The national champions are coming to Dodge City

      Sunday the University of Kansas basketball players will be in Dodge City signing autographs and competing against a collection of high school all-stars.
    Jayhawks in attendance will be Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, Jeremy Case, Russell Robinson and Rodrick Stewart.
    "I think it will be a neat and fun experience for Dodge City and the surrounding communities to get informal time with a group of guys that have had an unbelievable amount of success in their college careers," Dodge City Community College men's basketball coach Brian Hoberecht said.
    Hoberecht, along with DCCC women's basketball coach Steve High helped organize the event.
    This will mark the first time the Jayhawks have come through Dodge City on the Barnstorming Tour. The champs have been to Garden CIty before, but not here in Dodge.
    High and Hoberecht put together a group of Kansas high school all-stars to battle the Jayhawks.
    The team will consist of Dodge High's Mykael Thompson and Bryan Powers, South Gray's Eli Appelgate and Clyde Redger, Lakin's Wyatt Rice, Syracuse's Will Brown, Southwestern Heights Robert Sigala, Wichita Heights' Irv Hollinger, Larned's Benna Morrow and Garden City's Bobby Wesley.
    "We tried to find a group of players that are ending their high school careers, that had good high school careers and can move on to play at the college level," Hoberecht said. "This is another opportunity to showcase talent in this part of the state."
    Hoberecht said they looked for good athletes that deserved to finish their high school careers in this manner.
    "These guys get the experience of a fun and memorable game," he said.
    The game will be for fun, nobody will be taking chargers or hacking someone going to the basket.
    "It's going to be fun," Hollinger said. "I'm going to be real excited to be there and see what it's like at the next level."
    Hollinger is a DCCC basketball recruit, so the lesson may be valuable to him.  But, his future coach wants Hollinger and all the kids to just have fun.
    "We want our guys to have fun and enjoy the day," Hoberecht said. "They can play hard and remember this experience for the rest of their lives."
    But, if the national champions so choose they can turn it on at any time.
    "I think if the KU guys start to play hard and lock-in and play hard their athletic strength and ability to change ends will be excited to watch," Hoberecth said. "If they go full speed it'll bring the enjoyment factor to it's max."
    Hollinger isn't backing down from the champs though.
    "I'll turn it on too," he said. "I'll go right back and them and play my game, get the job done."
    Hollinger said he wants to guard Robinson.
    "I've watched him play before," he said. "He's a tough player and looks like someone I'd like to guard."
    While the game will be fun, a few minutes of hard play may be exciting to local fans. Fans can see how Thompson will react when being pressured by Robinson or how Applegate would guard an imposing figure like Kaun under the basket.
    The doors open at noon Sunday. The champs will sign autographs from 12:15-1:15 p.m. and they will play at 2 p.m.
    Tickets are $15 and $10 and can be purchased at the DCCC Athletics office.