THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Inside Sports
Sports
The top running backs in the Big 12 Conference will vie for yards when Iowa State and Texas Tech play Saturday. See Page 3B
Big 12 Football
Texas needs help. The Longhorns were battered by Top-25 teams on consecutive weeks.
SEE PAGE 4B
Tuesday
September 22,1998
Section:
B
Page 1
Commentary
Page 1
Tony writes something nice about Missouri? Say it ain't so.
SEE PAGE 3B
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Setter Laura Rohde sets the ball in a tournament game against Eastern Michigan University. The Jayhawks travel today to Norman, Okla., for a game tomorrow against the Sooners. Photo by Eric B. Howell/KANSAN
Volleyball team plots havoc for Oklahoma
By Laura Bokonkroger
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas volleyball team hopes its match against Oklahoma tomorrow night will be a repeat of the 1994 Big 12 Conference opener.
That was the last time the Jayhawks won their first game of the season against a Big 12 opponent.
The Jayhawks leave today for a 7 p.m. match tomorrow in Norman, Okla., and team members said it was a new beginning for them.
Outside hitter Mary Beth Albrecht said the Jayhawks had to wipe the slate clean.
"We're 9-2 right now, and that's a great record," Albrecht said. "But
we start over in the conference. We have to move on and take the confidence of that record with us."
But it is not just confidence that the Jayhawks are feeling.
Since they were picked in a presseason poll to finish 10th in the Big 12, coach Ray
Bechard: His team opens the conference season on the road.
thought they had something to prove.
"It's a natural human reaction," Bechard said. "Anytime when your own expectations are higher than what everyone else's are, you feel like you have to prove them wrong."
The Jayhawks are coming off a second place finish in the Jayhawk Classic last weekend — and a loss to St. Louis University in the championship match.
Setter Laura Rohde said that the
KANSAS AT OKLAHOMA Kansas (9-2) at Oklahoma (5-5)
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: Norman, Okla.
loss left a bad taste in their mouths and that the Jayhawks had to move on.
"We're excited to start the Big 12," Rohde said. "We have played exceptionally well, and we are hoping to turn some heads."
Where: Norman, OKa.
The Sooners lead the series 37-10 and are on a three-match winning streak against the Jayhawks.
Kansas hasn't won in Norman since Oct. 26, 1990.
Oklahoma, picked to finish eighth in the Big 12, has struggled at home. The Sooners, 5-5, have lost all four of their matches in Norman. Their most recent loss came from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
"I think they haven't determined their complete lineup yet," Bechard said. "They lost some important senior leadership from last year, and it takes a while to fill those voids, find those players who will step up and make the plays at critical times."
Despite Oklahoma's mediocre record, Bechard said Kansas was not overlooking the Sooners.
But that is not the history the Jayhawks want to remember.
Last season, the Jayhawks lost both matches against the Sooners three games to none.
It happened in 1994, and it was the last time the Jayhawks won their conference opener.
imstead, they would like to recall a different meeting with the Sooners.
Recruit commits to'Hawks
And sometimes history does repeat itself.
Collison will come to Kansas instead of going to Duke
By Erin Thompson
Kansan sportswriter
For the second time in three weeks an official recruiting trip turned into a commitment to play at the University of Kansas by a preo basketball standout.
Collison, a 6-foot-9 forward from Iowa Falls (Iowa) High School, visited Lawrence on his official recruiting visit with
Iowa recruit Nick Collison told Kansas coach Roy Williams Sunday night that he planned to be a Jayhawk after Collison visited the campus last weekend.
the goal of trying to decide between Kansas and Duke University. He had visited Duke a week earlier.
Duke coach Mike Kryzewski received word from Collison Sunday night that Collison would not be a Blue Devil.
Collison's parents met him in Lawrence
for the visit and said they were pulling for him to choose the Jayhawks.
Collison's father and high school coach, Dave Collison, said before the visit that he and Nick's mother wanted Nick to play for the Jayhawks because the University was located close enough to their home for them to be able to come see Nick play, and he could come home some weekends, which would not be possible if he went to Duke.
Bob Gibbons, recruiting analyst, has listed Collison as the No.2 prospect in the nation. Collison averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds last year for his high school team and played for a USA Basketball Junior World championship team last summer.
Dave Collison said Nick was a good passer, handled the ball well and had a good defensive game. Growing up with a basketball coach for a father probably did not hurt his game, either.
