WEDNESDAY, APRIL9, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Washington
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
what is the most memorable moment you have of this team?
MW: It was probably the last game against Iowa State, and I say that because we could have easily folded. I mean, my gosh, I had every reason going into our home game with Iowa State to expect a win because we had played so well against them at their place. It was a tremendous disappointment to have not performed as well, so going into the tournament, it was important seeing how well they were going to rebound from it. I'll remember that.
RG: Lauren Ervin and Sharita Smith are highly touted recruits coming in next year. How do you think they'll adapt to Division 1 play?
MW: They're going to have that many more players with a lot of experience to be able to help them. I felt a lot of our freshmen were just feeling their way through, even though we had Leila and Blair (Waltz), it just wasn't as easy for them. Now you have a host of them who can help out in different ways.
RG: Al Bohl announced that you would be back for a 31st season.
Was there a time in the past year or two in which you thought your job was in serious jeopardy? Did you expect to be back next year?
MW: I felt that we were making some headway. I think if a coach can't recruit, there's no way, no matter who you are, whether it's Pat Summit (Tennessee) or whomever, you're only going to be as good as the
talent you've got. I think that bringing coach (Tim) Eatman back has helped. When Lauren Ervin said she was coming here, it was a major step forward. I've always felt that I'm my own worst critic, and if I truly felt within my heart that I couldn't get this thing turned around, then I wouldn't have any hesitation. I don't necessarily have anything to prove, but I am not someone who gives up, so I had to take some time and make sure I was doing things for the right reasons. I think I'd like to bring this program back to where it's been. I only hope that we'll get the same kind of attention when these kids start performing the way I know we will. We have had so many great years, and if we had had maybe a little more attention given to our program, a little more respect, I don't think we'd necessarily be as deep in the hole as we found ourselves. It's amazing what having the big fan-base can do for you. We're talking about getting a nod in the tournament. You look at our tournament positions in the number of years that we made the NCAA Tournament, we've had a hard challenge, but it was always based on whether we could turn the numbers out. Look at Kansas State and the crowd they're getting, look at the six years it took for them and look at the crowd they had prior. Maybe all of this is to bring this thing around to Kansas to be responsible for all of our programs in the way of support; we have to have it. I think the media has to help us too. I'll take all of this attention as long as we have it when things are more positive.
RG: Would you like to retire as the coach at Kansas? How much longer would you like to coach?
MW: Yes, of course. If I was a new coach, people would expect a new coach to get it done in a four-year period. This is unique, it happens. I think as long as I have a passion and as long as I feel that I can get the job done, I know when it time. I've not had a lot of time to myself, but I've always enjoyed my players and I've always taken a lot of pride in the University of Kansas. I've always felt that this was basketball. Going into homes and talking to them about what basketball means to this community, this University, I mean if people feel I do a decent job in those home visits, it is about selling the University of Kansas, the program, how well this University supports it, and I've always felt that there is room for both. Whether it's going to be during my time here or it'll happen maybe later, but I know that one day there's going to be a similar following as I see now with Duke's men and women, and now Oklahoma, where both their programs are strong. For whatever reason, it seems here, you're either going to support one or the other, and I don't think that has to be, I think there's room for both. If there was 20,000 more seats permitted in Allen Fieldhouse, Roy would get 20,000 more people there, but there isn't. So there's a lot more people out there who love the sport, and we just have to try to get them in here.
RG: How long do you feel it will take for this team to be back in the Top 25 or the NCAA Tournament?
can finish up the recruiting and the depth that we feel we'll be adding, that's my immediate goal, to simply get back to competing, and being in the hunt. I think everything else will take care of itself. I think that next year will be a much better year.
RG: We can see you and your staff really brought out something special and formed a bond among this team. What has this year's team taught you as a coach?
