6 Kansas

It's been lollipops and rainbows in Lawrence since coach Roy Williams turned down an offer to coach at North Carolina. Never mind that last year's Jayhawks lost 10 games, couldn't play pressure defense and folded on the road more often than a towable camper. This year's team should win the Big 12 and plow through at least a few NCAA tournament rounds. Why? Because senior swingman Luke Axtell spent the summer healing, and senior center Eric Chenowith spent the summer toiling.

The 7'1", 270-pound Chenowith was a huge disappointment last year, mostly because he rested on his laurels after making second-team All-Big 12. "His body fat went up six percent," Williams says, "and his vertical jump went down three inches." Two weeks into practice Williams showed Chenowith a "lowlights tape"—scenes of the center fumbling passes, getting pushed out of the lane and missing dunks. By early February, Chenowith had lost his starting job and was hearing scattered boos when he entered home games. He admits, "I was supposed to be dominating, and I wasn't."

Enter the new, improved Chenowith. This summer he lifted weights, trained at the Pete Newell Big Man Camp and scrimmaged in L.A. with some of the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, teammates say, Chenowith can once again finish plays with an explosive dunk. "Eric's regained his confidence," says Williams. To say nothing of his vertical leap.

As for Axtell, the 6'10" swingman missed 14 games last year with an undisclosed medical condition, depriving the Jayhawks of his mismatch-making outside shot. "Now he's playing with energy again and shooting lights out," says guard Kirk Hinrich.

Add Axtell and Chenowith to four other returning key players, and you have a team able to play tall or small. "We still lack that stopper mentality," says Williams, "but I have high expectations."

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