Carter may leave
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
NBA Playoffs
Forward Vince Carter is expected to announce today that he will follow in the footsteps of North Carolina teammate Antawn Jamison and enter the NBA Draft, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
Thursday
April 30, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
The playoffs continued last night. Game stories and features inside.
SEE PAGE 7B
DeShields gets hot
Page 1
Although he may be overshadowed by Mark McGwire, the Cardinals' Delino DesShields is off to a fast start.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Men finish with low win record
Xavier Avila swells his racquet during a tournament at Alavaram Raqet Club. Avila has been named one of 15 finalists for the annual Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship Award. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Players content with performance despite 9-14 end
By Erin Thompson
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas men's tennis team finished the season with its lowest win total in 16 years, but the season was not considered a total loss.
Members of the team said they were not disappointed with the team's performance despite its 9-14 season record.
"I think the main goal was to try to do as best as we could and represent the University as best as we could," said senior Xavier Avila. "I'm pretty happy with the season, especially individually. I have no regrets."
The season was not as successful as some expected, but the Jayhawks remain optimistic for the NCAA Region V tournament, which tentatively is set for Tulsa, Okla., although the location will not be official until May 5.
"We had bad luck with some injuries this season," Avila said. "We played a lot better at the Big 12 Tournament. We'll see what happens in the regionals."
Postseason play in NCAA tennis begins with regional tournaments. If a team wins the regional tournament, it qualifies for the national championships.
"We had a similar season to last year," Avila said. "Enrique being out for two months was a factor."
But the loss of several players turned the season in the wrong direction. Most notable was the loss of Enrique Abaroa to a back injury.
The outlook was good for the Jayhawks going into this season. The top two singles players and two of the team's three bottom singles players returned from last season's team, which compiled a 19-8 record.
"It's an honor for me. I've been trying to do my best," Avala said.
AllAmerica or allconference team in their respective sports.
Finalists were chosen from 275 nominees from all sports except football. To be nominated, student-athletes are required to have at least a 3.0 grade point average in undergraduate study and be named to the
Bright spots broke through, including Avila being named one of 15 finalists for the annual Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship Award given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Avila has a 3.83 GPA as an economics major and was named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team. Last year he was named an Academic All-American.
The winners will be named at the NACDA annual convention June 16 in Marco Island, Fla.
Another positive aspect of the season was the play of the doubles team of Abaroa and Luis Uribe. The team, ranked 21st in the nation, had an 8-4 record. Last Friday at the Big 12 Tournament, Abaroa and Uribe defeated the second-ranked doubles team in the nation, Pavel Kurdna and Martin Dvoracove of Oklahoma State.
"We had been thinking about that one for a long time," Uribe said. "Once we had the opportunity to knock them off, we took advantage."
Abaroa and Uribe are 5-1 against nationally ranked opponents, including four wins against top-15 pairs.
Luis Uribe hits the ball during a tournament at Robinson courts. Uribe and his doubles partner, Enrique Abaroa, are 5-1 against nationally ranked opponents.
Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
German center plans Kansas visit next week
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
Kansan sportswriter
Dirk Nowitzki, a 6-foot-11 center from Germany, told recruiting analyst Mike Sullivan that he would visit Kansas and three other colleges next week during his trip to the United States.
Nowitzki said his other visits included Utah, Kentucky and California, which has been considered the longtime front-runner.
But the 20-year-old — who will be released from the German army in June — has received lucrative offers to play professional basketball in Europe. Nowitki said that he would spend one or two years in college before entering the NRA Draft.
He will start his tour of the four schools either this weekend or next week. Nowitki is in the process of ordering plane tickets and setting his itinerary.
Notitziw will return to Germany after his visits to consult with his parents and to pick a college, probably after the spring signing period ends May 15. If that occurs, he would not be committed to the school until he showed up for the fall semester.
California has led the sweepstakes for Nowitzki for some time. Bears coach Ben Braun visited with Nowitzki in Germany last month, allegedly to secure an oral commitment.
But Nowitzki said he wanted to visit each
of the contenders.
Analyst Sullivan has been helping Nowitzki and his coach sift through the schools
Notitzki's team asked Sullivan for a detailed analysis of each of the finalists. Both coach and player admitted that they did not know much about American schools and that they needed some assistance.
This will be Newtit's second trip to America this spring. He visited San Antonio recently for the Nike Hoops Summit game last month, recording 33 points.
and 13 rebounds in the World Team's 104-99 victory. He was a remarkable 21-for-22 from the free-throw line that game.
The Jayhawks also are recruiting Ashante Johnson, a 6-9 swingman from Canada (Calif.) Junior College.
Johnson could replace some of the scoring punch that was lost at small forward when Paul Pierce declared early for the NBA Draft.
Kansas has one scholarship left, which was used by former walk-on Terry Nooner last season.
Johnson said he would decide among Kansas, Xavier, Florida State and Pepperdine early next week, when Nowitzki will be touring the country.
