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The University Daily Kansan
They said it...
Sports
Indiana coach Bobby Knight on his motivational techniques: "A lot of them I wouldn't want to talk about at a church social or a PTA meeting."
Inside: The Kansas softball team will play Miami (Ohio) today in the Florida State Invitational.
SEE PAGE 4B
Inside: Kansan staff members make their predictions for the men's Final Four.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2000
SEE PAGE 6B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Women begin NCAA play tomorrow
By Chris Fickett sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
Coach Marian Washington will be running the show today when the Kansas women's basketball team practices for its NCAA first-round game against Vanderbilt.
"They've had their two days, and that's it," said Washington, who allowed her juniors and seniors to run two practice sessions earlier this week.
But that does not mean that the coach is cracking the whip on her eighth-seeded Jayhawks too hard. Washington wants her team to be loose and ready for tomorrow's 9 p.m. game against the ninth-seeded Commodores in Ruston, La.
"Their last three practices have been pretty good," she said. "I think that the biggest challenge is telling them to relax."
Keeping her team loose might avoid a repeat of the Jayhawks' Big 12 tournament quarterfinal defeat to Nebraska. Washington said that when the 'Hawks pressured Nebraska in the second half, they were playing in fear of losing—not with a winning attitude.
"When you get in that kind of situation, you're really going to struggle," she said. "So we have to
remember that kind of experience."
The Nebraska game also served as motivation for Lynn Pride, an honorable mention pick on the All-America team.
"Our Big 12 was disappointing, but we have the tournament to look to," the senior forward said. "Right now, we have nothing to lose."
Another point of emphasis is their offense. The Commodores play mainly zone defense, which has given the Javahawks fits.
Toward the end of the season, the 'Hawks' offense was stymied by zone defenses in defeats at Missouri and Oklahoma.
Offense worked against the Jayhawks in their Big 12 tournament opener, but in a different way. Nebraska's Nicole Kubik dropped a tournament-best 32 points in the Jayhawks' 80-67 defeat. They'll want to avoid a similar breakout tomorrow night from Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson.
Fortunately for the Jayhawks, the improved health of 6-4 center
Anderson, a 6-foot-6 freshman post, averages 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game and is very athletic in the paint. In the backcourt, 5-5 junior Ashley Smith, who averages 3.6 assists a game, leads Vanderbilt.
Nikki White and point guard Jennifer Jackson could help offset the Commodores' key players.
And the team's mental health has improved, too. All disappointments about the Jayhawks' seeding have given way to hope that the volatile nature of the tournament could work in their favor.
Kansas realizes that it could be the catalyst of a tournament upset. But only if it can win its first-round game and carry its energy into a probable second-round tilt on Monday with No. 1 seed and host school Louisiana Tech.
"We're anxious to fill that possibility and shake it up a bit," Washington said.
TOMORROW'S GAME
Who: No. 8 seed Kansas women vs. No. 9 seed Vanderbilt
When/Where: 9:07 p.m. tomorrow in Ruston, La.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1320 AM
Probable starters:
Leavine (29.9)
| | Ht. | Yt. | PPG |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| F | Lynn Pride | 6-2 | Sr. 17.5 |
| F | Jaclyn Johnson | 6-1 | Jr. 11.2 |
| F | Brooke Reves | 6-1 | Jr. 12.2 |
| F | Brooke Reves | 5-11 | Jr. 14.3 |
| F | Jennifer Jackson | 5-11 | Jr. 8.2 |
| Vanderbilt (20-12) | | | |
| F | Chantelle Anderson | 6-6 | Fr. 15.3 |
| F | Zuzana Klimesova | 6-2 | So. 14.2 |
| F | Chavonne Hammond | 5-4 | So. 14.2 |
| F | Maki Nakamura | 5-5 | Sr. 3.7 |
| F | Jillian Danker | 6-1 | So. 7.1 |
Kansas coach Marian Washington will run the show today at the women's basketball team's practice. Earlier this week, juniors and seniors ran the sessions. Photo by Jay Shepard/KANSAN
Where did the easy games go?
30 minutes after 8 vs. 9
1. Duke
16. Lamar
The Jayhawks don't mind that they are being overlooked as title contenders. But a handful of quality teams are eager to prove the critics right — early.
East Regional
Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
6:40 p.m.
8. Kansas
9. DePaul
5. Florida 12. Butler
4. Illinois
13. Penn
Sports Columnist
By Shawn Hutchinson sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
Kansas will be looking for a little respect tonight.
The Jayhawks, 23-9, will be playing in their 11th-straight NCAA Tournament when they tip-off against the DePaul Blue Demons, 21-11, in the East Regional at 6:40 p.m. in the Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Jayhawks haven't lost a first-round game since 1978, which is a streak of 16 consecutive victories in the first round. Their overall NCAA Tournament record is 58-28, and they will be making their 29th overall appearance in the tournament. And yet, Kansas seems to be the forgotten team this year.
A fifth-place finish in the Big 12
Conference standings and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament will do that to almost any team.
Let them forget about us," said Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich. "Let everyone forget about us. Let us just go out and do what we have to do."
What Kansas will have to do is knock off a plethora of top-ranked teams to reach the second round, the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight and eventually the Final Four.
