G -- JEFF BOSCHEE (6-1, 13.4 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.6 rpg, 1.3 spg, 31.3 minutes, .469 FG, .464 3PT, .787 FT). Go ahead and chuckle, but Roy Williams believes that the graduation loss of Jeff Boschee, the all-time leading 3-point field goal shooter in Kansas and Big 12 history, is nearly as big a loss to the Jayhawks as that of Drew Gooden, the All-American power forward who was the fourth overall player selected in the 2002 NBA draft. Boschee finished his stellar career in ninth place on KU’s all-time scoring list with 1,560 points.

"Boschee was lethal, he really was," said Williams. "Every other coach that we faced was always concerned about where Jeff was, and that opened it up so much more for the other guys. That’s what having a great 3-point threat does."

F -- DREW GOODEN (6-10, 19.8 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.4 bs, 30.2 minutes, .504 FG, .278 3PT, .755 FT). Gooden was everybody’s All-American last season. He claimed the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Player of the Year Award after averaging a double-double in his final season. He also led the Big 12 Conference in scoring. He’ll be sorely missed.

"Losing Drew is a big loss, but I’m hoping that everybody will dig down deeper and work a little bit harder," Williams said. "We have to understand that it is not that we want to make up for it [Gooden’s production], it is that we have to make up for it."

While Williams is sorry to see Gooden go a year early, he is proud of what he accomplished at Kansas, blossoming into an All-American player and leading the Jayhawks to the 2002 Final Four (where they lost to eventual champ Maryland in the national semifinals). And he was supportive of Gooden’s decision, knowing that young man would be drafted high enough to make his family financially set for life. In fact, Gooden, the No.4 overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies who will earn $7.5 million over the next three seasons under the NBA’s salary structure, was the third-highest selection in Kansas history. Gooden is behind only No. 1 overall selection Danny Manning in 1988 and No. 3 overall pick Raef LaFrentz in 1998.

C -- JEFF CAREY (6-10, 1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 7.1 minutes, .574 FG, 680 FT). Jeff Carey didn’t get his No. 22 retired at Allen Fieldhouse, but he was a valuable part of the Kansas team during his five years in Lawrence. A Midwestern boy from Camdenton, Mo., Carey was an outstanding student (he was chosen to multiple Big 12 All-Academic teams and won the prestigious Ken Koenigs Academic Award at last year’s Kansas basketball banquet) and a decent backup for Roy Williams. For much of his career, he roomed with fellow big man Eric Chenowith, keeping Chenowith’s spirits up when his ever-growing cast of critics grew.

On the court, Carey was a banger on the interior who was willing to take on the less glamorous duties. Carey’s numbers were pretty steady through his career. He was good for about two points and two rebounds per game. While he wasn’t a high school All-American himself, Carey, whose father Ray starred at the University of Missouri, was able to spell McDonald’s All-Americans like Drew Gooden or Nick Collison for three or four minutes each half without a substantial drop-off in the team’s play. And when Gooden suffered an ankle injury during Carey’s junior year, Carey stepped up his scoring and rebounding numbers until Gooden was 100 percent again.

G -- AARON MILES (6-1, 175 lbs., SO, #11, 7.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 6.8 apg, 1.8 spg, 27.4 minutes, .404 FG, .289 3PT, .793 FT, Jefferson HS/Portland, Oregon). Miles reminds many KU observers of former great Jacque Vaughn. Like Vaughn, Miles is an old-school point guard who looks to pass first and shoot second. He’s an absolute blur with the ball in his hands and the 2001 Parade and McDonald’s All-American did an impressive job of taking over the reins of the Kansas offense as a true freshman. By season’s end, Miles (252 assists) had crushed Vaughn’s previous freshman record for assists (181). In fact, Miles’ assists were second most on the Jayhawks’ single-season list, trailing only Cedric Hunter’s 1986 total of 278.

Still, Miles (7.1 ppg) is a work in progress. While he can effectively drive to the hole and finish around much taller foes and also has confidence in his 15-foot pull-up jumper, Miles needs to improve his 3-point shot after making just 13 of 45 tries last season. He did spend countless hours on making his arc-work more beautiful, shooting hundreds of jumpers per day all summer long.

