12 Tuesday, November 24, 1987 / University Daily Kansan Sports Sports Opinions abound on firing of coach Some say Valesente should stay By MICHAEL MERSCHEL Staff writer C coach Bob Valesente's firing kept campus armchair quarterbacks busy yesterday second-guessing athletic director Bob Frederick's game plan Although the need for a new coach was obvious to some, others said Valesente didn't have enough time to work with the KU football program, and bringing in another coach might do more harm than good. "I think it's discouraging for players to have a new coach all the time," said Sonya Clark, Dallas freshman. "Who knows if he'd been given three or four years what he could have done?" Bruce Costa, Modesto, Calif., graduate student, also said he thought the change would only hurt the team. "If you keep firing the coach every year, you get no continuity," he said. your job go on continuity, he said. But Gard Gibson, Shawnee sophomore, said the coaching change was a good idea. He said the team needed someone who could motivate them, something Valesette couldn't do. Tyler Fleck. St. Joseph, Mo., sophomore, agreed. "They need a motivator, and they need recruiters." he said. "They need a coach who can coach and people and a staff who can recruit." But Robert Rebein, Lawrence senior, said Valesente had taken difficult steps to improve players academically, and the team's problems would not be solved by hiring a new coach. "Val's doing his best to create long-term effects, using a very hard method to get long-term results, and they're looking at a very easy method to get short-term results." Rebein said. "It's the easiest thing in the world to fire a coach." Jim Hartman, professor of English and a statistician for the football team, said it wasn't a popular decision for Valeç´˘te to make academics a priority. "That wasn't easy to do." Hartman said. "He took a lot of heat for it and paid for it in possible victories, and won't be here to see how it works." Steve Buttron, Atchison freshman, he said he thought Valesette deserved more of a chance to see how his team would have worked and suggested Valesente should have had a probationary year to see whether he could improve the team. But Butron said that regardless of whether anybody thought the firing was fair, it was the way things went professional and collegiate coaching "It's one of the hazards of the profession." he said KU's Chris Piper has knee surgery will miss all of Hawaii tournament Kansas forward Chris Piper underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Sunday morn- dern Lawrence Memorial Hospital Piper should be able to play again within seven to 10 days, Cairn said. But he will miss the game and be enment in Hawaii this weekend. Ken Wertzberger, team surgeon, removed the areas causing irritation on the shelf of Piper's knee connectors are connected in the knee can. game package to be shown on KSIBH-TV (channel 41) in Kansas KSIBH-TV (channel 13) in Topeka and KSASHT-VT (Channel 24) in Topeka and KSASHT-VT (Channel 24). "It's important to us that the Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita areas are included." Hunter said. loser at 5:30 p.m. Saturday Basketball trainer Mark Cairns said that Piper had been having trouble with his knee all of last season. He was dealing with treatment and prps, Dr. If Kansas defeats Chaminate on Friday in its first game, it will play the winner of the Iowa-Stanford game at 3 p.m. Saturday. If the Jayhawks lose to Chaminate, they'll meet the Iowa-Stanford Sports Briefs KU basketball games in Hawaii tournament to be broadcast from Topeka, K.C., Wichita The three-station network's announcing team is Deny Trease and ex-Kansas assistant coach Bob Hill. Although the deal isn't finalized, Associate Athletic Director Gary Hunter said that could happen by Wednesday. "We do not have a signed contract yet," Hunter said. "We have an oral commitment and an agreement." cast Saturday from Hawaii. The contest is the first of an eight- Continued from p. 1 te's four-year contract, worth about $70,000 annually. Kansas' second basketball game of the 1987-88 season will be tele- Declining attendance at Kansas' home games at Memorial Stadium also played a part in Valeente's dismissal, Frederick said. Kansas averaged 25,333 fans a game this season, down from an average of 26,140 in 2013. Did that the attendance figures meant more than just dollars and cents. Correction "It showed a decline in interest of the Kansas football program," he said. Revenue from the football program was down from last season. Last Because of a photographer's error, two Kansas women's basketball players were misdenti- Valesente fied in a photo that ran in Friday's paper. The players are Deborah Richardson and Jackie Martin. Frederick said that he would not hire a coach who wasn't committed to academics. said. KUAC "My intention is to continue on with a good academic relationship." Freedom of support system which we have in place is going to continue to function. Redwood said that many in the academic community were upset about Valesente's firing. "I only hope that this negative feeling is only a temporary one from a university perspective." Redwood "is the statement that for the good of the University." the faculty. My decision had nothing to do with academics." Under Valesente, the board took an active role in monitoring players' academic progress, including the assignment of a faculty mentor to each team member and a "beefed-up" academic support unit and tutoring program. Redwood said. The team grade point average increased from 2.04 in the spring of 1986 to 2.57 in the spring of 1987. "I think three years ago, there was tremendous conflict on this campus between the athletic program and the academic community." Redwood Continued from p. 1 Redwood said that he was not encouraging other board members to resign. Without counting the Nebraska game, the revenue generated from 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 1967. Assistant Athletic Director and Business Manager Susan Wachter said that the decline in revenue had something to Oklahoma State not playing in Memorial Hall's this season. In 1986, the Nebraska-Kansas game brought in $356,000. In the past 11 years, Kansas has had only one winning season, 1981, when the Jayhawks finished 8-4 and went to the Hall of Fame Bowl, where they lost 10-0 to Mississippi State. Valesente's removal means that Kansas will have its fifth head coach in 11 seasons. Frederick said that he was aware of the lack of continuity in the Kansas football program the past few years. football ticket sales and concessions would be down $177,656 from last season.