McCallum wont surprise Kansas

More:PlayYahoo!FantasySportsTourneyPick'em

[rl]HaditnotbeenforRayMcCallum'sdecisiontojoinhisfather,RayMcCallum,Sr.,atDetroit,the6-foot-2,188-poundsophomoreguardfromBeverlyHills,Mich.,couldhaveverywellendedupplayingforBillSelfandtheJayhawks.

"Rayisgoodenoughtoplayforanybody,anywhere,"saidSelf."Certainly,whoeverguardshim,ElijahJohnsonorTyshawnTaylor,willhaveabigchallengeaheadofhim."

ComingoutofDetroit(Mich.)CountryDay,McCallumfinishedhissenioryearastheNo.43playerintheClassof2010,andthe12th-bestpointguard.Earlyoninhisrecruitment,theformerfour-starfloorgeneralreceivedscholarshipoffersfromKansas,Texas,Oklahoma,NotreDame,Detroit,Duke,Michigan,Arizona,Floridaandotherelitecollegebasketballprograms.

DuringaninterviewwithMcCallumbackonJuly10,2008,thecurrentDetroitguardtoldJayhawkSlantthatKansaswastheteamtobeatinhisrecruitment.Despitethenumerousscholarshipoffers,theJayhawks,withSelfandKurtisTownsendleadingtheway,hadmovedtothetopofMcCallum'slist.

"Kansasismyleaderrightnow,"McCallumsaidthen."KansasisaschoolthatIlikealot.IlikethewaytheyplayandIreallylikeCoachSelf.Heisarealcooldude.Kansasisagreatprogram,hasgreatfansandit'sagreatplacetoplaybasketball.Plus,CoachSelfissuchagreatguy.

"IreceivedaphonecallfromCoachSelfthefirstdayhewasallowedtocontactprospectsinmyclass,"headded."Thatwasarealcoolexperienceforme.KansasjustwonanationalchampionshipandCoachSelfiscallingmetotalk.Thatwasjustrealcool."

AsmuchasMcCallumlovedtheUniversityofKansasanditscoachingstaff,turningdowntheopportunitytoplayforhisfatheratDetroitwastoomuchtoask.Amemberofthe2010McDonald'sAll-Americanteam,McCallumultimatelydecidedplayalongsidehisfather.

"Ray'sbeenaroundalongtimeandofcoursehewastheheadcoachatHouston,"Selfsaid."Hewasaheckofaplayerhimself.(Assistantcoach)Kurtis(Townsend)knowsRaybetterthanme,buthe'sareallynicemanandagoodcoach.Hewasabletoconvincethemotherofhisbestplayer(McCallum,Jr.)thatDetroitwouldbethebestplaceforhimtogo.

"IgottoknowRay(McCallum,Jr.)andhismotherbecausewerecruitedJunior,"headded."He'saterrificplayerandaterrificguard.I'mhappyforthesuccesshe'shadthere.ThisisaleaguethatjustwenttotheNationalChampionshipthelasttwoyears,soit'saverycompetitiveleague."

[RivalsonYahoo!SportsRadio:DetroitcoachRayMcCallumjoinsDavidNuno]

Notsurprisingly,McCallum,Sr.,couldn'thavebeenanyhappierwithRay'sdecisiontosignonwithDetroit.Followinga17-16season,McCallum,asasophomore,guidedtheTitanstoarecordof22-13andaHorizonConferenceTournamentChampionship.

AfterfallingtoValparaisotwiceintheregularseason,Detroit,intheHorizonTournamentChampionshipgame,toppedtheCrusaders,68-50.McCallumledthewaywith21pointson10-of-16shootingfromthefield,pulleddownsixrebounds,dishedoutthreeassistsandfinishedwithfoursteals.

McCallum,formuchofthisseason,hasbeenastarforDetroit.HeentersFriday'sfirst-roundmatchupagainstKansasaveraging15.6points,4.5rebounds,3.9assistsand1.5stealspergame.In35games,he'sscoredindouble-figures31times.

ClickHeretoviewthisLink.Attimesthisseason,McCallumhasbeenabsolutelydynamicforDetroit.Hewentfor20againstNotreDame(six-pointloss),21againstYoungstownState,21againstSt.John's(six-pointvictory),22againstValparaiso,23againstWisconsin-Milwaukee,26againstIllinoisChicago,20againstButler(four-pointvictoryontheroad),22againstYoungstownState(HorizonConferenceTourney),26againstClevelandState(HorizonConferenceTourney)and21againstValparaiso(HorizonConferenceTourneyChampionshipgame).

"Heisagoodguard,Ihavebeenhearingalotabouthimtheselastfewyears,"saidTaylorwhenaskedaboutMcCallum."Heistough,andI'msureheisgoingtobeaggressivesincetheteamrunsthroughhim.Theyhavefiveguysthataveragedoublefiguresandtheyhaveguyswhocanscorefromeveryposition.

"Throughouttheweekwewilllearnmoreabouttheiroffenseandwhattheyrun,"headded."Wedon'tknowtoomuchaboutthem(now),butI'msurewe'llbewellpreparedbyFriday."

Bynow,No.2seedKansasiswellawarethatDetroitisfarfromaone-manband.WhileMcCallumreceivesamajorityoftheattention,fourotherplayers,ChaseSimon(13.5),NickMinnerath(12.0),EliHolman(10.9)andJasonCalliste(10.4)averagedouble-figuresinscoring.

Offthebench,DougAndersonaverages9.1pointsand4.7reboundspergame.WithMcCallumleadingtheway,DetroithastheallthenecessarytoolstobecomejustthefifthNo.15seedtoknockoffaNo.2seedintheNCAATournament.

Notwantinganotherearlyroundexit,TaylorandtheJayhawksknowwhat'satstakeonFridaynight.AvictoryagainstDetroitwillmoveKansasonestepclosertowinningthefirstofthreetwo-gametournaments.

Yes,RayMcCallum,Jr.,isafabulousplayer,butitwon'tbethefirsttimethisseasonthatSelf'ssquadisfacedwithadifficultchallenge.Already,theJayhawkshavegonehead-to-headagainstTerrenceJones,MichaelKidd-Gilchrist,DoronLamb,AnthonyDavis,HollisThompson,JasonClark,SethCurry,AndreDawkins,AustinRivers,RyanKelly,WilliamBuford,DeshaunThomas,RoyceWhite,PerryJonesIII,PierreJackson,BradyHeslip,MarcusDenmon,MichaelDixonJr.andothers.

Clearly,Kansashasbeentestedthisseason,andwillbefullypreparedforwhateverDetroitthrowsitswayonFridaynight.

"Heistheirmainfocusrightnowsinceheistheguyeverybodyknowsabout,"Taylorsaid."I'msuretheyhaveguysthatcandosomethingsifRaydoesn'tplayaswell.I'msurehehasn'tplayedterrificineverygamethattheyhavewonthisseason.

"Theyarewellcoached,andtheywillbereadyandexcitedtoplay,"headded.

MorefromYahoo!SportsandRivals.com:

TourneyBracketLive:WatcharchiveversionofourbigshowClickHeretoviewthisLink.

Slam-dunk recruit: FB star gets noticed for basketball movesClick Tournament central: Our spot for the NCAA TournamentClick Tourney bracket: Changed your mind, print another one hereClick Here to view this Link.Here to view this Link.Here to view this Link.