The on-court impact of Ellis's and Wayne's departures

College basketball is a funny thing. Can't miss Hamburger MOP's miss and consensus destined to be always mediocre players rise to flirt with greatness. There is no doubt that losing players like Selden and Ellis will force great changes to this team. There is also no doubt that there is latent potential in others that is just waiting to coalesce into greatness. Here are some possibilities to ponder.

THE CORE
Devonte' -- Despite the crimson and blue vision that would have Devonte' as a near AA, he had pretty good holes in his game this year. But he also steadily improved and was a markedly better player at the end of the season. His decision making is suspect at times and his intangibles are not quite to elite level. But again he showed radical and steady improvement. Is next season his time to step it up again and flirt with elite status? Very possibly, and that could be huge.

Frank -- Frank regressed this year. I am not sure why but he regressed. Actually that is not fair. He was not worse this season than his sophomore season but he was less consistent and overall I would say no better. That is not a slam because Frank is pretty dadgum good. Frank was way too inconsistent this year for an elite level PG on a championship caliber team. Having said that, his bad games were still not bad just mediocre or a little less. Where I was a little suprised with Frank was his decision making. More than a few games this year, his decision making was just confounding. I don't know every play the Jayhawks run but I know enough to see an occasional busted move. Devonte and Frank both make questionable decisions at times. Again, compared to a run of the mill player, they are pretty consistently very good to better than very good. I am talking about championship level execution. So is Frank in store for a slight uptick in performance and mostly consistently good decision making? Very possibly and that would be significant.

Landen -- Here is a rule you can bank on. Smart basketball players virtually always imporve steadily. Now I did not say rapidly but definitely steadily. Landen actually did imporve this season far more rapidly than even I thought and I was pretty much his biggest fan at the beginning of the season. My prediction, he will be better next season. He will be stronger, a little better on offense, and even more fundamentally solid. He can taste his last hurrah as a senior and he will use that as motivation to work his butt off. that is what smart players do. I am not predicting some sort of phone booth Superman type event but definitely steady growth. He will be a more than solid starting center next season. We are lucky to have him. He is the current incarnation of a long line of KU players like Travis Releford, Brady Morningstar, Tyrel Reed, Kevin Young, Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Aaron Miles, etc. Smart players who steadily improve. In the case of Hinrich and Collison, they started very very good and still improved.

THE READY TO SHINE
Carlton - Carlton clearly has upside written all over him. An offense designed around his skill set could be a huge catalyst for him. He moves well without the ball, he can shoot very well, he can handle the ball way better than average, he can even create to some degree. He may be a burgeoning offensive star. But can he play defense? Let's call it like it is. His defense was just terrible this season. He is not slow nor does he seem to be dim-witted. So his poor defense was a little confounding. The obvious deficiency is his strength. Hudy should bust this kid up over the summer and buff him up. 20 pounds of muscle and stonger legs will change much of his defense. The rest is just reps. I think Carlton has huge upside and could be a huge upside surprise next season.

Svi - Svi was another player to grow pretty steadily. His defense was sometimes outstanding and sometimes he simply appeared to lose focus. He mainly lost focus when he had to guard a smaller quicker guy. He is pretty quick himself and I suspect the one thing he will work on most in the off-season is his first step and cross-over dribble move. Well that and his shooting. I was down on Svi after his freshman year. I am pretty high on him now. He could be better than Wayne. You hear it here first. He could not only fill Waynes shoes but he could be better. I am not yet ready to say that is the probability but it is a stong possibility. He will be a huge contributor and could very possibly have his breakout season.

THE COULD BE GUYS
Lagerald -- Does nayone remember Nicky Bradford? Lagerald is a clone. He has that same style game but with a better shot. He is not as tall but a better shooter and probably more athletic. Lagerald could be a solid bench guy next season, He is long and has a quick first step. He needs to get much better at handling the ball and learn to use his body on defense. Heck, he just needs to learn how to play in real minutes and not just trash time where defense is just a theory more than a reality. But I can hinestly see him getting 10+ minutes a game and making people happy he is on the bench.

Brannen -- Before this season I predicted Brannen and Landen would be the breakout guys this season. I batted .500. Brannen remains an enigma. I could see him leaving, I could see him staying and being a star or I could see him having a carbon copy season to this past season. I frankly don't know what to think of Brannen. So he is a solid COULD BE guy.

THE WHAT IF'S
Josh Jackson -- All of the sudden we need this kid. As I said above, Svi could be the butterfly player next season but wow, what if we got Jackson and you had a Backcourt of Frank, Devonte', Svi, and Josh with a little Lagerald to spice it up? That couls be pretty spectacular. Let's hope he chooses KU.

Colbey -- I know some of you are not optimistic on this guy and I have no clue. I know nothing about him. But unlike this season, we are going to be razor thin in the front court next season.

Lightfoot -- I have read only that this kid has great athleticism and he loves KU. Any contribution at this point seems pretty unlikely but for all I know he may be the next coming and take the KU world by storm. So her is hoping he is a real surprise.

Azubuike -- Same as lighfoot only bigger, stronger and more post type. He will likely get some serious PT and let's hope he is worthy of it.

YTBS -- (yet to be signed) We are in the running for some pretty decent bigs. Bolden and Thon Maker seem to be the two that could fill the bill. Maker has seemed a little like a flake but I have also seen videos of him that are jaw dropping. Bolden is a man child like Azubuike. Here's to hoping we sign a front court difference maker.

Other things to think about.

1. Is Kurtis Townsend finally gone to WKU? That would be a big loss.
2. Does Evan Manning join the staff? Seems almost destined to be.
3. Does Aaron Miles stay around and continue to mentor Devonte'? This seemed to be a key to D'te's development.
4. Does Pop retire and Self bolt for the San Antonio Spurs to work with his best friend the GM? Far-fetched but the only NBA job that seems appealing to Self.
5. Can Ghost Busters 3 possibly be worthy of the original?
5.

In a recent post-game interview, Evan said he has a job in, I think he said Cincinnati with a group that sets up sports camps around the country...

www2.kusports.com/weblogs/smithology/201...ubuike-talks-power-/