Volume 124 Issue 144
kansan.com
Friday, April 27, 2012
As the football beat writer for the Kansan, I had the unenviable task of trying to pry interesting quotes from then-coach Turner Gill — the king of clichés.
During my first road trip covering the football team's game against Southern Miss, my colleagues and I were stranded outside M.M. Roberts Stadium because of a communication error. After two hours, our taxi driver finally arrived to take us back to our hotel. Unfortunately, he was completely hammered. The beer bottles clanked on the floorboard as he sped and swerved our shuttle back to the hotel.
My worst memory is easily when I made a stupid, rookie mistake and lost my awesome dream job halfway into the football season. I worked hard to return to The Kansan and rise to my current position as associate sports editor. But shortly after starting, one high-ranking Kansas athletics official asked me if I won my job in a contest.
Daily Kansas, I couldn't help but think of all the stories and experiences I have collected while covering Kansas sports.Several of those stories are unpleasant memories I've tried filing away. It seems at times I have been snake-bitten in my two years as a student journalist.
But the best story from my two years is you (yes, yes) reading my Friday columns. I got a rush of pride every time I saw one of you reading one on the bus. My face lit up every time one of you sent me feedback, good or bad.
I learned that Baylor and the staff at Floyd Casey Stadium puts on perhaps the best media brunch buffet in the country. In fact, I learned that several times that morning. (Note: I could have filed the hours after the pregame gorging as a major negative.)
The fact that some of you care enough to read this transfer student's still-developing ramblings truly humbles me. And while my time here is done, I am confident someday your eyes will once again meet my text on some other platform.
I'm also confident I will have a new laptop when that time comes.
I have come to think that volleyball-beat writers should receive some sort of hazard pay, because while covering Kansas first conference home game last fall, a rogue volleyball off the palm of an Iowa State player smashed my laptop into pieces. Needless to say, every contest against Iowa State is now a rivalry game for me.
Edited by Anna Allen
In preparing to pen my final column for The University Daith Kemeran I need this body
Looking back on my work
But for all the downs over the last two years, there have been just as many ups to pull me out of my ruts.
I got to pick the brain of Sam Mellinger, the lead sports columnist for The Kansas City Star, who talked to my sports staff about attaining a "rock-hard writer's body"
I've had the privilege of writing two front-page columns, one in the wake of the Turner Gill firing and the other on the eve of the final men's basketball Border Showdown game. I made sure to grab several editions of those issues, and they're currently somewhere in my car under a pile of Wendy's bags and ketchup-covered napkins.
SPRING CLEANING
Senior quarterback Dayne Crist looks on as his team finishes drills Tuesday afternoon during practice.
WATCH FOR THESE FIVE
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Saturday marks the beginning of a new era for Kansas football. The Jayhawks will play in their annual spring game, as coach Charlie Weis and his new staff will have their first opportunity to show of the team's improvements to Kansas fans.
Here are five players to keep an eye on when the Blue team faces the White team at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Senior quarterback Dayne
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
No other player on the Jayhawks roster has created buzz like Crist has since he signed on with Kansas in late December. The Notre Dame transfer was the top-ranked quarterback in his high school class and will have his first chance to flaunt his talents on Saturday.
Weis referred to Crist as a man among boys earlier in spring practice, and no other player has higher expectations on Saturday. Crist said he just hopes to be efficient during the game, and that his main goal is to have everyone leave the field in good health.
Senior wide receiver Daymond Patterson:
No player during Turner Gill's two seasons at Kansas was more entertaining than Patterson. Along with the widely popular videos, "DP and AJ take on KU" Patterson was one of the most electric players Kansas has had to offer.
After his season-ending injury in the first game last season, Patterson took a redshirt and will
have a second chance at his senior campaign. He led the team with 60 catches in 2010 and will be a top target for Crist once again in 2011.
Senior defensive end Toben
The former running back is now in his third season with the defense and will be crucial player for the Jayhawks this season. With so many defensive struggles for Kansas last season, Opurum will have to continue to elevate his play and become the defensive presence that Gill and his staff first thought was possible.
He led the team last season with four sacks, seven hurries and 10.5 tackles for a loss. He'll be the anchor for a defense that looks to be much improved under new defensive coordinator Dave Campo.
Sophomore wide receiver Justin McCay;
In 2009, McCay was listed as a five-star recruit by scout.com. He signed with Oklahoma, but after a redshirt year followed by limited playing time last season, McCay transferred back to his home state of Kansas.
