Zeller, Carolina, sixth in AP preseason poll

Sports

Discussion

October 29, 2009

By the Associated Press The Washington Times-Herald Thu Oct 29, 2009, 10:12 PM EDT

For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in The Associated Press’ preseason Top 25.

The Jayhawks were a runaway choice Thursday, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots.

There was little suspense as to which team would top the preseason poll. Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers back from last season’s team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks also feature a recruiting class considered among the nation’s best.

“I’m not surprised,” said Bill Self, who was also the coach the other time Kansas was the preseason No. 1 in 2004-05. “But I know this — we aren’t practicing like a team that’s preseason No. 1 in the country. It has been a very few good days of practice but we do have good players. ... There’s a lot of excitement surrounding these guys.”

The Jayhawks received great news when guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, last season’s leading scorers, decided to return to school rather than test the NBA draft. Then brothers Xavier and C.J. Henry decided to enroll in Lawrence, making the Jayhawks the early national favorite as well as the choice to win a sixth straight Big 12 title.

“My goal for this team isn’t to play to that ranking early in the season,” Self said. “My goal is to play to that ranking when it counts the most. I hope it happens soon.”

Michigan State has seven of the top nine scorers back from the team that lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.

Texas, Kentucky and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Kentucky received three first-place votes and Texas and North Carolina got one each. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee completed the top 10.

While Kansas’ showing this preseason many not have been as impressive as North Carolina’s a year earlier when it became the first ever unanimous preseason pick, both had plenty of reasons to claim No. 1.

“There are some similarities, but that North Carolina team had been through a lot more experiences than our guys have,” Self said. “The North Carolina team had been through Final Fours, had been to Elite Eights, had had some heartache, been through some tough times. I don’t know that this group has been through tough times like they had. The fact we return nine guys and a good recruiting class is the reason people are so optimistic about us.”

Butler was 11th in the poll followed by Connecticut, California, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Louisville and Georgetown. The last five ranked teams were Dayton, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Clemson and Minnesota.

Kentucky, under new coach John Calipari and with a loaded freshman class, Georgetown and Georgia Tech were the only teams in the preseason poll not to play in the NCAA tournament last season.

Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee lead the 13 teams in the preseason poll who were not ranked in the final poll of last season. Louisville and North Carolina were Nos. 1 and 2 in that final poll. In addition to those two, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke and Connecticut all were ranked No. 1 at some point in the season.

Text Only

Sports

Local wrap-up for Wednesday

North Posey scored four runs to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the sixth inning to defeat Washington, 10-7, in high school baseball at the Sports Complex Monday.

May 16, 2012
Baseball sectional draw out
Washington’s baseball team opens on the first night of the Class 3A Jasper Sectional, while the Class A event at Loogootee has a similar feel to its softball cousin.

May 15, 2012
Helms and Gabhart vie for surveyor
Two local surveyors are asking Daviess County residents to vote for them in Tuesday’s primary election. Current county surveyor, Dennis Helms, is being challenged by Shawn Gabhart.

May 5, 2012 2 Photos
Local wrap-up for Saturday
Madison Decker took wins in the 800 and 1,600 meters in a triangular girls high school track meet Thursday.

May 5, 2012
Cougars win in walk-off fashion
Baseball was far from a thing of beauty for North Daviess at Wayne Davies Field Friday, but after everything was done, baseball really didn’t look all that bad.
The Cougars scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to clip Southwestern Indiana Conference foe White River Valley, 4-3.

May 5, 2012
Arvin pitches shutout in WHS win
Washington was looking for a baseball hero, and found it Friday at the Sports Complex in the arm and bat of Pat Arvin.

April 28, 2012
Badgers beat IU in Big 10 tournament
Rob Wilson’s timely shooting put Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan at the head of his class.
Wilson scored a career-high 30 points, leading the 14th-ranked Badgers past No. 15 Indiana 79-71 in Friday’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

March 9, 2012
Tyler dominates in Carolina's ACC tourney win
Terrell Stoglin is a good start for Maryland’s rebuilding job.
He’ll need some help, though.

March 9, 2012
Braves await No. 2 Barr-Reeve at regional
Barr-Reeve won its first sectional title since 2006 this past Saturday, but the Vikings have had little time to celebrate with the Class A West Washington Regional on the horizon.

February 16, 2012
Area girls have bright short-term and long-term futures
Some random thoughts as the basketball season winds down, and spring is preparing to be sprung.

February 16, 2012
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Zeller, Carolina, sixth in AP preseason poll

Should students who fail IREAD-3 (twice) advance to 4th grade?

Site Map

Contact Us