Kansas Jayhawks to play in 2015 World University Games

During a press conference on Tuesday, the Kansas Jayhawks announced that they were selected to represent the United States in the  2015 World University Games.

Kansas was selected to participate in the event by the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF). The World University Games will take place July 3-14 in Gwangju, Korea. It will be interesting, though, to see if Kansas fans are dedicated enough to support their team overseas — I kid!

(H/T CBT)

"“We are thrilled to have this opportunity,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said on Tuesday. “It is a unique opportunity where a school will represent our country in the World University Games as opposed to a select team. I can’t see anything but positives. We as an amateur basketball team could not get better competition. Our players are really excited about getting the opportunity to represent our country in games basically against professionals from around the world.”"

While it is a great honor for the Kansas Jayhakws to be selected, it is a bit abnormal for one school to represent the entire country. Generally the US is a mix of great college players throughout the entire land, a college All-Star team if you will, filled with All-Americans.

The World University Games are played using FIBA rules. Which is pretty neat and different for the college hoopsters. A 24-second clock is implemented, four 10 minute quarters and the tournament itself is similar to the World Cup, as it starts with pool play and follows that up with a bracket style tournament.

So, get pumped!