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The University Daily Kansan
Yesterday in sports history
Twenty-year-old Marat Satin became the first Russian to win the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory against American Pete Sampras.
Sports
Inside: Cross country women race to top finish in their season opener at Rim Rock Farm.
SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: The Kansas soccer team, now 3-3 wons one and lost one this weekend in California.
SEE PAGE 3B
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2000 Lot comments contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM SPORTS
After 29 years and dismissal, Knight's fire has run out
If you look closely you might be able to see dwindling smoke hanging over Indiana University.
The fire is out.
For 29 years, the inferno that was Bobby Knight stormed the Indiana basketball sidelines and guided the Hoosiers to three national championships.
Now he's gone.
The temperamental coach was fired yesterday just three days after Indiana freshman Kent Harvey yelled, "Hey, what's up, Knight?" while picking up football tickets. Harvey accused Knight of grabbing him by the arm and cursing at him.
So why is the coach gone?
Don't get me wrong here. I understand completely why Knight was fired. I have no sympathy for abusive people, and his record is marked by numerous offenses.
Just how long is that list? ESPN.com ran a time line of Knight's career, highlighting his bursts and alterations. The list encompassed six-and-a-half pages.
All of the talk has made me wonder: Why does the firing come as a shock now? Knight's turtans have been chroniced on SportsCenter and in newspapers since 1972 — when The General became coach at Indiana.
Why wasn't anything done before? Maybe kids were tougher then. Maybe being physically intimidated by a coach helped motivate players to do things right the first time.
It was a different age. If a coach yelled at you, you just grinned and beared it. Lawsuits weren't filed for things as petty as spilling hot coffee on yourself when the lid warns you that the liquid within is HOT. It was also a time when winning made everything okay.
Indiana hasn't been winning — not titles anyway — since its 1994 Final Four loss to Duke in the national semifinals. And as the wins have dwindled, the fuel for Knight's fire has grown. This year, the blaze finally became too big and Indiana University president Myles Brand was forced to extinguish Knight's career with the Hoosiers.
While I understand and support the decision, I am saddened just the same. Knight was a legend. He is the fifth winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, posting 763 wins. His memorable 1976 squad posted a 32-0 record, making them the last team to go undefeated and win the national championship. His teams were menaces to play, as Knight instilled his coaching fury into his players' hearts. That resiliency showed on the basketball court and captured the hearts of a state as Hoosier basketball became a way of life.
Even more admirable was the graduation rate of his players. Knight recruited good students and good people. Almost every player graduated.
It's disheartening to know that a man who did so much good for the game and shaped bright futures for hundreds of men will, in the end, leave a legacy not of winning and success, but as a former General of the Indiana Hoosier Army who ultimately lost control. Bobby Knight was a man who controlled a basketball world, but he could not control himself.
Writing in a Leawood junior in journalism.
The Hoosiers won't smolder and disappear into basketball mediocrity without Knight. They will move on with a new coach, but Indiana basketball will never be the same.
The fury is gone.
Senior outside hitter Nancy Bell bumps a ball after a Furman hitter drills a shot over the net in a tournament game Saturday. Photos by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Volleyball team steamrolls through Jayhawk Classic for first time
By Sarah Warren
sports@konsan.com
Konsan sportwriters
For coach Ray Bechard, Saturday night was a long time coming — two years, in fact.
It was then, after two intense days, that his Kansas volleyball team defeated Ole Miss and became champions of the Javhawk Classic for the first time.
"I've been here four years, and we had yet to win it," said Nancy Bell, senior outside hitter, of the tournament which began in 1997. "So it's about time."
In fact, all Kansas had to do was win one game in its final match versus Ole Miss to
The 'Hawks easily claimed the tournament after
take the tournament after becoming the only team that remained unde fæt ed through three matches.
More information
For more on the
Jayhawk Classic
and more photos
from this weekend.
See pages 4B
and 8B
"Jamie Burns had an awesome game, and I wish could have figured out how to control her earlier in the match," said Bechard, referring to the Rebels' outside hitter who scored a match-high 30 kills. "However, Ole Miss is much improved this year."
Besides Ole Miss, the 'Hawks trampled East Carolina, West Virginia and Furman on their way to tournament glory. East
defeating the Rebels 15-9 in the first game. However, Ole Miss rallied and pulled out a 13-15 win in the second game before Kansas spiked them into submission 15-2 and 15-11.
KU'S SCORES AT THE JAYHAWK CLASSIC
■ Kansas vs. East Carolina 15-10, 15-6,
15-9
Kansas vs. West Virginia 15-5, 15-17, 15-1, 15-3
■ Kansas vs. Furman 15-12, 13-8, 10-
■ Kansas vs. Ole Miss 15-9, 13-15, 15-2,
15-11
15-1, 15-3
Kansas vs. Furman 15-12, 15-8, 15-7
Carolina finished second, posting a 3-1 record.
Adding those four games to their record improved Kansas to 8-0, which ties the 1990 school record for consecutive wins to start a season.
"As far as the record, that's great," Bechard said. "But let's not stop there, let's break it. That would be more fun."
Besides shining as a team, a few Jayhawks received individual awards as well. Bell was named tournament Most Valuable Player, while senior outside hitter Amy Myatt and senior middle blocker Daniel Geronymo were named to the All-Tournament team. Myatt led the team in kills, with 79 for the weekend — 24 in Kansas’ final match against Mississippi — while Geronymo led the team in digs with 50. Bell, however, was extremely well-balanced in both those departments, recording 53 kills and 46 digs on the weekend.
Indeed, LaMere, junior setter, didn't have too bad a weekend herself, recording 216 set assists. And in addition to LaMere,
"For me to get a kill, I've got to have a good pass," Bell said. "Molly LaMere is my MVP, she's awesome at what she does. I couldn't have gotten any kills or been MVP without her."
