Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The fans continue to voice opinions about the Jayhawks upset loss to Rhode Island in the NCAA tournament.
Swimming
Kansas swimmer Kristin Nilsen has changed her life focus after learning that her brother had cancer.
SEE PAGE 4B
Wednesday March 18,1998
Section:
Soccer
B
Page 1
The women's soccer team will get extra help in the midfield with the signing of Danielle Deguerre.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Commentary
Men's loss helps women's team, but keep it quiet
Marian Washington would never admit it.
She wouldn't let her players ever say it.
And deep down, even if it did cross her mind, she wouldn't listen to it.
But if she considered it for one moment, then she would understand that the best thing to happen to her program since Lynette Woodard was the men's loss on Sunday.
Rhode Island 80. Kansas 75.
For the first time in the history of the University, the women's basketball team is playing basketball and the men are at home.
And as the sting from the men's defeat slowly wears off, people are starting to talk about the other Jayhawk basketball team.
Jim at the gas station is taking notice. "Those ladies are still alive. I hope they win it all."
Jim has never been to a women's basketball game in his life. He didn't even realize there was a women's team.
Spencer Duncan
sports@kansan.com
Neither did Martv. a card carrving mem-
Neither the Martha's Family carrying him ber of the National Rifle Association who thinks that women's sports are just another form of affirmative action. But he's also a Kansas graduate who is taking notice of the women's team.
"Least one of them teams can win." Marty said while sipping on his Bud. "I'll be watching 'em"
You see, people are watching.
The basketball season hasn't ended yet at the University of Kansas. The women ensured that — the men didn't.
There isn't a public relations department around that could have staged a better way to draw attention to the women's team. But Marian won't admit it.
She didn't want to see the men lose. She is as proud of what they accomplished as any other fan. In fact, before the Jayhawks defeated Iowa Sunday night, Marian didn't tell her team about the men's loss.
Marian has been hollering that her team can play ball. She has been agitated that only a handful of people show up for their games.
This is an opportunity the Kansas women's team has been in search of for years.
When All-American and current ABL player Angela Aycock played from 1991-94, people stayed away. When All-American Tamecka Dixon, now in the WNBA, broke down defenses and handed out assists better then Jacque Vaughn, people stayed away.
"Why," community thinking went, "should we watch the women when we have the men?"
But the men are gone. The women are all that remain. And people are taking notice.
The women are headlining the fronts of sports pages, slowly being talked about in offices and even are being noticed by Marty and Jim.
This isn't to take away from the women's tournament victories. This team, which lost four starters and warned at the season's start that above .500 would be a good year, deserves all the credit it gets.
This team has worked hard to get where it is and has a chance to go farther. But the women have been winning for years, and through all that winning, no one noticed.
Now, thanks to a loss, the women are getting the recognition they deserve.
Duncan is a Topeka, Kan., senior in journalism and English.
Player's speed causes concern
By Erin Thompson
Kansan sportswriter
The day after Kansas lost a close game to Rhode Island that exposed its lack of speed, Roy Williams offered a scholarship to a local recruit whose
quickness is the most questionable part of his game.
Rod Kirschner, Crider's high school coach. "This is a dream come true for John. "Ever since he was four he wanted to play for Kansas."
John Crider, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Horton, has committed
verbally to play basketball at Kansas after visiting the campus and speaking with Roy Williams on Monday.
At Horton High School, a Class 3A school in northeast Kansas, Crider shot 32 percent from outside the three-point line and 53 percent from inside. He finished his career with a school record 2,008 points in four years, including 52 points in a single game against McLouth High School.
"This is a great fit for everyone," said
McLouth's coach, Graon Gardner,
said that despite Crider's play against
his team, he questioned whether
Crider had the ability to compete at the
Division I level because he had not
played against tougher competition.
"The possible question in my mind is his quickness," he said. "He didn't have to show his quickness against the competition he played. In Division I he'd better be quick. He's got to play defense against some pretty fast guys.
But I'm sure Roy will teach him how to play defense."
Gardner said Crider's strengths were his ability to shoot from anywhere on the court and his jumping ability.
"He's a pure shooter. There's no question he has the shooting ability to play Division I," he said. "He's a very good jumper. He could leap out of the gym."
Kirschner concurred and said Crider is a top notch athlete.
Gardner said Crider's style and size made him comparable to Kansas shooting guard Ryan Robertson.
"I think if you look at Ryan in high school, Crider would be a carbon copy to him." Gardner said.
"He's a pure shooter.
He's a pure shooter. There's no question he has the shooting ability to play in Division I."
McLouth basketball coach
Graon Gardner
Crider, who grew up in Horton, said he had dreamed of playing for Kansas since it won the NCAA championship in 1988.
Jean Becker, a Horton resident who has known Crider since he entered the first grade with her daughter, said that residents of the town supported his decision and were thrilled for his success.
"I'm delighted to see him play for them," she said. "I'm a big KU fan. It's real nice to see a hometown kid make the big time."
'Hawk sluggers to battle Arkansas
University of Kansas students can gorge themselves out of Kansas basketball depression with quarter hot dogs at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
The Kansas baseball team (8-6) is scheduled to play Arkansas (15-4) at 1:30 p.m. today.
"Quarter dog day," which is sponsored by Checkers Foods, 2300 Louisiana St., should begin about a half hour before the first pitch.
The Jayhawks were scheduled to play yesterday
Baseball coach Bobby Randall watches a recent game from the dugout. Photo by Corrie Waters/KANSAN
against the Razorbacks, but the game was canceled because the field was soaked.
