Pless in town

Former Kansas University football great Willie Pless is back in Lawrence today and will speak at the year’s first KU Quarterback Club meeting tonight.

Pless, a linebacker from 1982-85 who racked up an astronomical total of 633 tackles in his career, is being added to the KU Ring of Honor at Memorial Stadium on Saturday during halftime of the Kansas-Central Michigan game.

KU coach Mark Mangino said Wednesday evening he was hoping Pless could speak to his team before Saturday’s game, though the two hadn’t been in contact.

“We’ll make some plans here with our administration in the next couple of days,” Mangino said. “We’re certainly looking forward to seeing Willie and having him see our kids.”

The Quarterback Club will run in conjunction with Mangino’s weekly radio show at Paddy O’Quigley’s inside the Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome today. Registration starts at 5 p.m., with Mangino’s radio show starting at 6 p.m. and Pless speaking to the crowd at 7.

For more information, call Pat Henderson at 864-3196 or e-mail him at phender@ku.edu.

Haselhorst back at it

Junior defensive tackle Todd Haselhorst has been going 100 percent in practice this week and is expected to play in some capacity Saturday after missing much of camp with an undisclosed injury.

“How much he plays will be based during the course of the game,” Mangino said. “He looks pretty good, he told me he feels pretty good. He’s a little rusty here and there, but his size and strength can make up for the rustiness with some good hard play.”

About there

Mangino was optimistic with how the week had gone, with the Central Michigan game just a couple of days away.

“We’ll find out Saturday night. We’ll find out then,” Mangino said. “But based on what I see on the practice field, I think we’re where we ought to be.”

Kansas will practice today before having a walk-through on Friday.

“I feel good about the kids’ grasp of assignments,” Mangino said. “(Today) we’ll just kind of polish it up a little bit. I like the way things are coming together.”

Saturday’s season opener is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. at KU’s Memorial Stadium and won’t be televised live.

Replays of the game will be broadcast on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sunday.