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SPORTS
12A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003
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12.
Mangino recruits seasoned players
By Jesse Newell
jnewell@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
If Mark Mangino was looking for quick solutions for his football team, he may have found them yesterday.
At his monthly press conference, the Kansas coach announced the signing of 12 junior-college players — those who will come in with previous college football experience — as the Jayhawks released their official recruiting class.
"This will be the last time that we will bring in this many junior college players." Mangino said. "We felt it was necessary that we do it, and I'm glad we did. Our players that are in our program now are excited too because they know that's going to make a little bit quicker impact on our program."
Just don't expect Mangino to recruit this way in the future.
Mangino will depend on these juniorcollege transfers to step in immediately as he tries to rebuild a program that finished 2-10 in 2002.
"We'd like to see all of them make some kind of an impact," Mangino said. "Some will sooner than others, but we're hoping they'll all be impact players for us."
Kansas also announced the signing of 14 high school seniors to round out a recruiting class ranked 39th in the nation by college football Web site Theinsiders.com. This ranks the Jayhawk's class eight in the Big 12 Conference, above conference foes Kansas State and Missouri.
Though it is hard to predict the future performance of recruits, Mangino said he was pleased with the players the Jayhawks were able to sign.
"You really never know what these guys are going to do until you get them on the field here but based on our evaluations, our research, I believe our coaching staff did an excellent job of identifying players that will improve our program," Mangino said.
Included in the class are several highly-touted recruits.
Linebacker Gabriel Toomey was named an NJCAA All-American last year at Iowa Central Community College, and Monroe Weekley earned Prep Star All-American honors as a senior in high school. Offensive lineman Richard Estrella and linebacker John McCoy also earned four-star ratings from Theinsiders.com.
The day was soured by the loss of several recruits to other schools. The most notable of these was Kansas City, Kan., standout Rashaad Norwood.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 9A
Colorado dominates Kansas
Marty Caivano/The Daily Camera
Aquanita Burras, sophomore guard, and Leila Menguc, junior guard, tangle with Colorado's Tera Bjorklund, junior center, in a brawl for the ball. The Jayhawks fell to the Buffaloes 73-42 in Boulder, Colo., last night.
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswinter
The Kansas women's basketball team knew that improving on defense would be the key to beating Colorado last night. Unfortunately, it was unable to do so in a 73-42 loss in Boulder, Colo.
The Buffalooes controlled the tempo of the game right from the opening tip and built an insurmountable 42-14 lead by halftime. As in the first meeting with Colorado this season, freshman forward Tamara Ransburg was the only jayhawk to score in double figures. Ransburg had 12 points in the game for Kansas (9-11, 2-7).
Not only was the game hard for coach Marian Washington to swallow but so was the loss of sophomore guard Blair Waltz. Waltz did not start and was limited to two minutes on the floor after she experienced back pain.
"I thought it was a great game for Colorado, not for us, especially in the first half. I knew we were coming into a tiger's den after their loss to Missouri." Washington said. "We are young and we lost Waltz tonight and that hurt us."
Junior center Tera Bjorklund led the way for Colorado (16-4, 6-3) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Bjorklund got the job done under the basket and got plenty of help on the perimeter. Senior forward Sabrina Scott and junior guard Kate Fagan each added three three-point shots to round out the Colorado attack.
"They focused on Tera and when
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 9A
Axtell goes pro in Moscow
BvJoev Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Former Kansas men's basketball player, Luke Axtell, is taking a new journey in his quest to put his turbulent and disappointing college career behind him.
Axtell, who played at the University from 1999 to 2001, signed a contract last week with Dynamo, a professional team in Moscow. He left his Austin, Texas, home for Russia yesterday and will play in his first game for Dynamo Saturday.
"It's their top league," Axtell said. "They have an A-league and a B-league, and they're in the A-league."
Axtell couldn't have played competitive basketball at this time last year, when the back problems that helped limit his Kansas career to just 39 games were still nagging him. It wasn't until late last summer, after enduring a rigorous rehabilitation program and workouts with former NBA player Dave jameson, that he finally got to show his stuff on the court again.
In August, Axell joined an American exhibition team, along with Jamerson and several other former NBA players. It toured Latvia and Lithuania for two-and-a-half weeks. With his back feeling sound,
Axtell tore up the opposition and averaged about 22 points per game.
"We got our butts kicked,but it was great over there,man,"he said."We won't two out of six games.But! played well,made lots of contacts."
After returning to Austin, Axtell hooked up with an agent and began to market himself to teams in Europe looking for a replacement player.
"They look at your tape, talk to some people who have seen me play and decide whether or not they want you," he said.
"It's been hard, going through giving tapes to all these European teams. You're on 48-hour standby."
Axtell's stint in Russia will be a big step forward after a college career that ended with more controversy and injury rehabilitation time than memorable moments on the court.
He drew plenty of attention as a freshman in the 1997-1998 season. A long-haired, 6-foot-9-inch, long-range bomber, Axell started 25 games for the Longhorns and averaged 13.3 points while shooting 39.3 percent from three-point range.
But in March 1998, then-coach Tom Penders suspended Axtell for academic reasons. In the midst of a public war of words, involving reports that Axtell and
Kansan File Photo
Former men's basketball shooting guard/small forward, Luke Axtel, is set to play basketball in Moscow with the professional team, Dynamo. Axtell played for the Jayhawks from 1999-2001 but spent much of that time in injury rehabilitation.
other members of the Longhorns were criticizing Penders' coaching style, Axtell
SEE AXTELL ON PAGE 9A
Ryan Malashock rnialashock@kansan.com
Lee brings more than friendship
During the search for his current sophomore class, Roy Williams knew he had found a gem. An all-everything point guard of the Jacque Vaughn prototype. Williams marveled at the vision that seemed to come out of all sides of his head.
The flick passes. The darts to the basket. The court creativity. This guy had it all. Just one problem — UCLA and Arizona recognized it, too. The stages were set for a recruiting battle.
Williams searched for an edge—some inside way for an outsider to sway the talented youngster. So he got to know the point guard. They discussed family, friends and futures. They pondered what would give the high schooler ultimate happiness. One point irked Williams' attention.
The point guard had a friend. Not just a buddy, a life-long companion. They had played sports with one another since they were tykes. They attended church together. Their families were extremely close.
At their high school, the point guard was the star quarterback, and the friend the star tight end. The point guard was the floor general in basketball, the friend the quiet contributor.
So Williams looked at the friend. This guy can play, too, Williams thought. He was just not as flashy about it. Not much attention from coaches. He was a shooting guard, jumped out of the gym, succumbed to no one and was built like a linebacker — wait, he was a linebacker. Legitimate football offers were there, but the point guard relayed to Williams that his friend yearned to play hoops.
"I probably would've been better off in football than in basketball in the long run," the friend said earlier this year. "It's just that I really like basketball a lot more than football."
An idea started to form: Why not get a two-for-one? Invite the friend to Kansas and the point guard follows. Packaged deals are common in basketball; they just hadn't been a practice at Kansas. Until this, Williams persisted with the friend. He saw a potential role player He acted and the point guard reacted in accord.
"When coach Williams offered him a scholarship, I knew that was where God wanted me to go," the point guard said at the time. "He's been my boy since I was
SEE LEE ON PAGE 9A
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