Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Aggie forward Prissy Sharpe won the Big 12 Women's Basketball Player of the week for averaging 20.7 points and 12.3 rebounds in four games.
Sports
Pro Baseball
The Kansas City Royals obtained shortstop Orlando Miller from the Detroit Tigers yesterday and placed him on their 40-man winter roster.
Tuesday
December 2,1997
Section:
A
Page 12
College Football
Michigan's Charles Woodson won the Walter Camp Award yesterday. The Heisman Trophy and Camp Award have gone to different players only five times.
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TOP25
Great Eight
Tonight
- 6:30 No. 11 Utah vs. Providence
- 8:30 No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 4 Arizona
Tonight nights
- Tomorrow night
- 6:30 No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 6 Purdue
- 8:30 Louisville vs. No. 3 North Carolina
All games will be played at the United Center in Chicago and will be televised on Channel 18.
Other games
Tonight
6:30 No. 1 Duke vs. South Carolina St.
6:30 No. 5 South Carolina vs. Belmont
AP TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press" men's basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
rank team rec pta pvs
1. Duke (31) 5-0, 1,695 3
2. Kansas (28) 6-0, 1,678 2
3. N. Carolina (11) 6-0, 1,657 2
4. Arizona 6-1, 1,519 1
5. S. Carolina 2-0, 1,381 5
6. Purdue 5-1, 1,360 6
7. Kentucky 4-1, 1,265 8
8. New Mexico 5-0, 1,246 10
9. Xavier 3-0, 1,216 9
10. Iowa 3-0, 1,013 14
11. Utah 5-0, 955 16
12. Stanford 4-0, 900 15
13. Connecticut 5-1, 801 11
14. Mississippi 3-0, 782 17
15. UCLA 2-1, 764 7
16. Fresno St. 3-1, 601 12
17. Clemson 3-2, 444 13
18. Arkansas 4-0, 393 1
19. Florida St. 4-1, 388 —
20. Temple 2-1, 379 20
21. Georgia 5-1, 372 22
22. Georgia Tech 5-1, 285 —
23. Maryland 3-1, 230 24
24. Wake Forest 5-0, 226 —
25. Princeton 4-0, 176 —
**Others receiving votes:** Louisville 173, Rhode Island 152, Oklahoma 67, Texas Christian 60, Syracuse 53, St. John 41, Hawaii 40, Marquee 36, Indiana 34, Indiana 6, Gonzaga 10, Miami 31, Michigan 24, Mississippi 51, Kentucky 30, Saint Louis 20, UNLV 18, George Washington 17, Tennessee 17, Minnesota 16, N.C. Charlotte 16, St. Joseph 9, Texas 4, Colorado St. 8, Michigan St. 8, Massachusetts 7, Georgetown 6, Illinois 5, Oklahoma St. 8, Oklahoma 6, New Mexico St. 2, South Alabama 2, W. Michigan 2, Cincinnati 1, Murray St. 1, Oral Roberts 1.
USA TODAY/ESPN
The Top 25 teams in The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketball coaches' poll, with number of first-place votes in parentheses, total points and last week's ranking:
rank team rec pts pvs
1.Duke (13) 5-0 733 4
2.N.Carolina (7) 6-0 713 3
3.Kansas (10) 6-0 709 2
4.Arizona 4-1 629 1
5.Purdue 5-1 616 5
6.South Carolina 2-0 659 8
7.Kentucky 4-1 534 7
8.New Mexico 5-0 521 9
9.Xavier 3-0 508 10
10.Utah 5-0 450 14
11.Stanford 3-0 385 13
12.Iowa 3-0 370 16
13.Connecticut 3-1 351 11
14.Mississippi 3-0 282 18
15.UCLA 2-1 274 6
16.Clemson 3-2 260 12
17.Fresno St. 3-1 215 15
18.Florida St. 4-1 191 25
19.Temple 2-1 166 20
20.Princeton 4-0 136 22
21.Akansas 4-0 120 —
22.Georgia 5-1 122 24
23.Georgia Tech 4-0 118 —
24.Wake Forest 5-1 114 25
25.Louisville 4-0 109 —
Kansas gets a rematch tonight
Others receiving votes: Maryland 78, Marquette 40, TCU 33, Arisonte 29, St.印第安斯 15, Iowa 24, Illinois 11, Gonzaga 20, Rhode Island 19, West Virginia 19, Oregon 19, Hawaii 14, Nebraska 14, Miami 9, Sidney Athens 9, St. John 8, Florida 7, Murray 7, Vanderbilt 7, East Michigan 6, San Claire 6, Tennessee 6, Jackson 6, Mississippi 7, New Mexico 6, USC 3, Butler 2, Texas 2, Nevada 2, Saint Louis 2, Pacific 1, Utah 1, Dugget 10. No. 17klahoma. No. 21 Indiana, No. 23 North Carolina.Charlotte.
