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Oct 28, 2023; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jason Bean (9) talks with Kansas Jayhawks Kansas Jayhawks on field against the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Kansas Jayhawk News
Lets see what’s out there as we kick off the month of August! First up,
the KC Star writes about a few tweaks Lance Leipold has made to his preseason camp schedule as he starts his 6th season in Lawrence:
“Just a little bit,” Leipold responded to a media member who asked the 62-year-old coach if his KU camp schedule had been “tweaked” this school year. That would be three days on, one day off, versus four days on, one day off.
Leipold also made the announcement that transfer
Tre’Von McAlpine will be out for the season following an ACL tear from the spring:
The Kansas football defense took a huge blow Tuesday when head coach Lance Leipold announced an injury to one of the defensive line’s most important pieces. The Jayhawks will be without Tulane transfer Tre’Von McAlpine for the entirety of the 2026 season.
This isn’t the same story that David linked yesterday, though it is really similar but I’m including it anyway as SI
is breaking down the Jayhawk roster’s strengths and weaknesses heading into the season:
Cole Ballard, who served as Daniels’ primary backup, has the inside track. But he’ll compete with a dual threat QB in Isaiah Marshall, who is a sophomore. It will be one of the biggest competitions in camp and early in the season. Kansas must figure it out quickly. Their Big 12 opener against Arizona State is the third game of the season.
Oh, I forgot to mention that was placed in the weakneases section when talking about the QB position. And on the link, who cares if it was linked yesterday? You guys don’t read them anyway.
Speaking of quarterbacks,
Leipold also had this to say as written up by Through the Phog:
Leipold later stated, “We don’t want to get into where it’s a flip-flop back and forth all the time.”
Moving over to basketball,
the Jayhawks have signed on to continue to participate in the Players Era tournament hosted in Las Vegas through the 2031 season:
“We’re grateful to have Kansas, one of the preeminent collegiate basketball programs, return for the next several years,” said Players Era CEO Seth Berger. “It’s an extraordinary testament to what we’re building here with Player’s Era –a competition that delivers an exceptional experience for both fans and student-athletes alike in an atmosphere that feels like March in November. I appreciate the University of Kansas Athletic Director
Travis Goff, Head Coach
Bill Self, and Deputy Athletics Director
Sean Lester for their partnership and commitment.”
HCBS also addressed some of the changes that are happening with Late Night and I can’t really disagree with him:
“I really felt like Late Night at its peak, was when we first got here,” Self said. “Late Night at its peak was with (Andrew Wiggins) as a freshman, and there’s 5,000 people waiting to get in. Late Night kind of stalled, and then we had to bring in an act, and then that was great at times and all that stuff. And then, but — with budget cuts and everything across all athletic departments, this was a way that I think we can accomplish more of entertainment plus substance. And so, I don’t think it’s going to be a negative. People don’t like change a lot of times, including me, this is one change I think will be good.”
Joey Loose over Busting Brackets writes about Leroy Blyden Jr and uses the word “plethora”:
In addition to this plethora of enticing names,
Leroy Blyden Jr. is another very notable addition and the most important of the incoming transfers. He’s a 6-1 point guard from Detroit who’s fresh off an extremely impressive freshman season at Toledo, becoming the MAC Rookie of the Year. Blyden was quite the talent for the Rockets, putting up 16.4 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while making 41% of his 3-pointers.
Other links!
The Kansas State High School Activities Association has officially added girls flag football as a championship sport this fall and the state is looking for officials:
This fall, girls flag football officially joins the Kansas State High School Activities Association lineup, bringing new opportunities for hundreds of student-athletes across the state. But as teams prepare to take the field for the inaugural sanctioned season, another roster is just as important — the one wearing black-and-white stripes.
Speaking of high school officials, this article provides an update on some updated training approaches the state is using and
it highlights the head of officials appearing to not understand what an algorithm is:
“If Scott Goodheart really stinks at mechanics, he can get algorithms that lead back into it where he can find a clip that will help him with those mechanics,” Goodheart said. “We did a soft roll out last basketball season and there was some kickback, but there was a lot of ‘This is something we want.’ We feel like with the next generation of officials, we have a group of people that say that they want to get better. We want to help them to be doing that.
Moving on to college football,
the Big 10 is looking to add their 4th consecutive national title to the conference this year and they’re set up well with Ohio State, Oregon, and defending champ Indiana all in the top 6 of the coaches preseason poll:
Defending national champion
Indiana, which went 16-0 last season to win its first title in school history, will start this season at No. 6. The Hoosiers brought in former
TCU quarterback
Josh Hoover to replace Heisman Trophy winner
Fernando Mendoza, who was the first overall pick of the
Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL draft.
The MLS has a new commissioner and one of the questions he addressed was about relegation:
When asked about the possibility of introducing promotion and relegation, Berg shut down the idea.
“I can understand the appeal for the fan, [but] I don’t think it’s a great way to build a league,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a way to get stadiums built and to get training facilities built and to have owners invest in rosters and all the other things you need to do. So I don’t think it’s appropriate for our league.
“I think Don has said before, never say never, but I just don’t see it happening anytime soon.”
And with our last link I think it’s only fair to include
the Chiefs version of Why Your Team Sucks from Drew Magary at Defector:
All of those losses played second fiddle to the biggest one of all, which was Mahomes tearing his ACL in a loss to the Chargers in December. Gardner Minshew took over QB duties in the aftermath and immediately suffered a knee injury of his own. You were not watching this team when the likes of Chris Oladokun and Shane Buechele had to perform mop-up duty to close out the season, but I assure you those are real people who played in real games.
Man, reading through that really did remind me how bad things got last season.
Kansans once again voted against a proposed constitutional amendment put on the ballot by Republicans. This one was an attempt to turn the Kansas Supreme Court into a partisan elected position. Pretty astounding defeat considering the question was placed on a primary election day when most Democrats had very little reason to go to the polls but when it’s described like this people get motivated:
Danedri Herbert, chair of the Kansas Republican Party, issued a warning Tuesday morning that the vote on whether to elect Supreme Court justices was “the most important election of our lifetime.”
“Yeah, I know everyone says that every year,” Herbert said. “This cycle, it’s true.”
Herbert, in a social media video, said the constitutional amendment “is the difference between Kansas becoming Detroit or Kansas becoming a land of prosperity.”
Heck, even I have to give credit to our neighbors to the east who also roundly rejected two amendments put on their ballot.
Missouri voters rejected major Republican priorities on Tuesday as proposals to eliminate the income tax and change the way initiative petition majorities are counted lost by large margins across the state.
Amendment 4 lost 80% to 20%, while Amendment 5 fared worse, losing 83% to 16%.
QOTD: It’s that time of year when kids start going back to school. When you were growing up or as a parent, was this a welcomed thing? Were you bored or tired of entertaining the kids all summer and just ready for them to get out of the house?
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