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The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Four teams in the NFL are nicknamed after birds. Can you identify the home nests of the Cardinals, Eagles, Falcons, and Seahawks?
Trivia question
SEE PAGE 2B
Inside: The Kansas basketball team signed another recruit as Keith Langford gave a verbal commitment last night.
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: The Kansas women's basketball team plays its first exhibition of the season tonight against the Basketball Travelers. SEE PAGE 5B
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 31, 2000 For comments contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
SEE PAGE 5B
An impressive resume
The four teams taking part in the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic each possess a storied history of college basketball success
By Michael Rigg and Chris Wristen sports@kansas.com
Kansas writer/sportswriter
Ah, the sights and sounds of New York City.
The World Trade Center. The Statue of Liberty. And especially, Broadway.
in fact, if the four tear tomorrow's Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic at Madison Square Garden were to take in a play on the famed street, Fiddler on the Roof would be a good choice.
its region, and all have storied histories that read like a "who's who" of college basketball. A conversation about these programs wouldn't be complete without names such as Wilt Chamberlain, John Wooden, Adolph Rupp and Felipe Lopez. Indeed, all four programs can stake a claim to be the king of the college basketball mountain.
Kansas: It goes way back
The Jayhawk tradition traces all the way back to the game's founder, James Naismith, who brought the game to Kansas from Massachusetts in 1898 when he accepted a teaching position at the University. One of Naismith's pupils, Phog Allen, was an innovator of basketball coaching, and Kansas' famed basketball venue — Allen Fieldhouse — was named in his honor.
Jayhawks have won four NCAA titles, most recently in 1988, and sport the nation's third highest all-time winning percentage, compiling a mark of .699. Kansas also has been home to some college basketball's all-time greatest players, with Wilt Chamberlain, Jo Jo White and Danny Manning all calling Lawrence home during college.
UCLA: Decades of dominance
Plain and simple, the Bruins defined college basketball greatness in the '60s and '70s, and have 10 national championships during that stretch to prove it.
college game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Reggie Miller and Kiki Vandwege stand out as legends.
Legendary coach John Wooden's name alone sets UCLA above the crowd. Wooden was the general behind the first 10 championships, all won during a 12-year span.
Since those two decades of dominance UCLA has slipped from its pedestal, but recent recruitment of young McDonald's All-Americans has helped put the Bruins back on the map. Those current players understand and respect the tradition of their school's past.
KANSAS JAYHAWKS
Presesason Ranking: 7
Coach: Roy Williams, thirteenth season,
329-82
Key Players: F Drew Gooden, F Nick
Collison, F Kenny Pierce, and Matt
Last Season: 2014, most recent round
Final Four Apparsal: most recently in
National Tour (1923, 1952,
1988)
Why Kane was the first addition: The root of all adrenaline and the history of a college basketball traces all the way back to the game's founder, James Naismith.
UCLA BRUINS
Professor Ranking: 19
Coach: Steve Lavin, fifth season, 91-38
Key Players: F Jason Kapono, G Earl Watson, C Dan Gadzuric
Last Year: 21-12, advanced to NCAA
Sweet Sixteen
Final Four Applicant(s): 74th most recently 1995
National Championships: 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Why UCLA has the Best position:
Winning is everything, but not the only thing. And all the Bruins have done is win. Plus, they arguably have college basketball's all-time best coach, John Wooden, and player, Lew Alcindor.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Prep Course Ranking 12
**Prosesion Ranking:** 12
Coach: Tubby Smith, fourth season, 86-23
**Key Players:** G Saul Smith, F Tayshaun Prince, F Jules Camara
**Last Year:** 23-10, NCAA tournament second round
**Final Four:** first round most recently
**National Champs:** (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1959)
**Why Kentucci was the most condition:** The Wildcats are the best wins, most post-season wins, most second-winningest coach and most national championships. Year in and year out they are consistently among the nation's best.
ST. JOHN'S RED STORM
Preseason Ranking: Unranked
Coach: Mike Javis, third season, 53-17
Key Players: F Anthony Glover, F Reggie Jessie, G Omar Cook
Last Season: 25 B, NCAA tournament second round
Final Four: South Carolina most recently 1985
National Championships: 0
Why Should the Best Tradition:
The Reggie Javis is the captain of big-time basketball team for Plus, St. John's at Michigan State and Madison Square Garden, and perimeter coach Lou Camasellea has one of the world's best collection of sweaters.
Ankle injury keeps Axtell out of Classic
'Hawks relish rematch with Tech
Senior guard Luke Axell will have to wait a while longer to make his return to the Kansas lineup.
Axtell, who missed the final 14 games of last season because of an undisclosed medical condition, sprained his ankle in practice yesterday and will not play in the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic tomorrow and Friday. X-Rays on Axtell's ankle did not show any broken bones, but Axtell will not even make the trip to New York for the tournament.
The injury delays what has been a promising fall for Axtell. He led the team in scoring with 19 points in the Jayhawks' exhibition win against Emporia State on Saturday night and appeared to be playing the best basketball of his career. During the summer, Axtell traveled to Europe with a group of Big 12 Conference All-Stars, but missed the final two games of the tour because of a pulled groin.
Before the season, Axtell said he was ready for the physical strains of the upcoming year.
"I've worked3 hard over the offseason to get healthy and I feel like I have," Axtell said. "I'm ready to be a contributor to this team."
