Sports Survey
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Friday
January 30,1998
Section:
B
Page 1
With the 100-year anniversary of Kansas basketball just around the corner, the Kansan is curious about what the fans think. Compile your list of the top five players, teams and games in Jayhawk history and e-mail us at sports@kansas.com.
SEE PAGE 6B
Pro Baseball
World Series MVP Livan Hernadez's life has changed dramatically since he last pitched.
Page 1
College Basketball
The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils slammed No. 23 Maryland 86-59 last night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
SEE PAGE 5B
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Women face top-10 team tomorrow
By Kevin C. Wilson
Kansan sportswriter
A Saturday game in Lubbock, Texas, against a top-10 team with an All-American candidate. Sound familiar? It should
Last Saturday, the Kansas women's basketball team went to Lubbock and was defeated 72-56 by No. 5 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were led by All Amricons
Tomorrow the Jayhawks, 13-4 overall and 5-3 in Big 12 Conference play, return to Municipal Auditorium to participate in the Big 12/Pac-10 Shootout at 3 p.m. against the 10th-ranked Arizona Wildcats.
Like Texas Tech, Arizona, 13-4 overall and 7-2 in Pac-10 play, is led by an All-American candidate.
Jackson: Point guard like playing ranked teams
Senior forward Adia Barnes leads the Pac-10 in scoring with 22.7 points per game and paces the Wildcats with 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
Coach Marian Washington said Barnes
was a great player and it would be a challenge to shut her down.
"This young woman has the ability to do a great job on the low blocks. She's agile, and she can score from 15 feet and in," Washington said. "I just don't know that we can stop her one-on-one. That's how good she is."
Washington said the Wildcats were most effective when their offense was running smoothly and their deadly three-point shooters were getting open looks.
"Arizona is an unbelievable ballclub and what makes them a difficult team to play," she said. "They are very quick and their perimeter shooters can all shoot the three-point shot.
"We are going to try some half-court trapping, get out into their passing lanes and try to show them some things they are not used to seeing," Washington said.
She said she needed a great defensive effort from her team but it would be a challenge because her players seemed to be a little tired.
"We've got a few players who are playing a lot of minutes," Washington said. "I'm going to attribute some of our slow starts to us being a little tired. But I feel that we are going to be as fresh as we can possibly be going into this weekend against Arizona."
Guard Jennifer Jackson said she was looking forward to tomorrow's game, not just because it is going to be televised on ESPN2 but also because it was a great opportunity for the Jayhawks.
"It's exciting any time you get to play a top-10 team," Jackson said. "If we really go in there and play as well as we can, we have a great chance of knocking this team off."
Native sons
Williams, Frederick learn to fly on their own
By Tommy Gallaaher
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Scott Williams and Brad Frederick bolted from Kansas several years ago, hoping to enjoy the college experience while escaping their fathers' shadows.
Williams and Frederick, who played basketball at Lawrence High School and now are juniors at North Carolina, are the sons of Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams and athletic director Bob Frederick.
Brad Frederick said he thought about attending Tulsa, where former Kansas assistant Steve Robinson was coaching, but decided on North Carolina when his application was accepted there.
"I knew Scott wanted to go to North Carolina ever since I met him," he said. "We never planned on going to school together. It just happened that way."
Scott Williams said he wanted to go home to Chapel Hill, N.C., where he spent his childhood years.
He remembers Carmichael Arena, which was replaced by the Dean Dome in 1986. He vaguely remembers watching the likes of former Tar Heels Michael Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins, but he never knew what the fuss was about.
What Williams vividly remembers is the band.
"I would just watch the band throughout the game," he said. "I don't know why the band fascinated me so much, but it did. That's all I remember from those games as a kid. Honestly."
Williams is surrounded by his entire family in North Carolina, with the exception of his father; mother, Wanda; and sister, Kimberly.
Scott had a chance to play for his father, like other sons have done earlier in the 1990s.
Brian Barone plays for his father, Tony, at Texas A&M. Pat Knight played for Bobby Knight at Indiana. And Roger Reid coached sons Randy and Robbie at Brigham Young.
Regardless, Scott said he never
See TWO on page 2B
North Carolina guard Scott Williams, son of Kansas coach Roy Williams, drives the lane for the Tar Heels. Williams, along with Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick's son, Brad, play for North Carolina. Photo courtesy Daily Tar Heel
KU volleyball picks coach with history of winning matches
Kansan staff report
Ray Bechard, owner the highest winning percentage among all active college volleyball coaches, is Kansas' new head volleyball coach, the department of intercollegiate athletics announced yesterday.
Bechard has a .922 winning percentage in 13 season as head coach at Barton County Community College in Great Bend. He leaves Barton County with the nation's longest homecourt winning streak of 126 matches.
"The selection committee was tremendously impressed with Ray Bechard's success in competition and his emphasis on academics with the student-athlete," Amy Perko, associate athletics director said.
Bechard will replace Karen Schonewise, whose contract was not renewed after last season.
He was president of the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches association from 1989-1992 and also spent eight years as an assistant women's basketball coach at Barton County.
Bechard, 39, is a two-time National Junior College Coach of the Year and led Barton County to the NJCAA Final Four 10 times.
'Hawks to take on 'Huskers again
Bechard is a 1980 graduate of Fort Hays State University.
Nebraska first challenge as men play one home four away in 16 days
By Tommy Gallagher
"Once you get into the Big 12, there are no easy games," Robertson said. "We've won by a huge margin of victory recently, so it may look easy. But the true test for us will be in the next two weeks because we'll play four tough games on the road against teams that would love to beat us."
Guard Ryan Robertson said the team would be challenged to play the same on the road as it does in Allen Field House.
