SOCCER Magazine honors five women's soccer players and their coach with awards after record-breaking season. PAGE 58
SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2005
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
www.kansan.com
Sophomore guard J.R. Giddens dunks during the first half of the game against Nebraska last night in Allen Fieldhouse. Giddens played for 33 minutes and scored nine points. The game concluded in a Jawhawk victory of 59-57.
McCray ignores jeering
BY KELLI ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Not too many people outside the state of Nebraska knew the name Joe McCray before the Kansas men's basketball team escaped with a two-point home victory against Nebraska last night.
After the referees issued the double technical, the fans in Allen Fieldhouse got involved and jeered McCray for the rest of the contest. The student sections mercilessly booed him every time he touched the ball.
But after he scored a game-high 19 points and got involved in a second half skirmish with senior Kansas guard Mike Lee, it's a safe bet Kansas fans will be mentioning him in the same breath as recently graduated Colorado center David Harrison, whose every action sent Jayhawk fans into a roar of boos.
"I didn't even think to think about that," Lee said with a grin after being asked if the crowd treated McCray the same way they did Harrison. "The crowd always has our back so I knew whether I was wrong or right in that situation they were on my side."
"We got tangled up on the floor. I felt like he kicked me." Lee said. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I let my emotions get the best of me and said some things I shouldn't have said."
Lee and McCray collided with each other at the 5:31 mark of the second half, after both players dove for a loose ball. Both players rose from the confrontation heated, and after the two were separated they each received technical fouls.
During free throws the crowd went as far as to chant "You suck" at the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native.
"I just blocked that out," McCray said. "Everywhere you go, fans are going to say what they're going to say. I just kept playing hard. I am a freshman, but I just play hard and give everything that I have."
Kansas survives despite mistakes
"The ref. can make the right call and people say, 'You can't call that. You're blind,'" Lee said. "That's how your home crowd should be."
SEE JEERING ON PAGE 8B
Free throws and rebounds nearly led to defeat
BY MIRANDA LENNING
BY NIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
KANSAN SPORTSWRITER
The fans in Allen Fieldhouse held their breaths. J.R. Giddens hung suspended in the air. Nebraska guard Corey Simms released a wide-open three-pointer that would have pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year.
Whew! He missed.
That final play summarized Kansas' 59-57 victory against Nebraska pretty accurately. The Javahawks just got lucky.
"If that shot falls, we lose," senior guard Mike Lee said. "So yeah, it was luck."
With 20 seconds left in the game and the Huskers down by only two, Nebraska coach Barry Collier called a timeout to draw up a play.
"They tried to back-door Keith at the high post." Kansas coach Bill Self said. "When it got down to eight seconds they just tried to go get a shot."
That was when the Jayhawks made a defensive mistake that could have cost them the game.
The ball ended up in the hands of Simms, who was guarded by senior guard Keith Langford. Sophomore guard J.R. Giddens came over to help after Simms beat Langford on the ball fake.
According to Self, a big no-no.
"We ran to double team a guarded guy and left the guy wide open," Self said. "You have to be sound at the end of the game and stick to principles, and we didn't do that."
Kansas didn't do a lot of things. For one, they didn't make free throws. They also didn't rebound.
The Jayhawks shot just 54 percent from the free throw line and were outrebounded 43-36.
Self said if his team would have made free throws, the game wouldn't have come down to the final seconds.
"You make your free throws and you win the game comfortably," Self said. "But that is just part of being ready to play, and tonight we didn't deserve to make free throws because we weren't ready to play."
It started as early as the pregame warm-ups,when Self said he noticed that his team didn't look particularly inspired.
"I could tell in shootaround that we didn't have that much of a bounce in our step," he said.
Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, it wasn't just in the shootaround. The first 20 minutes of last night's game may have been the worst half of basketball the Jayhawkes have played all year. It took
SEE SURVIVES ON PAGE 8B
KU loses starter, gains recruit
BY RYAN COLAIanni
rcolaianni@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Despite not playing in a bowl game, University of Kansas football made major news throughout winter break.
Junior linebacker Gabriel Toomey decided to leave the Kansas football team, citing a nagging injury, and will not use his final year of eligibility. Toomey played most of the season injured and missed all of last season's spring prac
KANSAN file photo
most preseason two-a-day's while rehabilitating a shoulder injury.
