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THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
McClinton represents U.S. abroad over summer
Senior outside hitter Sara McClinton spent two weeks abroad in July with the USA Developmental Program.
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@HardyNFL
Sara McClinton has picked up countless awards and honors throughout her sophomore and junior years at Kansas. The senior outside hitter is a two-time All-Big 12 First Team and Academic First Team selection, American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American and a big 12 Preseason Team selection for the second time in 2014. But during her summers away from Kansas, she's found honor in something entirely new: playing for her country.
McClinton went overseas to play for almost two weeks in July for the second consecutive summer. She traveled with the USA Developmental Program, which is coached by Daniel Fisher from the University of Pittsburgh, a program that houses some of the best college talent from across the U.S.
The team flew into Venice, Italy, spent less than a week of training in Slovenia where they played two matches and then traveled to Croatia for the main tournament. The team had just a few days to train together before they were thrown into the fire against the best young national teams from across the globe.
"These girls have been playing since they were like 5 years old and all together, whereas our team, we had just got together just to play for this tournament," McClinton said. "Some of those junior national team players, they're going to be playing pro for
their countries. They're going to be Olympians. They're 15 and they're playing better than college athletes."
As the only returner, McClinton found herself in a leadership role with the developmental team, which is a role she'll also be expected to take on with the Jayhawks this season as one of only two seniors.
"Just helping with alleviating any travel stresses and being able to know international volleyball — it's just run differently than American volleyball," McClinton said. "I was able to get players adjusted to that. That shows leadership. Taking care of your team comes number one."
McClinton spent the offseason trying to become a six-rotation player like the rest of the Jayhawk outside hitters have become. Though spring with Coach Ray Bechard was nice, she said the best training for her came from the real game experience overseas, where subs are limited and she was forced to play the back row. Though McClinton missed time with her Jayhawk family, Bechard supported his leading kill-getter in her time abroad.
"She came to us and said it was a great opportunity for her a couple of years ago, and she played a more expanded role this summer on a high level team," Bechard said. "She got six or eight matches in the summer when our kids were busy — they were doing conditioning and that kind of thing — but you can't replace the kind of scrimmage she got
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Senior outside hitter Sara McClinton has played in Europe and Asia the past two years. She said the experience overseas was the best training for her.
in that situation."
Playing in Europe and Asia the last two years has opened McClinton's eyes to the possibility of playing at a professional level, and Bechard says she will have that opportunity, just as many former Jayhawks have. However, her focus remains on a desired finish in her final season as a Jayhawk.
"We would like to win the Big 12 this year," McClinton said. "Our next goal is to advance past the Sweet 16. The first year we made it past the first round, now we made it past the second round, now we want to keep advancing in rounds of the NCAA Tournament."
Edited by Lyndsey Havens
COMMENTARY
Embiid's comeback from injury will be aided by new teammate
By Connor Oberkrom
@coberkro
Before taking up basketball,
Former Kansas center Joel Embiid's basketball life has been well documented. Embiid started playing basketball when he was 17 years old, partially because of the guidance of one player — Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
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Now, a trade by the Minnesota Timberwolves moves Mbah a Moute to the Philadelphia 76ers and reconnects him with Embiid. In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Ben Cohen wrote that Embiid was first invited to a basketball camp in his homeland of Cameroon when he was 17. Coaching at the camp was Mbah a Moute, who first took notice of Embiid's height. The 7-footer left an astounding first impression.
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all 82 games his rookie year and knows what it takes for his body to endure the wear and tear of an NBA season, playing multiple back-to-back games.
The 76ers have no plans on winning right away this season, which will be a drastic change for Embiid, who lost a scarce amount of games during his high school and college playing days.
Embidid was a soccer and volleyball athlete, never thinking about getting his hands on another sport until later in life. The two sports cultivated his skills early on and translated well to basketball, especially in regards to his footwork.
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"Nothing has happened to change the status quo," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a telephone interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "There continues to be interest from some markets, and we continue to be interested in discussing the possibilities, but there is no plan moving forward in terms of expansion."
Several of the young players on the 76ers roster, however, went through a demoralizing 26-game losing streak last season and know how difficult it can be to bounce back.
NHL says it is only talking about expanding league
"Those were the moves that guys who had been playing for years were making." Mbah a Moute said.
In a sport where centers with an injury history can be a death sentence for teams (a la Greg Oden), the 76ers took a calculated risk other teams weren't willing to take when they chose Embid third overall in the draft.
When Sam Hinkie, the 76ers general manager, took Embid, he was taking the player he would become, not what he is currently. While it's a scary proposition, Embid can become a top-five center and defensive linchpin for at least a decade if he can stay on the floor.
Embiid didn't play in Kansas' last six games due to a stress fracture in his back. He probably won't see the court until after New Year's Day at the very earliest, and that's being generous. He could even be out until next fall.
Mbah a Moute played in
The 7-footer needs a personality he can lean on — someone who has also had to overcome injuries. Enter Mbah A Moute, who had a knee injury before the 2012-13 season but came back with resilience, something Embid will soon have to prove he is capable of as well.
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Embiid's potential will never diminish and having Mbah a Moute at his side will ensure he can still focus on improving while sitting out, but it won't be an easy task as he tries to take his game to the next level.
The NHL has not expanded since the 2000-01 season when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets became the 29th and 30th franchises in the league. After last year's realignment, the Eastern Conference has 16 teams and there are 14 in the Western Conference.
Edited by Lyndsey Havens
Seattle, Toronto, Quebec City, Las Vegas and Kansas City have been mentioned as markets that might land a new team in the league.
A person with knowledge of the league's plans, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said reports of a possible four-team NHL expansion were news to him and "I don't believe it."
if we get to a point where there's enough interest in enough places that it warrants consideration, then the Board of Governors may well invoke a formal expansion process and we'll look at everything." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said. "I don't think this is something you do on a piecemeal basis."
Bettman visited Seattle to meet with local elected leaders in May to get an update on the status of a possible new arena proposed by investor Chris Hansen.
Bettman has said Seattle's arena situation has to be settled before the NHL would consider expanding
"Seattle seems to have the most number of people interested." Bettman said in June. "The fact is there's no building that's on the horizon. The person who controls the rights to build a building in Seattle is intent upon having an NBA team before he builds a building. Based on what's happened to date, and the fact that his partner has now bought a different franchise, I don't know that there's any prospect of a building in Seattle. It's nice that there's interest, but there's really not a whole lot for us to do with it."
there. Legislation approved by city and county officials called for an NBA team to be placed in Seattle first before an NHL team unless the memorandum of understanding on the project is rewritten. Hansen has said his group does not have interest in being majority owners of an NHL team.
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