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The maturity-challenged prankster, the kid with the alleged character issues was smiling Thursday, as usual. But it was a nervous smile that graced Michael Beasley's face.

Turns out this entire NBA Draft process, which culminated in the Miami Heat's anticlimactic selection of the Kansas State freshman forward with the No. 2 pick, rattled the somewhat unflappable (or is it aloof?) Beasley.

He tossed and turned Wednesday night in his sleep. He admitted he was feeling a little anxious Thursday inside the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. Even the presence of dozens of children and adults alike in white shirts with D.C. Assault -- his AAU organization -- on the front and his name and jersey number at K-State -- right now, 30 is taken by Heat reserve center Earl Barron -- on the back, all shouting his name, did little to calm him.

"This is crazy, man," he said. "Crazy."

Was it, though? The moment may have been unreal, but this is exactly what Beasley said he, No. 1 choice Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo -- picks 1-2-3, the first time three college freshmen have been selected at the top of the draft -- predicted would happen when they battled during the summer on the AAU circuit.

The top American tennis players spent this week at Wimbledon.

Some of the top talent in the next generation is hoping to use this week's Via Christi Pro Tennis Classic at the Coleman Tennis Complex as a springboard to further their careers.

"I'm hoping it's something that will draw the crowds this weekend because it's something that will inspire our community," tournament promoter Chris Young said. "There are some girls our community can really get behind and follow."

Sloane Stephens, a 15-year-old from Boca Raton, Fla., has rolled into the quarterfinals. Stephens, ranked at the top of the class of 2011 by tennisrecruiting.net, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Nicole Gibbs.

Stephens, ranked 662 in the world, also advanced to the doubles semifinals with her partner Christina McHale with a straight set victory over WSU product Florentina Hanisch and Macall Harkins.

Thursday night's NBA Draft left three Kansas players with a swirl of emotions with Brandon Rush on the high end, Darrell Arthur somewhere in the middle and Mario Chalmers feeling chilly as a second-rounder.

"I guess that's why they say you never know what's going to happen in the draft," Arthur said after slipping to the 27th pick of the first round.

To be sure, it was a wheeling-dealing night for the ex-Jayhawks. Rush, Arthur and Chalmers were all involved with trades or proposed trades. Arthur apparently will end up with Houston, Rush at Indiana and Chalmers at Miami.

When it was all over, five players off KU's national championship team were drafted. In the second round, forward Darnell Jackson went to Miami with the 52nd pick and center Sasha Kaun landed at No. 56 with Cleveland.

For Rush, the night brought just about everything he could want. Not only was he a lottery pick, going with the 13th pick to Portland, but he was then part of a proposed five-player trade that will send him to Indiana where he could join his older brother, Kareem, who is an unrestricted free agent this year.

Before getting to the story of Charles Zodock "Dock" Doyle, let's establish that he is not going to win the Johnny Bench Award.

Recognition tonight as the nation's best college catcher will almost surely go to Florida State's Buster Posey, adding to a haul that already includes two Player of the Year honors.

"If I'm a betting man, my odds are with him," Doyle said.

A few months ago, a betting man would not have picked Doyle to make the cut of three finalists for the Bench Award. He caught 19 games in 2007 for Coastal Carolina and did not rate a spot on the first watch list of candidates.

By April, his performance demanded inclusion all the way to tonight's Greater Wichita Sports Banquet. Hall of Famer Johnny Bench will hand out the award, now in its ninth year. Posey, a semifinalist in 2007, and Stanford's Jason Castro will join Doyle at the banquet and a catcher's clinic today.

What: Greater Wichita Sports Banquet and silent auction

When: 6 tonight

Where: Hawker Beechcraft Activity Center

Keynote speaker: Mitch Holthus

A look at the three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award:

Goddard infielder Logan Watkins will sign with the Chicago Cubs today, his father said Thursday.

Watkins, selected in the 21st round of this month's major-league draft, had planned to play baseball for Wichita State. He decided Wednesday that Chicago's offer of a $500,000 bonus and $100,000 for college was too good to pass up.

"It's real tough on him," Brian Watkins said. "He feels like he's let a lot of people down who have been good to him."

Watkins said his son turned down offers of $300,000 and $430,000 and held firm to his demand of $500,000.

"Even if they had gone to $490,000, we would have said 'no,' " he said. "It takes a lot of money to turn down a program like Wichita State. We never thought they would get there."

At Edina, Minn.

Buick Open

At Grand Blanc, Mich.

