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
MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2003
It all comes down to this
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan senior sportswriter
NEW ORLEANS — It's set to be a battle of haves and have nots.
Kansas coach Roy Williams and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim have the credentials. They are the winningest active coaches in college basketball's Div. 1. Williams'.807 winning percentage ranks third of all time and first among active coaches, and Boeheim's .743 success rate is good enough for 15th of all time and second among those still coaching.
They have their superstars. Syracuse freshman forward Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his team's semifinal victory against Texas. If he enters the NBA draft, Carmelo is projected to be selected in the first several picks. Kansas' Nick Collison had a 33-point performance against Duke in the semifinal of the West Regional and is also expected to be chosen early in the draft.
Williams and Boeheim have both coached overachieving teams into tonight's NCAA title game.
"I'd like to win it," Boeheim told reporters yesterday. "You're in the business, and the whole thing from when you start—when you're a player, when you're a coach—is to try to win this thing."
The only thing the two coaches do not have in their combined 42 seasons is a national championship. It has been the only knock on either of the men throughout the years, but tonight one of them will finally know what it feels like to be a champion.
Williams agreed that winning the title has been a dream, but he said too much has been made of the fact that neither he nor Boeheim has led a team to a championship.
"I think Jimmy has even taken the criticism longer than I have," he said. "I think both of us feel good about the relationships that we have with our players and what we've done. I don't
KANSAS vs. SYRACUSE
KANSAS(30-7)
Pno. Player. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG
F 4. Nick Callison 6-9. Sr. 18.5 9.7
G 5. Keith Lantford 6-4. Ss. 15.8 4.9
G 10. Kirk Hinrich 6-3. Ss. 17.4 3.8
G 11. Aaron Miles 6-1. Ss. 9.1 3.2
F 42. Jeff Graves 6-9. Jr. 5.7 6.5
SYRACUSE (29-5)
F 55 Moulaye Niang 6-10 Fr. 1.3 1.5
G 25 Michael Lee 6-3 So. 4.9 2.3
G 25 Bryant Nash 6-6 Jr. 3.0 2.5
Pn. Player. No.
F 1. Hokin Warrick 6-8. Sc. 15.1 8.7
G 3. Gerry McNamara 6-2. Fr. 13.2 2.4
G 13. Kuch Duany 6-4. Sr. 13.0 3.6
F 15. Carmelo Anthony 6-8. Gr. 22.3 10.0
F 34. Jeremy McNeil 6-8. Jr. 3.4 4.1
Top Reserves
F 5 Josh Pace 6-6 So. 4.2 2.5
G 14 Billy Edelin 6-4 Fr. 8.9 3.5
C 51 Craith Froud 7-0 So. 3.7 3.3
Opponent: Syracuse
When: 8:18 Tonight
Where: New Orleans
TV: CBS
Radio: KLZR 105.9 FM
think he lays awake at night worrying about that. I don't think either of us is going to jump off the tallest building Monday night if we don't win."
No matter which coach sheds the label as one of the best coaches never to win the big one, the two will still have one other thing in common: mutual respect. The pair have been friends and frequent golf partners since before Williams came to Kansas. Their shared interests have been a source many conversations and friendly gibes.
"He's a really good, good golfer," Williams said. "It's a guy I do have a great deal of respect for, enjoy playing golf with, been with him a lot of occasions."
Boeheim said his and Williams' golfing abilities had be overestimated.
"Everybody thinks we're better than weare," he said. "He hits it left to right and I hit it right to left. That's about all you need to know. We play the same golf course, but not many of the same areas."
Aaron Showalter/Kansan
Jeff Graves, junior forward, and Nick Collison, senior forward, go after the rebound after a missed basket by Marquette. Kansas defeated Marquette 94-61
— Edited by Anne Mantey
Ticket scalpers sell at top dollar
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
NEW ORLEANS — Two fans decked out in blue stood outside the Kansas men's basketball team's hotel in New Orleans on Saturday. The fans were attempting to sell their tickets for the Final Four but were having no luck.
"They're not in the greatest section, but I want to get my money out of them," said the fan, who asked that his name not be used because it is illegal to resell tickets in New Orleans.
Why would a fan dressed in blue want to sell his tickets?
"We're actually Kentucky fans, but I
figured the blue and the UK might help he said.
