Thomas and Appleton are not ready. They should clearly be behind Morningstar and Reed.

Releford, on the other hand, has looked great in the little PT he has received. Perhaps he's not practicing well? Maybe his D isn't up to snuff?

Morningstar can only play effective D agaisnt bad teams, and his hustle didn't help him much agaisnt Syracuse last week.

Who is the best on-the-ball defender on KU? Collins, right? He got his shit pushed in by Flynn the entire second half. I guess he sucks against good competition too?

He certainly sucked agaisnt Flynn. But Flynn is one of the top guards in the country, IMO.

Devendorf isn't a pushover or anything.

I think Releford's defense and rebounding are not that great yet. That would be the biggest reason, IMO, as to why he is not starting. He will get there eventually, though. The kid looks like a fantastic athlete, for sure.

Bingo.

Mario Little stood near midcourt in a dress shirt and slacks, chatting with his Kansas University basketball teammates as they stretched before Friday’s home game against Coppin State.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound transfer out of Chipola (Fla.) Community College has remained involved despite not being able to play in the Jayhawks’ first five games because of a stress fracture in his lower left leg.

“I’ve been watching, observing, learning,” said Little. He played in KU’s three exhibition games in Canada and an intrasquad scrimmage at the Oct. 15 Late Night in the Phog but has been shut down since late October. “I try to say a word of encouragement, give some knowledge to the (Morris) twins, anybody, when I can,” Little added.

Last year’s top-rated junior college player said it’s been tough missing so much time.

“It’s new to me. I’ve never been out this long,” said Little. “The toughest thing is watching warmups because I want to play. Physically it (toughest thing) is getting to class. There are a lot of hills around here. Crutchin’ up the hills is difficult,” added Little, ordered to keep all weight off his left leg for a couple weeks, necessitating some uncomfortable trips to class.

Little — he’s been able to ride the stationary bike and work out in the pool — will be X-rayed on Thursday. He hopes to be cleared to practice then.

“Hopefully UMass (Dec. 13), but I don’t know if I’ll be in shape,” Little said, asked the date of his return. “Or maybe Temple (Dec. 20).

“Whenever I do suit up, I’ll try to help Cole (Aldrich) and the twins out and get some rebounds. Maybe help us out offensively, get another perimeter guy in there, hopefully bring a little more toughness to the team.

“We’ve been doing well,” he added. KU is off to a 4-1 start entering Monday’s 8 p.m. home game against Kent State.

“We had them down, we just couldn’t put our foot on their throat,” he said of KU’s only loss — an 89-81 overtime decision to Syracuse last Tuesday. “We had them down but couldn’t keep ‘em down.”

Little’s spirits are not down.

“The coaches and players keep me positive. It’s tough watching and not be able to help but I’ll be back. It’s good,” Little said.

If little is good enough to get significant minutes KU could challenge for the Big 12 Championship.