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SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
12A
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2003
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Ryan Malashock rmalashock@kansan.com
Team gains experience this season
The scene seemed suited more for Saturday Night Live than for a Kansas baseball game.
"Welcome, Kansas fans, to Hoglund Ballpark and Big 12 Conference baseball," the public address announcer boomed yesterday afternoon.
Price, in his first season as a Kansas coach, is building a foundation for the future. But don't remind him of that. He doesn't want to hear it.
It was 11:50 a.m., 10 minutes before the scheduled first pitch of the home opener with Western Illinois. Upon hearing the announcer's greeting, the eight fans sitting in Hoglund Ballpark all shot an equally puzzled glance towards the press box and chuckled.
What fans, they must have thought, the eight of us?
Welcome to the life of Kansas baseball. Ritch Price, where the successful go unrecognized and the unsuccessful go ... well, unrecognized.
"I refuse to say that this is a rebuilding year — we have some talent," Price said earlier this year at baseball's preseason media day. "We want to compete now. We have some strong left-handers who can really throw for us, and we can hit from top to bottom in our lineup."
No argument there. Sophomore pitcher Tom Gorzelanny slated to be Kansas' ace, left school last month, but Price still has loads of left-handed players. The Jayhawks can hit for power, hustle as if there's no tomorrow and, as Price proved yesterday, can play smart baseball.
In the second inning of Kansas' 10-6 victory, the Jayhawks executed three consecutive bunts. Two bunts resulted in base hits and runs, and the other was a successful sacrifice.
The buns won't show up in the box score, but Kansas needs nonbox score contributions. Mental errors, base-running mistakes, botched steals,
Jayhawks take victory in home opener
SEE TEAM ON PAGE 8A
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Junior first baseman Ryan Baty nearly gets the out at first base during a pick-off play. Baty was named Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday with a batting average of .536.
Brandon Baker/Kansan
The Kansas baseball team experienced some ups and downs in its home opener against Western Illinois.
Jayhawk senior pitcher Pat Holmes forced the Leatherncks' first three batters out in the first inning. Then senior center fielder Lance Hayes, the Jayhawks' lead-off hitter, singled in the bottom half of the first inning. However, the team could not capitalize on the hit, which stranded Hayes on base.
Kansas' downs began in the second inning when Western Illinois' first hitter, Blake Schultz, reached second base after an error by Kansas senior shortstop Brandon Shepard. Schultz doubled up on first after Hayes made an over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track in right-center field.
In the Jayhawks' half of the second inning, their first hitter, junior right fielder Matt Tribble hustled out a double to short left center field. A bunt by senior left fielder Casey Spanish advanced Tribble to third. Kansas had four bunts in the second inning, including three straight by Shepard, freshman catcher Matt Baty, and Hayes.
The Jayhawks scored 3 runs in the inning to give the team a 3-0 lead. Coach Ritch Price said it was important to play off defensive mistakes and execute sacrifice hits.
"Coach Price always talks about us needing to manufacture two runs a game,
and that is what we did," sophomore third baseman Travis Metcalf said.
Senior designated hitter Kevin Wheeler drove in freshman second baseman Ritchie Price in the third inning to give the Jayhawks a 4-1 lead.
Sophomore pitcher Kenny Falconer relieved Holmes in the fourth inning and beamed the first batter he faced. Falconer struggled yesterday, walking three batters in the inning and giving up 3 runs. The Leathernecks tied the game 4-4 in
the top of the fifth after Falcconer gave up a home run to Joe Rooney.
Kansas retook the lead 5-4 in the bottom half of the fifth after a sacrifice fly by
Freshman pushed to leadership role on court
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 8A
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Freshman forward Crystal Kemp is second in scoring and in rebounds for the Jayhawks. "I want us to be one of the teams that's not to be reckoned with," Kemp said about her desires for the Jayhawks.
Freshman forward Shawn Kemp idolized NBA star Shawn Kemp growing up.
In an outstanding start to her Jayhawk career, one can see the impression that the elder Kemp left on his admirer; whether it's sharing the same jersey number or bringing the same tenacity on the floor for every game.
Through 21 games this season, Crystal Kemp has established herself as a force for years to come as a Jayhawk, standing out in a group of impressive newcomers. She is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11 points per game and second in rebounding with six per contest. An even more valuable trait Kemp brings to each game is her flair for competition and her will to win every time she takes the court.
