From the KU Baseball Office:

Due to rain in the Lawrence area, the Jayhawks have postponed Tuesday's scheduled baseball game against Northern Colorado. The teams will make the game up as part of a doubleheader beginning at noon on Wednesday.

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The Shockers have a few top tier draft picks on this team. Several of which id expect to make it to the show (MLB). It isn't a super deep team when it comes to pro prospects, but what the Shockers do so well is MAKE professional players out of hard working kids. So I would expect for many more to come out of the woodwork as the year progresses and to be there as a prospect next season. Let me go over who I am going to be keeping my eyes on tonight.

3B Conor Gillaspie, JR, 6'1, 200,
Gillaspie is quite simply, an awesome baseball player. He is a second team All-American. Last year he hit .325 with 6 HR, 63 RBI, 24 Doubles and 12 Steals as a sophomore. Gillaspie has a great bat and plays great defense. He doesnt have a lot of HR but he has quite a bit of pop in his bat. So far this year he is hitting .435 with 2 HR, 30 RBI, 7 steals, 6 Doubles and 6 Triples and only 4 Errors at third. He is athletic with a great bat and glove. I think he will be a 2nd or 3rd round pick, but could sneak into the late first round or supplementary first round. I can't wait to see his swing.

TAKE: Im not sure if i just caught Gillaspie on a rough night or what, but he didnt really impress me that much. He obviously has a nice swing but on this night it wasnt to be. He went 1-4 with 3 RBI and a walk. He had a check swing ground out to first, another ground out to first, and a ground out to second. His only was an infield single to second. He managed to knock a run in on several of those ground outs so even his RBI total is a bit on the weak side. Gillaspie obviously is a great contact hitter that will suceed at the next level and i would still guess him to be picked somewhere near the 4th or 5th rounds, if not higher. On this night , however, i cant say i was all that impressed.

C Tyler Weber, 6'3, 220, SR
Weber is a gold glove caliber catcher and he also has a nice bat. Those 2 things are very rare to have in combination. Last year Weber hit .297 with 11 HR and 49 RBI. So far this year he is a hitting machine, batting .373 with 2 HR, 22 RBI, 6 Doubles, 1 Triple and ZERO errors. Amazing numbers for a catcher with his defensive abilities. I would expect his average to come back to earth and finish a bit above .300. I will be anxious to see him work behind the plate tonight.

TAKE: Weber DID impress me. He looked very good behind the plate with great catching skills and a nice arm. He was 1-4 with an RBI but did show some nice pop and some very nice swings. He had a fly out to CF, a ground out to 3B, a strikout and a double to LF. I think this guy will be able to hit in the minors and beyond and his work behind the plate should get him some notice. I would guess him to go somewhere near the 5th round or somewhere in that area.

SS/RHP Dusty Coleman, 6'2, 185, SO
Coleman is a fine young shortstop with tons of potential. He hit .264 with 10 Doubles, 1 Triple, 2 HR, 19 RBI and 7 steals as a freshman. Those are some crazy good freshman numbers for any position, let alone a shortstop. He also is a pitcher with a very hefty arm and could possibly be a closer at some point. So far this year he is at .367 with 5 HR, 32 RBI, 7 Doubles, 1 Triple, 6 Steals and 5 Errors. As a sophomore, he is well on his way to being an All-American and a high draft pick next year. Im excited to see his bat and his arm.

TAKE: Coleman was another player that had a rough night at the plate and failed to show me much. He was 0-5 with an RBI and a run scored. He had 3 ground outs and 2 K's in this one. Coleman being only a sophomore, did have a nice cut and showed good defense as well so if he can continue with his current numbers, id still guess him to be an early round pick after next season.

OF Ryan Jones, 6', 185, SO
Jones didnt get much time last year and he went through the typical struggles of a freshman but this year has come out in a frenzy. He is hitting .352 with 14 RBI, 4 Doubles, 3 Triples and 7 Steals. I think he is hiding some power in there somewhere and the power coupled with his athletic frame and speed will result in a very nice outfielder.

TAKE: Jones didnt get to show me much of anything tonight as far as guaging his future power. He was 1-3 in this one with his only hit being a bunt single. He also struck out once and grounded out to 3B, 2B and Pitcher. Jones also is only a sophomore, so we have until the end of at least next year to determine what his draft status could end up.

