KU cornerback Kevin Short (7) runs drills with the football team Tuesday, August 12.

After being declared ineligible two nights before last year’s season-opener, Kansas University junior cornerback Kevin Short is so excited about the season ahead he can barely stand it.

“It was hard to sit out,” Short said earlier this month during his first meeting with the media. “I was mad at first. … It was unfair, to me, because I did all that (academic) work in the summertime, and I got here.”

In the months that followed, Short focused on improving his technique, getting stronger and becoming a good teammate. Even as he improved in all of those areas, the disappointment never quite left him.

“It took me probably the whole season,” he said. “But I had to get over it to better myself. Coach (Reggie) Mitchell and his son (grad assistant Kaeman) kept me focused and level-headed.”

With the rocky past behind him and nothing but opportunity ahead, Short, a former Fort Scott Community College player, said he was eager to make up for lost time.

“I’m ready to get it going,” he said. “It’s close now. I see the light.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Short entered camp listed as a second-string cornerback but is expected to be in the running for a starting spot at either right corner, left corner or nickelback.

KU’s updated depth chart likely will be released Tuesday, when coach Charlie Weis meets with the media to discuss the Jayhawks’ 6 p.m. Sept. 6 season-opener against Southeast Missouri State at Memorial Stadium.

Ehambe in town

The 2014 KU football roster is one player closer to being complete now that Josh Ehambe, a 6-3, 232-pound freshman linebacker from Prime Prep Academy, has made it to campus.

Ehambe’s arrival was delayed by proceedings in his high school’s efforts to appeal the revocation of its charter, which put in jeopardy the NCAA eligibility of all recent graduates. Prime Prep, which was founded by former NFL standout Deion Sanders, currently is in the second round of its appeal while Ehambe already has started classes.

“1st day of college in the books,” Ehambe Tweeted Monday. He followed that up with his take on just how wild Day One was: “Man I had a class with like 300 people in it yesterday,” he wrote Tuesday.

The Jayhawks are still waiting on the arrival of Mesa College defensive end Damani Mosby, who has finished his classes but has been waiting for the work to be graded. Mosby is expected in Lawrence any day.

KU night at the K

Led by senior linebacker Ben Heeney tossing out the ceremonial first pitch, Sunday will mark “KU Night at the K” for Kansas football and the Kansas City Royals.

Heeney, a Hutchinson native dubbed Captain Heeney by the KU athletic department, will be joined at the game by Weis, offensive and defensive coordinators John Reagan and Clint Bowen and teammates Cassius Sendish, Nick Harwell, Pat Lewandowski, Keon Stowers and quarterback Montell Cozart.

In addition to throwing out the first pitch — Harwell will serve as the catcher for Heeney’s fastball — the Jayhawks will sign autographs from 5:30-6:15 p.m. near the Gate B entrance.

Game time between the first-place Royals and Cleveland Indians is set for 7 p.m. and will be the featured game on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

The first 2,000 KU fans who bring their specific “KU Night at the K” ticket to a table inside Gate B will receive a limited-edition crimson-and-blue KC Royals cap.

Heaps 2nd string

Former KU quarterback Jake Heaps, who transferred to the University of Miami this spring after losing the starting job to KU sophomore Montell Cozart, learned this week that he will open the season as the Hurricanes’ second-string QB.

Heaps, 6-1, 208, went to Miami in search of a chance to start. He got that chance throughout preseason camp but was edged out by true freshman Brad Kaaya, who, at 6-4, 209 pounds, is believed to be the future of the program.

Bosilevac passes at 97

Former KU football and men’s basketball player Fred N. Bosilevac, 97, died of natural causes Aug. 22, at his home in Mission Woods.

Bosilevac, a tackle, lettered for the football team from 1936-38 and also for the basketball team from 1936-37 under legendary coach Phog Allen. According to his obituary, Bosilevac during his freshman year of college took a class taught by Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.