KU’s Giddens says he’ll return

OKLAHOMA CITY ? J.R. Giddens, whose sophomore season ended with a 1-for-7 shooting performance in his hometown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, said he would be coming back to Kansas University for his junior season.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Giddens, who was rumored to be thinking about jumping to the NBA after his soph season, said after KU’s 64-63 loss to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I don’t think my play was good enough to do that. All I’m going to focus on is getting better for next season to continue KU’s tradition in basketball and work toward winning a national championship, start all over and go back to the drawing board.”

Giddens was dismayed at NBA talk after the final game of his sophomore season.

“I don’t even know why people have talked about that this year. They just make things up in their head,” Giddens said. “I never said I was trying to leave. I never said I wanted to leave.

“All I’m trying to do is play college basketball.”

He sobbed in the locker room.

“My teammates … we worked so hard all season,” he said. “To go out on a note like this and especially somebody in the program that people look up to, you’ve got to step up and make plays. I didn’t do that tonight. I wish I could have done more for my teammates.”