Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Track team heads to New York City for New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
Senior swimmers prepare for final home meet against Nebraska.
Softball to begin season against four ranked teams in Kajikawa Classic.
COMMENTARY
Warmer weather on softball schedule
PAGE 1B
A quick glance at the KU softball schedule may look like a spring break sampler to some, but it will be a rugged test for the Jayhawks.
"Everyone wants to jump in the suitcases with us and go," coach Tracy Bunge said. The warm weather though is just a façade. This is no vacation. The only reason that so many warm weather tournaments are on the schedule is because of the unpredictable weather in Kansas during this time of the year, Bunge said.
"You never know what you're going to get," said Bunge. "It's kind of like a box of chocolates."
The Kansas weather has held the team back from practicing outside, and Bunge said that's why many players are looking forward to the first tournament.
HOME SWEET FIELDHOUSE
"I think that everybody's excited to get into warmth," Bunge said.
Maybe the Jayhawks bring the bad weather with them though.
"Of course, now they're calling for rain." Bunge said of the week end forecast in Tempe, Ariz.
The talent level in the tourn-
aments is sure to prepare the
Jayhawks for the rest of the season.
Four of the five teams they will face
in Arizona are ranked, but Bunge
said the team is prepared.
Bunge said she knows the team can take a couple games from ranked opponents if they stay focused on the task at hand.
"We felt with an experienced group, we were at the point where we needed to improve our RPI a little bit," Bunge said.
"We're not looking down the road." Bunge said.
The competition is one reason the layhawks are looking forward to these tournaments, but there are some other reasons they lined up the schedule they way they did.
"We also like to try and go where our players are from." Bunge said.
Senior pitcher Valerie George is from Arizona and the Jayhawks have not been out to Arizona since she's been on the team, so Bunge said that was a factor in getting George an opportunity to play in front of family.
Bunge also said that these trips are big recruiting opportunities for the team and that is a big reason they are going to Texas later this month.
"Our time is spent between sleeping, eating, or being at the ballpark." Bunge said.
"By the time we hit Palm Springs, we're going to be a little bit tired of already being on the road," Bunge said
Although the Jayhawks are playing in vacation areas, they do not get anytime to enjoy the cities.
The trips also keep the team away and traveling for quite a while
It isn't a joy ride, even if they are flying all across the country. You may envy the players for getting to escape to cities like Tempe, Ariz., Orlando and Palm Springs, Calif., but it's all business for the Jayhawks who are out to prove they can hang with the big dogs of college softball.
—Edited by Sam Speer
Kansas Jayhawks huddle before the tipoff of their Jan. 19 game against Texas A&M in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas currently holds the longest-running home-court winning streak in NCAA Division I basketball, with 36 consecutive victories at the University.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
There's no place like the Phog
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Sherron Collins tells his teammates the same thing before every game in Allen Fieldhouse.
More specifically, he yells the same thing. After Collins' name is announced, he runs through the tunnel and the rest of the lajayhaws circle around him. They ignore the deafening noise of the home crowd and listen to the message they know is coming.
"I just tell them it's our house," Collins, a junior guard, said. "And we don't lose at home"
Kansas hasn't lost in Allen Fieldhouse in two years. The Jayhawks will be attempting to win their 37th consecutive home game Saturday when they play the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 2:30.
The Jayhawks currently hold the nation's longest home winning streak at 36 games. Kansas last
lost in Lawrence on Feb. 3, 2007
against Texas A&M, 69-66
That's one of only two home losses — the other was a 78-71 loss to Oral Roberts on Nov. 15, 2006 — Collins and sophomore guard Brady Morningstar have experienced since coming to Kansas. The other six rotation players have never lost on Naismith Court.
This is coming from Self, who doesn't care much about streaks. Self says he never brings up individual streaks — like Sherron Collins' record 35 consecutive free throws — to the players.
But this is different. The home winning streak is already the third longest in school history. The Jayhawks won 62 in a row at Allen
"That's something the players should obviously take great pride in." Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Not because it's the longest in America now, but because there's a lot of guys that spent a lot of hours to get it to that length."
