KRIS BAUMANN

Don’t know if you caught my Jayhawk Conference previews, but in case you didn’t … here’s my men’s story on Garden City Community College coach Kris Baumann, and here’s my women’s story on Hutch shooting guard Heather Robben.

Impressions? Both came off well. Of course, if you’re ending up as our season preview story it usually means you’ve had some type of success. And with both subjects, they’re coming off Region VI titles … you get the point. And as for Baumann’s knickname, Bucket? He’s still not saying how he got it. Just the generic “my teammates and coaches gave it to me” line. Aside from that, I was happy with the story.

Friends redshirt freshman center Zak Vanlooy — a 7-footer from Michigan — is the subject of Tuesday’s KCAC men’s preview and UMKC transfer Jessica Halsig, who should be the man for Friends this year — is the women’s subject. Newman on Thursday.

Out.

PS — IF YOU’RE NOT WATCHING, YOU PROBABLY SHOULD.

DANE SIMONEAU

Holy Moly.

Here’s this: Washburn just threw up an 82-spot on New Mexico Highlands tonight in Topeka. That’s 82 points. That’s a 61-7 halftime lead. That’s a school-record for points. Sophomore quarterback Dane Simoneau only played the first half, but he made good use of his time with four touchdown passes and 127 yards passing.

Oh, and Zach Watkins had five more tackles.

NO. 22 GARDEN CITY UPSET

Here was a big WOW that came across my desk a couple of hours ago — No. 22 Garden City Community College upset by Air Force Prep 20-13 out in Colorado Springs. Were the Busters thinking ahead to Cessna and Butler? Probably. On a side note, while I was covering the Busters for the GC Telegram back in the day (actually just a couple of years ago) I got super duper sick headed out to Colorado Springs to cover a GCCC-AFP football game. It’s a three hour drive from Garden City to Colorado Springs and my plan was just to head another hour up the road after the game to hang out with family. I got about two hours in and after having to pull over at least 10 times … I finally checked into a hotel room, called my editor and told him it wasn’t happening, called my Grandma B to tell her I wasn’t coming … and then had about 18 hours of fever dreams and tiny sips of Gatorade, in which I thought I hallucinated a K-State game against Colorado playing on the TV. Not pleasant. But the Busters won that day. Trust me, this one isn’t going to play very well in the WK.

Tomorrow, look for scores updates from the MIAA and Jayhawk as I get them. All … night … long.

I’m out. TA

VINCENT BANKS

So it’s 2003 and there’s this kid, Vincent Banks, and he’s really good at basketball. Like he’s-one-of-the-best-high-school-players-in-the-country good. He’s from Atlanta, so there’s no shortage of exposure. He decides to go to Miami, but doesn’t qualify academically. So he goes to prep school for a year then heads to Cincinnati to play for Bob Huggins. He ends up a partial qualifier for the Bearcats and has to sit out a year and then, finally, when he’s going to be the focus of Cincy’s offense … he decides to leave school for personal reasons, leaving Huggy Bear and Cincy and the whole lot of them feeling foolish for going to bat for him. And then he gets on a plane from Sydney to LA and nobody sees him for almost six months.

Just kidding about the plane. But I’m not kidding about the kid. Or, I guess, he’s a man now. Either way, he’s getting a second chance. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound shooting guard has signed with defending Region VI champ Garden City Community College, according to coach Kris Baumann, and should make a big impact …  if he can make it to the season.

That’s a big IF.

I’m saying that because this story plays out all over the Jayhawk every year. Tremendous talent. Big-time player. Can’t hack it academically. Not tough enough mentally. Too used to being coddled. And … see you, never. But if anybody can make it work, it’s Baumann, who spun a similar situation with Wyoming’s Thomas Manzano — last year’s Region VI tourney MVP from GCCC — into the first NJCAA Tournament for the Busters since I Like Ike.

Here’s a video below of Banks. The first minute are just still shots of Banks, so go to :50 to see highlights of him in an Atlanta Pro-Am league last summer, where Rudy Gay, Jarrett Jack (not Jared, as the vid indicates) and Mario West all have trouble guarding him. And if you want a couple of WHOA moments, just watch from 4:55-5:00. Dude has unlimited range. Let’s just hope Banks won’t have to play point guard.

I’m outta here. Wish me luck at Braeburn tomorrow.

TA.

Region VI champ Garden City Community College made a big splash — quite literally — by signing 6-foot-7, 240-pound Ronald Cobb out of Wichita Southeast. Cobb is a nice player who seemed to be playing his best basketball at the end of the year in the Buffs’ run to a Class 6A runner-up finish and averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He put together a nice string of double-doubles at th eend of the year and showed that he’s got a great upside. GCCC coach Kris Baumann thinks Cobb can develop into a mid-major Division I player.

“He’s not an above the rim guy, but he’s got a high basketball IQ,” Baumann told me Sunday night. “We feel like he’s a great addition.”

Goddard’s Ryan Chippeaux (10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds) picked Tabor — which also beat out Garden City, amongst others. He’s another player with a lot of upside — don’t think that he won’t be one of the top players in the KCAC someday. 6-foot-7 and can run. That’s all I’m saying.

I’m out.

TA

The Broncbusters have put on a heck of a show, and because of my fondness for this team … I’m going to honor them with the first annual Sunflower Slate Johnny Drama Award.

I’ll give this out periodically, the only qualifications being a team that overachieves, comes back from the brink of nothingness or otherwise proves all the doubters wrong, kind of like the Busters did.

Here you go:

So there’s that. I know it’s nothing fancy, but hey, any little bit helps.

ALEX MELUGIN

Just thought I’d drop this in: former Friends QB Alex Melugin – the 2008 KCAC offensive player of the year — is the backup QB for the Wichita Wild, who open their season tonight at Omaha. I think it is a safe bet to say he’s the first pro football player to come out of Sunrise Christian Academy. If I’m wrong I’ll eat that one. Dude had a spectacunormous senior year for the Falcons and it was nice to see him on the Wild’s roster. Even though I’ve always been a big Matt Kelly fan. Go Grizzlies.

ALEX MELUGIN -- PRIDE OF SCA

I’m out

-TA

NO SATURDAY DETENTION FOR YOU, JOHNNY

Quick question: If Johnny Be Good – aka Bryce Brown — picks Kansas State on Monday, would that make him more popular than the governor? Just a question … talk amongst yourselves.

Ok, back on topic.

Kansas is Ground Zero for NJCAA national tournaments this week, with the men at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson and the women at Salina’s Bicentennial Center. Your Region VI teams — Garden City for the men and Hutchinson for the women — don’t have a lot of name recognition but both have solid resumes. I talked to both coaches on Sunday night, Garden City’s Kris Baumann and Hutchinson’s John Ontjes, along with first-team all-Jayhawk West pick Heather Robben, a Maize H.S. product.

Robben seemed pretty psyched about the upcoming tournament — “How could I not be?” She asked me — Ontjes was pretty reserved though, and had the company line rolling. Can’t blame him. As much as I’d love coaches to go off at any second, I do appreciate keeping things close to the vest.

Baumann said his guys were dealing with things pretty well after what had to have been an emotionally draining Region VI run and then return to GC — probably best that it’s spring break. Just thinking in terms of distractions here. He said Highland (Ill.), their first round opponent on Wednesday is incredibly tough — they’ve got like six guys that average in double figures and shoot 45 percent from beyond the three-point arc. That translates into about 67 percent inside of it, he told me. That must be Bucket math.

I gotta go now. Gotta start filling out my brackets.

-TA