Wednesday, December 2, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Florida assistant assumes Oklahoma head coaching duties
Stoops to replace fired Coach Blake
The Associated Press
NORMAN, Okla. — The University of Oklahoma yesterday named Florida assistant coach Bob Stoops to take over a football program that boasts six national championships but hasn't had a winning season since 1993.
Stoops, 38, replaces John Blake, who was fired after compiling a 12-22 record in three seasons.
"I will not shy away from the expectations here at Oklahoma. In fact, will embrace them," said Stoops, Florida's defensive coordinator the past three years. "I know we'll operate with no excuses."
Athletics director Joe Castiglione, who zeroed on Stoops while heading up the search, wasn't fazed by the fact Stoops has never been a head coach.
Stoops brings experience gained as part of a coaching family and while working with three great coaches Hayden Fry, Bill Snyder and Steve Spurrier.
"This person, at every level, excelled," said Castiglione. "Bob, as a player and coach, has been involved in success at every level."
Stoops, who received a five-year contract worth close to $700,000 annually, was introduced at what was more a pep rally than a news conference. The announcement was made on the front steps of the university's administration building and was attended by the school's pep band and about 1,000 people, most of them students.
When Blake was hired without any experience as a head coach, and without even being a coordinator at any level, Oklahoma officials thought the program's most pressing need was a
Oklahoma's last national championship came in 1985 with Barry Switzer, who also was on hand. But the Sooners haven't challenged for a conference title during the past decade. They are 22-33-1 in the past five years.
coach who was a strong recruiter.
The biggest need now is a solid coach, and Oklahoma thinks Stoops can coach.
His late father,
Ron, was defensive coordinator at Cardinal
Mooney High School in
Youngstown,
Ohio, for 30
years. Steona's
three brothers are all coaches: Mike is defensive coordinator at Kansas State; Mark is secondary coach at Wyoming; and Ron Jr. is defensive coordinator at Boardman High School in Youngstown.
Stoops was a four-year starter for Fry as a defensive back at Iowa. He spent four years as a volunteer assistant and graduate assistant at Iowa, moved on to Kent State for one year, then was hired by Snyder at Kansas State.
He spent six years helping turn around that program before joining Spurrier at Florida. Stoops' aggressive defense was a perfect complement to Florida's high-powered offense and helped result in a national championship in 1996.
Those experiences,he said,leave him well-suited for his first head coaching job.
"I've been extremely fortunate to be with the people I've been with," he said. "I believe where I've been has given me great preparation to be able to handle the position."
After the 1996 season, Stoops turned down a chance to become head coach at Minnesota. Last year, he declined offers to interview for the Arkansas job and to become defensive coordinator at Texas.
In choosing Oklahoma, he opted not to return to his alma mater and replace Fry, who resigned last week.
"The University of Oklahoma was a very easy decision," he said. "I've been talking about this job with many coaches for many years, that I've thought this was always a very special job."
CHICAGO — Connecticut showed how it got to No. 1 and why it won't be quick to leave.
Connecticut to hold onto No.1 rank
The Associated Press
Speed, tough defense and a whopping rebounding advantage were too much in the second half for travel-weary Washington in the opening game of the Great Eight.
it 75-74. Last night's game was close, too, with four minutes gone in the second half.
Richard Hamilton scored 17 points and UConn broke away with a 20-2 second-half run last night to rout No. 15 Washington in 69-48 in a rematch of last March's NCAA East Regional semifinal.
That game eight months ago was close, with Hamilton hitting a last-second shot to win
Then Hamilton and Kevin Freeman sparked UConn as their teammate and star
UConn finished with a 4.8 - 2.8
rebounding advantage and forced 14 second-half turnovers
Donald Watts' 3-pointer had helped Washington pull to 40-39 in the opening minutes of the second half. But a tip-in, steal and soaring dunk from
Freeman, and seven straight points from Hamilton overwhelmed Washington as UConn raced to a 60-41 lead with 7:26 to go.
Washington, which arrived in Chicago on Monday afternoon following a 4,300-mile trip from Hawaii, where it had won a three-game tournament, went nearly six minutes without a basket and managed only nine points during the final 12:54.
