A ruptured ACL has cost the Wildcats their most explosive player and biggest hope for taking the program to new heights in 2007.
The 6-foot-6 Walker, a top-10 national recruit, averaged 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in six games.
Black and Gold Truth: Walker, while productive, was not Texas' Kevin Durant as a freshman, which is to say -- All American. Still, losing Walker hurts and his injury will be blown up as the reason why there should not be an age limit for the NBA draft. He may not be looked at the same again and will have to prove he is dominant to get the rating from the NBA he had before getting hurt.
While the BGT is all for players going to college, for a multitude of reasons, hardly seems right in this capitalistic society that a player of Walkers' worth could potentially lose millions due to injury because he was, in essence, forced to go to college.
Knight keeps adding wins to the all-time record
Kansas State could have used Walker on Monday as it fell at home to Texas Tech, 62-52, shooting a miserable 30 percent from the floor. Junior swingman David Hoskins was the only Wildcat who showed worthy of attempting shots on the basket, scoring 23 points. No other player for the home team finished in double figures. Leading scorer Cartier Martin, at just over 14 points a contest, scored just six in what continues to be a disappointing personal season.
Jarrius Jackson shot an Allen Iverson-esque 7-of-21 from the field but did finish with 23 points and seven rebounds for the Red Raiders. Bob Knight's team is now 13-4 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12. They are competitive but a notch below the elite in the conference.
BGT: Both of these teams are in trouble as the season progresses. The Wildcats have no chemistry, no offense and Texas Tech, while winning now, just isn't talented enough, balanced enough to do big things.
Ex-Jayhawk finds new home address
Former Kansas big man C.J. Giles has decided on a new school to play basketball at -- Oregon State.
Giles was kicked off the Jayhawks' team in November after he allegedly dragged a student from his apartment by her feet and hit her.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Giles returns to the Pacific Northwest where he prepped and will have two years of eligibility left starting next season. While at KU, he averaged 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds.
BGT: Giles never lived up to the hype in Lawrence and flatly put, is vastly overrated as a talent. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing but really now, is an unmotivated, violent and irresponsible (owes over $ 4,000 in back child support) Giles worth the public-relations risk to the university?
Guess so, at least for the people in Corvallis.
Seems to me the return on investment for the risk being taken doesn't fit the formula for being smart. OSU must be the gambling sort.
From the bag
A letter from Daniel, who is concerned about reports of recruits qualifying.
"I am a little concerned that (Markques) Simas, (Kendrick) Celestine and (P.T.) Gates won't get into CU. What is your gutt feeling on that, because with (Ryan) Miller and the O-line, I would say in a couple of years, watch out CU will be very good. What is your opnion, or gut feeling? Dang."
BGT: Our friends Adam Munsterteiger and Andrew Friedman of BuffStampede.com and BuffaloSportsNews.net are the streetwise guys on that question, Daniel. What it says here at the BGT is this -- CU might not get all of those guys into school, which necessitates those players into looking at the junior college route, which, in turn means the Buffs might never see them in the black and gold. I'd like to believe coach Dan Hawkins and his staff have done their due diligence on their recruits' qualifications and have an educated assessment on the ability of all them to get their talents and test scores into school.
Players need to be students first, at the high school level, and prepare. Everyone knows the rules up front. There should be no discrimination on entrance except for the desire to learn and if you aren't trying in high school, you are going to cost yourself opportunity.
Only time will tell whether any, some or all the names you mentioned get into CU.
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