Section A·Page 12
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, August 24, 2000
Recruits ponder becoming 'Hawks
Continued from page 14B
If Sampson and Childress do come to Kansas as a package deal, they would create one of the more powerful freshman tandems in the nation. Childress is widely regarded as one of the top prospects in the nation and is seriously considering five schools: Stanford, Arizona, UCLA, Kansas and North Carolina.
The Jayhawks are also high on the list of Miles, ranked as the No. 4 point guard in the nation by FoxSports.com after an impressive performance this summer. Miles averaged 12 and six assists per game last season for Jefferson High in Portland, Ore.
Miles recently dropped decide among Kansas, UCLA and Arizona.
I tink the thing the colleges like most about me is my court leadership, along with my passing ability and my will to win," Miles told The Oregonian.
Kansas, however, may lose out on an in-state recruit — Dennis Latimore, a 6-foot-9 forward from Halstead. Ranked as the 27th best power forward in the nation by Midwest Hoops, Latimore is still considering Kansas, but UCLA and Arizona are also high on his list.
"I think the thing the colleges like most about me is my court leadership, along with my passing ability and my will to win."
Aaron Miles KU recruit
The Jayhawks are also on the short lists of Errol Knight, a 6-foot-5 point guard from Seattle, Chuck Hayes, a 6-foot-7 forward from Modesto, Calif., and Chad Bell, a 6-foot-11 center from Los Angeles, who is seen by many experts as a project.
Kansas' stock is plummeting in the eyes of St. Louis forward David Lee, who told Kurt O'Neill of ACC Recruiting Update that he would like to play in a more up-tempo offense, such as Duke or Florida. On Lee's short list are Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Duke, North Carolina and Florida. Lee told O'Neill he hoped to have the list cut to three or four by September.
The Jayhawks are also in the running for one of the nation's top prospects — South Holland, Ill., center Eddy Curry. Nicknamed "Baby Shaq," Curry is ranked as one of the top three prospects in the class of 2001, averaging 24 points per game last season. Although Kentucky, Memphis, DePaul, Illinois and Connecticut are also on Curry's list, recruiting experts predict Curry will forgo college and head straight for the NBA.
Jeremy Tiers of All-Star Report said that NBA scouts have been watching Curry since his sophomore season and that he would be a top three pick if he chose to enter the draft.
Cross country teams clean up Rim Rock
A day full of clearing trails, picking up rocks and cleaning up trash may not sound appealing, but it took on quite a purpose Monday for the Kansas men's and women's cross country teams.
By Ryan Malashock
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
For five hours, the teams prepared Rim Rock Farm, their home course, for competition. Assistant coach Doug Clark said that having a course like Rim Rock was crucial to the program and that keeping a sense of pride for the course was important.
"A lot of schools aren't fortunate enough to have their own course, so it's important to take care of it," he said. "Not many schools can say that they have a course that can host the NCAA
"It was a great opportunity for runners on the men's and women's teams to interact," he said. "It took a long time, about five hours, so they were together quite a while."
while the first few days of practice have been difficult, Clark found that the cleanup was a great way for the members of both teams to work together and bond.
tournament."
Although the cleaning process was grueling and time-consuming, the players said they realized that having a home course such as Rim Rock demanded respect and attention.
"The coaches really stressed to us that this is our home," said freshman Ian McDonald. "It was a long five hours, but it paid off. The course looks good."
The Rim Rock course is unique because
it can easily host meets ranging from high school events to the NCAA tournament. The Bob Timmons Invitational, the Jayhawks' opening meet, will take place Saturday, Sept. 9. On Saturday, Sept. 16, high school cross country teams from around the Midwest will compete in the KU Invitational.
With not even a week of practice under their belt, Clark and head coach Stanley Redwine are becoming a little more accustomed to their teams and surroundings.
"We're starting to get a look at who is going to be playing a big role for us this year, but then again we had two more guys walk on to the team yesterday," Clark said. "When we were out at Rim Rock, a lot of the Kansas guys were showing me and Coach Redwine things we
"It was a great opportunity for runners on the men's and women's teams to interact."
