Off the Couch
“I think he’s going to go all the way to Minneapolis with us if we keep on winning.”
— Nick Collison, on “Stank’em,” the Jayhawks’ new monkey mascot, KCTV Channel 5
GH: Coach Roy needs to send Wanda shopping again to get a gorilla for Terry Allen and his Kansas football team.
“I guarantee you Bill Self does not want to see Kansas come Saturday night.”
— Greg Gurley, college basketball analyst, Metro Sports
GH: The renewed KU optimism has even hit the media. Self was rumored to covet Williams’ job for years from his post in Tulsa. Instead of moving to Lawrence, he landed a talent-rich job at Illinois, where he has guided the Illini to their first Sweet 16 since 1989.
“I’m not sure why [Kareem Rush] wouldn’t take a look at [the NBA]. I don’t think there are many better than Kareem in college basketball.”
— Jon Sundvold, ESPN analyst, WHB 810
“Two officials of the Missouri athletic department told me they were worried that [Kareem] Rush might bail out for the NBA. Even some of his teammates were concerned.”
— Jack Harry, Channel 5
GH: Harry then played cuts from MU players who showed almost no concern over Rush’s decision to stay or go, only support. Read on.
“He’s ready [for the NBA], but that’s his decision whether he wants to come back or not. He should give it a chance and give it a strong thought.”
— Johnny Parker, Missouri senior, Channel 5
“If he wants to do that, I’m with him. If he don’t, hey, better for us.”
— Clarence Gilbert, MU’s junior guard, Channel 5
“I’m pretty set on coming back next year. I think we’ve got a great team and program here, and I want to be a part of it…. I know my brother made an unwise decision, and I’ll think about my decision more carefully. I think it would be beneficial for me to come back next year.”
— Kareem Rush, Channel 5
“Everybody has an opinion, but what bothers me is the people who won’t take the time to do the studying necessary to form that opinion…. I don’t really concern myself with the entire field. I don’t really have a handle on the 64 teams.”
— Billy Packer, CBS analyst, 810
“His [injured] knee scares me to death.”
— Tim Grunhard, on Rams backup quarterback Trent Green, 810
