SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, January 12, 1994
11
Freshman guard makes impact
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
Kansas guard Tamecka Dixon tries to stop Colorado's DeCelle Thomas from reaching for a loose ball during Sunday's game. KU won the contest, 59-57.
Dixon brings talents to KU
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
For most people, choosing which college to attend is a tough decision. Choosing between almost 400 colleges, as freshman guard Tamecka Dixon had to, is an entirely different story.
"I looked for a program on the rise," Dixon said. "All of the schools that I was considering were far away. I had seen everything on the East Coast and I wanted something different."
At first Dixon liked all of the attention. However, when coaches were calling her at home in Linden, N.J., at 2 a.m., it became a bit too much.
The coaches called so many times that she gave only the colleges she was truly
interested in her room phone number. Dixon gave the other coaches her mother's number so they would have to go through her.
Dixon knew she was attracting attention when she led her team to a state championship her junior year in high school. However, the attention escalated the summer before her senior year.
"I went to play in an AAU tournament in Clovis, New Mexico," Dixon said. "Before the tournament, only the East Coast schools were recruiting me. I must have played well because when I got home there were like 500 letters waiting for me."
One of those letters was from Kansas. Dixon had sent her response form to Kansas late. By the time KU received Dixon's response, she had already decided to play for Georgia. Although Dixon didn't show much interest at first, the Kansas coaches kept after her and eventually signed the high school All-American.
"We wanted to make sure that what Tamecke saw from day one was the way
we really are." Kansas coach Marian Washington said. "I think Tamecka sensed that sincerity.
Her impact was felt immediately when she scored a team-high 19 points in Kansas' season opener against Creighton. Against Colorado on Sunday she scored 13 points and had six rebounds.
"It all starts with her attitude," Washington said. "She's very coachable. Also, she is one of the finest athletes I've seen. She has tremendous quickness and she is in an elite class when it comes to ball handling."
Dixon's attitude is reflected in the goals she set for herself this season. She is not concerned with how many points she scores or rolling up impressive stats. Her only goals coming into the season were to play and to contribute. However, Colorado coach Ceal Barry said that Dixon had done a lot more than just contribute. She said the addition of Dixon's quickness adds a new dimension to Kansas.
If I'm in the open court against two girls
or a girl, I think I'm going to take them." Dixon said. "Open court is my style, my thing."
That Dixon considers herself at her best in the open court should come as no surprise to those who know her family. Dixon's father, Russell, who played for American University, also excelled in the open court. Dixon credits her father with teaching her the open court skills she possesses today.
"We would always work on open coqt drills," Dixon said. "I grew up on the game. My roots all along were playing basketball."
Dixon sees hard work as the key to success. She said a trip to the Final Four in Richmond, Va., would depend on whether Kansas chooses to work hard enough.
If choosing to work hard is the only key to success for Kansas, then Dixon is one step ahead of the competition. After all, she already knows about making difficult decisions.
Big Eight deserving of more recognition, Williams says
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
The Big Eight is a tough basketball conference in which to play, and Kansas coach Roy Williams will be the first to say that.
No. 3 Kansas opened its conference schedule with an 84-74 home victory against Oklahoma on Monday night. The victory dropped the 8-3 Sooners to 0-2 in the conference. Oklahoma's other conference game was a 105-89 defeat against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
"That's going to be a good basketball team," Williams said of Oklahoma. "I think that team's got a chance to be an NCAA tournament team at the end of year, and I really believe that."
the year, and ready believe that
14 Kansas playersacknowledged Oklahoma's ability and talent after the game. Even though it was the Jayhawks' first Big Eight game, Kansas senior forward Patrick Richey said Kansas was prepared.
"Oklahoma is not a team that's just going to roll over and die," Richey said. "It's tough to start off 0-2 in the Big Eight. They are a good team."
Williams said the conference was not getting the respect it deserved in the Associated Press top 25 rankings. The only other team in the top 25 is Missouri, tied for 25th with Xavier of Ohio.
in the CNN/USA Today poll, known as the coaches' poll, Kansas is No.4 and Oklahoma State is No.21.
