I will talk to you more about the Brandon Rush situation later on, but there has been plenty of goings-on in Jayhawk Nation and let's take a look at all of those.
For those of you living under a rock, the 2007 NFL Draft is today and I will be watching. We most likely won't get to see a Jayhawk get drafted, with RB Jon Cornish being a possible 6th or 7th round pick tomorrow. Defensive end Rodney Allen is expected to be an undrafted free agent and wide receiver Brian Murph and defensive tackle Wayne Wilder both have a shot to get a contract as an undrafted free agent. If and when any Jayhawks get drafted/signed, we will talk about a possible future with that team.
Also, the Kansas Jayhawks have finalized our 2008 football schedule. It continues to feature weak teams in the non-conference, with us facing Florida International and Louisiana Tech before heading to Tampa Bay to face South Florida. After that we return back home to face ever-frightening Sam Houston State in our last game of the non-conference slate. Then we head into an impossibly tough conference schedule, facing Texas Tech, Colorado, Texas and Kansas State in Memorial Stadium and facing Missouri in Arrowhead Stadium. We should fairly easily go 3-1 in the non-conference with a good game scheduled in Tampa Bay and a possibility of going a perfect 4-0. After that, it gets pretty difficult as it is every year in the Big 12. I think we will win against Colorado at home and we could beat Texas Tech or Kansas State at home. Along with a possible win in Arrowhead against Missouri, I think we can get to 7 wins in 2008. Of course this is all conjecture with how early this is, but I think a 7-5 season and a bowl game is within our reach.
Switching gears, former Jayhawk Jeff Boschee has become a head coach in the High School ranks by taking over the job at Class 2A The Barstow School. Kirk Hinrich's dad also coaches a 2A team in Missouri so there might be a budding rivalry of Jayhawk connections. Boschee said his dream is to be a head coach at the college level, hopefully he can reach that someday.
After hearing about Brandon Rush declaring for the NBA Draft, some Jayhawk players were surprised. Here is what Sherron Collins had to say:
If you miss Brandon Rush already, even though he isn't technically gone, check out the Brandon Rush page over at KU Sports. It is all of the articles, audio clips, video clips, etc. about him from his days as a Jayhawk. And who knows, maybe he'll make some more memories next season?
Ryan Greene isn't too sure that we will see Brandon Rush come back next season. Rush has said all along that a Top-20 promise will get him to stay in the Draft. I don't think he'll receive that, depending on how well he does in Rookie camps and the like. Still, Greene says he thinks any 1st Round promise will get him to stay in the Draft, which will almost certainly happen. Most Draft experts have him going around 23ish, so it could go either way under 20 and automatically leave or up and out of the first round and come back for one more season. I am optimistic that we will still see Brandon Rush in a Jayhawk uniform next season, but it is more than possible that he will stay in the Draft for the long haul.
ROCK CHALK!