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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014
PAGE 7
BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL
Forwards Tarik Black and Perry Ellis guard a Baylor player as he looks for the shot on Monday, Jan. 20 in Allen Fieldhouse.The Jayhawks will take on Baylor again on tonight at 6 p.m. in Waco, Texas.
Conference bearings: where Kansas stands
BLAIR SHEADE sports@kansan.com
Self expects Wiggins to bounce back after Texas
Freshmen guard Andrew Wiggins' performance against Texas on Saturday was one of his worst shooting efforts all season. Wiggins shot 2-12 from the field and finished with seven points; his lowest shooting percentage and third lowest scoring game of the season. But it wasn't just Wiggins; Kansas coach Bill Self said he didn't like how the whole team competed on Saturday.
"He has had some tough games, but I expect him to respond in a favorable way," Self said of Wiggins. "He will bounce back, all good players do, and he
certainly is a good player."
certainly is a good play Kansas will face Baylor on Tuesday and Self doesn't want the same reaction as last year, but he does like where Kansas stands right now in the Big 12. Last season, after starting, the layhawks lost three out of the last five conference games.
"I'm not surprised that Baylor beat Oklahoma State," Self said. "That Baylor team could have beaten any team in the country that night."
Loss of center Michael Cobbins during Bin 12 games
shows during Big 12 games Oklahoma State hasn't played with Michael Cobbins since Dec. 30, when the junior center torhe his Achilles tendon. The Oklahoma Cowboys haven't been the same since. Before the injury, Oklahoma State was
12-1 and ranked sixth in the AP poll. Since Cobbins' injury, the Cowboys are 4-4 and have lost two straight games against Big 12 conference opponents, including the home loss against Baylor on Saturday. Oklahoma State misses Cobbins's shot-blocking ability, offensive and defensive rebounding, and the experience and leadership he brought to the Cowboys team, Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. But even without Cobbins in the lineup, the Cowboys still have a chance to become force in the Big 12.
"We haven't hit stride yet," Ford said. "We need to continue to move the basketball and rebounding needs to be a point of emphasis, I believe they can play a lot better at this; we
Win in Stillwater builds Baylor's momentum
know we need to play better."
The Baylor Bears are trying to fight back, following their loss of six out of seven Big 12 games, to start conference play. Their recent Oklahoma State victory is a boost in the Bears' morale, because Baylor is a former preseason top 10 team that has not been playing to their expectations. Baylor's head coach, Scott Drew, believes the Oklahoma State victory can propel his team forward and give hope to the team for the rest of the season. Baylor needs to take the rest of the season one game at a time, but conquering Oklahoma State is definitely a big win and may help the team down the home stretch
of the Big 12 conference.
or the Big 12 conference.
"We realized every game in the Big 12 is hard fought, and hopefully this will give us some momentum and get us over the hump." Drew said about the win in Stillwater.
West Virginia Staten received
Big 12 player of the week This week was the first time all year a West Virginia player received Big 12 Conference player of the week honors. Junior Juwan Staten led the West Virginia Mountainers in every offensive category, with a career-high of 35 points, four rebounds and five assists during a victory against Kansas State. KS had beaten the Mountainers earlier in the season by 21 points. West Virginia's head coach Bob Huggins said during a
teleconference that Staten has been terrific recently.
"He's studied film and he has tried to learn the game," Huggins said. "He has gotten so much better with his decision making: when to go, when not to go, getting the ball to other guys, and he has been really working hard on his shooting. When he shoots that 17- to 18-foot jumper, he is hard to guard." The 6-foot-2 point guard has grown more mature this season, which has made a difference in his game. "He has grown up a great deal," Huggins said.
Edited by Krista Montgomery
COMMENTARY
Student athletes may not have bad conditions after all
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
College athletes aren't automotive assembly line workers from more than 80 years ago, working hideously long hours in dangerous conditions for little compensation and even less input.
They aren't coal miners or steel workers who courageously and silently accepted the life-threatening demands of their jobs because they feared losing that job if they offered even the smallest resistance.
There's nothing wrong with members of the Northwestern football program seeking union certification. They seek a stronger voice in the application of NCAA workplace rules that most would agree already crossed the border of archaic into the world of asinine. But don't insult those who truly understand what actual exploitation is. Calling the NCAA "a dictatorship" was ridiculous, an unnecessary leap by the fledgling College Athletes Players Association. Reforms must come, within logical reason. But the impetus of unions in this country was righting egregious wrongs. And that's simply not the case with football and basketball players at high-profile programs.
ers at high-profile programs.
They want it better. Who wouldn't?
These athletic programs are making millions from new conference television deals.
But shouldn't athletes first concede that they've already got it pretty good relative to other students?
They're not indentured servants.
The CAPA wants athletes thought of as full-time employees rather than volunteer "student-athletes."
That might prove an impossible fight.
"Students are not covered by the (National Labor Relations Act of 1935) and I think they'll have a difficult time establishing they are really employees," said attorney David Reis, an authority on employment discrimination law for Washington-based firm Arnold & Porter.
"Second, the NLRA only applies to private employers so allowing unionization under the NLRA will create lots of problems for public colleges."
And if they're employees, shouldn't they then lose some of the university protections they merit as a "student-athlete?"
there are privacy laws shielding much of their academic and personal conduct from public scrutiny because they're students. University officials are prohibited from commenting on individual students in times of conflict or concern, giving both the university and the student-athlete shelter from prying eyes. If you're re-classifying college football as a profitable private business, then doesn't that make the boosters funding the million-dollar endowments and the ticket-purchasing fan investing hundreds of dollars every year stockholders and deserving to know every little detail about the everyday lives of those 19-year-olds entrusted with the care and nurturing of their "investment!"
The athletes can't have it both ways if they want to be thought of as employees they can't be treated like an adult one minute, insulated like a child the next minute.
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