50 in 50 is a feature here at RCT counting down until the Jayhawks kick off the 2011 basketball season on November first. Got an idea for something you'd like to see featured here? tweet @rockchalktalk or @fetch9 or email me at fetch9 at gmail dot com.
Welcome back, college basketball! There will be plenty of time to focus on the negative implications of last night (e.g. in a few paragraphs) but for now let's just savor the return of our wonderful sport. Last night featured quite a bit in terms of exciting fanfare, not the least of which was HCBS riding out on a motorcycle. By the way, it's totally unfair that he can pull that off so well. He's an old rich guy! I am young and have street cred and there is a 0.0% chance I could pull off riding a motorcycle. (I mean a real motorcycle, not a crotch rocket because those suck. End rant).
In terms of the scrimmage, the biggest news was Thomas Robinson showed off some improved range, though if you were paying attention over the summer you already knew he had that in his arsenal. Self noted that Tyshawn getting into the paint would be a big part of the offense this year, something regular RCT readers already know, and the team looks to be pretty athletic, if not very polished, this year.
Recruiting wise, Kaleb Tarczewski had to come away impressed, and was subjected to a handful of "we want Kaleb" chants from the capacity crowd.
As for the bad news, HCBS noted that the school had known for awhile about the status of McLemore and Traylor and had gone through multiple appeals before finally being told for good that the two Freshmen wouldn't be eligible for this season, which kills part of my rant.
But still, there is no doubt that this is either sloth or incompetence on the part of the NCAA. Yes, each player went to three high schools. Sure, that should raise a concern, but one of Ben McLemore's schools closed. What is he supposed to do, drop out? Traylor went to IMG Academy to get eligible, and that still wasn't good enough. And lest you believe that IMG Academy is unfit academically, Traylor played with a kid who is going to Stanford.
I could rehash just what a joke the NCAA is, but it won't help us to do so. Instead, the matter at hand. The bottom line for the 2011-12 Jayhawks is this hurts in terms of depth, but in my mind doesn't really change my outlook on this season. McLemore and Traylor would have been great in terms of depth, but each guy is a year away from being an impact guy anyways in my opinion. Kansas still should be your favorite to win the conference, and should still have the Sweet 16 as its ultimate ceiling. That was true yesterday, true today, and it will be true tomorrow.