COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Why Mark Mangino wouldn't be a good replacement for Turner Gill

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

Outside of the back-up quarterback, the successful former coach is the most popular man in town when things go down the drain.

Many Kansas Jayhawks football fans, including a few friends of mine, would like to see former head coach Mark Mangino return to the sidelines in Lawrence.

While Mangino was probably the best head coach in school history, the move would be a bad one.

Here's a short explanation why:

1. Mangino's final two years at KU were disappointing. Coming off a 12-1, Orange Bowl winning season, KU football had tremendous momentum. Despite that, all KU could do is an 8-5 season and a 5-7 season. That's not bad for KU, but those seasons could have been better. There's no way KU's team should have been 5-7 in Mangino's final year. No. Way. He did not deserve to get fired for those seasons alone, but they weren't glamorous seasons.

2. Comebacks rarely, rarely work. (Unless you're named "Bill Snyder.") Quick! Name a successful coaching comeback at the same school in college sports, excluding Bill Snyder? Comebacks at the same job just don't work all that much. Don Fambrough, who's considered a legend at KU for simply hating Missouri, got fired twice.

3. Rival coaches would recruit against him dirty. Mangino's baggage would easily open the door for rival coaches to recruit against him. And unlike Mike Leach, there's legitimate baggage with Mangino. Mangino was hung out to dry by Lew Perkins, but Mangino did not do himself favors.

4. Bad blood, I would assume, remains between Mangino and the school. It takes more than two years to get over what happened to Mangino at the end of his coaching career at the University of Kansas. Two years are probably too soon.

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Five interesting storylines worth keeping an eye on for Kaw Valley League boys basketball

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

The Kaw Valley League has been the apple of my eye for boys basketball the past week or so.

Having looked at it a bit the past week or so, five interesting questions and storylines are worth looking at as the season unfolds.

1. Will enough efficient and good guard play develop for Basehor-Linwood to win the Kaw Valley League, let alone a 4A state title? Basehor arguably has the best post-play in 4A as the season begins. Ben Johnson and the Murphy Twins are a very solid group of three players. However, guard play hurt Basehor at times last year and this year, it will need to pick up if the Bobcats want their second 4A crown in four years.

2. Can the Kaw Valley League bring home two state titles? Last year, the Kansas City Kansas - Atchison League came within a handful of points and terrible officiating of bringing home both the 4A and 5A titles. Sumner Academy won in 4A, while Washington lost in the state finals to McPherson in 5A. This year, I think it's the Kaw Valley League that could produce two state titles. Lansing is my official pick to win the crown in 5A based on their experience, depth and coaching. I'm not as confident in Basehor yet to win 4A, but perhaps they can get me there. I also like Bonner as a dark horse in 4A.

3. Speaking of Bonner, can the Braves make it a three-way race for the KVL crown? I say yes. They may not have the resume quite yet of a Lansing (fourth place 5A last year) or a Basehor team that's won a title recently. But they have great coaching, great depth and perhaps the most athletic team in the league. It's close, but B.J. Watson, Steve Williams and the Jackson brothers are all fun athletes to watch. They will hound you on defense and I think they will turn some heads this year. Andy Price did a great job out there last year and his second year figures to be better.

4. Can Ward pull off an upset? Despite the lack of experience on the varsity level, I'm sensing a little more excitement from Ward fans this year about boys basketball. C.J. Vallejo has been their star the past three years and he enters his final season at Ward. Ward came very close to shocking Bonner Springs in the opening round of the sub-state tournament last year. I sense this year's team will be a little more athletic, which is good news.

5. How will the Steve Wallace Experiment in Piper work in year one? OK, I know that sounds negative, but the hiring out in Piper is not one we've seen around these parts in a long time. KCK has a ton of recycled coaches and most of the coaches inside KCK either had significant experience at the middle school level or at the high school level. Wallace's experience comes in women's college basketball. I love the vibes so far out in Piper, but the hiring will be fun to watch. I think Wallace will be good for the program, but it's not your typical hiring at the high school level. I'm very anxious to see how Piper does and how respectable they are compared to last year.

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Going All In: Lansing will be your 5A boys basketball state champs in 2012

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

As readers of KCK Preps know, I'm not afraid to put my neck on the line.

While I'm not intentionally controversial, I'm not afraid to make bold predictions.

Though I'm not sure this necessarily bold, I'm predicting the Lansing Lions to win the 2011-12 boys basketball title in 5A this year.

The race for the 5A crown will heavily involve teams in the northeast part of Kansas. There are teams in both Wyandotte County and Leavenworth County that can make a claim for the preseason favorite.

After much thought and research, I'm picking Lansing - without hesitation - as my preseason pick to win it all.

Why?

1. Izaiah Grice. The Kaw Valley League sometimes gets an unfair reputation as being "slow" or being non-aggressive, especially compared to the Kansas City Kansas - Atchison League. Grice, who was second team 5A last year at the state level, is a KCKAL talent. He was a fun player to watch at the 5A state tournament last year and he played very well against Washington through the first three quarters of the game. Grice is a good candidate for KVL Player of the Year. He's a senior leader and he could be to Lansing as Tra'Vaughn White was to the Washington Wildcats last year.