A reliable 3-point shot will make Miles even tougher to guard and should push his scoring average up to around a dozen points per game. That’s because, if he can knock down the long ball with regularity, Miles will be a choose-your-poison guy to guard. Play up to close on him and he’ll blow by you; stay too far away and he’ll bury the three.

While he wears the No. 11 that Vaughn and Mark Turgeon once wore, Miles continues a tradition of notable point guards from the state of Oregon, most notably current NBA point guards Damon Stoudamire and Terrell Brandon. Last year was an impressive start for Miles, starting for a 33-win Kansas team that went to the Final Four. If he can build on that success and add a trusty 3-point shot to his arsenal, then Miles will one day join Stoudamire and Brandon as former Oregon high school stars who made it into the play-for-pay ranks.

An often-unmentioned strength of Miles’ game is his defense. In last year’s Midwest Regional semifinals and finals, he guarded two of the nation’s top guards and held them in check. Against Illinois in the Sweet 16, Miles was matched against Frank Williams, who finished with 15 points, but made only 6-of-18 shots from the floor. In addition, Miles scored 13 points against the Illini. Then, in the Elite 8 match-up against a school from his home state (Oregon), Miles slowed down the Ducks’ shooting star Luke Ridnour. With Miles dogging him, Ridnour shot just 3-for-13 from the floor as second-seeded Kansas ran away with a 104-86 win over the Ducks, the No. 11 team in the land at the time.

Said teammate Kirk Hinrich, who took Miles under his wing: "I'd say where he probably improved the most last year was getting tough enough to play defense. Once he got the principles of our defense down, he was really active and caused some real havoc out there."

A further foreshadowing of Miles’ future greatness came in the 97-88 Final Four loss to Maryland, when Miles notched a double-double (12 points, 10 assists).

"That was a heck of a game for anybody, much less a freshman," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "I am, needless to say, going to enjoy coaching him."

SG -- KIRK HINRICH (6-3, 185 lbs., SR, #10, 14.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.6 spg, 30.9 minutes, .541 FG, .478 3PT, .808 FT, Sioux City West HS/Sioux City, Iowa). If Roy Williams wins a national title this season, he’ll no doubt thank his wife Wanda and his kids, Scott and Kimberly for their support. But if he’s being honest, Williams will have to thank University of Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby, too.

The reason? After a 20-11 season for Iowa in 1997-98 that ended in the NIT, Bowlsby announced that then-coach Dr. Tom Davis would be sent into early retirement after the 1998-99 campaign. Bowlsby couldn’t have picked a worse year to make his coach a lame duck, because the high school Class of 1999 was considered the best in the state of Iowa in years, led by a couple of teenagers named Nick Collison, a 6-9 big man with Raef LaFrentz-like ability and straight "A" grades, and Kirk Hinrich, an honor roll student with a steady handle and a sweet outside shot.

Of course, Williams went into Iowa and cleaned house, getting both Collison and Hinrich (the 1999 co-State Players of the Year) and the rest is history. Both have developed into All-America caliber players.

His first season, Hinrich ran the point and basically was happy getting his teammates easy baskets. He saw action in all 34 games and even started the final 13 at the point, pacing the team with 124 assists. The rap on him then was that he couldn’t score -- Hinrich averaged just 5.5 points. Hinrich put that inaccurate criticism to rest as a sophomore, averaging 11.5 points, 6.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds for a 26-7 Jayhawk team that reached the Sweet 16.

With the arrival of McDonald’s All-America point guard Aaron Miles last fall, Hinrich was asked to move to the wing–giving KU three starting guards with point guard skills in Miles, Hinrich and Jeff Boschee. The result was one of the best passing teams in Roy Williams’ tenure at Kansas. The team also was quite effective running Williams’ half-court and full-court trapping defenses and at running the fast break.

