Little has ‘great’ visit

Mario Little returned to Marianna, Fla., on Sunday, well fed, informed and entertained – but not yet offering an oral commitment after his basketball recruiting visit to Kansas University.

“The weekend was great. I really had fun with the team. The players and coaches were great. Everything about my trip to Kansas was awesome,” said Little, 6-5, 210-pound sophomore from Chipola Junior College. “This visit will be tough to beat. I loved everything about Kansas.”

Highlights of his trip included a cookout at coach Bill Self’s house Friday night and tailgate meal before the KU-Southeastern Louisiana football game Saturday, where he sat between fellow Chicagoans Sherron Collins and Julian Wright in the Memorial Stadium stands.

Wright, who is a rookie with the New Orleans Hornets, was in town for a weekend visit, so, of course, a bowling outing was fit into the agenda to go with a pick-up basketball game.

Little had breakfast Saturday and Sunday with KU’s coaches. He also toured the campus Friday.

While not committing, Little said he’s “not sure” about making his final two visits – to Kansas State next weekend and Illinois on Sept. 28.

“Topping this visit will be tough,” he said.

Little told Rivals.com that KU assistant Danny Manning was ticketed to be in Florida to watch a mid-week practice, and Self will be in town at a yet-to-be-determined date.

Next weekend, KU will receive an official visit from Phillip McDonald, a 6-5 guard from Cypress Springs, Texas. McDonald was on New Mexico’s campus this past weekend. He’s also considering Oklahoma, UConn and Oregon.

Quintrell Thomas, a 6-8 forward from Elizabeth, N.J., will visit KU on Sept. 28-29. Terrance Henry, a 6-9 forward from Monroe, La., will be at KU for Late Night on Oct. 12.

This week, Self begins hitting the road for visits with recruits, including tonight’s stop at the home of J’Mison Morgan, 6-10 from Dallas’ South Oak Cliff High.

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Former Kansas University athletic director Bob Frederick is back from Springfield, Mass., where he attended Roy Williams’ induction ceremony into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Frederick, of course, was the man who hired Williams at KU to replace Larry Brown, who headed to San Antonio’s Spurs after the national title season of 1987-88.

“It was fabulous,” Frederick said, indicating the ceremony was even better than Brown’s induction in 2002 and the induction of Ralph Miller and Clyde Lovellette in ’88.

“The Hall has gotten more organized and more professional, and it helps when television gets involved,” Frederick added, noting the ceremony was shown on ESPN Classic.

Frederick enjoyed visiting with a large contingent of former KU players, including Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, Florida Atlantic coach Rex Walters, as well as the likes of Adonis Jordan, Jacque Vaughn, Paul Pierce, Wayne Simien, C.B. McGrath, Jerod Haase, Ryan Robertson, T.J. Pugh, Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Greg Gurley and Patrick Richey.

“To me, it was impressive that not only were Kirk and Nick there, but their dads,” Frederick said of Dave Collison and Jim Hinrich.

“One of the best things about it was all the former players who showed up. Guys that have been in the organization a long time told me they’d never seen so many former players at a coach’s induction ceremony. He (Williams) was overwhelmed and humbled. It was really a nice occasion.”