BASKETBALL: Gov. Bill Graves to honor team tonight. SEE PAGE 2B. SOCCER: Oklahoma forward signs with Kansas. SEE PAGE 2B.
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Contact Sarah Warren or Levi Chronister at (795) 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
SPORTS
1B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
COMMENTARY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Those of you who are experiencing withdrawal from the NCAA tournament can get a quick fix of a little Jayhawk basketball during the next few weeks.
Jessica Scott jscott@kansan.com
Former Kansas basketball stars display skills in NBA playoffs
Four former Kansas stars are fighting to advance in best-of-seven series, which likely could end with one or more of them in the NBA Finals later this month.
The Dallas Mavericks are tied 1-1 with the Sacramento Kings and the Detroit Pistons hold a 1-0 advantage against the Boston Celtics. All four Kansas players in the conference semifinals took a different route to the NBA, and all four have a legitimate chance of winning the big one this season.
The eldest alumnus, Manning already has a championship ring from his days at Kansas, but after 14 years his Mavericks can give him another. This 35-year-old has been stuck on the sidelines for the entire playoffs because of an injury he sustained during the season. Still, Dallas holds a 58-25 league mark. After Manning bowed out, the Mavericks needed someone to fill the void and keep the team at the top of the league standings. Enter...
Kansas fans have plenty of incentives to tune in to upcoming NBA playoff games.
Danny Manning
Raef LaFrentz
After beginning his career with the hapless Denver Nuggets, LaFrentz was traded mid-season along with teammate Nick Van Exel to the Mavs, and things started to look up.
LaFrentz stuck around for his senior season and became an All-American, but he never earned the NCAA championship title that has eluded most Kansas basketball players. Now his new team desperately needs LaFrentz to improve on his postseason averages of 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
Scot Pollard
Unlike former teammate LaFrentz, this Kansas alumnus need not be a huge contributor for his team. The Kings' star-laden roster that includes Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Mike Bibby is strong enough with Pollard's meager 3 points and 4 rebounds per game. Sacramento is a nice match for this free-spirited California native. He has been known to wear a ponytail and paint his fingernails this season — not a huge surprise to Jayhawk fans.
It's no coincidence that three of the six best NBA teams have former Kansas athletes contributing. The strength and character of the Kansas program has molded these guys into the professionals they now are. And while each one has a legitimate shot at earning an NBA title, the Kings have the experience, talent and determination to make it to the finals. Pollard will be the lone Jayhawk adding a new piece to his jewelry collection at the end of the season.
Arguably the most talented Kansas basketball player ever, this 25-year-old already has established himself as one of the league's best offensive weapons. Pierce is averaging more than 28 points and 8 rebounds in the playoffs. Boston would not have made it to this point in the season without Pierce on its roster. After an all-star season and a multi-million dollar paycheck, I'm sure he's patting himself on the back for leaving school a year early.
Scott is a Haven sophomore in journalism.
Paul Pierce
Athlete forgoes pros for Peace Corps
Bv Matt Norton
Many of Kansas' athletic heroes graduate to the fame and riches of professional sports.
Kansan sportswriter
When senior distance runner Katy Eisenmenger finishes her college career at the NCAA championships in June, a two-year stint in the Peace Corps will be the coveted reward for her historic season.
Eisenmenger said that although she loved running, she had always
"There's the possibility that could happen, but it's still not really anything that I desire to continue doing."
thought her career would end in college, not the professional ranks.
Eisenmenger will begin her twoyear stint with the Peace Corps in September. Although she doesn't know yet where she'll go, she is looking forward to it, she said.
After the Peace Corps, she plans on going to medical school.
So after the four-year grind of
pounding out thousands of miles on the track and the roads around Lawrence, she's ready to take a break from running.
"I'd rather spend this summer with friends and family than training," she said. "It's not really going to get me anywhere in the long run. It will just be nice to say I did it."
Distance coach Doug Clark said he hadn't tried to talk Eisenmenger into continuing her training, know-
SEE EISENMENGER ON PAGE 8B
Did Kansas athletics
make the GRADE?
It's been a busy year for Kansas athletics.
COMMENTARY
Terry Allen was fired and replaced by Mark Mangino. The men's basketball team went 16-0 in the Big 12 conference and made the Final Four, but was countered by the women's team's 0-16 Big 12 record. Scott Russell broke track records, and the soccer team made the NCAA tournament for the first time.
With everything that's gone on the past nine months and the school year wrapping up, we felt it was time to take a look at how each Kansas athletic team ranks based on this season and next.
Sarah Warren swarren@kansan.com
Is there a Kansas athletic team with a grade less in doubt? Although the Jayhawks dropped their national semifinal game to the eventual champions, the Maryland Terrapins, they reached their first Final Four since 1993 and developed three outstanding freshmen. Drew Gooden announced his intentions to enter this summer's NBA draft, but Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich will
Levi Chronister lchronister@kansan.com
Men's Basketball—A
return. And the maturation of Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien and the signing of juco transfer Jeff Graves gives the team and its fans every right to expect a return to next year's semis.
