Elijah Johnson ready to lead Kansas basketball team

The Kansas Jayhawks' season officially kicked off Friday night as Midnight Madness hit campus. The 2011 NCAA championship runners-up are looking to fill a leadership void left by Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson, who both are in the midst of their first NBA preseason. With Taylor's departure, senior point guard Elijah Johnson is poised to take over as Kansas' leader and number one scoring option. Gary Bedore of KU Sports.com writes Johnson told reporters at media day he's ready to take the keys to the Jayhawks offense, but don't call it just his team:

"Thanks for the compliment, but it’s still, ‘our year.’ If we lose, Travis (Releford) is going to feel worse than I feel. Jeff (Withey) is going to feel worse than I feel. Kevin (Young) is going to feel it’s our last run. I’ll share it with them.

Johnson added that he's looking forward to being the Jayhawks' primary ball handler this season because he gets to set the tempo of the offense. The Jayhawks kick off non-conference play October 30 against Emporia State.