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Volume 127 Issue 7
kansan.com
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
4.
COMMENTARY Charlie Weis and the five-year program
To rebuild a football program from the ground floor, it will
ground floor, it will take five seasons, Coach Charlie Weis said. This is year three of the rebuilding process, and fans are expecting the final product.
On Dec. 10, 2011, Weis was introduced at Allen Fieldhouse during halftime of the Ohio State game. Weis wanted to relay a message to the student section. He told the fans to not be upset when the winning doesn't happen immediately. Weis said it's not easy to turn a football program around, but he also said he's going to put KU football back on the map.
Weis said his first priority was to win the battle versus Kansas State. Fans didn't understand what he meant because the Jayhawks haven't defeated the Wildcats in football since the Bush administration, but Kansas has defeated K-State in one area; recruiting.
Weis stole K-State Coach Bill Snyder's strategy for heavily recruiting junior college and in-state athletes. This season, for the first time since 2010, Kansas football out-recruited its rivals in Manhattan.
This year, Weis grabbed the No.1 running back in Kansas, Traevohn Wrench, who is attending Butler Community College after failing to meet Kansas' academic standards.
When Weis said it will take five years to get back on the map, he means that the football program will take five full seasons to be at the top of the Big 12. This doesn't mean that Kansas will be a bottom-feeding team until that five-year mark, it means that KU football will gradually improve. Weis said his fifth season will be the season that everyone's been waiting for.
Weis' recruiting success means that athletes in Kansas want to play for the KU football program. Also, this means that Weis can talk players into playing for him. There's still just one problem — winning
Fans want the final outcome to just flash in front of their eyes, but that's not how football works. If Alabama Coach Nick Saban took the job tomorrow, there wouldn't be a different outcome. The state that Turner Gill left the football program wasn't easy to come out of.
Weis didn't say five years because he wanted to surprise everyone when the program turned its losing ways around in three years. He said five years because he actually thinks the Jayhawks won't be back on the map for another two seasons.
Five years means five years, but with all-around experienced team this season, Kansas has inched itself closer to where it needs to be.
This week marks the start of a new season and Kansas' upward climb.
Edited by Benjamin Carroll
KU TAKES THE K
Jayhawk fans cheer on the Royals at "KU Night at the K" PAGE 7
WEEKEND SWEEP
Senior forward Ali Kimura passes to the corner, hoping to set up a successful play.
Upset over No.24 Wake Forest caps triumphant weekend for Kansas soccer
FRANK WIERICH/KANSAN
BEN CARROLL
@BCarroll91
Kansas soccer is off to its best start in five years after another weekend sweep of games over the University of Texas at San Antonio and Wake Forest. During Sunday's game, Coach Mark Francis captured milestone win number 200 at the very first chance he got.
UTSA came into Lawrence on Friday looking to shine against a short-handed Kansas team. Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud and senior defender Caroline Van Slambrouck were both suspended due to a violation of team rules, Francis said. Two freshmen got to start in their place: goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns and defender Katie Rostamo.
The two teams remained scoreless until the 65th minute when junior midfielder Liana Salazar shot the ball 20 yards out at the top of the box that reached the back of the net to put the Jayhawks up 1-0. It wasn't soon after when UTSA forward Brianna Livecchi headed in a cross from the far right side to even the score.
Just 43 seconds later, freshman forward Lois Heuchan scored the game-winning goal with a long shot that snuck by the goalkeeper.
"I thought they gave us a good fight," Francis said. "I thought they would be the best team we played so far, which I thought they definitely were. I thought the players handled it well."
That would be all the scoring the Jayhawks would need to secure Dobyns' first win as a Javhawk.
Francis said that the toughness of the team is what will get them up and over those tough Big 12 teams and other ranked opponents. He added that his team thrives in big situations like that.
Kansas had another tough opponent to face off against on Sunday. Wake Forest came into the Jayhawk Soccer Complex ranked No.24 with a chip on its shoulder after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of James Madison on Friday.
lead. Wake Forest couldn't recover from that large deficit as the Jayhawks defeated the Demon Deacons 4-1.