Fieldhouses from 1994-1998 and 55 capsectively from 1984-1988.
Collins remembers that sensation from when he was a youngster in the Kansas lineup two years ago. But he also remembers the pregame huddles he found solace in.
Even for Morris. Self said it could get so loud at the end of a close game that the Jayhawks could feel more pressure than the away team because they don't want to let the fans down.
"It's tough to beat us in here once the fans get into the game," freshman forward Marcus Morris said. "It gets loud. It gets tough to concentrate."
If Kansas kept winning, it likely wouldn't have a chance to break the record until the 2010-2011 season. But that's irrelevant. What matters to Self and Collins is that the young Jayhawks are beginning to understand the importance of winning at home.
"It was the same way," Collins said. "I wasn't the one talking in the huddle, but it was a home game and we didn't lose at home."
"It's tough to beat us in the Fieldhouse because we bring our A-game," Morris said. "It's a great feeling to have that winning streak."
Perhaps someday, Morris will be the one delivering the inspiration before the game. For now, he's focused on prolonging the streak.
Edited By Sam Speer
Collins up for award
Sherron Collins is a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award. The award, which recognizes the nation's top point guard, released its list of 17 finalists Thursday and included Collins. He was the only finalist from the Big 12 Conference. But the winner has come from the Big 12 the past two seasons. Texas' D.J. Augustin won it last season and Texas A&M's Acie Law IV took it in
2007 — when Kansas' Russell Robinson was a finalist.
Fans can vote for whom they want to win the award at www.cousyaward.com.
The fan's collective pick will receive one vote. The other voters include coaches, media members and college basketball experts.
Case Keefer
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Actions speak louder with teammate's words
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
Sophomore forward Nicollette Smith is always talking.
Since day one, when Kansas began preseason individual workouts, Smith has shouldered the responsibility of communicating with the Jayhawks' most athletic — and raw — player: freshman forward Aishah Sutherland.
And Kansas will need Sutherland's athletic ability tomorrow at Missouri at 1 p.m.
Coach Bonnie Henrickson gives freshman forward Aishah Sutherland instructions during a pause in the Jayhawks Jan. 24 game against Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse.Sutherland is recognized as one of the most athletic, yet quietest, members of the team Ryan McGeeney/KANSAn
"I see how much talent she has and I try to talk her through everything." Smith said. "She doesn't like to talk that much, and that's why people have to talk to her a lot if you're on the court. If you don't talk, it'll be quiet."
On the court, when coach Bonnie Henrickson barks corrections on defense, Sutherland simply nods. With reporters surrounding her after games, Sutherland's responses are short and direct, barely audible above the other conversations.
Indeed, Sutherland's quiet nature is easily noticed.
WHAT: Kansas vs. Missouri
WHERE: Mizzou Arena,
Columbia, Mo.
WHEN: 1 p.m.
TV: FSN, Channel 36
That's why Smith keeps talking.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
"I make it a point of emphasis that whenever I'm with her, I'm just talking with her," Smith said. "I know that one day, if not this season then next season, she's going to be able to talk through something on her own. That's going to help us tremendously."
At times this season,
Sutherland's impact on the
Jayhawks has been loud and clear.
In Kansas' loss to Kansas State on
Jan. 24, Sutherland surprised many
by playing 32 minutes, scoring nine
points and grabbing 12 rebounds
off the bench.
Then, on Wednesday,
Sutherland's sheer athletic ability was on display again. Facing a Colorado team unable to match her size and quickness, Sutherland scored a career-high 12 points and dominated stretches in the second
.
half.
And as impressive as Sutherland's development has been, Smith's maturation may be more so.
"She talks her through
1
everything." Henrickson said. "Even coming to a timeout, she's in her ear talking about, 'Hey, we need to play it this way.' That's where that kid has grown. She has
a really good basketball 1Q, but she's committed to being vocal and communicating. $ ^{7} $
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SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 8B