And no I’m not working on vacay — I wrote the stories before I left.

I’ll be back to work on Sept. 3, but as big news comes in, of course I’ll throw it up here. BTW, I’m headed to the Pacific Northwest. Just because I know you cared. And I’m not flying Oceanic.

Take it easy. 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.

JACK CROWDER

Former Wichita Southeast and Cowley standout Jack Crowder is headed to Southern Illinois — I talked to the 6-foot-4 forward tonight and caught him as he was sending his letter of intent back to Carbondale. Also got a chance to catch up with former Cowley and current Hutch CC coach Steve Eck — check out tomorrow’s Eagle for my story on it. What’s that going to be like for JC when he comes back to play in Wichita next year? Goosebumps, people. Goosebumps. Like I said, read Friday’s Eagle for the entire story.

Oh, and to clarify: THE BLOG IS NOT SHUTTING DOWN FOR THE SUMMER. LIKE MY BOY CHARLIE PACE SAID, “I’M ON IT, SAYID.”

I’m out. -TA

Forward to the 1:10 clip below to see Crowder’s dunk against Bishop Carroll his senior year at Southeast.

STEPHANIE MCCARTHY

My state/juco notes for today focused on the Friends softball team, something I was leading up to for a couple weeks but hadn’t pulled the trigger on the story because I was waiting for them to make a move in the standings, which they did. If you don’t know the backstory, here it is in a nutshell: Two-time defending KCAC champs have 31-game league winning streak broken, fall into second place then regroup to peel off six straight wins including a sweep of the first place team and take back the league lead.

It’s like a movie pitch! Get me in a room with a couple of producers.

Anyhow, space was limited so I didn’t get to hit on a couple of things — not that they took away from the story — but I thought they merited mention here. Mainly, there is going to be a different route back to the NAIA national tournament for the Falcons if they’re going to make a run at their stated goal, a national title. The NAIA did away with the regional tournaments, which was how they qualified last year, so instead the winner of the KCAC tournament gets the automatic bid. So what does winning the regular-season title get you? The top seed at a tournament held at a neutral site — Ottawa. So not a whole heck of a lot, if you ask me.

Here’s what Friends coach Tony Segovia had to say about it:

“What we’ve got to understand is that it all comes down to the league tournament, because there’s no way the KCAC is going to get an at-large bid to the national tournament. That just won’t happen.”

No, it won’t. That’s just real talk. Regional respect is one thing, national respect is a whole ‘nother ballgame. But Friends knows this and have planned accordingly. Segovia’s got a nice squad — the glut of my article focused on shortstop Megan VinZant, who is putting up sick numbers — but this is a really well-rounded team. It’s pretty unheard of to have the last two league players of the year (Vinzant in 07 and Haley Martin in 08) on the same roster. Not only that, but they’ve got two dominating pitchers on the roster in last year’s KCAC pitcher of the year Brandi Leeker and Stephanie McCarthy, a first team all-KCAC pick a year ago. This team is a monster, no doubt. Want further proof?

I’m OUT.

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