No. 5 Kansas will play at Nebraska at
2:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, beginning
a 16-day stretch during which the team
will play four of five games on the road
Kansas coach Roy Williams said winning on the road in the Big 12 might be more difficult than in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he worked as an assistant coach for North Carolina before coming to Kansas.
by Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
"I think the longest home court winning streak we had when I was there was 21 games," said Williams, whose Jayhawks have won 57 consecutive games at home. "It's very hard for other teams to come in and win at the
Nebraska is 10-0 at home this season, including 3-0 in conference games. Kansas won the first meeting between the teams this season 96-76 on Jan. 3 in the field house. Forwards Raef LaFrentz, who had a broken right hand, and T.J. Pugh, who had a stress fracture in his right foot, missed the game.
field house, but it's hard for us to go on the road too."
Nebraska point guard Tyronn Lue, a preseason All-Big 12 selection, shot just 4-for 19 from the floor, but was 10-for 10 from the free throw line. He finished the game with 18 points, seven assists and seven turnovers.
Center Eric Chenowith and guard Billy Thomas each scored 19 points as five Kansas players reached double digits in scoring. Robertson scored eight points and had seven assists with just one turnover.
The Jayhawks are only a half-game ahead of Oklahoma in the conference standings, but Baylor coach Harry Miller said there was no race for the Big 12 title. He said the only Big 12 race was to see who would finish second behind Kansas.
"I don't know if we're that much better than the rest of the conference," LaFrentz said. "All I know is that if we continue to play well, we'll be fine."
Forward Paul Pierce said the team must guard against becoming overconfident after the last two games, which the Jayhawks won by an average of 43 points.
The Starting Lineup
KANSAS
JAYHAWKS
7-11 B 12, 23-3 overall
G  RYAN ROBERTSON 6-5  JR.
G  BILLY THOMAS 6-4  SR.
F  PAUL PIENCE 6-7  JR.
F  RAEF LAFRENTZ 6-11  JR.
C  T.J. PUGH 6-8  JR.
Nebraska 'HUSKERS 4-3 Big 12, 13-7 overall
C MATT ZEUNER
"We can be as good as we want to be." Pierce said after Wednesday night's 94-47 win against Baylor. "If we go out and play with that enthusiasm on the defensive end every night with more consistency, then we can play like we did tonight every night."
Davenay Sports Center = Lincoln, Neb.
TV: Ch. 9, 6.
Radio: 109.3 NBC.
Radio: 105.9 FM, 1320 AM
Jayhawks' frontcourt hoards fans' accolades
I like that, Rov
Roy Williams calls the all-guard lineup he has used on occasion this season the Chicken 'Hawks.
So in light of the Kansas guards' impressive performance Wednesday night against Baylor, I went to the dictionary hoping to find a
good scientific definition of chicken hawk that would help make a column about them more interesting.
Or maybe "A small, quick and crafty bird that is protective of its home turf."
I was hoping for something like, "A ferocious little bird that tears its prey to pieces and then stumps on it." That would have been good.
Eric Weslander
sports@kansan.com
No such luck.
All I found in Webster's was, "A hawk that preys or is believed to prey on chickens."
With all the hype surrounding Kansas' All American frontcourt, the Chicken 'Hawks can get lost in the flock.
Hmmm. Maybe Mr. Webster's definition needs a little revision. The chicken hawk should be defined as "A small, underappreciated bird that is often overshadowed by its larger relatives."
Williams calls fan favorite T.J. Pugh one of the best defenders he has ever coached. And young master Eric Chenowith is already breaking blocked-shot records.
But how about those Chicken 'Hawks, who got no respect coming into the season? All of the preseason magazines listed Kansas' frontcourt as among the best in the country, but the backcourt was nowhere to be found.
Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce lead the team in scoring and will collect a bunch of awards at the end of the season. Lester Earl, despite a flurry of missed monster dunks in the past few games, adds excitement and finesse to the frontcourt.
This was because of the departure of Jacque Vaughn and Jerod Haase. While everyone cried about how much they would be missed, the Chicken 'Hawks were busy improving.
Ryan Robertson averages 8.7 points per game and is second in the Big 12 with 6.3 assists per game. Vaughn posted similar numbers two years ago and was named Big Eight Conference Player of the Year.
Billy Thomas, whom one magazine called the most overrated player in the Big 12 Conference, finally has found his groove this season. If he's overrated, then I'm Martha Stewart.
With 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, Thomas proved again Wednesday night he is the most dangerous shooter in the Big 12 and one of the most dangerous in the country. He also leads the team in steals and is second in assists.
Nick Bradford deserves a big chest-bump for his enthusiasm, tenacious defense and vast improvement from last season. I used to cover my eyes when he touched the ball; now I watch with anticipation.
C. B. McGrath, once a lonely grinning walk on at the end of the bench, is a dependable back-up to Robertson. He turns the ball over about as often as Norm Stewart smiles.
Kenny Gregory's 18-point performance Wednesday night was his most exciting this season. If his long-range shooting continues to improve, he will be one of Kansas' all-time greats.
Next year the Jayhawks will be without LaFrentz, the Big Bird himself. And from the looks of things, Pierce is as gone as a wild goose in winter.
But Robertson, Bradford and Gregory will return to the backcourt, joined by prized recruit Jeff Boschee.
Don't forget Jelani Janisse. So far he has cranked out turnovers faster than a pastry chef on amphetamines, but he is a good defender and has made some nice passes.
Take a look at those preseason magazines next fall. That lineup will be listed among the top in the country.
And the Chicken 'Hawks will fly again
Westland is a Louisville, Ky., junior in journalism and is the sports editor.
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