Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Friday
October 31, 1997
Section:
B
Page 1
The Kansas men's soccer club team qualified for the national championship tournament Nov. 20-23 in Phoenix. SEE PAGE 8B
Golden Arm Finalists
Nebraska's Scott Frost, Tennessee's Peyton Manning, Florida State's Thad Busby, Auburn's Dameyune Craig and Penn State's Mike McQueary.
Boxing
Mike Tyson was issued a $77 ticket yesterday for not having a license to operate his motorcycle, which he wrecked Wednesday. He suffered a punctured lung and broken rib.
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Final home chance at redemption
Nebraska's Joel Makovicka charges through the Kansas line as Kansas defensive back Tony Blevins moves up to meet him. Kansas hopes to get back on the winning track in their final home game of the season tomorrow at 1 pm against Iowa State. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
By Kelly Cannon
kcannon@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The situation for the Kansas football team couldn't be any better this weekend: its last home game in front of a screaming homecoming crowd against a team it's favored to defeat.
A win against Iowa State tomorrow would put Kansas at 5-4, one win shy of qualifying for a bowl game bid.
Kansas football coach Terry Allen has stressed the importance of tomorrow's game.
"If we lose on Saturday, I think the bottom may fall out on this football team," he said.
Iowa State is coming off its first victory this season, a 24-17 defeat of Baylor. The Cyclones are 1-6, 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference.
Allen and Iowa State coach Dan McCarney grew up together in Iowa City, Iowa. Allen even described McCarney as his childhood idol. But the two coaches' relationship would not detract from the game. Allen said.
"The situation between Dan McCarney and Terry Allen is something to write about. The significant thing right here, right now is the Kansas football program vs. Iowa state and where we're at with our program."
Iowa State is on an upswing since the return of tailback Darren Davis. Davis, the younger brother of former Iowa State tailback and Heisman Trophy
runner-up Troy Davis, missed two games this season because of a stress fracture in his right leg. He is listed as week-to-week, but is expected to play tomorrow.
Davis' presence makes the Cyclones' offense more potent, Allen said.
"Iowa State's offense without Darren was one-dimensional," Allen said. "They focused on throwing the football and did a relatively good job at it. But when Darren came back, they became a multi-dimensional football team, able to rush the football and throw the football."
Kansas is coming off a three-game losing streak. The Jayhawk offense has been inept in its last three games, failing to score an offensive touchdown. Kansas' defense, thought to be a team strength, fell apart against Colorado but rebounded Saturday against Nebraska.
Strong safety Maurice Gaddie said despite Kansas' obstacles, the team hadn't lost hope.
"Anything can happen on any given day, we're just looking forward for the offense to ignite and'explode and score some points," he said. "It's very important for me and the team, and it's my last home game — I don't want to lose my last home game.
"We're keeping our heads up," he said. "Never say die, because you never know what's going to happen."
this season, Allen said he knew the most about Iowa State. Allen is 2-2 against the Cyclones.
Tomorrow's game will be a chance for the offense to dispel rumors of its lethargy and ineptitude.
Of all the teams Kansas faced
"Sometimes you are what people say," Allen said. "And unfortunately, I've probably been as guilty of that as anything."
Tomorrow's kickoff is 1 p.m.
The team will walk down the hill about 11:30 a.m. Parents of senior players will also walk.
Injury report: Quarterback Matt Johner is still not fully recovered from his finger break and is questionable for the game.
Running back David Winbush, who has a sprained ankle, is still questionable.
Kansas center Raef LaFrentz goes up for a rebound against Arizona during the NCAA Tournament. LaFrentz might not play in an exhibition game against Australia on Monday because of a thigh bruise. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Big 12 ranks Kansas high despite LaFrentz's thigh
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kanson.com
Associate sports editor
The biggest news concerning the Jayhawks involved the health of senior center Raef LaFrentz, who has a thigh bruise on his left leg. LaFrentz has not practiced since Saturday, and there is a chance that he will not play in the exhibition game against Australia Monday night.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas men's basketball team hoarded much of the attention at the Big 12 Conference Men's Media Day yesterday as players and coaches looked toward the 1997-98 season.
"Even when he was practicing, he was slowed by the injury," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said. "I told him that if I had my choice between Sunday night at practice or Monday night at a game, I'm going to go with Sunday night and practice."
LaFrentz said he was eager practice again.
The Big 12 teams LaFrentz and the Jayhawks will face consider Kansas a significant foe this season — Big 12 coaches picked Kansas to win the conference title.
Missouri coach Norm Stewart said there was no good time to play at Allen Field House. This season, the Tigers will come Feb. 8 to Lawrence when Kansas plans to celebrate 100 years of basketball with special ceremonies at half-time.
"It's not that much fun watching the other guys work hard while I'm sitting there doing nothing," LaFrentz said. "It makes you feel pretty insignificant."
"Id think they'd get rid of that old building by now." Stewart said.
While the Jayhawks have been pegged as a conference's top team by most college basketball previews, Kansas State has been a popular choice for the Big 12's cellar.
Wildcats coach Tom Asburv said
"I love being picked last," Asbury said. "I always want to be picked there because it means nothing. Two years ago we were picked last and we made the NCAA Tournament. And last year we were picked fifth, and we were crapy."
