Hello, Jayhawks: Huskies join power trio in K.C.

, KANSAS CITY, MO. – The College Basketball Experience Classic brings together three teams that have combined for four of the last six NCAA basketball championships – plus, the Washington Huskies.

The schools with the rings are Syracuse, the 2003 champion; Florida, back-to-back champions in 2006 and ’07; and Kansas, which won last season.

“It’s going to be a privilege to be a part of that group,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Obviously, we haven’t won a national championship, but we’re definitely going to be in great company. And you get to just be around that environment, and I think it does nothing but help you.”

The Orange and Gators will meet in the opening game tonight, followed by the Huskies and the defending national champion Jayhawks at 7 p.m. at the Sprint Center.

However, Florida coach Billy Donovan makes the point that “defending champion” is misleading.

“Kansas won the national championship, and no one is going to take that away from their program,” he said. “They’re really not defending anything, like we weren’t defending anything. It’s a new season, a new year and a new team. ... That banner in Allen Fieldhouse is going to hang there for the history of the school, and no one can take it away. And their 2008 team will always be remembered as the national champion. Now, what happens here in 2009, I don’t think anybody knows.”

So far, so good. Kansas is 2-0 despite losing all five starters from the team that came from behind to beat Memphis in the national championship game in San Antonio last April. These Jayhawks return less than 20 percent of their production from almost every statistical category from last season.

Junior Sherron Collins is the lone returning player who averaged more than nine minutes a game last season, when he won the 2008 Big 12 Conference sixth man award. Also back are 6-foot-11 center Cole Aldrich, who blocked 34 shots last season, and sophomore Brady Morningstar, who played in 16 games in 2006-07 and redshirted last season.

Kansas coach Bill Self understands better than anyone that these “defending champions” aren’t the guys who won that championship in the first place.

“I’ve read what Billy has said about the next year and getting guys to really, really understand that those newcomers are really the beneficiaries of other people’s hard work, and they really haven’t done it yet,” Self said. “And to get them to understand how important certain things are in developing a foundation of how you’re going to get things done. We’ve got to get better in that area.”

However, the cupboard is seldom bare for Kansas, which has won five national titles, been to 13 Final Fours, won 51 regular-season conference titles and has the third-most victories in Division I history: 1,945.

They Jayhawks started this season by beating Missouri-Kansas City, 71-56, and Florida Gulf Coast, 85-45, in the Lawrence, Kan., portion of the CBE.

“I don’t want to go too strong and say that we’re playing great right now because that’s not true,” Self said. “But I do think we’re getting better and I think this tournament will certainly give us a better idea. So many times in practice coaches see it through their own eyes and they really need a different perspective and sometimes only quality competition can give you that perspective.”

Romar hopes Washington is ready to provide that quality competition. The Huskies opened with a road loss at Portland but bounced back with double-digit wins over Cleveland State and Florida International in CBE games in Seattle.

Jon Brockman is filling his usual roles scoring, rebounding, muscling and hustling. Freshman Isaiah Thomas is the second-leading scorer. Justin Dentmon, Venoy Overton, Justin Holiday and Darnell Gant also have made early contributions. Sophomore forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning also could make his season debut tonight after a hard fall in practice cost him the first three games.

“I think we’re ready,” Dentmon said.

“I think our guys are going to step up to the challenge and play to the best of our ability. I’m just waiting to see what the best of our ability really is.”

Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808

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UW MEN’S GAMEDAY

WASHINGTON (2-1) VS. NO. 24 KANSAS (2-0)

Tipoff: 7 p.m., Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.

TV: ESPN2. Radio: 950-AM.

Series: Kansas leads, 7-1, and was ranked in the Top 20 in all eight games. The schools’ first meeting was in the 1953 NCAA semifinals at the Municipal Auditorium, across the street from where the Huskies are staying. UW’s lone win came in the 1974 Jayhawk Classic. The most recent meeting was a 67-57 Kansas home win in 1988.

Statistical leaders: For UW, F Jon Brockman, 20.3 ppg and 11.3 rpg; G Isaiah Thomas, 3.3 apg. For KU, G Sherron Collins, 20.5 ppg; F Morris Markieff, 10 rpg; G Brady Morningstar, 3.5 apg.

Scouting report: Kansas is off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in six seasons under coach Bill Self. The Jayhawks are scoring 78 points per game and allowing 50.5. They are shooting 48.7 percent from the field and holding their opponents to 26.5 percent. Kansas also is outrebounding its opponents by 11 per game. ... Collins is coming off a career-high 25 points against Florida Gulf Coast. He leads the team in scoring while hitting 60 percent of his shots. The No. 2 scorer is sophomore center Cole Aldrich (12.5 ppg), who also has four blocks. Collins and freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor each has four steals through two games. ... UW forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning might make his first appearance of the season after missing the first three games due to injuries from a fall in practice.

Opening game: 4:30 p.m., Syracuse vs. Florida.

Next: Losers play at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in the CBE consolation game; winners play at 7:15 p.m. for the title. Both games at Sprint Center.

Don Ruiz, The News Tribune