Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN.
Sports
Wednesday October 14, 1998
The NBA announced yesterday that it will cancel regular season games because of a labor impasse with players.
Section:
Kansas Volleyball
See Page 5B
The Kansas assistant volleyball coaches love the sport, and that's why they coach.
B
SEE PAGE 3B
Pro Baseball
Page 1
The Atlanta Braves are trying to make history by coming back from a 3-0 deficit. Get last night's results.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Basketball recruits rank near top
By Erin Thompson
Kansan sportswriter
Friday night is Late Night with Roy Williams, and there will be no high school seniors at the festivities looking for available scholarships.
The Kansas men's basketball team has filled its three available scholarships with verbal commitments from players some consider one of the best recruiting classes in the nation.
Recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger, of Prepstar magazine, said Kansas had a good class.
"The best ones nationally are Kentucky and Duke at this point." Oettinger said. "Kentucky and Duke already have outstanding classes. After that Kansas compares well."
kentucky, the defending national champion, has received verbal commitments from Keith Bogans, Marvin Stone and John Stewart, and likely will sign one more top-25 recruit before next spring.
Bogans, 6-foot-4 from Hyattsville.
md., is ranked the top shooting guard by Prepstar; Stone, 6-10 from Huntsville, Ala., is ranked the top center by Prepstar; and Stewart, 7-1 from Indianapolis, is the 12th-ranked center, according to Prepstar.
Duke has firm commitments from center Casey Sanders and point guards Jason Williams and Nick Horvath. The Blue Devils also still are involved in recruiting top-25 prospects Mike Dunnelly and Carlos Bover.
Prepstar ranks Sanders, 6-1 from Tampa Bay, Fla., as the second-best center; Williams, 6-1 from Metuchen, N.J., as the No. 18 point guard; and Horvath, 6-10 from Arden Hills, Minn., as the No. 9 power forward.
Nick Collison, 6-9 from Iowa City, Iowa, leads the Kansas group as the second-ranked player in the nation, according to recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons. Oettinger has Collision ranked significantly lower but still considers him a good player.
Fellow Iowan Kirk Hinrich, 6-3
from Sioux City, is considered a good player by many but is not on many recruiting analyst's top-100 lists.
"When I saw him play he was good but not great." Oettinger said. "Collison and he played together on the Barton Brothers' Select team out of Iowa. They played in an AAU 19-and under tournament in north Virginia. They surprised some people by going all the way to the finals. It's pretty doggone good to go that far. Collison was the main man and Hinrich was No. 2."
California recruit Drew Gooden is thought highly of on the recruiting circuit as well. Oettinger said Gooden, 6-11 from El Cerrito, Calif., was more athletic and more likely to play center for the Jayhawks than Collision, who is a power forward.
"He's one of the run-and-jump athletes who really stands out," Oettinger said. "He really enhanced his standing this summer at the Adidas ABCD camp. Gooden was the star of the best team, which was unbeaten.
He was the leading scorer and leading rebounder on the team that won the tournament."
Greg Swaim, a recruiting analyst for Midwest Wasketball, considers the Kansas recruiting class to be one of the top five in the nation.
Schools like Kansas, Kentucky and Duke are able to get good recruiting classes year after year because they are traditional basketball powerhouses, Swaim said.
"Coach Williams and staff are so straight forward," he said. "They don't have to paint a rosier picture at Kansas because all they have to do is take them to a basketball game at Phog Allen Field House."
Because of the tradition at Kansas, this year's recruiting class does not stand out compared to past classes.
"Kansas has had plenty of good recruiting classes. As good as these guys are, I wouldn't take them over (Raef) LaFrentz or (Paul) Pierce." Oetting said. "By their standard at Kansas, I'd say it's not super outstanding, it's just standard, par for the course."
Sliding into the World Series
New York Yankees player Bernie Williams, right, slides safely into second base in the third inning of Game 6 last night. Cleveland Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel, left, was ruled off the bag.
The New York Yankees
won the American League Pennant last night, beating the Cleveland Indians 9-5.
The Yankees return to the World Series for a second 35th time.
The World Series begins Saturday in New York against the winner of the San
Diego vs. Atlanta series.
KRT Photo
SEE PAGE 6B FOR MORE ABOUT
Commentary
Kansas soccer takes tiring Oklahoma trip
By Brad Hallier
Kansan sportswriter
On the road with 21 wild soccer players.
On the road with 21 who soccer players.
This weekend, I ventured to Stillwater and Norman, Okla., with the women's soccer team for three matches in four days. Ever wondered what's it's like on the road with NCAA Division-I athletes?
Talk about red-carpet treatment — which I received as well.
My own weekend got off to a horrible start when my ride to the bus never showed. Carrying two heavy bags and a camera case, I ran from my apartment at 24th and Alabama streets to the Burge Union.
We were on the Kansas Turnpike, heading for Stillwater. Movie No. 1, So I Married an Axe Murderer; was about to begin on the screens in the bus.
The soccer team strikes a crazy pose for a picture. Kansas sport writer, Brad Hallier, spent four days with the team last weekend for their three game streak in Norman, OKla. Photo by Graham Johnson/KANSAN
After a pit sit at a turnipke rest area, movie No. 2,
Spaceballs, began.
The team left at 6:38 p.m. sharp on Thursday from the Burge for a Friday night match at Oklahoma State.
The next morning, after a complimentary continental breakfast in the lobby, the team had a light workout at the OSU game field from 10 to 11 a.m.
We arrived at 11:30 p.m. at the Stillwater Fairfield Inn.
