SPORTS
The University Daily KANSAN
March 9,1984 Page 10
KU faces Wildcats in another big game
By JEFF CRAVENS Sports Writer
Here we go again — another big game. It seems as if every game the Jayhawks have played lately has been a result of what KU coach Larry Brown says.
Brown thought he had seen the last of the big rivals — Kansas State, Missouri and Wichita State. But tonight, KU will take on the Wildcats in the semifinals of the Big Eight Post-Season Tournament in Kansas City's Kemper Arena.
"This is our 28th big game of the season," Brown said yesterday after the team practiced in Kemper. "Kansas State is always supposed to be a big game."
BROWN HAS FAIRED well in these games in his first year at KU, beating K-State and Missouri twice and Wichita State once. The last game against Kansas State, however, KU barely won, 61-61, on a last-second shot by Carl
And the Wildcats have beaten KU
winner times in Kemper during
post season play.
"We play well in here," Brown said. "But Kansas State has a history of playing better."
K-State beat Nebraska in Lincoln Wednesday, and has played well since moving Tom Alfaro from forward to guard. Alfaro scored 23 points in the last KU-K-State game. Alfaro also hit the winning shot against Nebraska.
"He's been on fire," Brown said of Alfaro. "It helps to have a kid who can hit the big shot for you in a crucial situation. We have Carl Henry for that."
"They have had a lot of success recently with Allaro and Mitchell, and we know they are playing much better. We've got to make them miss some jump shots."
"I'm NOT SMART enough to know about things like that," Brown said. "We had to play Oklahoma State back-to-back and people said we had to do it, but we handled them. In tournaments, you often have to play a team for a third time."
But Brown discounted the theory about having to beat the 'Cats for a third time this season.
Regular-season champion Oklahoma will play Colorado in the other semi-final game. The Buffalos upset Iowa State Wednesday night.
"I think it's unfair to a team like Oklahoma to have to play in the tournament," Brown said. "They proved themselves during the 14 games in the regular season. But it helps the other teams.
"THEY ARE THE clear-cut favorite. They have beaten a lot of good teams to prove they are the best team. There have been upsets before,
KU freshman guard Mark Turgeon has handed out 107 assists in 22 games this season. At this time last season, Turgeon was leading Hayden High School in Topeka to the Class 4A state championship. He said that he sees a lot of similarities between the Jayhawks and Hayden's championship team.
"I'm really enjoying playing now," Turgeon said. "It reminds me of my high school team the way we are played together. That's the way it could be."
Brown said that he has been pleasantly surprised by Turtleon's play this
"It has been tough for us with losing Cedric and Kerry," Brown said. "But it has given Calvin (Thompson) and Ronnie (Kellogg) a chance to play. Mark has also got a chance and he has played beyond anyone's expectations but his own."
Point guard Mark Turgeon, who has dished out 107 assists this season, will lead the jayhawks against Kansas State at 9:30 tonight in Kemper Arena.
Larry Funk/KANSAN
Seurer fearless of $40 million man
By GREG DAMMAN
Sports Writer
In a sense, former Jayhawk quarterback Frank Seuer can be said to have won the battle but lost the war.
Seurer, a rookie on the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League, came off the bench last week and engineered a touchdown drive while completion of 17 passes for 123 yards. The Express loss to the Arizona Wranglers.
that performance earned Seurer the starting job for this Sunday when the Express meets the Oakland Invaders.
"It went pretty well Sunday," said Seurer, who was contacted by telephone in Los Angeles yesterday. "I felt that I was well prepared. The experience under my belt. I was real nervous at the start, but it went OK."
Unfortunately, Seurer probably won't hold the job for long, no matter how well he plays.
THE EXPRESS SIGNED Brigham Young University quarterback Steve Young on Monday for more than $40
million, Young, the great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young, is now a much too expensive item to have sitting on the bench, and in all likelihood he will begin his professional career soon as he learns the offense.
However, Seurer is thinking about the job he has to do Yandex, and not Google.
"He's a great quarterback and he's going to help this team," Seer said. "And of course my starting status will change real soon."
Seurer, whose three-year contract is worth considerably less than Young's, said that he didn't feel underpaid.
"IM HAPPY for what I've got," Seurer said. "I've been able to acquire a few luxury items and help out my mom some, so I'm happy."
One luxury that Seurer enjoys as a member of the Express is the coaching of former KU offensive coordinator John Hadd. John Hadd, High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., and was offensive coordinator at Kansas during Seurer's freshman and sophomore years.
"Couch Hadi has meant the world to me," Seurer said. "He's taught me so much. The reason that he's been able to help me so much is that as a former quarterback, he's been in the same situations."