Thursday's Results

Cruiser Driver

A Feature -- 1. Brian Russell,Wichita; 2. Bob Lowery, Wichita; 3. James Armstrong, Wichita. Heat 1 -- 1. James Armstrong, Wichita; 2. Gretchen Semsroth, Maize; 3. James Deringer, Wichita. Heat 2 -- 1. Brian Russell, Wichita; 2. Trevor Campbell, Wichita; 3. Jerry Ashley, Sedgwick. Cruiser Gas

A Feature -- 1. Derek Kreager, Park City; 2. Mike Lowery, Wichita; 3. Henry Vaughn III, Wichita. Heat 1 -- 1. Henry Vaughn III, Wichita; 2. Jimmy Burress, Wichita; 3. Sarah Stevenson, Maize. Heat 2 -- 1. Derek Kreager, Park City; 2. Robbie Carter, Valley Center; 3. Robert Santos, Haysville.

Hornets

Calendar

Space precludes us from running all listings. To see all listings, go to Kansas.com/sports and click on "Other Sports."

Baseball

• July 10-13: Postseason tournament at Southwest Boys Club for ages 7-8 (machine pitch), 10U, 12U, 14U. Fee $615. Call Kelly Decker, 316-260-4316.

Basketball

Junior Team Play

At Clapp Park

Boys

Team scores--MacDonald 278, Clapp 301.

Individuals--1. Cole Richardson, MacDonald, 87; 2. Austin Chisberg, MacDonald, 92; 3. Andrew Garza, Clapp, 94.

Blend the killer-in-training elements of "La Femme Nikita" with the physics-defying stunts of "The Matrix," whip in the Oedipal angst of "The Empire Strikes Back" and sprinkle liberally with "Fight Club's" bad attitude.

That's the recipe for the tart-but-tasty "Wanted," a cinematic confection guaranteed to raise moviegoers' pulse rates.

With a star-heavy cast, mind-blowing visuals and more blood than a vampire flick, this modern-day fantasy about an ages-old brotherhood of assassins is an over-the-top guilty pleasure.

Those familiar with the earlier work of Russian director Timur Bekmambetov -- the supernatural epics "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" -- know that he's a visual genius who can be something of a narrative nincompoop. Happily, "Wanted" (it's based on a comic book) is mostly coherent (if wildly improbable).

The tone is set immediately with an astonishing high-rise shootout between a lone gunman and a squad of snipers. Bullets travel at super-slow speeds, drill into bodies and emerge on the other side in graceful spirals of gore. A man heaves himself 100 yards from one skyscraper to another.

Arthur Marks, a former Wichitan now living in New York City, will perform Sunday with the Heart of America Men's Chorus in Wichita. Details include:

1) The performance, titled "Notes to Remember," will be a fund-raiser for the 50-member Heart of America Men's Chorus.

2) Marks has been a popular entertainer in Wichita, remembered by audiences for roles with Music Theatre of Wichita and performances with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He's sung in New York City, Rome, London and Paris.

3) The event will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday with a cocktail party, followed by the concert at 6 in Mary Jane Teall Theater in Century II. Tickets are $30 for the concert only, $50 for the concert and cocktail party and $100 for the concert followed by a private party. Tickets are available at the door, at www.wichitatix.com or until 5 p.m. today by calling 316-219-4849.

A good deal

A new summer film series aims to showcase some of Hollywood's most beloved African-American stars to an audience sitting under the stars.

The Summer Urban Film Series launched last weekend with a showing of the 1934 classic film "Imitation of Life."

It continues tonight and then every Friday (except July 4) through Aug. 8 outside the Power Community Development Coalition offices at 17th and Hydraulic. Film series organizers project the movies onto a side of the office building that faces a big lawn perfect for blankets and portable chairs.

Admission to the series, sponsored by Power CDC and the Community Voice newspaper, is free.

Bonita Gooch, the newspaper's publisher, came up with the idea for the series as a way to entertain and educate at the same time.

As soon as you venture into the gallery at Wichita Center for the Arts, you'll run into a group of 20 life-size terra-cotta heads displayed on two walls -- some with separate but accompanying hands holding everything from a paintbrush to a martini glass -- that represent self-portraits from a recent sculpting class.

Further in, you'll be captivated by the realism of some landscapes and still lifes and intrigued by the abstractness of others. Then there are the colorful enameled bowls, the intricate jewelry, the loving portraits of family members and the whimsical sculptured animals, from various bears and monkeys to a rabbit dressed as a medieval minstrel.

They are all part of the annual student-faculty exhibition -- some 300 pieces from 150 artists -- from the Mary R. Koch School of Visual Arts, founded at the center in 1920, that opens today and runs through Aug. 10. A free public reception featuring many of the artists will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today.

"The purpose of the show is to let the community see the variety of what we are teaching at the center and what students are doing with it," says Brian Hinkle, gallery director the past two years. "But the neatest thing is watching the students watch their family and friends react to their work. It's a long-standing tradition, and it's probably tripled in the past decade."