OF Andy Dirks, 6', 195, SR
Dirks is a true leadoff guy. Last year he batted .320 with 3 HR, 31 RBI and 19 SB. He knows how to hit the ball and he knows how to get on base and then once he is on base, he knows how to steal and score. This year he is at .333 with 3 HR, 14 RBI, 3 Doubles, 2 Triples and 9 Steals. He should be exciting to watch tonight.

TAKE: Dirks is exactly what i described him as. An on-base machine and a prototype leadoff hitter. Dirks had 3 walks and 2 K's in this game and you can just tell he likes to work the count, get his teammates plenty of pitches to see, wait on his pitches to hit and if not, than gladly take a walk. He was fun to watch and i think he for sure translates to the next level. I would guess somewhere in that 15-20th rounds.

OF Ken Williams Jr., 6'2, 198, JR
Williams is a transfer from Arizona and was drafted in the 36th round in 2004 by the White Sox. Rightfully so as his father is the General Manager of the Chicago White Sox. Williams is very athletic and seems to be putting things together this year batting .367 with 7 RBI, 5 Doubles, 2 Triples and 4 Steals. Im anxious to see if he has the tools to turn into something special.

TAKE: Williams is a very athletic speed demon with a nice bat as well. He doesnt have a ton of power just yet, but his game is built around speed. He went 2-4 in this one with an RBI and 2 runs scored. He doubled down the LF line, singled to CF and then struck out twice. He has a bit of bad body language and may have a slight attitude but its hard to really tell in such a short sample size. That was just a feeling i got. I do think Williams will benefit from staying through his senior year, but that will be determined this summer if the White Sox chose to draft him again. He needs to learn how to steal bases and not just rely on his speed and i think he could use some time to work on that power. He could definitely turn into something special if these assets develop for him.

Good for the Jayhawks but bad for prospect watching, we wont face any of the big 3 tonight on the mound.

RHP Aaron Shafer, 6'4, 205, JR
Shafer is one of the top pitchers in the country. He is a bulldog on the mound and is a 2nd team All-American. He has pitched 36.1 innings and has a 2.23 ERA while striking out 34 and walking 12. Shafer wont pitch tonight but who knows about when we play down there? He will be a pick in the top 2 rounds of the draft.
DNP

LHP Anthony Capra, 6'1, 200, JR
Capra is one of the top lefties in the country and is a 3rd team All-American. He has an outstanding fastball with a great breaking ball and a change. He has a microscopic 1.17 ERA in 23 innings with 34 K's and 5 walks. He may actually be better than Shafer but he doesnt possess the same size. He will be a top 3-4 round pick this summer. Once again, not pitching tonight so maybe next time?
DNP

LHP Rob Musgrave, 6'2, 195, SR
Musgrave is the last of the big 3. He is another one of the top lefties in the country. Musgrave throws 3 pitches very well and is very consistent. He is also a 3rd team All-American. This year he has a 2.13 ERA in 38 innings with 40 K's and 6 Walks. He too will be in that top 5 rounds somewhere and he wont pitch tonight either.
DNP

RHP Tyler Fleming, 6'3, 180, JR
Fleming is a transfer from Cowley College. He was drafted in the 39th in 07 by Texas and in the 20th in 06 by Texas. He has a nice fastball, a slider and a change. This year he has a fraction of an ERA at 1.71 in 26.1 innings with 14 K's and 3 walks. Fleming is another good pitcher and i wouldnt expect to see him tonight either unless WSU somehow gets in a bind.

TAKE: Fleiming did pitch in this game but it wasnt because WSU was in a bind, it was so he could shut the door and he did just that. He faced 5 batters, gave up zero hits, 1 walk and he struck out 3 and let me tell you, Fleming looked good. He is not a power pitcher. His fastball was around 86 and he had a slider around 83 biut these pitches just set up his curve. His curve was very nice with a ton of break and noone could even tough it. His curve came in around 71. I would expect Fleming to be drafted in the top 10 rounds but he could chose to stay for his senior year and try to get into that top 2-3 rounds after next season.

