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University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, March 31, 1992
SPORTS
'Hawks' practice begins optimistically
Daron J. Bennett/KANSAN
40 lettermen return for '92 spring football
Above: Defensive coordinator Bob Fello speaks with the defense during practice behind Anschutz Sports Pavilion. Below: Receivers coach John lefferson works on drills with Kansas receiver Ashauntall Smith. The Jay
hawks began spring practices yesterday after three months of intense off-season physical conditioning.
By Jerry Schmidt
Kansan sportswriter
Bursting at the seams with confidence and optimism, the Kansas football team opened spring practice yesterday.
Words such as, undefeated, game and talent spring from the player's mouth as they prepared for the first day of spring drills.
"We can beat anybody we play against," senior linebacker Hassan Bailey said. "I feel that we have the ability on offense, defense and the kicking game to go undefeated as long as everyone does their job."
Kansas coach Glen Mason welcomed 40 returning lettermen to practice, including 17 on offense, 21 on defense and two specialists.
Kansas is coming of a year in which they finished 6 overall and fifth in the NBA.
"I firmly believe that there is no one on the schedule we can't compete with and beat," Mason said.
The Jayhawks will have 29 days to get in 15 practices. Ten of those practices will be in full pads, including the annual spring game on April 25.
"I think '91 was good." Mason said.
"But it could have been great. There has been another attitude change. We have taken it to a new level. The kids are focused on what we're trying to accomplish."
THE OFFENSE
Some big questions must be answered if the Jayhawks are going to join the ranks of the elite of the Big Eight. Possibly the biggest question is who will replace Tony Sands and Roger Robben in the backfield.
Junior George White and seniors Chaka Johnson and Maurice Douglas will attempt to fill the shoes of record-breaker Sands. After redshirt last year, Douglas is back to contend for the starting tailback job. He started eight games in 1990 at fullback and ran for 259 vards on 86 carries.
Peggy Woods/KANSAN
White was Sands' understudy last
season, rushing for 18 yards. Johnson
was Sands' leader for the game.
Senior Monte Cozzens looks to be the top candidate to replace Robben robten at backlight. Cozzens ran for 155 yards last season and scored three touchdowns.
"Cozzens has a wealth of talent," Mason said. "He's built like a bowling ball."
Senior Chip Hilleary, listed as the No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart, should lead the offensive attack. He started 21 of the last 22 games at quarterback the past two seasons. He said that he was out this spring to reassure
everyone that he was going to keep the starting job.
Last season he was benched before the Iowa State game in favor of Nate Florell and he said that he did not plan to relinquish his starting position this season.
"I took an emotional punch in the jaw last year when I didn't get to start against Iowa State." Hilleary said. "It was a good move, because I found out who Chip Hilleary was. Overall it has made me a better person."
Hilleary passed for 1,267 yards last year and completed 52 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 400 yards, second best on the team.
The Jayhawks return second team All-American kicker Dian Eichlöch. Eichlöch made 18 of 24 field goals last year and missed only two extra points in 33 attempts. He also averaged 42.3 yards a punt last season.
The offensive line will be looking for replacements for tackle Chris Perez and guard Scott Imwalle. Imwalle still has a year of eligibility but will not play because of a neck injury he sustained last season against Nebraska. Sophomore Kristopher Booth is tabbed to replace Perez and sophomore John Jones is expected to replace Imwalle.
Senior Keith Loneker returns to anchor the right side of the line. Loneker has been second team all-conference the past two seasons. Sophomore Hessley Hempstead and junior Dan Schmidt are returning starters.
has Loneker thinking bowl game.
The talent level on this year's club
"This is my last go-around," the 6-foot-5, 300 pound Loneker said. "I want to go to a bowl game and win a Big Eight championship."
Mason said that his core of linebackers, anchored by Hassan Bairaul, could be the fastest group of linebackers in the conference. Inside linebacker Steve Harvey is back for his sophomore season after earning conference defensive newcomer of the year last season. The Jayhawks return all four starters on the defensive line and lose only defensive end Lance Flachsbarth. For the third straight year, seniors Diana Stubblefield and Gilbert Brown will play the tackle positions. Stubblefield was a first team all-conference selection last year.
THE DEFENSE
The Jayhawk defense was ranked 29th in the country last year and will return eight starters.
Senior Kyle Moore and junior Guy
will play the defensive end
positions.
"I expect our defense to be very, very good," Mason said. "Our defensive line has an opportunity to be outwitted. We not only have talent but depth.
Junior defensive end Brian Christian will miss spring drills due to an injury.
The one question mark on the defensive side of the ball for the Jayhawks will be in the defensive backfield, where junior cornerback Robert
Vaughn is the lone returning starter. Sophomore Gerald McBurrows, who started three games last season, will defend for the other corner back position.
