No. 8 Kansas reloads with five All-Americans

So your team loses a pair of first team All-Americans to the NBA draft lottery. You raise the white flag and rebuild, right? Not Kansas. Instead, Jayhawks coach Roy Williams can look down his bench and its five McDonalds high-school All-Americans, sub two guys in and still have his team ranked No. 8 in the nation. Ryan Robertson, a 6'5'' off guard, has taken the reins of this Jayhawks team, as he proved in last Friday's not so easy win over Gonzaga. The Jayhawks stumbled out of the blocks in their first game against Gonzaga, giving credence to all those who predicted this Kansas team to finish second in the Big 12, mainly due to inexperience. After Gonzaga took a 32-28 lead into the locker rooms at halftime, Robertson led a second-half charge, in which Kansas scored 52 points and pulled away from the overmatched Bulldogs. Robertson gave the Jayhawks their first lead of the second half when he hit a three-pointer, blocked Gonzaga's Matt Santangelo and fed teammate Kenny Gregory for a fast-break dunk. The Jayhawks never looked back, winning by a final of 80-66. With the victory, Kansas extended the nation's longest current home winning streak to 61. But the Jayhawks aren't in Kansas anymore. Speaking of home-cooking, the Quakers have had their own taste of the home court advantage. Since 1991-'92, Penn has compiled a 63-12 mark at the Palestra. That's not to say the Quakers won't have their hands full trying to contain a very deep and very athletic Kansas squad. Joining Robertson in the backcourt is 6'1'' freshman Jeff Boschee, one of Kansas' McDonalds All-Americans. He became the first Jayhawk freshman to start a season opener since Jacque Vaughn did it in 1993. Boschee led Kansas with 21 points -- including four three-pointers and six assists -- in its exhibition win over Australia's Geelong Supercats. At small forward, Williams will start the 6'5'' Gregory, who poured in 18 points and five assists in Kansas' win over Gonzaga. The sophomore was hampered by a bad back last year, but so far Gregory has shown no signs of slowing down. He exploded for 31 points and 13 rebounds in Kansas' first exhibition game against the California All-Stars. The other forward spot will be occupied by 6'6'' junior Nick Bradford, who recorded his first career double-double last Friday. The relatively small Bradford has been forced to step into the role of power forward due to the ankle injury suffered by regular starter T.J. Pugh. Penn should be pleased by the absence of Pugh, who scored 13 points in 28 minutes against the Quakers in Penn's 89-71 defeat at the hands of the Jayhawks last season. But while Bradford will be outsized by Penn power forward Paul Romanczuk (6'7'', 220 lbs.), the Jayhawks' lone southpaw could pose problems in Kansas' quick transition game. Last, but certainly not least, Kansas will throw seven-footer Eric Chenowith at Penn. Chenowith, at 7'0'' and 235 lbs., has a rather large task ahead of him -- to fill the void left by departing frontcourt All-Americans Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz. The job's made tougher by Pugh's injury, which could keep him sidelined for at least a couple more weeks. The Jayhawks' big man stands as a tough welcome back for Penn 6'11'' center Geoff Owens. But Owens' teammates are confident he can contain Chenowith. "The have a seven-footer and we can guard him with a 6'11'' [player] instead of 6'7''," Jordan said, referring to last season's Owens-less Quakers squad, which had to put up Romanczuk and 6'7'' forward Jed Ryan against Kansas' big men. With four returning starters to Kansas' one, and a raucous Palestra crowd behind them, Penn may have caught Kansas at a vulnerable moment. "[Penn] played us well last year in Washington D.C. [in the First Bank Classic]," Williams said. "Now I think it's a dumb team for us to be playing."

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