Former Kansas player and assistant coach Clint Bowen is returning to his alma mater, while former University of Florida assistant Jeff Blasko arrives in Lawrence for the first time in his career as KU head football coach Charlie Weis announced two additions to his coaching staff Wednesday. Bowen will serve as Weis’ special teams coordinator and a defensive position yet to be determined, while Blasko’s role will be assistant special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Bowen recently completed a one-year stint as defensive coordinator and safeties coach for North Texas, having joined the Mean Green after a spending the 2010 season at Western Kentucky, where he held the same position.

The Lawrence native and 1995 KU grad is returning to his roots as he has accumulated 12 years of coaching experience with the Jayhawks. He began his Kansas coaching career by working as a defensive graduate assistant coach for the Jayhawks in 1998 and 1999. He then served as assistant director of football operations during the 2000 season.

Bowen took over the role of special teams coordinator in 2001, a position he held at KU through the 2005 season. In addition to manning the special teams, Bowen also coached tight ends (2001), running backs (2002) and safeties (2003-05) during that time span.

In 2006 Bowen was promoted to co-defensive coordinator and continued coaching the Jayhawk safeties from 2003-09. Following the 2007 season he was elevated to defensive coordinator, helping guide the Jayhawks to a victory at the Insight Bowl in 2008.

During his previous stint on the KU coaching staff, the Jayhawks posted a 3-1 bowl record, including a 24-21 win over Virginia Tech in the 2008 Orange Bowl. Kansas finished the 2007 season with a 12-1 record and No. 7 national ranking in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls.

Bowen had at least one of his players earn postseason All-Big 12 Conference recognition each year. The 2007 Kansas defense ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense and ranked in the top 10 nationally in both passing defense and rushing defense.

Bowen was a hard-hitting defensive back for the Jayhawks in 1992-93 following one season at Butler County Community College. He led the KU defense in total tackles in 1993 with 114 total stops. That figure ranks as the third-most tackles by a Jayhawk defensive back in school history.

Bowen was instrumental in helping the Jayhawks to an 8-4 final record, a No. 22 national ranking and a win over Brigham Young in the 1992 Aloha Bowl. He was the recipient of the school’s Willie Pless Tackler of the Year Award following his senior season in 1993.

He is the product of a football family. His father (Charley Bowen) was a two-time high school All-American at Lawrence High School and his older brother (Charley, Jr.) was a four-year letterwinner as a defensive back for the Jayhawks (1989-92).

Blasko comes to Kansas after serving as Weis’ right-hand man at Florida during the 2011 season. He was the Gators’ quality control coach for offense, assisting Weis daily with all practice and game preparation, as well as, player development. Following Weis’ departure to become the head coach at Kansas, UF head coach Will Muschamp promoted Blasko to quarterbacks coach for Florida’s Gator Bowl win over Ohio State.

Prior to his season at UF, Blasko spent three seasons at Akron as a graduate assistant working in both recruiting and with the offense. He was the Zips’ graduate assistant during the 2008 and 2009 seasons under J.D. Brookhart. During the 2010 season Blasko worked under current KU recruiting coordinator/wide receivers coach Rob Ianello.

Blasko, a Pittsburg, Pa., native coached in the Pennsylvania high school ranks before joining the Akron program. He was an assistant coach at Bethel Park High School (2006-07) and Steel Valley High School (2002-05), working on the offensive side of the ball with both teams.

Blasko graduated with his bachelor’s degree in information sciences from Robert Morris University in Pittsburg in 2005 before going on to earn his master’s degree in sports administration from Akron in 2009.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas junior Travis Releford was selected Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week for games of Jan. 2-8 in voting by a panel of media covering the conference. It is the first career honor for Releford and the fourth time this season for a Jayhawk as Thomas Robinson has earned the honor three times (11/28, 12/12 and 1/2).

Releford averaged a Big 12-best 22.0 points for the week, leading the Jayhawks to a 2-0 start in league play with wins over Kansas State (67-49) and at Oklahoma (72-61). The Kansas City, Mo., guard opened with career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (11) versus KSU to record his first career double-double. He followed the performance by matching that career-high in the first half and finishing with 28 points as KU handed the Sooners their first home loss of the season.

