Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Guard Michael Jordan will miss the three remaining preseason games because he had two ingrown toenails removed. SEE PAGE 2B
Pro Football
Kansas City is trying to avoid an upset loss to its in-state rival, St. Louis, on Sunday.
SEE PAGE 6B
Wednesday
October 22,1997
Section:
B
Page 1
College Football
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne is preparing his team to avoid a let-down Saturday against Kansas.
SEE PAGE 4B
WWW.KANSAN.COM/NEWS/SPORTS
Contact the Kansan
Sports Desk:
Sports Fax:
Sports e-mail:
Sports Forum:
(785) 864-4810
(785) 864-5261
sports@kansan.com
spftorum.com
Matt Doherty, men's basketball assistant coach, numbers off teams for a scrimmage at walk-on tryouts. About sixty men attended the tryouts Sunday. Photo by Roger Nomer\KANSAN
Kansas hoops hopes to attract possible recruits
By Tommy Gallagher
Associate sports editor
With the early signing period three.weeks away, men's college basketball prospects have been narrowing their short lists of universities and making official visits to campuses.
The early signing period will begin Nov. 12 and will last three weeks. During that time, prospects can sign national letters of intent. The late signing period will begin in mid-April.
Four prospects visited Kansas last weekend and attended "Late Night With Roy Williams." Those prospects were Joel Pryzbilla, JaRon Rush, Quentin Richardson and Jeff Boschee.
Boschie, a 6-foot-1-inch guard from Valley City (N.D.) High School, made an oral commitment to Kansas in September.
Pryzbilla, a 7-foot 1-inch center from Monticello (Minn.) High School, is considered by some recruiting analysts to be the top center prospect. Pryzbilla favors Minnesota over UCLA and Kansas, according to some Minnesota newspapers.
Richardson, a 6-foot-5-inch guard/forward from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, said Kansas and DePaul were his favorites with Kentucky and Colorado still in contention. Some recruiting analysts consider Richardson to be the No.1 small forward in the country.
Rush, a 6-foot-7-inch forward from Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Mo., has narrowed his choices to Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA. Rush said he shortened the list because he was tired of answering questions about where he would attend school.
The Jayhawks also have been recruiting Michael Miller and Doug Wrenn.
Miller, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Mitchell (S.D.) High School, will choose from three colleges. Florida leads, but Kansas and Kentucky still are making pitches. He will visit Lawrence this weekend and is expected to attend Saturday's Nebraska-Kansas football game.
Wrenn, a 6-foot-7-inch forward from O'Dea High School in Seattle, will choose among Minnesota, Georgia Tech and Kansas. Point guard Kevin Burleson, his high school teammate, already has made an oral commitment to Minnesota.
O'Dea assistant basketball coach Jason Kerr said that Wrenn already had visited Minnesota and Georgia Tech the past two weekends. He is expected to visit Kansas on Nov. 7.
Kerr said there was no pressure on Wrenn to make a decision for the early signing period and said Wrenn would not rush to decide on a school so he could move on.
"I don't think that has a lot to do with it," Kerr said. "Doug wants to visit all three schools before he makes a final decision and signs. Having seen all three programs, he will know what each school is about. There won't be anything new, so then he just has to decide what's best for him."
Suspensions set back team
Warner, Johnson and Harris out for Saturday
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Associate sports editor
Three Kansas football starters -- including senior linebacker Ron Warner -- were suspended yesterday for violating the team's code of conduct. They will not play in Saturday's game against topranked Nebraska.
Jaimie Harris: Suspended for violating conduct code.
Kansas linebacker Ron Warner and defensive back Maurice Gaddie knock the ball loose from Colorado quarterback Hessler, Warner, linebacker J.J. Johnson and defensive back Jamie Harris were suspended yesterday by Kansas football coach Terry Allen for violating the team's code of conduct. Photo by Steve Puppe/KANSAN
Kansas football coach Terry Allen said that Warner, junior linebacker J.J. Johnson and junior cornerback Jamie Harris would not practice with the team this week.
"This is not a drug violation or curfew violation," Allen said. "This is an internal, disciplinary action for breaking a conduct code. By taking this action, I hope to teach a valuable lesson to current team members and to those who are being suspended."
Ron Warner: Suspended for violating conduct code.
Senior cornerback Manolito Jones said the nature of the team code violations were private but hinted that tensions had run high earlier in the week.
"A lot of people are upset." Jones said. "Tempers flare, and things were said that some people probably wish they wouldn't have said. People say things they really don't mean. They just have to accept the consequences of their actions."
Allen said the suspended players would be reinstated after Saturday's game.
"This is disappointing for everybody on the team," Allen said. "This is a discipline issue that relates to
J. J. Johnson: Suspended for violating conduct code.
their responsibilities as members of this football team."
