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Jayhawks prepare for big expectations

By Corey Thibodeaux

Friday, August 21, 2009

The men’s basketball team is fully assembled and ready to start team workouts.

They do so with the privilege of being the top ranked team in the nation. Veterans like junior center Cole Aldrich know it is just a number.

“I can’t say it’s not cool (to be ranked number one),” he said. “Really it doesn’t mean anything until that last buzzer sounds in Indianapolis.”

Veterans on the team can spend more time improving themselves this season, instead of having to groom a largely inexperienced group as they did after the 2007-08 starting lineup departed.

“Last year at the beginning of the season we were teaching a lot of effort and a lot of different stuff,” Aldrich said. “Now we can really focus in on just getting better ourselves.”

However, sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor said, there will be no lack of team unity.

“I feel like once you’re a part of the team, you’re a part of the team and we’re going to treat you like everybody else,” he said. “I don’t think our team chemistry should be a problem at all.”

The addition of freshman guard Xavier Henry caused a stir but he is trying to improve himself as much as he can to help this team succeed.

“My experience is I’m trying to set the highest standards for myself just to push myself to work harder,” he said. “If you have high standards, there’s no limit to where you can go.”

Henry’s brief display of talent has already left an impression on his teammates.

“He’s athletic,” Aldrich said. “That’s one thing that makes him fit with our team. He’s going to be able to shoot the ball and take people off the dribble.”

With the additions of freshmen bigs Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson, Aldrich said, not only is there depth, but also competition.

“Everybody everyday in practice is competing and going against each other because they know they’re fighting for minutes,” he said.

Aldrich spent his summer working on his leg strength to compete with the stronger bigs like Dexter Pittman from Texas. Aldrich spent time in Ohio at LeBron James’ camp and Arizona for Amare Stoudemire’s.

He is also touted as one of the top players in the nation.

“I think that’d be cool,” Aldrich said of being college basketball’s number one player. “One thing that would make me proud and the rest of the Big 12 is if anyone from the Big 12 is able to do that again. Over the past years we’ve been able to have guys from our conference represent our country.”

If Aldrich has the season many people expect, his stock in the NBA draft will make him close to a top pick (he is already a top 10 pick according to ESPN.com). Being a junior, he still has a long way to go to make the decision to enter the draft. But this season is all that matters right now.

“You never really can say I’m for sure doing this, I’m for sure doing that,” he said. “I’m just going to take it day by day and just try to put myself and our team in the best positions that we can.”

— Edited by Jonathan Hermes

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