Releford shot 62.5 percent in the two games, including 55.6 percent from three-point range. He also made 9-of-10 (.900) free throws, with three assists and two steals. Releford is averaging 10.1 points this season and has recorded double figures in three straight contests and eight times this season.

Last season, Kansas men’s basketball players were named Big 12 Player of the Week four times with conference player of the year Marcus Morris three times and Markieff Morris once. In 2001-02, KU earned the league’s player of the week accolades six times – Drew Gooden (four times) and Kirk Hinrich (two times).

Kansas (12-3, 209) continues play at Texas Tech (7-7, 0-2) on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

— KU Sports Information —

Adam Sitter and Scott Vestal have joined the Kansas Football staff Jayhawk head coach Charlie Weis announced Monday afternoon. Sitter will serve as KU’s director of high school relations, while Vestal will work at Kansas in the role of assistant director of football operations.

Sitter comes to Kansas after spending the past three football seasons on the staff at the University of Florida. Sitter was the quality control coach for Gator offense during the 2009-10 seasons and then was a graduate assistant for the UF offense under Weis during the 2011 campaign.

Prior to his time in Gainesville, Sitter spent several years in the Florida high school ranks coaching at three Orlando area high schools. He coached the offensive line at Edgewater High School (2003-04) and Hagerty High School (2005-07). He then was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Jones High School (2008).

An Orlando, native, Sitter is a 2007 graduate of the University of Central Florida. He played center at Dr. Phillips High School, earning an appointment to attend West Point and play collegiately for Army. He suffered a career-ending injury early in his time at Army and later transferred to UCF to complete his degree and begin his career in coaching.

Vestal also joins the Kansas program from Florida. He was the quality control coach for defense for the Gators in 2011 and served in the same role at Texas during the 2010 season.

Prior to his work with the Longhorns, Vestal was a graduate assistant at Louisiana Tech, North Texas and SMU. Overall, Vestal spent four years at SMU, including a year as an assistant to the Director of Football Operations in 2003 before becoming the video graduate assistant in 2004. He also spent one year coaching in the Texas high school ranks, serving as an assistant coach at Berkner High School in Richardson, Texas.

The Dallas, Texas native played safety at Arlington Lamar High School. Vestal earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a minor in history from Texas A&M in 2003 and a master’s degree in liberal arts at SMU.

— KU Sports Information —

Travis Releford has saved his best basketball for Big 12 play.

After opening conference play with his first double-double in college, Releford scored 28 points to set a career best for the second straight game and Kansas (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) used a big surge just after halftime to beat Oklahoma 72-61 Saturday.

Releford had career-highs with 16 points and 11 rebounds in his previous game against Kansas State and continued his strong start to Big 12 play.

“I’d like to say it’s coaching but I can’t say that,” coach Bill Self said. “He was terrific against K-State and then today, the light came on. … Certainly he’s in a comfort zone right now.”

Releford had 16 points by halftime and kept going in the second half, when the Jayhawks broke it open with a 29-6 surge just after halftime.

“I come into the games just trying to stop the opponent’s offensive scorer, their best player on the team,” Releford said. “I don’t really look to score but coach Self lately has just been telling me to continue to stay aggressive and take what the defense gives me.”

The Jayhawks (12-3, 2-0 Big 12) scored the first seven points of the second half to take the lead, then never gave it back. Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson all had two-handed slams during the decisive run that turned a one-point deficit into a commanding lead for Kansas.

Tyshawn Taylor drove the left baseline for a three-point play and Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to finish it off and make it 62-40 with 8:37 remaining.

The Sooners missed eight of their first 10 shots and committed five turnovers in the first 8 minutes of the second half to allow Kansas to get out and run.

“We’re pretty good when we get out in transition and we did actually an above-average job of that, and they missed some shots,” Self said. “But that’s the best stretch we’ve played (all season).”

