6B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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SPORTS
FRIDAY.FEB.15,2002
BUDDIES
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wear Vaughn's No.11 on the back of his uniform. He said the expectations have been difficult for him to live up too.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Miles hasn't buckled under pressures of success. He started all 24 games this season and has lead the team in assists, averaging 6.4 a game. On Jan. 9 in a game against Nebraska, Miles had 12 assists—the most-ever assists by a freshman in University history. Also, his 43 steals rank him second on the team.
Freshman point guard Aaron Miles works the ball down the court against Iowa State's Ricky Morgan. Miles and freshman teammate Michael Lee grew up together in Portland, Ore., before coming to Kansas.
Miles has struggled in other areas, though, especially shooting the basketball. He averaged 20 points a game in high school, but has only averaged 6.7 a game for the Jayhawks. His 41.7 percent shooting from the field is the worst percentage of any starter. He also has the second most turnovers on the team, throwing the ball away 72 times this season.
"I was hoping to do better than I'm doing," Miles said. "I had high expectations of myself, which I still do. I have a lot of stuff to work on during the off-season."
Miles said he felt uneasy when he showed up for the first day of practice with the team, but his teammates, especially Lee, provided him with confidence and put him as ease.
"Mike is my boy. It was big to have him around," he said.
"Everyone on the team is real cool. So, even if Mike and I weren't cool right now for some reason, we have the other players around us that would make us feel comfortable."
Lee said he was still satisfied with his decision to play at Kansas, but like most players, he wished that he had the opportunity to play more.
In high school, Lee was a star basketball player. He started for the team and averaged 19.7 points per game his senior season. He also received first-team All-State honors in Oregon.
Lee said he envisions better days in the years to come.
Lee's experience with the Jayhawk basketball team has been different. He typically plays only 3.6 minute a game, often coming in when games are completely out of hand. When he has come in, Lee hasn't been overly impressive. He is 11-for-27 from the field and averages just 1.4 points a game.
"I'd like to play more," he said. "I understand that I have a role on the team. When I get the chance to play, I should appreciate it. At times, I slip up, but I've been trying to go out there and have fun."
Miles said the lack of playing time had been hard for his friend.
"In high school, he played a lot of minutes and got more attention," Miles said. "He didn't use to siting down. He's a great player and his minutes
will increase. He can shoot the ball and is a great defender."
Friends forever
Lee said his relationship with Miles hadn't changed much since they became friends long ago, but they do see each other more now than ever before. They live together, practice together
and play together.
Lee said spending that quantity of time together had put strain on their relationship.
"We argue more now than ever," Lee said. "Back home, we didn't see each other all day long. Now we get on each other's nerves, but I guess that's what good friends do."
Miles and Lee haven't had
seasons as good as they had envisioned, but they have adjusted to life as freshmen and remained friends through the ups and downs of playing college basketball.
Contact Wasko bwasko@kansan.com. This story was edited by Joanna Miller.
Contact Wasko at
Officials may award gold to Canadian pairs skaters
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Two gold medals?
The International Olympic Committee wouldn't rule out the possibility that a second gold medal could be awarded to the Canadian pairs skaters as a way to end the judging controversy that has dominated the Winter Games.
The union's meeting is scheduled for Monday.
IOC member Kevan Gospel said the International Skating Union hadn't discussed such a proposal, but added, "I'm not saving it can happen."
rewarded if any evidence of wrongdoing was uncovered.
Canadian officials said they didn't want Elena Berezhaya and Anton Siharulidze stripped of the gold medal, but they believed Jamie Sale and David Pelletier should be
In 1993, the IOC awarded a second gold medal in synchronized swimming from the Barcelona Games to Canada's Sylvie Frechette. The IOC's executive board agreed that Frechette was placed second because of a judging error and should be awarded a gold.
The IOC's decision did not affect Kristen Babb-Sprague of the United States, who was originally awarded the gold.
French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne is at the center of the controversy in Salt Lake City.
Didier Gaillaguet, head of the French Olympic committee and the country's figure skating federation, said Le Gougne was pressured before she voted for the Russians Monday night.
During an interview, he said she was "somewhat manipulated,"but he denied any wrongdoing by his federation.
But yesterday, Gailhaguet said his remarks had been misinterpreted.
Le Gougne is one of five judges who favored the Russians despite a technical error.
She voted along with majority, which included former Eastern bloc members Russia, Poland, Ukraine and China.
International Skating Union rules prevent judges from commenting publicly about decisions.
IOC director Francois Carrard said the skating chief assured Rogge that the ice dance competition, often the subject of disputed judging, would "be presented in the most proper way" when it begins Friday.
Russian takes gold in men's skating
The Associated Press
When the 21-year-old Alexei Yagudin was done, he collapsed to his knees, then kissed the ice. He knew this was a moment of a lifetime, and by the time he reached the "Kiss and Cry" area, he was bawling. He had won the gold medal in Olympic figure skating.
The quick-witted Russian, who spends much of his time in the United States, said he was showing his appreciation for his part-time home.
"I just fell to my knees and
His head was buried in his hands while the 5.9s and 6.0s flashed across the scoreboard after last night's performance. He became the first man at any Winter Olympics to score more than one 6.0.
kiss the ice because I live here and won the gold medal here," he said.
"I was just thinking of the hard times I went through," said Yagudin, who had a high fever in Nagano and was plague by injuries last season. "Last season was like hell, but I am strong
He joined 1994 Olympic gold medalist Alexei Urmanov and '98 winner Ilia Kulik as Russian champions. The 1992 gold medal went to Victor Preneko of Ukraine, who was trained in the same system that had produced the current men's dynasty.
and I just showed that. It is one of my best."
