University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, December 1, 1987
Sports
Fred Sadowski/KANSAN
KU fullback Mike Rogers was one of the most highly recruited Kansas high school players in 1984. But Rogers, and the rest of the seniors, never fully met recruiters' expectations.
KU football, fund raising not related. Konzem says
By CRAIG ANDERSON
Staff writer
While pursuing his master's degree at Kansas, Jayhawk Athletic Director Bob Frederick wrote a dissertation arguing that no direct correlation exists between the success of a school's football program and the fund raising for athletics the university does.
Richard Konzem, director of Kansas' Williams Educational Fund, said he had found Frederick's dissertation to be true. The Williams Fund, which has over 3,200 donors, serves to pay the scholarship expenses of student-athletes at Kansas.
"The football program is just one of the many facets that influences the success of our fund raising," he said. "Right now, we are battling the state of Kansas more than anything else. The agricultural and oil industries are in a down period right now. The stock market situation has also hurt a little."
Contributions to the Williams Fund are also down this year. Last year by the end of October, $831,000 had been raised. This year by the end of October, $744,000 had been raised.
Despite the lower totals, Konzem said he felt confident that Williams Fund contributions would be caught up to last year's pace by the end of this month. Figures will not be available until later in December.
Any rumors that wealthy alumni could have influenced the firing of Kansas football coach Bob Valesente by threatening to withdraw contributions were false, Konzem said.
"That's always been sort of a fallacy," he said. "People who contribute do so to give to the University of Kansas and its athletic program. They do it out of loyalty to the school."
Konzem said he had received calls about the football program before Valesente was fired and, for the most part, the callers had been supportive of Valesente.
The success of the Kansas men's basketball program made it much easier for the Williams Fund to raise money, Konem said.
"Most people donate because of the benefits they can receive if they do," he said. "They want to get priority on basketball seating and things like that.
"It was really frustrating (two weeks ago) because two different guys called wanted to donate $2,500 if they could get some season basketball tickets. I had to tell them that we were sold out of tickets. They said to call me when you get some tickets."
Tickets for Kansas football games last season were readily available but there were often no takers. Attendance at Kansas games was down almost 8,700 fans a game this season. Kansas averaged 25,533 fans a game this year, down from an average of 34,171 last season.
Kansas Assistant Athletic Director and Business Manager Susan Wachter said the drop in attendance had to do somewhat with the misfortunes of the football team, but an unattractive schedule also figured into the loss of people in the stands. Kansas played Division 1-AA teams Kent State, Louisiana Tech and Southern Illinois in its first three home games.
“This year’s schedule was unattractive to Kansans,” she said. “We
Wachter was right in her pre-season budgeting. Last year by Oct. 31, revenue from the football team was $1,786,993. By that time this season, the football team had generated $1,252,731 through ticket and concession sales.
Kansas had seven home games in 1986 and only six in 1987. Wachter said the decline in revenue had something to do with Nebraska not playing in Memorial Stadium this season. In 1986, the Nebraska-Kansas game brought in $356,606.
Without counting the Nebraska game, the revenue generated from
football ticket sales and concessions in down $177 656 from last season.
Thanks to a more attractive schedule, Wachter said she expected next year's attendance to be up. Kansas will play Baylor, Auburn, New Mexico State, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri at Memorial Stadium.
The Baylor home opener will also be Parents' Day. Auburn is expected to need 3,000-4,000 tickets for its fans to travel to Lawrence. Nebraska is usually the Jayhawks' biggest draw of the year. The rivalry Kansas has between Kansas State and Missouri would also be good for attendance, Wachter said.
Jayhawks' seniors end college careers with lackluster year
By CRAIG ANDERSON Staff writer
Staff writer
Kansas loses 22 seniors off a football team that was short of depth to begin with. The sheer numbers of the senior class did benefit the team, but their quality of play could be questioned.
Several of this year's seniors had their playing time limited for a variety of reasons.
Senior offensive tackles Jim Davis and Bob Pieper pattled with injuries for most of the season. Davis spent most of the early season recovering from a knee injury he sustained in 1986. Pieper started nine games but missed significant parts of those contests because of a knee strain.
When The Associated Press named its All-Big Eight team last week, neither Davis nor Pieper received even honorable mention. As a sophomore in 1985, Davis was named second team all-conference. The same year, Pieper was given honorable mention.
Senior quarterback Mike Orth, a player who had battled Kansas' all-time leading passer Mike Norseth for playing time early in his career, didn't play in the last eight games of the season. Orth, who had so much promise in his first three years at Kansas, completed 13 of 50 passes for 214 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions in his final fling at Kansas.