After a one hour study time from 12-1 p.m. in the hotel we had lunch at Applebee's.
I lost my receipt for the meal. I now out $5.60.
The team prepared for its match in the locker room at Gallagher Iba Arena at 5:15 p.m.
The match began at 7 p.m., and after two hours of bruising the soccer, the match ended t1-1.
We will be flying the Midfielder Lindsey Loeffler's dad is the owner, and trainer Robin Johnson almost ate one of his two-pound Super Atomic Burritos.
I lost my receipt for the meal. I'm now out $8.06.
or diving soccer, the Hawks wear a white dress. We ate dinner at Atomic Burrito after the match.
The post-dinner ride to Norman on Friday featured movie No. 3, Good Will Hunting.
I ate a light breakfast Saturday because I planned to practice with the team in its training session at Oklahoma.
Although the workout was only a walk through of tactics and a game of handball, I felt like I needed some oxygen.
After dinner, forward Jen Silvers, forward Lindsey Kennedy and I dominated Johnson, midfielder Melissa Downing and goalkeeper Katie Garrity in basketball 10-8. In other games, assistant coach Kevin Blokker was the spitting image of Greg Ostertag as he blocked and dunked shots.
A long day of football on the tube followed. Loefler's family made and served dinner for the team at their house.
Back at the hotel I watched A Perfect Murder on pay-per-view television with goalkeeper Jen Cecke, midfielder Johanna Larsson and forward Natalie Hoegel.
The team lost to the Sooners 3-0 on Sunday. The ride back to the hotel surprisingly was silent, given this wild bunch.
After dinner, the team had individual meetings with Magner, and I interviewed midfielder Katie Lents in the lobby. Between 10 and 11 p.m., the upper-
classmen held a meeting. I wasn't there, so I talked to Hoogveld for an hour, while watching Original Gangsters on Showtime.
A fatigued bunch of Jayhawks battled Texas Tech on Monday. They lost 1-0.
We ate Papa John's pizza on the way back to Lawrence. After an hour and a half of studying, test taking and paper writing, the team watched its final flick. G.I.Jane.
We arrived at 11:30 Monday night in Lawrence.
Life as an athlete at this level is about keeping schedules and getting free meals.
It may sound like the easy life, but trust me, none of the students have it easy during season. Studying on the road is tough when you have to prepare for games, but I'm convinced the soccer team has it all down pat.
One request coach: If I practice with your bunch again, tell me to get in shape first!!
Commentary
'Late Night'in foul trouble for misnaming the production
The problem with Late Night with Roy Williams, scheduled this year for Friday night, is the name.
Since coach Williams arrived on campus, the late night soirée, where basketball players dance, act, talk and scrimmage, has been named after the coach.
schlintage, has been named the best. But the name is inaccurate because Williams rarely does anything at the event. The name also is unfair to women's coach Marian Washington.
williams never speaks at Late Night. He sits in his chair, laughs at the men's and women's basketball players jokes and eventually gets jiggy by dancing a step or two in the boogie circle that always forms.
That's all he does. In fact, Williams consistently has said he doesn't get too involved because the night is for the players. It is their chance to play to the crowd and get recognition from the fans. Williams doesn't want to overshadow them. It's an admirable reason.
But if Williams truly wants to take the attention off himself, then he should change the name of the event. Take off the with Roy Williams and call it Late Night, Late Night with Kansas basketball or I can't believe we stayed up until 1 a.m. for this. Call it whatever, but take Williams' name off it.
Spencer Duncan
T-shirts sold at Late Night usually have Williams' face on them, the title Late Night with Roy Williams is bolded, in large, colored type on the shirts. Flyers, programs and newspapers all use the name of the event: Late night with Roy Williams. The mere fact the Late Night party uses Williams' name means it is impossible for the coach to slip into the background.
It is disrespectful, especially since Washington has been at the University 15 years longer than Williams, and last season it was the women who overachieved by making it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. It was the men who underachieved by losing to Rhode Island in the second round.
For that to happen the name must be changed.
But that to support the claim
But there is more to it than that.
Late Night mistakenly is associated with only the men's basketball team. Lost in the shuffle is the women's basketball team and Washington.
It's a shame because Late Night is supposed to represent the start of both men's and women's basketball seasons, not just the men's. Yet, because it is titled with Roy Williams. Washington and her team get kicked aside.
The name needs to be changed, and that only will happen if Williams is willing to give it up. Hopefully, at some point he will consider it.
After all, If Late Night truly is about the players, then Williams shouldn't mind having his name removed.
If the athletics department really wants more women's basketball fans, as it claims it does, then isolating the women this way is a poor way to go about attracting people.
Duncan is an Topeka senior in journalism and English.
Of course, the name makes sense when it comes to marketing. Roy Williams' name attracts fans. If it were called Late Night with the volleyball team and some basketball players, less people likely will go.
Week No. 6 predictions
NAME
Nebraska fooled everyone. No one was perfect with their week six football picks.
RECORD
1. Caleb Hensley, Pittsburg junior 10-2
2. John Liebert, Topeka freshman 10-2
3. Amy Schilling, Carbondale, Colo., junior 10-2
4. Seth Rewald, Lincoln, Neb., freshman 9-3
5. Brent Briggeman, Pratt sophomore 9-3
6. Sean Brown, Ralston, Neb., sophomore 8-4
7. Dave Schul, Lawrence graduate student 10-2
8. Nathan Wiley, Brazellville, Okla.
graduate student 10-2
9. Ricardo Leal, Los Angeles graduate student 10-2