KU hoops notebook: Travis Releford practices
Releford practices: KU sophomore Travis Releford, who has missed the last three games after spraining his left ankle in the first half of the Jan. 9 Michigan game, practiced on Thursday.
“He’s going to be available,” Self said of Saturday’s game. “He’s probably 70 to 75 percent.”
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Larry, Larry: Former KU coach Larry Brown, 70, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he wants to coach again.
“I don’t want to end the way this one ended,” Brown said of his stint with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. He was let go in
December after recording a 88-108 mark in two-plus seasons.
Brown told the AP he enjoys watching former assistants, such as Self and John Calipari of Kentucky, succeed.
“I feel like I’m part of that,” Brown said.
KU coach Self worked as a grad assistant on Brown’s 1985-86 Jayhawk staff.
“This probably isn’t for me to say, but coach was born to coach,” Self said Thursday. “I’d be shocked if he didn’t want to coach again. No matter what he does, he will always be one of the great coaches of all time. Certainly he’s still got the energy and is hungry. If he wants to coach again, he’s definitely earned the right.”
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GameDay info: ESPN’s College GameDay Driven by State Farm will be televised live from Allen Fieldhouse a week from Saturday. The telecast will start at 9 a.m., on ESPNU and continue at 10 a.m., on ESPN. For every person who attends the morning show, State Farm will donate $1 to Hawk Zone. This student organization helps increase student involvement in campus athletics. The GameDay crew of Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and Digger Phelps will preview the 6 p.m., KU-Kansas State game. The morning show is free to the public.
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Mulkey praises KU: Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, whose Bears routed KU, 76-37, on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, said she drew inspiration from watching KU’s men team club Baylor, 85-65, on Monday in Waco.
“They put on a clinic at our place,” said Mulkey. “I love what that team did. And a lot of things they did, I translated it to our basketball team because we try to run some of the same stuff Bill (Self) does.
“It started with our defense on the ball. I think Odyssey Sims brings a dimension to our team with her relentless on-ball pressure, and it makes everybody else be active on the wings.”
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Odds: A Kenpom.com Twitter message on Thursday revealed KU’s odds of winning the Big 12 stand at 76.8 percent. Texas’ odds of winning equal 21.8 percent; Texas A&M 1.1 percent. Everyone else stands 0.3 percent.
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Daniels update: DeAndre Daniels, a 6-8 senior forward from IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., still is deciding whether to attend classes at KU, Texas or Kentucky second semester or remain at IMG, Andy Borman, IMG director of basketball tells Zagsblog.net.
“Right now, we’re still waiting,” Borman said. “DeAndre and his dad, I give them a lot of credit. They’ve been extremely thorough with this recruiting process. They’ve still got another four or five days before they’ve got to make up their mind. Choosing between those three schools and also the possibility of coming back to IMG in the second semester, I know it’s not one that they take lightly. But I think we’ll all get our verdict pretty soon on that.”