Friday, September 23, 2011

Being ‘an absolute jerk’ cost Kris Humphries a Kansas offer


Turns out it isn't just Kim Kardashian's sisters that Kris Humphries has rubbed the wrong way.
The former University of Minnesota star and new Mr. Kardashian apparently has a long history of bad first impressions dating all the way back to when he took an official visit to Kansas during his senior year of high school.
In an excerpt from the soon-to-be-released book"Beyond the Phog: Untold Stories from Kansas Basketball's Most Dominant Decade," former guard Keith Langford told author Jason King of Yahoo! Sportswhy Humphries never became a Jayhawk. Langford said he and his teammates were so disgusted with Humphries' arrogance that they encouraged then-Kansas coach Roy Williams to stop recruiting him.
Kris Humphries came on a visit and tried to commit. He really wanted to come here. But no one on the team liked Kris Humphries. He was arrogant. He told everyone he was going to come in and be the leading scorer as a freshman and that we'd all have to take a backseat to him. We were trying to be respectful and not say anything. But he was an absolute jerk. It was tough, because Roy was really excited about him. Kris Humphries was a big deal. He was a one-and-done or a two-and-done kind of player. Roy wanted him to commit on his visit. But we told him, "Coach, you can't bring this guy in. You can't do it." You'd figure Roy would say something like, "Let's work on him," or "Let's give him another chance." Instead he told Humphries, "Sorry, but you can't come."
That Williams would turn down a McDonald's All-American for his team demonstrates why he's so revered by his players and how confident he was that he could attract enough top prospects to be selective. Langford said current Kansas coach Bill Self did the same thing when future Louisville star Terrence Williams didn't mesh well with the team.
After Kansas turned down Humphries, the 6-foot-9 Minneapolis native eventually chose Duke before changing his mind and attending hometown Minnesota instead. Humphries scored 21.7 points and grabbed 10.1 rebounds a game in his lone season with the Gophers, but the team struggled, flailing its way to a 12-18 record and a 3-13 mark in Big Ten play.
In defense of Humphries, his former coach still thinks highly of him. Ex-Minnesota coach and current Long Beach State coach Dan Monson reconnected with Humphries in March when the NBA forward called to personally invite him to his wedding.
Here's what Monson told ESPN.com that Humphries said to him during that conversation: "I've been thinking a lot about you. I'm in a really good place professionally. I've met somebody special. I've been reflecting back, and you had a lot to do with that. I never got a chance to thank you."
So perhaps Humphries has matured since his younger days. Now all he has to do is focus on winning over his sisters-in-law.

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