Little recalls KSU visit

Mario Little chose Kansas University over Kansas State and Illinois in recruiting.

“A guy that we went nose-to-nose with Kansas recruiting — and there’s a reason why we recruited him because we thought he was good — was Mario Little,” KSU coach Frank Martin said of the former Chipola (Fla.) Community College forward.

“Mario is healthy now, and he’s starting to play up to the abilities I thought he could play at and obviously (KU coach) Bill (Self) thought he could play at.”

Little enjoyed his campus visit to K-State during football season.

“It was nice. The players were nice. There wasn’t too much to do in the town,” Little said. “I liked coach Martin, his staff, the players.”

He remembers playing a pick-up basketball game with Wildcat standouts Michael Beasley and Bill Walker.

“I did well. I played my best open gym game when I was on the visit with them. It was good,” Little said.

The fans even chanted his name at the football game.

Will they remember him today?

“I don’t know. They should,” Little said with a smile.

Will there be chickens?

KSU fans in the past have thrown live chickens at the Jayhawks during pregame introductions.

It should be noted KSU officials do not condone this and yearly try to catch and eject those fans who sneak in the birds.

“I don’t know if we had chickens last year,” Self said. “I know one year I was barely missed when we had four or five thrown down there. I’m sure they were intended for somebody else. They just happened to land next to me. I don’t know what will go on over there. I’m sure it’ll be in good fun, whatever it is.”

Big 12 race heating up

KU enters today’s game with an 8-1 record in Big 12 games. Oklahoma leads the conference at 10-0. Missouri is 8-2, K-State 6-4, Texas and Nebraska 5-4.

“I think the way OU is playing, our margin for error is almost nil now, as it would be for everybody else,” Self said. “OU still has games that will be very difficult games, like everybody does. To win the league after falling behind and one of your remaining road games is at their place, it puts a lot of pressure on winning there (Feb. 23) if your goal is winning league if you don’t have success in the near future.

“I don’t want to say this is a must-win,” Self added. “I do think our goal is to win the league. It is every year. Going two games down to OU I think would be very difficult to come back from, not impossible, but difficult based on how they (Sooners) are playing now.”

More on Lance’s visit

Lance Stephenson, a 6-5 senior from Lincoln High in Brooklyn, N.Y., reiterated to Zagsblog.net on Friday that he will make an official visit to KU for the Nebraska game a week from today. Stephenson said he has a list of KU, St. John’s, Maryland and Southern Cal.

Of KU, he told Zagsblog: “I can see myself fitting in their program. They play as a team, and they’re just willing to win, so I’m going to see what they’re about and how I can fit in the program.”

Rooting interest?

KU sophomore center Cole Aldrich grinned when asked if he was rooting for Baylor to beat Oklahoma on Wednesday.

“You know, I was rooting for the refs. The refs never lose,” Aldrich cracked.

OU, by the way, won, 78-63, in Waco, continuing its unbeaten ways.

Stats, facts

KU has won 37 of its last 39 meetings with Kansas State. … The Jayhawks hold a 176-90 all-time series advantage over the Wildcats, including a 71-44 mark in Manhattan and a 19-1 record in Bramlage Coliseum. … Since 1984, KU is 24-1 in games played in Manhattan. … From Feb. 2, 1994, KU won 31 straight against Kansas State before the Wildcats halted the streak with a 59-55 victory on Jan. 14, 1996, in Allen Fieldhouse. … Since the inception of the Big 12, KU holds a 29-2 record against KSU, 23-2 in league play and 6-0 in Big 12 championships.