs will make it look as though Little is content. But he says he won’t truly be happy until he is playing again.
“I’ve never been injured like this,” Little said. “It’s hard to sit down and watch everyone else have fun out there.”
— — Edited by Mark Dent
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