INSIDE: Tampa Bay defeats the St. Louis Rams, 24-17.SEE PAGE 7A. INSIDE: Baylor offensive coordinator resigns. SEE PAGE 9A.
10A
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TALK TO US. Contact Jay Krall or Sarah Warren at (785) 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
Commentary
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2001
Brandon Stinnett Columnist sportsksansan.com
Kansas needs threes to see Final Four
Each year the Kansas men's basketball team begins with high expectations, with dreams of a trip to the Final Four or a dramatic come-from-behind victory against Duke in the national championship game.
Most years those expectations are met with bitter heartbreak after the Jayhawks falter in the NCAA tournament.
The ingredients are once again in place for a Jayhawks' Final Four run this season — despite the Jayhawks' narrow loss to Ball State in the Maui Invitational.
This seems like Kansas' year. The Jayhawks have the best frontcourt in the nation. Nick Collison, a consistent workhorse, and Drew Gooden, a talented superstar in the making, are nearly impossible for any team to stop.
But judging from past Kansas teams, two excellent forwards don't always lead to the Final Four.
In 1998-99, Kansas had two firstteam All-Americans. Paul Pierce, now one of the NBA's best players, and Raef LaFrentz, a tall power forward with a smooth touch, dominated opposing teams throughout the season, leading the layhawks to a 35-4 record and a No.1 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament.
But Kansas went cold in the second round and was ousted by Rhode Island. Pierce and LaFrentz, both spectacular during the regular season, were powerless to stop Kansas from crumbling. Pierce scored 23 points, and LaFrentz had 22, but the Jayhawks fizzled from the outside, shooting a dismal five of 28 from three-point range (17.9 percent).
The same sort of thing could happen to this year's Kansas team. Gooden and Collison are good players, potential All-America's by year's end. But at this point in the season, neither is as polished nor as talented as Pierce and LaFrentz were.
Kansas can't rely solely on Gooden and Collison to carry it to a national championship.
In the NCAA tournament, Kansas' success will be determined by how well its guards shoot the three-point basket. Three-point shooting can turn an average team into a Duke-like sensation on any given night. The three-point bucket has become the great equalizer in college basketball, and it makes even the best teams vulnerable.
Kansas is a legitimate top-10 team. Convincing victories against Seton Hall and Houston in the Maui Invitational are evidence of that. But against Ball State, Kansas couldn't keep pace with the Cardinals' three-point shooting and lost 93-91. Ball State connected on 13 of 30 from beyond the arc, including eight of 16 in the first half. Kansas made just three of nine three-point attempts.
Cramping certainly did play a part in the defeat. Collision missed most of the second half with leg cramps, and freshman point guard Aaron Miles cramped up on the game's deciding play. But those things wouldn't have mattered had Kansas hit a few more outside shots or had Ball State not hit as many.
Three-point shooting can make or break seasons for teams of all talent levels. Kansas is no exception. But unlike the Jayhawks with Pierce and LaFrentz, this year's squad has three talented guards who are legitimate outside threats. Kirk Hinrich, Jeff Boschee and Miles can all hit the three.
They'll have to if Kansas is to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1993.
Stunnett is a Shawnee senior in journalism and psychology.
Testing the water... Swimmers weigh options of continuing careers
STORY BY JAY KRALL
Dustin Chalfant:
Years at Kansas: 1
Specialty: breaststroke
Hometown: Topeka
Transferred to: Minnesota
Everett DeHaven;
Yearsat Kansas; 1
Specialty: freestyle
Hometown: Salina
Transferred to: Evansville
When the Kansas men's swimming program was eliminated last March because of budget cuts in the Athletics Department, 20 men were faced with a choice—to leave Kansas and join another college swim team or to remain at the University of Kansas.
Each swimmer was forced to weigh his friendships here, his progress toward a KU degree and the athletic scholarship he had been guaranteed against the chance to swim competitively again.
Eight Kansas swimmers elected to go elsewhere, leaving behind friends and girlfriends and forfeiting valuable credit hours and scholarship money. But 12 of their teammates decided to stay at KU, regardless of remaining eligibility.
Anthony Digieco:
*Yearly* Kansas: 1
Specialty: diving
Hometown: Farmington,
N.M.
Transferred to: Alabama
Eight months after their team was cut, swimmers talked about how they turned to friends, family and one another as they wrestled with the difficult decision.
Transferred to: Alabama
Chris Musfeldt had established himself as one of Kansas' top breaststroke specialists when Kansas' program came to an end. He knew that he had a promising collegiate career ahead if he chose to transfer. He decided to visit three schools that had recruited him the year before: Truman State, Iowa and Missouri.
With a year of college experience, Musfeldt was more enticing to coaches at other programs than he had been as a high school senior. Besides, the coaches knew that because the then-freshman and Gladstone, Mo., native was willing to transfer, he would be committed to improving his times.
"They would definitely give us priority after a thing like this." Musfeldt said.
"They knew that we were pretty dedicated in that we were willing to leave all our friends here to continue on in the sport."
He said that deciding to leave Kansas might have been the most difficult thing he had ever done.
The choice was tougher for Musfeldt because his girlfriend, junior Patty Stringham, was a member of the Kansas women's diving team and would remain at Kansas. The couple is still together, and Musfeldt returns to Lawrence on weekends to be with her.
Musfeldt said that when the team was cut, he felt like the department had flushed away all the hard work that he and his teammates had invested in high school for a chance to compete in collegiate swimming. But as time passed, and he discovered that he would get a second chance at Missouri, he said he began to accept the reality of the department's budget woes.