Senior Charley Bowen, who is a three-year letterman, is slated to start at strong safety.
Sophomore James Givens is listed at the top on the spring depth chart at free safety. Givens will be pushed by senior David Mack and junior college
Mason said that the Jayhawks had turned the corner last year with their 6-5 record. He said that next year's team would look to improve on that mark.
"We took a monumental step because we went from a loser to a winner," he said. "If our players improve and play as hard as they can, and we do a good job of coaching, and if that's not good, then it's just not good enough."
transfer Kwamie Lassiter
Jayhawks hope to fill void left by graduates
By Chris Jenson Kansan sportswriter
on the 1991 Jayhawk team.
As Kansas enters the 1992 spring practice, it will be without two key leaders from last year's 6-5 team. Former running back Tony Sands and former offensive tackle Christopher Perez both served as key team leaders
Hassan Bailey
At a press lunch yesterday, Coach Glen Mason said that the leadership role would need to be improved by Mason and several players said that they were eager to meet the challenges that the upcoming season would bring
"Tony set the tone for us on offense and for the whole team with his fire and spirit," Mason said. "Somebody will have to pick that up."
Senior linebacker Hassan Bailey said that he hoped the seniors could take over where Sands and Perez had underclassmen with good leadership.
"We don't want one leader," he said.
"We want many leaders so the under-classmen will have different people to look as role models."
Senior quarterback Chip Hilleary said that the entire senior class needed to step up and serve as role models for the rest of the team.
"As far as leadership goes, it's going to have to be the seniors," he said. "We've got a lot of experience under our belts. We've got a lot of leaders."
The 'Hawks are coming off their first winning season since 1981, and Mason said that optimism and excitement team were running at near fever pitch.
"We have taken our attitude to a new level, " he said. "All our players are very focused. We still haven tarrived, we have been writing program into a winning program."
Bailey said that he had high expectations for this year's team. He said that the fayhawks could win all of their games if every player played to their potential and if the team had several people step forward as leaders.
"If we are all leaders we know what we can do," he said. "We can beat any team and every team."
Mason agreed, saying the team had the potential and the talent to have an impact.
“If every one of our players achieves everything he can; if our players play well, we win; then there is no one on our schedule that we can't compete against and beat.”
'Fab Five' leader has faced NBA's finest
The Associated Press
No ordinary teen-ager knows what it's like to play alongside Isiah Thomas.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — No ordinary teen-ager knows what it's like to get clotheslined by Bill Lambier on a drive to the basket.
Chris Webber does.
"There's no competition in college that we'll face where we haven't already faced somebody better," Webber said. "Just look at the great players in the NBA ... Steve Smith, Glen Rice. Just come to Detroit and watch the summer leagues."
Last summer, during a game that included
Webber, 19years old, is the soft-spoken, unofficial leader of Michigan's FabFive. He is excited about going to the NCAA Final Four, but he is not aowed by the competition offered by the tournament. Before ever playing a game in college, Webber was playing pickup games against the best professional and college players in his hometown of Detroit.
several of the Pistons. Webber learned the hard way not to try and make a fool of Laimbeer without paying a heavy price.
"I went up for a dunk and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me down," Webber said. "I wasn't used to that. It was only a pickup game. I sat on him, but Isaiah came over and stopped me."
The Wolverines, who play Cincinnati in the national semifinals Saturday at Minneapolis,
"We're in the Final Four, and it's a dream come true," said JaLen Taken, Webber's room-maid.
That kind of intensity and passion for the game helped Webber and Michigan'sother four freshman starters stick together through the first four rounds of the tournament. While it was expected they would fall, the youngsters are fulfilling the goal they set for themselves privately at the start of the season.
Sunday's 75-71 overtime win over Big Ten champion Ohio State was particularly satisfying because Michigan had lost twice to the Buckeyes during the regular season.
are well aware of the spot reserved for them in NCAA history if five freshmen can win the national championship.
"We'll never be freshmen again," Rose said. "After this year, there will be expectations, and it's hard to live up to other people's expectations. This year, we're just living up to our own."
The notoriety, all this "Fab Five" business,
hasn't been a burden at all, because each of the
five freshmen was a highly visible, highly
recruited high school star.
"I remember people digging up the grass from my front yard, putting it in a bag and leaving," he said. "People would come and take picture in the house. I used to write it all down in my diary.
Webber, 6 foot 9, once had 64 points and 15 dunks in an eight-grade game and was Mr. Basketball in Michigan last year. He's used to being a teen idol.
"I've always been singled out because of my height. But at Michigan, I just one of the Fab Five. It was more bizarre in high school because you were the only one."
The Associated Press
Bell traded from Cubs to White Soy
CHICAGO — Former American League MVP George Bell was traded by the Chicago Cubs yesterday to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Sammy Sosa and left-handed reliever Ken Patterson.
