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SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, January 14, 1994
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Two men arrested in attack on Kerrigan
Rival's guard played role in conspiracy
By David Foster The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — Figure skater Tonya Harding's bodyguard and another man were arrested yesterday and charged with conspiracy in the attack on Olympic rival Nancy Kerrigan.
The bodyguard, Shawn Eric
Eckardt, 26, and Derrick Brian Smith, 29, were arrested in Portland, said Michael Schrunk, Multnomah County district attorney.
Eckardt told authorities that Harding's ex-husband asked him to arrange the attack, The Oregonian newspaper reported yesterday, citing unidentified law enforcement sources. It wasn't immediately clear what role Smith played in the alleged plot.
The charge of conspiracy to commit assault is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Earlier yesterday, Multnomah County sheriff's representative Bart Whalten said more than two arrests
were expected.
The arrests were announced after two days of confusion and speculation over the role of Harding and her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooily, in the Jan. 6 attack that left Kerrigan unable to compete in last week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
ABC News said a Portland man, whom it identified as Shane Stant, was the alleged hit man who carried out the attack at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The assailant escaped.
The U.S. Olympic Committee said it would defer to skating officials who chose Harding for the team as long as she was not implicated in the assault.
Harding won the championships, qualifying for the Olympic team. Kerrigan was also named to the team even though her injury forced her to withdraw from the competition. But
the injury raised doubts about her ability to compete in the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Feb. 12-27
"At the same time, in terms of dealing with this in the abstract, there are other issues that must be resolved before questions of sportsmanship and conduct can be answered," said committee executive director Harvey T. Schiller.
Harding, 23, and Gillooly were divorced Aug. 28 but later reconciled and have lived together since Octo-
There was no indication that Harding was involved in planning the attack, authorities said.
ber.
NBC News on Wednesday quoted sources as saying that after the men met in Portland, the hit man went to Boston, where Kerrigan lives and trains. The investigators believe that he planned to attack Kerrigan there but that bad weather somehow fouled the attempt. NBC said.
Detroit police said yesterday that they had recovered a collapsible metal baton, believed to be the weapon. A Detroit resident found it in a trash can behind the arena, police said.
In Detroit earlier yesterday, deputy police chief Benny Napoleon said a woman from out of state called the police department Saturday and insisted on speaking with him.
Monday, before specific allegations surfaced, Harding, Gilooly and Eckard denied any involvement in the attack.
"She indicated to me that she heard a conversation regarding the planned assault on Nancy Kerrigan" several months ago, Napoleon said. "She put it off as somebody talking. Once the assault occurred, she became frightened. She wanted to make sure the people responsible were apprehended."
'Hawks face hungry rivals
By Matt Siegel
Vancouver sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
The No. 8 Kansas women's basketball team faces the unenviable task of going on a two-game road trip this weekend against two teams desperately seeking a Big Eight Conference victory. The trip starts today at Nebraska and finishes Sunday at Iowa State.
Nebraska, which went to the NCAA tournament last season, is reeling from two consecutive conference losses. Iowa State also opened conference play with two losses. Kansas, on the other hand, stands 2-0 in the conference and is riding a six-game winning streak.
Although the Jayhawks' upset victory against Colorado provided a surge in confidence, Kansas coach Marian Washington did not want to place too much importance on one victory.
Nebraska needs no more incentive. The Cornhuskers, 8-7 overall, are looking to turn their season around. They are 4-1 at home but are coming off two road losses.
"I wanted our team to understand that it isn't a "one game season," Washington said. "The Colorado win was great, but it's time to move on. Every team has an even greater incentive to get up for us."
"We have to take care of business this weekend," Nebraska coach Angela Beck said. "You have to win at home to have a chance at the title. We'll be up for the game."
Kansas senior center Lisa Tate is not worried about a possible letdown. She said that Kansas has had ample time to recover from the victory against Colorado. She also said the hostile environment would not be a factor.
Kansas senior guard Ericka Muncy, left, tries for a steal against Colorado's Shelley Sheetz. The women's basketball team defeated Colorado 59-57 at Allen Field House Sunday.
"The crowd is not going to affect me or the team," Tate said. "I have been here for four years and I know crowds. It won't bother us at all."
What may bother Kansas are Nebraska's seniors, forward Nafessah Brown and guard Meggan Yedsena. Brown is averaging 19.5 points a game and has had 10 games in which she has scored and rebounded in double fixtures.
