Kansas
Kansas basketball guard Johnny Furphy could compete for Australia in 2024 Paris Olympics
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reflects on season, Gonzaga loss
Check out what Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had to say recently after the Jayhawks’ season ended with a NCAA tournament loss against Gonzaga.
LAWRENCE — Basketball Australia announced Wednesday that Johnny Furphy will be a part of its initial 22-player squad, which will be narrowed down to 12 for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Furphy spent the 2023-24 college season in the United States playing for Kansas basketball. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 202 pounds, the guard emerged as a key talent for the Jayhawks as the campaign progressed. And now he’ll have the opportunity to showcase his skillset on an international stage.
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“The FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023 marked a new beginning for the Boomers,” Australia head coach Brian Goorjian said in a release. “We were able to introduce some new faces and identify areas that we needed to advance and improve.”
Goorjian added: “We’ve been actively monitoring the Aussie players across international leagues in USA, Europe and Asia as well as domestically in the NBL and we’re confident in the potential chemistry of this list. The complexity of international tournaments like the Olympics is that you have a relatively short window to train and prepare — so you have to identify and implement a style works fast and amplifies the collective skill set.”
Furphy will have the opportunity to compete alongside names basketball fans know such as Joe Ingles, Patty Mills and more, who were on the Australia team that won bronze back in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Whether Furphy returns to college for another year or heads to the professional ranks, potentially the NBA, that’ll certainly help improve his game. His length, athleticism and shot-making ability should also allow him to have an opportunity to earn a role.
At KU this past season, as Furphy competed in the challenging Big 12 Conference, he started 19 of his 33 appearances and averaged 24.1 minutes per game. He averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, too. He also shot 35.2% from behind the arc and took more 3s than any other Kansas player during a season in which the Jayhawks reached the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament.
“There’s always a correlation made of our offensive play with European styles, which is interesting considering there isn’t a whole lot of exposure to the Euro system with our players,” Goorjian said in the release. “What we have experienced, is the emergence of Australians at the top level overseas and the evolution of the NBL as a world class league with high powered scoring offenses, so we want to drive a game that is familiar but unique to our group.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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Elijah Ming’s son is only two — too young to hold many memories of his dad.
Kansas City, Kansas, baseball field renamed to honor fallen deputy Elijah Ming
But he will remember him. Elijah lives on in Deuce — the little one who also carries his father’s name.
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“He definitely carries a lot of traits that Elijah had,” said Elijah’s wife, Tiara Ming.
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One of those traits now stands tall on a KCK baseball field. On Thursday, fallen Wyandotte County Deputy Elijah Ming was honored once again as Heathwood Park was renamed Elijah Ming Memorial Field.
“It’ll be here for generations and decades to come,” said KCK Mayor Tyrone Garner.
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“That’s a sign to our young people in this community that these are the folks we should be looking up to,” said Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic.
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Family, friends, Wyandotte County deputies, and local officials attended the event.
Ming was shot and killed in July as he responded to help a woman who felt threatened while moving out of a home in Kansas City, Kansas.
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“He was the guy,” said America Patton, Elijah’s mentor. “He had the whole package.”
Elijah’s brothers say there’s no better place for the dedication — they have countless memories there.
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“To see bro’s name right here… it makes sense,” said Isaiah Ming. “It all started here.”
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“That was the best years of my life,” said Herman Ming.
But this year was a hard one.
They lost their mom to cancer and their brother to gun violence just days apart.
Moving on is not easy.
“That’s when my whole life changed,” said Isaiah. “Just trying to learn how to get through these rainy days.”
As they cope, they hold on to the dreams that are now becoming reality — even if not in the way they imagined.
“We really dreamed about us having something named after us. We never thought it’d come to this,” said Herman. “He’s definitely gonna live on.”
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They hope Elijah’s memory continues to guide future generations — especially his little man.
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“It’s a special moment for him because I don’t think he realizes how much weight his name is going to carry in the community,” Tiara said.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Today, the Kansas City Chiefs announced Jeff Shafer as their 2025 Inspire Change Changemaker – an annual recognition celebrating leaders who are driving significant, measurable change in their communities across the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative’s four pillars: education, economic advancement, police-community relations, and criminal justice reform.
Shafer is the executive director of City Year Kansas City and leads a dedicated team in providing public school students with the academic and social-emotional tools needed to thrive. Beginning in 2010, Shafer began his over-a-decade long work in giving back to local students as an AmeriCorps member in Chicago’s South Side. After five years with AmeriCorps, Shafer transitioned back to Kansas City to assist with the launch of City Year KC. Since 2015, Shafer and City Year KC have remained important pieces in revitalizing the Kansas City Public Schools district, most notably revitalizing accreditation in 2022. The Kansas City native routinely participates in service events throughout the year, including City Year KC’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day of Service where he leads volunteers in beautifying public school spaces with murals and messages of hope.
In addition, Shafer has served on the boards of Brothers Liberating Our Communities, which is responsible for recruiting and retaining Black male educators, and Charlotte Street, a nonprofit providing resources to local artists and curators.
Shafer will be recognized at the Chiefs Inspire Change game during their Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers for his exceptional work in pursuit of education. He will also receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation, paid directly to a non-profit organization of his choice.
“We are incredibly proud to honor Jeff Shafer as the recipient of the club’s 2025 Changemaker Award,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said. “His commitment to providing necessary resources to our local public school system through City Year KC embodies what it means to be a pioneer for educational advancement. The Kansas City Chiefs are grateful for the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative, which spotlights important endeavors in our local community, and we are grateful to have Jeff represent the Chiefs this season.”
“The Changemakers selected this year have demonstrated what’s possible when leaders commit to creating real change in their communities,” said Anna Isaacson, NFL Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility. “Their work is a powerful example for others and proof that sustained dedication can drive meaningful progress. The NFL family is proud to recognize their impact.” For more information, visit the link here.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A new trial has been scheduled for a Kansas man convicted of killing his infant son.
Kaleb Hogan will be tried again in January on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse.
Hogan was found guilty in 2023 of those same charges in the death of 3-month-old Malykai Hogan.
He was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. But he appealed.
Earlier this year, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his conviction, saying the trial judge incorrectly admitted evidence of prior acts of alleged abuse.
The court ruled that the evidence did not fall within an exception allowing alleged prior acts to be admitted into evidence because the state couldn’t link the prior abuse to Hogan. In fact, prosecutors admitted during oral arguments at the high court that they did not charge Hogan with other counts of abuse because they couldn’t prove he was responsible for the child’s earlier injuries.
The court ruled that the state couldn’t prove that the error was harmless, so the case was returned to Butler County District Court for a new trial.
Court records show that a jury trial has been scheduled for Hogan on Jan. 6 at 9 a.m.
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