SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, April 11, 1994
9
Topeka West guard to walk on at Kansas
McGrath says KU is his dream
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
No one can accuse Topeka West High School senior guard C.B. McGrath of having his head in the clouds.
McGrath told Kansas coach Roy Williams late Wednesday night that he would walk on to the basketball team next year.
"I just have a good mind for the game," McGrath said. "I don't have the physical qualities that other players have. I'm a smart ball player, and I know what I can do. I know my own ability."
The 6-foot point guard for the Chargers passed up a scholarship from hometown Washburn and interest from Wichita State and North Texas so he could out for the Jayhawks.
"Playing at KU is a life-long dream." he said. "It's probably the best Division-I school in the country."
In McGrath's senior season, he averaged 19.3 points, 5.5 assists and five rebounds a game and led his team to the state playoffs.
"I wish we could have done better at state, but it was a great year," McGrath said. "I was happy with my performance."
Despite being named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Kansas, McGrath has not received much recognition for his accomplishments. But that is how McGarth prefers it, he said. If he makes the team, he will join junior guard Greg Gurley and freshman forward B.J. Williams, both former Kansas Gatorade honorees who received more notoriety than McGrath.
"I really haven't gotten any recognition before," he said. "I was surprised by the honors. Nobody from Topeka gets any recognition. It's either Wichita or Kansas City. I'd rather have it like this than having the pressure and expectations of being a McDonald's All-American."
McGraham said Williams contacted him about a chance to walk on and then offered him a scholarship for after the Fall 1994 semester.
"A scholarship was not the issue," he said of his talk with Williams. "I didn't know what he wanted. We were just talking about walking on, and then the scholarship came up."
Topeka West coach John Oestreich said McGregor would be a nice nur-
prise for Kansas. Proving his ability would be a welcome challenge for McGrath, Oestreich said.
"The kind of kid that C.B. is, it doesn't bother him not getting recognition," he said. "He enjoys getting it, but sometimes I think it embarrasses him."
The attitude McGrath carries with him also will be to Kansas' benefit, Oestreich said.
"He's a go-getter," he said. "They'll enjoy him up there because he doesn't have a huge ego."
Besides his personality, Oestreich said McGrath could help the Jayhawks in leading the offense.
"He's a true point guard." Oeestreich said. "He's a great leader. From what Coach Williams has said, he likes to have three point guards all the time. This year, they really only had two players at point guard with Steve
Woodberry as a last resort."
McGrath was asked to do many things for the Chargers last season, and Oestreich said he would carry that into his playing time at Kansas.
"We asked him to score more this year," Oestreich said. "We needed more punch. Early on, he basically looked to pass to his teammates, and he does that very well. His general feel for the game of basketball is what makes him good."
McGrath said he would be willing to do anything possible for the Jayhawks next season.
"I can pretty much do anything," he said. "I can do whatever they need me to do — dribble the ball up the court, pass or shoot."
Most of all, McGrath decided on Kansas because he didn't want to miss the opportunity of a lifetime, he said.
"If I just went to Washburn, I would have wondered if I could have played against Division-I talent," he said. "I didn't want to just sit 20 years later and wonder. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to prove people wrong."
Note: Two Kansas senior basketball players performed in all-star games last week and led their respective teams.
Guard Steve Woodberry played in the Coca-Cola College All-Star Game in Indianapolis and helped his team to a victory Saturday. Woodberry scored 22 points and led the North stars to a 129-109 victory against the South stars. He shared co-MVP honors with Indiana senior guard Damon Bailey, who also scored 22 points in leading the South team.
Forward Richard Scott led his team in scoring in the Portsmouth Invitational with 32 points in two games.
Mason's birthday gift: offense
Defensive back Dennard Hutchinson, No. 5, and middle linebacker Nathan Penny, No. 43, tackle junior quarterback Mark Williams. The football team had a scrimmage at Memorial Stadium Saturday.
Three tailbacks are competing for starting role
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
It was deja vu at spring football practice Saturday.
Conditions were overcaut, as they were last Saturday, and once again sophomore running back Mark Sanders was effective running the ball.
Sanders scored a touchdown on a 12-yard burst up the middle. Last weekend, Sanders scored three touchdowns in the Jayhawks' first scrimmage of the spring practice session.
Sanders, junior LT. Levine and sophomore June Henley all are competing for the starting tailback position.
"I'd put all three guys' numbers in a hat and draw one out," said Vic Adamle, running back coach. "It's a coach's dream. All three of them bring something different to the table."
