Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, and his own blog, Hoops Haven.
Rock….Chalk….Jay….Hawk! Rock….Chalk….Jay…………..forget it……let’s fight! Apparently this is the new motto for the University of Kansas Athletics Department. The Jayhawk basketball team, which is preseason ranked #1, has some serious issues on campus since they have had not one but two all out brawls on campus with the KU football team over the past two days.
I’d like to report that their must have been a good reason for all of the drama, but early reports are that the animosity was started over a girl who was dating a member of one team was now with a player from the other, sparking the brawls. Reports also claim that a KU hoopster had pushed a football player down a flight of stairs.
There must be something else driving the incident since almost every player from both programs, except star center Cole Aldrich, was involved. The hoops squad could have used Aldrich’s size against the larger(in numbers) and beefier football team. I shouldn’t joke. This is a serious matter and a black eye on one of the nation’s premier universities. There haven’t been any comments yet by Kansas’s President or Athletic Director, but I’m sure there will be hell harsh punishment to pay once the details are made public.
The effect on the KU basketball program will immediately be felt since star sophomore, Tyshawn Taylor, from Hoboken, NJ, dislocated his thumb while trying to throw a punch. No other major injuries were reported, but I suspect some suspensions by either the University or the NCAA are coming. It’s bad news for the KU football program as well, which started 3-0 and is ranked #20 in the nation.
This is not exactly the storybook beginning that Jayhawk fans envisioned for the promising ’09-’10 season. I’m sure that fans of Texas and Oklahoma are laughing right now since this may give their squads a tiny edge, at least in the early on in the Big 12, if some of the prized talent like Sherron Collins, Taylor, and the Morris twins were given a lengthy suspension. Tyshawn Taylor is expected to miss 3-4 weeks to rehab while Kansas basketball opens up training camp on October 16th with it’s annual, “Late Night at the Phog” practice. Taylor was KU’s 3rd leading scorer by averaging 9.7 points and 3 assists as one of the top freshmen last season in the Big 12 Conference.
Click Here to see video reactions from Coaches and Players, where they describe the incident from KUSports.com