Kylie Thomas, sophomore middle blocker, stops a spike from a Furman outside hitter. The Jayhawks beat Furman 15-12; 15-8; 15-7 at the Jayhawk Classic this weekend.
Kansas freshman Sarah Rome proved almost as hot as her senior counterparts, recording 46 kills and 40 digs of her own.
"We're learning more about each other each game we play," said LaMere about the team's success. "I think we are ready for conference."
The Jayhawks begin Big 12 Conference play at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, when they meet Colorado in Horeksi Family Athletics Center.
— Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Receiver overcomes challenges
By Jason Franchuk
Kansan sportswriter
sports.kansan.com
As time goes by and challenges mount in front of him, Roger Ross has slowly figured out who is creating his routes as a wide receiver.
When he played at a talent-laden Denver metro team in high school, he had to work harder than everybody else just to get a scout's attention.
When his test scores did not qualify him for college eligibility the first time, Ross knew who to look up to when he was relegated to a Karsa junior college. Ross knew who was calling his plays all alone
"It's all in God's plan," said Ross, a junior wide receiver who transferred from Garden City Community College this season.
As a 5-foot-7, 170 pounds athlete trying to play Division I college football, most people figured Ross didn't have a prayer.
Perhaps opposing teams thought the same, but Ross was been impressive in his one game as a Jayhawk, against Southern
Methodist. Ross had four catches and — combined with his duties as a punt returner — is currently ranked seventh in the Big 12 Conference in all-purpose yards with 121 per game.
"When I got here, I
More information To see results from Big.1.2 Conference teams that played this weekend See page 3B
When I got here, I said all I wanted to do was be able to help out," Ross said. "I wanted to do something that could make an impact."
Kansas might not the best team he ever played on. And that's not a reference to Garden City, even though Ross' team posted a 10-2 record last year and Ross became the school's all-time leading receiver.
In 1997, as a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, Ross played on a team made up of several big-name college talents. Marcus Houston, ranked as the top running back prospect as a senior last year, now plays at Colorado. Tony Lindsay, a former Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, is the quarterback at Oklahoma State. Dyshod Carter starts at cornerback for Kansas State.
"Man, we were loaded," Ross said. "I thank God for the time I got to spend with that team. I learned how to win there."
After being Colorado's top receiver in yards, receptions and touchdowns as a senior, Ross scared away schools. His grades were fine, but test scores kept coming back too low for his admission into Division I football.
"I was hurt," Ross said. "I thought my life before college was going to be over."
So he went to Garden City, and eventually found his way back to Lawrence after a stellar two-year junior college career.
Ross's pass may change again Saturday, when Kansas plays Alabama-Birmingham. The return of Carl Nesmith, who was suspended for the season opener, might limit Ross' chances to return punts. Harrison Hill will be back at wide receiver, meaning the passes will be more dispersed.
"Roger will still get a lot of opportunities," said Kansas coach Terry Allen.
Edited by Clay McCuiston
Indiana fires Knight after latest conduct violation
By Michael Rigg
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
In the end, the only person who could beat Bobby Knight was himself.
Knight, the Indiana basketball coach for the past 29 seasons, was fired yesterday, ending a run in which Knight was one of college basketball's most talented and tumultuous coaches.
"This is not how anyone wanted Bob Knight's career at Indiana University to end," said Indiana president Myles Brand. "He is a legendary coach who won three national championships. But he has failed to live within the guidelines by which he promised to abide. This required action saddens me greatly."
The firing came after Knight followed a "continued pattern of unacceptable behavior" in violation with the school's zero-tolerance conduct policy.
Knight was on a fishing trip in Canada yesterday and was unavailable for comment. Brand said Knight will learn of his firing today through a certified letter.
The guidelines of the zero-tolerance policy were announced on May 15 in response to Knight's violent behavior during his
tenure at Indiana. At that time, Brand announced that any violation of the policy by Knight would result in an immediate removal of his coaching duties. Since May, Knight violated the policy 17 times, according to Brand.
"His unacceptable behavior not only continued since then, but increased," Brand said.
The most publicized violation of the policy occurred at the start of the semester when he confronted Indiana freshman Kent Harvey at Freedom Hall and allegedly grabbed Harvey's arm. But the incident with Harvey was simply the latest in a long string of violent behavior, which also included verbally abusing a high-ranking female school official.
Mark Shaw, Harvey's stepfather, berated the university for not taking action sooner.
"I'm a little dismayed at all the incidents that have gone on." Shaw told ESPN yesterday. "If the school did something sooner, then the incident with my stepson could have been avoided."
Reaction to Knight's firing ran swiftly over the college basketball landscape. Iowa coach and former Indiana star Steve Alford
was upset by the news of Knight's firing.
"It saddens me to see one of the greatest eras of college basketball end this way." Alfred said yesterday in a prepared statement. "I'm very appreciative of all the influences that Coach Knight has had on my life as well as my basketball career."
A search for Knight's replacement will start immediately with Alford being considered as one of the top candidates to replace him. The replacement may not happen until after the season, though. Brand said the new coach would likely be an interim coach, with a permanent replacement coming later.
"It's a very big shock," she said. "I'm a big Bobby Knight fan, so it hasn't been a very good weekend for Indiana sports."
Allison Heyworth, Carmel, Ind., junior, said she remembered watching Knight's Hoosiers while growing up.
"I think his legacy will always live on," she said. "He was always known as an aggressive, winning coach."
Heyworth said Knight's legacy would be the national championships and the 763 victories he amassed — not his violence-induced firing.
- Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Bob Knight was fired yesterday as coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. Knight was removed after violating a school conduct policy. Photo courtesy of the Kansas athletics department.