Big 12 Morning Five: 12.02.11 Edition

Posted by dnspewak on December 2nd, 2011

  1. The wave of college basketball signings have subsided, but Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger has announced the addition of two recruits for next season. Forwards C.J. Cole and Jarion Henry will join the squad, rounding out a four-man recruiting class. Interestingly, the 6’9” Henry is the son of Skeeter Henry, who starred for Oklahoma during the days of the Big Eight. Henry is a coveted recruit and a top-150 prospect according to Rivals, but Cole is a bit more obscure. He’s a 6’7” product of Sperry High School in the state of Oklahoma, where he earned All-State honors twice.
  2. Kansas State grinded out a victory over George Washington last night, but there was more to the story than the 69-56 final score would suggest. Several Wildcats have D.C. connections, and there is bitter blood between the two squads. Rodney McGruder is a D.C. product, and Martavius Adams also knew several of the GW players as well. Maybe it was the pressure, or perhaps the two players’ old friends knew how to stop them: McGruder and Adams combined for just 12 points. But a win’s a win, as they say.
  3. Here’s some more Kansas State news that has nothing to do with basketball. Or KSU basketball, we should say: a prospective Kansas State student has now accused Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine of molesting him, too. 23-year-old Zach Tomaselli will head to Manhattan next year, and though this won’t affect Big 12 basketball in any way, it’s still interesting to note that the league has a bit of a connection now to the Syracuse case.
  4. To another part of the state of Kansas– in Lawrence, we’ve got a few news and notes to pass along. First, Thomas Robinson is still unstoppable. He had a career-high 17 rebounds against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, and that’s the most by a Jayhawk since Cole Aldrich in 2010. Did we mention Robinson also scored 19 points? Plus, Bill Self is also reporting that Anthony West actually will not walk-on the team. He would have given Kansas another body at 6’6”, but he says he does not have the time to compete.
  5. And finally, a blog for Texas has a different view of Kansas, from an outsider’s perspective. Burnt Orange Nation gave a broad view of the Jayhawks, and like we’ve all been saying, KU still obviously has a chance to win this league. This particular article repeated most of the same lines we’ve used time and time again: always trust Bill Self, no matter which players he graduates or loses to the NBA. Self simply knows how to assemble a winning team, and the former reserves playing big roles this year are thriving already. Just look at what Thomas Robinson is doing.
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