"I think just the fight in this team is unbelievable," Francis said. "There's people slide tackling, there's people grabbing people, there's people hustling. When it gets down to the conference and those close games against good teams, those are the difference makers and it's going to be those factors rather than the soccer because everybody is going to be good."
For the second game in a row, Kansas scored a pair of goals less than a minute apart as the team built a 3-0
"We just look for each other, play off each other and get he job done."
ALI KIMURA Senior forward
Kansas has yet to be trailing any team during a match so far this season. Francis thinks
the success to this season lies within the character of the players.
"You could just tell one of our core values is resilience," Francis said. "I think the girls have really taken that to heart."
The team plays well together and flourishes off of unselfish passing, like the pass senior forward Ali Kimura made to Liana Salazar against Wake Forest. Instead of Kimura scoring her third goal in the final minutes against Wake Forest, she passed it to her wide-open teammate for the easy score.
"We just look for each other, play off each other and get the job done." Kimura said. "We've been working on the offense a lot, and it feels great for it to be paying off"
The Jayhawks are now 4-0 for the season and will bring the momentum with them to Colorado next weekend where they look to remain undefeated.
“It's been a magic season for us to start the season,” Salazar said. “We just have to keep going.”
— Edited by Sarah Kramer
McClinton named MVP at invitational
MATT CORTE
@Corte UDK
Kansas volleyball (2-1) started its season on a positive note over Labor Day weekend, claiming the title of its own invitational while ushering in a new wave of freshmen.
The young Jayhawks squad didn't finish the tournament unscathed, losing to Lipscomb in five sets Friday night, but its final victory against Creighton on Saturday was enough to give the team the crown.
"It could've been a great weekend, but it's a good weekend." Coach Ray Bechard said. "And it really could have been, without a good result today, a subpar weekend. But they made it a good weekend with a good effort today."
Freshman outside hitter Madison Rigdon tied for the team high in aces with five, freshman middle Kayla Cheadle led the team in blocks with 15, and freshman defensive specialist Addison Barry played in every set of the tournament.
seven newcomers played extensively throughout the tournament, and all of them brought something different to the table.
Senior outside hitter Sara McClinton goes for a spike in Saturday's game against Creighton. Kansas won 3-1.
SARA MCCLINTON Senior outside hitter
"I think you always want to strive to do your best, and the awards come after that."
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Senior outside hitter Sara McClinton was the X-factor against Creighton, totaling a match-high 18 kills and cementing herself as tournament MVP in the process.
The freshman class, ranked No. 15 by PrepVolleyball. com coming into the season, proved early that they will be invaluable for Bechard this season. Four of the
"I think you always want to strive to do your best, and the awards come after that," McClinton said. "I wanted to try to be one of the best ones in the gym, so I guess MVP comes with that."
In a rematch of last year's NCAA tournament second
Freshman setter Ainise Havili wasn't only one of the best freshman at the tournament, she was also one of the best players. The Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year finished the invitational with 116 assists (10 assist/set average), earning her a place on the All-Tournament team.
percentage, the Lady Bisons swept the last three sets to stun the No. 22 ranked Jayhawks.
Because Creighton defeated Lipscomb earlier in the tournament, Kansas still had a shot at winning the title due to the tiebreaker rules. The Jayhawks just had to defeat Creighton, and do so in four or fewer sets.
However, from the third set on, Lipscomb dominated. Behind an improved kill
After opening their season earlier in the weekend with an easy 3-0 victory against Utah Valley, the Jayhawks looked confident against Lipscomb, winning the match's opening two sets.
round, Kansas rebounded from its loss to Lipscomb in a big way by defeating No. 23 Creighton, 3-1.
Kansas was able to take care of business in the fourth game after losing the third, dominating Creighton and winning the final set 25-16, securing first place.
Kansas, Creighton and Lipscomb each ended with a 2-1 weekend record. The tiebreaker looked at fewest sets
lost, which eliminated Lipscomb from contention. The Jayhawks then won the meet after defeating Creighton in the head-to-head meeting.
The Jayhawks' next test will be this weekend at the Denver Invitational. They will face Bradley and Sam Houston State on Sept. 5, followed by Denver on Sept. 6.
- Edited by Miranda Davis
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