Adamle said that while Sanders had been making exciting plays, Levine was doing little things that helped make the team more successful. "Not a lot of people see that as much," he said.
But it was hard not to notice Levine at Saturday's practice. He caught a pass from junior quarterback Mark Williams and eluded defenders for a 10-yard touchdown. Levine then bellowed out, "Give me some love, give me some love."
"It's just a saying," Levine said. "Every time someone makes a good play or scores a touchdown, the team comes together and hugs the person who made the big play."
One player not making the big plays for the Jayhawks yet is Henley. He played in the first set of downs but was promptly taken out after reagravting his bruised left shoulder. Kansas coach Glen Mason said the injury wasn't serious.
Mason said that he was impressed with Williams, a junior quarterback who transferred from Diablo Valley College in Concord. Calif.
"Ashley Preston is definitely our No. 1 quarterback, but I've been pleasantly surprised with Mr. Williams," Mason said. "He's junior college guy that's coming in here, trying to learn everything. He's a pretty darn good competitor and he's
pretty tough.
"His decision process isn't that great, but that will come with knowing what's going on."
Mason said he was pleased with the offense so far.
"Normally at this time I'm trying to defend the offense," said Mason, who turned 44 on Saturday. "That's not the case this year. We have an unusual situation that we haven't had the last couple of springs in that everyone on offense is an experienced player. We've looked better on offense than we've ever looked."
Mason said the experience had helped the offense cut down on mistakes. He said Kansas still needed to be a better running team and needed a better run defense. But Mason said he was
impressed by the tailbacks.
"They're all having good springs," he said. "Right now we have Mark No. 1 because he's performed the best, but all of those guys will play."
Another aspect that has pleased Mason so far is the injury situation. Last season, the jayhawks were beset by injury problems. Mason said he thought it might be another long season after the way spring practice began.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, here we go again,'" he said. "We start off and someone lands on Chris Powell's hand and breaks a couple of bones, and Mark Allison gets his thumb caught in a Jersey and tears some ligaments off his thumb. But it has been good since then."
Mason said that the defense, despite having a lot of new faces, was starting to show signs of improvement and had a lot of potential. Levine said the key was turning that potential into winning games.
"Every day at the end of practice we talk about going to the Orange Bowl," Levine said. "That's our goal. It was a good practice today. Everyone was fired up at the beginning, and things kind of calmed down toward the end. We know what we have to do, and it is just a matter of getting it done. We are ready for the season to start and see what happens."
Next Saturday, the Jayhawks will wrap up spring practice with a scrimmage. The scrimimage will start at 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Jennie Zeiner / KANSAN
Despite the rain and cold weather, Claira Mae and Kenneth Seymour, Wichita residents, cheer on their grandaughter, Kansas senior shortstop Kim Newbern.
Kansas softball defeats Oklahoma
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas softball team braved high winds and rain yesterday and came back to split a doubleheader with a 7-2 victory in the second game against Oklahoma at Jayhawk Field.
Kansas scored five times in the second innning and never was threatened during the game, as senior pitcher Stephani Williams threw a complete-game seven hitter and improved her record to 21-7. She walked only one Sooner and struck out five.
Williams also contributed with her bat. She went 2-for-2, scored a run and had a pair of RBIs in the second game.
"She's the one carrying the team," Kansas coach Kalum Haack said. "She played really well."
The No. 23 Jayhawks improved their record to 24-12 overall and 5-1 in Big Eight Conference standings. Oklahoma dropped to 43-6 and 1-1, but made a furious last-inning rally, stealing a victory in the first game.
The No. 10 Sooners scored five times in their last at-bat and surpassed Kansas 6-4.
Although the Jayhawks built a 4-10 aid and held the Sooners scoreless until the fifth inning behind the pitching of Williams, the Sooners rallied and registered two home runs in the seventh inning.
Frederick won. After fouling out off several pitches, she hit a two-run shot over the left field wall.
With one out and two Sooner runs already in, Williams battled Olahoma junior shortstop Carrie Frederick.
Williams gave up 12 hits and six runs in the complete-game loss. She walked two and struck out seven. Although she received the loss, Haack said he was impressed with his team's effort.
"It would have been real easy to fold up our tents and go home at that point," Ilaack said. "But we didn't. We didn't get down. Every game we are getting better."
"I'm more impressed with OU than I had been earlier." Haack said. "They can score a lot of runs in a hurry."
Haack and the Jayhawks lost to the Sooners 5-4 earlier this season at the Texas & AM Invitational.
Kansas and Oklahoma will make up Saturday's games today at 10 a.m. and at noon at Jayhawk Field.
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