A Preseason All-American and a walk-on will be starting in the frontcourt Friday night for the No. 1-ranked college basketball team in the country.

Unheralded non-scholarship player Christian Moody, who three years ago chose Kansas University over hometown North Carolina-Asheville, Yale and Division Two and Division Three schools such as Montreat, Washington-Lee and Lenore-Rhyne, has earned the right to open the Vermont game next to Naismith/Wooden Award candidate Wayne Simien.

Calling the reliable Moody “a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none-type guy, that prototypical utility-type man who can do a lot of everything,” KU coach Bill Self said Wednesday that Moody was his man to answer the opening bell.

“Our freshmen are coming along fine,” Self said of C.J. Giles, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson. “They are not as ready to help us win a game right now as what Christian is in pressure situations.”

Moody, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound pre-med major who wants to be an orthopedic surgeon, said he was as ready to start Friday as he was in KU’s two exhibition games in which he combined for 17 points and eight boards.

“I’m excited about what’s happening,” Moody said. “When I came here I knew I wanted to be able to contribute any way I could, whether in practice or helping the team GPA … to be a contributing player on the team, not just a name.”

Moody actually has received aid twice before — second semester of his freshman and sophomore years. KU, however, is out of scholarships this year, so Moody is paying his own way.

“I felt what it was like to be a scholarship player,” Moody said. “I realized the term ‘walk-on’ doesn’t mean you can’t play. Your parents are paying, but you get an equal opportunity like anybody else.”

Moody — he logged 175 minutes in 25 games last year — “is not a normal walk-on,” KU senior Keith Langford said. “He could have gone to a few other schools to play ball. He knows how to play.

Kansas University junior Christian Moody, left, fights for the ball with British Columbia defender Casey Archibald in an exhibition game earlier this season. KU coach Bill Self on Wednesday tapped Moody as the Jayhawks' number-five starter.

“If anything,” Langford added, “him being announced as a starter may motivate those guys that much more. It may say something to the freshmen we have a guy come as a walk-on starting as opposed to those three getting an opportunity to play.”

Scholarship player Giles agreed.

“It motivates me every day,” he said. “In practice I’ve got to go as hard as I can, try to earn the starting position. Christian’s been playing pretty well in practice, and coach says how you play in practice carries over to the game.”

Jackson said Moody was one of the hardest workers on the team.

“Moody works hard every day. I tell him in practice, ‘Hey there’s a starting spot, go out and get it.’ I’m happy for him.”

Moody was the best perimeter defender of KU’s big men, Self said. Still, he needs to work on being more aggressive.

6Sports video: Moody tapped to start against Vermont 6Sports video: Former walk-on impresses Self ‘Hawks Hoops Forecaster – KU-Vermont Hear Bill: Nov. 17 news conference

“I took him out of the Washburn game. He didn’t go after a rebound when he has a 6-2 guy on his back and waited for somebody else to get it. When he came back in he got to every ball with two hands rim high,” Self said.

As far as the rookies … Self says they still need to work on a lot.

“I think Russell (Robinson) is the only one of the freshmen that is not overwhelmed,” Self said. “It’s overwhelming. How could it not be?

“Christian is the only big guy ready to guard a really good player unless we put Wayne on him. Will the other guys get there? Absolutely. You saw the other night C.J. fouled out in eight minutes. At that rate if we play 30 games, he’ll play 240 minutes and have 150 fouls. That is not acceptable.

“I’ve said before, it’ll be January before you are able to switch defenses, run dribble handoffs, reverse the ball. There’s a lot of things these guys are not ready to do yet. All three will be terrific players.”

It’s unknown how much Moody will play.

“We’ll play a couple minutes and then rotate us all in,” Moody said. “So where we’re all working hard and making the other big guys work hard and give Wayne the best chance.”

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Coach interviews coach: Self was a guest on Vermont coach Tom Brennan’s radio show at 7:20 a.m. Central time Wednesday.

“He has a lot of personality, a lot of energy,” Self said of Brennan, in his 19th and final year at Vermont.

Brennan has said he set up the game because it was his dream to coach a game in Allen Fieldhouse before he retired.

“I told him that was a bunch of bull because if he’s calling wanting to play somewhere and play, the reason is you know you have a real good team,” Self said with a grin. “He’s looking forward to coming to Allen, don’t get me wrong, but he wouldn’t be calling if he didn’t think he had guys who could come here and represent Vermont well.”

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This, that: KU guard Jeremy Case (groin injury) has yet to practice, but he’s been doing more work in drills. Case said it remained likely he would take a red-shirt season. … Freshman Alex Galindo continues to practice after being out several weeks because of a groin injury. Self said he didn’t know how much Galindo would play Friday. “Right now he’s not in our top five on the perimeter. We’ll play five perimeter players the majority of the minutes.” … ESPN told KU officials Wednesday that all non-network games would be included on the Full Court package sold nationally. ESPN has not yet published its Full Court slate.

What some people are saying on KUsports.com about Christian Moody being named KU’s fifth starter:rcjh88I think that at times Moody does some very nice things while in the game, and I believe that he keeps getting better. However, when it comes to playing teams like Georgia Tech, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State, I don’t think he will be able to hang with the great athletes.appyhawkOne thing about Moody that is to his advantage is that he is steady and experienced. He’s not so likely to get rattled and excited like the younger set. He may not have all the chrome the newbies have, but the tread on his tires is good.jayhawk154Players like C. Moody get more valuable as they gain more experience, in my humble opinion. Two of the freshman have shown a terrible propensity to hack away and most likely will spend some significant time on the bench in any given game. Perhaps, C. Moody will allow him to get some valuable minutes and marginal production without sacrificing too much in terms of experience and running the high-low offense correctly to get the ball in the right guy’s hands. Just a thought.stlouisjhawkIf there was a a better player at this point in time to start in front of Moody, then start him. We are not talking about potential. These freshmen need to prove some things before they get handed the chance to start.WycohawkWhy is everybody so bent on Moody being able to play? He already proved himself as a role player. We all know his physical and talent levels will get him jacked in D1, but as the early season goes on, the freshman will develop and Moody will have helped.MusicluvrYes, I like Moody. He’s the type of guy I like, that’s not the reason I defend him though. I defend him because it’s not right that you’re bagging on him for doing his job. View the thread