WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Player's suspension cuts Cyclone roster
The Associated Press
AMES, Iowa — Iowa State's thinning basketball roster got even thinner when reserve forward Clint Varley was suspended after being arrested for drunken driving.
Varley's blood-alcohol level tested at .199 after he was stopped by campus police at 2:03 a.m. Sunday, ISU police Capt. Gene Deisinger said. A person is presumed drunk with a blood-alcohol content of .10.
The police report said Varley was stopped after he made an illegal right turn at a stoplight. He admitted he had been drinking beer and had red, bloodshot eyes, the report said.
Iowa State coach Larry
Eustachy said Varley was suspended indefinitely.
"I have met with Clint and he is aware that this incident is of a very serious nature," Eustachy said in a statement released by the university.
The Cyclones lost a key reserve when center Chris Alexander quit the team earlier this month.
Varley, a 6-foot-4 inch senior, was the only substitute Eustachy used in Iowa State's 64-61 victory over Kansas State on Saturday.
Last week,guard Marcus Jefferson went home to East Chicago, Ind.,to be with his ailing mother and was back for last night's home game against Colorado.
Mizzou's thin bench meetsOU
The Associated Press
Missouri's dominant season at home is about to be put to the ultimate test at 8 tonight when Oklahoma visits Columbia, Mo.
The Tigers are 13-0 in the Hearnes Center this season but haven't faced the likes of No. 3 Oklahoma. The Sooners are coming off a dominating effort against No. 7 Kansas, leading by as many as 32 points in a 77-70 victory. Oklahoma also has won nine in a row in the series against Missouri since losing in the 1997 Big 12 tournament.
The run for the Sooners, who are No.1 in the RPI rankings, includes an 81-75 victory over the Tigers last spring in the West Regional final.
"Oklahoma is playing as well
as anybody in the country right now." Missouri coach Quin Snyder, who's 0-6 against the Sooners, said. "Part of the growth process for this team is really learning how to compete."
Missouri (16-7 overall, 7-5 Big
12 Conference) will be without
guard Ricky Clemons indefinitely.
Clemons broke his left
hand in Saturday's 89-68 loss at
Colorado.
The injury leaves the thin roster, which has only seven scholarship players, even thinner.
Missouri is off to its best start at home since 1995-1996, when it also won its first 13. But the Tigers have been struggling elsewhere, and are 6-6 overall in their last 12 games.
"That's what this team is discovering as this year progresses." Snyder said. "How to
compete, how to play, every little play."
Hollis Price and Quannas White each had 19 points as Oklahoma (19-4, 10-2) destroyed Kansas early, although the Sooners got a scare at the end. Snyder put little stock in the Kansas comeback.
"Anytime you have two teams of that caliber and one gets way ahead, it's hard to play from 20 points ahead," Snyder said. "The game changes and I don't know if you read too much into that."
Price will present problems for Missouri. Coach Kelvin Sampson said he had never had a more versatile player.
"Hollis is just one of those kids that doesn't come along very often," Sampson said. "He just never takes a possession off.
Everything you read or hear about him, it's true, and it may not be giving him justice."
But Oklahoma is wary of Missouri's success at home.
"You can't take any team for granted," White said. "They're not winning on the road, but they're still a tough team to beat. They've got us at their place and it's going to be a tough game."
Oklahoma might be without Jabahri Brown, who had a concussion against Kansas. Sampson said if the game was yesterday, he would not be available, but that the extra day might help.
"One of the side effects of a concussion is constantly falling asleep, and he's having some problems with that," Sampson said.
Coach says he'll stay with Creighton program for now
The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — With college basketball's hiring-and-firing season fast approaching, Creighton fully expects suitors to line up seeking coach Dana Altman's services.
And why not? Altman has led the No. 17 Bluejays to their finest regular season. At 24-3, they've already equaled the program's record for wins in a season.
After being out of the national polls for 27 seasons, they've been ranked since early December.
They're bidding for a thirdstraight Missouri Valley Conference title, and they're closing in on a fifth-straight NCAA tournament appearance.
As the 44-year-old Altman has built the Bluejays into a consistent winner, he's been the focus of speculation when jobs have opened in recent years.
Altman has built a 170-98 record in nine seasons to become Creighton's winningest coach.
All the while, he has opted to stay at the 6,000-student Jesuit school that, as a midmajor university, must work harder for top recruits and exposure.
People around the Creighton program said they guard against taking Altman for granted. Boosters are aggressively raising money to sweeten the coach's deal.
"Our concern is the same as in
any other business or organization, which is when you have people doing an outstanding job you want to retain them."athletics director Bruce Rasmussen said. "That's the case with Dana."
Soon after its approached by New Mexico about its coaching job last spring, Altman said he wouldn't mind retiring at Creighton after another 15 seasons.
He acknowledged he had some interest in openings at Miami in 2000 and Minnesota in 1999, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Creighton.
"Almost every year he's been here there's been discussions about him going elsewhere,"
Rasmussen said. "Dana has continued to be here."
Altman recently reiterated in an interview with The Associated Press he and his family are happy in Omaha.
"The right job, if I were to leave, hasn't come up." Altman said. "If the right thing ever comes up, great. If it doesn't, I hope Creighton will put up with me for a while."
Bluejay fans want to "put up" with Altman for many more seasons.
Some influential Bluejay boosters have a war chest titled the Coach's Inner Circle Fund they are ready to tap to thwart any attempts by other schools to ooow Altman away.
Omaha businessmen Howard Hawks, David Sokol and Dave Slattery solicited $320,000 in pledges during a fundraising dinner last week at the Omaha Country Club.
"Even with the money in the fund," Slattery said, "we can't compete if a Big 10 school came after him. That would be seven digits, easily. We can't pay him half of his market value. But we think we can help close the gap."
Altman's base salary in 2000- 2001 was $398,784 and he received $24,848 in benefits, according to Creighton's most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990.
His outside revenue, such as
camps and contracts with athletic equipment companies, is not public record.
Hawks, who moonlights as a University of Nebraska regent, said his group isn't necessarily worried about losing Altman.
He said it's more motivated by a desire to give Altman what he deserves.
"There's a belief that Dana has been loyal to Creighton," Hawks said. "We need to be loyal to him."
Altman said he is flattered by the boosters' efforts.
"It's nice to be wanted," he said. "That's human nature to feel that way when somebody says publicly that he would like to see you stay."
kansan.com
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Mathematics Prize Competition
Both exams will be given on
KU Math Department is hosting a math competition open to all KU students.
To participate you must register in 405 Snow by noon, March 10.
March 10
7 - 10 pm
306 Snow Hall
Junior Level:
Copies of last year's competition are posted outside 405 Snow.
Open to all undergraduates of non senior standing. Assumes knowledge of first year calculus.
First prize - $100
Second prize- $50
Senior Level:
Open to all undergraduates. Includes a range of standard topics of undergrad math First prize - $150