"The only thing I know, in the poll that I voted, I voted for Oklahoma State and Missouri both in the top 20," Williams said. "I think we should have those teams. We've got some teams that need to get more recognition nationally than I think we're getting right now."
The Big Eight is a collective 73-16 against nonconference opponents for a. 82 percentage. Five teams in the conference have more than 10 wins, including unranked Nebraska at 11-2 and Kansas at 15-1. The Big Ten, a conference the Big Eight has a 5-0 record against, has five teams in the top 25.
Kansas senior forward Richard Scott said there was a higher level of play in conference games.
"They know it's a whole lot more physical," Scott said. "You play hard and just try to do the things you have to do to get a victory."
"It's no sissy game out here in the
Big Eight," he said. "Any night a team can get beat."
Scott said the Oklahoma game showed the team's younger players exactly what basketball in the Big Eight is like.
With these words of wisdom from the more experienced players, freshman guard Jacque Vaughn said he was ready for the conference schedule to pick up.
"The coach said it would be like playing Indiana every night," Vaughn said. "I love challenges. I've been waiting for this since I came to Kansas."
Richey, Scott and senior guard Steve Woodberry have yet to play a season at Kansas in which they have not won or shared a Big Eight championship. Vaughn said he didn't want this season to be the first. "I feel kind of obligated to them," he said. "I really want to send them away with another championship."
Big Eight teams begin to see roles competition form within conference
By Doug Glass
The Associated Press
Kansas City, Mo. — Nebraska coach Danny Nee isn't sure his team deserves to be mentioned as a possible Big Eight champion yet, but he has noticed something different about this year's group.
"Camaraderie, chemistry, you're always trying to get that cohesiveness going," Nee said. "This year the Nebraska team has that. People know their roles. They get along on the floor. I think it's just experience."
The Cornhuskers also have 6-foot-7 guard Eric Piatkowski, said by Nee to be as good as any player he's come across, which is no small statement. While an assistant at Notre Dame, Nee coached such future NBA stand-outs as Kelly Triucka and Orlando Woolridge.
"He's really a big guy who can handle the ball," Nee said Monday during the Big Eight coaches teleconference. "He's a perfect pro size. Now, his senior year, he's just very focused and working very hard. I think he's capable of playing this way the whole year."
Led by Piatkowski, Nebraska stormed to three victories last week, including a 78-72 victory at Iowa State to open the Big Eight and a 106-67 rout of Colorado in Lincoln, Neb. Piatkowski was named conference
The Cornhuskers (11-2 overall, 2-0 Big Eight) have won 10 straight, the second-longest winning streak under Nee.
player of the week after averaging 23 points and eight rebounds in those victories and an 89-85 victory over Southern Utah.
"We want to be a contender, but I feel it's just so premature." Née said. "We just were fortunate to win our first game on the road, then get home and win big. ... It's such a boost, a confidence builder. They can't take away the road win."
Oklahoma State lost to Clermson and Florida a week earlier during a tournament in Honolulu. The Hawaii trip was especially disastrous for Bryant Reeves, Oklahoma State's 7-foot center, who managed just 22 points and nine rebounds in three games there.
Oklahoma State, a conference favorite since the beginning, had been stumbling slightly before the Cowboys exploded Saturday in a 105-89 victory over Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.
"We really were able to get our basketball team back on track," Sutton said. "I knew we would play well but not as well as we did."
Looking for positive ways to shake up Reeves, coach Eddie Sutton's staff had him watch films from last season, when Reeves was Big Eight player of the year. The rest of the Cowboys got a shakeup, too, when Sutton drilled his team six to seven hours a day during the week before the second semester began.
No. 3 Kansas was 16-1 overall after handling Oklahoma (8-4, 0-2) 94-84 Monday night in Lawrence.
Kansas guard Jacque Vaughn attempts a shot in the second half of last night's game in Allen field House against the Oklahoma Sooners. Vaughn contributed three points for Kansas' 94-84 win.
"If you just want to look at it from a record standpoint, it's be one big plus," coach Roy Williams said. "We've played five teams ranked in the top 25 and a couple of other teams pretty doggone good, like Georgia and DePaul."
