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The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Inside: Royals officials excited about David Glass' ownership of the team.
SEE PAGE 10A
Inside: UNLV faces charges by NCAA, and could face harsh sanctions as a repeat-offender.
SEE PAGE 8A
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2000
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
The Kansas track and field team begins the outdoor season today when they travel to Emporia State for the Spring Twilight Invitational. Nebraska, Kansas State and Wichita State will also compete. Eniola Aajyi, right, junior team captain, is excited to be competing outside. Kansan file photo
Track team starts outdoor season
By Sarah Warren sports @kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
Rain or shine, the Kansas track and field team is finally outside.
today marks the beginning of the outdoor season for the Jayhawks when they take to the track for the Emporia State University Spring Twilight Invitational.
"It's just nice to be outdoors," said Eniola Ajaiyj, junior team captain. "Most of us haven't competed for three weeks now, so it's great just to get back into it."
For most of the team, the indoor season concluded after the Big 12 Championships Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 in Ames, Iowa. Since then, only six Jayhawks have competed, in either the NCAA Qualifier or the NCAA Championships, or both.
The Twilight Invitational is designed to be an easy transition between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
"It's a real low-key, non-stressful meet," coach Gary Schwartz said. "It's just to get
"Most of us haven't competed for three weeks now, so it's great just to get back into it."
Eniola Ajayi junior team captain
people in the mode for outdoors."
Helping the Jayhawks get back into the swing of things are Kansas State, Nebraska, Wichita State and host Emporia State.
"This is like a whole new team," Alaji said. "We had so many people injured indoors and some athletes that only compete outdoors, so like half our team was out."
See TEAM on page 3A
Football team squeezes in last practice
By Allan Davis sports@kanson.com Kanson sportswriter
Spring break — beaches, parties,
drinking beer — appeals to football
players just as it appeals to average
students.
The difference is, football players can't skip their Thursday engagements and duck out early. They might want to get away on spring break, but they have one more practice today before they can leave.
After today's practice, the team will adiourn for spring
Allen: looking forward to April scrimmages
break and return to practice March 28. After that, they will have four sessions a week for the next three weeks, culminating in the game at 1 p.m. April 15 in Memorial Stadium.
The Jayhawks also will have a road game — a scrimmage at 11 a.m. April 1 at Shaunne Heights High School in Tecumseh, just east of Topeka. In addition to helping the team become more comfortable playing away from home, the game has another benefit.
"It's a good opportunity for public relations — to get out in different spots and encourage people to come out and support the Jayhawks," coach Terry Allen said.
In bad weather, the team practices indoors in Anschutz Sports Pavilion. A full-size, artificial-turf field is presently on top of the track in Anschutz.
Playing on artificial turf has been the biggest adjustment junior college transfer Ryan Atkinson, a defensive lineman, had to make after coming here.
See DEFENSIVE on page 3A
Thought of first-round rival leaves 'Hawks' minds ruffled
By Shown Hutchinson sports@kansan.com
Kanson sportswriter
Listen to the Jayhawks talk about their first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament, and there's no doubt that there's cause for concern.
Eighth-seeded Kansas takes on the ninth-seeded DePaul Blue Demons tomorrow at 6:40 p.m. in the East Regional in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Jayhawks have a pretty good idea what kind of team awaits them.
"They're extremely athletic and a very good rebounding team," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "They have pretty good depth, too."
"They're a heck of a team." said Nick Collison, Kansas's freshman forward. "Obviously DePaul is going to be tough."
"I think when you play a team that you're familiar with and is one that is well recognized, you tend to get up for those games more," junior Kenny Gregory said. "It helps a little to know who you're playing."
"I thought we had a real good game against them in Lawrence a year ago," DePaul coach Pat Kennedy said. "I think we're a better basketball team than we were a year ago. There's no question about that."
The Jayhawks, 23-9 overall,
know DePauff fairly well. And
that's where the cause for
concern comes into play.
The teams faced off last year in Allen Fieldhouse. The Blue Demons put a pretty good scare into the 'Hawks before Kansas was eventually able to pull away for the 74-66 victory.
The DePaul offense starts with playmaker Quentin
"I think when you play a team that you're familiar with and is one that is well recognized, you tend to get up for those games more."
Kenny Gregory
Kansas guard
Richardson, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward who leads the Blues demons with 16.9 points a game and 10.1 rebounds a game.
Richardson, a presseason All-American, has led the Blue Demons in scoring in 15 of 32 games this season, including a season-high of 32 points against UNC-Charlotte.
"The thing that sticks in my mind is that he is really tough and a great rebounder." Gregory said. "We had him in foul trouble last year so he didn't play that much, but he still ended up with around 15 points and 16 rebounds."
Kansas' Kenny Gregory tries to grab a rebound in last year's win against DePaul in Lawrence. The Jayhawks will take on DePaul tomorrow in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansan file photo.
"Quentin Richardson is a young man who I think is sensational," Williams said. Along with Richardson, the Blue Demons feature Bobby Simmons, a 6-foot-7 sophomore swingman who is second on the team in scoring and rebounds. Then there's Paul McPherson, a 6-foot-4 guard who averages in double-figures, and freshman
Actually, Richardson scored 19 points to go along with his 16 rebounds, despite playing only 26 minutes before fouling out. That production and Richardson's explosiveness haven't been forgotten by Williams.
center Steven Hunter, who leads the team with 55 blocks.
Put them together, and DePaul has compiled a 21-11 record overall.
"I think we're playing sound, defensively," said Kennedy, who is in his third year as
coach of the Blue Demons. "I've been concerned about our offense. We've just not shot the ball down the stretch. And yet, we've probably had sparts at times during the season of playing as well as anybody in the country."
