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By Roger Cornish (LAWRENCE, Kan) The University of Kansas has named a former Texas A&M administrator as its new provost. Kansas announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Vitter. He is a former provost at Texas A&M who now teaches computer science and engineering at the university. He stepped down as provost after Texas A&M's president resigned. Vitter says he would first focus on Kansas' strategic plan and would be active in fundraising. Vitter previously was dean of the College of Science at Purdue University, and a faculty member at Brown and Duke universities.

Top-seeded Kansas is again riding a path to the Final Four that rarely looks this easy on paper. The Jayhawks play 12th-seeded Richmond on Friday night. A Kansas win would put the Jayhawks against the winner of 10th-seeded Florida State and 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth for a spot in the Final Four. Only two schools have reached the semifinals without having to beat a seed higher than nine. That's Michigan State in 2001 and North Carolina in 1991. It's not the first time Kansas (34-2)

Ryan Jastram kicked two field goals and North Dakota State's defense smothered Kansas in a season-opening 6-3 victory Saturday night. The first-ever victory for the FCS Bison over a current member of the Big 12 spoiled the coaching debut of Kansas' Turner Gill. Jastram snapped a 3-3 tie with a 32-yard field goal at the 8:04 mark of the third quarter. Kansas struggled throughout on offense and switched to backup quarterback Jordan Webb in the second half. The hopes for Kansas faded on its next-to-last possession when Tim Biere fumbled at the Kansas 36 following a reception and a big hit by Daniel Eaves.

by Bryan Holmgren TEXAS A&M 63, KANSAS STATE 60 Sorry for the slow update. I figured I might do a sportscast or something. Michael Beasley is something else, but the Wildcats could really use someone else to step up. Sure, Bill Walker was okay, scoring 10 points, though he missed all six of his three-point attempts. If just one of those goes down - by my math - it's a little different finish. K-State was down five at the half and stayed down for most of the second.

The dream of playing for the University of Kansas might not be over for Dreamius Smith but it will take longer to get there. It was announced Monday that the Jayhawk recruit didn't pass the ACT test and is ineligible for the fall. The Heights' star has been on campus all summer taking classes but will now need to find a junior college to continue playing football. Smith signed his letter of intent to play at KU in the spring after a long recruiting period that wrapped with the Falcons dominating run to the 6A State Title.

The running back competition at Kansas is entering its final week. Sophomore James Sims appears to be in line for the start in the season opener Sept. 3 against McNeese State, but carries are still up for grabs. Freshmen Darrian Miller and Anthony Pierson are making a push for playing time during fall camp, and redshirt freshman Brandon Bourbon has been impressive after recovering from a broken ankle that he sustained last spring. Jayhawks coach Turner Gill knows that his team will have to shorten games to have a chance of winning this season.

Kansas knew this stretch of games was coming. Up first on Saturday is a trip to No. 6 Oklahoma State, followed by five more games against ranked teams in the next six weeks. That includes third-ranked Oklahoma, No. 20 Kansas State, 11th-ranked Texas, No. 25 Baylor and No. 24 Texas A&M. The teams remaining on the schedule are a combined 26-6. The Jayhawks' season hasn't exactly been a breeze so far. They lost 66-24 at No. 13 Georgia Tech and 45-34 last weekend to undefeated Texas Tech.

Southern Miss' hurry up aerial attack and efficient ground game set the tone for a disappointing Friday night for the University of Kansas football team. The Jayhawks fell to the Golden Eagles 31-16. Kansas dropped to 1-2 overall while USM improved to 2-1. KU scored both of its touchdowns in the second half. In the third quarter, Kansas marched 59 yards on 11 plays. Redshirt freshman Deshaun Sands punctuated the drive with an eight-yard TD run, the first of his career. Kansas' second TD was set up by a 54-yard kick return by sophomore D.J. Beshears.

Despite overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit, Kansas men's basketball could not hold on to a late one-point lead, falling to the AMW France Pro Team, 74-73, in the first game of the EUROJAM 2012 here Saturday night. The loss ended KU's 41-game exhibition win streak that dated back to 1995, also a loss in France. It was also the first exhibition game loss for KU under head coach Bill Self, who will enter his 10 th season on the sidelines in 2012-13. An estimated crowd of 2,000 at Stade Pierre De Coubertin saw KU sophomore guard Naadir Tharpe's three-point attempt as time was running out hit the back side of the rim in the Jayhawks' run at the victory.

