Monday Morning Wheaties

It's been a busy end to April for the KU men's and women's golf teams, and the fun isn't finished just yet.

All of that, and more — particularly from the red-hot KU baseball team — will be celebrated in this week's edition of our Monday Morning Wheaties.

You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.

Each Monday, we take one last look back at the week that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.

So, be sure to come get your Monday Morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.

Picture on the box

• KU men’s golfer Will King – The KU sophomore finished tied for 8th at -4 after a final-round 67 at the recent Big 12 Championship in Texas. The finish earned King a spot on the Big 12’s All-Tournament Team. The Olathe native and Rockhurst High graduate fired a 5-under round of 67 for the low round in the field on Wednesday afternoon, which included two eagles and two birdies to climb 10 spots up the final leaderboard. King became the first Kansas golfer since 2017 (Chase Hanna, 1st; Daniel Sutton 10th) to earn Big 12 All-Tournament Team honors. As a team, Kansas finished in 8th place at +11 in the 72-hole conference championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club.

A full bowl

• KU women’s golf team – For the second consecutive season and just the third time in program history, the KU women’s golf team earned an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional last week. The Jayhawks are seeded 9th at the 12-team regional that will be played in Washington. It marks the second trip to the postseason in the first three years of head coach Lindsay Kuhle’s time in charge of the program. The Jayhawks enter postseason play led by strong seasons from senior Hanna Hawks, juniors Lily Hirst, Jordan Rothman and Lauren Clark and recently surging sophomore Amy DeKock. Junior Johanna Ebner and freshman Lyla Louderbaugh also have played an important role in the Jayhawks’ success, which has included team records for 18-hole, 36-hole and 54-hole scores. KU will head to Washington later this week to open play in the 54-hole event May 6-8.

• Dominick Puni & Austin Booker – The two former Jayhawk linemen were both selected in this year's NFL draft, which begin Thursday and wrapped up on Saturday. Puni, an offensive lineman, went to the San Francisco 49ers with the 23rd pick in the third round (No. 86 overall), making him the highest KU draft pick since Aqib Talib went in the first round in 2008. One day later, Booker, who spent one season at KU and earned Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year honors, was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the ninth pick in the fifth round (No. 144 overall). That duo was joined by a host of undrafted free agents who were signed shortly after the draft ended. Included on that list were: Kenny Logan Jr. (LA Rams), Jason Bean (Indianapolis Colts), Mike Novitsky (Seattle Seahawks), Craig Young (Indianapolis Colts) and Mason Fairchild (Buffalo Bills).

• KU first baseman Ben Hartl – In the Jayhawks' series opening win at Hoglund Ballpark on Friday night, Hartl hit his 7th home run of the season and delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth to give the Jayhawks the win. Hartl's bases-loaded single in the final frame gave the Jayhawks a 4-3 win. Two days later, after two more Kansas victories, the Jayhawks had recorded another series sweep, pushing their current run to 10 wins in their last 11 games. Kansas is now 25-15 overall and 12-9 in Big 12 play – also known as right in the thick of the chase for a postseason berth.

Nighttime snack

• KU outfielder Chase Jans – During the Jayhawks' series sweep of Texas Tech, Jans had a monster Game 2, recording two highlight reel catches and going 2-for-4 with a home run, 4 RBIs and a run scored on Saturday. The home run was Jans' first of the season.

• KU catcher Lyric Moore – They competed hard but just couldn't get over the hump and were swept by No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater over the weekend, but that didn't keep Moore from making a little noise. In the Jayhawks' 9-1 loss on Sunday, Moore threw out a runner attempting to steal second base in the fourth inning. That marked the 11th time this season that Moore has caught a runner trying to steal and that currently leads the Big 12 Conference.

• KU third baseman Michael Brooks – In the Jayhawks’ midweek win over Nebraska in Lincoln, KU junior Michael Brooks extended his hitting streak to 18 games, with his 8th home run of the season tossed in for good measure. The 18-game hitting streak is the longest of the season for the Jayhawks so far. Brooks was not in the Jayhawks' starting lineup over the weekend in their series sweep of Texas Tech.

Drink the milk

• Hunter Dickinson – The KU big man didn't actually do anything stats-wise or in terms of wins last week. But what he did do might lead to a bunch of both. On Friday, after a nudging from his head coach on Twitter, Dickinson announced his plans to return to Lawrence for his final season of college basketball. Dickinson's return, along with the strong work Bill Self and his staff have done in the transfer portal, have the Jayhawks poised to enter the 2024-25 season ranked as the No. 1 team in the preseason polls for the second year in a row.

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