Students work out schedules to fit new Robinson hours
By Tamara Miller
Kansan staff writer
tmiller@kansan.com
The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, the center will be open from 1 to 8 p.m. Summer hours start May 14th.
Students using Robinson Center this summer may have to make some time adjustments.
Any student enrolled for summer or fall may use the center during the summer.
However, students may want to avoid working out in the middle of the afternoon, said Bob Lockwood, Robinson director. Certain areas of the building, including the swimming pool and the raquetteball courts do not have air conditioning, he said.
"Students can still come, but they may want to come later in the afternoon when it starts to cool off," he said.
Nhan Nguyen, Wichita junior, said he used Robinson last summer. Often the weight room was closed or Robinson's hours did match his schedule, he said. This summer, he said he would probably go to the Lawrence Athletic Club, 3201 Mesa Wav.
"A lot of my friends go there because it's open 24 hours a day," he said.
ROBINSON CENTER HOURS
Robinson Center fall and spring hours:
Monday Thursday: 5:10-3 p.m.
Saturday: 9:30-11 a.m.
Friday: 12:30-10:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sunday: 1-10:30 p.m.
Robinson Center summer hours, starting Mav 14:
■ Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
■ Saturday and Sunday: 1-8 p.m.
"Robinson's hours are so short, and you can't get on any of the equipment."
Lockwood said that classes were scheduled throughout the day in the swimming pool, the racquetball court and the weight room. Although students may come to Robinson any time during the open hours, some areas periodically will be closed off because of classes or lack of supervision. Signs will be posted indicating when the room will be available again, he said.
"Whatever is academically scheduled will have priority." he said.
Robinson's hours during the fall and spring semesters are 5 to 10:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, Robinson is open from 12:30 to 10:30 p.m. On Saturday, Robinson is open 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sunday it is open 1 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Commentary
Love for sports losing ground as corporations take over games
Like the comedy hit *Seinfeld*, I feel the time is right to step down (Columnist grabs for the Puffs—no, make that Kleenex).
While you're thinking, I'm going to share with you my feelings on this subject which I take personally
Just like Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer,
I want to go out while my career is peaking,
on my own terms, before I get kicked out.
With that I have one final question for you:
Are professional and collegiate sports getting better with time, or are they losing the flavor which made them so great?
Professional and collegiate sports are losing the flavor which made them so great. The intrinsic value is disappearing while outside money is appearing on center stage.
It's sad that professional and collegiate sports have become a big business that depends heavily on contributions and influences of corporate America.
Adam Herschman
sports@ kansan.com
Corporations are using
professional and collegiate sports as a pawn to make money so they can grow even bigger and have even more power in our society.
Products are in our faces constantly while watching a game, from the Nike Halftime Show on TNT to the Nokia, Car Quest, Alamo, Federal Express. Frosted Flakes Cereal Bowl.
Commercials are increasing in number and are slowing the speed of the game, brainwashing the public and selling false dreams to kids. For example do you remember Nike's old slogan, "It's got to be the shoes?"
Therefore, the leagues give owners more money from television deals so the teams can pay players higher salaries. Owners can buy a championship through free agency like the Florida Marlins did last season, and athletes can hold out for $125 million instead of accepting a $116 million offer.
Television contract amounts have reached the billions of dollars for some of the collegiate and professional sports, because the major networks know corporations will pay even more than their investments to market their products through commercials.
So who gets screwed?
Now, it looks like the NBA is headed for a strike because of the labor agreement between the owners and players associations.
Since the beginning of this decade, I haven't found professional and collegiate sports as fun to watch and follow as I used to. I miss the personality that sports used to encourage while they tried to gain popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.
The fans of course, because merchandise and ticket prices increase. Therefore, only a certain group of people can afford season tickets.
Arguments about money caused Major League Baseball to strike a short time ago, and baseball hasn't been the same since.
Everything has become so commercial and political because of the vested interests from team owners, professional leagues, the NCAA, universities, coaches, trainers, players, players' agents, marketing firms, corporate America, mascots and mascots' agents.
There's too much money involved right now, and it's corrupting the value of sports.
I liked it when basketball players wore jewelry like Daryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins. I miss the touchdown dances which made Washington Redskins "Fun Bunch" and Houston Oilers wide receiver Billy "White Shoes" Johnson popular.
Rivalries like the Lakers-Celtics with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird don't exist anymore. Technological advances like instant replay and equipment advancements (shoes) take the old-school aspect away. Hall-of-Famer Walt Frazier used to play basketball in low-cut Pumas.
The coach, role player, pinch hitter and special teams player are parts of the game that used to be publicized but today are overshadowed by the heavily marketed superstar.
When I watch sports I don't see players or teams. I see organizations making money.
It's a tough reality to face, just like the end of Seinfeld.
Herschman is an Minnetonka, Minn., senior in journalism.