Page 12 University Daily Kansan, September 24, 1980
DREW TORRES/Kansan staff
Bucky Scribner's foot unleashes a booming punt in Saturday's game against Pittsburgh. Scribner's 10 punts against Pitt made him, statistically, the second best punt in the nation.
Bucky's boots place second on national punting charts
By TRACEE HAMILTON Sports Writer
Bucky Scrubber certainly doesn't have two left feet, but by the end of the season he may wish he did.
Scribner, KU's standout southpaw punter, has boott the ball 17 times in two games for a 47.0 average. The Lawrence High product leads the Bie Alight in distance and is second in the nation.
Scribner's gifted t吞 to follow those of Mike Hubach, who, in his four years in a Jayhawk jersey, was the only bright spot in Memorial Stadium on many dismal Saturday afternoons. Scribner may also be called upon to fill that roll, and as was in last Saturday's 184 loss to Pittsburgh.
Head Coach Don Fambrough calls Scribner a good long-range investment for the Jayhawks.
"Bucky's as good a kicker as I've seen anywhere," Fambrigh said. "He's done an exceptional job already. I'm confident about our kicking program for the next three years."
SCRIBENER THE EARLY-SEASON success has not made him amphibious.
"The national ranking would make me nervous if I thought about it," he said. "I faced at my juco. I kick for the team first. Everything else falls in place."
After graduating from Lawrence High, Scribner punted for Pratt Community College for one semester, then punted Pratt over Christmas break. He talked with Fambrough and offensive coordinator John Hadl about moving back to Lawrence.
"Bucky was the first player we offered a scholarship to after my appointment as coach," Furchner said.
"I didn't like the KU coaching staff there at the time, so I considered leaving Pratt and going to another school," Scriffer said. "I like warm weather and I had an aid from the University of Miami."
high school, the KU coaching staff suggested he be trained for a year and a half to prepare for Bue Equal ball.
"But Fambrouch and Hadi are big reasons I came to KU. I've always wanted to play Big Eagle."
Scribner said that after he had graduated from
FLORIDA'S LOSS is Kansas' gain. Scribner was a junior college All-American at Pratt with a 43.4 punting average. He spent his first season as a Javakh in a red shirt.
"I didn't like being redhatted, but it was the best thing for me at the time," Scribner said. "It was a great experience."
"I practiced everyday, but during the game I wore civilian clothes and stood on the sideline. It was impossible to stay motivated. I just put in my time."
Scribner's patience paid off for both him and the Jayhawks as he easily slid into the starting punter's position when last year's star kicker, senior Mike Hubach, was drafted by the New England Patriots. Scribner doesn't mind kicking on the heels of Hubach.
"Hubach is a good kicker. His is more of a technique. I rely on leg power. I'm trying to get technique down. I used to kick as hard as I could. I use a strong leg, and I utilize it. He utilizes force."
"Following Mike is not my major concern. I've never felt I had to prove myself in comparison to Mike," he said. "I have to live up to my-and my coaches' exections."
"I can't compare them until Bucky's spend three more years kicking," he said. "I have to go back."
FAMBROUGH SAID he couldn't compare the two punters this early in Scribner's career.
"But if he keeps扑unting like he did in our first two games, he'll be in the NFL.
"He's a perfectionist," Fambroh said. "He studies well and phase of it. It's more than he knows."
"I'd say I kick about 50-75 balls a day."
"Punting the ball takes a lot of time and practice. That's all I do in practice," Scribner said. "Early in the week I kick a lot, then toward game day I paper off."
Fambaugh said Scritter worked on two things to improve his painting.
"He tries to keep the ball fairly low and hit an open spot on the field," he said. "He also works on kicking it out-of-bounds, into the wind and to the sideline."
PUNTING WITH and against the wind is one trick Scribler will have ample opportunity to practice. He kicked in winds of up to 45 mph last week in Kansas it's safe to assume he'll have to again.
"Against the wind I try to keep the ball low and kick it to an area," Scribner said, who was pleased with that aspect of his performance. "I used the wind to move with the way he used the wind to his advantage.
"In the strong wind, I had kicks of 61, 50 and 49 yards," he said. "I should have kicked them all for at least 60," he said. "It would have bottled them (Pit) up more."
SCRINNER 5AID that KU could buy up the
campus Saturday afternoon at
Memorial Stadium.
"If we're not mentally prepared for them, we could be." said. "But if we have the right mindset," he added.
"My goal is to have better kicking game than
the team. I be perfectly content not to kick at
them."
Mitchell brings more than muscle to Jayhawks
"But in any close game, the outcome hinges on the kicking game."
By KEVIN BERTELS Sports Writer
For top high school athletes, the recruiting grind can be tough. Making the decision on which coach will be lucky and which school will be blessed can one of the most difficult tasks of a mother's job.
r some or, that decision is even tougher the second time around. Victor Mitchell, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, the latest in a series of huge Texas junior college players to transfer to Kansas, was one of the athletes in the latter category.
Out of Amarillo, Texas, High School, Mitchell was mildly recruited.
At Amarillo Junior College, Mitchell matured into a very valuable commodity. As a freshman, he averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds a game.
"I guess you could say I was recruited medium," Mitchell said. "I signed with North Texas State, but my father got sick, so I stayed around Amarillo."
AS A RESULT, Mitchell was named secondteam juc All-America and became one of the most heavily-recruited juco players in the country. With dozens of colleges offering scholarships, Mitchell narrowed the list to two, Texas and Kansas.
As a sophomore, he raised that to 28 points and 10 rebounds a game while playing with an injury.
He had made up his mind to attend Texas when officials there announced the signing of a high-regarded high school center to go with the team. But three's a crowd, so Mitchell switched to KU.
