Pro Baseball
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Wednesday
November 5, 1997
Section:
A
Page 10
Kansas City pitcher Ricky Bones and Atlanta second baseman Mark Lemke filed for free agency yesterday. The filing deadline is Monday.
Pro Baseball
Philadelphia third baseman Scott Rolen was the unanimous selection for National League Rookie of the Year. He led NL rookies in batting average, hits andRBIs.
Page 10
Pro Football
Kansas City quarterback Elvis Grbac sustained a broken collarbone Monday night against Pittsburgh.
SEE PAGE 7A
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With luck, Kansas may get to play in bowl game
One win will give 'Hawks opportunity for postseason
Kansas' victory Saturday against Iowa State has rekindled dreams of the Jayhawks playing in a bowl this December. The Jayhawks are one win and a little luck away from a bowl game.
The Big 12 Conference is guaranteed six bowl spots if enough teams have six victories. Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma have been eliminated from the picture because the teams do not have a chance of finishing with more than .500 with six victories against I-A opponents. Nebraska, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Missouri are near-locks for five of the bowls. That leaves four teams battling for the conference's last bowl spot.
Texas has five loses with games remaining against Texas Tech, Kansas and Texas A&M. With its recent poor performance, Texas unlikely will win out and qualify for a bowl.
Colorado has four loses with games against Iowa State, Kansas State and Nebraska. Colorado will have to pull a major upset to win two of these three games.
Texas Tech is 4-4 and will play Texas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. The Red Raiders have a good shot at all of these games and look like the favorite to earn the sixth bowl slot.
Kansas travels to Kansas State and Texas for the last two games of the year. The Jayhawks must win one of these games to qualify for a bowl.
Corcoran sports@kansan.com
So, let's get to the point
of this column: What has to happen for Kansas to go to a bowl? First and foremost, Kansas must win one of its remaining two games. If Kansas loses its last two games, the remainder of this column is worthless.
If Kansas earns another victory, the Jayhawks need to get a little help from some other teams. Texas must lose one more game while Colorado and Texas Tech must lose two more games. This seems probable for Texas and Colorado, but Texas Tech has a good shot of winning two more games.
Chances are that if Kansas and Texas Tech both qualify for a bowl, the bowl committee would choose one of the other schools because the Red Raiders beat Kansas and Texas Tech is a more nationally renowned football team. Jayhawks fans should be rooting for Texas Tech to lose two more games if they want Kansas to go to the Copper Bowl.
If Texas Tech does win two more games, Kansas still has a shot at the Copper Bowl. Recent problems with the Texas Tech's Athletic Department could result in the Red Raiders being on probation and ineligible for a bowl.
Kansas also could go to the Copper Bowl if the Big 12 qualifies two teams for the Bowl Alliance, which could happen if Nebraska loses in the Big 12 Championship or if the Alliance committee chooses Kansas State as an at-large team.
Kansas possibly could go to a bowl that is not affiliated with the Big 12. The Independence, Las Vegas, Humitarian and Motor City bowls have an at-large team.
The Big East Conference probably won't qualify four teams unless Miami wins two more games, which would leave an opening in the Liberty Bowl.
This is a little confusing, so let me summarize what Kansas fans should hope for in the last weeks of the football season. They should root against Colorado, Texas Tech, Texas (except against Texas Tech) and Miami. Fans also should hope for the Alliance to pick two Big 12 teams. If that fails, there is always the hope of an at-large bid.
But remember, none of this matters if Kansas can't win another game.
Scott Carcoran is a Topeka senior in biology.
Peek-a-boo
Kansas running back Eric Vann picks his way through the Iowa State defense. The Jayhawks beat Iowa State 32-24 Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Vann has scored five of Kansas eight offensive touchdowns this season. Photo by Dan Elavsky/KANSAN
Kansas golf teams place seventh at tournaments
The Kansas men's golf team ended its streak of three consecutive top five finishes by placing seventh at the Deep South Intercollegiate in Laurel, Miss. Southeastern Louisiana won the team championship. The Jayhawks next play at the Crown Classic on Nov. 14-15 in Lufkin, Texas.
Kansas Individual Results
5. Chris Thompson 72 - 71 - 78 = 221
6. Ryan Vermeer 78 - 71 - 75 = 224
7. Jason deBuhr 78 - 76 - 78 = 232
8. Brad Barnett 79 - 75 - 79 = 233
9. Roy Edwards 77 - 79 - 77 = 233
The Kansas women's golf team placed seventh in the Diet Coke-Roadrunner Invitational yesterday in Las Cruces, N.M. The Jayhawks concluded their fall season by equalizing the school record for total tournament score, 932, which they set Oct. 20-21 at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational.
Kansas Individual Results
20. Mandy Munsch 74 - 77 - 78 = 229
20. Susan Tessary 76 - 77 - 76 = 229
25. Jamie Tucker 71 - 77 - 82 = 230
7. Ashley Bishop 87 - 82 - 82 = 250
84. Beth Reuter 83 - 90 - 80 = 253
Basketball recruits eye potential universities
Possible Jayhawks narrow list as early signing period nears
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
One week remains before high school prospects can sign with colleges and universities. And the list of players considering the Kansas men's basketball team has narrowed.
