Jayhawk fans get psyched up Friday while packing into Allen Fieldhouse for Late Night in the Phog.

10:35 p.m.

A few more quick observations from the stat sheet before we wrap it up.

¢ Reed’s solid play resulted in an impressive line: eight points (3-for-5 shooting), four rebounds, three assists, a steal and no turnovers in 18 minutes. I’m sure Self would take those numbers from him every game.

¢ Taylor finished 3-for-3 from beyond the extended three-point arc.

¢ Markieff Morris ended with 13 points and six rebounds. All six of his rebounds were on the offensive end.

¢ Conner Teahan also had a nice night, finishing with seven points on 3-of-3 shooting. He connected on his only three-point attempt and, like Reed, seemed to play within himself well without forcing things. The walk-on had no turnovers in 14 minutes.

I’m going to go ahead and sign off from Allen Fieldhouse. Thanks for logging on, and be sure to check back Saturday in this same location for live updates and analysis from KU’s football game against Oklahoma in Norman.

10:25 p.m.

Make sure to check out the audio for yourselves. Here are some highlights from Collins and Self:

Highlight from Collins’ audio: “No other Late Night out there probably would top this one tonight. If guys (recruits) can’t commit or get a sense of … the crowd and the way people care out here for basketball, then they shouldn’t even be here. They’d miss a lot.”

Highlight from Self’s audio, talking about the raising of the championship banner: “I almost started crying. I don’t think I was the only one. I almost did. That was a big-time deal. That video department – wow. I can’t imagine it being any better than that.”

10:15 p.m.

Audio from Sherron Collins and Bill Self has been posted.

9:57 p.m.

Quickly, here are the top scorers: Tyshawn Taylor 17, Markieff Morris 13, Tyrel Reed 8, Sherron Collins 8, Conner Teahan 7, Travis Releford 7, Cole Aldrich 6, Marcus Morris 6, Mario Little 4, Quintrell Thomas 2, Markieff Morris 2, Matt Kleinmann 2.

9:53 p.m.

Red wins 48-34. A few quick observations.

¢ Markieff Morris was among the most impressive newcomers. He showed a full range of skills, grabbing three offensive rebounds (he was tenacious on the boards), putting in two tip-ins, knocking down a hook shot and draining a 3-pointer. A big man that can do all those things will find himself playing in the pros some day.

¢ Tyrel Reed had a solid effort and looked comfortable. Almost all of his shots were good shots and in rhythm, and he knocked in a pair of threes.

¢ Tyshawn Taylor, aka Mario Chalmers look-alike, will be a fan favorite quickly. He has a nice shot, good form (again, to me, his shot looks like Chalmers’. Maybe I’m crazy.) and showed good speed and athleticism. He also finished with a game-high 17 points.

Audio interviews with Sherron Collins and Self to come shortly.

9:24 p.m.

Red leads 29-22. Meanwhile, Self turns around in his chair and works his magic on the recruits.

9:15 p.m.

Wow, Tyshawn Taylor has the same size, look, haircut, mannerisms and number (15) as Mario Chalmers. A few times, I thought Chalmers was still with the Jayhawks.

9:05 p.m.

Just received confirmation that the recruits in attendance are those expected: seniors Xavier Henry, Michael Snaer, Elijah Johnson and Dominic Cheek. All are rated in the top 27 in next year’s class. Harrison Barnes, a junior, is another of the recruits that has been spotted behind the bench.

As I’m typing, legendary KU broadcaster Max Falkenstien is talking to Henry. Now that’s a conversation I’d like to hear.

8:57 p.m.

The KU fans seemed to enjoy the much-awaited highlight video. The video went chronologically through last season, and each banner was unfurled in the Fieldhouse after its respective games were shown on the videoboard (Big 12 Conference, Final Four, National Championship). The highlight came at the end, when part of coach Bill Self’s postgame speech after the national championship was shown. I’m sure you’ll see the video on YouTube tomorrow, so I won’t ruin any more of it for you.

I will say, I saw about 16,123 flash bulbs go off when the national championship banner was raised. A pretty awesome sight.

8:25 p.m.

The basketball players are performing four dances from the time periods of the Kansas national championships (1920s, 1952, 1988, 2008). The best performance comes from the final four – Brady Morningstar, Sherron Collins, Tyrone Appleton and Mario Little – who get a standing ovation for their effort. After discarding their suitcoats, the four got down to business with some nasty jukes and jives. Gotta give credit to Morningstar, who whirled his arms and legs side to side in a spastic motion that somewhat resembled dancing. I didn’t think the guy had it in him.

8:15 p.m.

After a short talk by Self (One of his highlights: “Three years ago, we had a lot of newcomers, and look what happened three years later.”), a 10-minute video montage shows highlights from Jayhawks in the NBA. Fans must love recent history, as the largest cheers came from, in this order: Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush, and then Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison.

