Kansas Jayhawks

The line of people stretched through the Bishop Miege auditorium, connecting Travis Releford's present and future.

LAWRENCE | Scout-team players have their own meeting room. Oh, that’s not a main attraction of the 80,000-square-foot Anderson Family Football Complex on the southwest side of Kansas’ Memorial Stadium.

It’s been a busy spring and summer for Kansas freshman Travis Releford. USA Basketball announced Thursday that Releford is one of 14 finalists for the 2008 USA men’s U18 national team. After three sessions at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Releford made the cut from the 18 who were invited to try out. The 12-member team will be completed by Tuesday. Selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee, chaired by Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.

Competing at the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials in his hometown, former KU great Scott Russell moved a step closer Thursday evening to realizing his dream of participating in the summer games. A member of the Windsor Legion Track and Field Club, Russell posted a throw of 74.33 meters in the preliminaries of the Men's Javelin Throw 800g to earn him a spot in the finals. His throw was second-best behind Nery Gustavo Kennedy (76.66 meters). Ten others will join Russell and Kennedy in Saturday's finals, which begin at 4 p.m. CDT.

Throughout the 2008 season, kuathletics.com will check in on the 14 former student-athletes who are currently involved in professional baseball. There are former Kansas players at virtually all levels of professional baseball, including two (Tom Gorzelanny and Mike Zagurski) who are currently on major league rosters.

Kansas golfer Jennifer Clark recently finished second at the Kansas City Women's Amateur Golf Tournament, while teammate Sydney Wilson placed fourth at the Collegiate Players Tour/Lagoon Park Collegiate Open.

All three players from the New York City metropolitan area will continue working out and playing at USA Basketball's 2008 Men's U18 National Team practice this week in Washington, D.C. Dominic Cheek, Lance Stephenson, Kemba Walker and 11 other players are finalists for the official 12-man squad that will play in the 2008 FIBA Americas Championship in Argentina.

Nolan Dennis is off the board. After considering a handful of schools the talented wing decided to lace them up for Memphis in Conference USA.

In January Bucsblitz.com profiled the Top 10 priorities for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2008 offseason. How did the Bucs do? Well, Matthew Postins sifts through those each of those 10 priorities in this new series and grades the Bucs on everything from coaching changes to splashy free-agent moves. Today he grades how the team approached turning over their secondary.