"Gabe has played with great heart over the last two seasons under difficult circumstances," coach Mark Mangino said. "We will miss him and his leadership skills. He promised me that he will earn his degree this summer and that is most important."
TOOMEY
Toomey finished last season with 54 tackles, including seven for a loss. In 2003, he was a second team All-Big 12 selection by The Associated Press.
Charles Gordon, sophomore defensive back, chases down Joel Klatt, Colorado junior quarterback, at Memorial Stadium on November 8th. Charles Gordon was named an AP third team All-American cornerback
He was second on the team with 121 tackles in 2003.
The Associated Press named sophomore cornerback Charles Gordon a third team All-American. Gordon's
selection was the first since 1995 for a Kansas football player. Offensive lineman Chris Banks was named to the third team in 1995.
This season Gordon tied for first with
seven interceptions in Division I-A.
"This is a great honor, not just for me, but also for my teammates," Gordon said. "There are a lot of deserving players for an honor such as this, and just to
GORDON
The Associated Press and Big 12 coaches named Gordon a first team All-Big 12 cornerback. He was also an AP honorable mention as an all-purpose player and a coaches honorable mention at wide receiver
be considered for the team is very special to me."
***
Kansas cornerback coach Earnest Collins participated in the second annual Advanced Coaching Program, sponsored by the NCAA from Jan. 7 through Jan. 9.
"We are very proud of Earnest and his contributions to our program,"
Mangino said. "He is definitely a rising star in the coaching profession. His selection to be a part of the A.C.P. is a reflection of his talent and hard work."
The program, held in Louisville, Ky., assists minority foot- basketball with the
COLLINS
skills needed to become collegiate Division 1 coaches.
"The Advanced Coaching Program is very valuable to many up-and-coming coaches who are unaccustomed to being
SEE RECRUIT ON PAGE 8B
SPORTS COMMENTARY
In the past year, a new men's basketball coach just the seventh in the program's 105-year history made his first NCAA Tournament appearance. The football team defeated both of its rivals in the best 4-7 season in the sports history.
BILL CROSS AND
JONATHAN KEALING
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sports are changing.
Nonrevenue sports are thriving as well. The soccer team won its first Big 12 Championship and is primed to threaten for future national titles. The volleyball and soccer teams, guided by well-respected coaches, are on the verge of becoming regular visitors to the postseason.
Changing the way you look at sports
As with any semester-long undertaking, plans will change as the reporters and editors of this section learn what works and what doesn't.
A new women's basketball coach, just the first in more than 35 years, has experienced mixed success with a tough schedule.
As editors, we hope that you will help steepen our staff's learning curve with e-mail feedback and comments on the Web site.
The bowling team has established itself as one of the top squads in the country, and we have seen former track star Charlie Gruber represent the United States and the University of Kansas in the Olympic Games.
Kansan.com will become a destination for Jayhawk fans with breaking news, up-to-the-minute game coverage and, in time, multimedia content which will bring readers closer to the games.
To adapt to the changing face of Jayhawk athletics, The University Daily Kansan is changing the way it covers sports. This semester, one of the largest, most talented sports staffs in the newspaper's 100 years of production will add coverage of nonrevenue sports, such as track and field and golf, and out-of-season teams, such as soccer and volleyball.
Whatever changes we make for the spring semester, our goal is to provide readers with news relevant to fans and peers of the athletes that fans admire.
Club sports, such as bowling and ice hockey, will see increased attention, as well. The goal is to fill the pages of the Kansan with news you can't find anywhere else.
Jayhawk fans have had much to be proud of in the last year, but they are hoping for an even better conclusion. Sixteen of our peers have a chance to sing "One Shining Moment" in the shadow of the St. Louis arch on April 4, while hoisting Kansas' first NCAA Championship trophy in more than a decade.
Look at our section as fans and as peers of KU student athletes.
Highlighting the changes in sports will be the new kansan.com as well as more fact-based, timely sports commentary from three regular columnists, all of whom have spent time as reporters.
That men's basketball team has already done amazing things, and the Kansan will follow the squad until the end of its season, whether it's in St. Louis or, with deep reporting, fact-based opinion pieces and a revamped Web site so readers can follow the team when they're away from campus.
Cross is a Kansas City, Mo. senior in journalism. Kealing is a St. Louis sophomore in journalism.
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