University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, September 6, 1989
Sports
11
Finnish player signs
Williams welcomes 6-9 center to basketball team
By Dan Perkins
Kansas conductor
Kansan sportswriter
Pekka Markkonen. It's not the type of name usually found on a U.S. college basketball team roster, but Kansas fans will see it this season.
Yesterday, Coach Roy Williams announced that Markkonen, the 6-foot-9 center on Finland's national basketball team, was now a member of the Kansas basketball team.
"Pekka seems pleased to be here," Williams said. "Right now he is still triving to work out a class schedule."
Williams said that Markkonen, 22,
arrived in Lawrence this weekend.
Williams said he waited until Mark-
konen before he made the
announcement.
Williams' interest in Markkonnen began last spring when a friend called and asked Williams if he was still looking for a big man.
t tot him 'definitely,' and he told
about Markkonen, "Williams
Bald"
Williams, though, has only seen Markkonen on video tape.
"I don't like to make a final decision on a player by watching a tape," Williams said, "by but talking to friends I trusted, I was confident about his ability."
Williams said another reason for signing Markkonen before he had ever seen him play was the need for more height.
"Our need had a lot to do with it, too," Williams said. "But he is a quality athlete and a quality student."
Williams is still concerned, though about how the 22-year-old will adjust.
"We still don't know how he is going to adjust being this far away," he said. "We'll need to handle the level of basketball in the Big Eight Conference," Williams
said.
Williams said that the level of basketball Markkonen had played against in Finland was not the same as that in the Big Eight.
19
He said that the Finland team did not make it to the medal round of the 1988 Olympics, and this summer, he did so. He took 40th in the World University Games.
The U.S. team, with Kansas junior Mark Randall, won the Games, but Williams said Randall had not competed against Markkonken.
I don't like to make a final decision on a player by watching a tape, but by talking to friends I trusted, I was confident about his ability.'
Kansas men's basketball coach
— Roy Williams
Kansas men's basketball coach
Williams said Markkonen was not his first experience with foreign players, or even Finnish players.
Williams said that while he was an assistant at North Carolina, they had a player from Finland that he worked with, and that he helped to recruit other foreign players for Coach Dean Smith.
Williams said that experience would help him deal with Markkonen.
"I've told my players all along that I'm not going to treat them equally, but I've told them I'll treat them fairly.
"Pekka may get more concern right now than someone like Todd Alexander, who is from McPherson, because he may need more," Wili-
The addition of Markkonen came at the same time that 6-6 forward Alonzo Jamison was ruled ineligible for the fall semester.
liams said.
"The difference in what he got and what he needed was the difference between getting a straight letter grade instead of a minus." Williams said.
Williams said that Jamison came up just short of the grade point average he needed to be eligible this semester.
Williams said the team fully expected Jamison to be eligible for the spring semester.
"I want to give him credit"Williams said."He came real close."
Jamison missed all of last season because he did not transfer enough credits from Ranch Santiago (Calif.) Junior College.
Another player Williams said would not play for the Jayhawks this year was Byron Daye, a 6-8 guard.
"I don't want to bring in someone we don't feel is ready to go to school here, or will be able to handle KU," Williams said.
"I talked to Daye, and we decided it would be good to enroll at campus books," Willam said.
Williams said Daye's application for admission was never completed.
Williams said that he had talked to four other Division 1 schools about giving Daye a chance to play, but he didn't know where Daye would go.
Detroit beats KC at home on win streak
The Associated Press
DETROIT — For the first time since June 1988, the Detroit Tigers won their fifth straight game last night, beating the Kansas City Royals 10-2 as rookie Kevin Ritz pitched seven strong innings and Doug Strange's two-run double keyed a six-run first inning.
The Tigers chased rookie Tom Gordon, 16-6, who was charged with all six runs in the first innning. Ritz, 4-2, ran and seven hits in seven innings.
The Tigers, last in the American League East with the worst record in baseball, continued their home-field domination against the Royals, winning their 12th straight, including five this season. The Royals' previous mark for consecutive road losses in one park was 11 in Baltimore.
Gary Pettis led off the Tigers with a single and scored when Alan Trammlined a shot into the left-field corner. Trammell had to stop at first base and left the game with a pulled left hamstring.
Fred Lynn drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, Scott Luasinger singled home another and Strange's double made it 9-5. Mike Heath's RBI single chased Gordon in favor of Steve Crawford. It was Gordon's earliest exit in 12 career starts.
The Royals scored a run in the third on Kevin Seitzer's sacrifice fly but Detroit made it 7-1 in the fourth on another sacrifice fly by Lynn.
