SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1995
'Hawks ready for Rebels
Kansas starts regular season tomorrow
By Tom Erickson Kansan sportswriter
Although the Kansas baseball team is still in its spring training, the regular season is approaching fast.
SECTION B
The Jayhawks will open the 1995 season tomorrow afternoon in Las Vegas with a three-game weekend series against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Kansas currently is ranked in three national polls, including a No. 22 ranking in the Baseball Weekly poll. Baseball America has the Jayhawks at No. 24, and the team is No. 25 in the Collegiate Baseball rankings.
Kansas coach Dave Bingham said the team is in the middle of its preparation period.
"Friday we begin the second part of that spring training," he said. "It's not like major league spring training in the fact that these games do count. During these next three weeks, we are going to play Southern climate competition and it will really challenge our team."
Bingham said he and his staff have set line ups for all three games this weekend.
Four starting positions already have been set, Bingham said.
Seniors Dan Rude, Josh Igou and Brent Wilhelm will play at shortstop, right field and third base.
Junior Brian Turney, who played second base last year, will be the starter in left field.
Junior pitcher Jamie Splittorf will be starting for Kansas on Friday.
Bingham said he should go for five or six innings and then freshmen Mike Terry and Robert Keens will follow.
Bingham will use a 4-1-4 inning pattern for his pitchers on Saturday's and Sunday's games.
Junior Clay Baird and sophomore Robert Garola will each throw four innings on Saturday and junior Aric Peters will team with Rude on Sunday.
The pitchers for both games who will get one inning of work have yet to be determined.
Bingham said Splittorff will be the No.1 starter in the Jayhawks' pitching rotation, followed by Baird and Garola.
The other positions will be finalized by the Kansas coaching staff during the next three weeks' games.
"Our particular questions seem to be at catcher, first base, second base and center field," Bingham said. "We will also do some rotating at the designated hitter spot."
Senior Brandon English will be moved to catcher this year, where he will work alongside junior Ted Meadows and senior Jack Wilmot.
Both Meadows and Wilmot played behind the plate in 1994.
Bingham said he would like to see more hitting from those three players this season.
"One of the things that we had hoped last year we might be able to do was to get more offense out of the catching position," he said. "We're going to put Brandon English back there at least early on to see how he responds to it."
Last season, the Jayhawks faced the Rebels in a three-game series at Hogland-Maupin Stadium to finish the regular season. UNLV won the opener 16-9, but Kansas won the other two games 13-9 and 6-5.
Igou said the Rebels brought some big bats with them to Lawrence last season.
"UNLV is the same team, basically one year older," he said. "They threw a young pitching staff at us last year. We know what we're going to expect."
"Basically what we remember from last year is their offensive display they put on us," he said. "They were hitting balls over the trees. They couldn't miss."
Bingham said UNLV has not lost many of its players from last season.
The making of 'smart basketball'
Team has brains for books, boards
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan sportswriter
The shot clock has been turned off with 10 seconds left in the Big Eight Conference championship game. The Kansas Jayhawks are down by one point. Sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn dribbles the ball at the top of the key.
Vaughn must make a decision. He could run a set play or take the shot.
During such situations, Jayhawk fans usually are confident that Vaughn will make a smart play. In fact, intelligence might be one of the best assets of this year's team.
The Kansas men's basketball team recorded a team grade point average of 2.86 last semester — its highest in nine years
The average GPA of a student on the Lawrence campus last semester was 2.82
Kansas basketball often has been described as smart basketball, which is why the Jayhawks' success on the court can be linked to their success in the classroom. Vaughn said.
"I think sometimes there is a connection," said Vaughn, who had a 3.8 GPAlast semester. "When there are two seconds left and you need a smart play, intelligence is correlated with poise."
Vaughn was among six players on the men's basketball team who earned a 3.0 or higher. No player recorded a GPA lower than 2.0.
The grade point averages of walk-on players Scott Novosel and Joel Branstrom and freshman center Travis Williams, who was declared academically ineligible for his first year, also were figured into the average.
The Jayhawks' academic success last semester can be attributed to the players recruited by Kansas.
Kansas coach Roy Williams has said that he has always tried to recruit well-rounded kids with basketball savvy — something that hasn't been lost on his assistant coaches.
Sophomore guard Jered Hause 3.81
Sophomore guard Jacque Hausel 3.80
Freshman guard C.B. McGrath 3.80
Freshman forward Laflentz 3.35
*Senior guard Scott Novosel 3.57
Six members of the men's basketball team received a GPA of 3.0 or higher last semester.
Freshman center Travis Wilhelm 3-19
- Walk on player
• Declared academically intelligent as a freshman
"We try to get the overall package," said assistant coach Steve Robinson, who serves as the team's academic coordinator. "We want kids who want to succeed, who have that inner drive and who want to graduate from college. A kid who really has no strong desire to graduate from college or be successful other than basketball is going to struggle."
Walden oversees the academic support of the men's basketball team and reports the players' status to Robinson. Walden and support services provide tutors and help players plan class schedules.