MW: I feel we've got to get this team so we can compete well in this conference, and I think that then takes care of itself. I feel that if we
MW: I think not to give up. I knew that all season, it was a real concern of theirs as to what was going to happen with me, and I decided I wasn't going to talk about it. I don't know if it would have helped if I had talked about it, but just listening to their comments after everything was over with, asking me how I was doing, and I knew really what they were asking, and I try to just stay very positive because I didn't want them to worry so much. I think they reinforced how important it is for me to continue to fight.
RG: If you had to sum up this year's team and the season as whole in just one word, what would it be?
MW: It's been a long time since I've had so many young players, and with this next recruiting class, we're talking about players who will be together for the next three years. When I think about the future of this group, it's going to be very good. In the men's game you talk about whether it's Duke or even North Carolina, I mean, my gosh, you think about their future. That's how I see this team here, they're going to have a good future. Let's say Promise. I'm very comfortable with that.
Wood
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
With the extermination of Jayhawk Field, the ugly problem is only half done. Next door to Jayhawk Field is SuperTarget Field, another pathetic attempt at a Division I facility.
Much like Jayhawk Field, the soccer team's home lacks much to be proud of. A concession stand trailer, port-o-potties and gravel concourse are just some of the hideous luxuries Kansas has supplied its soccer fans.
Many of the players on the team played on nicer fields in high school, putting coach Mark Francis in quite a pickle. What the heck can Francis tell these recruits when they go visit what could be their future home field?
As a former college athlete, I can attest to this — the playing field matters to a lot of recruits. If Francis is in a recruiting war with Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Missouri — hell, almost any school in America — he's probably forced to mask the facility his team plays at and take recruits to a basketball game or something.
But honestly, I don't think soccer is high on Bohl's priority list. In an interview with him last year, he seemed to blow off the pathetic home of the 'Hawks, instead reminding me that Fresno State was doing great when he left there.
"At Fresno State, we were bringing in $300,000 a year in softball," he said, although I didn't ask.
"We were top 10 in baseball
attendance," he continued.
Finally getting to my question, he gave a vague, predictable response: "We're looking at our soccer complex."
soccer not just soccer. Baseball's Hoglund Ballpark isn't bad, but only 250 of the 2,500 seats are actually the comfortable chairs with backs, with the other 90 percent being cheap metal strips of bleachers.
The track teams have no locker rooms. The poor tennis team travels 30 minutes for home matches during indoor season. The list goes on.
Something's got to be done to make the facilities respectable at Kansas. Recruit rich kids. Kiss more donor butt. Buy a few Powerball tickets every week. Anything that might stop Kansas athletes from longing for better facilities when they hit the road.
The softball stadium is a plus. The new strength center is a big plus.
But the work is hardly done. Some of the facilities at Kansas, compared to other Big 12 venues, are downright embarrassing. The athletes can't possibly like it, and the fans don't like it.
"If you put fans in a comfortable environment, they're going to enjoy it," said Texas soccer coach Chris Petrucelli, whose team plays in front of crowds four times those of Kansas'. "It's one thing to get them there, it's another to get them back."
Petrucelli is dead on. Does anyone at Kansas realize this?
Wood is a Lee's Summit, Mo., senior in journalism.
Domestic LAWRENCE "We Stand Behind Our Work, and WE CARE!" & Foreign AUTOMOTIVE Complete DIAGNOSTICS 842-8665 Car Care 2858 Four Wheel Dr.
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS KANSAN.COM NEWS NEWS
Optional Campus Fees is now integrated with Online Enrollment. Sign up for Options during online enrollment. Optional Campus Fees Sign Up Instructions:
1 Sign In enroll & pay
5 Click No Optional P
6 Select your Options
4 Click Academics or Finances
2 Click Enroll and Pay
3 Click Learner Services
5 Click KU Optional Fees
6 Select your Options
7 Click yellow Save button
*DO NOT CLICK ON BACK ARROW IN WEB BROWSER*
SLAB, BOCO, Tradition Keepers, Jayhawk Yearbook, KU on Wheels, All Sports Combo, All-Arts Package, Parking, Career Services, SUA Movie Card, Park & Ride
www.ku.edu/~options
5 p.m. to Close-Every Evening
8