The Tigers got to Terry Leach for three runs in the sixth. Lou Whitaker singled and Leach walked Lynn and Lusader to load the bases. Rookie Rob Richie singled for two runs and LusADER scored when the ball got past right fielder Matt Winters for an error.
In other AL games:
Oakland 13, Boston 1
California 8, Milwaukee 4
Toronto 6, Chicago 1
Ballimore 3, Cleveland 1
Minnesota 8, Texas 4
New York 12, Seattle 2
Kansas City scored its second run off Shawn Holman in the eight on Jeff Schulz's pinch single.
Because of a reporter's error, Doug Vance, assistant athletic director, was misquoted in a basketball story in yesterday's Kansan. When speaking about Adonis Jordan, Vance said, "He has never been irreligious."
Correction
Coach Roy Williams said that there had never been any question that Jordan would be eligible to play this season.
"He's eligible, and he is going to play." Williams said.
Louisville coach says team set for 'Hawks
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The euphoria of a season-opening win and some lingering distractions have left Louisville coach Howard Schnellenberger little time to prepare for Saturday's game at Kansas.
"I've only seen a little film from our first game," Schnellenberger said yesterday at his weekly news conference. "But I'm sure by Saturday we'll be up to speed."
Until then, Schnellenberger said he hoped to clear up the eligibility question surrounding University of South and Smith and to sign a new contract.
Smith, a third-string halfback who was to return punts and kickoffs, was held out of the Wyoming game because it was unclear if he had the necessary credit hours to compete. That didn't bother Schnellenberger as much as not finding out about it until the day before the game.
"It should not have happened, certainly, the day before the football game," the coach said. "I'm obviously disappointed that Dee isn't certified at this time. I don't think there's anybody at fault, except the certification process."
Schnellenberger said he met for an hour yesterday morning with university officials, who were expected to contact the Metro Conference, which would then contact the NCAA for a ruling.
Regarding his contract, Schnellenberger. who is in the final year
of a five-year deal, said, "hope to sign one in the near future. It's moving very smartly toward that conclusion."
And although Schnellenberger said he could not have written a better scenario for the first game, he now has to guard against "fat-headedness" after Louisville avenged a 44-9 loss to Wyoming last year with a 28-21 victory Saturday.
"We will not win close games playing like that," Schnellenberger said. "We're going to spend a lot of time and effort on our pount and kickoff coverage. There may be some personnel changes and emphasis changes."
Schnellenberger said he was elated with the play of quarterback Browning Nagle, tailback Lutrel Ware, fullback Carwell Gardner and left tackle Jerry Crafts, all of whom made their first starts against Wyoming.
"We work very hard not to have peaks and valleys," he said. "This will be a very tough, physical week of work, but we are holding their feet to the fire."
Players on the punt and kickoff coverage units will have an especially difficult week. Wyoming has 148 points per 8 yards and six punts for 81 yards.
Defensively, right tackle Tee Washington stood out with 12 tackles, including four sacks. But the entire unit shone in the fourth quarter, holding Wyoming to 17 yards of total offense in three possessions.
Andy Nordquist prepares to put the ball into play during soccer practice yesterday at Shenk Complex.
Departure of coach leaves men's soccer without leadership
By Andres Caveller
Kansan sportswriter
Glenn Shirtliffe volunteered as the Kansas men's soccer club coach for five years, but he could not keep it for the rest of his life.
Shirliff, life, who in June earned his doctorate in geography, left at the end of the same month for Pasadena, Calif.
In a telephone interview, Shirllife said opportunities for the last stage of his research were better in Pasadena than at the University of Kansas. He said he was gaining professional experience at the Jet Prolusion Laboratory in Pasadena.
"He was not sure if he was going to finish his studies this summer, but he was."
Shirlife said he would have liked to coach a varsity soccer team at Kansas, but after last year's rejection of a proposal for the club's varsity status he realized that the outlook for Kansas varsity soccer
duG, "club presidents"
Shrillife came to KU in the fall of
1984, and at the same time he volu-
teered to be the men's soccer coach.
He had played and coached soccer in
his home town of Ottawa, Canada.
was not good.
"It'll come. It's going to be a long process." he said.
Weist and Alan Neighbors, the club's vice president, said Shirliffe did a lot for the club but that now the members of the executive board would have to keep the team alive.
“五 years ago he saw the club was mismanaged and disorganized.” Weist said. “He did all the work he could.”
Neighbors agreed. "He brought us to a good level," he said.
snirtliffe said he felt the club had improved and was the best club team of the Midwest.
Five years ago, when Shirtliff became coach, his goal was to win the Big Eight Championship. In April the club won that tournament for the first time.
misc time.
