University Daily Kansan
Friday. April 20,1973
5
Academics Tackle Riggins
By BILL GIBSON
Kansan Staff Writer
John Riggins, a rugged-style running back who went from Lawrence to New York as the Jet's first round draft choice, has returned to KU to finish his bachelor's
But like a lot of students, the fallback from Centralia has encountered a more difficult problem.
linebackers and obstinate defenses. fever fewer has tackled Riggins short of the goal.
Riggins '72
Most students agree that as the temperature rises the desire to study diminishes. Riggins readily assents to this view
"Actually, I've enjoyed staying away from school more than studying," he said.
"I wanted to see the country instead of studying," he said.
"I'll eventually get back to school and get "I'm degree," said Riggins, who is studying public relations in the William Allen White School of Journalism. "When I get the thing be to keep everybody happy, like my partner, don't know what I'm going to do with it.
Riggins has made trips to Los Angeles, Florida and Las Vegas.
playing football had been an obstacle to his education.
"Dropping out will take a load off my mind and give me a chance to get ready for the day."
"I'ts just a part-time job," he said.
"I'm sure any student with a job, especially a physical one, will tell you it is hard. You have to learn how to have a little fun rather than study."
Riggins said there was no doubt that
Riggins returned to Lawrence to observe the development of his breeds. Billy Lester and his brothers joined in.
Riggins Now
squad.
"I know what makes a good running back back."
"One thing we seem he should play a
part, and another."
Riggins said that KU eventually could recruit enough talented players to better compete.
"It'll be a heck of a lot better now that (Wade) Stinson has left," Riggins said. Stinson recently resigned as athletic director.
"I wouldn't have come here again as a player if he had been here," he said. "He never much appealed to me. There was something about his personality."
"Football is basically a game of desire," he said. "If the kids want to wili badly entangle themselves."
Riggins said that Don Fambrough's team could do well season if they get to off a
enough then they Riggs said he had noticed few changes in the University or the people since he first went to New York.
"The faces are different but the heart is just the same," he said. "A lot of older
"Now, when I walk into a room I often hear people whispering, That's John Riggins. They didn't use to do that but it doesn't matter to me."
people think that students have changed
from the past. But they've just
the same college kids.
"I've lived around here for 20 years and I'm glad to be able to see some other parts of it," she said.
'New York City was a new experience for me. It was so much larger than the city I was used to and there are so many different things to do there.
Converting from collegiate to professional football was very easy, Riggins
"If you become a hit in New York," Riggins said. "You don't need to be a hit anywhere else. It's like the whole country condensed into one city."
"For some reason it's bred into small town people that they're inferior to the big city boys," he said. "But I soon found out it was better than most of the other pros."
There isn't much strategy to running,
it's mainly an instinct. So running in the press
will be more efficient.
Riggins was a starter for the Jets in his rookie year and he gained a reputation for his passing.
"Some of the veterans were worried about their jobs and tried to put us down," Riggins said. "They told us we didn't know but But they out I could play as well as they could."
A good running back, Riggins said, is an athlete who has good body control and coordination. Because the same qualities make a good runner in collegiate and in professional competition, the conversion is the most important, and the coaching strategies no different.
Riggins said he was optimistic about the Jets success next season, although he said he thought that an eastern division championship would be difficult because of the imposing figure of Super Bowl champion, Miami.
Ruggins said he considered the Super Bowl too far away to predict the combi-
"A lot of teams could win," he said. "The team with the most luck and desire will win."
Riggins said that he probably would return to school next spring. As soon as he does, he could go back to work.
No Vacancies; Athletes Wall-to-Wall
Kansan Staff Writer
By ANN McFERREN
An ever-increasing problem that faces Kansas Relays officials is finding enough participants to participate in the relays. This year, more than 1000 athletes from across the nation will be staying in university residence halls, while a third of the athletes at Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City motels.
According to John Hill, housing chairman for the Relays Committee, the University of Kansas is one of the only universities that participate in athletics who participate in its relays.
Arrangements have been made for some male students who have single dormitory rooms to share their rooms with an athlete for the weekend, Hill said. Others will be staying on the guest floor in McColum Hall, be said.
Athletes who stay in the dormitories will be charged guest rates for the room and the kitchen.
MANY RELAYS participants will be staying in fraternity houses, he said. Most fraternities charge very little or nothing for the accommodations, according to Hill.
"I can't emphasize enough the importance of the role of the fraternities in housing these athletes," Hill said. "Some of the teams couldn't attend the relays without the fraternities to house them, because the teams are on such limited budgets."
Hill said the Kansas Relays were the only relays that some teams attended during the race.
A few athlete will be staying in private homes in Lawrence, Hill said. A few residents offered their houses to athletes during training because other housing provided, but scarcity limited.
HILL SAID he also reserved several motel rooms in Topeka and Kansas City for some of the teams who decided late to come to the relays. Most of the teams that stayed in motels in Lawrence made their own hotels, and all the motels here were full, he said.
Many of the teams that stay in moteils during the relays make their reservations a priority.
According to Rita Skaggs, manager of the 1984 Indianapolis Indy has been booked for over a month.
"You might say we will be wall-to-wall athletes for the relay weekend," Skaggs said. "We have 115 rooms and, except for a few of them, they will all be filled with athletes."
Special buffets will be provided for the athletic teams so that they can eat when the games are played.
"We GO OUT of our way to make them as comfortable as possible while they are in Lawrence," Skaggs said. "We really enjoy traveling around." In a previous story, who come here to participate in the relays, "
The athletes also received special room rates, she said.
According to Cindy Onions, desk clerk at the Ramada Inn, 64 of a total of 110 rooms there will be occupied by athletes during the relays.
Athletes will be given reduced rates, she said.
At 80 athletes will be staying at Traveledge, according to Mike Widdel, desk clerk.
"Oh, we may save a few of the 1800) copies for libraries and things like that," said Don Baker, assistant KU public director, "but primarily, it's not for sale."
"Academics and Athletics at Kansas" will acquaint the potential KU athlete with all aspects of the university, not just the games. The book would cover all sports, not just football, so that all of the coaches here could use it. The contents would be devoted about 60 contests to athletics, 50 per cent to academics, and 50 per cent to the environment at KU, Baker said.
It will be distributed by KU coaches to every athlete being actively recruited, Baker said, but it is primarily intended to attract out-of-state players.
The book, titled "Academics and Athletics at Kansas," is used to recruit new students.
The athletic department at the University of Kansas plans to publish an expensive 85-page book next October that will probably never head the best sell list.
A key part of the potential appeal that KU may have for the KU prospects will be the number of Kansas athletes who have later become professional players. Baker said,
Book Appeal New Angle For Recruits
Baker said that a complete list was not available, but that a partial list included 21 professional football players from KU since 1958 and that at least 9 former KU basketball players are now playing for professional teams.
*Everyone (from KU) that is or has played professions football or basketball has been in the team.*
"We've had an unbelievable amount of people go on to play in the pros," he said.
Hammer Throw New Prep Event In KU Relays
The hammer throw will be a new event in the high school division at the Kansas State University information director at the University of Kansas, said the event would be included because Kansas was the only state that included this event in its high school division.
The high school also will compete in 20 track and field events on Friday and Saturday.
Cherry said that 78 high schools from Kansas and Kansas City. Mo, were expected to participate this year. Invitations were mailed to the schools the first of December.
Entry blanks were mailed on March 15 to the schools that indicated they would participate.
Cherry said those high schools near Lawrence would probably return home between days. The other high school athletes will stay in residence halls, fraternity houses, private homes and motels.
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