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Scrimmage showcases incoming freshmen

By Case Keefer

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Just as one Mario departed from the Kansas basketball team, another one arrived.

Mario Chalmers, who announced he would stay in the NBA Draft earlier this week, wasn’t at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center for the second alumni scrimmage of the summer. But junior college transfer Mario Little played in the intra-squad game just 13 hours after moving to Lawrence – and he made the most of it.

Little was given the intimidating task of guarding current NBA player Julian Wright, who put on an exhibition in last week’s game with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Not against Little. The incoming junior guard held Wright to 16 points and three rebounds, which helped lead Little’s Blue Team to a 75-65 victory against Wright’s Red Team. Wright spoke highly of Little’s performance.

“He’s coming here and expecting to produce,” Wright said. “I think that’s the thing he is going to do.”

Wright would know. He was teammates with Little on an AAU team during high school. Little also contributed offensively by scoring 13 points and dishing out four assists.

But the Blue Team was led by a monstrous performance from sophomore center Cole Aldrich. He pulled down 16 rebounds and limited second chance opportunities for Wright. Freshman forward Quintrell Thomas added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Blue Team.

Neither Thomas nor Little were the most impressive incoming players in the game, though. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor took that honor as he made everyone else look silly.

Taylor, who played for the Red Team, had 19 points, four points and three steals. He also collaborated with Wright to thrill the crowd.

Taylor got the ball deep in the left corner when he saw Wright racing down the court early in the game. Then he lobbed the ball high in the air before Wright slammed it down for a thunderous dunk.

“I wasn’t going to throw it at first,” Taylor said. “He gave me the head nod so I just tossed it up there and he went and got it. It was unbelievable.”

Unfortunately for the Red Team, no one else could complement Taylor’s performance. Freshman guard Travis Releford threw up an air-ball to open the game and went 3-for-10 from the field overall. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed played even worse – going 1-for-8 from the field.

Meanwhile everyone on the Red Team was hitting open shots. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar and junior college transfer Tyrone Appleton scored 12 points each.

In a scrimmage game, the first team to 75 points wins. Although the Blue Team led most of the game, Taylor gave the Red Team hope late in the game when he hit a three-pointer to cut the score to 65-63.

The Blue Team couldn’t be stopped and it scored on the next two possessions. Sophomore guard Conner Teahan ended the game with a deep three-pointer.

All the players in the incoming freshman class said they weren’t worried about losing Chalmers to the NBA Draft. They are ready to create their own legacy.

“That’s what I’ve been doing all my life,” Little said. “Stepping up in big games at crunch time. We’re all going to step up.”

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