RHP Andy Womack, 6'2, 180, SR
Womack has gone through some injuries but has the ability to be one of the top relievers in the nation if healthy. He is currently sporting a 5.30 ERA in 8.1 innings with 9 K's and 5 walks so it appears something isnt right thus far and he may even be injured right now. I will see what i can find out tonight.
DNP

RHP Khol Nanney, 6'2, 185, SR
Nanney has had an amazing year thus far with an ERA of 0.90 in 10 innings with 11 K's and only 1 walk. I will be anxious to see if he is as dominant as his numbers portray.
DNP

Logan Hoch and Tim Kelley both pitched very well but im not quite sure where they are in the prospect world at this point. Hoch faced 9 batters and struck out 6 of them but i couldnt quite get a grip on why he was so effective. The Wichita St. pitchers do a great job of nibbling the corners, changing speeds and keeping the hitters off balance and constantly guessing.

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In case you haven't already heard, Sean Sutton has resigned as Oklahoma State's basketball coach. You can read about it here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3323779

Of course, this immediately ramps up the "HCBS heading back to his alma mater?" rumor mill.

Here are just a couple of reasons I think these are full of BS:

* His career path. Every stop on Self's trip to Kansas has been higher in stature. To me, stature doesn't just mean reputation- it means a committment to doing whatever it takes to have a powerhouse basketball program. Kansas has one of the highest men's basketball budgets in the nation. They we're willing to spend millions on renovating the Field House to keep us as competitive as possible in recruiting (these renovations are still ongoing). I remember once reading about the Jayhawk-shaped cheese the players snack on while riding their chartered jet.

While T. Boone "ToothPick" Pickens may be able to equal KU's expenditures, it cannot simply buy the tradition and passion that exists at a place like Kansas. There's an amazing video over on Deadspin about the scene on Mass Street on Sunday night. While Okie Staters would surely enjoy another Final Four run, you just wouldn't see a scene like that.

• He's not Roy Williams. Local boy returning home to save the program is a cute story, but HCBS isn't the sentimentalist that Roy was. Sure he's gotten over one hump in becoming a Final Four coach. But I don't think HCBS is satisfied with that at all. Look at how the man recruits: before last season, Self had what looked to be the most talented team in the country coming back. Did he take the summer off, Roy Williams- style? No. Instead, he went and got a likely lottery pick in Darrel Arthur to join the mix. Cold blooded.

• Self's coaching personality. HCBS runs a very basic, at times repetitive offense. For it to be successful, it depends on having superior athletes than the oppponent. Again, recruiting will never be as good to Stillwater as it is to Naismith Drive.

• Off the court reasons. The Selfs have two young children. Putting them through yet another move in what amounts to nothing more than a money grab just doesn't make sense. As zealous as many in Jayhawk Nation are, moving in-conference would inevitably be very hard on his family. The rumor right now is that Pickens would offer something like $5 million a season, more than double his current deal. However, Self is a not-so-simple win over Carolina from being a God in the state of Kansas. He could literally name his price if that happens.

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Let me begin by saying that the Aggies have a great offense (.304 team average) with a lot of consistent power through their entire lineup (72 extra base hits and 22 HR thus far). They score a lot of runs (about 7 per game) and steal a lot of bases (38). They really put the pressure on the pitching staff and on the defense. Along with that great offense comes even better pitching (2.97 ERA with almost 9 K's per game). They are a staff of strikeout pitchers and the bullpen follows suit (2.23 ERA). The Aggies have a nice collection of players that have been drafted and /or will be drafted. Some of them may get late round fliers in the draft but i would say quite a few of them will wind up in the top 10 rounds with a few possibly in the top 3-5 rounds. This is a tough team to beat and should be a fun weekend to really get a close look at some of these future pros and prospects. I will offer a recap with my findings and scouting information on Sunday evening to discuss what i took from this series.

