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Kansas, Memphis compete again, this time for recruits

By Alex Beecher

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

And here we thought Kansas had beaten Memphis.

John Calipari might like to remind us that, through the national championship game was certainly a momentous victory, it was also only a battle. The war, he might say, is far from over.

It looks like fictionalized John Calipari is right.

The national championship game, though won by Kansas, has clearly benefited both programs. A quick jaunt over to Rivals.com will illustrate that point. Of the top 10 2009 recruits, five list Kansas as a possible destination. And wouldn’t you know it, five list Memphis, as well.

But it’s the overlap that makes this really interesting. Of their five top-10 prep targets, Kansas and Memphis share four. Except Kansas and Memphis can’t very well share John Wall, Xavier Henry, Derrick Favors or Lance Stephenson. All those players must eventually choose where they will display their basketball talents.

And so two of college basketball’s superpowers are set to clash once again.

The dynamics have changed slightly since the last meeting. Now, Kansas’ coaching staff can flash its substantial national championship bling.

The goals of this new battle are also different. The prize here isn’t a title or a trophy, but players who may very well win one in the future.

As for the outcome... we’ll have to wait a bit to find out for sure, but we can always speculate in the meantime.

It may be difficult for us, with our crimson-and-blue tinted glasses on, to envision a scenario in which a recruit could possibly choose to play college basketball elsewhere. No program is more tradition-rich than this one.

The names associated with Kansas basketball paint a picture that practically chronicles the history of the game: James Naismith, Phog Allen, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, Paul Pierce, etc.

And then there’s the building in which Kansas plays, named for one of the legendary coaches just listed: Allen Fieldhouse. It’s widely heralded as one of the best venues in all of sports, and with good reason.

But it isn’t as if KU basketball is coasting on its considerable reputation. Under Bill Self, Kansas has claimed four consecutive Big 12 championships, three consecutive Big 12 tournament championships, and that little tournament in March and April. As if that weren’t enough, five Jayhawks were selected in the most recent NBA Draft.

Now it’s time to play Memphis’ advocate.

Sure, Kansas has tradition. Great, but this is college basketball, not history class. Are today’s hoop recruits really going to be swayed by the prospect of sharing a court with Wilt Chamberlain? To KU devotees, Allen Fieldhouse is a basketball cathedral. But without context, it’s hardly the state-of-the-art venue that Memphis’ FedExForum is.

Winning won’t be a problem at Memphis either. Conference USA is fine, but it isn’t the Big 12. It’s almost impossible to imagine Memphis not winning the conference every year for the foreseeable future.

It’s also worth noting that nothing that transpired in the NCAA championship game says that Memphis can’t win a championship.

Quite the contrary, it showed that Memphis is in fact an elite program that can compete with or beat the traditional blue-bloods. Sometimes the breaks just don’t go your way.

John Calipari would be more than happy to talk NBA as well. After all, Derrick Rose was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, which is probably due to more than Rose’s talents.

Calipari’s dribble-drive motion offensive philosophy allows for much more improvisation than Self’s.

That, in turn, gives exceptionally talented players ample opportunity to showcase their skills for onlooking scouts.

If I’m Calipari, that’s the point I’m emphasizing above all else. The players may be one-and-done’s, but Memphis provides a good stepping stone to the NBA.

Fitting, then, that their allegiance will go a long way toward deciding who wins the next Kansas-Memphis battle.

— — Edited by Scott R. Toland

Comments

camebd (anonymous) says...

Thank you for the article. That was the most honest and even handed presentation of the two programs I have seen. Refreshing journalism.

October 8, 2008 at 1:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

datzMRDorsey (anonymous) says...

Kudos to Mr. Beecher and Mr. Toland (provided you didn't edit out anything nasty). Fair assessment and mutual respect will bode well for your future in journalism. The respect has been in tact toward KU's program for decades. Nice to see the reciprocity.

October 9, 2008 at 5:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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