And Hinrich emerged as one of the best all-around guards in the college game last season. He earned honorable mention All-American honors from The Associated Press and third-team All-American honors from The Sporting News after averaging 14.8 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds as a junior for a juggernaut that went undefeated in the Big 12 during the regular season. The move from the point to wing did wonders for Hinrich, whose scoring average improved three points. He also raised his field goal percentage to 54.1, and increased his steals, rebounds and blocks.

Hinrich’s value to the team was clearly illustrated in the first round of the NCAA tournament against 16th-seeded Holy Cross. Right before halftime, Hinrich suffered a severe left ankle sprain. Without their backcourt leader, the Jayhawks struggled with the Patriot League champions, trailing Holy Cross 37-35 at intermission before finally persevering 70-59.

With his ankle still sore, Hinrich didn’t start in the Jayhawks' second-round victory over Stanford. But he gamely played 21 minutes in a reserve role and scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, handed out eight assists and corralled five rebounds. And just 48 hours after the injury, Hinrich also had eight floor burns, according to the Kansas coaching staff’s count.

"He played with only one leg and he played with more heart than anyone else out there," said an impressed Stanford star Casey Jacobsen afterward.

In the next round against Illinois, Hinrich started and nailed his first shot, a three, and all looked right in his world. But he picked up three fouls in the first 12 minutes of the game and spent a great deal of time on the bench and finished with a season-low three points in Kansas’ hard-fought 73-69 win. In the Elite Eight, Hinrich rebounded with a near double-double (14 points, nine rebounds) against Oregon and then had 11 points before fouling out of the Final Four loss to eventual NCAA champ Maryland.

Now completely healed, the 6-3 Hinrich enters his senior year on the most preseason All-American lists, not to mention, this year’s Blue Ribbon cover. Both Iowa imports, Collison and Hinrich, are among the 10 college players named to the 2002-03 Playboy Preseason All-American team.

"Kirk Hinrich is like more than one player for us," Williams said. "He’s our backup point guard, our best perimeter defender, the guy who makes the break go, and a guy who can shoot, penetrate and play basketball."

So, just in case Williams forgets come March or early April, thanks to Iowa’s AD Bowlsby for gift-wrapping Hinrich and Collison for the Jayhawks and thus keeping Kansas among the nation’s elite the last four years.

SG -- KEITH LANGFORD (6-4, 200 lbs., SO, #5, 7.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.9 spg, 20.9 minutes, .493 FG, .268 3PT, .699 FT, North Crowley HS/ Fort Worth, Tex.). Langford has some huge hightops to fill as he replaces the always steady Jeff Boschee in the Jayhawks’ starting five. He doesn’t shoot the three-ball as well as Boschee (who does?), but he’ll join Aaron Miles and Kirk Hinrich in what is potentially the best three-guard set in the college game.

The left-handed, high-flying Langford isn’t nervous about replacing Boschee, though. After all, Langford was called "Keith Freeze" or "Mr. Freeze" in high school, because he seemed to have ice water in his veins. The nickname seems like the perfect moniker for Langford, if last March is any indication. The higher the stakes became in last year’s NCAA tournament, the better Langford seemed to play.

He averaged 11.5 points in KU’s first four NCAA tournament games, nearly four points over the average he brought into the Big Dance. With Hinrich nursing a sore left ankle, Langford stepped up and scored 15 points against Illinois and then a added a career-high 20 against Stanford, earning a spot on the Midwest Regional all-tournament team. Then in the Final Four, Langford came off the bench to score eight points and added four assists as the Jayhawks came up just short, 97-88 against Maryland.

Langford, while not the outside bomber that Boschee was, will bring more athleticism to the backcourt, as well as an uncanny knack for getting to the rim like his idol, NBA star Jalen Rose (like Langford a lefty). He’ll make Kansas’ presses and running game more lethal, a la recent Kansas star swingman Kenny Gregory. And with all the work he’s done on the perimeter game this offseason in individual workouts, in pickup games and as a member of the NIT All-Stars that played in Canada, Langford should have a much improved 3-point shot after making just 11 of his 41 tries last season.

