Author Archives:

Thanks

Before I accepted the job at the Eagle, I spoke with a sports editor at a major, major metro newspaper and asked him what I should do. At the time, I was choosing between the Kansas State beat here and the West Virginia beat at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As it turns out, the P-G never made the hire and froze the position, but I didn’t know that was going to be the case.

Anyway, I asked the sports editor, and this was his advice:

“Go cover K-State because Bill Snyder is out there, and with all of the junior college kids, there’s bound to be a lot of news to break.”

The punchline is that Bill left but is now back, and in three years in between, the amount of news on the beat was far, far more than I (or the sports editor) could have ever imagined. It was just what I needed, and it was essentially what I set out to accomplish.

Having done so, my work here is complete.

Read More »

Peace…

So, I’m leaving.

There’s going to be a farewell post later in the week, but before then, I want to have some fun.

Got questions? I’ve got answers, and I won’t hold back.

And before you ask, no, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing next.

No, I didn’t get laid off.

Yes, the Eagle plans to hire someone to fill the position.

Write your questions below and I’ll answer there, too.

Chris Harper

He’s leaving Oregon. That much is official – the folks at the Eugene Register-Guard came up with that nugget earlier today, and you can read it here

What now? He’s mulling his options. He told me tonight that he is taking a couple of weeks to think things over, and he’ll be back in Wichita June 8. Expect something concrete from him then, if not before. But he seemed at peace with everything, eager to start looking ahead.

More as this develops…

Good stuff

Bad effort by me with this here blog lately, but that should be fixed in the coming days. And not to send precious traffic elsewhere, but our friends at “Bring on the Cats” – if you don’t have it as one of your Kansas State links, shame on you – have sent along this tidy and helpful guide to all things H-town should you find yourselves following the Bat Cats this weekend.

Enjoy.

Secret Krause-Prince agreement real; Krause resigns

Here’s a story. Much, much more coming later, possibly tonight but definitely tomorrow.

Quick take – as sad as it sounds, I do think Krause did this on his own. I’ll explain more tomorrow in another post. By the way, that would make three days in a row, which means I’m due for at least another couple of weeks off.

Just kidding.

Sources: Krause likely out at K-State

Sources tell me that Kansas State will announce today that former athletic director Bob Krause will no longer be working at the university, banished from his post as overseer of the Olathe Innovation campus. Why? Seems that $1.2 million buyout he gave to Ron Prince was actually a little – no, A LOT – low, and it was apparently done without Jon Wefald’s knowledge.

I’ve also been told the university is going to try to legally fight the deal.

I submitted open records requests for settlements, additional contracts and anything signed between Krause and Prince yesterday; K-State has three days to respond, essentially saying they received the requests, and I hadn’t heard back as of this morning. I tried calling Krause all day Monday, but he didn’t answer. Prince’s agent, Neil Cornrich, did not return calls or an e-mail seeking confirmation and clarification.

I don’t want to deal in absolutes here because, well, I can’t control what K-State is going to do. It’s possible the administration could choose to delay such a release. But when the buyout number is released – and my sources tell me it will be today – it should be staggering to most.

Sound familiar?

Let me establish this immediately – I like the hire of John Currie as Kansas State’s next athletic director. That said, I believe he has an incredibly difficult job ahead of him, but he’s too smart not to realize that.

Anyway, I couldn’t help but think about Ron Prince during Monday’s introductory festivities.

Here’s what I wrote Dec. 6, 2005:

Read More »

Freddy Asprilla in 2010?

Art Alvarez answered the phone Thursday, even though he was already on the other line.

The caller? Florida coach Billy Donovan.

The presumed subject? Freddy Asprilla, a 6-foot-10 center who was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in March after averaging 14 points and 9.3 rebounds at Florida International.

Because FIU fired Sergio Ruoco – who was the reason Asprilla, who originally committed to Miami but didn’t have a sufficient SAT score, attended the school in the first place – the center is looking for a new home.

“Everybody in America has inquired about him,” Alvarez said.

Read More »

More Manhattan Classic info

Props to Matt Suther, who produced the following list of participating programs in the Classic off the top of his head:

Martin Brothers, Team Texas Elite, Spiece Mo-Kan, Houston Clippers, Texas D-I Ambassadors, Hoop Planet (Atlanta), All Iowa Attack and the Kansas Players.

The last two teams are interesting because they feature Harrison Barnes, a 6-foot-6 guard who is arguably the top player in the Class of 2010, and Perry Ellis, whom I wrote briefly about earlier and might be Barnes’ equal in the Class of 2012.

Don’t shoot the messenger, but Barnes has been to several Kansas games, spotted sitting behind the bench – again, similar to Ellis in that regard. But given his enormous list of offers, Barnes seems wide open. And that’s also the information I keep receiving about Ellis, despite rumors the gifted freshman was a Jayhawk lean.

Also, K-State assistant football coaches have been in Wichita today. Someone – we couldn’t get a name – stopped by Northwest (recent commit Demarcus Robinson). Joe Bob Clements checked in at Southeast, presumably for Joseph Randle. For more information on Randle, visit Varsity Kansas – The Blog (cool name – think I could pull off K-Stated – The Blog? Actually, K-Stated is a blog, while Varsity Kansas is much, much more than that. I answered my own inane question. Carry on with your lives.).

Dribbles: Perry Ellis, two Tays and more

The interest in Perry Ellis certainly isn’t dying down any.

My “people” – yep, I’ve got people – tell me that Texas A&M was at an open gym workout at Heights last week. The Aggies were represented by assistant coach Pooh Williamson, not head coach Mark Turgeon, who, of course, spent some major, major time in the ‘Ta.

Next week, Kansas State assistants Dalonte Hill and Brad Underwood are expected to visit. My “people” also said Oklahoma, which – I think – has landed more McDonald’s All-Americans in the past three seasons than any school in the Big 12, will be passing through next week as well.

Read More »