Eagles lament NBA defection

Big Sky's top player left EWU before junior season

Kansas guard Brandon Rush elevates for a bucket against USC. Rush is not expected to return to the starting lineup tonight.

First-year Eastern Washington University coach Kirk Earlywine – it goes without saying – would liked to have coached Eagles sensation Rodney Stuckey this season.

But Stuckey entered his name in NBA Draft after two years at the Cheney, Wash., school, and last June was selected No. 15 overall by the Detroit Pistons.

“He’s not only the best player in the history of Eastern Washington, but the Big Sky Conference,” Earlywine told ESPN Insider. Earlywine left an assistant job at UNC Wilmington last June 14 to replace Mike Burns, who was fired over minor NCAA infractions.

“He’s the first NBA first-round pick (in league) in 30 years. The last one was Micheal Ray Richardson (of Montana). How do you replace him?” Earlywine asked.

With Stuckey, EWU went 15-14 overall and 8-8 in the Big Sky last season. So far without him, the Eagles are 3-6 entering today’s 7 p.m. clash at Kansas.

The Eagles – who are led by senior forward Kellen Williams’ 10.4 points per game average – defeated UMKC, 65-54, on Monday in Kansas City. They’ve also stopped UC-Riverside (59-51) and Alaska-Anchorage (64-62) and lost to Washington State (68-41), New Mexico (92-57), Washington (82-68), Virginia Tech (69-52), Michigan (61-53) and Santa Clara (66-57).

That’s one tough schedule.

“Just as we did against teams like Washington State, Washington and Michigan, we are going into that (KU) game trying to get better,” Earlywine said. “We haven’t deviated from that. From Day One, it’s been about preparing for Saturday, Dec. 22, and our first conference game against Portland State. Nothing has changed.

“We took a step in the right direction against Missouri-Kansas City, and I absolutely expect us to go in the right direction on Wednesday in Lawrence.”

Adris DeLeon, a 5-11 junior and Trey Gross, a 6-2 freshman, average 9.9 and 9.4 points a game for the Eagles, who average 57.3 points while allowing 67.2.

“They will primarily play man. They’ll try to control tempo and we need to play against teams like that,” KU coach Bill Self assessed. “USC did a good job of that. We’ve just got to focus in on Kansas and get better. Eastern Washington had a first-round draft pick in Stuckey who is a standout with the Pistons now. He’s doing very well. They’ve had their share of outstanding players there.”

¢ Rush continues off bench: KU coach Bill Self had a quick quip when asked when Brandon Rush would return to the starting lineup.

“Well based on that last game … no, I’m joking,” Self said, acknowledging Rush had an off day at USC with six points off 2-of-11 shooting. “I still don’t think he’s quite where he needs to be yet (health wise in recovering from June 1 ACL surgery). We’ll have to wait and see.”

¢ Collins progressing: Sophomore guard Sherron Collins is back on his feet jogging more than three weeks after surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot.

“I’m moving gradually back into it, walking faster, doing a little jogging,” Collins said. “It was three weeks on Monday. It (his return) could be anywhere from here until three weeks.”

Collins won’t play tonight and said he didn’t think he’d be able to play Saturday against DePaul.

“Hopefully it will be days instead of weeks,” Self said, asked when the guard would return. “He’ll do a little more and back into it gradually. It’s not going to be too far off.”

¢ Reed OK: Tyrel Reed, who has missed the last two games with a sprained right ankle, will be available for the game. “He’s fine. He may not be 100 percent, but he can play,” Self said.

¢ Groin strain: Mario Chalmers strained his groin the day before the USC game – the game in which he scored 20 points, 17 the second half.

“Yes it did,” Chalmers said, asked if it bothered him during the game. “It’s good now.”

KU coach Self indicated Tuesday that Chalmers would qualify as KU’s “go-to guy” at the end of games.

“Mario has a real short memory. It doesn’t matter if his last one went in or didn’t go in. He’s the best we have as far as making big shots, and he’s proven that over time,” Self said.

“I think in most (crunch time) situations you want to drive the ball,” Self added, noting a guard normally gets the ball with the game on the line.

¢ Kaun up for award: Senior center Sasha Kaun is one of 30 candidates up for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented to the country’s top senior basketball player.

¢ Recruiting: KU, UConn, Cincinnati and many others are looking at recruiting Ater Majok, a 6-10, 220 senior from Sudan, Rivals.com reports. He plays at Martinsville (Va.) High.