For the 1989-90 season, the club's goal is to win the national tournament played in the fall. In the 1988-89 season the Jayhawks lost to Illinois in overtime.
Weist said the problem this fall would be that the club does not have a coach.
"We would like to find a coach for the spring, if someone wants to volunteer," he said.
Shirlife said he tried to find a coach when he found out he was leaving. He said he talked to many people, including some in the Kansas City area, about coaching the club but could find no one to fill the position. He said those asked it was too much of a commitment.
During the first week of school, about 50 students tried out for the team. Weist said the club was still in the process of selecting the top 20 players.
Shirtlife said the new executive board would have to find ways to finance the club and make financial investments in which the team would participate.
The soccer club does not pay coaches because it does not have enough money, Weist said. And, he said he did not know if the club could budget to pay a coach in the future.
Sean Holmes, midfield, left the Jayhawks to become a coach at Baker University, and Allan Klenke, last year's club president, graduated.
Sports briefs
The Jayhawks' first game will be this weekend at Pittsburgh State. Kansas will play Kansas State on Sept. 27.
KANSAS DEPTH CHART: Kansas football coach Glen Mason said yesterday that he did not expect any major depth chart changes for this weekend's game against Louisville.
Starting cornerback Doug Terry will miss several practices because of a death in the family, Mason said, but he is expected back for the Louisville game.
Some money is raised by the members of the club. Each semester, each member pays a $40 fee to help buy materials and other necessities, Weist said.
EMPORIA STATE CONTINUES CONFERENCE SEARCH: Emporia State University, which had been scheduled to join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference next year, has decided against it and is looking into another conference.
Because the practice fields were slippery from overnight rains, the Jayhawks worked on both offensive and defensive play afternoon in Memorial Stadium.
Jim Carr, a team spokesman, said the two would be out at least six
CHIEFS INJURED: The Kansas City Chiefs yesterday placed strong safety Lloyd Burruss and quarterback Mike Elkins on the injured reserve list.
Caray will be inducted Dec. 13 at the organization's annual dinner.
Elkins has a back strain, and Burruss is suffering a thigh contusion, Carr said.
CARAY HONORED: Chicago Cubs sportscaster Harry Caray has been named to the American Sportscasters Association's Hall of Fame, the organization reported yesterday.
Caray, an announcer for 45 years,
is the voice of the Cubs on WGN-FV
and radio station WGN. Previously,
he broadcast games of the Chicago
White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St.
Louis Cardinals.
Among those previously inducted into the Sportscasters Hall of Fame were Red Barber, Mel Allen, Curt Gowdy, Lindsey Nelson, Jim McKay. Clem McCarthy and Jack Brickhouse.
President Robert Glennen announced last week that travel was a factor, as was an invitation to join the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
A spot opened in the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Conference upon the recent announcement that Southeastern Missouri State University was leaving.
The government rested its case yesterday against Gloiano, 31, who
faces up to 38 years in jail and a $2 million fine if convicted on the charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and tax evasion.
He also said Shirtliffe's absence will make it even more difficult for the executive board because some of the top players left the squad last spring.
U. S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel rejected a motion by defense lawyers to acquit Gioiosa of the charges, including a charge of claiming a $47,546 racetrack ticket on his taxes when it actually belonged to Rose.
GIOIOSA TRIAL CONTINUES: A federal judge refused yesterday to drop the cocaine and tax-evasion charges against Thomas P. Gioiosa, whose trial has left former housemate Pete Rose implicated in tax fraud
Shirtliffe said he would be back on campus at the end of October to defend his dissertation.
Defense lawyer Martin Weinberg then asked Spiegel to rule that the government had failed to offer sufficient evidence. The judge declined to do so, saying the trial should continue.
Kerr was dealt yesterday to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second-round pick in the 1993 NBA draft.
SUNS TRADE KERR: After denying for two weeks that a deal was imminent, the Phoenix Suns traded reserve guard Steve Kerr.
The 6-foot-3, 170-pound Kerr, Phoenix's second-round pick out of Arizona in 1988, played in just 26 games as a rookie and averaged 2.1 points. He spent most of last season on injured-reserve with tendinitis in his right ankle.
Cleveland was looking for a backup for point guard Mark Price.
KJHK-Kansan Top 10 Football Poll
1. Notre Dame (7) 116
2. Michigan (3) 105
3. Nebraska (2) 99
4. Miami (1) 98
5. Southern Cal (1) 85
6. UCLA 56
7. Arkansas 38
8. Clemson 29
9. Colorado 14
State 12
Other team receiving votes: West Virginia, Auburn, Florida State, Houston, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas A&M.
Staffs of KJHK and the Kansan vote in the poll weekly.