Washington now is 1-22 when it plays the No.1 team, that victory coming against UCLA in 1979.
Connecticut, ranked first for just the second time in school history, led 35-27 at the end of a ragged and sloppy half that featured
Washington went nearly 10 minutes without a basket as a 14-0 UConn run produced a 20-7 lead.
Todd MacCulloch, who led Washington with 13 points, helped the Huskies pull to 27-21 and trail by eight at the half, despite missing 19 of 29 shots and being out rebounded 26-12.
15 UConn turnovers.
The Great Eight's third straight appearance at the United Center came during the NBA lockout and brought a host of players and coaches to the arena. Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper of the Bulls, who had expected to be playing on the same floor by now, were in attendance, as was coach-in-waiting Tim Floyd.
K-State guard to be tested further for chronic disorder
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State guard Ayome May, plagued by a chronic intestinal disorder that threatened to sideline him for his senior season, will undergo additional tests today at the Mayo Clinic, coach Tom Asbury said.
"We're just trying to get a further evaluation," Asbury said yesterday, during the Big 12 coaches' weekly teleconference. "We'd like to get to the bottom of this, because it's not something that just happens during the season. This is something that goes year-round for him."
May, who had never missed a game until this season, left the team on Nov. 2 and did not play in the Wildcats' coach opener.
He returned on Nov. 16 to score 11 points against Cal State-Fullerton in the Wildcats' second game of the year and averaged 7.2 points going into last night's home game against Lovola (III.).
May has not played more than 24 minutes in any of his six games.
"He doesn't miss too much practice time, but I think it's affected his conditioning." Asbury said. "He was out for two or three weeks and did nothing."
"When he's ill, there's nothing he can do about it," Asbury said. "He just has to go and do his thing."
The illness causes May to vomit, sometimes during games.
Kansas State is more concerned with May's long-range health than with the remainder of his basketball career. Asbury said.
"I'm not sure there's anything they can do that
would take effect by the end of the season," Asbury said. Asbury isn't the only Big 12 coach dealing with a player's chronic health problem this season.
Oklahoma forward Ryan Humphrey has iron-deficiency anemia, a condition diagnosed last year when he was a freshman.
Humphrey is averaging 12.8 points and 28 minutes this season but has struggled with fatigue at times, coach Kelvin Sampson said.
"He's on medication, but I don't know that you ever really get over that," Sampson said. "I'd like to play Ryan 35 minutes a game, but I can't."
Dealing with a player's ongoing condition requires a change in coaching mentality, Sampson said.
"It makes you more tuned in to when the kid needs a rest," he said. "In the old days, if a kid had a headache, the coach would say 'Run it off.' If a kid had a sprained ankle, 'Jog it off.'
A medical condition of another sort has sidelined Iowa State point guard Michael Nurse for up to two weeks.
He was hit by a car Sunday night, as he walked back to his room following the Cyclones' return from the Great Alaska Shootout.
Nurse has numerous stitches in his head and a badly bruised leg, Eustachy said.
"He came to practice in uniform yesterday, but the doctors say 10 to 14 days," Eustachy said. "His (injured) calf is swollen to about twice the size of the other one, but he has already begun treatment for that.
Nurse's injury leaves the Cyclones without a true point guard, Eustachy said.
Iowa State starting guard hit by truck
The Associated Press
AMES, Iowa — All things considered,
Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy
thinks Michael Nurse should count
himself lucky.
Nurse, the Cyclones' starting point guard, suffered cuts in his head and calf when he was hit by a truck while crossing an Ames street late Sunday. He will be out for 10 to 14 days, but it could have been worse, Eustachy said yesterday.
"They said the way his head hit, if it had been different way, it could have been tragic." Eustachy said. "We're just kind of counting our blessings and not worrying when he's going to be back."
Nurse was hit as he and other players were crossing a street on their way to their dormitory. They had just been dropped off at nearby Hilton Coliseum after returning from the Great Alaska Shootout.
Although no bones were broken, Nurse needed stitches in both his head and calf. The calf is swollen to about twice its normal size.
"His skull was kind of pulled back, if you will, his scalp. It's quite a nasty cut," Eustachy said. "His leg took the blow. When you get spun around and hit, every bone in your body aches, so it's going to be awhile.
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