Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
After three Super Bowl beatings in the late '80s, John Elway will try to lead the Broncos—and the AFC—to victory this year. Can he?
SEE PAGE 3B
Tuesday
January 13, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
Norm gets ticked
SEE PAGE 3B
Norm Stewart said yesterday that Big 12 officials like to target his rough-and-tumble players.
Colts get new coach
The Indianapolis Colts hired Jim Mora, ex-Saints coach turned commentator, as head coach yesterday.
SEE PAGE 5B
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The Starting Lineup
KANSAS JAYHAWKS 9-3 Big 12, 1-2 overall
G SUZI RAYMANT 5-11 Jr.
B JENNIFER JACKSON 5-10 Fr.
F LYNN PRIDE 6-2 So.
C JACEYN JOHNSON 6-1 Fr.
F NAKIA SANFORD 6-3 Jr.
TEXAS LONGHORNS 5-7 BIG 12. 1-2 overall
**G** VANESSA WALLACE 5-9 JR.
**K** KIM LUMLIMS 5-8 FR.
**F** EDWINA BROWN 5-10 JR.
**F** DEE SMITH 5-11 JR.
**C** ANGELA JACKSON 6-4 SR.
Allen Field House • Lawrence
TV: Ch. 3, 13 and 29
Radio: KLWN, 1320 AM
AP TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through yesterday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
rank team rec ps pre ps
1.N. Carolina (68) 17-0 1,748 1
2.Duke (2) 14-1 1,676 2
3.Kansas 19-2 1,527 4
4.Utah 13-0 1,512 5
5.Arizona 13-3 1,431 5
6.Kentucky 14-2 1,401 6
7.Stanford 14-0 1,394 7
8.UCLA 12-2 1,185 10
9.Purdue 14-3 1,152 9
10.Connecticut 14-2 1,074 8
11.Mississippi 14-1 1,066 14
12.Princeton 13-1 899 15
13.Iowa 13-2 812 11
14.S.Carolina 10-2 747 16
15.New Mexico 11-2 718 12
tie Syracuse 14-1 718 18
17.Florida St. 12-4 573 13
18.Xavier 10-3 541 19
19.Michigan 13-4 472 17
20.Rhode Island 10-2 431 23
21.West Virginia 14-2 423 25
22.Akansas 13-2 411 22
23.Marquette 10-2 133 20
24.Hawaii 11-2 115 21
25.Oklahoma St.12-1 —
Other receiving votes: 41, Wisconsin 95, Cincinnati 79, Maryland 52,
Clemson 64, Illinois 91, Ball St. 23, Colorado St. 26, Georgia
Tech. 23, Texas Christian 19, Wyoming 13, Tennessee 12, Indiana
11, Georgia Washington 10, Michigan State 7, Vanderbilt 8,
Illinois 11, Kansas City 12, Oklahoma State 7, Washington 4, Illinois St. 3, Illinois-Chicago 2, Oklahoma 2,
Alabama-Birmingham 1, Arizona St. 1, Gonzaga 1
Kansas forward Lester Earl goes up for a rebound against Nebraska. Earl became eligible to play Dec. 19th and played in his first game against Texas Christian Dec. 20th. Photo by Steve Pupke/KANSAN
Earl gets second chance
Kansas frees Lester from 'savior' status
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
ketball prospect, Earl had surrendered to hometown pressure in Baton Rouge, La., when he selected LSU instead of Kansas, which he always had said was his No. 1 school.
When Kansas crushed Louisiana State 82-53 in the first round of the Maui Invitational last season, then-Tiger Lester Earl just wanted the game to end. A highly unrouted high school bee
Earl said that the Maui game served as a reminder of his original decision.
"I should have been on the other side. I should have been in a Kansas uniform," Earl said about the game, "I just wanted to hurry up and get the game over with because I felt bad by me not being there. I told some of the (Kansas) coaches that this was my school, and I
kind of went back on my word."
A highly recruited high school basseason her team has struggled.
Earl, who transferred last spring,
made his Kansas debut with five points
and six rebounds in the Jayhawks' 94-
78 victory against Texas Christian on
Dec. 20. Recently, his play has been crucial to No. 3 Kansas because of injuries to forwards T.J. Pugh and All-American Reaf LaFrentz.
Earl has started in seven-of-eight games in which he has played and has averaged 10.7 points and 8.5 rebounds.
See EARL on page 2B
Kansas center Koya Scott looks for an open teammate while surrounded by Nebraska defenders. The Jayhawks defeated No.16 Nebraska 83-74. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Kansas strives to defeat struggling Texas Longhorns
By Kevin C. Wilson
Kansan Sportswriter
The Kansas women's basketball team will look to continue its winning ways when it plays host to the Texas Longhorns at 7 tonight in Allen Field House.
Coach Marian Washington said that her team was working hard and that a lewdown after Saturday's emotional victory was unlikely.
The Jayhawks will face a Texas team that is coming off an 82-59 loss to No. 5 Texas Tech. The Longhorns, 5-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play, are looking to win their first game on the road this season.
