Calipari Learns From Mistakes, Earns Championship

By Blake Schuster New Orleans, La. — It was happening again. Down by nine, to John Calipari and against a seemingly unbeatable team, Kansas made its run.  But in the Jayhawks 67-59 national championship loss to Kentucky, it wasn’t a miracle Jayhawk comeback as it was in 2008 — although it felt similar — this time was about Calipari, and the demons he finally exorcised. Four years ago with Calipari’s Memphis team up nine with 2:12 left to play, Bill Self pulled out one of the sweetest wins of his career, downing the Tigers in overtime. This time Calipari’s Kentucky team took the lead early in the first half and never gave it up despite…

VIDEO: Kansas falls short in title game

    Kansas second half comeback falls short to the Kentucky Wildcats in the 2012 National Title game.

Kevin Kugler Interview – Dial Global Sports

                        Jay Ingber sat down with Kevin Kugler, play-by-play voice for Dial Global Sports at the Final Four.  Kugler talked about the National Championship game on Monday night and how Kansas and Kentucky match up.

Jim Gray Interview – Final Four

                    Jay Ingber sat down with Jim Gray in New Orleans to discuss Monday’s National Championship game, the state of college basketball, and much more.    

Schuster: Dining With The Enemy

By Blake Schuster New Orleans, LA.— It was bound to happen. With a city full of nothing but Kentucky and Kansas fans surely confrontation would be unavoidable, I just never thought I would come away enjoying their company and with a new outlook on Big Blue nation.  Standing in line at Felix’s Seafood on Iberville St., my sports director, Jay, and I did what everyone in town was doing — discussing the looming championship matchup between the Wildcats and Jayhawks. The line was long, so was our conversation. But as I was trying to focus on Jay’s comments I found myself more interested in eavesdropping on the chat going on in front of me. Two…

Schuster: Destiny, Not Talent, Will Prevail Monday

By Blake Schuster There’s no question who’s the better team in playing for the National Championship. Kentucky, hands down. If I’m a coach and I have my pick of either team how do I not want Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Terrance Jones? It’d be a damn shame if John Calipari didn’t finally ascend to the top of the college basketball world. His  —arguably — best team ever doesn’t have weak spots. From day one Kentucky was built for April 2nd, 2012 and every game before it was practice. The Wildcats have just about all that a team needs to earn them the title — but they don’t have everything. They haven’t faced…

Jayhawks Comeback To Beat Ohio State in Final Four

By Blake Schuster If there is one undeniable truth about the 2012 NCAA Tournament it’s never count the Kansas Jayhawks out. Not when they’re in foul trouble, not when they’re down by double digits, and not when Bill Self is coaching.  A 64-62 victory over Ohio State in the Final Four proved that. The game started out all too familiar as Kansas trailed 26-13 with six minutes left in the first half. The Jayhawks had gotten into dogfights with every team during their tournament run, and the Buckeyes were no exception. Wild shooting, turnovers, and missed opportunities led to a large Kansas deficit highlighted most by a Jeff Withey miscue late in the first. With…

Video: KU headed to National Title game

  Kansas defeated Ohio State in the National Semi-Final to advance and take on Kentucky in the National Title game.

Taylor’s Leadership Carries Jayhawks to Final Four

By Blake Schuster New Orleans, La. — The first time Kevin Young saw his new team scrimmage last summer he stood in awe. The Loyal-Marymount transfer had been used to playing “rec ball”, but it was nothing like the structure the Jayhawks were using. There was flow, precision and success. It was during his gawking that one of the players came over and laid down the rules for the newcomer.  “Tyshawn [Taylor] pulled me to the side and let me know how things were,” Young said. “He said we win here, this is what we do, and if you want to be a part of this you have to buy into the system and do…

Schuster: Manning A Tough Loss For KU

By Blake Schuster The moment I found out Danny Manning was leaving for Tulsa’s head coaching position on Wednesday evening I was in the middle of creating a foot long at a Subway right on the border between Arkansas and Missouri. I had been out of cell service for the past two hours and when I finally got on Twitter Manning to Tulsa was all but done. The sub was the first thing I would consume all day, and yet midway through my order I lost all desire to eat. How do you react to something like that? When you’ve known for years that Danny Manning has earned the right to run his own program,…