Tell us your news: Contact Jessica Tims, jtims@kansan.com, or Matt Gehrke, mgehrke@kansan.com, or call 864-4858. SPORTS WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 1B FRIDAY,MAY 2,2003 Building Blocks Assembling top program begins with recruitment By Kevin Flaherty Kansan staff writer Early in Mark Mangino's career at Kansas State, he recruited a top-notch football prospect out of Fort Worth, Texas. The prospect was to fly into Kansas City International, where a smaller plane would fly him into Manhattan. The pilot of the small plane was supposed to meet him at the airport. But the player had disappeared. Kansan file photo Another assistant coach had an idea about where the recruit could be. After some quick research, the coach's theory was confirmed. The player had gotten off the plane in Kansas City, but he got on Missouri's shuttle and went to visit the Tigers over the weekend. He used Kansas State's plane ticket to fly from Fort Worth to Kansas City. Mangino suspects that someone from Missouri intercepted the player at the airport. "Recruiting is the lifeblood of any football program. The better the players, the better we coach." Mark Mangino Kansas football coach "He never said a word to us," Mangino said. "But at least we said we could tell his mother where he was. She thought he was going to Kansas State for the weekend." football program competitive is a year-round process for college football coaches. Coaches flood mailboxes, call prospects and schedule visits. Occasionally, the players even visit the campuses they say they are going to. Finding the right players to make their Such is the cutthroat world of college football recruiting. That is where the conflict begins. "Recruiting is the lifeblood of any football program," said Mangino, now head coach at Kansas. "There is an old saying, 'The better the players, the better we coach.' But you can't go out and just recruit — everyone wants great players." "The pitch varies by the person." Mangino said, "and it's your job to find out how to sell that particular prospect." recruiting wars can be fierce. Attempting to find what interests the prospects is key. Mangino would even venture to say it is a trick of the trade. Reasons vary from the university's academic programs to having a girlfriend close by, Mangino said. Kansas coach Mark Mangino talks to Chancellor Robert Hemenway at practice. Mangino helped Kansas land a top-50 recruiting class for next season. He was an assistant coach during the football program turnarounds at Kansas State and Oklahoma. Teams recruit very specifically in order to build their systems. Several teams want the same prospects and fight over them. It is often a split-hair decision about who goes where. Kansas spent about $330,000 on football recruiting last year. That covers travel costs for coaches evaluating talent and money spent on official visits when prospects come to campus, said Susan Wachter, chief financial officer for the University of Kansas Athletics Corporation. So what makes some schools better at recruiting than others? built its program through winning Kansas athletes, junior college transfers and the occasional player from Texas. Last year's team — with Kansan Terence Newman, JUCO transfer Tank Reese and Texan Ell Mangino's History Mangino was an active part of the rebuilding process at both Kansas State and Oklahoma through the '90s. SEE RECRUITING ON PAGE 5B K-State used to be one of the worst football programs in the nation. When Bill Snyder arrived, he Brad Zollars bzollars@kansan.com Reflections on semester rollercoaster Phew! The semester is finally drawing to a close. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The sports world has been downright crazy during the past four months, with everything from dove crushing to a strip club food binge. With so much going on, it's hard for the average sports fan to keep up. Don't worry, I've taken care of it. Through countless hours of intense research, as well as numerous first hand accounts, I have come up with the top nine unbelievable sports events of the past semester. Beware, folks — reality truly is stranger than fiction. Larry Eustachy Larry, Larry, Larry. Where should we start? It doesn't so much sadden me that the Iowa State basketball coach attended two college parties and got blitzed. It's the fact that he got blitzed on Natty Light, the beer equivalent of Pauly Shore. Eustachy did earn some brownie points, however, when he asked a fellow Kansas State party member, who was a Lawrence native, why she didn't go to Kansas where the girls were "much hotter." Just when you think you've run out of K-State insults, Christmas comes early. Al Bohl's Rhetoric Ah, the massive 10 car pile-up that was the Al Bohl press conference. The former Kansas athletics director took reporters on a wild rhetorical ride, as he compared himself to a dove just a day after he compared himself to George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Dwight D. Eisenhower and God knows who else. After this tirade, word