Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 12.4.19

Episode Date: December 4, 2019

Les Miles talks recruiting; Bill Self talks big picture of Maui Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up everyone? Welcome into Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. Today on the show, we're going to hear from Les Miles. He's going to talk about the state of the program, how he thinks it is gone. He's going to talk a little bit about recruiting as well. And then we'll also hear from Devon Dotson and Bill Self. They're going to finish up talking about what went right in the Maui Invitational last week. And then Bill Self is going to talk about what a win in a tournament like that can do for a team like this. And Kansas, of course, now six consecutive in-season conference titles, but none is better than Maui, and none really

match up to the intensity that we experienced, especially in that Dayton game last week. So we're going to hear from all those guys as the show goes on. And then throughout the rest of the week, of course, we'll preview Colorado, KU Colorado top 20 battle on the hardwood. That's Saturday at 6 o'clock at Allen Fieldhouse. So looking forward to that for sure. Okay, Coach Les Miles, he met with reporters after the Baylor game. That was a 61-6 Bears win, and that was KU's final game of the season. And you know, you hear from different outlets that the last game of the season is kind of the final test to see where a team is and unfortunately for Kansas if that was true then

they didn't they didn't exactly pass that test because Baylor came in as top 10 team and really imposed their will on the Jayhawks in every phase Kansas was not focused they committed six turnovers including two in special teams in the punt return game. And really, aside from the first drive where they moved the ball a little bit, Kansas could not move the ball at all, and they could not stop. A Baylor offense who wasn't exactly high-powered, but they utilized their top guys, Charlie Brewer and Denzel Mims, to get down the field as needed.

And Baylor really came in and took care of business, and now they're off to the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma on Saturday. So that ended Kansas' season 3-9, 1-8 in Big 12 play. One of the questions Coach Miles was asked after the game is, how does he think it's gone, his first year at the helm? I think it's gone extremely well. I think our football team is better than they were. I think they understand what the commitment to a full-time football team, a team that's going to play and play and be given the

opportunity to chase bowl games, etc. I know that after a game like that, you don't mention bowl games, but we do because we're going to take some strides and we're going to make corrections, and those will be the things that we would look forward to being a part of. That's what we want, the bowl games. That's where so many teams get the opportunity to showcase themselves. You get to go to a new state most of the time and experience warm weather. You

get to face another top team and really get a chance to get your fans out and get excitement. Kansas, they haven't been in a bowl game since 2009. They had back-to-back with the Orange Bowl and the Insight Bowl, and then it's been nothing but three wins or fewer ever since. So for the Dewell, they had the five-win season, I guess, immediately after. And they started 5-0 in Todd Riesing's senior year, and then they dropped the last seven. So five wins that year, but since then, three wins or fewer. So you've got to get to four wins before you're focused on getting six. But that is indeed the goal for Coach Miles.

And the staff, unfortunately, fell three games short of that here in year one, but it is a process. He said many times that he didn't expect this to be a one-year thing. Is Les having fun? He spoke to that after the game Saturday. I'm having the enjoyment of relationships. I'm enjoying a team that will go on the field prepared to play. I'm enjoying going into homes tomorrow and talk about Kansas

and talk about the future. And that's the next step for this Kansas football program is getting talented guys in here. It all starts with guys who can make plays, go back when Kansas wasn't nearly as high-powered as they were during the Todd Riesing era, times before. It was all about getting playmakers in here. And then all of a sudden, you were able to get guys like Todd Riesing era times before. It was all about getting playmakers in here. And then all of a sudden, you were able to get guys like Todd Riesing,

