Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Kansas swimmer Adrienne Turner begins national competition in Athens, Ga., today.
Pro Basketball
Thursday
March 18, 1999
Section:
B
Page 1
SEE PAGE 3B
Who plays in the NCAA tournament tonight? Check out our updated NCAA brackets.
SEE PAGE 4B
Pro Football
The Kansas softball team hits the road and heads to the Airtouch Capital Classic today in Sacramento. Calif.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Commentary
Jayhawks' effort ignored by CBS sportscasters
Spring is in the air.
With just two days before spring break, students are getting themselves ready for a week of beaches, booze, and plenty of warm, warm sun. On Friday, the campus will clear out as students head anywhere but here.
Except for me.
I'll be here in Lawrence, kicking it with the rest of the kids who couldn't get their act together for spring break. Who knows, maybe it will be a blessing in disguise. I might actually figure out what I'm going to do with my life after graduation.
Harley
Ratliff
sports@kansan.com
Doubtful.
Doubtful.
But, until that hap.
pens, I figured I'd leave you party-goers with some goodies before you are too inebriated to read...
■ Weren't you all a little perturbed by the announcing during Sunday's Kansas-Kentucky game? Normally CBS's Billy Packer and Jim Nantz do an admirable job covering basketball, but for some reason they decided to turn last Sunday's game into a Kentucky lovefest.
It seemed that every chance they got, Packer and Nantz were praising the Wildcats for their great play, their great tradition and their great coach. If you didn't know better, you would have thought that Kentucky was winning by 10-15 points the entire game.
Even when Kansas did something good, Packer and Nantz were too busy lavishing Kentucky with compliments to notice.
You can't help but wonder what might have been if Roy's boys had made it to St. Louis . . .
Speaking of the Jayhawks . . . Even though Kansas lost in the second round, you couldn't help but be proud of the Jayhawks' performance against Kentucky. The entire team played with heart and hustle, putting together its best performance of the season. Every player on the team was focused and intense, especially Ryan Robertson, who seemed to take his playing to another level.
How long has Scott Padgett been at Kentucky?
To the chagir of my Russian Foreign Policy professor, my beloved Manchester United finished off Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the European Champions League yesterday.
Sorry, Professor Danieri, but Rupert Murdoch never loses at anything.
As much as I can't stand British boxers, Lennox Lewis clearly is the best heavyweight in the world. Anyone who had the privilege of watching the great sham at Madison Square Garden Saturday saw Lewis treat Evander Holyfield as is he were a scared little boy. From start to finish, Lewis peppered Holyfield with clear, crisp shots.
Maybe before the rematch Holyfield should spend a little less time preaching the gospel on the Trinity Broadcast Network and a little more time formulating a serious boxing strategy.
Did you ever think that the Oklahoma Sooners will be the final Big 12 team left in the NCAA tournament?
Did he bring it up, said that I did.
But you can't take anything away from the Sooners. They beat two quality teams, Arizona and UNC-Charlotte, and now have a chance to doing even more damage in St. Louis. A win against Michigan State is hardly out of the question. Of all the No.1 seeds, the Spartans appear to be the most vulnerable.
Even if the Sooners lose, you can bet that they will be a pre-season Top-10 team next year and star forward Eduardo Najera will be on the short list for player of the year.
Boomer Sooner, baby.
Ratliff is a Norman, Okla., senior in journalism.
Scott Russell, Windsor, Ontario, freshman, is a member of the Kansas track and field team. Russell finished fifth at nationals this year. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
Thrower from Canada sets records at Kansas
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
As a high school senior in Windsor, Ontario, Scott Russell had never heard of the 35-pound weight throw.
Much like the hammer throw, the weight throw is a mix of technique and brute strength. An athlete will spin in a circle three or four times, twirling the 35-pound ball above his head, pivot and release the weight.
But unlike the hammer throw, a traditional Olympic event, the weight throw is relatively new and reserved for indoor meets.
"It's really only an American event," Russell said. "Up there, we had the javelin and shot put, but not the weight throw."
When Russell earned a track scholarship to the University of Kansas, the javelin and shot put were his bread and butter.
But when he separated his shoulder before the indoor season of his freshman year, the event he'd never heard of became his main course.
A right-handed thrower, Russell was unable to practice the shot put, but the weight throw enabled him to keep practicing. In the weight throw, an athlete grips the weight with his left hand, and wraps his right hand over his left. Most of the weight is then supported with the left arm.
"It was the only event that I could practice because of my shoulder. But, I think that's the reason that I excelled so quickly." Russell said.
As a freshman, Russell placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championships and broke the Big 12 Conference record. It was a record that he would fifth four more times this season, and he finished fifth at nationals this year.
The weight throw had given Russell an opportunity to showcase his ability, but it was an ability that almost did not make it to Kansas.
Russell, who was a four-sport athlete in high school, received basketball scholarship offers from Marquette, Eastern Michigan and Detroit universities. Detroit received an NCAA tournament bid this year and upset UCLA in the first round.
Although Russell does not regret his decision, he concedes that it would have been fun to play in the NCAA tournament.
What about for Roy Williams and the Jayhawks?
"It'd be fun to go to the Roy Williams basketball walk-on camp." Russell said.
At 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds, Russell would be intimidating on the court. As it is, he is intimidating on the field when he twirls the 35-pound weight above his head and hurls it more than 70 feet.
That ability made him the third-ranked thrower in college this season, demolishing the competition all season.
"I learned early that he always goes out and pushes himself harder and harder," said Lorri LaRowe, Kansas throw coach. "He goes for more every time, in competition and practice."