Hadi was a star halfback at KU from 1958 to 1961 and led Kansas to its last bowl victory, a 33-7 triumph over Rice in the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl. He was instrumental in the development of Seurier, the Big Eight Conference career and single season passing vardage leader.
Although he'll spend the spring and part of the summer playing under Hadl. Seerured that he would return to school when the football season
"I KNOW IVE GOT to finish school," Seurer said. "That's very important to me. I might finish up at a school out here, but with my mom being in Lawrence I might go back to Kansas."
Seurer said that the situation he was in with the Express was ideal even with the signing of Young. Returning to his home city to play for his former coach is a situation he had hoped would come about.
By JEFFREY SHON BARENKLAU
Sports Writer
Fijis take Hill championship by beating the Lobsters 48-38
Allen Fieldhouse, with the boys' 6A state playoffs, was not the only place that hot basketball action was played yesterday.
The Men's Hill Championship provided competitive action as Fiji defeated the Lobsters, 48-38, in Robinson Gymnasium.
Neither team had played in the Hill championship before, but select players had seen one another in action many times.
TWO PLAYERS FROM THE Lobsters and one of the Fiji 1 team played together on the same high school basketball team at Hickman Mills They are Kirk Burris, Bob Vanoeheek and George Heinlein of Fiji 1.
Fiji 1 manager/player Mike Wag-
wong said that the strong point of his
team was in the defense.
The Fiijus took the early lead with powerful rebounding as Wagner scored 13 first-half points from the outside. Burris why, did some scoring of his.
own for the Lobsters, the eighth-seeded team in the nine team tournament, making six quick points to cut the Fiji lead to 18-16.
Al Fitch, hit two free throws for the Lobsters to tie the score, 20-20, at halftime. Once again the Fijes were quick out of the blocks, but the Lobsters fought back with a hustling man-to-man defense.
VAN HOECKE TIED the score at 27.27 for the Lobsters, with nine minutes and 36 seconds left in the game, with a three-point play. The score was tied five more times before the Fiji took control behind the scoring of Wagner and Kglaser, each with nine second-half points.
Fiji 1 took the lead at the five minutes and 20 seconds mark, 33-31, never to give it up again. They pulled the ball out with 48 seconds to go and the Lobsters were forced to foul. Fijis responded hitting six of 10 free throws. The leading scores for Fiji were Wagner with 22 points and Glasser with 13.
Leading the Lobsters was Stever Smith with 12 points followed by Burris with 9.
Brown misses NBA, but life with'Hawks satisfying
By RICK GOSSELIN UPI Sports Writer
Larry Brown misses the National Basketball Association.
But slow down a minute — that's not to say Brown wants to move on again. At least not right now. Brown is still in love with the University of Kansas, and his relationship with the school has well-balanced by one year of success.
Brown directed the Jayhawks to a second-place finish in the Big Eight and an overall 19-9 record this winter. Victory No. 19 came Tuesday night in the opening round of the conference tournament against Oklahoma State, and he'll try to pin down his third consecutive 20-win season on the collegiate level Friday night in the tournament's semifinal round.
His first 20-two season came at UCLA (1979-80, 1989-81) but he left the Pac-10 school in 1981 for a second tour of duty as an NBA coach with the New Jersey Nets. After a two-year stint there — actually he resigned in the final month of his second season — returners rank last on the recommendation of his coaching guru, Dean Smith, a Kansas alumnum.
"I if I said I missed the NBA it might be a reflection on how I feel about this place," Brown said. "Sure I miss it ... but I'm very happy where I am. I'm still interested in the NBA. I follow it and I still care about a lot of people in the league. But at the same time I really feel good about this place, the kids and they way we've been received. 'It's been a wonderful experience.'"
Kansas hired Brown in an attempt to restore some instant glitter to a dormant program. The Jayhawks — ranked fourth in total number of victories in college basketball history, behind only Kentucky, North Carolina and St. John's — hadn't been to the Final Four since 1974 and were coming off back-to-back losing seasons under Ted Owens.
Brown dismissed popular assistant coach Jo Jo White last summer because of "philosophical differences" and hired an old friend from his ABA days, Ed Manning, to fill that vacancy, even though Manning had only one year of coaching experience and had more recently been a truck driver.
Brown also directed Kansas to a clean sweep of the school's archivals, posting 2-4 records against Kansas State and Missouri and a 14-odd record against each. It was the first regular-season meeting between the two schools in 29 years.
Brown's arrival at Kansas brought a renewed enthusiasm for the program. He rewarded that outpouring of support by restoring the home-court magic at venerable Allen Field House. The Jayhawks went 14-2 at home this season, with the only two losses to No. 3 Kentucky and No. 6 Oklahoma.