Senior wide receiver Tony Harvey, who caught 25 passes for 378 yards as a junior, was injured early in the season and spent most of the year playing on the Kansas scout team. Near the end of the season, former Kansas coach Bob Valesente suspended Harvey for disciplinary reasons.
Another senior wide receiver, Ronnie Calwell, also had a dramatic drop in his numbers. As a junior, Calwell caught 39 passes. As a senior this year, he caught 11. Caldwell, who entered the season ranked 13th on the all-time Kansas reception list, seemed to be hampered somewhat by the inconsistency of Jayahawk quarterbacks Kelly Donhooe and Kevin Verdugo.
Fullback Mike Rogers, who four years ago was one of the most highly recruited high school players in Kansas, finished an undistinguished college career by rushing for 135 yards on 52 carries. Rogers' longest run of the year was only nine yards.
Senior tight ends Mark Parks and Brad Wedel caught only nine passes between them this season. Their low production shouldn't have been unexpected, though, because the two had similar numbers their first three seasons as Jayhawks.
Parks caught seven passes during his first three years as a college football player. Wedel entered his
senior season having caught five passes in his first 21 games as a Javhawk.
It could be argued that the Kansas offense wasn't geared around tight ends during Wedel and Parks' first three seasons as Jayhawks. Kansas revamped its offense this year with a scheme that included more of an emphasis on throwing to tight ends.
The change in offensive philosophy didn't mean a change in the low number of receptions Parks and Wedel had. Parks caught six passes in 1987. Wedel, slowed by a back injury, caught three passes in five games. Sophomore redshirt tight end John Baker caught 27 passes for 300 yards.
On the defensive side, injuries played a big part in limiting the effectiveness of Kansas' seniors.
Jayhawk senior defensive tackles
Von Lacey and David White missed
substantial playing time because of
an assortment of injuries.
White missed three starts because of a leg injury
Lacey started in the Jayhawks opening game at Auburn but wouldn't start for the rest of the season. Along the way, Lacey suffered a broken hand, a severely pulled hamstring and a giant knot on his forehead, all courtesy of his final season of college football.
Senior Marvin Mattox missed the Colorado game because of a knee injury. Senior linebacker Stacy Henson missed the Missouri game because of a strained back.
Linebacker Rick Bredesen, who started all 45 games in his career, experienced a drastic drop in his number of tackles. Bredesen averaged almost 121 tackles a year in his first three seasons at Kansas. This year, Bredesen recorded 78, including only one for a loss. Last year, Bredesen had eight tackles for losses.
20. Kansas seniors who were on the team to begin the season didn't make it very far into their final season of college football.
Jimack Tim Ledford, who at one point during pre-season workouts was listed on the first team, quit the team before the Jayhawks opener against Auburn; because of personal reasons.
Cornerback Mike Fisher started the first two games of the season for Kansas before being suspended indefinitely by Valesente.
Cornerback Undra Lofton, who was listed on the first team heading into fall practice, never reported to play his final season because of personal problems.
Of the 21 high school seniors that former Kansas coach Mike Gottfried signed four years ago, only 11 made it through their four years and played their senior year at Kansas.
KU needs one more victory to break conference record
By DARRIN STINEMAN Staff writer
Needing only one more victory at Allen Field House to set the Big Eight Conference record for most consecutive home victories, Kansas faces the first of its pre-conference schedule record-padders, Pomona-Pitzer. tonight at 7:35.
A Jayhawk victory tonight would be the 49th consecutive triumph in the fieldhouse, breaking the record of 48 they share with Oklahoma. The Sooners the last team to defeat Kansas at the fieldhouse, with a 92-82 overtime victory on Feb. 22, 1984.
Pomona-Pitzer, a Division III school located in Claremont, Calif., has a record of 1-3 going into tonight's game. Kansas is 1-2 after defeating Chaminade and losing to Iowa and Illinois last weekend in the Maui College.
The Sagehens are coached by Gregg Popovich, who was a volunteer coach for Kansas last season. Popovich came to Kansas on a
Pomona-Pitzer program that allows its coach to take a sabbatical with a Division I program every seven years. He coached North Carolina during the pre-season before coming to Kansas for the regular season.
shortly after arriving at the field house last night, Popovich said he was glad to be back.
"Coach Brown was great to me, and all the assistants and everyone were great to me," Popovich said. "Everyone was so great to me that it was fun to come back here."
Popovich said he was surprised when Brown asked him if he would like to schedule a game with the Jayhawks.
Utah, is one of the two juniors and six sophomores who Popovich said would see the most playing time tonight. He said four sophomores and a junior would start.
The Sagehens would appear to be easy prey for Kansas. Their tallest player, Guy Hendrickson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Ricks Junior College in Salt Lake City,
"Coach Brown thought it would be a neat idea to come in and play like this," he said. "At first, I thought he was kidding, but we went ahead and went for it."