Robinson added 18 points and nine rebounds for Kansas, which made half of its 58 shots.

Steven Pledger scored 14 points and Andrew Fitzgerald had 11 for the Sooners (10-4, 0-2) but the team’s two leading scorers went a combined 9-for-28 from the field.

Oklahoma shot 30 percent in the second half while Kansas got easy buckets to convert at a 60 percent clip.

“I thought the first half we battled them pretty good. The second half, we opened up pretty careless with the ball right there, which gave them a little margin,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said.

“Not only did we turn it over but we turned it over with them shooting layups, which is the worst of both worlds.”

It was the second straight game that the Sooners gave up a huge run to open the second half. Missouri outscored Oklahoma 37-13 right after halftime Tuesday night to salt away an 87-49 victory that was already a blowout.

This time, neither team led by more than five points in a first half that featured eight lead changes.

Releford matched his previous career-high for a game with 16 points before halftime, but Oklahoma took a 34-33 lead at the break after Romero Osby hit a right-handed hook shot to answer Robinson’s reverse layup. It was the last time Oklahoma would be ahead.

“(Releford) just kept us in the game,” Self said. “I thought a couple of guys were still in Lawrence, the way that our heads weren’t into it. The second half, for whatever reason, the light came on and guys really seemed focused and intense and did a much better job.”

Osby practically handed the ball to Robinson on Oklahoma’s first possession after the break, and Robinson raced to the opposite end for a layup.

The Jayhawks got eight of their first 11 second-half points on the fast break, and then took turns setting each other up for dunks. Releford fed Withey for his dunk, Taylor lobbed to Johnson for a throwdown and then Johnson tossed an alley-oop for Robinson.

Kansas won its eighth straight in the series and started conference play with two wins in a row for the sixth straight year and the 16th time in 17 seasons.

“A win like this adds up to winning a conference championship,” Robinson said. “Coach told us that we have to go undefeated at home and be able to scrape up some wins on the road.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas head football coach Charlie Weis announced the addition of Rob Ianello to the Jayhawk football staff here Tuesday. Ianello, who will coach the KU wide receivers and also serve as the recruiting coordinator, joins the Kansas program after serving the previous two seasons as the head coach at Akron.

Prior to his stint at Akron, Ianello was a member of the coaching staff at Notre Dame from 2005-09, coaching all five seasons under Weis. He coached the Irish in the 2008 Hawai’i Bowl, 2007 Sugar Bowl and 2006 Fiesta Bowl.

From 2005-08 at Notre Dame, he served as wide receivers coach and coordinated the recruiting efforts of the Irish. In January 2009, he was promoted to assistant head coach for offense. In that role, he led offensive staff meetings when head coach Charlie Weis was not present, and later served as the team’s interim head coach.

Notre Dame’s 2009 offense ranked sixth nationally in passing offense (323.50 ypg) and ninth in total offense (451.75 ypg). Ianello mentored Irish wide receiver Golden Tate, who was the 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner and a consensus All-American. Additionally he coached Jeff Samardzija, who was a Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2005 and 2006 and earned All-America honors in 2006.

As the recruiting coordinator for the Irish, he directed three consecutive top-10 recruiting classes from 2006-08, something only three other schools (USC, Florida and Georgia) could claim. Additionlly, Ianello is the only coach named one of the 25-best recruiters nationally from 2005-09 by Rivals.com. In the book “The Second Season” by recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, Ianello is named one of the top-10 recruiters of the last 30 years.

Ianello had two coaching stints at Wisconsin (1990-93, 2003-04), and was part of a staff that helped lead the Badgers to the 1994 Rose Bowl, the 2003 Music City Bowl and the 2005 Outback Bowl.

From 1994-2002, Ianello was on staff at Arizona, serving as recruiting coordinator from 1994-96, and wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator from 1997-2002. The Wildcats played in two bowl games, the 1997 Insight.com Bowl and the 1998 Holiday Bowl. The 1998 Arizona team finished 12-1, which stands as the best record in school history.-+

Ianello served on the board of trustees of the American Football Coaches Association in from 2003 to 2009. The board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA. He also has served as the chair of the AFCA’s assistant coaches committee and the general chairman of the AFCA’s all-division assistant coaches committee. He currently serves on the AFCA ethics committee.

