Farewell to Hill, hello to new coaches at Mizzou + K-State. Plus, BWJ flashes his power
The Mizzou and Kansas State men’s basketball programs made big news this past week. Maybe not the biggest news of the week in Kansas City-area sports, but it’s hard to top a superstar member of the Chiefs getting shipped out of town (more about that shortly).
Both schools, MU and KSU, introduced new head coaches for their respective teams — the Tigers hiring Dennis Gates, the Wildcats tapping Jerome Tang — in the past seven days.
Each squad could use an injection of life. Hopes and attendance have withered in Columbia and Manhattan as Cuonzo Martin and Bruce Weber struggled to put consistently competitive teams on the court.
So, fresh starts/departures is the theme of this week’s KC Replay.
Chiefs bid farewell to Hill
This one was a stunner: Superstar Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday for a pile of draft picks.
The lightning-fast six-year NFL veteran had ostensibly been trying to work out a long-term contract to remain in Kansas City, but the numbers didn’t line up for the Chiefs. So he asked for permission to meet with other teams, was granted that OK, and was promptly scooped up by the Fins, who outbid the Jets for Hill’s services.
In sending one of Patrick Mahomes’ favorite targets to South Beach, the Chiefs in return received Miami’s first, second- and fourth-round picks in 2022 and fourth- and sixth-round picks in 2023. They also moved quickly to add back to their WR corps by signing free-agent Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a former Green Bay Packers receiver.
Meeting, greeting, recruiting
MU and K-State held the expected introductory news conferences, the Tigers in CoMo for Gates and the Cats in the Little Apple for Tang.
But now the real work begins. Gates, hired from Cleveland State with a resume that boasts some program-building in the ACC under Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, set the bar high by discussing national titles during his meet-and-greet. His first signing: Mohamed Diarra, a 6-foot-10 forward out of Garden City Community College and one of the nation’s top juco players.
Tang, a longtime Scott Drew assistant at Baylor, arrived to the fanfare of a purple pep rally at the Manhattan airport. He stoked the buzz there, saying, “We are going to outwork people. That is going to produce winners.”
Witt with the big stick
You’d have to be living under a rock, and one lacking decent wifi, at that, to be oblivious to the Bobby Witt Jr. Mania that’s engulfing KC this spring.
The 21-year-old uber-prospect delighted Royals fans by homering twice in his first three games at spring training with the Royals. He parked one over the fence against the A’s on Tuesday and did so again on Thursday against the Reds.
And Witt isn’t the only thing going right for the Royals this month. Entering Friday’s game against the Rangers, they had yet to lose a Cactus League game.
Jayhawks advance to Elight Eight
Bouyed by the return of Remy Martin, the Kansas men’s basketball team made quick work of Texas Southern and then beat Creighton in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Those victories in Fort Worth propelled Bill Self and the Jayhawks into the Sweet 16 at Chicago, marking Kansas’ 23rd appearance in the round of 16. The Jayhawks were 30-6 after last weekend’s win against Creighton, the 10th time they’ve won 30 or more games in a season under Self.
That record reached 31-6 with the Jayhawks’ 66-61 win over Providence Friday, pushing KU into the Elite Eight and past Kentucky for the most wins in college hoops history.
Rought start on the road
Sporting KC’s MLS season was off to a 1-3-0 start after a 3-1 defeat at the Chicago Fire last weekend.
Roger Espinoza scored the only goal for Sporting in the match at Soldier Field. For the second straight week, KC played with some stars unable to suit up: offensive stalwarts Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton all sat with various ailments.
Entering this weekend’s home game against Real Salt Lake, all three of Sporting’s losses had come on the road. A positive note from last weekend: veteran Graham Zusi surpassed Matt Besler for most minutes played for Sporting in club history. Zusi also entered the RSL game with the most touches in MLS this season (374).