Michael Miller, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Mitchell (S.D.) High School, is expected to make an oral commitment to Florida at a press conference at 1 p.m. today. He had attended the Nebraska-Kansas football game and had watched a Kansas practice session when he made an official visit Oct. 24-26.
Kansas and Kentucky were among the finalists Miller had considered. Other schools that had made recruiting bids for Miller included Iowa and Nebraska.
Joel Pryzbilla, a 7-foot center from Monticello (Minn.) High School, decided to stay home. He made an oral commitment to Minnesota, which had competed with Kansas and Indiana to recruit him.
"It was the toughest decision I've ever had to make, maybe the toughest I'll ever have to," Pryzbilla said at a press conference.
"It was close. You wouldn't believe how tough it was," he said. "I loved Kansas, too. I love it a lot."
Pryzbilla was among the most highly recruited post players in the country.
Doug Wrenn, a 6-foot-7-inch forward from O'Dea High School in Seattle, attended the Kansas exhibition game against the Outback All-Stars on Monday night. Wrenn's options include Kansas, Georgia Tech and Minnesota, which has received an oral commitment from Wrenn's high school teammate. point guard Kevin Burleson.
O'Dea assistant coach Jason Kerr said he expected Wrenn to make a decision during the early signing period, which runs from Nov. 12 to Nov. 19. The late signing period lasts one week during early April.
Tayshau Prince, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Dominguez (Calif.) High School in Compton, Calif., also attended the exhibition game. Kansas trails Kentucky and UCLA for Prince, according to some recruiting analysts.
Quentin Richardson, a 6-foot-5-inch guard/forward from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, has narrowed his choices to Kansas and DePaul.
Whitney Young's coach, George Stanton, said that Kansas led and that Richardsonliked his visit Oct.18 to Lawrence when he attended "Late Night With Roy Williams."
JaRon Rush, a 6-foot-7-inch forward from Pembroke Hill Academy in Kansas City, Mo., said he wanted to play at Kansas but said he had left every option open. He visited UCLA on Oct. 24 and Kentucky last weekend.
Rush has attended "Late Night" four consecutive years.
Center gives a heads up on height
Basketball forward one of Kansas' tallest
By Penny Walker sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
When Kansas women's basketball forward/center Nikki White tried to ride a roller coaster this summer, she discovered one of the drawbacks of being tall.
"Everybody was laughing at me because it took like 10 minutes for the ride to start. (The ride operator) just said, 'Well, just get off.'
"My legs were too long," said White, whose 6-foot-4-inch frame would not fit under the safety bar. "It was kind of embarrassing. I couldn't get (the bar) down. I tried sideways. I couldn't do it."
Luckily for White, there are no safety bars in basketball.
The Memphis, Tenn., freshman is the tallest player on the team — and one of the tallest women ever to wear the Kansas basketball uniform.
Listed as the fifth-best female post player by the "All-Star Report" entering her senior year in high school, White
said she had not been interested in basketball when she was younger.
Even though she had reached a height of 6 feet by sixth grade, White did not consider the game until her first day in junior high school. The basketball coach informed her she would be trying out for the team.
"I never really even thought about basketball," White said. "I just watched it because my cousins watched it. I shot around because my cousins shot around — but I didn't like it."
White's mother, who also played basketball in school, encouraged White to try out for the team. It took another year and playing summer ball for White to begin to like playing hoops.
Although White said she appreciated being tall and the opportunities it provided — like pulling things no one else could reach off classroom walls at the end of the school year — she cautioned against people's tendencies to automatically assume that basketball is a person's goal if she is tall.
"I don't really listen to that because there's a lot of people who are tall who, I think, actually aren't that good," White said. "They're just tall."
White does not want to fall into that
"I want people to notice that when I make it, I make it because it good, not just because I'm tall," she said.
category.
White: a 6-foot-4 inch Kansas player
White falls 2 inches short of being the tallest woman to play Kansas basketball, with Philicia Allen holding the record at 6-foot. 6 played for the Jayhawks
during the 1962-83 and 1984-85 seasons.
(“White) has great power.” Washington said. “She’s got a big body.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said that although White was not the tallest player whom she had coached at Kansas, she brought something in addition to her height — bulk.
Washington also addressed the awkwardness in talking about a woman's
"We haven't had a big body like her since Lynn Page, but Nikki is a big body who has the ability to shoot with some range. She's able to shoot from 15 feet in. She's the kind of big player we need."
That is something that Devon Magness has become used to.
body being big and bulky, saying that it can become a touchy situation when trying to describe someone's physical presence on the court.
At 6-foot-7, Magness plays center for Oklahoma State. She's the tallest woman ever to play for the Cowgirls, but Magness said she did not mind the attention of being tall.
"I hear it all the time, 'Boy, look how tall she is.'" said Magness, a redshirt freshman from Purcell, Okla. "And I'm just like, 'Thanks.' I don't ever get tired of it."
But White noted some negatives about height. One of the pitfalls, she said, is being teased — especially as a youngster.
White said she and her 11-year-old cousin, who is 5-foot-9, are very close. Her cousin wants to play basketball, but she gets teased a lot about her height.
White has some advice for her.
"I tell her, 'Don't worry about them.'"
White said. "Because one day when she's famous and playing ball somewhere, they'll be like, 'Do you remember me?' And she'll be like, 'Yeah, you're the one who made fun of me,' and keep on walking."
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