"Keith will be a better shooter from the 3-point line," Williams says. "And, from the first day to the last, Keith improved defensively as much as any freshman that I’ve ever had, and the confidence that he has from what he did last March will help him and make him even more determined this season."

PF -- NICK COLLISON (6-9, 250 lbs., SR, #4, 15.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 26.8 minutes, .592 FG, .575 FT, Iowa Falls HS/Iowa Falls, Iowa). Collison has heard the Raef LaFrentz comparisons since the day he arrived in Lawrence. Like LaFrentz, Collison is from Iowa, is smart and coachable, and has a well-rounded low-post game.

And increasing his scoring and rebounding numbers each year since he’s been a collegian -- from 10.5 points and 6.9 boards per game as a freshman to 15.6 points and 8.3 boards as a junior -- Collison seems destined to be an All-American player and then a very wealthy man, just like LaFrentz.

This summer, Collison received the perfect training for his future NBA life -- and for a monster senior season at Kansas -- when he served as an alternate for the Team USA Basketball squad that played in the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis. Of course, the American team didn’t bring home the gold, but it was a golden opportunity for Collison to learn the tricks of the NBA trade.

When he showed up to train with the U.S. senior national team that included such NBA stars as Paul Pierce, Reggie Miller, Baron Davis, Michael Finley and Elton Brand, nobody bothered learning Nick Collison’s real name. He was just "young fella." With one more year to play at Kansas, Collison was the only college player invited to join the squad–albeit as an alternate. He was welcome to practice and to play in exhibitions but not to compete in the World Basketball Championships. The NBA pros were unsure what to think of him. They quickly learned.

"Nick's kind of a quiet warrior," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, an assistant with that U.S. squad. "I think because of his attitude, his work ethic, how he's banged, he's earned these guys' respect. After two or three days, they were calling him 'Nick.'"

Collison's participation with the U.S. team provided an extravagant conclusion to a dizzying summer of basketball and books that soon should pay off in a KU degree, a first-round selection in the NBA draft and, if everything goes right, another trip to the Final Four.

After just a week at home in Iowa, Collison returned to campus for a month of summer school. He spent July 4 back home, then was off to the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis for a week as a counselor. He concluded a second session of summer school back in Kansas, but stole three days to work a camp in Nebraska. The rest of summer included a trip to Chicago for the Playboy All-American photo shoot, one to Santa Barbara, Calif. To work at Michael Jordan’s camp and a three-day bash in Las Vegas with some boyhood buddies to celebrate their 21st birthdays. His U.S. team commitment began with training in the Bay Area, then a trip north to Portland for exhibition games and finally Indianapolis to the site of the tournament.

All this traveling wasn’t about piling up frequent-flier miles or mingling with the NBA’s rich and famous, it was about becoming a better basketball player. Collison got high-level instruction at the Nike and Jordan camps and plenty of physical training at every stop. But nothing approached the value of being instructed by Milwaukee's George Karl and the rest of the USA staff and competing with Ben Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal and Raef LaFrentz, another former Jayhawk.

"It’s the best competition that I’ve faced, so I feel really confident coming into my senior year," said Collison. "Playing with all of the NBA guys also clued me in to the things that I need to work on this year."

His two main jobs to get NBA-ready are to add even more meat to his 250-pound frame and to work on his mid-range jumper and his foul shooting (.618 career free throw shooter at Kansas). With Kansas planning on alternating Collison and sophomore power player Wayne Simien in the high and low posts, Collison will get ample time to work on his mid-range game.

If he does those three things, Collison will likely produce Drew Gooden-like numbers in his senior season. He possesses a well-rounded low-post game and is an underrated defender. He was second only to Gooden last year in both scoring and rebounding. He shot a team-best 59.2 percent from the floor and posted 12 double-doubles. He also led the Big 12 in blocked shots (2.2 per game), but his appetite to block shots sometimes lands him in foul trouble (team-high 108 fouls committed, six disqualifcations last season).

If he cuts down on the fouls, makes more free throws and gets stronger, there may not be a better big man in the college game than Collison. As a result, the player that current NBA stars were calling "young fella" during the summer figures to "rich, young fella" by next summer.