One team that was picked low but exceeded expectations last season was Colorado. The Buffaloes placed second in the conference in coach Ricardo Patton's second year.
he did not mind the low projections.
"I used to think that sustaining a program was harder, but now I believe rebuilding one is harder," Patton said.
Baylor coach Harry Miller said some criticism from his mother was more than enough incentive to help improve on the team's eighth-place finish last season.
"My mom wouldn't know a 2-3 zone from a parking zone, but she knew we needed to work on free throws," Miller said. "It was awful and horrendous, and we suffered in some games because of it."
Season comes to a head for soccer team on Sunday
Women's squad goes to Mississippi to finish out year
By Harley V. Rattliff
sports@kansas.com
Kansan sportswriter
After a season that has seen frustration and celebration, failure and success, the Kansas women's soccer team will wrap it all up this weekend.
The Jayhawks close out the
year with games against Mississippi and Mississippi State. Kansas faces the Bulldogs at noon today and will finish with the Rebels at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be played in Oxford, Miss.
Kansas is looking to build on its recent success. The Jayhawks have won two of their last four games, including wins against Oklahoma and Iowa.
"We are going to be looking to focus on the positives of the last two games," head coach Dan Magner said. "We want to tighten up on defense and continue to capitalize on our opportunities. We have done a better job of that during the last two games, but we need to continue to make improvements."
Freshmen Christy Clark and Colleen Colvin will be two of the Jayhawks who Magner will be counting on to provide scoring. Clark leads the team with four goals, while Colvin has come on strong lately, scoring her second goal of the season and adding two assist during last weekend's games.
"You've got to play for pride," Clark said. "It has been
a long stressful season. The ball hasn't bounced our way every time, which has been frustrating. We want to have fun down in Mississippi, but we also want to win and show people that we can take it to good teams."
The Jayhawks, 5-12-1, should have their hands full with both Mississippi teams. The Bulldogs are 10-7-1, while the Rebels are 10-7, including a 5-0 victory against Mississippi State. Magner said that the Bulldogs would bring a strong physical presence to the field.
team," Magner said. "They've accumulated several red and yellow cards throughout the season. I wish teams wouldn't have to resort to that style of play, but they seem to have been successful and so they have kept using it."
"They are a very physical
While Magner said that he would prefer to see a smoother game, the Jayhawks will be ready to combat the Bulldogs' tendency to play rough.
"No one can move as fast as the ball," Magner said. "We'll need to make sure that we have good ball movement and crisp passing."
Big 12 coaches deserve respect for winning good defense
Somewhere among the glitter and gold of Westwood, the chair-throwing, obscenity-filled tirades of Bobby Knight, and the media-saturated, name-brand powerhouses of the East Coast, sits Big 12 basketball: home of five college coaches in the nation.
Big 12 basketball may never overtake the Atlantic Coast Conference as the nation's premier hoops, but one thing is certain; nowhere will you find a better fraternity of college coaches.
From Ames, Iowa, to Austin, Texas,
high-quality coaching abounds.
The Old Guard: Roy Williams, Norm Stewart, Eddie Sutton
Around these parts, we all know that Williams has been the best coach in the nation for quite a while. Sometimes his teams have bundles of talent, sometimes the cupboard appears bare, but that never seems to matter--Williams is going to get his 28 or so wins every season. The two-time, national coach-of-the-year is finally starting to gain national recognition
as college basketball's foremost instructor. Only one keeps him from immortalization: a National Championship.
Stewart, also a two-time national coach of the year, ranks behind only Phog Allen and Henry Iba in years coached in
Harley
Ratliff
sports@kansan.com
the conference. Sutton is the only coach to have taken four schools to the NCAA Tournament, including two to the Final Four. Between them, they have won 1,281 games.
Stewart and Sutton's squads are often accused of rough play and dirty tactics, but the coaches win because they're great and their teams play hard-nosed defense year-in and year-out.
Dickey has quietly turned Texas Tech into a winning program. The Red Raiders have won every year Dickey has been in Lubbock, including a 30-win season two years ago.
Floyd's name is often the conversation of possible coaching changes—the professional kind. It is widely believed that this will be Floyd's last season in Ames, before he takes over for the Chicago Bulls.
Patton, Asbury, and Miller, have done excellent jobs at Colorado, Kansas State, and Baylor. Once they have had the time to build a talentbase, expect these three coaches to become regulars in the NCAA Tournament.
Sampson and Floyd are two of the brightest young coaches in the game today. Sampson, the 1995 Associated Press Coach of the Year, has restored Oklahoma's tarnished image from the Billy Tubbs years.
The Next Generation: Kelvin Sampson, Tim Floyd, James Dickey, Tom Asbury, Ricardo Patton, Harry Miller
After the big guns, it's this group of six where the strength of Big 12 coaching really begins to shine. Sampson, Floyd, Dickey, Asbury, Patton, and Miller have all done tremendous jobs after stepping into potentially terrible situations.
The Underappreciated: Tom Penders and Danny Nee
Every year these guys get hammered in the press. Some call them underachievers, but Penders and Nee have put Texas and Nebraska basketball on the map.
The coaches of the Big 12 may not get the name recognition of some of their national counterparts, but rest assured, they are as good if not better than any collection of coaches.
Rattif is a Norman, Okla., junior in journalism.
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