Boulder – Those juvenile Jayhawks are growing up in a hurry.
Who could have guessed a Kansas team led by freshmen and sophomores would find the poise to crush Kentucky on Saturday by 27 points? Kansas (9-4) remains unranked. But the Jayhawks feel good about themselves – and especially the future – entering tonight’s matchup with Colorado at the Coors Events Center.
This will mark KU’s first true road game of the season and its Big 12 Conference opener.
After studying game tapes, Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said the Jayhawks look like a different team than the indecisive unit that began the season 3-4, including a rare nonconference home loss to Nevada.
“It was just a matter of time,” said Patton, whose Buffaloes (10-2) began their league schedule Saturday with an 89-64 loss at Texas.
When Kansas coach Bill Self signed a Fab Four that ranked among the nation’s top incoming recruiting classes, Jayhawks fans were ready to break open bags of confetti. But Self knew even McDonald’s All-Americans sometimes struggle to find their way on the college court.
“It’s frustrating sometimes, but it’s not anyone’s fault,” Self said. “We’ve got really good players, but there are very few that come ready to really play. They don’t understand what it takes to win at the collegiate level.
“In AAU ball … there’s not as much of an emphasis on playing to win as there is in playing to be seen (by recruiters).”
Everybody recognized Kansas’ recruits. Julian Wright, a 6-foot-8 forward from Chicago, was ranked by Sporting News as the nation’s seventh-best high school senior. Brandon Rush, a 6-6 swingman from Mount Zion Academy in Durham, N.C., rated 11th. Self headed west to nab 6-8 swingman Micah Downs from Kirkland, Wash., and 6-1 guard Mario Chalmers from Anchorage, Alaska. Downs ranked 18th nationally, Chalmers No. 19. Wright, Downs and Chalmers were named McDonald’s All-Americans.
And Rush, who leads KU and Big 12 freshmen in scoring (12.8), probably should have been. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Rush is a brother of former Missouri star and current Charlotte Bobcat Kareem Rush and former UCLA high-flier JaRon Rush.
“That’s quite a family, but I think this kid (Brandon) will be the best of the bunch,” Patton said.
The Fab Four accounts for 42.4 percent of Kansas’ scoring, a share that figures to climb. Rush notched career bests in points (24) and rebounds (12) against Kentucky. Wright is hitting 64.3 percent from the field in his past four games. Chalmers tops the team in assists (40) and steals (28).
“We’re learning to play tough,” Self said.
The Jayhawks’ top seven players in scoring average are sophomores (four) or freshmen (three).
A lack of consistency from game to game has been a headache, however.
“Kansas has a lot of talent,” CU sophomore Richard Roby said. “But when you have a young team, the season is going to go up and down.”
From his squad, CU’s Patton is looking for more patience on offense, wiser shot selection and more aggressiveness on defense. An experienced Buffs team failed to handle the pressure of its league opener.
“We forgot how to play in the Big 12,” CU senior Andy Osborn said. “Now we remember.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
