KU’s Collison selects agent

Nick Collison has picked an agent.

Collison, Kansas University’s 6-foot-9 senior forward from Iowa Falls, Iowa, has contracted with Mike Higgins of SFX Sports Group — a talent and marketing agency that represents more than 500 pro athletes in baseball, basketball, football, golf, tennis, soccer and several Olympic sports.

Higgins also represents former Jayhawk Raef LaFrentz, like Collison a native Iowan and one of the best frontcourt players in KU history.

Other athletes represented by SFX include Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Jerry Rice, Andre Agassi and Greg Norman.

KU senior guard Kirk Hinrich has not selected an agent yet.

Hinrich and Collison are expected to be certain first-round picks in the June draft. NBAdraft.net currently has Hinrich being selected 13th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and Collison 18th by the New Orleans Hornets.

ESPN.com says the Seattle SuperSonics are interested in Collison, while the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards sure could use the 6-3 Hinrich, who will play point guard exclusively in the pros.

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Miller a WMU possibility: Former KU assistant coach Ben Miller has been mentioned as a possibility for the head-coaching job at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Miller’s dad, Eldon Miller, led WMU to a school-record 25 victories in 1976.

The leading candidates are Iowa assistant Rich Walker, a member of Eldon Miller’s staff in ’76, and current WMU aide Steve Hawkins, who worked for new South Florida coach Robert McCullum the past three years.

“We could have this thing done a week from now,” WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard told the Kalamazoo Gazette Saturday.

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Freshman commits to Zona: A 15-year-old high school freshman point guard has committed orally to play basketball at the University of Arizona.

Nic Wise, a 5-foot-9 playmaker who averaged 9.0 points and 7.0 assists last season at Houston’s Cinco Ranch High, chose the Wildcats over Texas.

Wise is the youngest Texas player to commit to play college basketball, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Greenville, Texas, sophomore Justin Wilkerson, 6-8, committed to Texas Tech last year.

Wise is not the youngest player to commit to a college. Former Indiana guard Damon Bailey tapped the Hoosiers as an eighth grader.

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Support for ISU coach: Larry Eustachy, whose future is uncertain at Iowa State after his admission he drank beer and kissed women on the cheek at fraternity parties on the campuses of Kansas State and Missouri, has received some support from individuals who know him.

Count Bobby Clark among his supporters.

Clark, who is in her first year as a Kansas University media relations assistant, worked as a student assistant in Iowa State’s sports information office the previous four years.

“He was always very professional and always treated me with respect,” Clark said. “I’ve never seen him act in anything but a professional manner. He is a great person and good coach.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” she added, hoping Iowa State gives Eustachy a second chance.