The storm heightened over Brown when Manning's son, Danny, a 6-foot-10 prep All-American the year before in North Carolina, gave the recruiting nod to Kansas over North Carolina during the early signing period in November. He went on to earn his second prep All-America honors at
But Brown's initial season at Kansas has been as turbulent as it has been since.
Lawrence High School this winter and will enroll at KU next semester.
And to it off, a KU history professor accused Brown of pressuring him to change a grade to keep starting point guard Cedric Hunter eligible. Brown didn't, and Hunter was declared the next week at the start of the conference season.
Then 6-8 sophomore forward Kerry Boagni, a former prep All-American who finished second on the team in scoring the previous season with an average of 14 points per game, quit the Javahaws in January.
"I've been through a lot in my first year," Brown said. "The change in staff (White), the hiring of Ed and the flak over that, the flak I took on Danny committing . . . all the times I've had to answer whether or not I'm going to stay here. The situation with Cedric was difficult and then Kerry leaving. They were all little things, but when you put them all together, it made for a tough year. But I'm proud of what we've done here, what the kids have accomplished. It's been difficult, but it's been rewarding."
When he first accepted the post, Brown received daily calls from friends and media around the country wondering if he would be happy at Kansas and would stay there for more than a handful of paychecks. But the calls diminished as his victories at the Big Eight school mounted.
"Once the season started, it settled down for me," Brown said, "but with each problem we've faced, I've heard the questions (about staying). But we have to see me and see that I'm happy. I'm just going to have to prove it to them.
Larry Brown
Washington looks ahead to next season
KU women lose Snider and Platt from No.5 team
By PHIL ELLENBECKER Sports Writer
"I HAVEN'T GOT time to dwell on what happened." Washington said. "All we can do is get on with what we know and make sure we are doing the road and a good lot of recruiting."
Ironically, her Jayhawk team will not be among the four teams competing in the semifinals of the tournament today at Kemper, KU, a perennial power in the conference, was eliminated from the tournament when the Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma, 76-63, Tuesday in Norman.
The Jayhawks finished with an 11-16 record this year, their worst in seven years, and tied for fifth place in the conference with a 7-7 record.
Kansas women's basketball head coach Marian Washington, dean of the Big Eight Conference women's coaches, pushed hard to have the conference post-season tournament to Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Kansas had two players, Vickie Adkins and Angie Snider, named Big Eight Player of the Week. Both players played in the coaches. All Big-Eight first team
"ANGIE HAS certainly gained some respect around the conference and nationally as an offensive threat." Washington said. "She was an important player for us and was asked to play several different positions in her career at KU. When Angie was on, she made the whole team a lot stronger."
Snider, a 5-foot-10 senior, averaged 21 points a game this year and finished her career as KU's third all-time leading scorer.
Kansas also will lose Cindy Platt. After walking on last year, the 5-8 guard earned a scholarship this year. She'll join another and started in every conference game.
"CINDY REPRESENTS what's possible if you want to work hard," Washington said. "She's not blessed with great talent, but she's very steady and a good role player. She proved that in the past, in any other tour players on the court."
The leading retunees for the Jay-
hawks next year will be the Adkins
sisters, 6-1 sophomore Vickie and 6-0
junior Barbara.
After missing part of the non-conference season with a pulled hamstring, Vickie came on strong during the conference season and finished among the conference leaders in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocked shots. She averaged 16.4 points a game.
"VICKIE'S ONE of the finest sophomores in the nation," Washington said. "She's a threat both offensively and defensively. If we can bring some players into this game, facing the basket more next season, because she's got a fine outside shot."
Barbara Adkins, along with Snider,
was one of two Jaywhacks who started
every game this year, and she has
been a consistent player. She
averaged 10.2 points a game.
Other players returning for the Jayhawks who started at one time or another during the conference season are 5-6 guard Mary Myers (8.3 points a game). 5-8 guard Toni Webb (3.6 points a game) and 7-9 guard Renae Page (4.2 points a game).
"BARBARA WAS probably one of the best athletes we had this year," Washington said. "We're anxious for her to become more aggressive next
"Not having Phililia certainly changed our style of play," Washington said. "We couldn't run like we wanted, and we had to work harder to get position on the boards. Phililia would have taken the pressure off. We didn't have anybody who could throw the ball and allow us to go down the floor and run."
The Jayhawks, who made it into post-season play from 1978 through 1981, haven't gone beyond conference play in the past three years.
Washington has already signed one highly reguarded prospect, 5-9 guard Lisa Dougherty of Leavenworth. She has been the leading scorer in the Kansas City metropolitan area the past two years.
"LISA EXEMPLIFIES the type of player we want." Washington said. "She's a good student-athlete and she works hard on the court."
Washington said she was recruiting several players within the state and a few in the city.