2. Post depth. I love me some post-play - and Lansing has plenty of bodies inside. Chris Jones at 6'6" and Clay Young at 6'4" were Lansing's leading rebounders last year. Both are back for the Lions this year. On top of that, I've read good things about Mike Miller (6'5") and a 6'7" sophomore named Eddie Hunt. Hunt has raw ability and played on a pretty good AAU team last summer. That's a lot of size. I saw some of it in action and while Washington had the last laugh, the Lions gave Myles Hibler and Rakim McCoy fits on the defensive side of the ball. It was White who single-handily won that game. Teams are lucky to have one big guy or maybe two. Lansing has four. The Lions will be a very tough to defend and deal with inside.

3. The 5A class loses a lot of talent this season. This is not to say Lansing is my preseason pick by default, but once in a while, you need the stars to align. First, McPherson drops to 4A. They won the title last year. Second, Tra'Vaughn White, Rozell Nunn, Jauan Wilson, Shane Hooks, Myles Hibler, Kalen Allen, Derrick Green, Mike Hibler, Jervon Hooks and a host of KCK seniors are gone. KCK should still do well at 5A this year, but a lot of talent graduated this year. Washington should take a step back and Wilson and Hooks are two leaders that will be tough to replace for Harmon. Schlagle's the wild-card in this discussion. Point is - a ton of leaders and players from the KCK 5A teams are gone. The big losses in 5A are White and Nunn. White put up 34 points against Lansing at state last year and he was a thorn in their sides.

4. Athletic guards. I've mentioned Grice already, but Lansing has athletes at the guard position. Khalil Bailey was a fun football player to watch and his natural abilities should translate well to the court. Joe Schneider, a freshman last year, played well for them against Washington coming of the bench. Schneider is also a duel-threat athletic quarterback, meaning Lansing has guards. It's the guards that I think will win them the KVL; the forwards will win them state. (Though I haven't seen him in person, there's a lot of chatter than Cameron Decker has improved over the summer.)

5. A better Kaw Valley League league is a healthier one. As I mentioned earlier this week, the KVL will improve dramatically from last year. Most of the talent from last year is back and will only get better. One of the reasons why Sumner Academy has won two titles the past two years at the 4A level is the fact the KCKAL improved dramatically. This year, I think a stronger Kaw Valley League will benefit Lansing, Basehor and even Bonner Springs. I think the athleticism of the Bonner Springs team will prepare Lansing for any of the KCKAL teams at the state level, for example.

6. They are well-coached. To me, a great sign of a good to great head coach is when his or her team comes out of no-where some years to be better than you expect. I generally read a ton of news about the KCKAL, KVL and the leagues in Topeka since I went to college at Washburn. I did not expect Lansing to be as good as they were last year. Outside of McPherson and Olathe East, Lansing was the best team Washington played last year. I was very impressed with how good they were. They were young and nearly won a state title. That's a sign of Rod Briggs' coaching abilities. They won't sneak up on me this year. It's not happening. 

Put this post in your favorites. Book-mark it. I may be a little out there in this pick, but Lansing will be a darn good basketball team this year. They have a good argument as the preseason #1 team in 5A.

Most importantly, they are my pick to win the 5A title.

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Ward brings back an inexperienced team in 2011-12

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

The Bishop Ward boys basketball program made some strides last year under first year head coach Todd Magwire.

However, Magwire's second year brings more questions than answers.

Ward brings back just two players who had varsity experience last year - leader C.J. Vallejo and sophomore Evan Brull.

Vallejo has seen varsity action since a freshman, meaning he's Ward's defacto leader entering the year.

Besides Vallejo and Brull, newcomers Duane Joseph, John Roblez, Connor Burns, Long Ho, Michael Golubski, Austin Kochsmeier and Luke Slupski will be called to help Ward's offense click, something that did not happen last year often enough.

"We need to find a way to score," Magwire said.  "We only averaged 42 points a game last year.  If the kids work extremely hard, have good attitudes, and learn to play unselfishly, this could be a good year for us."

Like many coaches inside the Kaw Valley League, Magwire points to Basehor-Linwood and Lansing as the favorites.

"Basehor Linwood and Lansing, as well as Bonner Springs are going to be very talented again this year," he said. " Mill Valley graduated a lot of Seniors but they should be good as well."

As he said last year prior to his first season, Magwire's goal for this team is to improve every game.

He believes he has the group to make that happen.

"The kids are very coachable," he said.

Brull, Burns and Ho are sophomores, while Roblez and Joseph are juniors, meaning the group should gain experience together and improve over the next two years.

In his first season at Ward, Magwire won just six games.

However, that was an improvement from three games - and the Cyclones swept their rivals from Piper High School and played Bonner Springs competively in the first round of the sub-state tournament.

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Interested in Bonner Springs boys basketball? Check out these sources of information

By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com

If there's one school within the coverage area of KCK Preps who "gets" social media and the idea of promoting their athletic programs, it's Bonner Springs High School.

(Well, Piper does too, but I've given them enough credit.)

However, the boys basketball program at Bonner Springs goes far and above of what other programs in the Kansas City metro area does for their hoops.

1. First, the school live streams their basketball games, meaning that if there's bad weather outside and you can't make it to the game, you can check it out with your computer. Check out the live stream during the games here.

2. On Twitter? Follow the Bonner Springs boys hoops program here.

3. Check out Bonner Springs basketball on Facebook here.

4. The official home of Bonner Springs basketball can be found on the high school's official Website.

Again, credit to Bonner Springs doing these four simple things in promoting their program. It's very smart and it's a sign of loyalty to the athletes there.

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