The Kangaroos basically decided to scrap their entire old program and start again with freshman.  The only two carryover NAIA players who will begin the year as starters are Junior Willie Jones and Sophomore Bill Frerking who both decided to stay with the program and see if they could hang at the higher level. The Roos sat out a year in anticipation of moving up to division One and the newly coined Summit League while Coach Hunt put together a program.  Hunt was careful to bring in only freshman as he wanted to have all four year players who would stay here for the entire process.  Too many times programs go with the quick fix of bringing in JC guys to get the party started.  Of course there are growing pains when you are this young and the Roos most definitely will have growing pains. 

Hunt decided the only way they could compete was to bring in shooters and emphasize the three point shot.  This is modern basketball and it will keep you in games with better opponents sort of like the slow down game many teams used to deploy before the shot clock.  He has recruited as many long-range bombers and wings as possible.  He will also bring in some big guys including a portal kid who goes 6’9 322 from the Bronx.  As for the returning guys, Frerking was moved to the point when he got here after playing wing in high school but has acclimated well. I don’t know if Frerking has a connection with Kangaroos after going here for one year but he did take a trip down under waiting for the program to come back.  He played with Luc Longley who decided to come to the states after all the talking the kid did about the states.  Jones is by far the most talented returner as he dominated in Spain over the last year playing in a semi-pro league that was allowed by the powers to be.  This kid can score and board inside and will most definitely be the primary offensive weapon for the Roos this year.  Other returnees who will get some PT and hope to contribute to the new look team are junior Dave Smith and sophomores Ron Davis, John Wayne and Baxter Russell.  Davis is a banger down low but does not score much while Russell is a solid pass first point guard who will give Frerking a run for his money.  Smith and Wayne are good athletes who will fill in wherever Hunt wants them.  All of these kids know that Hunt is bringing in a bunch of new kids, some of who are at a whole different level of talent then they are.  That doesn’t mean these kids won’t contribute, they will, as there no way Hunt starts five freshmen.  This is not Michigan after all. Or can he? 

The University of Missouri at Kansas City Kangaroos are jumping in with both feet into the D-1 pool.  Some might consider the newly named Summit League not quite D-1 but for this program that has done well in NAIA it is most definitely the deep end of the pool.  Coach Lee hunt is building from scratch and has promised to build the foundation first and then fill in as he goes.  Kanas City, Kansas City, here they come as Hunt will bring in a large group of talent first year kids prosing them they will not have to wait in line to play.  He only has a handful of returning players from the NAIA days and will rely on a couple of them to be the leaders of this extremely young team.  No doubt the Roos will be the youngest roster in D-1 but there is some talent and with the emphasis being on the three-point line don’t be surprised if this group wins a few games.  They will win more then they will win for sure but the golden days are coming in KC.  It is not such a big leap for one to consider this young team being on par with some of the big boys in the Summit soon.  They are after all the Kangaroos and they are in Division One basketball!