"We haven't been outside, other than the Hastings game on Sunday, for a while," said Bobby Randall, Kansas baseball coach. "We're just hoping for the weather to clear up soon so we can get into a playing rhythm."
Arkansas, coming off a 36-20 season, is a top-20 team. "We like to play top teams that challenge us to play at a high level," Randall said. "They are traditionally one of the most fundamentally sound teams we face."
Randall said indoor practice could improve individual skills, but it didn't allow for full-squared scrimmages.
John Blakely Wilson
1998 BASEBALL SCHEDULF
"The guys can get in the cages and work on their throwing motions," Randall said. "But it hurts our ability to work as a team because we can't set up a full infield and outfield."
Mar. 18 Arkansas in Lawrence 1:30 p.m.
Mar. 20 Iowa State in Lawrence. 3 p.m.
Mar. 21 Iowa State in Lawrence. 2 p.m.
Mar. 22 Iowa State in Lawrence. 1 p.m.
Mar. 23 at Missouri in Columbia, Mo. 3 p.m.
Mar. 24 Rockhurst in Lawrence 3 p.m.
Mar. 25 Washburn in Lawrence 3 p.m.
Mar. 27 Oklahoma in Lawrence 7 p.m.
Mar. 28 Oklahoma in Lawrence 2 p.m.
Mar. 29 Oklahoma in Lawrence 1 p.m.
Mar. 31 at S.W. Mis. State in Springfield 2 p.m.
Mar. 32 Bakersfield in Lawrence 7 p.m.
April 3 at Baylor in Waco 7 p.m.
**April 3 at Baylor in Waco 7 p.m.**
**April 4 at Baylor in Waco, Texas 7 p.m.**
**April 5 at Baylor in Waco, Texas 1 p.m.**
** April 7 Fort Hays State in Lawrence 7 p.m.**
** April 8 Kansas State in Lawrence 7 p.m.**
** April 10 Texas Tech in Lawrence 7 p.m.**
** April 11 Texas Tech in Lawrence 2 p.m.**
** April 12 Texas Tech in Lawrence 1 p.m.**
** April 14 Wichita State in Lawrence 7 p.m.**
** April 15 at Wichita State in Wichita 7 p.m.**
** April 17 Missouri in Lawrence 7 p.m.**
April 19 Missouri in Lawrence 1 p.m.
April 19 Missouri in Lawrence 1 p.m.
April 21 at Texas in Austin 2:30 p.m.
April 22 at Texas in Austin 2:30 p.m.
April 24 Texas A&M in Lawrence 7 p.m.
April 25 Texas A&M in Lawrence 2 p.m.
 April 26 Texas A&M in Lawrence 1 p.m.
 April 28 Kansas State in Lawrence 7 p.m.
 May 1 at Kansas State in Manhattan 7 p.m.
 May 2 at Kansas State in Manhattan 2 p.m.
 May 3 at Kansas State in Manhattan 1 p.m.
 May 9 St. Scholastica in Lawrence 2 p.m.
April 18 Missouri in Lawrence 2 p.m.
both events and the conference record in the 1.650.
At last year's NCAA finals, Palmer
Men to swim in national meet
Three men on the Kansas swimming and diving team have qualified for the NCAA Championships.
NCAA 'Men's Swimming and Diving Championships March 28-28 at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.
Tyler Painter, Brandon Chestnut, and Trent Hartl qualified for the
Painter, Greeley. Colo., sophomore, qualified in the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle. He holds the school record in
Painter: Holds the school record in two swimming events.
earned two All-America awards and finished second in the 1,650 freestyle and seventh in the 500 freestyle.
Painter also holds the fastest American time in the 1,500-meter freestyle
Chestnut,
Derby sophomore, qualified
in the 100- and
200-yard breast-
stroke. He holds
the school
record for the
100 breaststroke
and is ranked
seventh nation-
eight at the World Championships in January in Perth. Australia.
Hartl: Qualified for the NCAA Championships.
ally in the event. He finished second in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200.
the 200 breaststroke at the Big 12 Championships earlier this month.
Hartl, Billings, Mont, junior, qualified in the 200 and 500-yard free-style. He holds the school record in the 200 free-
the 200 freestyle.
"We are proud we have three strong individuals competing," said Gary Kempf, Kansas swimming and diving coach. "They are three of the most coachable and hardest working kids I have had here, and it is fitting they
Chestnut: Qualified in two events for the NCAAs.
swim in the world's fastest meet." --Erin Thompson
Kansas quarterback attacked, injured
A University of Kansas football player was battered in the parking lot outside Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall early Saturday morning.
Quarterback Zachary Wegner was treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for minor injuries.
a. m. when the woman's ex-boyfriend and two other people approached them and started harassing them.
Walsh said that Wagner and a female KU student were walking west of Corbin Hall in Lot 111 last before 3
Officer Burdell Welsh of the KU Public Safety Office said that Wogner had been kicked in the head so hard that he was disoriented and did not know where he was when police arrived.
brushes and Waggaj Alfiejack
cuts and a. in KD porching lot.
bump on
bia head ...
Welsh said that three sus
peets had been identified and that the investigation was continuing. No arrests have been made.
Wagner is expected to compete for the team's starting quarterback position in the fail. He replaced Mart Johner halfway through the 1997 season.
Doug Vance, assistant athletic director for media relations, said that Wegner's performance would not be blamed by the injury and that he would be able to practice with the team as scheduled on April 1.
Laura Reddh