Michoal Rigg
Senior outside hitter Nancy Bell spikes the ball as teammates Molly LaMere, left, and Danielle Geronymy look on. The volleyball team travels to Lubbock, Texas, today to play the Red Raiders. Kansan file photo
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
Facing 6-foot-7 gigantress Colleen Smith for the second time in just more than a month, the Kansas volleyball team is ready to take on the sky-high outside hitter/middle blocker and her Texas Tech teammates. The match will be at 7 tonight at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
Goliath isn't looking so big now.
And Kansas did take some shots earlier in the season when it lost in a close five games to the Red Raiders in Lawrence 11-15, 15-5, 15-7, 12-15, 6-15. Five Jayhawks were in double-digits in kills, led by senior outside hitter Amy Myatt's 19 and senior middle blocker Danielle Geronymo's 18.
"They try to get the matchups they want," Bechard said. "They want their best blockers on our best hitters."
Bechard said Kansas needed outside hitters Amy Myatt and Nancy Bell to play well for the team to be effective, but also needed others to step up a bit and take some shots.
Meanwhile, the 'Hawks (14-10, 5-10) have lost six and won three since the Tech loss, including two shutouts in a row going into tonight's match. They defeated Iowa State on Oct. 31 and Baylor on Nov. 4. Kansas fell to Baylor in five games Sept. 27, just before their last Texas Tech loss. The Jayhawks
Since beating Kansas, the Red Raiders have won five and lost five, putting them at a 20-6 record and 8-6 in the Big 12 Conference. Three of those matches went into five games, of which Tech won only one.
plan on using momentum from their victory against the Bears to try to top Texas Tech.
For Texas Tech, Smith put in 24 kills, while sophomore outside hitter Melissa McGehee came off an ankle injury in the first game to smack down 23. Junior outside hitter Heather Hughes-Justice added four service aces and is ranked No. 1 in service aces at .68 per game.
"We need to play with intensity." Bell said. "It's a rough place to play, but I think the Baylor win gave us the confidence to go down there and play well."
To play well means to keep the quick-striking Tech offense from being successful.
"Our goal will be to extend the rallies," Bechard said. "Because they want to keep, it short and end the rally as soon as possible."
Beating the Red Raiders could help the Jayhawks to a NCAA tournament berth, which they narrowly missed in 1999.
"We have no choice but to really finish strong," Bechard said. "Texas Tech is already a lock into the NCAA tournament, so showing the NCAA committee that we can beat a team like that late in the season might help our chances."
— Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Crimson Girls work hard but don't get many rewards
It's 6 p.m. Do you know where your
Crimson Girls are?
Odds are they're practicing somewhere on campus. Staci Johnson, co-captain of the Crimson Girls, invites me to practice at some random room in Murphy Hall. Two e-mails later, they've moved to the South end of Allen Fieldhouse.
By practice time, they've migrated to the Horejsi Center. If that would have fell through, they would have found somewhere else, maybe behind that hot dog stand in Wescoe Terrace. They don't care; wherever there's room, they'll get together to practice.
So, why a Crimson Girl column?
Besides surrounding myself with attractive women, there are a couple of legit reasons.
The thank you note the Crimson Girls sent me had an effect, too. Turns out that 10 out of 12 Crimson Girls prefer Seth Jones columns to other columns.
If you read my column a couple weeks ago that lambasted Late Night as being less entertaining than a Kevin Smith film, then you know I also talked up the Crimson Girls. The reader reaction to my Crimson Girl-love was very positive. It seemed that most people I talked to after that column wanted "Más Crimson Girls, por favor." So I'm here to deliver más Crimson Girls, for my people.
I've already ordered new business cards with that figure printed directly below my name.
Now, for a pop quiz. How much do the Crimson Girls get in scholarships? A.) Full-ride plus money earned from appearance fees, B.) Full-ride, C.) Half their education paid for, D.) Maybe two text books, depending on price.
The correct answer is D. That was something of a shock to me. I figured, they're the Crimson Girls, they've got skills, we hook them up. Heck, for all I knew, we recruited them.
Truth is, they have open tryouts. And if you made it your freshman year and sophomore year, there's still no guarantee that you'll make it your junior or senior year. About 70 women attend the first day of tryouts, then they cut down to 30. The next couple of days they cut 10 more, and once it's down to 20, they go through personality interviews. The final personality cut takes them down to 12.
At practice yesterday, the girls were preparing for Saturday's halftime show at Memorial Stadium. They also were beginning training for Nationals, which takes place Jan. 11 to 13 in Orlando, Fla. During Christmas break, they take Dec. 24 to 26 off. Aside from that, they practice six hours a day the rest of break. As a result of that work, they took ninth place last year at Nationals, but they're determined to do better this year.
To get the money to go to Florida, they have to work. That means clinics, selling and signing posters, and making public appearances. Crown Chevrolet, for example, loves to hire the Crimson Girls whenever there's a reason to celebrate. They fetch about $100 when they make an appearance.
I asked if they did house parties because I happen to have one coming up. They laughed as if I were joking. (Sometimes I hate my funny-guy reputation.)
So they practice a lot. People don't recognize them. So why do they do it?
"Standing in front of the entire crowd when we're doing the alma mater, and everyone is doing it together," said sophomore Lauren Murphy. "It gives you the biggest rush."
That rush might not sound like enough reward to some people. Regardless, I'm glad they do what they do.
.
Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.
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