"I had to change my mind about Texas," he said. "They already had two big men. What's the sense of going to where they already have two big men? This is a good opportunity right here."
it certainly is, if a good opportunity means a shortage of centers. In last season's search for a center, KU head coach Ted Owens played three games in the first three weeks. At times, Housey was effective. Knight was too
small and more suited to a forward position and Snow has since transferred.
"Starting is what I'm working at," he said. "I can't say I'll be starting. The coaches don't even know that. I'll be working hard. Everybody wants to start."
MITCHEL SHOULD be able to immediately start, start spot, but he is cautious about saying so.
He will probably battle Housey, last year's mammoth juco transfer from Texas, for a starting spot and KU will certainly sport the intimidating 12-center punch in the Bie Uetf.
Housey is 6-foot-10 and weighs 252. Mitchell said that the two would complement each other
"Art's quicker than I am, and on the outside around the free-throw line and the top of the key he'll be really effective," Mitchell said. "I can be too, too, but for the last three years, I've been inside."
"Playing inside, my weight is a definite advantage. As far as my physical size, one no one I've met can compare to."
Old-timers don crimson and blue again
The players are more gray and white than crimson and blue.
But they will don the Jahawk uniform again. They will play in KU's first baseball old-timers.
Floyd Temple, KU's baseball coach for 28 years, has rounded up some of KU's best from the past 30 years. Their waistlines have expanded and their old skills have vanished, but Temple is expecting an exciting meeting of KU's baseball pasts.
"I HAVE INSTRUCTED the training room to have an ample supply of ice and heat packets," Temple said, "I expect a lot of out-of-shape bodies.
bring coolers, but we can't allow that. I expect some thunderplayers."
"Some of the players have asked if they could
Temple also expects the game to unite former baseball lettermen.
"I hope that the publicity from this game will reach all our old-timers," he said. "We don't know where a lot of them are. But I hope they know we can get them organized and off the ground."
THE OLD-TIMERS game is the start of the K-Club weekend. The K-Club, an organization for former lettermen, is having a banquet Friday and attending the KU-Louisville football game
Temple has assembled most of KU's baseball greats. Many of the 38 players played on KU's
last championship team, the 1949 Big Seven champs.
"I THINK WE'VE got the teams divided up evenly between the older guys and the ones who haven't been out of school too long," Temple said.
Temple played on that team. He has played with or coached everyone in the game except George Trombold, who last played for KU in 1932. Trombold is one of the honorary coaches.
If the game is a success, Temple hopes to find a more affair. He would like two games instead of one.
"I would like it so that our recent grads would come back and play a game with the varsity," he said. "In the other game, the old-timers would play each other."
against centers as tall as and taller than me and handled it.
"There are big players everywhere now. What it will bow down to is me playing heads-up ball." My size makes a difference, but not much. I intend to make it a big difference."
Valentine and shooters like Ricky Ross and Booty Neal, he said that the team had all the weapons.
MITCHELL SAID that the KU team had more talent than any team he had been associated with on any level. With a ball handler like Darnell
"When the pressure comes down, those guys are really hardy," he said. "Booty and Ricky are what you call pure shooters. When the pressure is on the center, they will get shots and you can bet they will ring it. We'll be clicking like a watch, a fine watch."
Royals drop fourth straight; Brett's average falls to .391
By United Press International
SEATTLE—An 11-hit attack, bolstered by three home runs, sent the Seattle Mariners to a 7-9 victory over the Kansas City Royals last night.
Jerry Narron, Wiley Horton and Dave Eddler hit home runs and Jim Beatty pitched his third complete game in 27 starts. The victory was Beatty's first since July 3.
The loss was the fourth straight for the American League West last Wednesday.
Seattle scored five runs in the first inning on a two-run single by Dane Meyer and a three-run homer by Narron, his third of the season. Horton hit his seventh home run of the year in the third and Edler added a solo shot in the fourth.
GEORGE BRETT managed only a first-inning singles game, his batting hitting a batting average of .304.
Kansas City got runs in the first and third innings but Wisconsin won. Wilson stealing second and fifth runs. Wilson
first and Hal McRae drove him home in the third.
Wilson's two stools boosted his season total, extended his consecutive stolen base record to 152.
Willie Akers hit a solo home run, his 20th of
19 games, in sixth to account for the other
Kansas City run.
In the American League East, the New York Yankees pulled another miracle finish to keep second-place Baltimore five games behind. They won the season. The Yank's magic number is seven.
RENIE MARTIN, 9-10, pitched the first 31% innings and gave up all the Mariner runs.
New York, trailing Cleveland 4-1 in the ninth, rallied for four runs off Indian starter Wayne Garland and relievers Mike Staten and Robbie Harper. The Arlington Holder drove in the wringing and tying runs.
Martin was put into the starting rotation in place of Rich Gale, who is nursing a sore
"THE GROILES have been playing like hell and haven't picked up a game." Yankee manager Dick Howser said. "We're not folding."
Imagine...Action! For a Change
Dave Morrison President
Frank A. Seurer Vice President
Keith Cutler Treasurer
Missy Taylor Secretary
IMAGINE ACTION COALITION for Freshman Class Officers
Paid for by Imagine Action Coalition
Attention:
PRE-DENTAL STUDENTS
The K.U. Pre-Dental Club is sponsoring a panel discussion
When: Thurs. Sept. 25 Where: The Big Eight Room of the Union
Time: 8:00 pm.
ON
"Dentistry as a Career' Featuring...
Diane Beard—Admissions Secretary, UMKC Dental School
Lynn Oreskovich—KU pre-med/pre dental Secretary
Dean Robert Adams—LA and S. Advisor
Dr. Mike McBride—prominent area dentist
and Students from UMKC Dental School
1
Funded by Student Senate