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas junior Thomas Robinson has been named Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week, respectively, for games of Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 in voting by a panel of media covering the conference. It is the third honor this season for Robinson.

A 6-10 forward from Washington, D.C., Robinson averaged 19.5 points and 14.0 rebounds as Kansas recorded victories over Howard (89-34) and North Dakota (84-58). He shot 70 percent (14-of-20) from the field on the week, while making 71.4 percent (10-of-14) of his shots from the free-throw line. He also had six assists, one block and three steals.

Robinson’s top performance came versus North Dakota, as he finished with career-highs of 30 points and 21 rebounds. It was the sixth time in Big 12 history that a player has posted at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in the same game and first time a Jayhawk player has done so since Feb. 13, 1961 (Wayne Hightower).

Robinson has 17.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per game this season, the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. He was also named Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week Nov. 27 and Dec. 12.

Kansas (10-3) opens up Big 12 play when it hosts Kansas State (11-1) in the Sunflower Showdown presented by Dillons on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. (Central). The game will be televised on the Big 12 Network and ESPN Full Court.

— KU Sports Information —

Tyshawn Taylor grabbed the opening tip, took a couple dribbles across midcourt and heaved a pass ahead to Jeff Withey, who was fouled while slamming home a rim-rattling dunk.

Kansas needed all of 5 seconds to set the tone against overmatched, undersized Howard.

Taylor finished with 13 points and five assists, Connor Teahan also had 13 points and the Jayhawks (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) coasted to an 89-34 victory Thursday night.

The Bison’s point total was the fewest yielded by Kansas in more than two years, and the second-fewest in the Bill Self era.

“I won’t put a lot of stock in it,” Self said. “From an energy standpoint, we played faster, more energy, seemed a little more athletic. Other than that, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on it.”

Withey finished with 10 points, and Thomas Robinson had nine points and seven rebounds while playing a team-high 22 minutes for the Jayhawks (9-3), who play North Dakota on Saturday in their final tune-up before facing rival Kansas State in their Big 12 opener next week.

“We’ve just been kind of focused on what we need to do on each possession, no matter what the score was,” Teahan said. “When you play against stiffer competition, you have to be sharp.”

Prince Okoroh led Howard (4-10) with seven points, while Glenn Andrews managed just three on 1-for-10 shooting after going for a career-high 28 points in an overtime win over Delaware last week.

“We got our butts kicked,” Howard coach Kevin Nickelberry said simply.

The Jayhawks used a 10-0 run early in the first half to stretch the lead to double figures, with Robinson slamming down a missed 3-point attempt by Elijah Johnson with one hand to a roar from a crowd that included “Saturday Night Live” star Jason Sudeikis and actress Olivia Wilde.

Kansas stretched the lead to 20 on a 3-pointer by Taylor later in the half, and after a free throw by the Bison’s Simuel Frazier, the Jayhawks rattled off 11 more unanswered points.

By the time little-used Kevin Young scored inside with 3:48 left, Kansas led 38-7, and the only real question was whether Howard would reach double figures by halftime.

Dadrian Collins’ 3-pointer with 1:48 left got them over the mark, and a foul shot by Okoroh made it 42-13 at the break. The 13 points scored by the Bison matched what Southern California scored in the first half of a 63-47 loss to the Jayhawks a week ago.

“I feel like the bench showed a lot more than we have been showing,” Young said. “We came out aggressive and we just stayed after it and we had a lot of energy.”

Self substituted liberally throughout the second half, trying to get some experience for his bench players before the start of a longer, more taxing conference schedule.

The 34 points scored by the Bison (4-10) were the fewest allowed by Kansas since a 98-31 win over Alcorn State on Dec. 2, 2009, and the second-fewest since Self took over before the 2003 season.