The suspensions came one day after senior cornerback Avery Randle and redshirt freshman tight end Jason Gulley were arrested for aggravated battery on warrants issued by the district attorney.
The warrants were issued in connection with a Sept. 13 incident, and both players were suspended for one game by Allen.
"We have taken our action, and now the legal system will take theirs." Allen said.
Losing three defensive starters will affect the Jayhawks' preparation for the Cornhuskers.
Warner has started all seven games at outside linebacker this season and is among the national leaders with 10.5 sacks. Allen said redshirt freshman Victor Bullock would replace Warner.
Johnson started the past two games at inside linebacker because of injuries to inside linebackers Jason Thoren and Steve Bratten.
Thoren and Bratten will start this week.
Harris has started every game at cornerback and has scored the only Jayhawk touchdown in a 17-7 loss Oct. 11 at Texas Tech. Jones will replace Harris.
Jones said he was confident that the Jayhawks would not be distracted by developments away from the football field.
"We are all capable players and we have to back each other up." Jones said. "We need to go in there and get the job done. We would have the same game plan no matter who we have playing. Right now, we need to go out there and execute."
NCAA might lower bowl hurdle
Kansan staff and wire reports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Division I-A schools could count a win against a Division I-AA school once every four years as one of the six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game under a proposal approved by the NCAA Management Council.
The ruling could have made Kansas eligible for a bowl bid in 1994. The Jayhawks won the required six games, but one of those victories was a 72-0 defeat of the University of Alabama-Birmingham, which was a I-AA school at the time. UAB earned I-A classification in 1995.
I-A schools now must have six victories against I-A opponents to qualify for a bow. Games against I-A AA opponents, typically scheduled
in the early nonconference part of the schedule, do not count.
The management council proposal would allow one game to count every four years if the Division I-AA school had awarded an average of at least 60 scholarships in the three years preceding the game against the I-A opponent.
The number of UAB scholarship football players was unavailable at press time.
The Division I Board of Directors must approve the management council's decision.
The management council, which met Monday and yesterday in Kansas City, also established a committee to review a proposal
that would allow athletes to work during the school year.
The work rule had been scheduled to take effect Aug. 1 but was delayed for a year by the Board of Directors.
Concerns about athletes working include monitoring of athletic departments, factoring in the value of Pell Grants and a cap on the amount that athletes could earn.
The proposal that was tabled for a year would allow athletes to earn up to the full cost of attendance.
Round 3 score pulls Jayhawks into top spot
Strong finishing drive lands women's golf team in first
The Kansas women's golf team captured its first team championship of the season with a 12-stroke victory at the Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational yesterday in Andover.
Kansan staff report
The Jayhawks shot a three-round score of 932, which is 11 strokes better than its previous best this season — a 943 at the Dick McGuire Invitational on Sept. 29-30. Kansas shot 300 as a team in the third round, which also is 11 strokes better than its previous low round.
a four-stroke deficit by shooting a 72 in the third round to earn a share of the individual title. The tournament was played on the par-71 course at Terradyne Country Club.
Freshman Jamie Tucker overcame
Tucker shot a 32 on the final nine holes to tie for first place. The Tulsa, Okla., native won her first
collegiate championship and also shot the lowest round of the season for a Kansas golfer. Wichita State's Natasha Ausderau, who led after two rounds, shared the title with Tucker by scoring a 76 in the final round.
Kansas had not placed an individual in the top 10 at its first three tournaments, but three Jayhawks earned top-10 finishes at the invitational: Tucker, senior Beth Reuter and junior Mandy Munsch.
Two Kansas players, sophomore Susan Tessary and freshman Ashley Bishop, finished the tournament
Kansas State finished a distant second to the Jayhawks with a final total of 944. Colorado State (962), Wichita State (967) and Northern Iowa (984) completed the top five.
tied for 19th.
Sophomore Carrie Paden earned 16th place, but she was playing as an individual so her score did not count toward the team total.
Kansas has a weekend off before the Diet Coke Roadrunner Invitation on Nov. 2-4 in Las Cruces, N.M. The invitational will be the final tournament for the Jayhawks in the fall season.
Women's golf results
Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational
1. Kansas 315 · 317 · 300 = 932
2. Kansas State 327 · 313 · 304 = 944
3. Colorado State 334 · 320 · 308 = 962
4. Wichita State 328 · 324 · $\bullet$ 15 = 967
5. Northern Iowa 330 · 330 · 324 = 984
6. Lamar 335 · 333 · 322 = 990
7. Texas-Pan American 351 · 318 · 324 = 993
8. Creighton 351 · 340 · 330 = 1,021
9. Northern Colorado 349 · 339 · 333 = 1,021
10. Missouri-Kansas City 349 · 350 · 327 = 1,028