JAYHAWK
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Basketball
Inside Sports today
The Kansas women's golf team begins its spring season today at the Suntrust Lady Gator Invitational.
SEE PAGE 3B
Yesterday's game - Kansas vs. Oklahoma State
KANSAS
21-7.1-14-
RANKED NO. 22
79
OSU 12-13,4-11 72 UNRANKED
WWW.JHAWKBBALL.COM
SECTION B, PAGE 1
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1999
Pride leads team in overtime win
By Sam Mellinger Kansan sportswriter
An All-American candidate usually is expected to step up when her team needs her, and that's exactly what Lynn Pride did.
Pride scored all but two of her game-high 28 points after halftime and led a late comeback by the Kansas women's basketball team in its 79-72 overtime win last night at Oklahoma State.
Pride was just one of four at intermission, but hit 10 of 11 shots after the break and scored eight points in overtime. The junior also had six rebounds and three steals to off-set six turnovers.
"Lynn does everything," said Kansas coach Marian Washington. "I just think she's a great player. She plays both ends of the court...she made the big shots for us; I'm just really pleased."
Defensively, Pride was assigned to guard Oklahoma State's Jennifer Crow after it became apparent that the All-Big 12 Conference guard was the Cowgirls' main offensive threat.
Crow finished with 20 points, including eight of nine free throws.
Kansas trailed 18-6 early in the first half, and by as much as 11 in the second half, before unleashing a comeback fueled by an 11-4 run.
With the score tied and 6.5 seconds left in regulation, Kansas put the ball in Pride's hands, but she was whistled for traveling as time expired.
Once overtime started, Kansas showed why it was ranked No. 22 as the Jayhawks led throughout and outscored Oklahoma State 16-9. The
Cowgirls trailed by just one, 73-72, with about 30 seconds left, but Kansas scored the last six points on free throws and secured the road win.
"It's always a good win when you win on the road, and it's definitely a good win when you beat Oklahoma State," Washington said. "They're a little bit down this year, but I feel like they're always a team that's very capable."
Nakia Sanford scored 18 points and led the Jayhawks with nine rebounds. Brooke Reves added 16 points.
Kansas entered the game as the Big 12's worst free-throw shooting team (63 percent) but hit 25 of 28 against Oklahoma State. Reeves (36 percent), Sanford (46 percent) and Jennifer Jackson (57 percent) have been particularly bad at the line this season but were 18 of 19 last night.
"The difference in the ball game was that they shot free throws better than they have all year long," said Oklahoma State coach Dick Halterman. "We missed some crucial free throws as well. We played hard enough to win, but we missed some shots and didn't come up with the stop at the right time."
Kansas improved to 21-7 overall and 11-4 in the Big 12, while Oklahoma State dropped to 12-13 and 4-11.
"We let it slip away from us," said Jessica Spinner, who scored 12 points for the Cowgirls. "We came back, but we just couldn't stop Lynn Pride from going on the baseline and killing us with lauvns."
Kansas will play its final regular season game at 3 p.m. Saturday in Kansas State.
— Edited by Melody Ard
Junior guard Lynn Pride releases the ball above an Oklahoma defender last Saturday. The Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State last night, 79-72. Photo by Dan Elvasyk / KANSAN
After the season's gone
Jerod Haase finds success in post-basketball career
By Torrie Jones Kansan sportswriter
The road that leads most players to the legendary hardwood of Allen Fieldhouse is paved with hard work, discipline and a rigorous practice regiment. And as conventional wisdom states, hard work is well rewarded — a fact illustrated by the luxuries afforded to the Kansas men's basketball teams.
Jerod Haase cuts a piece of the net after a 1997 tournament game. Haase had success off-court recently, publishing both a book and workout video. Kanas file photo
Jerod Haase reaped the benefits given to players and enjoyed immense popu-
family among Kansas basketball fans because of his role in the Kansas men's basketball nucleus that won three conference championships and compiled an 88-13 record.
Haase: Is working on his degree in business
"J er o d brought a great deal of intensity and intelligence to the floor, as well as preparation and dedication," said Matt Doherty, assistant coach.
Haase finished his Kansas career fourth in three-point field goals, sixth in steals and ninth on the school's all-time assist list.
"Being named to GTE was my greatest personal achievement, because it incorporated both academics and athletics." Haase said.
Haase's on-court savvy spilled over into the classroom as well. He was named to the Academic All-Conference team three times, and in 1997 he was named to the GTE All-American Academic team.
Although many former Jayhawks continue playing for professional teams, others, including Haase, quietly continue their education or enter the job market after they've hung up their crimson and blue jerseys.
Haase set up his first post-basket.
ball career move during his senior year by keeping memoirs of his final season of eligibility and turned a year of memories into the popular book, "Floor Burns", that has gone to press five times.
"The idea wasn't to make a successful book, but to make a documentation of my senior year because I knew it would be something special," Haase said. "When I'm old, it's something to show the grandchildren."
The grandchildren also will be able to watch Grandpa Jerod in his work out video: Working Toward the Next Level.
Haase is working on his master's degree in business by day and occupying many of his nights by playing intramural basketball at Robinson. Though he is keeping his options open, Haase is interested in coaching basketball on the collegiate level.
