Tuesday, March 24, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS — Six years ago, Mario Little went to the store, bought all the junk food he could and settled down in front of a television.
It was the night of the 2003 national championship between Kansas and Syracuse. Little hated Syracuse. He wanted nothing more than for the Jayhawks to be crowned national champions.
Little remembers his disappointment after watching Carmelo Anthony record 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Syracuse to an 81-78 victory. But the feeling he remembers better from that night is a positive one.
“I just sat there and watched it,” Little, a junior guard, said. “Just thinking, ‘maybe someday, I’ll be there.’”
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SWEET SIXTEEN
Kansas vs Michigan State
Friday, 8:37 p.m.
Lucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, Ind.
TV: CBS (Channel 5, 13)
Freshman guard Tyrone Appleton (32) screams after a basket by junior guard Sherron Collins as newcomers Travis Releford, Quintrell Thomas, Markieff Morris and Mario Little watch on. All of them, as well as Marcus Morris and Tyshawn Taylor, logged at least one minute of playing time in Sunday's game against Dayton.
Not playing at Kansas — Little said that never crossed his mind. Not even necessarily playing in the national championship. No, Little just wanted to be a part of the NCAA tournament.
Now, it’s happening. Kansas has won its first two NCAA tournament games and is headed to Indianapolis for the Sweet Sixteen later this week. No one is enjoying the experience more than Little and Kansas’ six other newcomers — junior guard Tyrone Appleton, freshman forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris and Quintrell Thomas and freshman guards Tyshawn Taylor and Travis Releford.
“Being a young basketball player,” Taylor said, “you always dream of playing in the NCAA tournament.”
All seven newcomers realized that dream this weekend at the Metrodome. They all logged at least one minute in the 60-43 second round victory against Dayton Sunday.
Although their combined impact was minimal — the seven combined for only 13 points and 14 rebounds Sunday — junior guard Sherron Collins knows Kansas’ success for the rest of the tournament will correlate closely with the production of the newcomers. That’s why, as the Jayhawks’ leader, he’s attempting to keep them all comfortable.
“I’m talking to them, joking with them here and there and trying to keep them loose,” Collins said. “I’m not letting them get too nervous.”
Taylor and the Morris twins admitted they were nervous before the first round game against North Dakota State. But they say it all goes away after the referee throws a jump ball to start the game.
Kansas coach Bill Self doesn’t necessarily see the nerves as a bad thing.
“I think if you don’t have a few butterflies, you’re probably not human or it doesn’t mean much to you,” Self said. “I don’t think that’s totally unusual — I don’t want them uptight, but I think we usually perform our best when we’re a little bit nervous or anxious.”
Of course, there’s not a much better security blanket the newcomers could possibly have than Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich. So far, Collins and Aldrich have accounted for 65 percent of the Jayhawks’ offense in the tournament.
While the media and fans are amazed at how the two can take over a game even when the rest of the team is laboring, the newcomers almost expect it.
“I see it every day in practice,” Taylor said. “I know what they can do.”
But Taylor says he’s capable, too. Like Little, he’s been waiting nearly his whole life for this opportunity.
That 2003 National Championship also inspired Taylor. He counts Syracuse’s run through the tournament as his finest NCAA tournament memory.
“Watching Carmelo put Syracuse on his back and take them all the way was kind of exciting to me,” Taylor said. “I cant remember what grade I was in but ’Melo was my favorite college player ever.”
Stop for a second. Did a Jayhawk just say Syracuse’s national championship was exciting?
“I didn’t even realize that,” Taylor said. “It is kind of ironic. I wasn’t a big Kansas fan back then. That’s funny.”
WRITERS NAME SELF COACH OF THE YEAR
One day after making his third-straight Sweet Sixteen, Kansas coach Bill Self was named the Henry Iba Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
After losing all five starters from his national championship team, Self led Kansas to a 25-6 regular-season record and its fifth-straight Big 12 regular-season title. Self beat out finalists such as Missouri’s Mike Anderson, Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel and Memphis’ John Calipari, among others, for the award.
This is the second time a Kansas coach has received USBWA’s annual coaching award. Roy Williams was honored with it in 1990.
— — Edited by Melissa Johnson
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