PF -- WAYNE SIMIEN (6-9, 250 lbs., SO, #23, 8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.8 bpg, 15.3 minutes, .547 FG, .825 FT, Leavenworth HS/Leavenworth, Kan.). After a year of serving as Drew Gooden’s apprentice last year, 6-9 sophomore bruiser Wayne Simien replaces the departed All-American this winter.

It won’t be easy, but Simien is a big, bruising power forward with a nice touch around the basket. And he’s healthy this year after missing five games last season following arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in November. The knee surgery and other nagging injuries kept the 2001 McDonald’s All-American from showing his full array of skills last season, but he still was impressive as the first big man off the bench. Simien was picked to the Big 12 All-Reserve team in 2001-02 after averaging 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in just 15.3 minutes of action last year.

He could get nearly double that playing time per night this season. While Simien is not as mobile as Gooden and doesn’t yet have Gooden’s perimeter skills, he has a much bigger body and should be a dominant tag-team partner for Nick Collison in the low post.

"Wayne made it through the entire season after he had to sit out five games with the knee problem," coach Williams said. "I think he got stronger as the season went along. He did a great job in the weight room and that will enable him to play more minutes and be more productive for us this season."

PF -- JEFF GRAVES (6-9, 275 lbs., JR, #42, 16.8 ppg, 8.1 apg, .657 FG, Iowa Western CC/Lee’s Summit, Mo.). Last year, the 6-9 Graves was one of the most sought-after junior college players in the country. The former high school defensive end plays hoops with a certain toughness that big-time coaches crave. And as a result, Graves drew attention from Kansas, Illinois, Louisville, Missouri, Iowa State and Long Beach State among others.

But Kansas had something that none of the other suitors could ever hope to have: They had Graves’ heart since he was a little kid at the Roy Williams Basketball Camp. Graves further fell in love with the Jayhawks during his visit to the team’s Midnight Madness last fall. The feeling was mutual, as coach Roy Williams sensed that he might lose Drew Gooden to NBA early entry and wanted Graves as an insurance policy.

Indeed, Gooden did go pro early and Graves signed with the Jayhawks. All was right with the world. Or so it seemed. Graves, who averaged 16.8 points and 8.1 boards and was an honorable mention JUCO All-American for 21-9 Iowa Western, was listed at 250 pounds last year.

When classes started at Kansas this fall, Graves was 292 pounds -- fine if he wants to play center for Mark Mangino’s still-struggling Kansas football team, not so good if he wants to play center and power forward for Roy Williams’ up-tempo men’s hoops team. Any guesses who will be Williams’ whipping boy this year, unless he trims down and fast?

His junior college coach, Jim Morris, is confident that Graves will drop the extra pounds and inches. After all, Morris got him to shave off 20 pounds during his two years at Iowa Western, down from 270 to 250.

"He’ll help them the next two years. He really will," promises Morris.

Helping Graves’ learning curve will be the fact that he’s played -- and played well -- alongside other Division I players while at Iowa Western. His junior college teammates include current University of St. Louis big man Kenny Brown and University of Tennessee junior Justin Albrecht.

"Jeff has to get himself in shape before he can help us," says Williams, who needs Graves to take over Wayne Simien’s old off-the-bench role in 2002-03. "He has really good feet, great hands and has some quickness for a guy that size. He just has to get more physically fit."

G -- MICHAEL LEE (6-3, 210 lbs., SO, #25, 1.2 ppg, 0.4 rpg, 0.1 apg, 3.3 minutes, .394 FG, .500 3PT, .500 FT, Jefferson HS/Portland, Oregon). Lee, of course, was a high school teammate in football and basketball of Kansas starter Aaron Miles. With Jeff Boschee and Brett Ballard gone, more will be expected of Lee this year. In fact, he’ll be the first guard off the bench. Lee has the work ethic, body type and athleticism to be an asset. How good an athlete is Lee? He had football scholarship offers from Oregon State, Washington State and Washington. And he has good bloodlines as two of his cousins have played professional sports, football safety Eugene Robinson and NBA center Keith Closs. In this, his second full season as a basketball-only athlete, look for Lee to triple or quadruple his playing time (up from 3.3 minutes per game as a freshman) and maybe his scoring average, too.