2B Blake Stouffer - 6'1, 190, SR
Stouffer probably was more deserving of the Player of the Year award last year than Kyle Russell from Texas, but people love the long ball so Russell won out. Stouffer put up a ridiculous line of .398, 12 HR and 85 RBI. He led the nation in runs batted in and he wound up being selected in the 4th round by Cincinnati only to return for his senior year. Like Russell's decision to come back, Stouffers decision was somewhat of a head-scratcher for some and like Russell it appears to have been the wrong decision. He has gotten off to a horrendously slow start and still isnt finding a way to get his bat going. He is batting .213 with 1HR and 17 RBI thus far. He has stolen 7 bases and i guess with 17 RBI, one could say he hasnt been worthless by any means, but if he is going to be drafted again, anywhere near the 4th round, he is going to have to figure things out quickly. He is still a deadly hitter, so lets hope the Jayhawks take him seriously or his season beginning slump will officially be over this weekend. I will really be watching close to see what is ailing Stouffer.
FUN FACT: Stouffer is in the little league Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

3B Dane Carter - 5'9, 165, SR
Carter has kind of come out of nowhere this year. He really battled injuries most of last season after transferring, therefore hasnt really had the statistics to get much attention as a prospect, but this year he has burst onto the scene in a serious way. Carter transferred from Vernon College where he did put up some nice numbers but nothing like what he is doing so far this year. He is batting .457 with 5 HR, 22 RBI and 10 SB so far this year. He has hit 4 doubles and 5 triples as well, giving him a slugging percentage of .772. I would say he is one of the top 10 third basemen in the country at this point. Whether he gets drafted high or not will completely be determined by how he continues in his senior season. If he can stay on a pace similar to what he has been doing, his chances will be good to be drafted in the top 5 rounds. Im not sure he has the power to play 3B in the pros, but he has the stick to play somewhere, maybe even 2b or OF? I will really be watching him close to see if he has any future power development in his swing.

SS Jose Duran - 5'11, 190, JR
Duran is a transfer from North Central Texas College where he went for .347, 10 HR, 53 RBI and 20 SB. He has a good glove and good arm with the occasional error as most shortstops have from time to time. This year he is more than doing well, he is tearing it up, batting .392 with 2 HR, 22 RBI and 6 SB. He is one of the top 20 middle infielders in college ball this year. His brother is German Duran and is a very nice prospect with the Texas Rangers. German has a chance to really step up to the elite status this year. I would definitely guess his brother Jose will be drafted fairly high as well. Im anxious to see Duran play defense and see what his bat looks like as well.

LF/1B Brian Ruggiano - 6', 180, JR
Ruggiano is a transfer from Temple College and already made an impact for the Aggies last year as a sophomore batting .255 with 1 HR, 14 RBI and 9 SB. He is a big part of the offense this year batting .329 with 2HR and 14 RBI. His brother, Justin Ruggiano is a good prospect for Tampa Bay and i would expect Brian to get some respect in the draft if he can continue to improve those numbers. I would expect him to come back for his senior year before entering the draft. I will be watching to see if he has any power development in his future in a similar fashion to his brother who had 20 HR in AAA last year.

1b/OF Darby Brown - 6'4, 230, SR
Brown had a broken hand last year and never really got to put together the year he is capabale of. He had 1 HR and 17 RBI in 118 at bats but is capable of much much more, as he has shown so far this year. He is batting .273 with 4 HR and 18 RBI and the past 13 games he has been on fire. He was drafted in the 46th round in the 05 draft by Cincinnati and with his size, i would expect a similar draft slot this summer if he can continue to hit well and show some power. I will be watching to see what kinda of athleticism he has and if his swing translates to future power or if it will end up as a high strikeout type swing.

DH/OF/1B Luke Anders - 6'6, 225, JR
Anders has an awesome story as he was recruited under the past coaching staff to pitch and he didnt get much playing time and that whole story. The new coaches decided they liked his swing and moved him into the batting lineup last year and the rest is history. He batted .336 with 11 HR and 46 RBI. And the rich keep getting richer. So far this season, Anders is batting .328 with 3 HR and 15 RBI. With his size and having a year left, id say he is a prospect if he can continue to show some pop and good hitting skills.

LF Ben Feltner - 5'11, 185, SR
Feltner is a small guy that is blazing fast and works his tail off. Last year he was 34 of 37 in steals and he also had 28 bunt singles. Those numbers are unheard of. He also batted .304 with 1 HR and 24 RBI so hes no slouch with the bat either. He is off to a slow start this year batting .214 with 6 RBI and 6 SB. He was drafted in the 26th round in the 07 draft by Milwaukee and in the 38th round in 06 by the Cubs. With his speed, id say he should be drafted somewhere in the 20th-30th rounds again, even if he has a statistically worse season this year.