"It was like leaving family. Some of those guys had become like brothers," he said.
"For a lot of us guys, it was our dream, it was our goals to make it to that level," he said. "I feel like we kind of got the shaft. I can see both sides of it now that emotions aren't quite so high. I can see the big picture."
Making his return to Big 12 Conference swimming this fall, Musfeldt was a member of the threeman team that took third place of 12 teams in the 150-yard breaststroke relay at the Big 12 Relay Meet on Oct. 19 in Columbia, Mo.
Matt Hanson turned in a 0:50.10 in the 100-meter butterfly at last year's Big 12 Championships, a season-high for the team. Hanson opted not to seek out another school at which to
Eight months after his team was cut, Hanson, Overland Park junior, remains at Kansas. But with two years of eligibility remaining, despite his athletic scholarship at Kansas, he is still considering leaving to compete elsewhere.
continue swimming but instead renewed his scholarship at Kansas and left competitive swimming behind.
Like several of his teammates, last spring Hanson contacted other schools that had recruited him out of high school. After talking with coaches at Southern Methodist, Texas Christian and Arizona State, he decided that Southern Methodist was the only school with business and economics programs that were strong enough—he plans to have two majors regardless of whether he remains at Kansas.
Southern Methodist was looking for a butterfly specialist. Everything seemed to be falling into place when Hanson decided late last semester that he had too much going for him in Lawrence.
"It just kind of came down to the fact that I was happy here, and I was getting along really well in my academic programs," he said.
Another factor was that Hanson's scholarship money was guaranteed for two more years at Kansas. Other programs could not promise him a scholarship.
Though he has ruled out Southern Methodist, Hanson is pondering a transfer to Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y., where his girlfriend is a swimmer.
Hanson said that although he would always be displeased with the department's decision to cut the men's swimming team,he
Kyle Ediger:
Years at Kansas: 1
Specialty: freestyle
Hometown: Junction City
Transferred to: Truman state
SEE SWIMMERS PAGE 7A
Cory Gallagher:
Years at Kansas: 2
Specialty: breaststroke
Hometown: Norman, Okla
Transferred to: Southwest Missouri State
Jason Hubbard:
Years at Kansas: 2
Specialty: freestyle
Hometown: Highlands
Ranch, Colo.
Transferred to: Wyoming
Mitch Loper:
Years at Kansas:1
Specialties: freestyle and backstroke
Hometown: Houston
Transferred to: Texas Christian
Ben Legler:
Years at Kansas:1
Specialty: freestyle
Hometown: Lawrence
Remained at: Kansas
Matt Hanson:
Years at Kansas: 2
Specialty: Butterfly
Hometown: Overland Park
Remained at: Kansas
Chris Musfeldt:
Years at Kansas: 1
Specialty: breaststroke
Hometown: Gladstone, Mo.
Transferred to: Missouri
Some players endorse Hayes for coach
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
Kansas interim football coach Tom Hayes understood after his team's 27-14 win on Saturday that the process used to select the Jayhawks' next coach was intensifying.
Hayes said he intended to be considered for the job. Several of his players lobbied for the 52-year-old Hayes, who coached the Jayhawks to a 1-2 mark after former coach Terry Allen was fired Nov.4.
"Everybody knows about the process, and I am a part of it hopefully," Hayes said. "We'll see where it goes, and it's important to take the challenge and go run with it. I am just glad that it worked out, and we came up with a positive day to finish the season out for the players."
Cornerback Andrew Davison's 38th consecutive start on Saturday was his last. He played only one season out of his four in a Jayhawk uniform with Hayes as Kansas' defensive coordinator and interim coach. But Davison marveled at how his coach taught and disciplined by commanding such respect.
"Coach Hayes could make a lot of changes in one year, let alone three or four years down the road." Davison said. "I feel that he could bring in the right type of talent and make everyone around him better. I think he would be the perfect fit.
Davison said if Hayes was given full reign, only good things would happen for the Jayhawk football program.
"If you give coach Hayes a chance nex
to start from the beginning — from
the winter on to the season — he'll be able to prove what he is all about."
"When coach Hayes came in here, he made that an issue that we weren't going to do that these last three games," Beck said.
Freshman kicker Johnny Beck said he wanted a coach who would emphasize discipline. He said that when Kansas' season began to fall apart in early October and the Jayhawks began a six-game losing streak, the team was ready to fold. Beck said he admired Hayes for changing the team's mindset.
Some of the more talked-about candidates for the Kansas job are Oklahoma codefensive coordinator Mike Stoops, Fresno State coach Pat Hill and Marshall coach Bob Pruett. Stoops spearheads the
country's fifth-best defense. Hill and Al Bohl, Kansas athletics director, have a good rapport from their four years together at Fresno State. Pruett has won 68 games during the past six seasons. His club is 10-1 and ranked No. 18 in the country.
Bohl did not divulge any of the possible candidates yesterday, but he said the selection process was moving rapidly and efficiently.
"I was very happy for coach Hayes," Bohl said about the Jayhawks ending the season with a win. "But the objective is not, 'Who is going to be the head coach?' It is, 'Who is going to be the right fit for the University of Kansas?'"
Contact Denton at 864-4858
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
No.16 Georgetown
103
Grambling 69
69
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
No. 22 Alabama
76
1
Utah 61
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
No. 9 N.C. State No.19 Old Dominion 74 58
NFL
Tampa Bay 24
-
St. Louis 17