With coach Stan Redwine in his second year at Kansas, the track and field team saw its best results in years, the men's team finishing
Track-A
eighth at the NCAA Indoor National Championships. Senior thrower Scott Russell is the healthiest he's been at Kansas and has the national title and record to prove it. Fellow seniors Charlie Gruber and Katy Eisenmenger have led the distance runners to incredible successes, including their most recent at the Cardinal Invitational. Gruber finished first in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:41.08, which is an NCAA automatic qualifying time, and Eisenmenger took third in the same event, also running an NCAA automatic time of 4:17.19, which breaks the old Kansas women's record by five seconds.
Tennis-A
Winner of the year's "Biggest Shafting" award at Kansas. Coach Kilmeny Waterman's girls finished 16-6 overall and tied for the second-best record in the Big 12, but are only second alternates for the NCAA tournament, behind four teams with losing records. Waterman, the Big 12
SEE REPORT CARD ON PAGE 3B
Baseball team looks to stay hot in game against Rockhurst
By Ryan Wood Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team plays its final non-conference game at 5 p.m. today at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Jayhawks (21-24) are also on something of a hot streak, winning five of their last seven, and would like to continue that streak in today's game.
"I think we obviously need to get the momentum going before the Oklahoma series," freshman catcher Cole Armstrong said. "It would be good for us."
Its opponent is Rockhurst (35-19), an NCAA Division II powerhouse that has won 13 of its last 17 games.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2002
Rockhurst is a significantly smaller school than Kansas, but
that doesn't make the Jayhawks' task any easier. Kansas has played five non-Division I teams this year, and despite winning all five games, it trailed at some point in four of the five. Coach Bobby Randall said Division II and NAIA teams have a shot at beating the big schools on any given day.
"Baseball's more of a skilled sport than a physical sport, so you always have that opportunity," Randall said. "There's so many factors in baseball that make it more of an evenly matched game."
Randall said Rockhurst may well be the strongest of the non- Division I teams Kansas will see this season.
"They're a dangerous Div.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 8B
Kansas' baseball team faces Rockhurst today, an NCAA Division II team that has won 13 of its last 17 games.
Williams begins recruitment
By Brent Wasko Kansan sportswriter
For some people, summer is a time for vacations and relaxing on the beach.
But Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams has several long months of recruiting ahead of him, leading up to the early signing period starting Nov. 13.
Kansas has signed Jeff Graves, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward from Iowa Western, and Moulaye Niang, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound forward from El Cajon, Calif., for next season. Williams has said he expects Graves to make an immediate impact on the team, but that Niang might need more time to adjust to the intensity of big-time college basketball.
Any other holes on the roster next season will likely be filled by walk-on players.
Lawrence high school senior Stephen Vinson, a 6-foot-3 point guard, has indicated he plans to walk-on at Kansas. Vinson was the Sunflower League player of the year and a second-team all-state pick. He averaged 15.9 points and eight assists per game his senior year.
Jeremy Case
"Basketball-wise, it was just knowing the coaches are pretty topnotch," Vinson told PrepStars.com. "Also, knowing it's everybody's
J. R. Giddens
dream around here to play there, and it's my dream too."
The Jayhawks have five scholarships available for the 2003 recruiting class, and two of those might already be filled.
Williams is close to wrapping up his recruiting for next season's freshman class, and he has turned his attention to the top prospects for the 2003 season.
Kansas recently received oral commitments from two Oklahoma prep stars Jeremy Case, a junior from McAlester, Okla., and J.R. Giddens, a junior from Yukon, Okla.
Giddens is known for his ability to slash to the bucket and for his athleticism. He is one of Oklahoma's top track athletes, with a personal best high jump of 6-feet, 10-inches.
Case is more known for his shooting ability. He averaged 25.7 points per game his senior season, drilling 54.8 percent of his shots from the field and 44.7 percent from three-point range.
Oral commitments are non-binding, so both Giddens and Case have the option of signing with other schools.
The Jayhawks' coaching staff has several other players in mind for the 2003 freshman class.
Kris Humphries, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward, visited Lawrence April 19. TheInsidersHoops.com, a national basketball recruiting network, labeled him a Top 25 prospect. Humphries, who is from Minnetonka, Minn., has been recruited heavily by 10 schools, but according to The St. Paul Pioneer Press, he has narrowed his choices down to Duke and Kansas.
David Padgett, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward, came to Lawrence April 26. Arizona, California, Kentucky, North Carolina, Stanford and Kansas have all expressed interest in the Reno, Nev., native.
Closer to home, Kansas is recruiting Keith Wooden, a 6-foot-8 forward at Lawrence Free State High, and Quinton Day, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Kansas City, Mo.
Wooden is ranked as the 36th best prospect nationally by Prepstars, and Day is ranked as the 57th best prospect. Both attended the Kansas-Kansas State basketball game Feb.27.
Kansas is also setting its sights on Shannon Brown, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Maywood, Ill.; Leon Powe, a 6-foot-7
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8B
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