Boulder, Colo. — Colorado is taking tonight's Big 12 opener against Kansas seriously.
So seriously CU coach Ricardo Patton has had his players off limits to the media in what he's deemed "Kansas week."
"We open against Kansas but that doesn't bother me," Patton said, well aware KU has beaten the Buffs 10 straight times at Coors Events Center, site of tonight's 8:05 (Central time) battle.
"We've got to play them twice anyway, so we get to see how we're going to stack up with one of the top teams in the conference right away. It's a given that you have to play hard against Kansas, but the other thing is you have to play smart. And the last couple of times, we played them hard but we ran out of gas down the stretch."
The Jayhawks have beaten the Buffs 24 straight times. Five of the past six meetings in Boulder have been decided by 10 points or less.
This year the 8-2 Buffs have a new weapon 7-foot freshman center David Harrison, the brother of CU senior D.J. Harrison. David, a McDonald's All-American from Nashville, Tenn., chose the Buffs over North Carolina and Vanderbilt.
UNC and Vandy are coached by former Roy Williams assistants Matt Doherty and Kevin Stallings respectively.
That fact has not eluded Patton, who, according to the Denver Post, accused Kansas coach Roy Williams of trying to steer Harrison to those two schools over conference member Colorado.
Patton reportedly called out Williams for what the Buffs' coach termed "negative recruiting" in front of the other Big 12 coaches at last spring's meetings in Colorado Springs, Colo.
A miffed Patton told the coaches Williams wrote a letter to Harrison recommending he should pick Vandy or UNC over CU.
The paper said it made Patton wonder if KU's coach violated the conference's "Principles and Standards of Sportsmanship" document. It says that each member institution "shall maintain high standards" during recruiting."
Patton wouldn't discuss the matter with the paper this week and Williams was unavailable for comment on Friday's travel day to CU.
The Big 12 told the Post it has no plans to investigate the matter.
That said, it should be interesting to see whether the coaches shake hands tonight with the two still having a difference of opinion over Nick Collison's hard foul against Jose Winston on a layup last season at CU.
Williams said Collison's foul that caused a slight Winston concussion was not a flagrant foul. He said Collison went after the basketball and actually hit the basketball with such force it sent Winston flying out of bounds to the floor.
Patton disagrees, saying it was an intentional foul.
"From a coaching standpoint there won't be any motivation needed for the Kansas game," Patton said, indicating his players will be fired up to play the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks.
Whatever ... Newcomer Harrison he averages 13.0 points and 6.7 boards scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in last Sunday's 93-87 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He scored 22 points in Wednesday's 68-51 win over St. Mary's and this week was tabbed Big 12 newcomer of the week.
KU frosh guard Aaron Miles played against Harrison at last year's McDonald's All-America game.
"He's big, almost 7-foot. He has a big body. He's mobile and athletic and aggressive. He's tough," Miles said.
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Ineligible player: Forward Jason Carter, a 6-9, 255-pounder from Las Vegas, was recently declared academically ineligible for spring semester.
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D.J. Harrison on his brother choosing CU: "I just wanted him to be happy. If I had to see him on TV, I'd cheer him just as hard. It turned out he liked Colorado and the coaching staff. I didn't do as much recruiting as they did."
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Jayhawks watch Raef: KU's players and coaches attended the Denver Nuggets-Clippers game Friday night. Ex-Jayhawk Raef LaFrentz starts for the Nuggets.
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