Students, from preschool to a couple of octogenarians, plus a handful of faculty, will display works created during the past year in 10 different disciplines, from oil and acrylic paints to watercolors to sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, printmaking, enameling, drawing and photography.

The Mid-America All-Indian Center Museum is having a grand reopening celebration on Sunday. It's free with a variety of family activities. Here's what to expect:

1) A car show will showcase more than 100 custom and classic vehicles on the lawn of the Indian Center. Organizers hope it will be the first of an annual series to be held on the last Sunday in June.

2) A powwow will start at 1 p.m. and a Native American princess will be crowned at 1:30 p.m.

3) Family activities will include prize-drawings, games, rides and a gold coin treasure hunt. Buffalo burgers and Indian tacos will be sold.

4) Visitors will want to tour the newly remodeled Indian Museum, inside the center, which is offering a reduced admission price for the day.

Larry Buds is the third sports bar to hold down the inside corner of Brittany Center (previous occupants were Tanner's and the Cedar), but the new owners have brought in their own recipes and specials.

1) Y wings _ They're twice as big as most hot wings because they're not separated at the joint. $6.99 for a half-dozen, served with celery and blue cheese or ranch dressing.

2.) Chili cocineros _ Named for the chili cook-off team of Larry (owner) and Cindy Harmon. $2.99 for a cup, $4.49 for a bowl or $6.99 for a take-home quart.

3.) Nacho mama's queso _ Cindy's spicy salsa and cheddar cheese over tortilla chips. $5.99 with chili, $5.49 without.

4.) Veggie wrapper's delight _ Spinach-artichoke spread, sauteed mushrooms, diced tomato, red onion and Swiss cheese in a tortilla. $5.99, served with chips and salsa.

Summer officially arrived last week.

You know what that means. The first day of school and the return of autumn are not all that far away.

So while the days are long, the sun is shining, the fireflies are flying and temperatures are still bearable, go have some summertime fun. We have 10 ideas you can pursue this weekend:

1. Nothing says summer like fresh veggies and fruits newly plucked from local gardens. You can find a wide variety of fresh produce -- and lots more -- at farmers markets in the area. For a list of markets that are open Saturday, see Page 5.

2. Attend one of the many outdoor concerts in the Wichita area. There's one from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Central Riverside Park, featuring the acoustic bands Final Straw, Pickin' Fretters and Flatland String Band. Take a picnic lunch and a blanket, if you'd like. Admission is free.

The most ambitious film yet from the House of Pixar, "WALL-E" is an intergalactic epic about robot romance, furious physical comedy and the fate of humanity.

If that's a lot of ground to cover, if the film's reach exceeds its grasp... well, this critic is in a forgiving mood. You can't advance an art form without taking risks and making a few missteps.

In the wordless but exhilarating first half-hour of Andrew Stanton's film we find ourselves on a barren dusty planet littered with the remains of civilization. People once lived here, but they're long gone, leaving behind a ravaged landscape of skeletal buildings and mountains of trash.

We get this information not through narration or "Star Wars"-ish creeping credits but simply by watching and observing. This is the first hint that "WALL-E" won't be business as usual.

WALL-E (short for "waste allocation load lifter Earth-class") is a boxy little robot with big binocular eyes on a long E.T. neck. Every day he gets up, recharges his batteries in the sunshine and gets to work picking up armfuls of junk. He places the refuse in his trash-compactor body, reducing it to large cubes which he stacks to form soaring pyramids.

Adorable. That's the word one fellow diner used to sum up Sugar Sisters Bakery and Cafe, which looks like it might have been designed by Interior Designer Barbie.

Sticker shock. That's two more we heard from someone who paid $2.99 for a cupcake (which are called "baby cakes" at Sugar Sisters and are bigger than standard cupcakes).

The eatery was opened in May by three sisters -- Katie, Kelli and Kristine Sykes. While some dishes struck us as idiosyncratic -- the kind of things kids might whip up while mom is away -- the restaurant has quickly brought traffic back to Oliver Square, site of a recently departed Dillons supermarket.

ON THE MENU: Soups, salads, sandwiches and the cafe's signature macaroni and cheese for lunch and dinner; quiche, French toast, cheese grits and homemade granola for breakfast; specialty coffee drinks and a full line of baked goods including scones, muffins, cakes and cookies.

DON'T-MISS DISHES: The restaurant takes mac and cheese to a rich new level by coating tubular pasta with sharp white cheddar, gruyere and Romano cheeses, and then topping it with toasted bread crumbs. Served with mixed greens, it's one of the best deals at lunch for $5.99.