In the background, I hear a faint “We want Hen-ry” chant from the crowd. The fans, obviously, are trying to help recruit Xavier Henry – the No. 3-ranked prospect in the class of 2009 – with his decision for college. I’m sure, in his spot in the row behind KU’s bench, that he heard it.

7:58 p.m.

Bill Self comes out. The crowd goes wild.

7:55 p.m.

The women’s 12-minute scrimmage ends in a 17-all tie. Some observations:

¢ Goodrich didn’t disappoint in her unofficial Jayhawk debut. She had four points, two coming on a lightning-quick drive and layup in the lane. She also had a nice assist, hooking the ball over her head to give McCray a wide-open three-point look. If Goodrich steps up and helps create on offense, that can only help a player like McCray, who is known as a good spot-up shooter.

¢ The senior Maria Zinic looked solid inside with a pair of baskets, finishing with a game-high seven points (my guess was off). Both of her made shots from the floor came off nice feeds from fellow senior Ivana Catic.

¢ The point leaders were: Zinic 7, McCray 6, Nicollette Smith 5, Goodrich 4, Porscha Weddington 4, Kelly Kohn 3, LaChelda Jacobs 2, Katie Smith 2, Aishah Sutherland 1.

¢ There were quite a few turnovers, but that’s to be expected given the time of year and pressure to perform at Late Night.

7:34 p.m.

A nice video montage and ovation for the women’s basketball team. This needs to be a breakthrough season for the Jayhawks in coach Bonnie Henrickson’s fifth year. The Jayhawks were a few close calls away from the NCAA Tournament last year, and Henrickson hopes the team will be able to get over the hump and make it to “The Dance” this year.

I’m interested to see what freshman Angel Goodrich shows in her first action at KU. The Tahlequah, Okla., native was a top-10 point-guard prospect nationally, and much will be expected of her in her first year at KU.

7:21 p.m.

Quick crowd update: The corners now look mostly full. Great crowd for an event that never seems to lose its charm.

7:15 p.m.

The first basketball dancing comes from the women’s basketball team, which splits itself into two groups for separate routines.

In the first performance, the aforementioned McCray steals the show, showing her dance moves front and center in her black vest, pink tie and knee-high socks. I’d say she’s easily won the best dancer award for the women’s team; now the question is whether she will be the Jayhawks’ high scorer tonight.

7:00 p.m.

When listing off KU coach Mark Mangino’s accomplishments, the KU public address announcer mistakenly says that, last year, Mangino won the “Big coach of the year” before correcting himself and saying “Big 12 coach of the year.” Fans get a good laugh out of the slip-up.

The Journal-World’s own Tom Keegan, during his two minutes of fame on the court, says the KU men’s basketball team will go 40-0 this season and win the national championship. Always a crowd-pleaser that Tom Keegan.

6:40 p.m.

While the KU cheerleaders are flipping and tumbling across the court, I thought it’d be a good time to talk about the biggest change to Allen Fieldhouse (other than the new championship banners).

From your TV, you’ll be able to recognize immediately that KU has added electronic videoboards to the front of the tables on press row. Now, more options will be available when advertising. So far, my favorite ad has been for “The Drive,” which includes an electronic rendering of our own Tom Keegan. I have to say, he looks pretty good in lights.

6:30 p.m.

Let’s set the scene a little for those of you who weren’t able to make it tonight.

The blue Thundersticks have been distributed, so those along with a full KU pep band playing make it nearly impossible to hear. The corners are starting to fill up, so it looks like it will be pretty close to a packed house.

Fran Fraschilla from ESPN is sitting courtside for the event, which will be broadcast for a while on ESPNU. A few times already, KU fans have been asked to go crazy for the ESPN cameras. They did exactly that.

The ceremony has just started, and the Thundersticks are deafening.

The 2008-09 basketball season looks like it’s officially upon us.

6:10 p.m.

Welcome to The Newell Post Live from Allen Fieldhouse. Plenty of good seats still available if you’re driving around the Lawrence area. Still looks like there’s about 10-15 rows in each corner empty, so I wouldn’t imagine they’d be locking the doors any time soon.

More details about the environment here as we go, but I wanted to get the discussion started. The highlight at Late Night for me is always the scrimmage at the end (though, obviously, it doesn’t mean much three weeks from now).

So, my question to you, is who will the Jayhawks’ leading scorer be tonight?

I’m thinking Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich would be the favorites, but I’ll go in another direction with my guess. Sign me up for Travis Releford (let’s say 15 points). He was the leading scorer on the Canada trip (14.3 points per game), so I’ll say that, in this fast-break scrimmage, he’ll use his strong driving ability to his advantage.

For the women, I’ll go safe and say Danielle McCray leads the team with 11 points.

So who are your picks?