Loss to Arizona ended last season
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
When No. 2 Kansas battles No. 4 Arizona tonight, the Jayhawks will try to make fans forget about last season's team and NCAA Tournament loss.
Last season in the Sweet 16, Arizona defeated Kansas 85-82 and went on to win its first national championship. The Wildcats return their top eight players from that team while four of Kansas' top six players graduated.
Kansas coach Roy Williams said he was tired of answering questions about last season's team, which was 34-2.
"It was last year's game. It was last year's team," Williams said.
"Last year's team is not here. We have to be more concerned about how we're playing now. I'm not one that believes a great deal in revenge."
Forward Paul Pierce already had some measure of payback to Arizona guard Miles Simon.
They crossed paths at an NCAA pro-development camp in Los Angeles where 130 college-aged players from Southern California squared off during the summer. Pierce's team defeated Simon's in the championship game of the camp.
In a story published by the "Arizona Daily Star" yesterday, Simon said he wished the Jayhawks would move into the top of the polls before tonight's game.
The Starting Lineup
"I don't really pay attention to the rankings," Simon said. "But I hope Kansas is the top-ranked team. We beat them last year when they were No. 1. I don't know if they want that ranking or not."
Both teams expect to play an up-tempo game that would feature a lot of scoring in transition. The Jayhawks rank No. 2 nationally in scoring offense with 84.9 points per game, and Arizona ranks No. 3 with 83.8
The Jayhawks remained at No. 2 this week, while Duke took the top spot from Arizona. Kansas now is 6-0 but has looked sluggish at both ends of the court during the Chase Preseason NIT championship, which it won by defeating Florida State, 73-58.
Kansas forward Reef LaFrentz beats Arizona's Mike Bibby to a rebound.The Jayhawks hope to avenge last season's NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona when they face the Wildcats at 8:30 tonight in Chicago's United Center. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
points per game.
The Jayhawks will rely on Pierce and forward Raef LaFrentz, both of whom have averaged more than 19 points and 10 rebounds per game.
But Kansas also has been effective from behind the three-point line, shooting almost 19 percent as a team.
Guard Billy Thomas has been averaging 13 points per game and has been shooting 45 percent from behind the three-point line. Pierce shoots better than 74 percent from behind the arc, and guard Ryan Robertson shoots better than 71 percent.
Arizona likes to run as well and has the preseason All-America backcourt necessary to run a fast-break style of offense.
The Wildcats have five players who average double figures in scoring. They are led by Mike Bibby and Simon, the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Tournament last season.
But the Arizona frontcourt defeated Kansas' last season by using quickness and speed to snag rebounds and score in transition.
Arizona coach Lute Olson said the key to
defeating Kansas last season, and perhaps tonight, rested with Arizona's quickness.
"We've been trying to take advantage of our quickness by extending our defense over the full court," Olson said. "We try to get teams to play an up-tempo game against us because that's when we're most effective."
Jayhawks recent play and that the concern was magnified given tonight's oomment.
Williams said he was concerned about the
"We haven't practiced very well to date, and we haven't played very well to date," Williams said. "It will be a major challenge on Tuesday night. If we don't play well, the game will get very ugly for the Jayhawks real quick."
Michigan should sweep team, individual honors
This has been one of the best college football seasons I have seen in some time, but the national championship and Helsman Trophy still must be claimed.
And while I do not have a vote for
1. Charles Woodson, Michigan corner back / wide receiver/punt and kick returner. He is the reason the Wolverines are No. 1 in the country and have had the toprated defense all see-
either race, I can help sort the contenders from the pretenders. First, here is the third and final version of my Heisman hopefuls.