The Jayhawks defeated the No. 16 Nebraska Cornhuskers 83-74 Saturday and will attempt to claim their second Big 12 conference victory of the season.
"It was a high on Saturday, but the team is focused and we're trying to get better everyday." Washington said.
Texas, a traditional women's basketball powerhouse, is under the direction of Jody Conradt, who is now in her 22nd season as the Longhorns head coach. Conradt entered the season as the all-time winningest women's coach in history, with a record of 697-198 in 27 years, but so far this
Washington said that she was a supporter of Conradt and that she was looking forward to facing her again.
"I consider her one of the special people in our business. We always have had a mutual respect for one another," Washington said.
The Longhorns are led by sophomore forward Edwina Brown, who averages a team-high 16.4 points per game and pulls down 7.3 rebounds a game. In the middle, Angela Jackson, a preseason 1st队 AllBig 12 Conference selection and last year's leading scorer, averages 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
Despite their sub-par record, Washington said that the Longhorns possessed talented players and that the Jayhawks would need to play great defense to stop them.
"There is no question we are aware of Jackson," Washington said. ("Kim) Lummus is a great outside shooter and (Vanessa) Wallace and E. Brown are perimeter players who can break you down off the dribble."
She said that if the Longhorns ever got their chemistry to click, they would be outstanding.
College sports fill break with new memories
"Hopefully they won't get it together against us," Washington said.
Time for a reality check.
Welcome back.
A lot has happened in the sports world since we last spoke, so snap on the seat belt and get those eyes focused because we're going fast...
The holiday presents have been replaced by book bills and those home-cooked meals have turned into giant helpings of gourmet chicken-flavored ramen. And what happened to the New Year's Eve parties we all had so much fun at? Well, simply try to hang on to the sweet memories while you're sitting through that 8:30 a.m. chemistry lecture.
What was Kansas State head coach Tom Asbury thinking when he said..."I think that it is good that we played against a team of this caliber." often his Wildcats!
after his whitsuc humiliating 38 point loss to Arizona. "We won't play a team of this caller again, unless we get in the NCAA tournament."
Huh?
Maybe someone should check what they're putting in the drinking water in Manhattan—because the last time I checked, the power kittens were still in the same Big 12 Conference as Kansas. Yep, that would be the same Kansas that beat Arizona earlier this season.
Harley Ratliff
spoets@kansan.com
I guess we'll all see what kind of caliber team the Jayhawks are on Saturday when they host the Wildcats. Have fun. Tom.
Kansas basketball fans don't know how good they have it until...they attend a home Oklahoma basketball game. I had the privilege of attending two of the Sooners home games during the break. Sure, the tickets were easy to get, there was an abundance of available fold-out seats, a wonderful new jumbo-tron and, oh, about two hours of mind-numbingly boring basketball.
Going to a Sooner home game is like watching a bad movie inside a half-empty cave — albeit a very blush cave.
Sure, my grandma's fruitcake made me ill,
but not as much as...ABC's coverage of the Rose
Bowl. The camera angles were too low, the postgame hype was out-of-control and if I had to hear one more thing coming from Brian "Daddy's Boy" Griese's big mouth, I was pretty sure I would have lost my lunch. Or my fruitcake.
Unfortunately, the number 38 is bad because... it is also Kenny Gregory's free throw percentage. The freshman guard is beginning to blossom as a star player. He's got bundles of athletic ability and seems to play better and better with each game. And those dunks... .000000... they are nasty. But, if there's room to improve, I think it could be at the charity strike.
It is a true sports travesty that...the Nebraska Cornhuskers weren't awarded the No.1 ranking in both the Associated Press poll and the USA Today CNN coaches poll. Hey, I'm with Nebraska quarterback CNN Scott Frost on this one. If you really believe that Michigan could beat the Cornhuskers, then you must be sippin' from the same water supply as our good friend coach Asbury.
The number 38 is good because...since breaking the Kansas record for career 3-point field goals against Middle Tennessee State Dec. 13, Billy Thomas has dropped in 38 more threes during a phenomenal nine-game winter-break stretch. Rarely do you see a player shoot with such supreme confidence and accuracy. And until he cools off—and I pray he never does—Thomas will be one of college basketball's most exciting players to watch.
You may leave Allen Field House with a throbbing headache, a raspy voice, two aching knees, and a wrenched back, but you had one helluva time. The old field house offers you something you can't buy with a thousand jumbo-trons: Flavor.
You're lucky Kansas fans. Don't ever forget it.
The only thing worse than Big 12 football is..Big 12 basketball. As pathetic as the football side performed, the conference basketball teams seem to be one-upping their pigskin counterparts for futility. It's Kansas and then...nobody. I'm starting to long for the days of the Big 8.
I may not have covered everything, but it should at least keep you entertained through that chemistry lecture.
Ratliff is a Norman, Okla., junior in journalism.
More basketball photost
Catch more of the Winter Break basketball action.
See page 68