Kerry Meyer, Desmond Briscoe. You had Daryl Stuckey, Mike Rivera, Nick Reed, Banks Floodman. You had so many guys on both sides of the ball for those teams during the Riesing and Mangino era. And it all starts with those guys. It starts with bringing in talented guys and then building them up. of course is the job of this coaching staff you heard coach miles say just then you know he'll be in houses tomorrow well this was saturday so he got got to work uh beginning on sunday in terms of recruiting we know coach miles is known as a great recruiter he was asked

about his recruiting style it's an honest and and sincere rendition of a great education, an opportunity to launch a career, an opportunity to play early, and we're looking for those kinds of players that would develop, do some special things, and I think guys that will want to come to Kansas will look forward to that. That's one of the many attractive qualities that recruits find in Les Miles and found throughout his time mainly at LSU is that he's an honest and sincere guy. The great thing about Coach Miles is he's able to surround himself with coaches

who know what they're doing with X's and O's. He's not as much the X's and O's guy anymore. He's more of a CEO look, but he surrounds himself with guys, particularly, you're talking offensively. We saw what Brent Dierman can do. We're excited about his future with this program. Emmitt Jones, the wide receiver coach also, I mean, he came in one year and all of a sudden Kansas had a top four, I think you could argue, receiving core in the Big 12 right away. So that's what Coach Miles does. He's all about bringing the right guys around him and making sure the team executes on Saturday. Now, Kansas has a lot of holes to fill.

We've talked throughout this week about all the guys they're losing on both sides of the ball, but perhaps most importantly, it's a quarterback. Kansas has a couple guys in the system right now, Thomas McVitie and Miles Kendrick, but they're losing Carter Stanley. So is that going to be a key spot, or is Les Miles happy with who he's got? Listen to his answer on this one. Certainly we need a quarterback,

and we like McVitie. We like the other Miles lad. But if we can find a great quarterback in this class, we'll take one. Although we have a pretty good quarterback that could be a part of us already. Kind of an interesting answer there, right? Because he's talking about certainly we need a quarterback. That was his initial response. But then he kind of backtracks and talks about McVitie and Myles Kendrick,

those guys that I mentioned. But who knows? With that type of answer, I think you want to prioritize a quarterback. I think if you were really confident in one of the guys that you already had, you would have come out and said that already. But you do have those two guys who the coaches are confident with. They couldn't beat out Carter Stanley this year, but Coach Miles has said in the past,

you know, McVitie in particular, he just needs more snaps, more reps under center until he can get there. But Kansas is a good recruiting class. Now you've got to find the right quarterback, whether it's in-house or on the recruiting market. Of course, anytime anything comes up in terms of recruiting, I'll fill you in here on Lockdown Jayhawks

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you can find this and all other offers from Locked On sponsors at lockedonpodcast.com slash offers. After the break, we'll hear from Devon Donson and Bill Sell. This is Locked On Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. It was a clean sweep for the Big 12 last night as three teams were in action and they were all victorious. Baylor beat down on a now 0-10 Maryland Eastern Shore team. Bears improved a 6-1 with a 78-46 victory in Waco. Jared Butler, man, he is the real deal.

I've been on this guy since early in his freshman season. He had 20 points, 5 of 10 threes, 4 assists. There were 4 Bears and double figures in this one as well. Devontae Bandu had 14, Matthew Mayer had 12, and C.O. Teague had 10 fourth Bears. Texas snuck past UAB 67-57 that game in Austin. Leading scorer was Andrew Jones. Back at it. Happy to see him out there.

He had 6 threes, 6-8 for 20 points. Courtney Ramey had 13 points and 4 dimes. And Jericho Sims had 10 points for a veteran-laden Texas team. Should be interesting to see how they finish in the conference. And TCU and Illinois State battled. It was the Frogs 81 and the Redbirds 69. So TCU improves to 6-1. Desmond Bain, again, leading the way for TCU.