Yedsena, who is fourth in the conference in all-time career assists, is the conference's leading active playmaker. She has started 105 of 106 games in her career.
Washington said that along with containing Brown and Yedsena, the key to the game could be how well Nebraska's young players perform. She also said she was pleased with the way Kansas had responded to early season challenges.
"We have taken some of the other team's best and have done pretty well," Washington said. "I have been surprised by the high level of intensity that some teams have come out with against us. I told our team we have to approach every game like we
Statistics would not indicate that Nebraska is 0-2. The Comhuskers out rebound their opponents by 10.6 rebounds a game, the top margin in the conference. They also rank second in field goal percentage. Beck said that Nebraska needed to be consistent in order to win.
"We haven't put two good halves together," Beck said. "They have tremendous depth and are diffcult to match up with. We have a monumental task in front of us. The ranking doesn't matter. What matters is that they are 2-0 in the conference and 11-1 overall."
As for Iowa State, r the Cyclones won the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Tournament championship, they dropped two consecutive conference games. Iowa State is 0-2 in the conference and 5-9 overall.
NCAA eliminates recruiting post
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — College basketball isn't alone in feeling the brunt of the NCAA budget-slicing axe.
The assistant coaches at Ohio State figure to be putting in even longer hours beginning Aug. 1, when, in addition to teaching blocking and tackling, they will spend more time courting recruits.
That is because of legislation passed this week at the NCAA's annual convention in San Antonio that eliminated the position of full-time recruiting coordinator at member universities.
The NCAA said it would cut costs. But all Ohio State recruiting coordinator Larry Petroff knows is that it cut his job.
"The recruiting coordinator has his hands on the recruiting process every day, and he's on top of what the coaches are doing," he said. "I don't know how people are going to handle it. It's difficult, to be a full-time coach on the field and a full-time recruiter."
Most of the other programs in Ohio have already reorganized their staffs to avoid a full-time coordinator.
Petroff got caught in the crossfire between big-time football and administrators' desires to bring the sport in under the university umbrella. He hopes to stay at Ohio State in another position.
"I can't worry about it," pet罗TFoI said. "After our recruiting is done, I'll sit down with Coach (John) Cooper and some administrators, and we'll see what they have in mind."
Ohio State has had a full-time administrative assistant in charge of football recruiting since Bob McNea was hired in July 1979.
Now Petroff's duties — watching films, evaluating players, mailing letters and organizing the recruitment process — will be handled by Cooper and his nine assistants.
"It'll put recruiting into perspective," said Terry Malone, a Bowling Green assistant coach who also handles recruiting.
Kansas loses its recruiter
Kansas football recruiting coordinator R.D. Helt was unavailable for comment yesterday. He will continue working at his current position until Aug. 1, when the new rule takes effect. He is now working on fulfilling his obligations for next season's recruiting class. The early signing period begins Feb. 2. Helt will have served six seasons as the recruiting coordinator at Kansas.
Although other Ohio universities have gotten away from having a coordinator, the size of the job varies from a top-25 team to a small Division I-A or I-A college.
University of Cincinnati assistant coach John Harbaugh, who also handles recruiting chores, said the additional work facing coaching staffs was significant.
"They'll have more responsibility in recruiting their area, and they'll have to do more legwork," he said. "They'll also have to do a lot more screening, because the recruiting coordinator eliminated a lot of possible recruits."
Harbaugh cautioned that, in the absence of a coordinator, others must now judge not only talent, but also the morals of recruits.
"There'll be more mistakes, and not just athletically, but also in character," he said.
Akron coach Gerry Faust said his program would not be affected by the new rules, since it dropped the coordinator spot two years ago. But that doesn't mean he's in favor of the new ruling.
"The thing that bothers me about the whole thing is that they're going to eliminate some people who have worked very, very hard, who have become experts on college football. Now, either a coach or a recruiting coordinator is going to go," Faust said. "That's sad."
Jayhawks preparing for upcoming K-State
Team uneasy about future tries to focus
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
Usually, the Kansas men's basketball team would know exactly when its next game is. However, this weekend will be unusual if the Black Coaches Association decides to boycott college basketball games.
The BCA is considering a boycott because of an NCAA decision against allowing Division I men's teams to offer a 14th scholarship.