Russell's parents, Don and Cheryl, saw that competitive nature early and encouraged Russell to play as many sports as he wanted.
He played football, basketball, track and volleyball in high school and junior high. When he spruced seven inches between his sophomore year and senior year of high school, basketball and volleyball became easier. At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Russell averaged close to 19 points and 12 rebounds a game in basketball but he enjoyed volleyball even more — especially hitting a volleyball.
"When you hit a ball and tee off on somebody's head, making them look pretty stupid, well, that's a lot of fun," he said.
Football seniors show off for NFL
See KANSAS on page 3B
By Michael T. Riga
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The National Football League followed the yellow brick road into Kansas yesterday, as 15 NFL coaches and scouts stopped by Anschutz Sports Pavilion to evaluate the talent of eight Javahawk seniors.
The seniors, which included Kansas standouts Michael Allen, Hanson Caston, Dan Dercher and J.J. Johnson, were asked to complete a series of strength and agility tests, ranging from the 40-yard-dash to bench press.
Dercher, a senior offensive lineman was the only participant in yesterday's drills to be invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month. Yesterday's workout proved to be a chance for the other seniors to show that they can take their games to the next level.
"Only a selected number of guys get to go to the combine, so today is really important for them," Jayhawk coach Terry Allen said. "For as many scouts that are here today to come and take a look at these guys, I think it's great."
For the scouts and coaches, yesterday provided a chance to find a "diamond in the rough" who can become an impact player for their respective teams.
While no Jayhawk is projected to be a high draft pick (no Kansas player is listed on draft guru Mel
"You never know when you'll find the next Anthony Munoz or Joe Montana," Chicago Bears offensive line coach Bob Wylie said.
Dercher stopped participating in yesterday's workout after pulling a hamstring while running the 40-yard dash, but the inactivity won't hurt his status because of his participation in the combine.
"I just want to get drafted," said Dercher, who played offensive line for Kansas last season. "I don't care where, and I don't care by who. Everyone's goal growing up is to get drafted, and I think it's realistic."
"I if you better at the combine than I do here, my best scores count." Dercher said. "It's basically a win-win situation."
Dercher turned the heads of many onlookers, among them St. Louis Rams' representative Ted Plumb.
One Jayhawk who has a high likelihood to be drafted come April 17-18 is Dercher.
Kiper's Top-50 list), often players drafted in the later rounds can turn scouts into geniuses. 1998 NFL MVP Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos was drafted 196th overall in the 6th round of the 1995 draft.
"Certainly we feel that there's some talent here at Kansas that will probably be drafted." Plumb said.
Plumb knows the area well, having coached under former
Jawhawk coach Dumfamourn from 1979-73.
"Anything you can do to get exposure to the coaches always hebs." Dercher said.
On the other side of the coin is senior running back Dustin Curry. Having rushed for only 130 yards and two touchdowns last season, Curry was relying on a strong workout to get a chance to play professionally, but sickness held down his scores, Curry said.
"I really didn't put up any amazing numbers in the drills and
Kansas senior J. J. Johnson gets ready for a timing drill at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Eight football players worked out in front of NFL scouts yesterday. Photo by Mahan Andersson / Kansan
didn't receive a lot of playing time last season, so if the scouts look at those two things, my chances aren't too good," Curry said.
If his career is through, Curry will try to attend graduate school.
For some seniors, however, the wait continues.
"It's my dream to play in the NFL," Dercher said. "Hopefully I can just stick on there."
— Edited by Clint Hooker
'Hawks win another unscheduled game
Bv Matt Tait
By Matt Tait
matt@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
The Kansas baseball
Ottawa University 10-3 in Lawrence yesterday in another previously unsched-
The game was scheduled to replace a game that was to be played at Creighton University. However, the Creighton game was canceled because the field was deemed unplayable.
The win was the Jayhawks' fourth in a row and improved the team's record to 7-12 overall, and 3-6 in the Big 12.
Kansas' continued offensive explosion, including 13 hits, and solid defense were keys to the win.
"I'm very pleased with our performance today," Coach Bobby Randall said. "That game was well-mitched and well-played defensively."
was well-pitched and well played delicately. The 'Hawks committed only one error, and behind the performance of seven different Jayhawk pitchers, gave up only three runs.
Sophomore Brian Schriner, who had been out the last couple of weeks with an arm injury, started the game and pitched three innings, giving up six hits and three runs in his first game back.
Offensively, the 'Hawks focus was toward the top of the order as the top three hitters provided nine of the 13 hits.
Sophomore shortstop John Nelson was four for five with a single, two doubles and a triple. Nelson just missed baseball's coveted cycle, in which a player hits a single, double, triple and
After Schriner left, senior Chad Schuster; juniors Mark Corson and Pete Smart; sophomore Brandon O'Neal, and freshmen Grant Williams and Jeff Davis all pitched one inning to preserve the win.
home run in the same game.
"Our first three hitters were really the story of the game," Randall said. "To combine for seven runs and six RBI really tells you how they are contributing."
The hits pushed Nelson's hitting-streak to 10 games.
Sophomore Doug Dreher continued to make contact also, as he was two for four on the day and delivered two RBL.
Despite the fact that the game was a fill-in, both Kansas and Ottawa played fundamental games offensively and defensively.
"You've got to tip your hat to Ottawa today," Randall said. "They played a hard, clean ball game."
Kansas next game will be 3 p.m. Friday at Hoglund Ballpark against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska, 13-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, is coming off of a 50-3 victory against Chicago State Tuesday and has won four in a row.
Edited by Melody Ard