Sherron Collins' Legacy

This year, you might as well have renamed the Kansas Jayhawks - The Kansas Sherron Collins'.  It was his car, and he was in the driver's seat.  We lived and died as he did.  At times it was great, and at times it wasn't so great.  But, still, in the end, it was Sherron's team.

We watched Sherron mature, and become a true leader this year.  The past two years, Sherron was so valuable being our first man off the bench, and bringing an added spark.  But, this year, he was asked to do so much more.  He was asked to help the young guys along, show them the ropes, and help them develop; Tyshawn Taylor more specifically.  He seemed to take to this role very well from the very beginning of the year.  I can recall a game very early on, Kent State or Siena, I believe, where one of the Morris Twins made a typical freshman mistake resulting in a foul, and Sherron immediately went over to him, started pointing to spots on the floor where he should have been, and trying to correct what was done wrong.  Sherron is a very, very smart basketball player.  He has great instincts on the court.

Going into the season, it was widely expected that this year would be Sherron's last in Crimson and Blue; that he would have one year to make this "his team", show the NBA scouts what he can do, and bolt for the draft.  As SwedishHamma reported here, as of right now, Sherron plans on staying at Kansas for his senior year.  I would say that it is just a little surprising that he intends to come back for another year.  Other than the fact that he might not be a lock as a first round pick in the draft, why would a guy pass up the shot to prove that he can make a roster, and get himself a guaranteed deal?

Well, I think there are a couple reasons, if not more.  When Sherron came out of Crane Tech High School in Chicago, he had a reputation as somewhat of a cocky, self-righteous player, and for pretty good reason.  He was a five-star Rivals recruit, had the braids, the flashy-city style of play and weight issues.  Funny things happened to Sherron when he arrived at KU, though: Coach Self got ahold of him, he was not a starter for probably the first time in his life and forced to come off the bench to contribute and he had one of the very best mentors who was in a very similar situation just a couple years before - Russell Robinson.

Kansas was the PERFECT fit for Sherron.  It was the perfect situation for him to succeed.  And, succeed, he did!

I believe that a funny thing has happened to Sherron in the last calendar year, and probably all the way back to the beginning of the 2007 season.  He went from being the big city guy to falling in love with this little college town in eastern Kansas.  Alot of times when a team wins a National Championship, a player feels like he has reached his full potential at the school he is at.  But, with Sherron I think it had a reverse effect on him.  Winning that National Championship gave Sherron perspective.  It showed him what being at KU is all about.  Having felt the responsibility of being the man for a year, Sherron, without a doubt, wants to win another and be able to say that he lead HIS team there.

As it stands right now, Sherron has a career scoring total of 1,330 points.  That is just 670 points (only 9 more points than he had this year) short of becoming, I believe, only the fourth player in Kansas history to reach the 2,000 point mark.  Sherron is one more great year away from having his jersey retired in the rafters at Allen Fieldhouse, and something like that has newfound meaning to him that it didn't went he came to Kansas.  With another great year, Sherron has the chance to go down as an all-time great at Kansas.  Mario Chalmers will always be remembered for hitting The Shot, but Sherron will likely be an all-time favorite for a whole generation of Jayhawk fans because he stuck around and took over the team after that National Championship and could possibly win a second next year.

Whatever he does, Sherron will forever be in my memory as a part of the greatest Kansas team of my lifetime.

But, Sherron, why not stay for just one more year?  This could be you again come this time next year, except it would be YOUR team...