Before we delve into the happenings in Jayhawk Nation, I just want to wish all of you out there a Happy Easter from us here at RCT.
Let's start with some SB Nation happenings. As you all know, the Masters is today so why don't you head on over to Waggle Room, the resident golfing blog, and talk some Tiger. Also, yesterday the SB Nation family added another member with the addition of a Buffalo Bills blog in Buffalo Rumblings so all of you, whether you're a Bills fan or not, should go on over and check it out. There have also been a couple of coaching moves in the past week, most notably Billy Gillispie leaving Texas A&M and taking the job at Kentucky. However, there was the entire Dana Altman saga where he accepted the job at Arkansas but then decided there was no place like home and went back to Creighton. And finally, our nemesis Bobby Huggins decided to depart and head to his Alma Mater, the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Back to the Jayhawks as the assistant coaches are already on their way out on the recruiting trail for 2008 recruits. We could have as many as 7 scholarships available depending on who departs for the NBA, so the '08 class will majorly affect this team for a long time. Here are some of the players we are interested in:
Warren, who attends the same high school that ex-Jayhawk Keith Langford did and has been a standout on Team Texas AAU for three seasons, has a list of KU, Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, UConn, Baylor, Florida and Arizona. The No. 13 player in the Class of '08 is regarded as the top prospect in Texas.
The country's No. 15 player, who competes for SE Elite AAU, says he is not planning on narrowing his lengthy list of schools until summer's end.
He likes KU, Mississippi State, Mississippi, Memphis, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Tech. Osby is projected to be a small forward in college, though he has played all five positions in high school. KU's coaches have made several trips to Mississippi to watch prime target Osby.
Releford, Rivals.com's No. 50 player, plays for Kansas City Pump-N-Run AAU -- an organization that has produced KU guard Brady Morningstar, as well as KU signee Tyrel Reed and invited walk-on Conner Teahan.
Releford likes KU, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Louisville and others. He's attended several KU basketball games the past couple of seasons.
Morgan, who attends the alma mater of KU freshman Darrell Arthur and plays for Fort Worth Elite AAU, is Rivals.com's No. 83 player. A true back-to-the-basket pivot, Morgan is considering KU, Baylor, Cincinnati, Georgetown, UNLV and Iowa State.
The No. 1 player in the Class of '08 is considering heavyweights KU, Duke, North Carolina, UConn, Florida, Louisville, Texas, Southern Cal and LSU. He plays for New Orleans Panthers AAU.
Gordon, the country's No. 16 player, is known as a strong shot blocker and rebounder. Oakland Soldiers AAU power forward Gordon has a list of KU, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Duke, Washington, Arizona and Oregon.
The country's No. 18 player, who competes for Alabama Challenge AAU, says he definitely will visit Florida, Virginia and Georgia Tech. KU, Alabama, Mississippi, Marquette and Auburn will be vying for his other two visits.
Georgia Tech, St. John's and Virginia could be the teams to beat with Indiana, KU, Villanova and others on the list of the country's No. 27 player, who plays AAU ball for the Metro Hawks.
Samuels, the country's No. 7 player, likes North Carolina, Florida, Louisville and UConn. In the past he's mentioned KU, Texas, St. John's and Syracuse as well. Like Landesberg, Samuels plays for Metro Hawks AAU.
The No. 6 player in the country, who plays for Kings James Stars AAU, at one time had KU on his list. He reportedly will in the near future announce for either Michigan State or North Carolina. He also had Ohio State and Michigan as finalists.
And those are just some of the top names out there...
With the Border War nearing its end, we find ourselves trailing Missouri by a point 14 to 12 after the Tigers victory in women's tennis yesterday. There are only 3 events that we know we will be playing eachother in are softball on April 11th in Columbia and softball on April 18th in Lawrence. The rest of the events are Tournaments where we may or may not face them so these softball matches are vitally important to who wins the coveted 'Border Showdown'.
That's all I have. It is mostly quiet in Jayhawk Nation, with baseball being the only major sport currently at play or anywhere close for that matter.
ROCK CHALK!