The 30-minute video is split into six five-minute segments that concentrate on specific fundamentals of a solid off-season workout.
"Jerod showed that he had great perseverance and a strong sense of how to work with people while playing." Doherty said.
Edited by Melody Ard
Kansas players might not land first-team spot for All-Big 12
Chenowith needs a little luck to land spot in top group
By Kevin C. Wilson
Kansas sports writers
Kansan sportswriter
When the Big 12 all-conference teams are announced March 2, don't be surprised if the Kansas Jayhawks fail to land a single player on the first team.
If the voting goes as expected, it would be the first time since the 1993-94 season that the Jayhawks would not have a first-team all-conference selection. Despite scoring 49 points in the last two games and leading the Big 12's second-ranked team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, Kansas center Eric Chenowith will be hard-pressed to garner one of the top-five slots.
"He's probably the most overlooked big-man in the
league, Kansas coach Roy Williams said Tuesday night on his weekly radio show. "Everybody talks about (Texas)' Chris Mihm and (Nebraska's) Venson Hamilton and they really leave Eric out."
The 7-foot sophomore's statistics in league play compare favorably to that of Mihm and Hamilton. Although the Cornhusker center ranks second in the Big 12 in scoring with 17.9 points in game, while
Williams has a point.
Williams: Says
Chenowith may be
overlooked
Mihm's 14.1 ppg are 13th and 14th respectively, the trio is ranked 1-2-3 in rebounding and blocked shots. Mihm pulls down a conference best 11.5 rebounds per game, while Hamilton and Chenowith are close behind with 11.0 and 10.9 respectively. All three centers have blocked 39 shots in league play, but Chenowith's have come in 15 games, while the other two have recorded theirs in 14 games.
One reason why Chenowith might not be included as a first-team selection is his sporadic play in the Big 12.
Before the Oklahoma game, he had struggled through a five-game slump in which he averaged 10.6 points, shot a horrific 37.7 percent from the field and an equally appalling 52.2 percent from the free throw line.
See CHENOWITH on page 4B
Commentary
Fans' spirit contributes to special Senior Night
The spectacle at Allen Fieldhouse Monday night was my first Senior-Night experience at Kansas because last year I failed to pick up my tickets for the finale against Oklahoma. I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
The fieldhouse pulsed with energy
As Ryan Robertson, T. J. Pugh, Jelani Janisse and Chris Martin said their goodbyes to the Allen Fieldhouse faithful, I realized just how powerful the atmosphere of Kansas basketball can be. All of these was paused with energy
The renthouse pu throughout the first half and part of the second. Then, as the Cowboys began to claw their way back into the contest, the ghosts of Jayhawks past began to stir.
As Oklahoma State pushed the Kansas defense to its limits, the stands began to rumble. The electricity of the student section had been unwavering all season, but
Randy Withers
sports@kansan.com
on Monday, it was spreading. The much-maligned alumni and season-ticket holders even showed some intensity for the first time this year. The stands erupted and the rafters quaked as something amazing happened. For the first time in 1999, the "Phog" descended on Allen Fieldhouse in a deafening storm of fan support that exploded all over Eddie Sutton's Cowboys.
Everywhere you looked, there was a story. The seniors were playing their last-ever game in Lawrence, and the Hawks were trying to make their way into the 64-team NCAA tournament field.
But what about the alumni? Student opinion had turned against them because of their late-game tendency to scatter like rats from a sinking ship. For the fourth year in a row, a capacity crowd of 16,300 witnessed all of Senior Night. Hopefully, something more than the seniors' farewell kept them in the stands. Regardless, they were out in force and staved until it was finished.
Then there was Ryan Robertson's performance. Yes, he only hit two of 10 shots from the floor, but he was solid when it counted. Robertson put up a desperation three-pointer just as the clock expired in overtime. He was fouled by the Cowboys' Adrian Peterson, Granted, Robertson did admit that he put a little extra oomph into it to draw the foul, but who wouldn't in that situation?
With no time on the clock, Robertson stepped to the line and ended his final game on James Neaismith Court in storybook fashion. You just can't write better scripts than that, folks. As I watched Robertson calmly, coolly nail the shot and run across the court in celebration, only one word came to mind: Jordanesque.
The shorts on-backwards incident, a less-memorable moment among many Monday night, drew the attention of Kansas fans soon after the opening tip. Oklahoma State's Doug Gottlieb went through warmups, introductions, and more than seven minutes of the first half with his shorts on backwards. The crowd chanted repeatedly, "Shorts on backwards" until the Cowboys called timeout at the 12:40 mark, allowing Gottlieb to rectify the problem. Robertson called it the most annoying chant he'd ever heard. But fans weren't the only ones that noticed the guard's fashion faux pas. ESPN's SportsCenter had plenty of footage that just might land Gottlieb in the next edition of "Plays of the Week."
The senior speeches were just as memorable to me as the game itself, if not more so. Janisse, Pugh and Robertson all gave great speeches, but Chris Martin's was my personal favorite.
Martin grew up dreaming of someday donning the crimson and blue to represent the University of Kansas against the best the nation had to offer.
6
See WALK-ON on page 4B
15