CJ Giles, D-Block, Sasha, Kleinmann, Julian, Darrell, Cole, Marcus, Markieff, Quintrell Thomas, TRob, Withey. This is the list. These are the big men who have come to Lawrence for the tutelage of former NCAA POY, Tourney MOP, and NBA All-Star Danny Manning. Remove the transfers (Giles and Thomas) and the walk-on (Kleinmann), and the rest have all been NBA draft picks or undrafted free agents, or soon will be (TRob and Withey). Every one of them. They came to Kansas to be groomed for the NBA by a guy who had a lengthy career there, and the NBA responded. Most of them have not panned out in the league, but the league respected Danny’s grooming and he made millionaires out of them all. So, while all of my Jayhawk brethren are tripping all over themselves to congratulate our fellow alumni, Mr. Miracle, my question is this: what now?
I don’t want to be the guy that always looks at the glass half empty, but we may be a little less than half empty. TRob is gone. With Coach Manning leaving, does Withey help his cause by staying another year? He just had an NCAA tournament run where it was highly publicized that he had the second most blocks of all-time. Can his stock get that much higher? Does staying at Kansas another year, without the instruction of Danny really help him? Jeff claims he’s coming back, but I am unconvinced that he will or that he should. And, guess what: the cupboard is pretty bare. Kansas has not recruited a big man for the last two seasons. Yes, we have KY and Justin Wesley, and yes, we’ll have Jamari Traylor, all having been coached up by Danny for a half-season or more. But, is that sufficient? Young has shown definite signs of development, but he is still very raw. Justin Wesley cannot get off the bench without drawing a foul, or being posterized, or both. Traylor has yet to suit up. And what of the incoming class for 2012-13? Landen Lucas, Zach Peters, Andrew White – these young men signed on expecting to enjoy the results of the aforementioned NBA’ers. Do they have second thoughts? Shouldn’t they? Lastly, what about moving forward? Word today is that McDonald’s All-American Tony Parker is still interested in coming to KU. I truly believe that what he decides will be an omen of what’s to come. Now, to be fair, Kansas may not have been his choice anyway. Nevertheless, I’m very interested to see how it plays out.
Don’t get me wrong. I am happy for Danny, and think that it’s important that the most likely heir to Self’s chair gets some head coaching experience. And, as I’ve previously documented, I think that our coach is the best in the business. Furthermore, I love Danny’s probable replacement, Norm Roberts. He is a proven commodity on the bench and the recruiting trail. But Norm Roberts ain’t Danny Manning. And because of that, I can only (selfishly) look at today as a sad, sad day for my beloved University of Kansas.
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