But the Jayhawks don't usually struggle because of assistance from Robinson and Wayne Walden, associate director of Student Support Services.
"It's our hope to teach them to become independent learners," Walden said. "You've got to give credit to those kids. They do the work, but hopefully we provide some support for them."
Most of that support is provided during freshman year, which is when the players must learn to manage their time.
Many freshmen find adjusting to college life difficult, but freshmen on the basketball team must distribute their time evenly among classes, studying, practice and workouts.
Weekly meetings with Walden help freshmen learn how to manage their time.
Robinson said that learning to play smart basketball was similar to studying for a test.
"It's the same thing making the right play with 30 seconds to go and you're down two points," he said.
Kansas sophomore guard Jacque Vaughn dribbles past an Oklahoma State player Monday night. Vaughn maintains a 3.80 grade point average and has one of the highest GPAs on the basketball team.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
The Kansan's Top Intramural Names
Brian James / KANSAN
Rankings for Kansas men's and women's intramural basketball teams, compiled by Chad Rader and published by Hawks And Hoops, the official newsletter of Kansas intramural basketball.
Men's Top Ten as of Feb. 8, 1995
No. Team Record Pvs Last Game
1 Dog Pound 1-0 1 Def. Light Beer, 72-45
2 Booger 1-0 2 Def. Tri-Factor, 122-35
3 Z State 1-0 3 Def. Poot-Butts, 83-18
4 Phi Delta Theta 1 1-0 5 Def. Delta Tau Delta 3, 77-30
5 The Aerial Display 1-0 4 Def. The Dogs, 74-54
No. Team Record Pvs Last Game
1 4U2NV 1-0 1 Def. Hoop Dreams, 54-23
2 Delta Delta Delta 1-0 2 Def. Alpha Gamma Delta, 35-3
3 The Pearlettes 1-0 4 Def. Revenge of Wawas, 59-32
4 K.A. 1-0 5 Def. Outta Shape, 41-16
5 KUVB 1-0 - Def. Rock Bodies, 61-9
Runner finds niche at Kansas
k-State athlete recommended young star to Kansas coaches
The description of Kansas that Gaston heard was definitely not the usual trash-talk between heated rivals. In fact, if anyone was skeptical about Kansas, it was Gaston. He wanted to visit campus before he decided to run track at Kansas.
"Todd Trask was a great runner at K-State," Gaston said. "He had attended the same junior college that I did, and he came to tell me about Kansas. I was trying to pick a school, and he told me that it would be the perfect place for me to go. I was considering west coast schools, and I'd never given any thought to the Midwest. Todd was very influential."
Kansas junior Chris Gaston didn't know much about Kansas until he talked to Todd Trask, an athlete from Kansas State.
By the end of their conversation, Gaston had heard enough.
Kansan sportswriter
By Robert Moczydlowsky
"It sounded great to me," he said. "I wanted to visit and check it out for myself."
Trask's efforts didn't stop after talking to Gaston, however. Next, Trask contacted Kansas track coach Steve Guymon, alerting him to the Santa Rosa Junior College prospect.
At Santa Rosa he was the 1992 conference Athlete of the Year, qualifying for the California state junior college meet in both cross country and track. He repeated that feat the next year and was named MVP of both the track and cross country teams.
Gaston's versatile athletic ability would allow him to fit in on almost any team.
"I checked into Chris and what he'd accomplished," Guymon said. "I called him a couple of times, and then he came on his visit. I think he realized how well he'd fit in here."
"I never ran cross country until I went to Santa Rosa," Gaston said. "They asked me to try it out, and I ended up being conference champion. Then I decided that maybe it was something that I should stick with."
It's an impressive list from an athlete that played soccer in high school instead of running cross country.
Guymon agreed, adding that Gaston's cross country ability added depth to an already strong Kansas cross country team.
"We've already got an All-American in Michael Cox," Guymon said. "Adding Chris to our team just makes us stronger. The Big Eight is probably the toughest conference in the nation for cross country, and Chris will help us improve."
Gaston already has made an impact on the indoor track season, where he is chasing a national qualifying time in the mile and the 800-meter run.
Kansas junior runner Chris Gaston, the 1992 conference athlete of the year at Santa Rosa Junior College, joined the team after talking with an athlete from Kansas State. weekend
Gaston's fastest 800-meter time this season is 1-minute, 51.48 seconds, which he ran at the Meyo Invitational last
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"My goals are pretty high for the outdoor season." Gaston said. "I want to qualify in both the mile and the 800. By the end of the outdoor season, I should be able to run 1:49 in the 800 and sub-four minutes in the mile."
Guymon said that Gaston's times would be helped by the return of seniors Michael Cox and Dan Waters for the outdoor season.
"I think Chris can qualify in both events," Guynom said.
"When the outdoor season starts, Michael and Dan will rejoin our team, and they'll really push Chris in practice. It really helps when you have someone that can push you. Competition in practice will help Chris lower his times."
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