Gooden glad to be back at KU
Former Jayhawk returns to Lawrence for summer school; speaks at Self's camp
Basically set for life after signing a four-year, $13.8 million NBA contract last year, Drew Gooden admits he doesn’t need a college degree.
Yet the 21-year-old Gooden, who recently completed his rookie season with the Orlando Magic, is on Kansas University’s campus this summer, taking two classes as he progresses toward his bachelor’s degree in communication studies.
“I’m chipping away at those hours a little bit at a time,” the 6-foot-10 former KU All-American said Monday after speaking to 1,000 youngsters at Bill Self’s KU basketball camp. “I’m doing it for myself and my family, too. As a matter of fact, I’ll be the only person in my family with a college degree, if I get it.”
It’s going to take Gooden several offseasons to land his degree.
No problem, he says. The Richmond, Calif., native likes returning to Lawrence, where he scored 1,526 points and grabbed 905 rebounds from 2000 to 2002.
“I came to Lawrence for the first time when I was 16,” said Gooden, who chose KU over California, UCLA and several other schools. “I remember it was the end of August and it was real hot. Driving from the airport to Lawrence I didn’t see one house it seemed. I’m used to the big city and I was like, ‘Man, I’m in the middle of nowhere.’ It was like a scene from ‘The Wizard of Oz.’
“When I got to Lawrence and it was all beautiful and everybody embraced me, I could see why so many great players chose to come to this school. It’s the story of me falling in love with Kansas, too.”
Gooden, an NBA teammate of former Kansas point guard Jacque Vaughn, said he hoped his team selected KU’s Nick Collison or Kirk Hinrich in the June 26 NBA draft. Orlando owns the 15th pick.
“That’d be nice to play with another fellow Kansas player,” Gooden said. “We’ve got Jacque there. We can have a fake (Allen) Fieldhouse if we get a few more guys.”
Former Kansas basketball player Drew Gooden speaks to campers. Gooden, who is in Lawrence this summer taking classes at KU to earn his degree, attended KU coach Bill Self's basketball camp Monday at the Horejsi Center.
Gooden, who was selected fourth overall by Memphis in last year’s draft, averaged 12.1 points and 5.8 boards in 51 games for the Grizzlies. He and Gordan Giricek were dealt to Orlando in mid-February for Mike Miller, Ryan Humphrey and two future draft picks.
Gooden averaged 13.6 points and 8.4 boards in 19 games for the Magic. In a seven-game first-round playoff loss to Detroit, Gooden averaged 14.0 points and 12.7 boards, emerging as the team’s second-best player behind Tracy McGrady.
“It was a fun time in Memphis. I played for two coaches — Sidney Lowe, who is now an assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who taught me a lot, then Hubie Brown, who is one of the smartest guys, one of the best coaches I’ve been around.
“The NBA is a business,” Gooden said, “and the trade made both teams better. I enjoyed playing for Orlando more because we made the playoffs and were winning.”
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Follow that dream: Gooden said he had spoken with Roy Williams a couple of times since his college coach bolted KU for North Carolina.
“He sounds like he misses Kansas a lot,” Gooden said, “but again he had to basically do what I did (in leaving KU after three years), follow his dream.”
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Happy for Spurs: Self is elated the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title Sunday night.
One of Self’s best friends, former KU assistant R.C. Buford, is the Spurs’ general manager. Self also is close to Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich, who spent one season working for Larry Brown at KU while on sabbatical from Pomona-Pitzer.
“I would have loved to have been in San Antonio last night,” said Self, who had a conflict because of his camp. “I’ve not talked to R.C. yet. I’ve left a message for him. I know they’re excited. I’m happy for R.C. and Pop. I’ve gotten to know Pop quite well. I’m most happy for R.C. That’s quite an accomplishment to have the most (salary) cap room of anybody in the league and still win a world championship.”
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No hurry to hire: Self last week hired Sean Harrington to fill the role of administrative assistant/video coordinator. Harrington joins Self and full-time aides Tim Jankovich and Norm Roberts with two spots left to fill.
It’s believed Ben Miller and Danny Manning eventually will be tapped to round out the staff.
“Ben Miller has done a great job with the camp. It’s allowed the other guys to be freed up to do some work on recruiting,” Self said. “We are behind recruiting. We got the job so late. Our needs are totally different at Kansas than Illinois.”
Self recently told the Journal-World he could use a primary ball handler in the upcoming recruiting class, plus a wing player that can shoot and perhaps a big guy. KU has three scholarships to award next school year.
“I’m in no hurry,” Self said of completing the staff. “When it’s filled I want to make sure it’s the perfect hire, that we meet our needs and the individuals’ needs. I do think it’s coming to a head soon.”
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Same ol’ Drew: KU guard Jeff Hawkins has spent some time with Gooden during this first session of summer school
“It’s a little different now that he has all that money, but he’s still the same ol’ Drew,” Hawkins said. “It’s like when he was here with no money. He’s still the same.”
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Draft update: ESPN Insider recently obtained a copy of the results of testing NBA prospects at the Chicago draft camp. Hinrich placed 20th overall and Collison 54th in total points compiled in the categories of vertical jump, a 3/4-court run, bench press, lane ability and body fat. The 6-3 Hinrich, by the way, had a vertical of 33.5 inches, while Collison checked in at 33 inches. Insider listed Collison’s body fat at 17 percent, with no listing for Hinrich.
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Bahe on fire: Incoming KU freshman walk-on guard Nick Bahe scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead a Nebraska all-star team to a 105-81 victory over South Dakota’s all-stars Saturday in Yankton, S.D. Nebraska has won nine straight in the series.
Kansas Coach Bill Self speaks to basketball players. Self was conducting his KU basketball camp Monday at the Horejsi Center.
Basketball campers rush former Jayhawk Drew Gooden at Bill Self's Kansas University basketball camp, which began Sunday and runs through Wednesday. Gooden spoke Monday to the campers.