INF Phil Carey - 6', 185, JR
Carey is a transfer from Winthrop where he did very well with the bat. He was drafted in the 25th round of the 05 draft by Toronto and only has 3 at bats so far this season. Im not sure if he is injured or if he just isnt playing much yet but he obviously has some talent to get him to the next level.

RHP Barret Loux - 6'5, 195, FR
Loux is a stud. Hes a tall pitcher who got drafted in the 24th round last year out of HS by Detroit. He hasnt disappointed as a freshman either with a 3.76 ERA and 26 K's in 26.1 innings. He will be going up against Nick Czyz tomorrow afternoon and should provide for some good pitching to watch. In 3 years id expect Loux to be a an early round draft pick.

RHP Kyle Thebeau - 6'1, 195, JR
Thebeau is purely a strikeout pitcher. Last year he had a 4.67 ERA but struck out 92 in only 79 innings. That is an extremely good ratio. This year he has a 1.12 ERA in 24 innings with 25 K's. He will be a tough pitcher to hit and im anxious to see his pitches and see how fast he is throwing.

LHP Brooks Raley - 6', 170, FR
Raley is another very nice freshman starter for the Aggies. He has started 3 games and made 7 appearances so far and has a 2.89 ERA with 27 K's in 28 innings. Those are good numbers for a senior, let alone a freshman. He also plays OF and has a decent bat and some good speed. He will face off against Wally Marciel this evening. Im very anxious to see what kind of stuff this kid is dealing.

RHP Jordan Chambless - 6'2, 200, JR
Chambless has gone through a rough injured past with a stress fracture, broken foot, sprained ankle and an arm issue. He missed last year with a medical red shirt. But when he is healthy, he is quite simply unstoppable and one of the best arms in the country. He was drafted in the 50th round last year by the Reds, 43rd round by the Dodgers in 06, and the 12th round by Cleveland in 04. His injuries have really caused him to slip in the draft from year to year but a strong junior/senior campaign would push him right back to the top. He too is a strikeout pitcher and has only pitched a couple innings this year, so im not sure of his status for this weekend.

RHP Carson Middleton - 6'3, 200, SO
Middleton is another big young pitcher for the Aggies. He is a transfer from McLennan College and was drafted in the 49th by Pittsburgh. Middleton will probably pitch Sunday against Sam Freeman. So far he has been very dominant with a 2.37 ERA and 18 K's in 19 innings. I dont know much about this kid, so if we dont get rained out on Sunday, i will be anxious to see what he has to offer.

Other talented pitchers i want to mention but will cover a little more later and as i see them pitch this weekend:
Kirkland Rivers
Scott Migl
Blake Rampy
Travis Starling
Shane Minks
Alex Wilson

The Aggies are stacked, but like Texas, this is a great year to get a win or 2 from them.
Go Jayhawks
Game time in less than 1 hour!

Beak Em Hawks!

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RPI rankings became much more legitimate this week. Kansas came out very well. The Jayhawks rose from #167 to #126 despite losing two of three at Texas. The reasons for this rise are three-fold. First off, KU winning one of three in Austin was probably a slightly better performance than expected. Secondly, by playing Texas the Jayhawks inherited all of Texas' former opponents once removed into their own RPI rankings. The RPI is one part the team's own record + one part their opponent's record + two parts their opponent's opponents record. So playing Texas brought in a rich RPI heritage. Finally, KU's former opponents have been playing well lately. Vanderbilt, Missouri State, Iowa, LeMoyne and North Dakota State all had excellent weeks.

Here are the Big-12 standings as of Monday morning. I have their RPI ranking first, their D-I record second, and their conference ranking last. In general, if Kansas is going to receive serious consideration for an NCAA at-large bid at the end of the year they will need to have posted roughly 40 D-I victories, win at least 13 Big-12 games, and have their RPI in the top-50.