“I’ve been on the short end of a lot of those,” Self said, recalling his first season as coach of Oral Roberts. “Tubby (Smith) beat us 99-52, I think it was. We didn’t give up 100, though. I think we had like, five assists to 22 turnovers. That ratio isn’t going to bode well for you.”

The Bison have lost 28 consecutive road games, including a 107-50 defeat at Indiana earlier this season. They wrap up a two-game swing through the state when they face Kansas State on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kansas has won 12 straight at Allen Fieldhouse, which was packed to the rafters despite students being on winter break. It was the 54th consecutive nonconference victory at home — the school doesn’t count the Jayhawks’ loss to Davidson on Dec. 19, which was played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., even though they were the designated home team.

“I mean, it was a lot of fun, actually,” Teahan said. “The crowd came out with a lot more energy than we were expecting, especially over Christmas break, and once we got out to a big lead, we had to stay focused, and we did a pretty good job of that.”

— Associated Press —

For a team that likes to get out in the open court and run, Kansas knew it would have to adapt its style of play against an opponent that prefers to control the pace.

Instead of fast and furious, it was slow and deliberate.

Elijah Johnson scored 14 points, Conner Teahan added 13, including four 3-pointers, and Kansas (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) bounced back from a surprising loss to beat Southern California 63-47 on Thursday night.

“We were ready to come in here and have one of those grind-it-out games,” point guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “We ran our offense really well and got what we wanted.”

Thomas Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Taylor added 10 points and nine assists for the Jayhawks (8-3), who suffered an 80-74 home loss to Davidson on Monday.

There would be no upset in this one.

The Jayhawks overcame a sluggish start in their first true road game of the season with a strong defensive effort, forcing 18 turnovers that led to 18 points.

“We had to win tonight. There was no other choice,” coach Bill Self said. “To let that Davidson game get away was totally, I don’t want to say unforgivable, but it was close.”

In USC’s final tune-up before Pac-12 play begins next week, coach Kevin O’Neill was left desiring more from his team. Saying that the Trojans were in need of a signature win, they failed to muster the intensity needed to pull off the upset.

Aaron Fuller scored 19 points for USC (5-8), which shot 34.7 percent from the field.

“The stage was a bit big for our guys,” O’Neill said. “We looked slow, we looked bad. And we didn’t shoot the ball well.”

Neither team was sharp in the early minutes, combining to miss 15 of 21 shots. The Jayhawks’ defense eventually wore down USC and they slowly built their lead.

Trailing 10-8, Teahan gave the Jayhawks the lead for good with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. After Byron Wesley made a runner for USC, the Jayhawks closed the half with a 12-1 run.

Johnson had a steal and layup, Taylor was fouled while making a layup and hit the free throw, and Jeff Withey hit a pair from the line. Robinson then stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for an empathic dunk to make it 22-12.

Teahan hit another 3 as Kansas took a 25-13 lead into halftime.

“They didn’t get a lot of good looks tonight,” Self said.

Withey finished with nine points and nine rebounds. The Jayhawks outrebounded the Trojans 39-29.

USC’s first half was rather forgettable. The Trojans shot 22.7 percent, settling for mostly long-range jumpers. They had as many turnovers (13) as they did points.

“The turnovers killed us more than anything,” O’Neill said. “I’m frustrated, the players are frustrated, too.”

Robinson, held to four points on four shots in the first half, had a jumper, layup and a dunk on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 52-30 after halftime, much to the delight of the pro-Kansas crowd.

Kansas won its seventh consecutive game in the series despite its second-lowest scoring output of the season. Only the team’s 61 points in a loss to Duke were less.

Taylor, playing his second game following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on Dec. 11, logged a team-high 33 minutes.

The Jayhawks had played five games away from Allen Fieldhouse coming in, all on neutral courts.

They now head into the Christmas break on a winning note.

“After that loss, you can’t turn it into two and not bounce back,” Taylor said. “We came out and handled business.”

Maurice Jones, USC’s top scorer, was held to seven points on 2 of 13 shooting.

