by joanna

What’s on your mind today?

Read below for the info on when Chris and I chat live today, as well as where you can go for commenting on all sports. I also have a topic of the day — why is size such a focus in sports?

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by joanna

When Lane Lord was coaching girls basketball at Heights, he was always one of my favorites. A nice guy, who always had a kind word and a smile. Those are not common traits, folks.

He was at Heights early in my career, and he even met my parents, who loved talking to him. Even after he left Heights to coach at Barton and now Pitt State, he’d still talk to my parents when they came to town. Again, a rarity in a person.

Here’s a story by the Topeka Capital-Journal on Lord.

Here are the boxes from the boys and girls Kansas Basketball Coaches Association All-Star games. Andover Central’s Tiffany Bias took home the MVP for the winning South girls team. Bryce Shippers was the MVP from the winning North Boys squad.

South Girls 78, North Girls 68

SOUTH (78): Bias, 16. Patrick, 17. Willis, 14. Barto, 12. Sharp, 9. Cooper, 5. Pauly, 3. Phox, 2.

NORTH (68): Bordewick, 17. Rust, 13. Arndt, 7. Kaufman, 7. Caron, 7. Zeiner, 6. Ulrich, 5. Buer, 4. Hett, 2.

Halftime—North33, South 29

North Boys 111, South Boys 103

NORTH (111): Williams, 20. Langrehr, 19. Schippers, 17. Santiogo, 16. Havercamp, 8. Carver, 7. Hooks, 7. Binker, 6. Diederich, 5. Riordan, 2.

South (103): T. Williams, 22. Douvier, 20. Floyd, 18. Barber, 11. A. Williams, 8. Cor-dray, 7. Argabright, 6. Nachbor, 6. Clancy, 5.

Halftime— North 62, South 51

Earlier this month I blogged about the Nike Global Challenge. The Top 30 American high school basketball players will play the best international players (19 and under) in a 12-team tournament from August 6-8. The Nike Global Challenge will be played at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. and Heights forward Perry Ellis will play representing the U.S.

Ellis’ team has been selected for the Global Challenge. Here is the roster. As you can see Ellis is the only class of 2012 player on the team. (more…)

North’s Conner Frankamp and Height’s Perry Ellis are a few of the names representing Wichita in the KC Prep Invitational. The AAU tournament will feature some of the nation’s top talent under the same roof – the Okun Fieldhouse at the Mid-America Sports Complex in Shawnee.

Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon called to offer Heights junior forward Perry Ellis a basketball scholarship this morning. That makes eight schools so far. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Kansas, K-State, WSU, Wake Forest and Memphis have also extended offers this summer to the Heights junior forward.

The Top 30 American high school basketball players will play the best international players (19 and under) in a 12-team tournament from August 6-8. The Nike Global Challenge will be played at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Ore. and Heights forward Perry Ellis will play representing the U.S.

It will cap off what has been a busy summer for Ellis.

by joanna

Wichita Collegiate soon-to-be senior Ashia Woods, a two-time Wichita Eagle All-state basketball player, has suffered a hairline fracture on her tibia. Coach Terrence Phox said she would be ready to go in six or seven weeks, but she can’t play volleyball or  basketball until then.

Woods suffered the injury at Oklahoma’s team camp and is in a brace.

Also, expect a Woods commitment in the next month or so.

On a side note, Heights rising senior Allegria Chisom played with Collegiate at the OU team camp. I talked to Phox and Heights coach Kip Pulliam, and neither knows where the Northeast Magnet student has/or if she has enrolled.

After putting up 9.8  points per game (second among 2012 players) in the invite only National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp last week, Perry Ellis will head to a few more elite camps in the next couple of weeks to try and tune his game for the upcoming season. His stops include Chicago for the Kevin Durant Basketball camp and then a LeBron James-taught camp in Ohio.

by joanna

You know, I wrote that headline and laughed to myself. As if national attention is anything new to Ellis. Here’s a USA Today story on Ellis.

There’s lots of stories on Ellis that I don’t put up. Pretty much every college that has shown interest in him writes about him often because they’re trying to keep their fan base up to speed on a possible future player. I put this one up, though, because recently someone on the blog questioned Ellis’ skill and the attention he gets.

Again, I laughed to myself. The kid is legit.

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