Tracking KU's out of conference opponents - Wins over Missouri State (68), Iowa (150), LeMoyne (192), Xavier (249) and three over NDSU (195). Loses to Vanderbilt (38) and Arkansas (54). Lost a series 3-2 at Hawaii-Hilo (189). Only the UHH series really hurts at this point.

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Time for everyone to show off just how much (little?) they know about Big 12 Mens Hoops! Post your picks here. The bracket (seed in parenthesis):

(8) Texas Tech vs. (9) Oklahoma State --> Winner plays (1) Texas
(5) Baylor vs. (12) Colorado --> Winner plays (4) Oklahoma
(7) Nebraska vs. (10) Missouri --> Winner plays (2) Kansas
(6) Texas A&M vs. (11) Iowa State --> Winner plays (3) Kansas State

BONUS: What seed will Kansas end up in the Big Dance?

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A lotta buzz flyin around the interwebs right now involving LSU, Bobby Knight, and uber recruit J'Mison Morgan.

Let's go through this one step at a time.

First, if you haven't heard, LSU fired head coach John Brady just 2 years removed from a trip to the Final Four.

Link:  

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3236726

Why should this interest Kansas fans? Mr. Morgan, a five star center, signed with Brady at LSU after heavy recruitment by Coach Self. With the coach gone, it is quite possible that Morgan will be re-opening his recruitment (unless they pull a KState and let him pick the coach, of course).

More on J'Mison Morgan can be found here (check out the highlight video):

http://lsu.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=47799

The first thing you'll notice is his massive size, but surprisingly nimble feet.

OK, so where does Bobby Knight fit into all of this? Apparently, Dickie V was speculating during the Dook-Roy's Boys game that Knight isn't done, but instead wants to head somewhere where recruiting won't be so much of a challenge. Why anyone would want to play for that insecure bully is beyond me, but I digress.  LSU is likely looking to make a big name hire to compete in the SEC, and he's the biggest name out there right now.

Given Knight's histrionics, I have to think this would push Morgan out the door. No elite level talent has wanted to play for that guy since Isiah Thomas.

Keep an eye on how the dominoes here may fall in this scenario. If Bobby K does make this move, it'll be interesting to see how his steadfast supporters will spin this into anything but a sheisty ass move.

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I'm sure you have heard of this, but if not, you need to know all about it. It is almost believable that this kid made up this little fib at first, but why is parents and coaches believed him is a completely different story. Plus, how did he think it was going to turn out? Him committing to Cal meaning he would get a scholarship, even if he was never contacted. Even once. Weird stuff...

First, this kid had the entire school assemble, along with some TV cameras and the local media, to announce that, after weeks of deliberation, he chose Cal over Oregon. Yay for him! Pretty standard stuff, a small-town kid like that would draw everyone's interest, if only Cal really wanted him.

Next up, on Sunday, the California Bears football offices heard about the "commitment". They, of course, had never contacted the 6'4" 305 pound OT Kevin Hart, and let it be known. The site BearTerritory.com was all over it recapping the situation and providing information that Hart, in fact, had not been offered by the University of Cal.

But it gets even better. On Monday, everyone figured out that he, in fact, had not been offered by either Cal or Oregon. So, panicking, the kid said a hoax had been played on him, by a man named Kevin Riley from Las Vegas. Wow. And the whole country felt sorry for the kid for a day, or maybe even two, the victim of a horrible practical joke. The police even began to investigate.

But there was one more turn in store, a turn that revealed that the entire time, the kid made the entire enchilada up. 100%. From start to finish, it was all a part of this kid's imagination and dream to be a Division 1-A college football player.

Just, wow.

I still can't believe this, like at all.

Wow.

ROCK CHALK!

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Another in-depth look at the KU Baseball roster by bkmhoxx moved up from the diaries. Be sure to hit "read more" for the full story.

On occasion, I will be providing a more in-depth look at some of the players for the KU baseball team. I will be giving a perspective that has more of a "scout" feel to it. I like to figure out a players ceiling and talk about their strengths and weaknesses. I use their statistics as a tool but not as an overall measuring device. I like to look at a players make-up and tools and try to figure out who is going to have a break-out year and/or who has professional quality skills. I get my information from watching the players in person, from websites, from talking to other writers and scouts and from coaches and people close to the program. I then take all of my information and make guesstimates. I will sometimes use a professional grading system of 2-8, with 2 being poor and 8 being outstanding. I enjoy reader comments and your opinions are always welcome.

