Chalmers puts rules to the test

The NCAA may have to dig into its thick rule book to solve this one.

By rule, basketball coaches may work with their players only two hours a week this time of year. Normally not much of an issue, since players usually take some time off after the season.

But Kansas' Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush are having to ramp up their workouts because they have declared for the NBA Draft.

Brandon Rush is off to Chicago to work out under the direction of his agent. Darrell Arthur is pretty much on his own for now, but what about Chalmers? His dad, Ronnie Chalmers, is director of KU's basketball operations and knows a few things about conducting individual workouts.

But while Ronnie, as part of KU's staff, is limited to the two hours weekly to work with Mario, what's his role as a dad? Can the NCAA dictate how many hours a father spends working individually with his son?

"We'll have to look into the rule," KU coach Bill Self said. "Hopefully, the NCAA would view that as father first, coach second."

Schedule addition -- KU basketball has added a home-and-home series with Temple, starting with the Owls coming to Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 20. The Jayhawks will go to Philadelphia in 2009 to play Temple in the Wachovia Center.

Associate athletic director Larry Keating said he still has to add a few more games before finalizing the non-conference schedule.

Safety first -- There weren't too many surprises on the post-spring practice depth chart that KU put out this week, but there was one that stuck out.

Darrell Stuckey is now the starting strong safety after playing so well as the free safety last season. Justin Thornton, who tied with Aqib Talib for the team lead with five interceptions, has moved from strong to free safety.

As expected, the first-string offensive tackles are redshirt freshman Jeff Spike on the left side and senior Matt Darton on the right.

Defensively, senior Todd Haselhorst has moved up to replace All-Big 12 tackle James McClinton. But you can expect that spot to be far from settled. Sophomore Jamal Greene and redshirt freshman Richard Johnson are still candidates.

See more at www.kansas.com