Monday, October 20, 2008
Sherron Collins committed to Kansas immediately after attending Late Night in the Phog in 2005.
The atmosphere and intensity of the crowd at Allen Fieldhouse for a glorified basketball practice amazed him. He didn’t think it could get any better. But the junior guard changed his mind after participating in 2008’s Late Night in the Phog Friday night.
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor high-fives fans during the introduction of the men's basketball team at Friday Night's Late Night in the Fog at Allen Fieldhouse. Taylor led all scorers during the men's scrimmage, hitting 4-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-7 free throws.
“This was probably the best atmosphere,” Collins said, “best Late Night since I’ve been here.”
Collins wasn’t hailing it the best Late Night ever simply for the sellout crowd, deafening noise or even the 20-minute scrimmage that introduced seven newcomers to the fans. Collins said the most emotional part of the night was the unveiling of last year’s championship banners and the video that accompanied it.
Kansas coach Bill Self agreed. Self, Collins and the rest of the Jayhawks gathered underneath the scoreboard at the northwest corner of Allen Fieldhouse to watch the 20-minute highlight video and banner ceremony in its entirety.
Self said he had nothing to do with putting the video together and saw it for the first time alongside the 16,300 fans filling Allen Fieldhouse.
“I almost started crying,” Self said. “I don’t think I was the only one.”
Self especially liked the way the video was chronologically compiled. It started with highlights from the regular season before pausing to uncover the new Big 12 Championship banner.
From there, it was on to the NCAA Tournament and a new Final Four banner. After prolonged highlights of the Final Four game against North Carolina and national championship against Memphis, the black tarp dropped and exposed the 2008 National Championship banner.
“I thought that was big-time,” Self said.
The night, however, consisted of more than just nostalgia for the basketball team. It also provided an opportunity to dance.
Junior guard Mario Little took full advantage. Little’s moves led the tuxedo-cloaked juniors — plus redshirt-sophomore Brady Morningstar — in a dancing rendition of Missy Elliott’s “Ching-a-ling.”
The juniors capped off their performance by tearing off their jackets and letting loose on the Allen Fieldhouse dance floor. Self looked at his assistant coaches on the bench, put his head down and lost it laughing.
“I’ve been working with them on some different things,” Self said. “I thought Brady started all that nonsense. That was funny.”
If the juniors owned the dancing portion of the night, the freshmen stole the show in the inter-squad scrimmage. Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor helped the red team come away with a 48-34 victory against the blue team with 17 points. Taylor hit three three-pointers to put the game out of reach and added two assists.
Freshman forward Markieff Morris stood out for the blue team. Markieff out-shined Marucs Morris, his twin brother on the red team, by scoring 13 points in a number of different ways. The 6-foot-9 Markieff hit a three-pointer, a fade away jumper and tipped in two baskets during his 17 minutes of playing time. He also grabbed six rebounds.
“I think tonight we looked good,” Collins said. “Especially the young guys looked gown — Markieff and Tyshawn knocking down his jump shot.”
Self said he didn’t get much out of the brief scrimmage. To him, the night didn’t belong to any single player. It was all about the banner ceremony.
“That video department — whoa,” Self said. “I can’t imagine it being any better than that.”
— — Edited by Ramsey Cox
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