Doug Clark
assistant cross country coach
hadn't seen before. Everything is still new to us."
"The Big 12 Championships aren't until late October, so we have a lot of time to get into shape." Clark said.
The next month of practices and meets will be important to the teams because it will give the runners a chance to become stronger and faster.
— Edited by Lori O'Toole
Woods relaxes for a day, rests for NEC Invitational
The Associated Press
AKRON, Ohio — Tiger Woods was so drained after his dynamic duel with Bob May to win the PGA Championship that he stayed home in Florida an extra day to relax and recharge his batteries
For Woods, that meant lying on the couch with the television remote in hand, going to neighbor Mark O'Meara's house for tacos — and still finding a little bit of time to figure out what went wrong last week at Valhalla.
It was a great finish, but not a perfect one.
"As I said, my two drives were a wonderful 3-wood and driver - 50 yards right and 50 yards left." Woods said yesterday.
Woods: has shot par or better his last 27 rounds.
Woods is coming off perhaps the greatest summer in golf, winning the last three major championships with a record score under par. Yet, he is not satisfied.
Woods has finished out of the top 10 only three times this year, and two have come in his first tournament after winning majors. The NEC Invitational, a 37-man field that begins today at Firestone Country Club, should be a little different.
For one thing, Woods is only four days removed from a final round in which he played his final 15 holes in 8 under, with birdies on the last two holes to get into a playoff and then one putt on each of three playoff holes to hold off a spirited challenge from May.
The stakes at Firestone are high — a $5 million purse in the World Golf Championship event. And the field is no slouch, despite Europe changing its rule and eliminating top players such as Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia.
"It makes things a little bit easier to adjust and get your mind ready and focused to play in a tournament, especially in a golf course like this." Woods said.
A year ago, Woods had a 62 in the third round to build a five-stroke lead, then hung on for a one-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson. It was the springboard toward Woods winning his last four PGA Tour events of the year.
Is he up for an encore?
Win or not, Woods has another streak on the line. Dating to a first-round 73 in the Byron Nelson Classic, he has played his last 27 rounds on the PGA Tour at par or better. The record since the tour began keeping such statistics in 1980 is 28, belonging to O'Meara and Craig Stadler.
"The year is not over yet," he said. "I still would like to win a few more tournaments this year and play well. I still need to finish out the season."
Delgado hits two homers in Toronto's 9-8 victory
The Associated Press
TORONTO — Carlos Delgado had his fifth two-homer game of the season last night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 9 to 8. He hit
a go-ahead drive in the eighth inning.
the eight inning.
Delgado, who tied Chicago's Frank Thomas for the AL lead with 38 homers, hit a lead-off homer in a five-seventh that tied the score at 8.
then hit a go-ahead shot in the eighth off Andy Larkin (0-2).
Delgado has 22 multihomer games, including five this season.
Alex Gonzalez tied a career high with five RBI, including a game-tying two-run double in the seventh. Gonzalez went 3-for-5, including a two-run homer in the first.
Kelvim Escobar (9-13) won for the second straight night, allowing one hit in one innning. Billy Koch pitched a perfect ninth for
his 30th save in 34 chances.
Toronto rallied in the seventh as Delgado hit a homer, and Jose Cruz Jr. hit a two-run drive.
Toronto starter Esteban Loaiza, acquired from Texas on July 19, gave up seven runs and seven hits in just 3.1-3 innings.
Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the first, but Kansas City tied in the second on consecutive RBI doubles by Todd Dunwoody and Greg Zaun. Johnny Damon hit a homer in the third.
Kansas City scored five runs in the fourth on Zaun's RBI double, and consecutive run-scoring singles by Jeff Reboulet, Damon and Rey Sanchez.
BLUE JAYS 9, ROYALS 8
Kansas City 021 500 000—8
Toronto 200 100 51x—9
E—Rebelot (8), LOB—Kansas City 9,
Toronto 11, 2B—Dumwong (8), Zaua 2(
7, ASGonzalez (25), Fulmer (25),
TBaiista (25), HR—Damon (11),
ASGonzalez (11), Cledgado 2 (38),JoCruz
SB—Quinn (3), DMartinez (2)