— Associated Press —

Davidson coach Bob McKillop channeled every boxing analogy he could think of Monday night. He told his team to take things one round at a time, keep throwing punches, stand toe-to-toe with mighty Kansas in the center of the ring.

How about this for an analogy: The Wildcats scored a technical knockout.

Nik Cochran had 21 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in the closing minutes, and the tiny school from North Carolina shocked the 12th-ranked Jayhawks 80-74, exacting a little bit of revenge over an epic NCAA tournament loss three years ago.

“A month ago we had a one-point lead against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium and they knocked us out in the first 5 minutes of the second half,” McKillop said. “We came out tonight and scored two quick baskets to put us in the center of the ring the rest of the way.”

JP Kuhlman added 15 points and De’Mon Brooks had 13 for the Wildcats (7-3), who led the final 23-plus minutes to knock off the defending Big 12 champs in their home away from home.

The Jayhawks (7-3) had won 13 of the 15 games they had played at the Sprint Center, about a 30-minute drive from their campus in Lawrence, including the last two Big 12 tournament titles. The lone losses also came out of conference — to Syracuse and Massachusetts.

“That wasn’t an upset tonight,” Kansas coach Bill Self said glumly.

It was the first meeting between the schools since the NCAA regional final in 2008, when Stephen Curry led the Wildcats on an inspired postseason run. Kansas managed a 59-57 victory when a last-second shot by Davidson’s Jason Richards clanked off the rim, and the Jayhawks would go on to win the fifth national championship in school history.

The teams were different Monday night, no longer stocked with future NBA stars, and the game looked nothing like that fluid performance in Detroit. But the biggest difference was in the outcome.

“A couple years back we took something real important from them. They probably circled this one early in the year,” Kansas’ Elijah Johnson said. “We knew with us being Kansas, they played teams like us before. We knew they wouldn’t come out afraid of us.”

Thomas Robinson had 21 points and 18 rebounds for the Jayhawks, trying in vain to rally his team down the stretch. Tyshawn Taylor came back from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee to get 15 points and seven assists, while Johnson also had 15 points.

The Jayhawks were coming off a win over No. 2 Ohio State and a lengthy break for final exams, though most of the game it looked as if they were still on break. They finished 25 of 62 from the field (40.3 percent), but just 6 of 23 from the 3-point line and 18 of 31 from the free throw line.

“As poorly as we played, and certainly didn’t get stops when we needed to, if we make our free throws at least at a better percentage, then the outcome possibly could’ve been different,” Self said.

In fact, Davidson only led 68-65 with 1:31 left. The shot clock was winding down when Cochran took a pass from well beyond the 3-point line, squared up and let go a shot that tickled the net.

Taylor couldn’t match it at the other end, his 3 clanking off the front of the rim, and Davidson managed to seal it from the free throw line.

“It’s a statement about a team that has shown some resiliency, when you play a storied program — and this is one of the storied programs in America — and you play them on a neutral site, but a home court,” McKillop said. “This was as pure as it gets, and to win in this environment is very special.”

Self’s crew must have figured it was in for a long night when they missed their first four shots and turned it over on their other possession. Davidson took advantage by running out to a 9-3 lead with 14:38 left in the half, forcing Self to call his second frustration timeout.

Kansas pulled within 15-13 later in the half before Davidson again stretched the lead, this time pulling ahead 23-15 after a basket by Brooks and consecutive 3s by Jake Cohen and Tyler Kalinoski.

Johnson finally sparked the sleepy Jayhawks with a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key, starting a 13-0 run. Robinson converted a three-point play and added another free throw, Johnson hit another 3-pointer, and Connor Teahan’s 3 from the corner gave Kansas a 28-26 lead.

That was the Jayhawks’ final lead of the game.

The juxtaposition of Davidson’s veteran poise — four starters returned from last season’s team — with the inexperience of Kansas became evident. The Wildcats responded to adversity by scoring the next six points, and carried a 33-32 lead into halftime at a silenced Sprint Center.

It never got very loud in the second half.

“They controlled the game,” Self said. “They whipped us.”

— Associated Press —