Kemp's early success should come as no surprise, as she also made a splash in Topeka for the past four years. Kemp was largely responsible for putting Topeka High School back on the map as a women's basketball powerhouse.
In Kemp's senior season, she average 21.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, and the led Topeka High to the state playoffs after a 16-year absence. Kemp's high school accomplishments garnered her attention from some prominent Midwest programs, but Kemp ultimately decided to stay close to home.
"It's close, and the coaching staff was really nice," Kemp said. "I felt like I was at home here."
Coach Marian Washington saw the potential in Kemp, and expected her to be the same leader on the floor that she was in high school. Kemp struggled with her role early in the season, but she understood the coaches pushed her to
her limits for her own good.
"Sometimes this year I was frustrated," Kemp said. "They were constantly pushing me. It got to me at first, but they were doing it to make me better."
Washington thinks the extra attention will pay off.
"I think that for anyone who's watched her play, it's clear she has a lot of upside," Washington said. "She has to learn to play at a certain level of intensity every game. I see her as a very important member of our future."
Molding from the coaching staff has not only made Kemp take great strides this year but also her partner in the low-post, freshman forward Tamara Ransburg.
As the season progresses, Kemp and Ransburg look to have the makings of what could be the Big 12 Conference's
SEE KEMP ON PAGE 8A
Kansas recruit puts brush with law behind him, moves on
By Joey Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
OKLAHOMA CITY — Before its boy's basketball team played Friday night, John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City announced the nominees for its spring sports homecoming court. One of the nominees for king, a 6-foot-5 basketball player dressed in warmup clothing and a headband, escorted two candidates for queen onto the court. No sooner had his name been announced than the taunting began.
"Wal-Mart! Wal-Mart!"
J. R. Giddens, a senior forward at John Marshall, hears this from opposing fans every game. He's likely to hear more of it
next year, when he joins the Kansas men's basketball team as one of coach Roy Williams' top recruits. But he said he was ready for it.
Giddens is a sought-after recruit for the Jayhawks. ESPN.com ranks him 17th on its list of this year's top 100 high school seniors. The Rivals 100 list places him 41st. His high school coach, John Martin, likens him to former Oklahoma State standout Desmond Mason, now a member of the Seattle Supersonics.
But when Giddens was charged with
"I love the fans taunting me," Giddens said after scoring 20 points and snagging 15 rebounds in John Marshall's 81-50 blowout of Star Spencer High School. "It gets me all hyped up, just thinking they've got to go out of their way to taunt me."
grand larceny for attempting to steal from an Oklahoma City Wal-Mart Supercenter in December, he left himself open to prosecution and added verbal abuse at John Marshall games.
On Friday, Giddens fed off the abuse. As the buzzer sounded at the end of the first quarter, Giddens nailed his third three-point shot, a 25-foot bomb that gave him 13 points and his team a 29-7 lead over Star Spencer High School.
When he came back onto the court for the second quarter, Giddens looked up at a now-quiet section of Star Spencer fans — the same ones who had been taunting him — and cupped his hand over his ear. Then, he moved his finger across his throat in the classic throat-slashing gesture. Message delivered.
"I take that as an advantage on the court, and it gets me hyped," Giddens said. "I want to look up at them like, 'I don't hear nothing now,' you know?"
"I think the style of basketball at Kansas suits me because I'm athletic and can use my athleticism in the open court."Giddens said.
Giddens is confident on the floor, and he's just as confident that he'll fit in Williams' up-tempo offensive attack.
Martin said Giddens still had to mature physically but would find playing time at Kansas.
"That's what every coach in the nation is looking for: an athletic shooter," Martin said. "So, he'll fit in up there. Plus, he's coachable."
After his arrest, some Jayhawk fan
wondered how Giddens would fit in under Williams, a coach known for recruiting players with clean records.
Giddens was arrested at about 3 a.m. Dec. 19 with three others, including his uncle, Rickke Green. According to a police report, security cameras recorded a Wal-Mart cashier pretending to scan merchandise. The report said the cashier deactivated the sensors and rang up only a compact disc worth $14.88. According to the report, Giddens was caught on camera loading items into a shopping cart.
The 17-year-old Giddens was later charged as a juvenile with grand larceny. Last month, attorneys settled his case. At that time, his lawyer, David Ogle, said the
SEE GIDDENS ONPAGE 8A
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