He had 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting, 9 boards and 5 assists. Preseason All-Big 12 performer certainly performing up to that accolade. Kevin Samuel and Jair Greyer both had 15 for TCU. RJ Nimhard rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10. And in that game, Greyer hit four threes. So TCU, the team that was picked to finish last in the Big 12, they're off to a 6-1 start. A lot of teams off to decent starts. We don't have as many ranked in the top 25 in terms of the AP poll as we'd like, just Kansas at 2 and Baylor at 18, but this team, this conference, I should say, has a lot of teams kind of in that, I would say Kansas is obviously the favorite, but then the second

through probably about 7 is 2 through 7 teams are very, very formidable in this conference. So as always, it's going to be a very interesting year to see how it shakes out. There's going to be teams losing at home, going to be teams very interesting year to see how it shakes out. There's going to be teams losing at home. There's going to be teams getting upset. It should be another fun year of Big 12 basketball. Tonight's games, Oklahoma State hosting Georgetown in the Big 12 Big East battle at 7 o'clock. And Iowa State hosts UMKC, a team that Jayhawks will take on in the Sprint Center on December 14th. The game tonight between the Cyclones and the Roos is at 7 o'clock at Hilton Coliseum.

And Texas Tech travels to face an old friend, Charlie Moore and company, and DePaul, Charlie starting and putting up good numbers for the Blue Demons. They have not lost a game this season. So that'll be another test for Texas Tech, who's dropped two in a row. Big 12, Big East battle, Tech at DePaul. That game at 7.30 tonight. That game's on FS1 if you want to check it out. So that's your Big 12 outlook on the day.

Recap all those games, of course, on tomorrow's show. And we would be remiss if we didn't mention the Missouri game from last night. They're not in the Big 12 anymore, but how about Mizzou losing to a 26-point underdog, Charleston Southern. That game at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, the Tigers fall to 4-4. Again, 26-point favorites were Mizzou, and they lost to a Charleston Southern team who got blown out by both Michigan State and Dayton, which is

understandable, but this Charleston Southern team also lost to North Carolina A&T by 14, to Southern Utah by 35, and to Furman by 44. That's the team that knocked off the Missouri Tigers in Columbia last night. So, Kwanzaa Martin, he's got some problems on his hand in Columbia. Other big-time matchups from last night, we know that there were a couple top-11 matchups. Duke had no problem disposing of Michigan State. And Michigan State, they're now 5-3, the preseason number one team in the country. They've got some problems. And Michigan, who had won the battle for Atlantis by

defeating Iowa State, North Carolina, and Gonzaga, they went to Louisville and lost to the number one team in the country in that four versus one battle, 58-43 in a defensive struggle. So Michigan may be back to reality a little bit after having the time of their lives in Atlantis picking up three big wins. So both Michigan schools lose last night in the top 11 battles, and Duke will be on the rise, I'm sure. They're now 7-1 on the year. All right, let's look back one more time at this KU-Dayton game.

Dayton beat a team last night by 31, and the Flyers are in the top 25, ranked 19th. Of course, we knew however this game ended, the Flyers were going to be in the top 25 because they had big-time victories over both Georgia and Virginia Tech, blowout victories in Maui before the KU game. So KU needed pretty much everything out of their guys. They got great games, as we know, from the co-MVPs, Devon Dotson and Yudoka Azebuki. But they also got 18 points from Marcus Garrett,

who was 5 of 6 from the free throw line, and he was crucial in KU's comeback. The Hawks were down 66-58, and then Dotson and Garrett went back-to-back-to-back-to-back in terms of getting to the rim and scoring four consecutive field goals to tie this game at 66, and we know that Marcus hit his free throws late in overtime to seal this one. Marcus has always been a guy of Coach Self because he does a little bit of everything, and he brings toughness to the table. Here's Coach Self talking about zero. We're so much better with him on the court that was a big loss i mean for us to be down what we down one at

halftime uh and marcus only play what nine minutes or whatever it was that that's a big deal for us because you know if you if you can't play marcus and ochi and devon can't get a break uh so because you need two of those three in the game all the time and so i thought i thought the second half you know i i'd have to watch the tape and i'm not nitpicking or anything that was a great crew on the game but he got a couple you know that that i thought maybe maybe that was all ball and and uh he went to the bench and and uh but you know we kind of pieced it together until he was back in there and then after he's back in there we were obviously a much better team and that was kind of when the tide turned back to the Jayhawks when they had their backs against the wall down by that eight point margin with about eight minutes left and of course all

