All of Kansas University's men's basketball players recorded passing grades in the classroom first semester.
Same goes for their performance on the court.
"I'd give them an A-minus because we didn't win them all," KU coach Roy Williams said Thursday after he was asked to assess the performance of the Jayhawks, who are 11-1 heading into Saturday night's Big 12 Conference opener at Colorado.
"I'm crazy enough to think we should be 12-0. The fact of the matter is we're not, but the kids should feel very good about what they accomplished. I'd say '93' if you want me to put a number on it."
A 93 is indeed an A, which means the Jayhawks have come a long way since their season-opening loss to Ball State in Maui.
"For Aaron (Miles), Keith (Langford) and Wayne (Simien) to go from high school to what they've accomplished, they have to be ecstatic," Williams said of three KU freshmen. "At the same time they know there are huge areas for each of them to improve. The 'Three Musketeers' (juniors Drew Gooden, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich) and (Jeff) Boschee have got to feel very good and they know they can also get better.
"We've got to do a better job of guarding the basketball and stop dribble penetration and make better decisions with the ball and not turn it over. Throw those two things out and we've done everything else pretty doggone well," he added.
Langford agrees with his coach.
"As far as the team, I'd definitely give it an 'A,''' said Langford, who averages 8.3 points and 2.9 rebounds. "We've gone 11-1 and are No. 2 in the country going into conference play. Myself, as a freshman, I'm up and down a bit. It's like any freshman for the first part of the season. My grade is somewhere in the B to A range, something like that."
Now things really will get tough for the freshmen with the start of conference play. Tip for Saturday's game against the 8-2 Buffs is 8:05 p.m., Central time.
"Coach tells us we have no idea how intense it's going to be," Langford said. "We had some intense games at Arizona and in Hawaii. This will be a different level."
A level the freshmen have not seen before.
"I guess it's going to have to hit us. The only way to learn is through experience," Langford said.
Last year revisited: KU beat the Buffs, 85-75, last January 22 in an emotionally charged meeting at Coors Events Center.
In the game, in which CU led at halftime, KU's Nick Collison hammered CU guard Jose Winston on a layup try. Winston suffered a slight concussion on what was ruled an intentional foul.
Players and coaches exchanged words after the play.
Winston, by the way, has since transferred to Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"I fouled a guy on a layup, they called me for an intentional foul," Collison said. "Everybody got mad. Everybody booed. They called me a dirty player."
Will the fans remember the play?
"They might. We'll have to wait and see," Collison said.
Williams stood up for his player then and again Thursday.
"It was not a flagrant foul," Williams said. "It's something ... what was said and happened after that should not have happened. It was very aggressive. He (Collison) hit the ball as clean as day. He hit the ball so hard Jose went down and hit his head on the floor. It looked bad. I felt bad for Jose and the whole bit, but it was not in any way, shape or form, across the line, a dirty play. If something is made of that ... that's not going to be right."
Injury update: Simien scored a career high 13 points in 16 minutes in Wednesday's win over Valparaiso. Not bad for a guy hobbled by his recent left ankle sprain.
"After the game he said his ankle was bothering him. Until Wayne makes me feel I can play him a heck of a lot more without causing any more stress on his body, we'll probably stick with this a little bit," Williams said of playing the power forward 12 to 15 minutes a game. "When somebody tells you his ankle is still hurting after the game, you are better off trying to monitor it."
Langford said the bone chip in his left ankle hasn't bothered him much following extensive treatment.
"When I was in the thick of it, it was probably twice a day 45 minutes to an hour each time," Langford said. "It's a lot of tedious work, standing on one foot holding a medicine ball, throwing it up and down ... doing calf raises, working on different machines."
Langford said further X-rays will be taken after the season to determine whether he needs surgery.
Goin' home next December: Miles wasn't surprised to hear Williams has scheduled a game against the University of Oregon next December in Miles' hometown of Portland.
"Coach tries to do that for his players out of state so we can get a home game," said Miles, who hails from Portland along with teammate Michael Lee. "It will be fun."
Will it be similar to Jeff Boschee returning to North Dakota, where he recently was treated as a returning hero?
"They will treat me well, but I don't know if it'll be like Boschee," Miles said with a smile. "That was totally spectacular."
Miles, by the way, thinks he's almost over a nasty headcold which has hindered him of late.
Food for the media: Williams had a gift for the media at Thursday's weekly press session two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Williams was guaranteed a lifetime supply by the Kansas City doughnut chain when he decided to stay at KU and not take the North Carolina job two summers ago.
"They brought me eight dozen last night. I couldn't do with more than six dozen so today I gave up," Williams said, smiling.
CU trip: The Jayhawks will charter to Denver this afternoon and attend the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers game tonight. Ex-Jayhawk Raef LaFrentz plays for the Nuggets. Earlier this year, the Jayhawks watched former KU player Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics square off against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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