By Michael Terry
Men's golf team finishes in second place at tournament
Kansan sportswriter
Up and down are two words that best describe the Kansas men's golf team's performance earlier this week at the 15th Annual Louisiana Classics Invitational in Lafayette, La.
ond behind Oklahoma State.
In addition to the second place finish, coach Ross Randall said the team was able to pick up important district points by finishing ahead of teams like Colorado, Tulsa and Oklahoma. The Jayhawks are now sec-
After a sub-par outing two weeks ago in California, the Jayhawks were able to chip through some putting problems and capture second place, seven strokes behind Arizona.
"Beating these teams now helps us down the road when it comes time for Regions," Randall said. "The top teams in each district earn spots in the Regional competition in May. That's our goal, and the higher up we finish the better parings we'll get come tournament time."
"It was kind of different from the California tournament where my ball striking was bad, and my chipping and putting was real good." Vermeer said. "This week it was my putting that really caused all my problems."
Even with all the success the Jayhawks had this week, for junior Ryan Vermeer, finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place and shooting a 219 was disappointing.
Vermeer was not the only Jayhawk having difficulty this week. Randall said that senior Jake Istnick and junior Andy Stewart both had their share of problems, even though they finished in a three-way tie for sixth place with Vermeer at 219.
"Jake made a couple of bad swings here and there that caused him a chance at the all-around title, and Andy was either playing really good at times or really bad." Randall said. "Anytime you have a chance to win a tournament, you would like to do it. We just need to get a little more consistent, and everything else will take care of itself."
The 'Hawks' second place finish was not the only good news to come out of the bayou this week — the tournament also marked the return of junior Brad Davis.
"The course conditions and weather were ideal for someone with my injuries," Davis said. "The warm weather helped my back, and the lack of hills worked to my advantage."
Davis was returning from a broken left heel and a compressed vertebrae he suffered during a fall last May. Even though his score didn't count toward the overall team score, Davis said it gave him a chance to see how his body would hold up through 54 holes of golf, without hurting the team.
Whether Davis will return to play his senior season for the Jayhawks is still up in the air.
Sports Columnist
Even after shooting 225 and finishing in a tie for 26th place, Davis said that neither he nor Randall had made a decision.
Jason Walker
sports@kansan.com
Tournament a great reason to play hooky
I'm going to give you a little piece of friendly advice.
Skip the rest of your classes today.
Oh, and don't go to class tomorrow,
either...
Now that you're on campus and went to at least one class, go home at 11:20. That's when the first game of the NCAA men's basketball tournament begins — with Kentucky versus St. Bonaventure.
This is, without a doubt, the best time of the year. When else can you sit at home, drink beer and watch basketball for about 12 hours straight for four days in a row? This is so great!
Besides, this tournament is going to be a good one. Most likely, a team will win the championship that hasn't won it in a long time. No more Duke domination — they won't even make the Final Four with Temple and Oklahoma State in their regional. North Carolina? They'll be lucky to make it past Mizzou in the first round. If they do, they can't match up with Stanford.
Oh, let me talk about Stanford. I hate Stanford. Sure, they're No. 1 in the South, but who did they play? Arizona? Oh yeah, Arizona beat them twice. The Pac-10 is so weak. Stanford loses in the Sweet 16.
So Buckeyes to the Final Four. On a side note, the Jayhawks beat them earlier in the year and, since Kansas will lose to DePaul in the first round, it will make Coach Williams feel good to have beaten a Final Four team.
Ohio State is the team to beat in the South. They were in the Final Four last year, and have lots of experience. Plus, Cincinnati is number two in the South, and without Kenyon Martin — who broke his leg last week in the Conference USA tournament — they will lose to Tulsa in the second round.
Arizona is No. 1 in the West. This is a talented Arizona team, and will go far if center Loren Woods can play. Either way, though, they are too young to make a serious title run. They'll lose to St. John's in the Elite Eight. Erick Barkley and Co. are too tough.
There's only one No. 1 seed this year that will make the Final Four: Michigan State. These guys have the number one power ranking in the tournament, according to ESPN.com, and have tournament experience. Mateen Cleaves and his Spartans were in the Final Four last year, and they know how to win. Plus, they played one of the toughest schedules in the country this year.
I think the Spartans will go, but I had to pick Iowa State in my bracket to make the Final Four out of the Midwest. You gotta love the Cyclones. They're peaking right now, and Marcus Fizer is the best player in the nation after the loss of Martin. I think it would be great for the Big 12 Conference if Iowa State could make some noise in the tournament.
Upsets to look for in this year's madness: Dayton over Purdue, Seton Hall over Oregon, Utah State over Connecticut. These three spoilers have lots of heart, and their opponents aren't playing their best right now. Besides, who knew Oregon was good? I saw Dayton play earlier in the year, and they looked good. If I remember right, they had some hellacious dunks. And UConn, well, Khalid El-Amin, I think your chub is catching up with you. You proved this year that Richard Hamilton was the reason you won the title last year. See ya.
So there you have it. Tournament in a nutshell. But you know, it doesn't really matter who wins, as long as it isn't Duke or UCLA. The funny thing about this year's bracket is that it's pretty cut and dry. Don't look for too many major upsets because the capability just doesn't seem to be there.
There are seven teams who have legitimate chances of pulling this thing off Michigan State and Iowa State in the Midwest; Ohio State in the South; Arizona and St. John's in the West; and Temple — I hate to say it — Duke in the East. And hey, watch out for Oklahoma State in the East and Oklahoma in the West, too.
As for the Jayhawks, well, just wait 'till next year.
y
Walker is a Mulvane junior in journalism.
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