June 22, 2011

Kansas Basketball Notes for the 2011 NBA Draft

June 22, 2011

Kansas Basketball 2011 NBA Draft Notes

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self will be in the “Green Room” at the NBA Draft with the Morris twins – Marcus and Markieff.
Since 1990 Kansas has had 24 players drafted in the NBA (16 in the first round, eight in the second).
In total, Kansas has had 71 players drafted in the NBA since 1947, the fourth-most all-time.
During his tenure at Kansas, Head Coach Bill Self has had nine players selected in the NBA Draft, third most among active coaches over the past eight years.
Since the genesis of the current lottery system in 1990, Kansas has had eight players selected as lottery picks, including four since 2007.
The 2010 Draft marked the third time in the current lottery system that two players from Kansas were selected as lottery picks (1998 – Raef LaFrentz [3rd] and Paul Pierce [10th], 2003 – Kirk Hinrich [7th] and Nick Collison [12th], 2010 – Cole Aldrich [11th] and Xavier Henry [12th]).
In the 2008 Draft, Kansas tied Connecticut and Florida with a record five players drafted in two rounds (Brandon Rush, Darrell Aurthur, Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun).
Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, Kansas has a league-leading 14 NBA draft picks.
Since 2001, Kansas has had 13 players drafted, one behind Connecticut and North Carolina who are tied for the most with 14.
The 2010 Draft marked the fifth time since 1990 that two players from Kansas were selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Danny Manning is the only Jayhawk to be drafted with the number one overall pick, selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1988 Draft.
Draftees by Kansas Coaches: Phog Allen – 7, Dick Harp – 6, Ted Owens – 26, Larry Brown – 8, Roy Williams – 15, Bill Self – 9.
The Boston Celtics have selected seven players from Kansas since 1953, the most of any NBA team.

Potential Kansas 2011 Draftees

Marcus Morris Led Kansas in scoring 20 times in 2010-11. A consensus second-team All-American who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 Big 12 Championship. Marcus led Kansas with 17.2 points per game. Marcus was named the 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team by the league coaches. Marcus finished second in the Big 12 Conference in shooting percentage at 57.0 percent, which ranked 21st nationally. Marcus had 12 games with 20-plus points, 10 double-doubles and his 7.6 rebounds per game were second on the team. He led KU in every statistical category at least once in 2010-11. During the 2010-11 season, Marcus was named the Big 12 Player of the Week three times (Nov. 29, Jan. 17 and Feb. 14), a Wooden Award Finalist March 13, a Naismith Mid-Season candidate Feb. 11 and an Oscar Robertson Award finalist Feb. 28.
Markieff Morris Led the Big 12 in field goal percentage (58.9) and rebounding at 8.3 boards per game. His field goal percentage ranked 12th nationally. Markieff joined his twin brother, Marcus, on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team. Markieff scored 13.6 points per game overall this season. An All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Markieff also led the conference in double-doubles with 13. He had 15 games with double-figure rebounds. Named Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 27, Markieff led KU in rebounding in 18 of 38 games this season.
Josh Selby Scored in double figures in nine of 26 games played in 2010-11. Selby averaged 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest. He was a two-time Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Jan. 31 and Dec. 20).
Brady Morningstar Led the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8 in all games and he was tops in the same stat in conference games at 4.4. His 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked 10th nationally. Morningstar was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team March 6. Morningstar averaged 3.3 assists per game, which was 10th in the Big 12. Morningstar, who graduated in May 2010, scored 7.1 points per game for the season and was second on the team with 55 steals, one behind Tyrel Reed. A 2011 Academic All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Morningstar averaged 1.4 steals per game, which was ninth in the league. In his five-year career KU, Kansas went 165-22 for an incredible 88.2 winning percentage.
Tyrel Reed Reed is the winningest player in KU history with a 132-17 record. He was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and was KU’s third-leading scorer with a 9.7 points per contest average. An outstanding student, he was named Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team on Feb. 22. He was also a three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection. Reed led Kansas with 72 threes made this season and made multiple threes in 23 games. Reed also led KU with 56 steals. He is the only Jayhawk that started every game in 2010-11 and he also led the team with an 80.0 percent free throw percentage. Reed was one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He graduated from KU in December 2010 and was accepted into KU Medicine’s physical therapy school.
Mario Little Came to Kansas in 2009 from Chipola [Fla.] Community College as the No. 1 ranked junior college player in the country. Averaged 13.7 minutes, 5.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game and shot 48.1 percent from the field during the 2010-11 season. Little had three games of double-figure scoring in his senior season. He graduated from Kansas in May with a degree in African and African American studies.