Because of a limited number of available participants, the Jayhawks will have their defensive lineman play for both teams during Saturday's game, giving Opurum many opportunities to get the fans excited about Kansas' defense in 2012.
the NCAA's denial of a waiver that would allow McCay to play this season for the Jayhawks, he'll play Saturday, and should turn heads in Lawrence.
He's a potential threat at receiver that Kansas has lacked since Dezmion Briscoe was drafted in 2010. While Kansas is appealing
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Junior quarterback Jake Heaps:
Heaps, like Crist, was the number one ranked quarterback pros
Heaps,a transfer from Brigham Young University, will not be eligible to play for the Jayhawks this season. He will be eligible in the spring game and should be the starting quarterback for Kansas, opposite Crist.
pect coming out of high school, and came to Kansas with a load of hype behind him. Kansas fans will get a glimpse of the future on Saturday, as they'll have their first
opportunity to see Heaps take the field.
Edited by Nadia Imafidon
TENNIS
Chilean freshman adjusts, leads singles players
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
Freshman Maria Belen Ludeja returns the ball in her singles match against Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. Khanevskaya was defeated 6-4.
CORBIN MIHELIC
cmihelic@kansan.com
But she didn't let those challenges hinder her performance. By the beginning of March, Luduena had yet to lose a singles match while playing for the Jayhawks, and her 7-0 record propelled her to a No.
Two months ago, freshman Maria Belen Ludueña was generally hesitant to take part in interviews, even as her success on the Kansas women's tennis team continued to flourish.
Even the surface of a tennis court was different. In Chile, she played all of her matches on clay courts, which demand a different style of play from the hardcourt surface of Division I tennis.
Looking back, however, her discomfort at the time was completely understandable.
Why? She felt her English wasn't up to par.
"When I came here, I thought the first three months would be so difficult," Ludueña said of the playing surface adjustment. "It's more fast so I need to play differently, but it's good and I prefer it."
In January, Ludueña (who goes by Belen) moved to Lawrence from Curico, Chile, more than 5,000 miles away. So many things were new: the English language, American culture and above all, college life.
118 ranking in the ITA Division I singles standings.
Success in competitive tennis wasn't new for Ludueña, though, as she was already one of Chile's best junior players years before coming to the United States. At 16, she made her country's U16 National Team, and traveled to compete in both the South American Cup and World Cup for her age division.
Ludueha began the season at No. 4 singles for Kansas, but her immediate success bumped her up to the No.3 spot by the sixth match, a position she would hold for the rest of the year.
"It's very encouraging and very exciting to see that somebody, after only having been here for two-and-a-half months, is already ranked," coach Amy Hall-Holt said. "That's pretty exciting."
She even moved schools and cities in order to pursue her athletic career. Curico, a city slightly larger than Lawrence, lacked the adequate competition and coaching that her tennis dreams demanded, so Ludueña transferred to a private academy in Chile's capital, Santiago.
"In my city, you can't practice like a professional," Ludueha said. "I went to Santiago to practice in this academy, and it was a very good choice because after that I played in very good tournaments."
The Kansas coaching staff got in contact with Ludueña through the
coach of her U16 National Team, who directly knows Kansas' assistant coach German Dalmagro, anArgentina native. When she arrived, she was warmly welcomed by a team that had lost its No. 1 player, senior veteran Ekaterina Morozova, for undisclosed reasons before the season even started.
"She's adapted and adapted very well," Hall-Holt said. "The team is helping her become better and she's helping the team become better."
Although the rest of season may not have gone as planned for the Jayhawks, Ludueña's 14-7 singles record in 2012 is the best on her team. A notable statistic, Ludueña was 5-0 this season in matches where she split the first two sets with her opponent.
But Ludueña has appreciated her time at Kansas for much more than her athletic career, even though tennis is essentially what gave her the opportunity to come to the United States. She has built lasting relationships with her teammates and coaches. "I feel so comfortable here because my teammates are so, so nice," Ludueña said. "I can speak with anyone about personal problems, German or with coach, I feel like I have a little family here."
Edited by Nadia Imafidon
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Verdi leaves Kansas for head coaching gig
Kansas women's basketball assistant coach Tory Verdi has parlayed the Jayhawks' postseason success into a new head coaching job.
Eastern Michigan announced
Verdi as its new head coach Thursday
afternoon.
Verdi is a two-year
Verdi
veteran of coach Bonnie Henrickson's staff.
"The last two years have been unbelievable and this past season was probably the best basketball experience I have ever had," Verdi said in
Verdi served as the acting head coach at Columbia University from February through April in 2005. In
a press release. "Obviously it's very difficult to leave, but I'm excited for where I'm going."
addition to his time on the college circuit, he also has experience as a WNBA assistant, serving as an assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun.
Matt Galloway
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