UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, April 2, 1993
7B
THE STARTERS
ADONIS JORDAN
5-11 170 Guard Reseda, Calif.
enior point guard Adonis Jordan will leave Kansas as one of the most decorated and successful players in the history of Kansas basketball
A three-year starter
after serving his freshman year as a backup, Jordan has helped get Kansas to two Foul Fours in three years. The Jayhawks have won three consecutive Big Eight Championships during his tenure.
He will leave Kansas as at least the 12th all-time leading scorer. He has 1,354 career points heading into a tomorrow's game. His 564 career points place him third on the all-time list.
assists place him third on the all-time list
He finished this season with 159 assists and 50 turnovers — the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Eight Conference.
"My career here has been like a dream come true," Jordan said. "I'm just going to have fun this weekend and leave everything out there."
Jordan has played most of this season with a stress fracture in his left leg. Motivation to succeed in the tournment, Jordan said, has numbed any pain.
Jordan, who took a camcorder with him to the 1991 semifinals, said he would bring it with him again to preserve the memories of his second Final Four.
"Two Final Fours during my four years here," Jordan said. "I'm on cloud nine right now."
Career notes
1993 Midwest Regional Team
1993 Honorable Mention All-American
1993 Big Eight Honorable Mention
1993 Golden Harvest Classic
ERIC PAULEY
1992 First Team All-Big Eight 1991 Southeast Regional Team
Roy's remarks
"If you go down the list of what players have won the most games in the Big Eight, Adonis should be somewhere near the top. At this level, I've never seen a player improve on his shot more than he has."
6-10 230 Center Buena Park, Calif.
after Era Paulie recovered from a knee last month, Roy Williams walked by the after a news conference and called him w Jones", referring to
his up and down confi
dence level.
Pauley, who transferred from Cypress Community College in California had the task of replacing Mark Randall, who moved on to the NBA in 1991.
The task of adjusting to a new school made his first season tough. Pauley said. In January of 1992, he made just 2 of 19 field goals.
"My confidence level was at an all-time low," Pauley said. "This year I feel better about my abilities."
This January, he made 42 of 63 field goals. He has also improved his range and has consistently hit jump shots from 15 to 18 feet. His shooting percentage heading into tomorrow's game is 55 percent.
On Feb. 22, he injured his left knee during pregame warmups at Iowa State. He sat out the game and watched as the Jayhawks lost 75-71.
Since then, his conditioning has improved. he said. He has led the team in rebounding four times since his injury, including a season high nine rebounds during his final home game March 3 against Nebraska.
Career notes
Tomorrow he will match up against North Carolina Junior Eric Montross, a second team All-American.
1993 Rainbow Classic All-Tournament Team
1992 Big Eight All-Newcomer Team
1992 Second Team All-Junior College Transfer Team (Basketball Weekly)
1992 Clyde Lovellette Most Improved Player Award
"Eric has struggled a little bit with his confidence. That doesn't mean that his performance has been down. He's really improved on his mediumrange jump shot."
Roy's remarks
REX WALTERS
6-4 190 Guard San Jose, Calif.
ex Walters has gained the reputation of being a trash-talker, but he said he was misunderstood by the media. The second-year start.
The second-year starting shooting guard criti-
mg shooting guard criticized CBS commentator Mike Francesca, who said that the Jayhawks were ripe for a first-round upset by Ball State. Kansas beat the Cardinals by 22 points on March 18 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"I don't have anything persona against Mike Francesa," Walters said. "But if people pick us to lose and we win, I'm going to let them know about it."
Walters is the Jayhawks' leading scorer for the second consecutive season. He averaged 16 points a game last season and is approaching that average this season with 15.2 points a game.
He has averaged 22 points a game in this year's NCAA tournament. He became the 29th player in Kansas history to score 1,000 career points when he had a career-high 28 points on March 20 against Brigham Young University in the second round. He has scored 1,045 points at Kansas in just two seasons and has 1,587 career points, counting his first two seasons at Northwestern, from where he transferred after his sophomore year.
