Kansas Basketball Preview 2006-2007
His big press conference was coming up very soon, tomorrow as a matter of fact, and Darrell Arthur still has not completely decided which college he will choose to attend. As one of the last top prospects to declare his destination, a lot rides on his decision. LSU could replace the departed Tyrus Thomas, Baylor could have hoped to win more than a handful of games, and Texas could have hoped to revamp their depleted roster. One could surely argue that Kansas needed Arthur the least of any of these schools, yet that is the choice he made the next day. Darrell texted Coach Self the news early the next day saying that he saw KU in his dreams.
When one thinks of what Kansas accomplished last season with such a young team, it was nothing short of phenomenal. The only two graduating players, Christian Moody and Stephen Vinson, will have their playing time replaced by Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur, two McDonald’s All-Americans. Anyone who thinks five-star freshman won’t tip the scales need only remember the 2003 National Championship game between the Jayhawks of Kansas and Carmello Anthony….I mean the then Syracuse Orangemen.
With so many talented players, Kansas will have the versatility of Stretch Armstrong. They can go big, small, fast, quick, or somewhere in-between. The combination of talent, coaching, and now experience leaves them with an extremely positive outlook for next season. There are no guarantees in sports, but with the majority of Texas’ roster now playing pro ball, Kansas has more than a fair chance at repeated as Big 12 champs, and perhaps finally getting over that first round bubble.
Looking beyond next season the Jayhawk faithful can only pray that their roster is not completely pillaged by the NBA Draft. Julian Wright and Brandon Rush would be sure first-round selections with Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, and several of the big men threatening as well. Early projections see Wright as the highest selected KU player should he choose to declare, with Rush coming off the board soon after. One cannot forget the jump that several of this years lottery picks made up the board with their impact on the NCAA tournament. Namely Tyrus Thomas, also followed by Joakim Noah who would have been a top 10 pick had he elected to declare.
One thing is for certain, Kansas will manage to put a team on the court that will threaten the competition each and every year. Those players will play with passion in front of faithful fans and the talent is there for some of them to continue on to the pro ranks with grand success. Good luck to Kansas next season and all the alumni now playing professionally.