"He's been a student of the game for a long time," Dave Collison said. "A lot of college coaches have said he has a good presence on the court. He really understands what to do and when to do it."
Dave Collision said Nick would work well with the Kansas program.
"He's exactly the kind of player that will fit it," he said. "He's played the motion offense and man-to-man defense in high school."
"A lot of college coaches have said he has a good presence on the court."
Dave Collision
Nick Collision's father
Kansas has filled two scholarships with oral commitments from Collison and Andrew Gooden, a 6-10 forward from El Cerrito (Calf.) High School.
Both Gooden and Collison will officially become Jayhawks after they sign a national letter of intent in November and qualify academically. Roy Williams cannot comment on Collison or any other recruits until they actually sign a letter of intent in two months.
The Jayhawks have one scholarship left to fill and are focusing on Kirk Hinrich, a 6-3 guard from Sioux City, Iowa. Hinrich has an official visit scheduled for Oct. 3.
Duke did not come away from the weekend empty-handed. The Blue Devils received a commitment from Casey Sanders on Sunday night.
Curry runs to first touchdowns
Sanders, a 6-10 center from Tampa, Fla., had scheduled an Oct. 16 visit to Kansas.
Senior transfer gets play action gains 100 yards
Kansan sportswriter
By Jodi M. Smith
After Saturday's 63-21 win against Illinois State, everyone on the Kansas football team was all smiles.
But no one's smile was bigger than running back Dustin Curry's.
Curry, a senior transfer
f rom Emporia State University,
scored his first and his second care er touch d nows against the Redbirds.
Curry: Had a career day against Illinois State Saturday.
In addition, he
led the Jayhawks with 100 yards rushing on 16 carries
seven of 11 games.
Curry redshirted his first year at Kansas in 1996 and played on special teams his junior year, seeing action in
Not too bad for someone who had only nine yards on three carries last season.
His nine yards rushing and a six-yard reception last season came against Colorado.
Saturday was the first time Curry carried the ball this season — and the first time as a Jayhawk that he stepped into the end zone still holding onto the ball.
Running back Dustin Curry breaks through tackles and into the end zone in the second quarter scoring his first of two touchdowns in the game. This was Curry's second carry as a Jayhawk. Photo by Jay Sheerd/KANSAN
"It was exciting to get that first rushing touchdown." Curry said. "I had a lot of friends and family here. I just really felt like I helped contribute to the win and to the team."
After the three starting running backs, David Winbush, Julius Bruce and Mitch Bowles, each scored a touchdown, Curry entered the game.
His first rush, a sevenyard gain, came early in the second quarter and was quickly followed by his first touchdown, a 23-yard run, with 8:25 left in the first half.
Curry's final touchdown came at the 11:15 mark of the fourth quarter when he ran six yards and increased the Kansas score to 63-14.
Although it was not the first game Curry played, he said it was nice to actually get a chance to play his position.
and I feel I really help there," Curry said. "But it's always fun for a running back to actually run the ball to get the touchdowns."
But the touchdowns were not the most important aspect of the game — it was the win.
he said.
"It's just good to get your first win under your belt,"
And with one win on their record, the Jayhawks plan to take what they learned — how to have fun — into Saturday's game and apply it at Alabama-Birmingham.
"This might give us some more confidence for the next game," Curry said. "Maybe we might be able to have a little more fun."
KANSAS ON TELEVISION
The Kansas vs. Texas A&M football game Oct. 3 in Lawrence has been rescheduled to start
at 11:30 a.m.
The game will be regionally televised by Fox Sports Net.
The kick off time for Nebraska's Oct. 3 game against Okla-
noma State at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas. You will be at 6 p.m.
The time was not set sooner because there had been a possibility it would be televised by ABC. Instead, the game will be shown on cable's Fox Sports Net.
In other televised Big 12 games that day, ABC will show Colorado at Oklahoma with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
Pick 'em games Week 4, Sept. 26
Another week, more games. Pick the teams you think will win and send them to the Kansan, along with your name, year in school and hometown. We'll print the week's top pickers. So far student pickers have easily outpicked the sports editor.
You can leave your picks in 11.1 Stauffer-Flint Hall, or e-mail them to the sports editor at mattf@ukans.edu
Score Teams Score
Kansas at University of Alabama-Birmingham
Washington at Nebraska
Rice at Texas
Southwest Louisiana at Oklahoma State
Kentucky at Florida
Northwestern at Wisconsin
Kristi Elliott / KANSAN
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