Morning Brew: Jankovich flies with Redbirds

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tim Jankovich is accustomed to winning 25 games each year.

When Jankovich was an assistant coach under Bill Self for five years — one at Illinois and four at Kansas — Self’s squads averaged 26 victories per year.

So it comes as no surprise that Self’s former right-hand man is guiding Illinois State down the same path he helped guide Illinois and Kansas. The Redbirds won 25 games last season — Jankovich’s first in charge — and seem to be on the same path this year, winning 16 of their first 18.

pullquote

Gillispie bulldogged his way into arguably college basketball’s most prestigious job. Jankovich could be the next Self assistant coach to jump to power-conference basketball. He certainly has the support of his former boss.

“Tim is not a good coach — Tim is a great coach,” Self said. “He’s done a lot of things to help us here, to help me personally.”

After inheriting a team that finished ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference the year before, Jankovich guided the Redbirds to a second-place conference finish and an NIT berth. This season Illinois State is 5-2 in the Valley, trailing only upstart Northern Iowa.

Jankovich is the second of Self’s assistants to make a splash on the college basketball scene in recent years. Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie left Self’s staff at Illinois after the 2002 season, first getting his feet wet at UTEP then moving on to Texas A&M and eventually, Kentucky.

“He’s creative offensively,” Self said. “He’s got a good way with people, and he’s got his team guarding. Them winning is no surprise to any of us. But the schedule is going to get tougher. I’m sure he knows that, but he’s a really good basketball coach.”

Donovan’s adventure in Deutschland

Say what you will about Landon Donovan, the guy is the most talented and productive field player the United States has ever produced.

But as much success as Donovan has had — he is the United States national team’s all-time leading goal scorer with 37 goals — there has always been one blemish on his résumé. He just couldn’t seem to cut it in Europe. Two failed spells at German club Bayer Leverkusen were chalked up to immaturity.

That’s why it’s so exciting to see Donovan having success at the beginning of his three-month loan with Bayern Munich. No, these aren’t competitive matches — the German Bundesliga is on winter break until the end of January — but Donovan looks as though he belongs alongside Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose.

He has two goals so far, and reports suggest Bayern may make the move a permanent one. U.S. fans have to be drooling at the prospect of an on-form and motivated Donovan as World Cup qualifying résumés.

— — Edited by Jesse Trimble

Assistant coach leaving at season's end

Tim Jankovich agrees to take head coaching job at Illinois State.

/news/2007/mar/20/assistant_coach_leaving_seasons_end/

Morning Brew: Mid-majors not as spoiled as ...

Small conference NCAA tournament births feel less expected and means a lot ...

/news/2009/mar/09/brew/

Speed's the key

Southern Illinois will try to slow Thursday’s game down, but Kansas can ...

/news/2007/mar/20/speeds_key/

Only one award given at annual banquet

In the only award given out at the annual basketball team banquet, ...

/news/2007/apr/11/mbb/

Season considered success despite loss

The Jayhawks ended their season prematurely with a 68-55 loss to the ...

/news/2007/mar/26/basketball/

Zenger looks for right fit for Kansas ...

Athletics Director Sheahan Zenger begins the search for a replacement for Turner ...

/news/2011/nov/28/zenger-looks-right-fit-kansas-football/

Danny the miracle

Manning has done more than lead Kansas to the 1988 championship.

/news/2008/feb/15/danny_miracle/

Texas A&M coach returns to play against ...

Mark Turgeon played guard for KU between 1984 and 1987 and also ...

/news/2008/mar/07/turgeon/

No bad blood between Self, Illinois

The Jayhawks say they aren't using Self's connections to Illinois for motivation ...

/news/2011/mar/19/no-bad-blood/

Assistant job suits former Jayhawk walk-on

/news/2005/mar/14/sports_basketball_mens_ballard/

Football schools improve basketball programs

Athletics Department hopes to follow the lead of other schools and make ...

/news/2007/mar/01/football/

Sarraf: Looking to the future

Through strong recruiting and consistent coaching, Bill Self is ensuring that the ...

/news/2007/mar/28/sarraf/

Blog: Predicting the Big 12 men's basketball ...