F -- BRYANT NASH (6-6, 205 lbs., JR, #33, 28.0 ppg, 1.0 apg, 0.7 rpg, Turner HS/Carrolton, Tex.). Nash, who wore No. 15 his first two years as a Jayhawk, is switching to No. 33 this season. Luke Axtell had 33 when Nash arrived in Lawrence. But Nash didn’t get to wear his new number right away. The reason? Nash suffered a broken right thumb in late September and was scheduled to miss four weeks of preseason workouts. The fracture occurred during a pickup game when Nash was defending a drive by sophomore guard Aaron Miles. Nash’s thumb struck Miles’ knee.

The injury did not require surgery, but Nash has to wear a splint to give the fracture time to heal. Nash averaged 1.0 points and 0.7 rebounds in 30 games last season. But he’s being counted on to provide more minutes -- and Roy Williams hopes, a little more scoring pop off the bench after two full years in the program.

G -- JEFF HAWKINS (5-11, 175 lbs., FR, #1, 19.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 0.4 apg, 2.6 apg, Sumner Academy/Kansas City, Kan.). Hawkins spent last season redshirting and adding a much-needed 20 pounds to his frame. Last year, Hawkins, who attends Kansas on an academic scholarship, practiced and traveled with the team as he helped prepare the Kansas backcourt for upcoming opponents. He impressed the coaching staff with athleticism (he can dunk) and his desire to be play defense in practice. With walk-on guards Brett Ballard and Lewis Harrison gone, Hawkins might see some live bullets this season, mostly at the tail end of blowout wins by the Jayhawks.

F -- MOULAYE NIANG (6-9, 205 lbs., FR, #55, 16.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg, Christian HS/El Cajon, Calif.). Moulaye Niang (pronounced Moo-lie Nyawn) is a supermodel-skinny project from the Christian High School in El Cajon, California, where he averaged 16.2 points as a high school senior for the 20-9 Patriots. Niang becomes the 17th player from the state of California to suit up at Kansas for Roy Williams. Well, sort of. Actually, Niang is a native of Senegal, West Africa and has been in the states for only two-plus years. He has played organized basketball for only the last eight years after spending his childhood on the soccer field.

Obviously, Niang has loads of athletic skills as he chose Kansas over UConn and San Diego State. The problems are that he’s as raw as sushi at the offensive end and he’s probably too skinny for extended minutes in the Big 12 wars right now (if only Williams could devise a way to take the excess weight that he’ll be shaving off JUCO import Jeff Graves and put it on Niang).

"Moulaye is a fantastic youngster with really great feet," said Williams. "It’s important for a guy -- big or little -- to be able to slide his feet and Moulaye can do that about as well as anybody I’ve ever had. He’s much more crude at the offensive end, but I’ve seen him guard 6-5 guys and I’ve seen him guard seven-foot guys. Defensively, he’s far ahead of where he is on the offensive end."

A lot of programs would lose a lottery pick (Gooden) and the conference’s all-time best 3-point shooter (Boschee) from a Final Four team and would fade into oblivion.

That won’t be the case with Kansas.

The starting five is one of the best in the nation, if the three sophomores (Miles, Simien and Langford) elevate their games as expected. The Jayhawks’ other two starters, Collison and Hinrich, are both legitimate All-Americans and will be selected in the NBA draft next spring.

So while Kansas coach Roy Williams will miss Gooden and Boschee, he’ll still have the comfort of knowing that he’ll have the best guard and frontcourt player on the court most nights.

Speaking of Williams, will he finally erase the tag "best college coach never to win a national title" this year? If the bench improves as the year goes on (something that usually happens with Roy Williams-coached teams), then ol' Roy could finally get the brass ring. He’s got the right horses; he just needs the right bounces come late March.