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BERMEL FROM PAGE 20
day," Peck said. "He is hard and honest, but that is what is best for everyone. That's why we're having a good year so far. He gets the best out of you. [He] really pushes you and wants you to do well."
Coaching the pros
Bermel brought his success to Kansas from Drake and Colorado State, where he found hidden gems in his recruiting process. Bermel met and coached Johnson at Drake, long before he played professionally.
Bermel, who was new to coaching in 1994, said he was just looking to find golfers for his team at the time. Johnson, who was not highly recruited out of high school, came to Drake — the only big time program that wanted him, Bermel said.
["Johnson's] a good guy," Bermel said. ["There's a question that's] a little hard-pressed, and I think about it everyday: will anyone I coach in 15 years have so many earnings so young in their career? He was a great putter, and the best characteristic about [Johnson] was that he had so much confidence."
Johnson was already the "ultimate competitor" when he was at Drake. Johnson was the No.2 golfer on the Bulldogs squad that went to three NCAA regional tournaments and two Missouri Valley Championships. Bermel said he was Johnson's "support group" as a coach.
PAGE 20
VOLLEYBALL FROM
ly because of the three errors the team posted throughout the set. Texas took the last set, 15-9.
"The fifth set is more up to the volleyball gods a lot of times because it's such a quick set," said coach Ray Bechard.
Although the Jayhawks lost, Dockery had one of the best games of her season. She
"If the money is on the line, [Johnson] will perform, and that's why he has been so successful out on the tour and why he has been on many Ryder and President's Cup teams and, of course, the Masters," Bermel said.
However, Johnson isn't Bermel's only star athlete. From 2000 to 2004, Bermel coached professional golfer Martin Laird, originally from Scotland, at Colorado State. Now, Laird is on the PGA Tour and is a three-time tournament champion.
In the first signing period, Bermel had missed a couple early signings. He wanted to get a top-notch recruit and came across Laird. Rice and USC were also courting him, so Bermel had to really make a strong push for Laird, he said.
In the end, Laird opted for Bermel's guidance and committed to Colorado State. Although he was familiar with the states — his sister attended Columbia in New York City and his father traveled to the country often — it was still challenging for Laird, then 17, to adapt to life in America. His freshmen year was the toughest.
Laird struggled early on in his freshmen career. Highly recruited, he was expected to be in the starting six, but, instead, Bermel had to put some pressure on him to start performing.
"You need to play better," he remembers saying to Laird. "You're here on a lot of scholarship money, and you're a top golfer in this program."
Laird took it to heart and
placed in the top 10 in every event in the spring season. From then on, Laird set one goal for himself: make it to the PGA Tour.
posted 18 kills with only three errors, resulting in a .441 hitting percentage.Dockery was also able to post 13 digs, resulting in a double-double for the Texas native.
"He was always focused on his goals," Bermel said.
Laird did just that, winning the Mountain West Conference as a sophomore, as well as being named two-time All-American on the course and academic All-American in the classroom.
By the time Bermel was coaching Laird, Johnson had made it on the PGA Tour. With Laird already a great collegiate golfer at Colorado State, Bermel knew how to get him to the Tour after what he did with Johnson. It was more difficult, though, as Bermel had to serve as more of a father figure to Laird — whose family was a half continent away.
Bermel said he has been lucky to have coached both Johnson and Laird and wants them to continue to have great success in their careers. But at Kansas, he's spent three years creating a team that has improved year after year. Now his goal is for his golfers to generate that success that Johnson and Laird did under him. Hopefully, many more PGA tour wins are on the horizon.
"Obviously, he is the leader, and we're following him," Welle said about his coach. "He means business, and he wants to win. That's what it takes, and that's what I want."
In addition, junior outside hitter Taylor Saucei tied her season high of 16 kills. Saucei also posted only one error, recording her hitting percentage as the game high of 652.
Although they lost the No. 1 spot in the conference,
- Edited by Dani Malakoff
the Jayhawks are not done yet. They will close out their season with four games and hope that a Big 12 team is able to defeat Texas.
"We've got to take care of our business and hope we get a little help," Bechard said. "That's not a position you want to be in, but that's where we're at."
Kansas will play TCU on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Lawrence.
What's up with Diallo? A guide:
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
Freshman Cheick Diallo watches his teammates from the sideline. Diallo has not yet been cleared to play by the NCAA.
SCOTT CHASEN
@SChasenKU
With the 2015-16 college basketball season just a couple of days away, one of the biggest storylines for Kansas has yet to resolve itself; there has been no ruling made on the eligibility of freshman Cheick Diallo. Here is the information to come out of that saga from the last week:
He added: "I'm fine with whatever. We're frustrated."
Diallo's camp hires attorney
Charania said the hope is that the hire will help make the process move faster. He reported that the Diallo camp was concerned about the possibility of a delayed ruling by
"He was so patient in just trying to let the process play out," Self said after the second exhibition game. "We'll still fight for [Diallo, from] our University's standpoint."
On Tuesday morning, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported that Diallo had hired an attorney in his fight for eligibility. Later, The Kansas City Star reported that it was actually his guardian who hired the attorney and not Diallo himself, albeit for the same reason.
The attorney in question is Don Jackson, who has represented high profile athletes in the past, both at the collegiate and professional levels. And while Jackson is now working the case, that doesn't mean Kansas won't be fighting for Diallo as well.
the NCAA, as there is currently no timetable set for a final decision.
Jackson speaks to 610 Sports Radio
On Wednesday, in the most recent development of the Diallo saga, Jackson gave an interview with 610 Sports Radio. Jackson said he was very confident of a positive Diallo ruling, saying Diallo's chances for playing by the end of the year were "excellent." He added that it was "almost a certainty."
"With the timeline, that's something that will be determined over the next day or so," Jackson said to 610. "Candidly, at a certain point when it becomes quite clear that all administrative possibilities have been exhausted, then legal action becomes more of a probability."
He also mentioned a timetable for the first time, and said he should have more information on that moving forward.
Diallo committed to Kansas in April, which has led many to question why the process took this long. Jackson's answer was that the NCAA can sometimes drag out the investigations as part of a "de facto suspension."
He said that normally the NCAA goes back to the ninth grade schooling of a player, but in Diallo's case, the NCNA has requested things from his middle school, which is a separate issue in of itself.
"There is no one in the eligibility center's staff that has the expertise or the technical
experience to evaluate the academic credibility of a course from the Republic of Mali," Jackson said to 610. "There is no one on the staff that has the technical expertise to evaluate the academic rigor or academic credibility of a course from any secondary school in the United States."
Self's frustrations
Self frustrations
It seems like every time Self is asked a question about the Diallo situation, one word comes up time and time again: Frustrating. After the first exhibition game, Self talked about feeling frustrated for Diallo, which he reiterated in between the two games. Then after the second exhibition game, Self talked about those frustrations once more.
"We fought our butts off, so I'm frustrated, but the whole thing is that the NCAA knew this was going to happen," Sell said about Diallo's camp hiring an attorney. "We were all hopeful that it wouldn't come to this, but I wouldn't blame them; if I was a parent I'd do the same thing."
The regular season will begin this Friday as Kansas takes on Northern Colorado. The next game is perhaps a bit more daunting, as Kansas will take on Michigan State at the Champions Classic in Chicago. Michigan State was ranked 13 in the preseason AP poll.
Edited by Amber Vandegrift
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