Kansas has tried to prepare for its next scheduled game Monday night against K-State, but Kansas coach Roy Williams said it had not been easy with the distractions.
No. 3 Kansas has a 16-1 overall record and a 1-0 record in the conference, while K-State is 10-2 and 0-1.
Williams said he not expect such a good start. Preseason poll picked Oklahoma State and Missouri to fight for the Big Eight championship, with Kansas close behind.
Williams said current expectations that Kansas would run away with the conference are unrealistic.
unrealistic," he said. "I told them, 'you're surprising everyone, including me, so keep doing it. Let's see if you can last for about three or four more months.'"
"I think the expectations were unrealistic, and I almost think that 16-1 is
Roy Williams Kansas basketball coach
Despite the success, Williams said he was worried about the Jayhawks'
"We look like one of those big wheel trucks. We get there but it ain't pretty."
"I'm not that concerned about our shooting percentage because the bottom line is we're still scoring points and we're still winning," he said. "We look like one of those big wheel trucks. We get there, but it ain't pretty."
offensive play
K-State's defensive intensity is something that impressed Williams. The Wildcats defeated Wichita State 71-54 at home Wednesday night.
open shot," Williams said. "I was really impressed by two things: Deryl Cunningham's work inside and their defensive play."
*Wichita State had trouble making a dribble, making a pass, getting an
"The focus has to be Askia," Williams said. "You have to try to either do one of two things: stop his scoring, which I think is very difficult, or cut down on his percentage. Normally that's the route that we try and take."
K-State senior forward Cunningham is averaging 9.1 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. However, it is senior guard Askia Jones' play that has led the Wildcats. Jones is averaging a team-high 21.5 points a game.
Kansas junior center Greg Ostertag said Jones would be the key but that other players also would be challenging, like senior guard Anthony Beane.
"From what I've seen, he's been their big guy," Ostertag said of Jones. "But they can hurt you with everything because Anthony is quick. He can shoot the ball and dribble."
Williams said he was surprised by Kansas' rebounding ability, and Ostertag was a big reason for it.
Ostertag said he was happy with that aspect of his game but not his shooting percentage. The 7-foot-2 center is averaging 9.4 rebounds a game, but he is shooting only 45.4 percent from the field.
"We're going to have to go out and play hard," he said. "We need to play good defense like we did against Oklahoma to beat them."
Valerie Brontrager / KANBAN
Kansas junior center Greg Oostertag answers questions at yesterday's news conference. Oostertag is averaging nearly 10 points and 10 rebounds after 17 games. He leads the team in blocked shots and also ranks third in blocks in the Big Eight Conference. The Jayhawks play Kansas State Monday night at Allen Field House.
Duke's chance at No.1 ruined by Wake Forest; Childress hits clutch shot
The Associated Press
The Wake Forest players stormed the court in jubilation as the Duke players seemed confused about the ending and coach Mike Krzyzewski went to the scorer's table looking for an explanation.
The shot by Childress, who finished with 24 points, was clearly a 3-pointer, but the Cameron Indoor Stadium scoreboard didn't record it that way, and the closest official did not signal that it was a 3-pointer.
DURHAM, N.C. — Randolph Childress' 3-pointer with 11 seconds left gave Wake Forest a 69-68 victory against No. 2 Duke last night.
It was the second straight season the Demon Deacons, 11-3,2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, upset the Blue Devils, 10-1,2-1, at home.
Grant Hill, Duke's star with 23 points, drove the length of the floor and put up a 15-foot jumper in the closing seconds, but the ball bounced off the rim, off the hands of teammate Chris Collins and out of bounds as the clock ran out.
The 6-foot Childress, who leads the conference in scoring, missed a layup and a 3-pointer that would have given Wake Forest the lead in the closing moments. He made the winning shot over Hill, who is six inches taller.
Duke, which blew a 12-point, first-half lead, was in line to become the nation's top-tanked team after No. 1 North Carolina lost by 20 points Wednesday night to No. 17 Georgia Tech. But the Blue Devils turned the ball over two times in the final 2 minutes, 22 seconds in losing for the first time this season.
After trailing by seven points at halftime, Wake Forest started the second period with a 13-4 run to take the lead at 43-41 with 14:38 left.
From that point, neither team led by more than five points.
The lead changed hands nine times in the opening six minutes before the Blue Devils gradually began to pull away.