"I expect them to be in awe," Popovich said. "I just told them to go ahead and be in awe and be nervous and enjoy the crowd and enjoy who they're playing against."
The small, young lineup coming to an arena that holds 15,800 from their home gym that seats just 1,500 will likely have eyes the size of saucers by tipoff. Popovich said.
That may be difficult to do, considering that the Sagehens will have to match up with All-American Danny Manny, a 6-10 forward, and Marvin Branch, a 6-10 center.
"We have goals defensively to play these guys well," Popovich said. "We know we're going to get beat on the boards, but like I've been telling the kids, if we can do it against these guys, we can do it against anybody."
Game 1
Kansas
Jayhawks
Coach Larry Brown
Record: 1-2
Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens Coach Gregg Popovich Record: 1-3
Probable Starters:
G- Lincoln Minor, 6-3, 165, Jr.
G- Kevin Pritchard, 6-3, 170. So.
F- Archie Marshall, 6-6, 190, Sr.
F- Danny Manning, 6-10, 230, Sr.
C- Marvin Branch, 6-10, 225, Jr.
G- Ethan Caldwell, 6-0, 170, So.
G- Keith Davis, 6-1, 170, So.
F- Rick Duque, 6-6, 210, Jr.
F- David Todd, 6-3, 190, So.
C- Reed Porter, 6-5, 190, So.
**Game Notes:** Kansas coach Larry Brown has said he scheduled this game to pay back Sagehne coach Greg Povich for his help last season as a volunteer coach for the Jayhawks. Povich came to KU on a Ponoma-Pizer program that allows its coach to take a sabbatical with a Division I program every seven years. The Sagehens are a Division III school out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference.
A victory tonight would put Kansas into the Big Eight Conference record books for the most consecutive home victories with 49.
Coverage:The KU-Pomona-Pitzer game will be carried over the Kansas Jayhawk Network. Local stations scheduled to carry the game are KLZR 106 (FM) and KLWN 1320 (AM). The game will also be covered by KJHK 90.7 (FM). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. in Allen Field House.
Volleyball coach reflects on season, improvement
KANSAN graphi
By ROBERT WHITMAN
The best part of the season for the Kansas volleyball team never got a chance to happen.
Staff writer
"The bad part about it was 'tat the team got a lot better, and there was no way to prove it," Kansas coach Frankie Albitz said yesterday while reflecting on the past season.
The team never got a chance to show how good they were.
The Jayhawks finished with a 13-20 record overall and 3-9 mark in the Big Eight Conference. They finished fifth in the conference race but
defeated Kansas State University in the first round of the conference tournament Nov. 20 in Salina.
Nebraska, the regular season champion and ranked No. 8 in the country, crushed Kansas in the tournament semifinals the next night, ending the Jayhawks' season.
Before the season started, Albiz was looking for a way to replace Catalina Suarez, an all-Big Eight first team selection in 1986. In the spring, Suarez decided to transfer to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which has begun a NCAA Division I sports program in place of an
NAIA program.
In addition to the loss of Suarez, the team was facing its toughest schedule in the history of the program. Albiz intentionally made the schedule tougher as part of an effort to upgrade the program, which had never finished higher than third in the conference.
Taking Suarez' spot were the combination of sophomore Jodi Oelschläger and senior Michelle Klager.
position and sort of an unsung hero
position."
"Jodi had potential, but she needed time. Michelle was a setter, so it was a big adjustment for her to make." Albizt said. "That's a blood and guts
But in the Kansas system, it's one of the most important positions on the team. That player has to receive many serves and make a good pass to the setter.
"All people see is hitting or a block," Albitz said. "Then they notice the setting. But if we don't get the pass, nothing else works in our offense."
The combination of six seniors and the tougher schedule paid off in the opening round of the conference tournament. Kansas' five-game victory over K-State, a team it had lost to twice during the regular season, assured that the Jayhawks would do at least as well in the tournament as they had in 1986.
Now that the season is over, Albitz has more time to spend on recruiting and preparing for the spring season.
"I hated for the season to end because we were just getting the benefits of the tougher schedule," Albitz said. "We salvaged our season (with the victory over K-State), but it left a bad taste in my mouth because of the win-loss record."
Albitz will also be attending to
American Volleyball Coaches' Association convention Dec. 16-19 in Indianapolis. The convention will coincide with the semifinals and finals of the NCAA volleyball tournament.
Albizt said the convention would give her a chance to finalize the team's non-conference schedule for next fall.
"It looks like a good schedule, but not with a lot of top-20 schools," she said. "I don't care to play them anyway because we'll have a such a new team, not really a young team, but a new team."