1
4B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL2, 2003
Coach helped build Texas powerhouse
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas - The foundation for the Texas Longhorns' Final Four team was in place long before star guard T.J. Ford showed up.
The swagger, desire and nucleus of talent coach Rick Barnes needed to build a great team arrived a year earlier with Brian Boddicker, Royal Ivey, James Thomas and Brandon Mouton.
Barnes got each player to sign with Texas by convincing them basketball could be special at a football school.
"He called Texas a sleeping giant," said Boddicker, the first McDonald's high school All-American to sign with Barnes at Texas.
"Now we are emerging as a giant," he said.
Thomas said the core group of players had taken the program to new heights.
"When we came in as freshmen, we said we'd be on top," he said. "The hard work is not done. We have another year, and this weekend."
Texas plays Syracuse on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament semifinals in New Orleans. Kansas and Marquette play in the other game.
The Longhorns haven't been to the Final Four since 1946. It was Barnes who challenged them to wake up a program in a perpetual snooze.
"I picked them to win the national championship." Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
"I hope I'm wrong."
"Ford is the best point guard in the country, and they're big and physical. They've got all the answers like all the teams playing right now."
When Barnes took over the program in 1998, he could see potential at a flagship university with more than 50,000 students, a deep pool of in-state high school talent and a winning athletic tradition.
Boddicker was one of the first players he recruited. Boddicker led Duncanville High School to a Texas Class 5A state championship and was considering offers from several schools nationwide.
He just needed to find the players who shared his vision.
He was the multiple skills player Barnes needed: Big enough to rebound and post up inside, he can also step out for three-pointers.
Boddicker was sold on Barnes and Texas basketball.
"From the moment I first met coach Barnes, all he talked about was winning a national championship," he said. "I saw where the program was going and I wanted to be a part of that."
Thomas, Mouton and Ivey were less heralded, but none escaped the recruiting eye of former Texas assistant Rob Lanier, now coach at Siena.
This year's junior class is a big reason Ford plans to stay in college for at least another year
"To play with these guys as seniors," he said. "That will be great."
Oklahoma State prepares for season
Daily O'Collegian via U-wire Oklahoma State University
By Brad Blood
STILLWATER, Okla. — With less than a week of spring football practices remaining, preparation for the Sept. 30 debut at Nebraska is on the minds of Oklahoma State coaches and players. Among those preparations is examining a Rashaun Woods nagging knee injury. Woods is going in for an MRI on Friday to examine a knee problem that has been with Woods since the past season.
The step is being taken as a precautionary measure, and Woods says he feels at about an 80 percent playing level. Woods also said the little pain had gone down week by week.
"I was held out of some practices (last season) to get ready for the game, I guess you could say," Woods said. "That really helped me get through the season, but I guess
that was probably when it was when it was the worst. Now, it's getting better and better as the weeks go by.
"The main concern now is to make sure that when the first game comes around, I'm painfree, 100 percent, doing what I can for the team."
Cowboy coach Les Miles said the measure was being taken to get the senior receiver back to perfect health. "It's been just a little nagging deal," said Miles. "It doesn't appear that it will be anything serious but we're going to confirm that with an MRI. And if we were in the season, he'd be playing games, so it's more or less to get the knee back to perfect, and then go from there."
During spring practices, Cowboy coaches are trying players out at new positions. One of those changes is seeing how corner back Vernon Grant plays at safety.
With the OSU cornerback position solid, taking advantage of
Grant's natural skills might best be suited for the safety position.
sured for the safety position. "We feel like with (Darrent) Williams, Robert Jones and Daniel McLemore at corners right now — with Ricky Coxeff coming in — that in fact that corner crew is pretty good, without Vernon," said Miles. "Vernon is easily one of the more aggressive and sharpest tacklers and an extremely tough individual, and we'd like to have him have the ability to run support.
"At that safety spot, we ask him also to cover. So, he gets to use his corner skills and he's a naturally tough run support guy."
With two highly touted junior college safeties joining OSU in the fall, moving Grant might be a temporary thing.
"This is a spring thing," said Miles. "And we really go into fall ball with the idea that we're finding the best starting crew to beat Nebraska — offense, defense,
and special teams.
One of the most hotly contested positions on the Cowboy roster last season was running back. In the offseason, Tatum Bell, who won the starting job for most of the season, has been working hard in the weight room. As a result, Bell is faster in spring practices in running the ball and is turning the corner on the defense better. Vernand Morency has also shown positive signs.
Miles said the running back position was still a race between Bell, Morency and Seymore Shaw. "To me, it's a wide-open competition," said Miles. "Vernand Morency's played well today — he's got to show some consistency. Seymore Shaw the same, and Tatum Bell can not turn the ball over, if he fumbles the ball, we'll go with another back.
"if(Bell) continues to play with consistency like he did earlier in the spring, he'll be a starter."
Rookie pitchers help revive St. Louis
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Two words say it all about the St. Louis Cardinals' rebuilt bullpen: Kiko Calero.
The one-time Royals castoff, who is awaiting his major league debut at age 28, is just one of the many new faces that the NL Central champions will be counting on to hold the line. SL Louis also has three pitchers who missed all of last season with injuries — Cal Eldred, Russ Springer and Lance Painter.
15-day disabled list because of a setback in his rehab from offseason shoulder surgery, the four right-handed relievers currently active combined for 11 innings last season. All were by Dustin Hermanson, returning to St. Louis after a lost, injury-plagued season in Boston.
With closer Jason Isringhausen starting the season on the
The bullpen looks nothing like the pre-spring training projections.
General Manager Walt Jockety is confident this group, which if nothing else is extremely wellrested, will hold its own.
While other pitchers were
struggling, Calero put up seven shutout innings in spring training.
"When I signed, it was my dream to make the big leagues," Calero said. "I'm here and I hope to stay the whole season."
Calero has been a starter throughout his minor league career, which makes him a perfect fit for this bullpen. Eldred, who made his first appearance since April 2001 in the opener, and Hermanson both made their names as starters.
Nobody seems to know who's supposed to be the designated
stand-in, and the role likely will shift depending on which teams they're facing.
"I'm sure they've got plans," Hermanson said. "But maybe they're keeping us in limbo for a reason."
Isrenghausen was scheduled to pitch at Class A Peoria last night in the first of perhaps 8-10 rehab assignments. He's basically back on a spring training-type regimen after hitting a setback in his rehab in mid-March.
"I like our bullpen," Jockety said. "And it'll be a lot better when Izzy is back."
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