is Bohl will turn his career attention to Director of Grilling at the Shoney's in Leavenworth. Kansas City Royals in First Place Excuse me, can you speak into my good ear? I thought you just told me the Royals were in first place. You heard right, Kansas City's not-so-lovable losers are riding sky high because of great young pitching and timely hitting. A Cubs vs. Royals World Series doesn't seem so far fetched, now does it. OK, it still does, but a man can dream, can't he? Geraldo Rivera Yeah, I know, Geraldo has nothing to do with sports, but this was so stupid, it SEE ZOLLARS ON PAGE 3B Kansas rowers to finish season with home regatta By Jason Hwang jhwang@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter It took five weeks to compete in a regatta at home, but the Kansas rowers saved the best for last in the biggest stage vet in the spring season. Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, University of Tulsa and Drake University are the other contestants set to participate in the first Novice 8 and first and second Varsity 4, Novice 8 and Varsity 8 races tomorrow. Only the Big 12 Conference schools with varsity programs — Kansas State, Texas and Kansas — can earn points toward the points trophy. The Jayhawks will participate in the regular-season finale when they host the Big 12 Invitational at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at Burcham Park on the Kansas River in Lawrence. Kansas tied with Kansas State for second place in the 2002 Big 12 Invitada. tional in Austin, Texas. Texas won the title. Catloth said competing against favored defending champion Texas and other schools on its home course in this event would be beneficial for the team and this season. "Sponsoring the Big 12 Invitational and having six teams compete here is good for the University and our team," Kansas coach Rob Catloth said. The Jayhawks defeated Kansas State on April 19 in Manhattan to win its fifth consecutive Kansas Cup by winning four of the five races. On the other hand, Texas swept Kansas in all five races in a March 29 dual at Austin. "The tension is already building for this weekend's event," senior rower Lauren Royall said. "We have a tough job ahead of us and facing these teams on our own home course will be great." - Edited by Amber Byarlay Red Raiders oust'Hawks By Steve Schmidt sschmidt@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter The Kansas softball team knew it was an underdog going into the Big 12 Conference Tournament yesterday in Oklahoma City. Unfortunately for the ninth-seeded Jayhawks, the underdog got the boot in the first round in a 5-1 defeat to eighth-seeded Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (22-39) got things rolling in the second inning after shortstop Kristi Robles ripped a 2-run triple down the right field field line. Robles ended up scoring later in the inning of a fielder's choice. Texas Tech tacked on 2 more runs in the third inning via a double by first baseman Andrea Joachims. The hit was one of six for Tech on the night. "We came out and swung the bats the first inning which was important," Tech's Bobby Reeves said. "Robles' triple with two people on was huge. We played great defense. You have to hit on all three cylinders to win games in this KANSAS 1 - TEXAS TECH 5 Team 2 3 4 5 6 7 R N E Texas Touch 3 2 2 0 0 X -5 6 2 Kansas 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 1 5 0 Pitches: Kansas- Kara Pierce (2,2), Kristen Milhoan (3,1) Texas Tech- Stines Win-Stones Save - None Loss-Pierce (16-13) tournament — you've got to have offense, defense and pitching. Tonight it all came together so I was very pleased." For the Jayhawks, that was it offensively and that was it for the season. Although Kansas tallied five hits in the game, its only run came in the seventh inning when junior centerfielder Mel Wallach scored off of a throwing error by second baseman Shayne Gipson. "This game was pretty typical of the last half of our season," Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said. "This year was so frustrating because it started out with so much promise. For us to play like we have during the last five or six The Jayhawks (26-22) did end up pitching by committee. Junior Kara Pierce got the start and went 2.2 innings, giving up the 5 runs off three hits before senior Kirsten Milhoan relieved her in the third inning. . weeks is a product of our youth and a lack of pitching depth due to some injuries." Pierce took the loss, closing her record out at 16-13. Bunge said that some lills that plagued her squad over the last couple of months came back to haunt the 'Hawks one more time. "We haven't gotten much offense, we've been erratic defensively and our pitching has been a little up and down over the last six weeks," Bunge said. "It is a frustrating way to end the season, but the exciting part for our program is that there are so many young faces back next season. We will be back and much better than ever next season because of the experience." — Edited by Christy Dendurent 6 ---