Junior guard Tyshawn Taylor and sophomore forward Thomas Robinson will remain at Kansas next season and not enter the NBA Draft, the school announced Wednesday.
Kansas finished 35-3 and won the Big 12 regular-season title before crashing out at the hands of upstart VCU in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
“We had a great year,” said Taylor, a Hoboken, N.J., native who starred at St. Anthony. “But since the season ended disappointingly, there has been a lot speculation with fans and on the internet on what we were going to do. The bottom line is we’re going to work very hard this offseason and put ourselves in a position to play in that game again and come out with a different result.”
Taylor averaged 9.3 points, 4.6 assists and shot 47.9 percent from the field in 2010-11. The 6-3 rising senior scored in double figures in five of his last six games and 16 times his junior season.
Robinson recorded four double-doubles during the 2010-11 season, including 12 points and 14 rebounds against Richmond in the NCAA Tournament.
The 6-9 Washington, D.C., native averaged 7.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and shot 60.1 percent from the field in 2010-11. He missed the Colorado game on Jan. 25 because of the funeral of his mother, Lisa, in Washington, D.C.
“This was the most trying year of my life,” Robinson said. “I want to thank everybody and I can’t wait to run up and down the court in a packed Allen Fieldhouse next year. I plan on busting my butt this summer to improve my game. I want to take more of a leadership role in us moving forward and winning another league championship and getting to the Final Four.”
“This is certainly not any new news to us, but I felt it was unfair for us to make a statement until I got back from the Final Four and visited with them individually,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
“To be quite candid, we’re still smarting over the fact that we lost in the Elite Eight and were so close to putting ourselves in a position to win another (national) championship. We’re disappointed, but one thing about it, the season is officially over for everybody. Even if we played in the championship and even if we played in the Final Four, the season would be over now. With that, it’s a new team, a new season and a fresh start. I’m real excited about these two commitments to putting us in a situation to having great success again.”
Kansas brings in point guard Naadir Tharpe of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and Ben McLemore of St. Louis and should be loaded in the backcourt.
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