Taylor rookie of week

Kansas University freshman point guard Tyshawn Taylor was named Big 12 rookie of the week Monday. Iowa State’s Craig Brackins and Texas’ A.J. Abrams shared player-of-the-week honors. Taylor, a 6-foot-3 freshman from St. Anthony High in Jersey City, N.J., averaged 15.0 points and 5.3 assists in victories over Kent State, New Mexico State and Jackson State.

Hate to see you go

KU coach Bill Self was asked on his Hawk Talk radio show about Robert Hemenway’s decision to step down as chancellor.

“I say, ‘Congratulations, chancellor, and we wish you the very best,”’ Self said. “I’m disappointed from a selfish standpoint. I hate to see him go. But I’m happy for him since this is what he wants to do. He’s been very supportive to me personally and our entire athletic program since we’ve been here. When you look at Kansas athletics, he’s played a major role in the improvements made. I’ll be forever indebted to the chancellor and Drue Jennings (former interim AD) who brought me here.”

Kleinmann’s sleep saga

Self said senior center Matt Kleinmann showed signs of fatigue on Monday after spending the weekend working non-stop on his final project in architecture. It’s a story chronicled in Sunday’s Journal-World.

“He about fell asleep in film session today. I’m dead serious. He was nodding big-time,” Self said on Hawk Talk. “I thought about getting on him. How can you get on him? He probably hadn’t slept in 48 hours.

“If I am running a sports architecture firm, which Kansas City is the hub of that, I’d jump all over Matt Kleinmann. He’d be a huge asset to any firm. He’s in love with this (architecture) stuff.”

More on film session

“Today we watched our 15 defensive possessions against Jackson State and 15 minutes of defensive possessions from last year. Our guys were like, ‘Oh, that’s how you do it,”’ Self said. “Today we came out of that (session) … it’s unbelievable how much better we were from an effort standpoint.”

Little update

Self on Mario Little’s return to practice: “He is participating in halfcourt stuff, non-contact.” Self said Little might return for the Dec. 20 Temple game.

Withey looking at KU

Jeff Withey, a 7-foot freshman who has been released from his letter of intent at Arizona, tells goazcats.com he is considering transferring to KU, Texas or Gonzaga. He said he’ll decide in the next couple of weeks and arrive at his new school for second semester. If he does so, he’d be eligible to play at the end of the 2009 fall semester.

Recruiting

John Wall, a 6-4 senior point guard from Raleigh, N.C., plans to make an unofficial trip to KU for a game this winter, his AAU coach told Rivals.com. Wall, the country’s top-rated player who visited KU in September, has a list of KU, Baylor, Memphis, Duke, North Carolina State, Oregon and Miami. Self, who has signed two players, may sign up to two more. Dominic Cheek, 6-5 from Jersey City, N.J., is expected to choose this week between KU, Villanova, Pitt, Rutgers and Memphis. … Rivals.com says KU may be recruiting DeShonte Riley, 6-10 from Birmingham, Mich. He withdrew a commitment from Georgetown and has KU, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, Ohio State and others on his list.