The Lady Jayhawks were knocked out of the WBIT in Semifinals against in conference rival BYU. The loss officially ends basketball season in Lawrence.
The fourth quarter was all about runs, starting with an 8-0 spurt by BYU as the Cougars took a 54-51 lead at the 6:48 mark. Meister ended the run with a three and Nichols added a pair of free throws, putting Kansas back on top, 56-54, just 68 seconds later. BYU hit three straight three-pointers as part of a 9-0 run, opening up a 63-56 advantage with 3:51
to play. BYU’s lead remained at nine into the final minute, when Brittany Harshaw knocked down a three-pointer and Davis scored to make it 69-65 with 15 seconds to play. Nichols added two more free throws to make it 70-67, which ended up as the final margin.
Over at SI, Joshua Schulman takes a look at the roster and makes some predictions on portal happenings:
Although KU has the ability to retool its roster with transfers across the country, there are some guys whom the program would certainly like to retain. But which players will end up leaving the university for more favorable options, and how many will there be?
Yesterday’s discussion talked about the need for a shooter on next year’s roster, is Jordan Ellerbee that guy? (video link)
Jayhawk Slant covers some of the new players that are looking to make a difference in the fall for Kansas football.
247 also has some updates on spring practice, this one focuses on the wide receivers and quarterbacks:
The first player that caught my attention on the first day of practice was MTSU transfer Nahzae Cox. Players were running to start drills when I saw him and I immediately thought “Who is that?” I spent more time watching him today and he has some impressive physical traits.
Through the Phog has some quotes from Andy Kotelnicki about what he’s seeing and looking for at spring practice as he prepares to put together his offense for the upcoming season:
“And really, what you look for in my practice, and being around the players, and seeing them and evaluating is so important, ’cause you’re looking for the ones who can consistently do it. Anybody can make a big time catching one-on-ones once. Can you do it day after day?
KCTV 5 also covers some of the things Kotelnicki had to say:
“He always checks to be like, ‘Are we on the same page about things?’ Do you know what I mean? He’s like, ‘Hey this is what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna have Isaiah (Marshall) come over here, and this is the reps he’s gonna take because he needs to come over and get these reps next,’” Kotelnicki said about Zebrowski. “He’s really really good, and excels at scheming, and thinking of other ways to do things.”
And the last Jayhawk links is from Through the Phog as they rank potential replacements in case Bill Self does decide to hang up the whistle.
Self has compiled one of the best coaching careers in the history of the sport, and whoever eventually fills his role will have massive shoes to fill. Our job today, is to try to scour the market for potential candidates who could fill said role.
Other Links!
This piece has been running through my mind since I read it a couple weeks ago and meant to link to it. Sam Miller took some time to write about things he learned from Russell Carleton and his process for writing and learning about baseball:
On August 7, Russell Carleton announced that he was semi-retiring from ball writing. Russell had been at Baseball Prospectus (with a couple interruptions to go work in the industry) since 2009. He wrote more than 500 columns there, some of which I got to edit; he wrote a great book called The Shift, which I got to blurb; he was an Effectively Wild guest or co-host at least 19 times; and, as I step back to think about it, I think he’s probably the writer who has had the most influence on my baseball knowledge. I want to share just a tiny portion of things I learned from Russell, things that will likely apply to ball for the rest of time whether he’s still writing or not.
Too often these days I find myself in the position of defending someone I think is annoying from someone I know is dangerous.
We didn’t have a Defector link last week but we’ve got one today as Barry Petchesky writing on what fights can mean in hockey:
But rituals can matter for their own sake, and for the social cohesion they provide. The original philosophical principle of performativity referred not to insincerity trumping intent—virtue signaling, in other words—but to the use of words or acts that actually bring something into being. How being pronounced man and wife makes them married, for example. Or how fighting an opponent who injured your teammate might tangibly strengthen the bond of your team. Not because you hate that other guy or because you want him to feel physical pain as punishment, but because that’s what teammates are supposed to do.
QOTD: With Petchesky talking about how rituals can matter for their own sake, do you have any personal rituals that you use to keep everything balanced in life?