Sam Kovzan gives his take on where each Big 12 team will ...

/news/2011/oct/25/blog-predicting-big-12-mens-basketball-final-stand/

Norm Roberts returns to Kansas as an ...

Bill Self hires Roberts, who has worked with Self in the past, ...

/news/2012/apr/09/basketball/

Brown officially named SMU coach

After a week of speculation, Larry Brown will coach his 13th team ...

/news/2012/apr/19/bball/

Jayhawk hoop dreams

/news/2005/feb/02/sports_basketball_mens_wolff/

Self has team keep an eye on ...

Men's basketball prepare for tomorrow's game against Texas Tech, knowing that this ...

/news/2012/feb/16/self-standings/

Self strives to make first trip to ...

Leading three different teams to the Elite Eight, Kansas coach Bill Self ...

/news/2008/mar/28/self/

Just how good is Kevin Durant?

The Texas freshman is being compared to Kansas great Danny Manning. See ...

/news/2007/mar/02/mbb/

The Rush that almost never happened

After projections put Brandon Rush outside the first round of the NBA ...

/news/2007/nov/09/basketball/

Collins secures his legacy

Collins earns his place in Kansas basketball lore with his historic 124th ...

/news/2010/feb/25/collins-secures/

No. 1 Jayhawks hold off Texas A&M

Kansas faces off against a Texas A&M team that has yet to ...

/news/2010/feb/15/no-1-jayhawks-face-tough-road-test-texas-m/

High school sophomore commits to Kansas

Zach Peters is the first player to commit to Kansas in the ...

/news/2010/apr/22/high-school-sophomore-commits-kansas/

Kansas visits Illinois State for WNIT sweet ...

Kansas women’s basketball team hopes for glory without injured senior guard Danielle ...

/news/2010/mar/25/kansas-visits-illinois-state-wnit-sweet-16/

Dwyer: Self will steer clear of memory ...

Past acquaintances and experiences will come back this week to test his ...

/news/2011/mar/15/dwyer-self-will-steer-clear-memory-lane/

Kansas meets another familiar face

Just winning against former coach Roy Williams, the Jayhawks will face John ...

/news/2008/apr/07/kansas_calipari/

No respect at all

Big 12 coaches are tired. Sick and tired of the unfair treatment ...

/news/2007/mar/07/big_12_coaches/

Kansas gameday at Texas Tech

The Kansan previews tonight's game, as Kansas takes on Texas Tech at ...

/news/2012/jan/11/kansas-gameday-texas-tech/

Self says he'll stick with Kansas

Self said he had met with Oklahoma State about a vacant coaching ...

/news/2008/apr/11/self_stay/

Zenger takes over a changing Athletics Department

New Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger took over the department amid conference controversy ...

/news/2011/aug/21/zenger-athletics-department/

A&M’s returners need to fill hole

The loss of All-Big 12 guard Acie Law to graduation and the ...

/news/2007/oct/26/am/

Jayhawks stop McCamey, drop Illinois 73-59

Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson keyed on stopping Illinois point guard Demetri ...

/news/2011/mar/20/jayhawks-drop-illinois/

Morningstar's long road to Wednesday's home court

Read about his most recent accomplishments, as well as his early beginnings.

/news/2011/mar/01/morningstars-long-road-tonights-home-court/

Rush to overcome injury

After healing the scars of a negative family legacy as a freshman, ...

/news/2007/oct/18/Rush/

Michael Lee makes comeback

Michael Lee has returned to Lawrence for graduate school after playing for ...

/news/2007/aug/21/lee/

Rothman: Self is history in the making

Kansas’ win against Iowa State marked coach Bill Self’s 400th career victory.

/news/2010/feb/14/rothman-self-history-making/

KU Athletics self-imposes probation

/news/2005/jul/15/Violations/

Coach starts small to dream big

Coach Ritch Price reflects on his experiences throughout the years that led ...

/news/2008/apr/29/coach_starts_small_dream_big/

Former Jayhawk hired at San Francisco

Michael Lee is one of three USF coaches with direct ties to ...

/news/2010/jul/25/former-jayhawk-hired-san-francisco/

Thomas Robinson declares for NBA Draft

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson announced he will forgo his senior season and ...