photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot (44) is fouled by Washburn forward Jeremy Lickteig (34) during the second half, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Freshman forward Mitch Lightfoot learned a couple of things during Tuesday night’s exhibition victory over Washburn, his first actual game against an opponent in Allen Fieldhouse.

The first was what it looked like to see 40-50 rows of people packed in behind the basket when you’re trying to shoot free throws.

The second was what exactly he wanted his role to be for this Kansas team during the 2016-17 season.

“For me, I’ve gotta be able to move
the ball, rebound and defend,”
Lightfoot said during a Thursday
meeting with the local media. “That’s
my biggest thing. Coach has really
emphasized that with me.”

Asked if those things came naturally for Lightfoot, who scored 23 points and 12 rebounds during his senior season of high school, the 6-foot-8 forward from Gilbert, Arizona, said filling those roles well throughout the preseason caught him by surprise.

“It’s been something that I didn’t
really know I could do well,” he said.
“But I’ve kind of realized that I do
that…. When I first got out there,
the first minute or two, I felt like I
was moving a million miles an hour.
I’ve gotta get to the point where I
can find the happy medium between
going as hard as I can and doing
everything correctly.”

One way he plans to do that is to try to fill the role vacated by former Jayhawk Jamari Traylor, whom KU coach Bill Self constantly praised for his effort and energy and willingness to do the little things to help the team win throughout his KU career.

“I loved how Jamari played,” Lightfoot
said. “Just kind of does all the dirty
work, gets all the rebounds, all the
50-50 balls. I really want to be like
that. The hard worker is kind of what
I like to be labeled as.”

Lightfoot showed flashes of that during Tuesday’s exhibition opener, finishing with 3 points and 7 rebounds in 9 minutes. But he’ll be the first to tell you that he, like everyone on the team, still needs to get better and get more comfortable with where and how he fits into this team.

With Traylor no longer in town, Lightfoot has found a current teammate who spent a year learning from Traylor to act as his unofficial mentor.

“Carlton (Bragg) would be the one that
I’ve learned the most from,” Lightfoot
said of the sophomore forward. “He’s
only a year older than me, but (in)
that year he learned so much from
being here and learning from Perry
(Ellis) and Jamari and all them. I’m
just trying to be a sponge to
everything he has to teach, him and
Landen (Lucas).”