Friday, January 22, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 2
Johnson to play more as stamina improves
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
Although he is still not 100 percent healthy, Kansas forward Ashante Johnson is just happy to be able to play again.
Johnson, a 6-foot-8 junior college transfer who missed the Jayhawks' first 15 games because of a knee injury, has logged playing time in Kansas' last two games. Despite only scoring two points in 12 minutes of action, Johnson said he was extremely excited to be back.
was extremely excited to be part of the team again," Johnson said. "I'm pretty disappointed that I missed 15 games, but I just hope that I can contribute in the games we have left."
"Physically, I think he's coming," Williams said. "He's not 100 percent by any means, but with each and every week he's having less pain and getting more strength in his knee."
we have it. Kansas coach Roy Williams said that Johnson's health would determine how much playing time he gets.
Johnson said that physically he could do everything that he could before the injury, but it was his stamina that needed improvement.
"My wind is pretty bad right now," Johnson said. "After a couple of trips
down the court in those games I was tired. I can only go for about three minutes at a time."
Williams said that Johnson's injury has made his transition from junior college to major college basketball more difficult.
"He didn't have any exhibition games; he didn't have any of the pre-conference games where a lot of people can make mistakes and not be noticed much," Williams said. "It's about what we expected, in that it's a huge transition for him."
for him.
Williams also said that the timing of Johnson's return has made his mistakes stand out more than normal.
"The competition is at a higher-level and you're in the league race, so it's more important now," he said. "So it's hard to give him time to make those kind of mistakes and yet we're still going to try to do that."
Williams said he was committed to finding playing time for Johnson because he adds unique abilities to the team.
he adds unique attributes to the ball "The first thing I saw was the athleticism and the ability to score." Williams said. "He has the ability to play and score on the inside and shoot the ball from the outside, and those are the two things we felt we needed."
Junior Ashante Johnson shoots over senior Wendell Carter of the Texas Longhorns. After missing the first 15 games of the season, Johnson played in the last two games. He scored two points in 12 minutes of action against the Longhorns. Photo by Matt J. Daugherty/KANSAN
War veteran aims at basketball foes
The Associated Press
FAIRFAX, Va. — George Evans is a Gulf war veteran who bought back guns for the U.S. Army on the streets of Haiti, drove Gen. John Shalikashvili around Belgium and watched in horror as people jumped into fires to find food in Somalia.
He also is a 27-year-old sophomore forward who is leading George Mason to its best basketball season this decade. He leads the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots — and level-headed perspective. After all, missing a layup in a game is nothing compared to the fight to liberate Kuwait.
Kuwait.
"I've seen a lot," Evans said. "But I thank God I have the life that I have now. I'm just trying to make it better."
Not that Evans' latest mission — helping turn the Patriots into a winning program — is easy. Even though he grew up in
Portsmouth, Va., and was based less than 100 miles away in Aberdeen, Md., during his seven-year stint in the Army, basketball in the D.C. area to him meant Georgetown, Maryland and George Washington.
"I never heard of George Mason until I got a call from (Paul) Westhead," said Evans, who was recruited by several schools because of his play with a touring Army select team. "I signed a letter of intent without even visiting the school."
out even visiting the gym.
Westhead is the former NBA coach whose effort to bring his run-and-gun style to George Mason was a failure in four losing seasons. He also had numerous off-the-court problems with players. When Westhead was fired in 1997, Evans was ready to change his mind about attending George Mason until new coach Jim Larranaga recruited him.
Now, 1/2 years later, Larranaga, Evans and a rooster of good athletes with growing
defensive prowess have the Patriots playing well (9-8, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association). They started a school-best 5-0 in the conference and trailed first-place Old Dominion by a half-game following Wednesday night's 77-68 victory over Virginia Commonwealth.
The nine victories match the total from last year's 9-18 team, and a winning record is possible for the first time since Ernie Nestor's team went 20-12 in 1989-90.
"When I came here, I said that George Mason is a sleeping giant," Larranaga said. "The biggest thing was establishing a new philosophy. We spend a lot of time with players off the court. We tell them they are role models.
Role hoboes.
"I learned a lot about discipline and teamwork [in the Army]," Evans said. "I learned that I had to depend on someone else more than I could depend on myself. He's watching my back, and I'm watching his."
Commentary
Columnist wants focus on sports, not his life
Being an avid sports fan, the first place I usually turn to after picking up the Kansan is the sports page, and I always have enjoyed reading commentaries by the various sports columnists.
Brandon Jones
sports@kansan.com
In the past couple years, however, I have been bothered by some of the things that I have read.
I have grown tired of reading about the columnists' rough personal lives and about the arrogant, money-hungry professional athletes, and my frustration came to a head last year when I read a
column in which a columnist openly rooted for the Oklahoma Sooners to beat Kansas in football. I could not believe that my student fees were going to help support a University of Kansas newspaper in which a sports columnist openly cheered against his own university.
I wrote to that columnist and my feedback was published, and I thought, "Hey, maybe I could do this on a more regular basis." So when I saw an advertisement in the *Kansas* last December saying that sports columnist were needed, I jumped at the opportunity and so here I am.
at the opportunity and I assume that most of the students at this University who are reading this column right now are sports fans. I also believe that most of you are loyal to your alma mater and that you are therefore avid Jayhawk fans like me.
With this in mind, I plan on writing all of my columns on Jayhawk sports. I may be critical at times, but I always will remain a loyal and dedicated Kansas fan. I won't bore you with aspects of my personal life because I'm sure you don't care about how hard my Wills and Trusts class is going to be. I won't spend much time on professional sports because pro athletes are all overpaid, and it seems that everyone around here likes different teams. With that all said, let's talk about some KU basketball.
The Big 12 season is in full swing and the Jayhawks are in their usual position, first place and undefeated in the conference. People said this was going to be a down year for the 'Hawks, a rebuilding year. We weren't even picked to win the Big 12, even though we have only lost two games since the conference began. But here we are, in our traditional position, and looking pretty good. Sure, we have lost a few non-conference games, but this team is young and the players are maturing and improving with each game. The conference title is ours to lose. We are in the driver's seat, but it is far from over.
har from over.
Sunday, we face our evil rivals from the backward state of Missouri again. Nothing could be sweeter than two victories against Mizzou, and we play like we did in Columbia or like we did Monday night against Texas, a victory should be guaranteed. Mizzou is not very good, but expect Albert White to have a much better game this time around, and Mizzou will probably shoot better, too (they couldn't shoot any worse). I expect a closer game, but I still expect a Kansas victory.
The reason KU was supposed to be down this year was because of the loss of three great players and because of a not-so good freshman class. While the loss of three great players has hurt the 'Hawks, the freshman class has proved to be far greater than expected.
greatest that expectant.
Jeff Boschee is the best pure three-point shooter I have seen at Kansas. Yes, even better than Billy Thomas. I expect Boschee to break Thomas' three-point record before he leaves Kansas, and if he can improve his turnover-to-assist ratio, Boschee could be a great point guard for the next four years.
Marion London has been playing phenomenal. London gives 110 percent every game, and he can jump out of the gym. He looks like a Steve Woodberry type of player to me and that is a great thing. London needs to work on his shot some, but his effort and rebounding ability need no improvement. I am really happy with this freshman class and expect lots of good things out of them in the future.
Jones is an Lyndon, Kan., law student.
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