Kansas, North Carolina, Gonzaga join 2016 Champ Villanova as No. 1 seeds in NCAA Tournament
By EDDIE PELLS (AP) -- Villanova took the
By EDDIE PELLS (AP) -- Villanova took the
Shakur Juiston, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Hutchinson (KS) Community College, picked up an offer from Kansas on Sunday and is expected to visit the Big 12 regular-season champion and top-ranked team in the nation, as first reported by ZAGSBLOG.
Kansas assistant Norm Roberts watched Juiston on Sunday when he had 10 points and 14 rebounds in a 78-54 win over Independence Community College.
“I appreciate it a lot, opportunities like that come very seldom,” Juiston said Monday by phone of the Kansas offer.
“Honestly, I feel honored by any offer. It’s not just because of the ranking [Kansas is No. 1] or that they came. I just see it as opportunities, not because they’re a top person.”
For the first time in Big 12 history, three schools have captured all of the major men’s basketball postseason awards. Frank Mason III (Player of the Year), Bill Self (Coach) and Josh Jackson (Freshman) of Kansas have been recognized, with West Virginia’s Jevon Carter (Defensive Player) and Tarik Phillip (Sixth Man) also earning honors. Manu Lecomte of Baylor is the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.
Mason, a leading candidate for national player of the year who is averaging 20.5 points, is the first Kansas player to lead the Big 12 in scoring since 2004-05. He was also first in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.493) while ranking fourth in assists (5.1 apg).
Jackson is the top-scoring freshman in the Big 12 with 16.4 points per game. Along with Mason, he is a candidate for both the Naismith and Wooden Awards after earning a combined nine weekly league awards (two player, seven newcomer) during the 2016-17 campaign.
By: MIKE McCURRY
For the first 30 minutes on Monday, Kansas looked anything but the nation’s top-ranked team, trailing a 19-loss Oklahoma squad by 12 points with 75 percent of the game completed.
The Jayhawks may have been lacking motivation — after all, Bill Self and his guys already had locked up yet another outright Big 12 title — and also could have been distracted by the Senior Night festivities. Still, there was no excuse for letting Oklahoma do what it was doing. To that point, the Sooners were the much tougher team, dictating the paint and crashing the offensive glass.
As always, Kansas turned it up when it mattered most, winning 73-63 by ending the game on a 31-9 run.
Frank Mason had 23 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals, while Devonte Graham added 16 points, catching fire late via not one, not two, but three three-pointers over a 1 minute, 57-second duration.
Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina and Gonzaga remain
By JIM O’CONNELL
Kansas, which won a record 13th consecutive Big 12 regular-season title, is the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll.
The Jayhawks are also No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Kansas (26-3) moved up two places to the top spot in the AP Poll, receiving 58 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel .
Kansas is the sixth school to be No. 1 this season. The Jayhawks were on top last season for five weeks, including the final three polls of the season.
Villanova (27-3) remained second despite losing to Butler last week. The Wildcats were No. 1 on two ballots. UCLA (26-3), which was No. 1 on three ballots, moved up from fifth to third after its win over Arizona on Saturday.
