Monday Morning Wheaties

The KU football team was off last weekend, taking advantage of its final bye week of the season to gear up for the stretch run.

Basketball got going, though, and the KU volleyball and women’s soccer teams stayed red hot.

All of that and more will be pinpointed in this week’s 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

• Junior soccer player Lexi Watts – Excited to simply be playing meaningful soccer games this late in the season, the junior from St. James Academy in nearby Lenexa, Kansas, showed what playing loose and free came mean at this time of year. Not only did she score a goal in the Jayhawks’ Big 12 tournament opener — a 2-1 win over Arizona State last Wednesday — but Watts also added the game-winning, golden goal in double overtime in the 1-0 win over West Virginia that advanced the Jayhawks to the Big 12 semifinals this Wednesday. Have a week, Lexi Watts!

A full bowl

• Sophomore soccer player Caroline Castans – Castans entered last week as the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and then got offensive with it, scoring what proved to be the game-winner against Arizona State with a rocket of a shot to the top corner of the net in the 2-1 win.

• Senior outside hitter Ayah Elnady – The Cairo, Egypt native has been good all season, but she was particularly good in the 8th-ranked Jayhawks’ home sweep of West Virginia over the weekend. Elnady recorded team-highs with double-digit kills (14) and digs (13) in the three-set sweep that moved the Jayhawks to 20-1 overall and 11-0 in Big 12 play heading into this week’s road trip to Arizona, where they’ll face ASU on Wednesday and UofA on Saturday.

Nighttime snack

• Senior setter Cam Turner — The veteran volleyball star from Topeka continues to be in complete control for this Kansas volleyball team, running the offensive effortlessly and going the right place with the ball seemingly every time while flashing her fair share of defense at the net and on the court. Turner recorded 37 assists in the home win over West Virginia and added 9 digs and a block. All with a smile, of course.

• Senior setter Cam Turner — The veteran volleyball star from Topeka continues to be in complete control for this Kansas volleyball team, running the offensive effortlessly and going the right place with the ball seemingly every time while flashing her fair share of defense at the net and on the court. Turner recorded 37 assists in the home win over West Virginia and added 9 digs and a block. All with a smile, of course.

• Senior guard David “Diggy” Coit – The Northern Illinois transfer stole the show during the KU men’s team’s home exhibition win over Washburn, knocking down 5 of 10 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 19 points. Coit was electric and all over the floor, knocking down open 3s and picking up full-court with his suffocating defense. KU coach Bill Self said after the win that that was exactly the type of player KU thought it was getting in Coit and now the question is if that type of production can transfer to Division I and high-major talent.

• Sophomore guard Brittany Harshaw – The Creighton transfer from Andover, Kansas, tallied 20 points in the KU women’s basketball team’s easy exhibition win over Creighton. She was joined in double figures by S’Mya Nichols and Elle Evans, who each had 16 points. More on Harshaw later in the week, as her teammates are expecting big things from her this season, even if she is flying under the radar a little right now.

Drink the milk

• Senior RB Devin Neal – He didn’t play this week, but this is your friendly reminder that Neal is just 7 yards away from becoming KU’s all-time leading rusher. We’ll have a lot more on that leading up to Saturday’s game against Iowa State at Arrowhead Stadium and after, assuming the Lawrence native gets the record. Could come on one carry. Could take a few. Either way, the week off and do-or-die nature of KU’s final four games have quickly made Neal’s pursuit of the record one of the most important stories of this football season. KU and ISU will kickoff at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com