Other teams in the East Region? Fifth-seeded Florida, a Southeastern Conference power with a 24-7 record; fourth-seeded Illinois, a team that walloped Kansas 84-70 during the regular season; third-seeded Oklahoma State, which beat the Jayhawks twice this season by a combined total of 52 points;
See MEN on page 2B
Mike Rigg
ports@kansan.com
Blue Demon Richardson: the Jayhawk who got away
TOWGA
What's wrong with the Kansas basketball team, you ask?
That's right — T.O.W.G.A. — better known as "The One Who Got Away."
Specifically, DePaul superstar guard Quentin Richardson. He is a one-man scoring machine, a rebounding maniac, and certainly will make some NBA lottery team very happy if he chooses to leave college after this, his sophomore year. But on Friday, his season will be finished. The Blue Demons don't have enough depth around Richardson and fellow supersophomore Bobby Simmons to make a significant run in the tournament.
A regular ending for an extraordinary player.
On Friday, the Jayhawks will dispose of DePaul — but then have their season end on Sunday with a loss to Duke. A regular ending for an all too average team.
In the ultimate of ironies, Richardson is a superstar without a team, while Kansas is a team without a superstar.
Separately, the teams constitute college basketball's equivalent of polar opposites. DePaul's fortunes rely solely on the shoulders of Richardson — he has led the Blue Demons in scoring 18 times and rebounding 19 times. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, lack the consistent go-to player that pulls the team's overall talent together.
The irony of the situation? Both parties could have had each other and done something spectacular this March. Richardson could have been a Jayhawk, which could have, in turn, made Kansas the top team in the nation. Funny how two teams' fortunes can rely on a decision a 17-year-old made two years ago.
Out of high school, Richardson was one of the most highly touted players in the nation. A McDonald's All-America at Chicago's Simeon High, Richardson was heavily recruited by many top programs, such as eventual national champion Kentucky. But when signing day neared, Richardson had his choices down to two schools: Kansas, who was on its way to a No.1 ranking and a top seed in the NCAA tournament, and DePaul, a Catholic school in Chicago that was in the midst of a 7-23 season.
Richardson visited Lawrence for late night in 1997 and — according to a source in the Kansas athletics department — gave everything short of a verbal commitment that he was going to enroll at Kansas.
However, Simmons — Richardson's high school teammate — committed to DePaul, and soon after, Richardson followed. Kansas never recovered, stringing together two consecutive disappointing seasons.
Now, just imagine if Richardson had chosen the Jayhawks. Add his 17 points per game to Kansas' roster, and the Jayhawks easily are the number one team in America. All the talk of the decline of Kansas basketball never would have taken place, Roy Williams would be Coach of the Year, and the Jayhawks would have rolled to their fourth consecutive Big 12 Conference title.
See DEPAUL on page 2B
Naps may be key as baseball team prepares for Oklahoma State
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Amanda Kaschube
Ask baseball coach Bobby Randall about his team's 14 wins, and he sounds less than exuberant.
He probably should for a team that tailed only 14 wins all last season.
red only. "It means nothing," he said. "That was last year, and this year our goals are double that. There are lots of ways to look at a record. We're not looking at what it is, but what's ahead."
What's ahead for Kansas, 14-8, is a three-game series starting today in Stillwater, Okla., against Oklahoma State, 12-7. The 'Hawks will spend the
remainder of their spring break at Hoglund Ballpark, where they play Rockhurst on Tuesday, Arkansas on Wednesday and Missouri for three games starting March 24.
"Our schedule is almost half over, and the next half of it really heats up — and it starts with Oklahoma State," Randall said.
Kansas and Oklahoma State have similar programs: Both are tied for fifth in the conference with a 3-3 record, both have ERAs about four and both have performed well in their last five games. Although Kansas is 2-3 and Oklahoma State is 5-0 in the last five games, the Jayhawks' wins have come against
BASEBALL DATES
At Oklahoma State
3 p.m. today, 2 p.m. tomorrow, 1 p.m.
Sunday
3 p.m. Tuesday against Rockhurst at Boglund Bolkoff
3 p.m. Wednesday against Arkansas at Hogwoll Ballard
Missouri at Hoglund Ballpark, 3 p.m.
March 24, 2 p.m. March 25, 1 p.m.
March 26
tough competition.
"The next series and all of spring break is a turning point for us," said senior Shane Wedd. "Oklahoma State is a middle-of-the-road team, just like us."
Now, Randall may make Smart take another nap before he pitches on Sunday.
Junior pitcher Pete Smart took a two-hour nap before last Tuesday's game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and he threw six shut-out innings and earned his fourth win.
But the 'Hawks have a secret weapon in the matter: napping.
"We play at 1 p.m., so he may have to get up early and then take his nap mid-morning," Randall said. "Athletes are very superstitious, and I'm all for another nap if it convinces him to throw well. I might bring my pillow, too."
Smart, 4-3, has been the most consistent member of the pitching staff. He leads the
(6)
team with seven starts while carrying a 2.79 ERA and 25 strikeouts. His nap Tuesday might have helped him throw his second shut-out of the season, with help from sophomore reliever Grant Williams in the seventh.
"The nap was the best thing I ever
lone," Smart said. "I felt physically
relaxed, and it gave me more pop on my
last ball."
The well-rested 'Hawks will defend their 8-3 road record while in Stillwater and then try to vindicate their 6-5 home record. And while other teams head to warmer climates, Wedd said Kansas was fortunate to play at home.
"My freshman year we were in Ames, Iowa," he said. "It couldn't be any worse that that."