Williams is aware that the Jayhawks have played more games than most other teams and is trying to keep his players from wearing down.
"I think if we continue to win, somebody will recognize us and slide us in there," said Stewart, whose team has won 10 consecutive games.
"We've really tried to take some extra precautions," he said. "We gave them four full days off at Christmas, practices are a little shorter and we're taking more days off."
Kansas State coach Dana Altman
Tom Lenininger / KANSAN
Missouri (10-1, 1-0) looks better and better, especially after throttling Kansas State 63-43 on Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Coach Norm Stewart said he was "appalled" at mistakes the Tigers were making but predicted, correctly, that his team would crack the poll. Missouri is ranked No. 25.
faced the task of regrouping the Wildcats after the whipping in Columbia.
"We've found some ways to win some ball games, but we haven't made the progress necessary to compete in the league." Altman said. "Offensively we're not playing with any crispness, any purpose."
The Wildcats (10-2, 0-1) were to host Wichita State on Wednesday before
meeting the Cowboys on Saturday.
"I saw the Oklahoma game, and it was hard to believe (the Cowboys) ever were in a funk." Altman said.
Both Colorado (5-5, 0-1) and Iowa State (8-2, 0-1) are trying to recover from injuries. Buffalofoos star Donnie Boyce has been troubled this season with an ankle sprain, leg cramps and the flu, and coach Joe Harrington last
week dismissed freshman Dameon Page, who was unhappy over the amount of his playing time.
The Cyclones will play Oklahoma on Saturday.
"We hope we can get back on track and get going," coach Johnny Orr said. "We're just not functioning properly. Maybe by Saturday we'll be up for a run on the Sooners."
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Orange, Hancock bowls generate money for Kansas
SPORTS BRIEF
The Jayhawk football team will be receiving money for a job they didn't do.
With Nebraska playing in the Orange Bowl and Oklahoma competing in the John Hancock Bowl, the Big Eight Conference and the Jayhawks became richer.
Kansas will get a one-eighth share of all post-season earnings made by both Nebraska and Oklahoma, said Susan Wachter, assistant athletics business director.
The Aloha and Copper Bowls' paid both the Colorado
and Kansas State football programs, but that money was not divided up within the conference. Those schools keep the money for themselves.
The Jayhawks received $750,000 last year from the Aloha Bowl, Wachter said.
Injuries plague Kansas players
Kwamie Lassiter was among four KU football players who received exemptions from the Big Eight Conference for medical hardships.
Lassiter, who is a fifth-year senior free safety, broke his collarbone during the second game of the season against Western Carolina. Because he has already been red-shirted, Lassiter has no remaining eligibility. He must go through the NCAA for a final decision, said Doug Vance, assistant athletic director for media relations.
Senior running back George White injured his knee
against Western Carolina. White was granted another year of eligibility, and will return next year for his senior season.
Freshman defensive back Maurice Gaddie, who missed the last eight games of the year, suffered a stress fracture in practice. Gaddie was given another year of eligibility by the conference, and will return as a freshman next year.
Freshman defensive back Charles Davis also was injured against Western Carolina. Davis injured his knee and will be a freshman again for next year's Jayhawks.
Nuggets sign former Jayhawk
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
The Denver Nuggets yesterday signed former Kansas point guard Adonis Jordan to a 10-day contract, filling a roster spot vacated by Darnell Mee, who was
placed on the injured list.
Jordan was expected to suit up last night when the Nuggets played the Pistons in Detroit.
The former layhawk is beginning his second stint with the Nuggets. Denver signed Jordan to a free-agent contract Nov. 20. off the Sioux Falls, S.D., team of the Continental Basketball Association while Denver guard Robert Pack was a holdout.
In six games with the Nuggets, Jordan averaged 2.5 points and 3.2 assists in 13 minutes per game. Last season he averaged 12 points and 4.5 assists while helping lead the Jayhawks to the NCAA Final Four. Jordan will rejoin former teammate Mark Randall, the forward who played alongside Jordan on the Jayhawks' 1991 Final Four team.
The 5-foot-11 Jordan was a 1992 second-round draft choice of the Seattle SuperSonics.