Americans Tim Goebel, Todd Eldredge and Michael Weiss finished third, sixth and seventh respectively. This was the first time since 1992 that an American had won a medal in the event.
American skater electrifies crowd in short-track race
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Apolo Anton Ohno stepped out from behind the wall and thousands of fans who've never seen a short-track speed skating race burst into wild applause.
Forget the hype. Enough of the controversy. It was time for one of America's best Olympic hopes to hit the ice Wednesday night.
Ohno began his quest for four medals by finishing second in his 1,000-meter heat, good enough to push him to Saturday's quarterfinals.
He came back to anchor the U.S. team that won its semifinal heat in the 5,000 relay, delighting the sellout crowd of 15,394 when he burst away from the Italian team with about seven laps to go. Ohno finished off the victory by gliding across the line on one skate, punching a fist in the air.
"My heart rate definitely went up," he said. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."
Ohno didn't have a chance to win any medals on the opening night of this crazy sport — the women's 1,500 was the only final. Not that it mattered. The fans made it clear who they came to see.
"Ohno! Ohno!" was the roar of the upper deck.
Anotherfan had up a sign that said, "Oh-No! Oh Yes!"
The 5-foot-7 teen-ager, nicknamed "Chunky" for the stumpy body that allows him to virtually lay on the ice in the turns, showed enough flair to leave everyone satisfied.
Ohno, also bothered by the flu, is expected to win more medals than any other American — maybe even four golds. He ranked first in all three individual distances during his last full World Cup season and was part of the world championship relay team.
But Ohno also was tainted by controversy, stemming from allegations by another skater that he conspired to fix a race at the national trials so a close friend also would make the Olympic team.
An arbitrator ruled there wasn't enough evidence to throw Ohno off the team, and his accuser withdrew the complaint.
MEN
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steals with a 2.52 average. He also scored 19 points against Missouri.
Williams said Baylor posed some challenges for his Jawhawks.
"You look at their stats and they've really done a good job in a lot of areas," he said. "The one thing where they have struggled some is the rebounding, so we've got to make sure we make that a positive in our favor. They have also shot the ball well from the three-point line."
A Kansas victory against Baylor would give the Jayhawks a huge advantage in the Big 12 standings. Simien said the Big 12 title is on everyone's mind, but the team can't get too carried away.
"Being undefeated in the Big 12, we know that everyone is going to come out and try to knock us off and end our perfect conference season," Simien said. "By all means, I don't think that this last part of the season is going to be any easier than the first part of the season." Notes:
- Kansas junior forward Drew Gooden, who leads the team in scoring, missed practice yesterday because of illness. Williams said he didn't know exactly what ailment Gooden was suffering from but that it was obvious Gooden was sick.
"Drew doesn't feel good or look good." Williams said. "When he was in my office earlier today, he said he was freezing. I could see that he was sweating. Hopefully, this is just one of those 24-hour things."
Williams said if Gooden was still sick tomorrow, Simien would start in his place against Baylor. William made several comments at his weekly press conference yesterday about his reaction to a recent University Daily Kansan column. The column claimed that Williams was "a man that won't go to bat for the flag" because the use of ROTC during pregame festivities at home basketball games had been temporarily suspended because of timing issues.
"It's been a very disappointing time." Williams said. "Tuesday, I had to spend all my time wondering how something like that could happen. That hurt. For somebody to make some of those accusations and statements — it was not a pleasant day. I'm glad it's over with."
Contact Wasko at bwasko@kansan.com. This story was edited by Jenna Goepert.
SOFTBALL
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game of the season against Brigham Young.
UNLV brings a 3-4 record to its own tournament. The Rebels, like the Jayhawks, competed in the Fiesta Bowl Classic last weekend. Kansas and UNLV also played in the UNLV Classic a year ago with the Rebels winning 2-0.
"we did a good job last weekend, and we just need to carry it into this weekend," senior left fielder Christi Musser said. "We'll still be tested this weekend, and we can play a lot better than we did last Friday."
Tomorrow, Kansas plays Cal-Poly and Oregon. Both schools are 3-2 so far this season. The Jayhawks game against Cal-Poly will be the first meeting between the schools.
The lahawks are not ignoring the importance of every game in the Classic, but playing better in their second shot at California is definitely a focus.
"I think this time we're definitely going to be ready for them," senior third baseman Megan Urquhart said. "We know what they have, and I think it's better going in as the underdogs because right now we really don't have anything to lose, and they do. And especially coming off last weekend with the last three wins, we right now have a lot of confidence."
Seniors Christi Musser and Katie Campbell are coming off good performances at the plate last weekend. Musser, who was chosen as the season's first Big 12 Player of the Week, hit two home runs and finished with a .545 batting average in the tournament.
"It's really exciting for the team for her to do well," coach Tracy Bunge said. "It's a big boost for the team. She had a very good weekend."
Campbell started all five games as the designated player and tied Musser for the team lead with six hits, including four for extra bases. She finished with an .462 average for the weekend.
Contact Brox at abrx@kansan.com. This story was edited by Molly Gise.
IF KU SCORES > YOU DO TOO! Get these savings on purchases each Monday following a weekend Men's Basketball game.
60-69 points scored = 10% off
70-79 points scored = 15% off
80-89 points scored = 20% off
90-99 points scored = 25% off
100 and above scored = 30% off
Discount valid on all KU merchandise, school and art supplies, general books and greeting cards.
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