PLAYER LOSSES

 

It’s amazing to think about how much talent KU lost from the 2008 championship year.  The departure of nine players, including all five starters, six seniors, six of the top seven scorers, three NBA recruits, and two more joining top foreign teams, represents the biggest seasonal loss in KU’s basketball history since the 1977 season, if not since 1899.  During this past season, these players contributed 2,669 points (83% of the seasons’ total), 1,111 rebounds (72%) and 86.6 production points of the team total of 103.98.

 

In the past 32 years, the second biggest yearly loss was from the talented 2005 team led by seniors Wayne Simien, Keith Langford, and Aaron Miles, who contributed 1,773 points, 740 rebounds and 73.2 production points.  Merely losing Danny Manning was enough to place the 1988 national championship team in third place.  Seniors Archie Marshall, Marvin Branch, Manning and six others contributed 1,593 points, 778 rebounds and 69.93 production points.

 

The 1981 team headed by Darnell Valentine, Art Housey and John Crawford, the 1990 squad led by Kevin Pritchard, Rick Calloway and Jeff Gueldner, and the 1998 team headlined by Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, and Billy Thomas, also represented significant losses for the subsequent years.

 

Ken Johnson

September, 2008