Men’s basketball briefs

Traditions

Believe it or not, Bucknell has been playing basketball longer than tradition-rich Kansas University. The Bison started play in 1896, as did Yale and Minnesota. KU started in February of 1899. Amazingly, the two programs never had met until Friday.

Loyal fan attends

Bob Nelson, “the Ol’ Jayhawk” and his wife, Eleanor, were on hand for Friday’s game. The Ol’ Jayhawk, who has been following the Jayhawks’ fortunes for more than 60 years, recently was paid a high honor by ex-Jayhawk Dave Robisch.

Robisch had Nelson join him at center court while delivering his jersey retirement speech at halftime of the Oklahoma State game Feb. 27.

No crystal ball

KU coach Bill Self didn’t fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket this year.

“I don’t know the last time I filled out a bracket. When I was at Oral Roberts and we were not eligible to go to the tournament was probably the last time. I focus on us now, not the other games,” Self said.

Midnight owls

Self didn’t like the late start.

“You don’t want to play the early morning game, although after it you have the whole day, but the late game is tough because you go to bed at 2 or 2:30, and your day starts early the next day.”

Simien good with media

KU senior Wayne Simien has been gracious with reporters at the Oklahoma City pod as he has all season. But he admits he’s not always a big fan of the interview this time of year.

“You just want to play ball sometimes, but answering a lot of questions comes with it,” said Simien, a candidate for the Naismith and Wooden Awards. “The accolades and awards come out this time of year, and it’s kind of uncomfortable for me because it’s not me, it’s my teammates. I thank them.”

TV time

Left with free time in OKC, Simien has been watching NCAA games on TV.

“I don’t know too much bracketology, but I saw Pacific, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Nevada, a lot of teams we played doing well,” he said.

OKC natives

J.R. Giddens and Darnell Jackson are hometown heroes. Giddens played his high school ball at nearby John Marshall High, while Jackson attended Midwest City High his senior season after attending inner-city NW Classen his first three years.

Both took walks down memory lane, crediting OKC for helping develop their skills.

“I played at the park, the boys and girls clubs,” Jackson said. “When I was younger, I played against the inmates who were out of jail. It helped playing ball against the older guys in Oklahoma City.”

Giddens also played at a different boys and girls club.

“I went there and met (Duke’s) Shelden Williams,” he said of a club on 44th St. “We played on the same basketball team. Some guys on the team were better than me. That had never happened to me before. By the end of my second season, I was not the best, but in my mind I was one of the better players on my team.

“It took me awhile to get there. A lot of games people were doing better than me, people killing me in practice. Those guys got me to go on weekends. You fight and scrap after you lose a game. Inner-city basketball, every day, you walk down the street and kids are playing. A lot of older kids pushed me around, but it helped me.”

Schedule talk

KU still needs two games to complete next year’s home schedule. The Jayhawks, who meet St. Joe’s in Madison Square Garden and also travel to Georgia Tech and play in the Maui Invitational, will play host to Idaho State, Northern Colorado, Nevada, Pepperdine and Kentucky. KU will meet Cal in a home game at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State are slated to play the Jayhawks in exhibitions.