Monday Notebook: The grind continues and football recruiting

1. The Big 12 still runs through Lawrence baby!

The Jayhawks took down the Baylor Bears 73-68 in Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday. This win makes KU heavy favorites to win the Big 12. It also gives Scott Drew his 10th loss in Allen…to Bill Self’s nine. For those of you who listen to Inside the Paint, you know what Scott Drew is, and he lived up to that title in this game. He called timeouts at odd times and played zone defense against a team which you cannot play zone against. Josh Jackson had his second consecutive double-double with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Since Jackson has started to hit threes (10 of them in the last four games), he has transcended from a great player to a dominant player. Frank Mason did it again, finishing with 19 points and six assists. 12 of those 19 points came at the free throw line, and he only shot 12 free throws. Devonte’ Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk hit three three-pointers each and had 13 and 11 points, respectively. Baylor didn’t have (and never has had) the poise to win in Allen Fieldhouse. If you’re going to come into our house and win, you can’t make stupid mistakes. Rock Chalk Jayhawk.

2. Well…that happened

Iowa State walked out of Allen Fieldhouse with a win. They had to hit 18 threes and go to overtime to do so, but they did win. In doing so, they become the first team to beat a Bill Self-led KU team twice in Allen. Frank Mason did all he could to bring home the W, dropping a career high 32 points along with six boards and five assists, but the Jayhawks just weren’t able to finish. Josh Jackson had his third consecutive double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Speaking of rebounds, Landen Lucas had 18 of them to lead the game. Iowa State’s Deonte Burton hit seven threes en route to scoring 29 points. He’s torched KU twice this year. The perimeter defense wasn’t very good at all for the Jayhawks. This loss worries me a little, but how many teams are going to be able to hit 18 threes? Let’s go with zero. Kansas still leads the Big 12 by a game. Both Baylor and West Virginia also lost at home to unranked opponents. I have no faith in Baylor whatsoever. Anyway, KU still has a fantastic record of 20-3. They just need to clean up a little.

3. 2018 KU recruiting class ranked ninth nationally…IN FOOTBALL!!?!?

No, you don’t need glasses. A trio of four-star recruits (two wide receivers and a cornerback) verbally committed to Kansas this past week. Obviously, we’re still a year away from these guys actually signing the dotted line, and high school aged kids are known to change their minds so whether or not these players will actually ever play for KU is unknown. This does, however, speak to what David Beaty and the rest of the staff is building at Kansas. If I had come up to you after the Jayhawks’s final loss of an 0-12 season in 2015 and told you that four-star recruits would even be considering KU (let alone committing), you may have slapped me in the face and scolded me for saying such ridiculous things. But here we are in 2017, talking about that exact possibility. Once again, these players might not sign with KU, but let’s not think about that right now. I’ve said it multiple times but I’ll say it again: the Jayhawks are trending upward.

4. Kansas basketball recruiting is happening too

Trevon Duval made his official visit to Kansas on Wednesday and point guard Trae Young will announce his commitment on February 16th. Both of the guys are phenomenal athletes and (if they choose the Jayhawks) should fit in nicely. I’m not expecting to get both of them, but I will certainly be happy if I’m wrong there. KU hops could be loaded next year. Go ‘Hawks!