Students and staff at the University of Kansas are on high alert after two women were attacked on campus within the last week. Two women attacked at KU in the last week Police say two 19-year-old women were attacked after dark.  The first incident happened Monday April 16th at 9:30 in the evening. A police report states a man grabbed the woman and threw her to the ground. The second attack happened in the early morning hours of Saturday April 21st in the same area.

Kansas head coach Bill Self announced Tarik Black will transfer from Memphis and has signed a grant-in-aid agreement to play men's basketball at KU. Black, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound front court player from Memphis, Tenn., received his bachelor's degree in organizational leadership from Memphis earlier this month and will have one year of eligibility at KU. “Although excited our by enthusiasm is tempered by what is happening just south...

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed former Kansas defensive end Toben Opurum as an undrafted free agent after trying him out as a fullback during rookie minicamp. The Chiefs announced the move in a statement Friday. The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Opurum began his career with the Jayhawks as a running back, gaining 554 yards and scoring nine touchdowns during the 2009 season. He moved to linebacker as a sophomore and played defensive end the past two seasons, making 109 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks in his career.

A Dodge City native is now a part of the coaching staff at the University of Kansas.  Kale Pick was recruited as a quarterback for the Jayhawks but ended up playing wide receiver. Here is the full release from the University Athletic Department: Kale Pick, a recently graduated Kansas wide receiver, has traded in his cleats for a whistle as head coach Charlie Weis announced Monday Pick is joining the Jayhawk staff as a graduate assistant for offense. In his new role Pick will work closely with the KU wide receivers and assistant coach Rob Ianello.

Actual settings on my new oven: Self clean, delay start, bake time, set clock, convect/convert, chicken nuggets.  Chicken nuggets? Derby downer--- I couldn't bring myself to watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday, I hated that there were a bunch of inexperienced horses running on a sloppy track.  As a former horse owner, I know how hard these runs can be for them - especially on bad footing.  The possibility of seeing a life threatening...

The Wichita Thunder has won ten straight games - the last team to beat them? Allen, Texas. The undeniably best teams in the Central Hockey League open their best of seven championship series tonight in Texas---the Thunder are coming off back to back sweeps in the playoffs and haven't played for a week. Allen won a hard fought seven game set with Missouri at the end of last week. We'll find out whether the break's been good for the Thunder, or allowed some rust to form. I think Wichita splits two in Texas and wins the series in six games.

Coach Bill Self announced on Friday that the Kansas Jayhawks have added transfer Hunter Mickelson to the team.  Self also said in a teleconference on Friday that he will definitely be searching for an outside hire to replace assistant coach Joe Dooley who left KU to become the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast.  Self added that he's unsure if Doc Sadler will remain with the Jayhawks. Here is the official release from Kansas regarding the addition of Mickelson: Kansas coach Bill Self has announced that forward Hunter Mickelson (6-foot-10, 245 pounds)

Jake Heaps threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, leading the blue team made up mostly of offensive starters to a 34-7 victory over the white in Kansas' spring game. Heaps sat out last season after transferring from BYU, but didn't appear to have any rust to knock off. He completed 10 straight passes in the first half, showing the kind of zip that made him one of the nation's top quarterbacks coming out of high school. He found a favorite target in Justin McCay, a transfer from Oklahoma who also sat out last year.

President Barack Obama will visit the University of Kansas on April 19th. According to a university news release, the president will be in Lawrence for an event. It did not give more detail. The White House will release more information later this week. It's not yet known if the event will be open to the public. University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little called the visit an "honor" in a news release. She says the school is eager to talk to the president about the "mission of educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world.

Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self announced Wednesday that freshman guard Anrio “Rio” Adams had been granted a release to transfer to another school. “Anrio and I met about his future, both academically and athletically, and we believe it is in his best interest to look into potential opportunities that may exist closer to home,” Self said of the Seattle native. “Anrio is a very talented kid. We've enjoyed him being here. He was a good teammate and I know frustration can set in when you don't play a lot, but he kept a good attitude and we should all support him in whatever decision he makes.

Wichita State's campus book store is offering an incentive for KU and K-State fans to get behind the Shockers on their march to Atlanta. The Student Activities Council is sponsoring a shirt buy back program. KU and K-State fans can turn in their crimson and blue and purple t-shirts to get a $3 discount on a new Shocker shirt. Supporters say they want to see more black and yellow around Wichita. "We see people walking around with K-State and KU shirts," said Ashley Donnelly, WSU student.