"I work a lot on my shot, but I really try to work hard defensively as well," he said.
Career notes
1993 Midwest Regional Team
1993 First Team All-Big Eight
1993 Honorable Mention All-American
Big Eight Player of the Week (Jan. 18
and March 8)
1992 Big Eight Newcomer of the Year
1992 First Team All-Big Eight
1992 Phog Allen Team MVP Award
Roy's remarks
"Rex Walters has won a heck of a lot
"Rex Walters has won a neck of a lot of ball games for us. He's been playing sensational basketball."
DARRIN HANCOCK
6-7 215 Forward Griffin, Ga.
is jump shot has been fallen lately, but Darin Hancock's specialty is the slam dunk. A third of his 101 field goals have been slams.
Hancock. national junior college player of the year last season at
Garden City Community College, enters tomorrow's game with a 7.6 points-a-game scoring average. He is third on the team with 4.5 rebounds a game.
Hancock said he enjoyed getting fans into the game by dunking but did not have a favorite highlight.
"I leave ranking them up to my teammates," he said.
calm.
I would call it something that would take me three tries.
"So Serraed? Awd that one was pretty normal."
In an exhibition game earlier this season, Hancock stole the ball and raced down the open floor. As he took off from about 13 feet away from the basket, he swing the ball in a circular motion before slamming it through, a move that teammate Richard Scott had trouble describing.
to do," Scott said. And that one was precipitous.
"The best one was the one against Colorado," said Adonis Jordan. "Dunking over somebody — that's the kind I like."
On Jan. 23 in Boulder, Colo., Patrick Richey passed the ball to the incoming Hancock. As he took off for the jam, Colorado forward Randy Robinson grabbed Hancock around the waist. Hancock finished off the dunk by swinging on the rim to avoid landing on Robinson.
Career notes
1993 Big Eight All-Newcomer Team
1992 Junior College Player of the Year
McDonald's All Star Game slam dunk champion
Dapper Dan Classic slam dunk champion
Two-time Georgia High School Player of the Year
Roy's remarks
"Since I've been here, Darrin Hancock has been the best athlete to play at Kansas. He's worked really hard on his jumper, and he's done a sensational job defensively."
RICHARD SCOTT
6-7 215 Forward Little Rock, Ark.
ichard Scott, a native of Little Rock, Ark., did volunteer work for then-Gov. Bill Clinton during the summer before coming to Kansas.
This past summer, the Kansas starting power forward worked on overcoming a broken left leg. He broke it while working on basketball drills with two friends back home.
"I feel I'm about 75 percent," Scott said two months before the season began. "I've been lifting weights, but I completely lost all the muscle in my leg when I was sitting at home healing."
Scott said he also spent his rehabilitation working on what had been a major weakness in his game — free throw shooting. Although his percentage is still low at 50 percent, he has improved his accuracy by 11 percentage
points from last season. And while his free throw percentage is the lowest on the team, his field goal
percentage is the best on the team.
Career notes
He is shooting 61 percent from the field heading into tomorrow's game. As a freshman against North Carolina in the Final Four, he scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Scott said he enjoyed playing against larger players. On Jan. 23 against Colorado, he outscored the Buffaloos 19-18 in the second half while playing against 6-foot-10 Poncho Hodges, the Big Eight Conference's leading shot blocker.
Scott led the Jayhawks in scoring with 16 points against Indiana in the Midwest Regional final in St. Louis.
1993 Midwest Regional Team
1993 Honorable mentior All-Big Eight (Coaches)
1993 Big Eight All- Underrated Team
1993 Golden Harvest Classic All-Tournament Team
1992 Big Eight Honorable Mention
Roy's remarks
"At times, Richard has shown that he can be the best rebounder in the conference. Against Colorado, he was almost like a man possessed in the second half."