of America I'm sure is cheering for Dayton aside from Jayhawk Nation in this one to kind of roll through Maui and come up with the quote-unquote Cinderella upset but Kansas put it together in that last eight minutes here's coach Self talking about in that last eight minutes. Here's Coach Self talking about that. The last eight minutes or so when we got down eight, I thought except for a couple of boneheaded type plays, I thought we played probably the best ball we played in a while. And I thought we got the ball where it needed to go. I thought we exercised some patience offensively and we got the big guy post touches which we hadn't been great at doing and and defensively i thought we guarded well uh and rebounded well down the

stretch so i i couldn't be happier with how we performed you know not very often does a team outscore you 36 points from three and you outscore them by six from the free throw line that's a 30 point differential and you still have a chance to win. And so, you know, we need to obviously shoot it better and be better beyond the arc. But, you know, I guess old fashioned ball throw it inside as, you know, prevailed today. In this game, Kansas just 11 attempts from beyond the arc and 45 minutes of game play.

Hawks weren't terrible. There were four of 11 from 3. It was just interesting because Dayton was 16 of 33, and like Coach Self alluded to, that's a lot of points you're giving up. But pounding it inside, getting it to the big fella, playing 4-round-1, of course, worked wonders for Kansas. And this one, Dotson and Doak combining for 60 points in the 90-84 KU victory. After the break, we'll hear from Bill Self and Devon Dotson, kind of talking about big picture with this tournament

as KU looks to kind of get things revved back up on Saturday against Colorado. This is Locked On Jayhawks took place last night. The Pistons disposed of the Cavaliers 127-94, and our two Jayhawks both contributed. Markeith Morris, 17 minutes, got points and and pulled down five rebounds and Sfi Mikhailuk in 26 minutes had 15 points two boards and four assists so good to see Sfi put up some numbers in the winning effort for the Pistons and then the Rockets Spurs the game that's been dubbed maybe the game of the year so far in the NBA Spurs won it 135-133 in overtime. Big performances across the board. Our Ben McLemore got 11 points, one board, one assist in 27 minutes as well.

Good to see Ben back after it, after kind of an up-and-down NBA career so far. So much athleticism. Guys have compared Ochai Abadji to Ben in terms of the athleticism. Maybe Ochai is the most athletic guy since Ben, so you'd love to see that kind of translating at the NBA level, even though it's taken a little bit of time. All right, we've got a lot of action tonight in the NBA. Pistons are back in action.

Sfee and Markeith taking on the Bucs at 6 o'clock in Detroit. Remember Frank Mason, a new Buc. He's been tearing up the G League, so he is playing for Milwaukee, a team that has the favorite, odds-on favorite, in the early season to win the MVP in Giannis and Ted Acumpo. Suns are at the Magic at 6. Kelly Oubre and Sheck Diallo play for Phoenix. Devontae Graham and the Hornets host the Warriors at 6 o'clock as well.

And Andrew Wiggins back in action. T-Wolves are at Dallas that game at 7.30. That wraps up your NBA Jayhawks, and we'll let you know how our guys did on tomorrow's show. All right, Kansas and Colorado this Saturday, 6 o'clock at Allen Fieldhouse. Don't want to miss it. Another tough test for a Kansas team that, once again, by season's end, you'll look back at their schedule and see that they've got a lot of teams that are tournament teams or top 25 teams.

We know about Duke. We thought we were going to face Michigan State and Maui, but then instead we took on Dayton, who's now in the top 20. Colorado, a top 20 team. They're ranked 20th in this week's AP poll. Of course, Kansas has faced some really good mid-majors as well. UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State among those. We still have non-conference battles coming up.

December 21st against Villanova. December 29th against Stanford. Both of those games are on the road. So those will be some tests sandwiched around Christmas. And then Tennessee comes to Allen Fieldhouse as well. That's in late January, part of the Big 12 SEC Challenge. All of that to go along with the test that Kansas has already faced and the stacked 18-game Big 12 conference slate as well.