Bell, a nine-year veteran, spent seven turbulent years with the Toronto Blue Jays before signing as a free agent with the Cubs in December 1990 for a guaranteed $9.8 million over three years.
"We got the guy we wanted," White Sox general manager Ron Schueler said. "We got the pure hitter."
Bell, 32, has averaged 154 games, 28 home runs and 106 RBIs during his eight full seasons in the major leagues. He won the MVP award in 1987 after hitting .308 with 47 home runs and 134 RBIs for the Blue Jaws.
The left fielder hit .285 with 25 home runs and 86 doubles for the Cubs last year.
"What we're giving up is an outstanding hitter." Cubs general manager Larry Himes said "George will always be a good player and he'll fit in very well in the White Sox lineup."
Bell's addition bolsters a strong lineup that already includes Tim Raines, Steve Sax, Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas, Dan Pascuall. Carla Fisk and Zoo Guillem.
Bell had his difficulties in Toronto, though. He criticized both management and the fans and left on a bitter note.
But in his only season with the Cubs he seemed to get along with everyone and produced a solid season. He averaged one win per season last year, his best production since 1987.
On the negative side, Bell led all major league outfielders with 10 errors last season so there's a possibility he will also be a designated hitter for the White Sox.
Jayhawks end their streak
Bell has appeared in three All-Star games - 1987, 1990 and 1991.
SPORTS BRIEFS
The Kansas baseball team scored nine runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 10-3 victory in yesterday's game against Nebraska in Lincoln.
Senior Curtis Schmidt went the distance for KU, giving up only nine hits and three runs. Schmidt, 3-2, struck out four Cornhuskers and walked one.
Junior first baseman Wuycheck had the big day for Kansas at the plate. Wuycheck was 3-for-5 with five RBI. Sophomore Darryl Monroe was 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three stolen bases.
Kansas will travel to Wichita State tonight to play the No.1 ranked Shockers at 7p.m.
Loyolasettlesinlawsuit
Loyola Marymount University announced yesterday that it would pay $545,900 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of basketball star Hank Gathers.
"If we consider our legal responsibilities, I don't believe the university had any," said university attorney Wayne Boehle. "But when you consider our moral obligations, and the loss of a husband or father, I believe we reached a just settlement."
Gathers, 23, collapsed March4, 1990, during a West Coast Conference tournament game and died less than two hours later. The cause of death was found to be cardiomyopathy, or an irregular heartbeat, for which Gathers previously had been prescribed the drug Inderal.
Laettner let off the hook
No further action will be taken against Duke's Christian Laetner, who was assessed a technical foul for stepping on an opponent's chest during the East Regional final, an NCAA committee said.
Laetner stepped on Kentucky's Amuin Timberlake, who was lying on the floor, with 80 left in the second row. They had to escape over the Wildcats on Saturday night.
The NCAA's Division I Men's Basketball Committee reviewed the incident yesterday, said chairman Roy Kramer, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.
"The committee accepted the decision of the officials on the floor," Kramers said.
Softball team claims national respect
From The Associated Press
Kansan sportswrite
But after the Sixth Annual National Invitational Softball Tournament this weekend in Sunnyvale, Calif., Kansas softball coach Kalum Haack said his team may have gained the national recognition it deserves.
The Jayhawks are hungry for respect.
By Cody Holt
"I think our aggressive style of play earned us respect," he said.
Haack added that aggressive play was only part of the reason the No. 18 Jayhawks finished second in a field that included six nationally ranked teams, of which were ranked ahead of Kansas.
Kalum Haack
another."
"We played really, really, really well together as a team," Haack said. "By that I mean almost every player played every game in one capacity or
Haack said he couldn't imagine any team in the country beating UCLA but that he would like to have another try when his team was fresh.
Kansas finished the tournament with five wins and three losses, with two of its losses at the hands of the No.1 ranked UCLA Bruins. UCLA defeated Kansas 10-0 and 14-2 in the championship series.
Senior shortstop Christy Arterburn said the Jayhawks enjoyed the challenge of playing top-ranked teams.
"We went in fighting like we had nothing to lose and they had everything to lose," she said. "We all wanted to play against them."
Sophomore pitcher Stephani Williams, Kansas' selection to the all-tournament team which included only one player from each team in the 16 team field, said the Jayhawks would gain something more important than respect from their strong showing against the top teams in the nation.
"For the team, I think the most important thing we gained is confidence," she said. "Not that we didn't have confidence before, but knowing we can play tough teams well and win will help us a lot."
Kansas will travel to Pittsburgh tonight to play a double-header with the Pittsburg State University Gorillas at 5 and 7. Haack said that if the Jayhawks continued to play as well as they did in California, they shouldn't have a problem defeating the division II Gorillas.