Other fans were having no problem finding buyers for their tickets. Kansas students were instructed to pick up their tickets on the fourth floor of the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. As soon as they walked out, they were bombarded with scalpers.
"I had five guys offer me a $1,000 for the tickets," said Jin Novak, Topeka senior.
Novak decided to keep his tickets and said the scalpers couldn't offer him enough.
Other students couldn't pass up the
"I drove almost a 1,000 miles to get here. There is no way I'm missing this," Novak said.
money. A group of students, who also chose to remain nameless, sold three tickets for $1,000 each.
"We were planning to sell the tickets," said one of the students. "We're actually leaving on Sunday because we want to be in Lawrence for the title game."
Wanting to be in Lawrence for the game is something that Novak said he considered, but being at the game was too great of an opportunity to pass up.
"This is once in a lifetime," he said.
Eric Nelson, 1992 Kansas graduate was at the Final Four in Atlanta last year and is in New Orleans this year. He advised students against selling tickets.
"In the scheme of things, when you're 30 years-old and established, the $1,000 you make here is not going to mean much. You're going to want to say 'I was there.'
"In the scheme of things, when you're 30 years-old and established, the $1,000
Eric Nelson 1992 Kansas graduate
you make here is not going to mean much," Nelson said. "You're going to want to say 'I was there.'"
— Edited by Erin Chapman
Basketball's best bring in donations
By Joey Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Win or lose, the Kansas men's basketball team will earn $1,000 for the University of Kansas when it takes on Syracuse tonight in the NCAA national championship match-up.
As with every college basketball game airing on CBS, near the end of the game, network announcers will select one player from each team as Chevrolet Player of the Game.
Chevrolet donates a check for $1,000 in each player's name to his school's general scholarship fund. Players selected for the honor also receive a plaque.
Campbell-Ewald, a Warren, Mich.
advertising agency, handles all advertising and marketing for Chevrolet and is in charge of the Player of the Game program. Steven Majoros, Group Senior Vice President for Campbell-Ewald, said the program had distributed thousands of awards in the program's 32-year history.
"The list of people who have won the award during the program's existence reads like a basketball and football Hall of Fame list," Majoros said. "Every top player — and a number of great college players who never went to the pros — have been recipients of the award."
Tonight's game will mark the 11th time Kansas has appeared on CBS this season, including its five NCAA Tournament games.
Jayhawks who have won Player of the
Associate Athletics Director Doug Vance said checks received from Chevrolet go to the Athletics Department, which forwards them to the Endowment Office.
Game honors this year include All-Americans Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, Keith Langford and even reserve guard Michael Lee.
The program began in 1971 with college football games and was expanded to include basketball in 1981.
Today, Player of the Game awards are also distributed during college football games on ABC, as well as Notre Dame football games on NBC.
During its 32-year history, the Player of the Game program has resulted in approximately $8 million in donations to schools. Majoros said schools in major
conferences gain more from the program because of their greater television exposure.
"But plenty of so-called 'smaller' schools benefit too," Majoros said. "Look at this year's NCAA tournament list and you'll see that IUPUI, Wagner and Sam Houston State all had Chevrolet Player of the Game winners this year."
Vance said the benefits of Kansas appearing on CBS included exposure for the team and money for the general scholarship fund.
"Our motivation is one of many things, and certainly that contributes to it," Vance said. "It's a sign that we're a successful program."
— Edited by Brandon Gay
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Kevin Flaherty
kflaherty@kansan.com
Texas' Ford poor choice for top pick
Chevrolet made a huge mistake Saturday night.
When picking the national player of the year, it made a poor decision — it followed the dunces who selected the Naismith award. Don't get me wrong, Texas' T.J. Ford is a fantastic basketball player. Anyone watching a Texas game can see that the Longhorns' smallest calf is also their most important player. The media loves him, which could be part of the problem.
But national player of the year? Please. He wasn't even the best player in his own conference.
The Associated Press and the Big 12 coaches select both the All-Big 12 teams and the conference player of the year. The Associated Press picked Hollis Price of Oklahoma, and what a stellar choice it was. The slender sniper played at a level above what anyone expected. He lost his best scoring teammate, Aaron McGhee, to graduation, and nobody stepped up to take McGhee's place.
SEE FLAHERTY ON PAGE 6B