So a lot of basketball to look forward to, a lot of tests for this Kansas team. And if you asked Devon Dodson, that Maui Invitational Championship, well, that's just the start of it for the squad. This is the start of it. Yeah, first of many. I mean, so we're not satisfied. We're going to enjoy this one, though, but we're looking to get back to work. If there's a Jayhawk in recent memory who loves winning more than Devon Dotson,

then I want to be reminded of him. Shoot me a follow on Twitter. Send me a message on Twitter. Send me a message on Twitter at LO underscore Jayhawks because Devon Dotson, he is all about winning. He was clutching that trophy in the postgame press conference after the Maui title, and you have to think that's one of the reasons he came back. You know, the team last year didn't get it done in terms of the Big 12 championship, and there weren't as many trophies to be had. They won the NIT preseason tip-off, but that was it for this Kansas team. And that's a rarity. No Big 12 regular season title,

no Big 12 tournament title, and nothing past the round of 32 in the NCAA. So one of the reasons Devon came back is to be able to bring home championships. And like he said, the first of many. That's the hope for Devon, the team, and of of course Jayhawk Nation as well this Maui tournament of course the goal was to win three games and to get that trophy Bill Self talks about the big picture of winning a tournament like that I think what the tournament does more than anything it exposes your weaknesses and and and allows you to prepare and get better for really big boy games because you know we we that was a big boy game. And, and, uh, uh, so the, the tournament is tremendous. And of course, if you, if you,

if you win two games, just like Dayton feels, I'm sure you're, you know, you're going to play a third, you might as well, you know, win it. Uh, uh, and, and, uh, so, you know, we much rather win it than not win it, but I'm not sure the win will have a ton to do with what we do going forward. It's still November, and I'd like to think that that automatically puts us in a very good or favorable position. But if you don't play well against Colorado, who's a top 20 team next Saturday, then, you know, this probably didn't mean as much. So hopefully it's just a springboard for enthusiasm and energy to excite our guys

that we got a chance to be good if we just continue to get better. That's Coach Self talking about a big picture of winning the Maui title, which Kansas did for the third time. They won the championship in 96 in 2015 and now in 2019. Always a fun experience for everybody who got to experience that in Maui and a good chance to grow for the team to get away and not have to deal with distractions as well. Hey, how about distractions?

We've been dealing with a lot of those, the Kansas basketball program, the past couple years, everything that's been going on with the NCAA and the FBI. Coach Self, after the victory, was asked about what do you have to say to the haters of the KU basketball program? I don't think there's been haters about this team. I think there's been some haters about maybe our program. And because we've been under a microscope or under some scrutiny, you know, obviously the last 18 months or so.

But that doesn't have anything to do with this particular group. And we don't even talk, I'll be honest, we don't even talk about that with our guys. We talk about it amongst ourselves all the time, but not with our guys. And we try to distance them from that as much as possible. But this team isn't perfect. And obviously, we've got to shoot it better to have a chance to really have a really good team. But I do think we've got some competitive pieces that if we improve a little bit, this could be a pretty dangerous team down the stretch.

Love to hear that, and hopefully that's the case. Just remain healthy, maybe even get Jalen Wilson back the end of January to add another piece. But looking forward to what this team can do. We didn't see a lot of stuff from the bench that was positive in Maui. Isaiah Moss had one good game, but especially the freshmen, CB and Tristan and Aruna, didn't see too much from them. Silvio De Sosa didn't get a lot of runs. So hopefully those guys have their time to shine coming up soon as well.

And hopefully that begins on Saturday, Kansas and Colorado, 6 o'clock at Allen Fieldhouse. Thanks so much for tuning in. The next couple days we'll get fresh sound from Coach Self and the guys as they preview Colorado. We'll break down the buffs in another top 20 matchup for Kansas basketball. This is Locked On Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

And Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.