The best athlete in the country is also the best player. When he concludes his NFL career, Woodson may be far better than his NFL namesake ever was.
Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
rated defense all season.
2. Ryan Leaf, Washington State quarterback. Leaf is the reason the Cougars are in the Rose Bowl with a 10-1 record. When the team lost to Arizona State, he was spectacular and nearly compensated for a poor defensive showing.
Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning keeps snatching the headlines, but Leaf has had the better numbers. I give Leaf the edge because he was not at fault for the team's lone loss. The same cannot be said of Manning against No. 6 Florida back in September.
3. Ricky Williams, Texas running back.
This trend has got to stop in the Big 12 Conference: Good running back playing for a team that cannot make a bowl.
Iowa State's Troy Davis had more than 2,000 yards last season, which was roughly 1,000 yards per victory. Texas Tech's Byron Hanspard went to a bowl game last season, but that team was hardly impressive (though more impressive than his 0.00 GPA last fall).
Should Michigan defeat Washington State in the Rose Bowl, Michigan deserves the national championship. The Wolverines had the nation's best defense and best player.
Now I want to look at the race for No. 1, which always seems to be more confusing than it should be.
Nebraska kicked its way to victory against No. 19 Missouri, a game it did not deserve to win. And Central Florida led at halftime in Nebraska before the Cornhuskers recovered for a 13-point victory.
Even if Nebraska wins the rest of its games it does not deserve a share of No. 1. Nebraska defeated No. 21 Washington on the road by 13 points and overrated No. 10 Kansas State by 30 points.
The Cornhuskers have struggled against ordinary opponents this season. Contrast that with the Wolverines, who have defeated six bowl teams in 11 games and whom would you vote for?
Besides, it would be poetic justice if Nebraska was denied a share of No. 1 the same way Penn State was in 1994 after a 12-0 season. Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne agreed with the pollsters' decision back then, so he should not disagree if Michigan is awarded the national championship this season.
For Woodson and the Wolverines this season, it all comes up roses.
Gallagher is an Olathe senior in journalism.
Golfers hope to swing into spring
Young but talented men's team exceeds preseason predictions
By Ronnie Wachtei sports@kansan.com Special to the Kansan
The Kansas men's golf team ended its season with a bang last week, capturing its second team title in five tournaments at the Crown Classic in Luboń, Texas.
The fall season was a success for the Jayhawks, who in August were considered a talented but inexperienced team.
"I thought it went real well," sophomore Ryan Vermeer said. "We accomplished everything we set out to do, even though we didn't play as well at each tournament as we wanted to."
Vermeer was expected to be a young leader on the team, and he came through. With a 72.1 average per 18 holes, Vermer had the second-best mark on the team and was ranked 24th nationally. He trailed junior Chris Thompson, who earned a 71.17 per-round average and was third in the nation in that category.
But the team's work is far from finished. The spring season looms as a proving ground for the Jayhawks.
"We need a real good showing at the Big 12 Tournament," Vermeer said. "But we're pretty sure to make it to regionals. Depending on what we do there, we may make it to the nationals."
But before the Jayhawks can do that, the team would like to avenge a few of its losses.
"We lost to Oklahoma, but we see them twice next spring," Vermeer said. "We need to keep beating Wichita State, Nebraska and Tulsa, three of the guys in our district. We see all of them next spring."
But with a few months of cold weather waiting, worthwhile time on the links is hard to come by for the Jayhawks. So what is a young team to do?
"We're starting a weight-training program," Vermeer said. "We going to be doing that until the end of January, to work on our strength and increase our flexibility. We need to keep beating the teams we have been beating, and this is going to help."
Three starters star in anti-gang ads
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — With youth gangs a growing reality throughout the state, three Kansas basketball stars are aiming a stark message at young people: Stay in school, study and stay out of gangs.
Forwards Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce and guard Ryan Robertson — heroes to
thousands of Kansans all star in public service announcements that began airing Monday and will continue through March in TV and radio markets throughout the state.
The announcements cost about $45,000 altogether to produce and was financed by the Koch Crime Commission, Kansas Bar Association and
the Kansas District Judges Association, said commission director Steven Davies
Each of the three 30-second ads features one of the uniformed players in an inset that is surrounded by lively tape from a Jayhawks game. Their messages are similar.
Posters featuring the players will be distributed to all 503 school districts.
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