Richmond game interrupts Big 12 slate
Nobody knows how Kansas University’s basketball team will react to playing a nonconference game in the midst of its Big 12 Conference schedule.
“It’s kind of weird,” senior center Jeff Graves said of KU’s matchup against Richmond at 8:05 tonight at Allen Fieldhouse. “I’d rather keep it (league play) going, but at the same time, we play teams like this all the time — good teams from good conferences.”
The Jayhawks, who have won their first three league games, enter with a dose of respect for Richmond, 9-8 overall, and 1-3 in the Atlantic 10.
“Just the fact that they played one of the better teams in the country real close. How do you take a team like that lightly?” KU guard Keith Langford said of Richmond, which fell to No. 3 St. Joseph’s, 71-60, Jan. 6. “We respect every opponent from here on out.”
Richmond snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday by topping Temple, 59-52, at Temple. Prior to that game, the Spiders had fallen to Dayton, LaSalle and St. Joe’s.
“They went to Colorado and won by 13, very similar to how we won at Colorado,” KU coach Bill Self said of Richmond’s 75-62 win over the Buffs back on Dec. 31. Kansas claimed a 77-62 win Jan. 5 at CU.
“They are a veteran ballclub and Jerry Wainwright is one of the best coaches around,” Self added of the second-year Spiders coach, who has a 25-21 mark at the Virginia school.
“They will change defenses and run a lot of things offensively. It’s a great game to play because they will give you numerous things to look at.”
Richmond, which has made a chilly 40.8 percent of its shots while averaging 64.2 points a game, is led by 6-foot-6 senior Mike Skrocki, who has made 41 of 102 threes (40.2 percent) while averaging 16.5 points a game. In December he became the 35th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
Miles on roll entering Richmond game- Pals: KU aide Joe Dooley and Richmond coach Wainwright know each other from their days in the Colonial Athletic Assn. Dooley worked at East Carolina from 1992-99 and was head coach the last four years. Wainwright was UNC Wilmington coach from 1995-2002.
- New role tonight: KU freshman David Padgett, who will come off the bench for the first time this season as long as his left foot feels pain-free tonight, said he has no problem with a new role after starting 11 games.
“I’ll play like I did before I got hurt,” he said. “I need to get on the glass and help us get rebounds. Coach has stressed rebounding. We need to block out and pursue the ball.”
- Make A Wish fan in town: Jack Wilson, 7, from Ocean Springs, Miss., attended practice Wednesday with his family and will spend time with the Jayhawks again today. He’s in town thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation, which contacted KU on behalf of Wilson.
Wilson suffers from cancer, which is currently in remission. His dad, Chuck, a doctor, did his residency at KU’s Med School. His parents went to Edmond (Okla.) High School, as did Self.
- Wheaties jingle out: KU’s band will not play the Wheaties jingle tonight if a Richmond player fouls out.
Jim Marchiony, KU associate athletic director, said the NCAA rulebook says bands can only play before the game, during timeouts and at halftime.
For 30 or so years, KU fans have “waved the wheat” once opposing players fouled out, with the old 1970s Wheaties jingle played by the band in the background. The only alternative is for the fans to sing the jingle while waving the wheat. KU can’t play the song on the public address system, either.
“Absolutely, the fans can sing it if they want to. There’s no NCAA rule about singing in a game,” Marchiony said. “The NCAA rulebook specifically says the band can only play at a certain time, so our band can’t play during a dead-ball situation.”
The problem in singing the jingle tonight, or any night, is nobody seems to know the lyrics. Tom Stidham, director of KU’s basketball band, is on a mission to locate to the words to the jingle.
“I found a place on the Internet to e-mail questions (to General Mills),” Stidham said. “I requested the lyrics to the Wheaties TV commercial from 1971 or the early ’70s. I received an answer indicating an advertising agency handled it for them. The agency had a jingle writer, who would be the only one to have the words. A woman who is working on a book about the traditions at KU told me she may be able to locate the lyrics.
“It seems everybody knows some of the words, but nobody knows all of the words.”
- Recruiting update: Joe Krabbenhoft, a 6-7 junior from Sioux Falls, SD., has orally committed to Wisconsin. He’s confirmed to several recruiting services he will make his decision official during this weekend’s trip to Wisconsin.
Krabbenhoft, who made an unofficial trip to KU last month, missed the first seven games of the season with a stress fracture in his foot.
His finalists were Wisconsin, Kansas, Notre Dame and Minnesota.
Josh Thornton, 6-1 junior from Dover, Del., who recently made an unofficial visit to Kansas, tells Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com he will make an official visit to KU either this season or next fall.
Tennessee, Arkansas, Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Seton Hall and Texas are also on his list.
Self traveled to Melbourne, Fla., Wednesday to watch signee Sasha Kaun play for Florida Air Academy.