This second installation will cover current players for the upcoming 2008 team. These are players that currently show certain skills or upside making them capable of being drafted and/or playing at the next level. You can use this to "get to know" some of these kids and then you can go to the ballpark and make your own observations. The younger players and newcomers are very difficult to project as i have seen very little of them in person and they have more than likely played much lesser competition than what the Big 12 will offer them. And remember that NCAA/MLB rules wont allow a player to be draft eligible until he turns 21 (normally his junior year). So in some cases, I am projecting 2-3 years down the road.

Erik Morrison SS (6'1, 195 lbs)
Morrison is a senior who was drafted in the 49th round in last years draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates but declined their offer and came back for his senior season at KU. With a solid senior campaign, he should be able to drastically improve his draft slot. Morrison has some very nice tools and has very high upside. Defensively he has a plus arm I would grade to be about a 7. He is a good fielder with good hands. He will flash the leather a lot this year and show off his arm strength although it would help him to cut down on some of his errors (10) and keep his emotions in check. Offensively, Morrison shows a good swing with decent power (7 HR) and decent speed (6 SB). The issue with Erik will be whether or not he can keep his average (.296) at a respectable level or not. If he can eliminate just a few errors, get his average up n the .310-.320 range and show more improvement, Morrison could be looked at fairly early. My guess would be 8th round on the high side, 20th round on the low side.

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COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Three days after a weekend altercation left his top scorer with a broken jaw, Missouri basketball coach Mike Anderson has suspended five players indefinitely.

In a statement from the university, Anderson declined to indicate the reason for the discipline, calling the infractions a violation of team rules. But the move comes as Columbia police verified Tuesday that several teammates were with senior guard Stefhon Hannah when he was attacked outside the downtown nightclub Athena early Sunday morning. The injury could cause Hannah to miss the rest of the season.

Suspended from Wednesday's home game against Nebraska, and possibly beyond, are senior guard Jason Horton and forwards Marshall Brown, Darryl Butterfield and Leo Lyons. Butterfield and Brown also are seniors; Lyons is a junior. Each is either a starter or a key reserve.

Hannah, who returned home to Chicago after surgery, also is suspended.

"I am very disappointed in the actions of these young men," Anderson said. "We have defined team rules and when those rules aren't followed, our guys must be held accountable for their actions."

Link for the rest of the article.

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KUsports.com is reporting that Defensive Coordinator Bill Young has accepted a job at the University of Miami as the same position.  While KUSports has been burned before on "scoops" like this, I would imagine that they were especially careful with this one, given their recent issues.

You can read the story here:

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2008/jan/17/young_accepts_miami_assistant_coaching_job/

The gist of it seems to be that Mr. Young enjoys the reclamation aspects of the position, and is ready for a new challenge after completing a Top 10 season with the Jayhawks.

Of course, the extra money can't hurt either.  Not to mention the opportunity to work with premier athletes. Even with their recent down turn, "The U" is still an NFL factory, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  

I expect the 'Canes to be a dominant defensive football team in the coming years once again, and wish Coach Young the best of luck in doing so.

As for us, we once again put our faith behind Mangino to go out and find another brilliant football mind. It'll be interesting to see if he promotes from within the program, or looks for outside help. Here's hoping whomever we do hire can help in continuing to upgrade the quality of players we recruit into the program.

Rock Chalk

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Okay, so last time around, I talked about Points Per Play (PPP) as the football version of Slugging %.  In baseball, OPS (On-Base + Slugging) is one of the most telling, easy, reliable stats around.  It's great because it's flexible.  There are two different ways to put together a strong OPS--either by getting on base a lot or by hitting for power--and the best hitters do both.  You find consistency and explosiveness in one measure.

So if PPP is equivalent to Slugging % (explosiveness), what's equivalent to On-Base % (consistency)?  Success Rate, that's what.

In its most basic form, Success Rate is simply the percentage of time in which a play is deemed `successful'.  It is a measure I culled from Football Outsiders and tweaked to fit my own purposes.  How is `success' determined?

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