Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Wednesday September 16,1998
The KU Water Skiing team has a splashing good time preparing for regionals in October.
SEE PAGE 3B
Kansas Volleyball
The team enters this weekend's home opener with an unprecedented 7-1 record.
Section:
SEE PAGE 3B
Pro Baseball
B
Dan Marino found the perfect gift — a baseball bat autographed by Mark McGwire — for his son's birthday.
Page 1
SEE PAGE 5B
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e-mail mattf@ukans.edu
Jay Alexander, backup quarterback, drops back in the pocket during a practice drill at Memorial Stadium. Alexander transferred from Independence Junior College and walked on to the team this year. Photo by Jay Shepard/KANSAN
Quarterback awaits turn
Confidence high in backup despite his inexperience
By Jodi M. Smith
Kansan sportswriter
Jay Alexander is a junior walk-on for the Kansas football team who hasn't played organized football in two years.
he's also the backup quarterback.
He also the backup quarterback. Alexander, who transferred to Kansas after two years at Independence Community College, was chosen by coach Terry Allen during the second week of practice to play backup to starting quarterback Zac Weger.
Allen said he chose Alexander because of Alexander's experience.
But after sitting out of football his freshman and sophomore years in college, Alexander has no more college experience than the other two reserves, freshmen Jonas Weatherbie and Jake Letourneau.
"Experience probably wasn't it," Allen said. "A better term would have been maturity. He has been around; he carries himself with a little more presence through his maturity that the other players rally around and have respect for."
He took two years off simply because he didn't feel like playing anymore.
"I just wanted to take a break; I didn't want to play football." Alexander said. "I wanted to wait until I got that feeling back to play again all the time."
Alexander thought a year off would do the trick, but after working his way through spring drills at Independence, he realized he wasn't quite ready to come back.
He wasn't ready, in fact, until he got to Lawrence this summer.
Alexander always wanted to play football at Kansas.
"I didn't really plan on taking two years off, I just took time off." Alexander said. "I was enjoying myself. I kept working out. I figured I'd lose some stuff, but I got up here this past summer and went through summer practice, and I'm starting to get it back now."
He received letters from Kansas, K-State and junior colleges in the Jayhawk conference during his senior year in high school but was not offered a scholarship. So, he decided to stay close to home and give it a try.
"My dad told me that if I was going to play, give it a jucy try first," Alexander said. "I told him I didn't want to play. Then when I got done with juco, we had a long talk. He said. I'll let you give it a try,' and here am."
Here he is, indeed, and after summer drills he was able to prove himself and
snag the backup quarterback position.
snap the backup quarterback position. But two days after the depth chart was released, Alexander went down with a knee injury that kept him out for two weeks.
The thought of losing his position because of his injury was not foremost in his mind.
"That wasn't my main concern." Alexander said. "At the moment, I was worried about how long I was going to have to be out. They told me maybe a couple of weeks, and that cheered me up. I was worried about losing my spot, but I knew when I got back I would have to fight just as hard to get it back, like when I first started."
"We still have identified and believe that Jay is the best backup for Zac." Allen said. "That's a given from watching practice. We feel comfortable with him as far as a guy who could step in
With his knee fully recovered, Alexander is back in the Jayhawks lineup in the same spot as when he left.
Reprimand
Coach Terry Allen received an official reprimand from the Big 12 Conference yesterday for comments made about officials after the Kansas-Missouri game Saturday. For the first offense, the reprimand does not include a fins.
"It a get-out-of-jail-free card, I guess," Allen
Missouri coach larry Smith also could be reprimanded. He has been reprimanded once, and the second reprimand would include a $5,000 fine.
"I'll be ready any time," Alexander said. "I hope nothing happens to Zac, but in case something happens, I'll be able to come in and take control."
Alexander is just as confident in himself as Allen is in him.
there should we have an injury."
Commentary
Athletes improving classroom standing
Maybe you sit next to an offensive lineman in English. Perhaps you have to crane your neck to see around a women's basketball center in a history class. In short, athletes at the University of Kansas are also students.
And they've been studying, taking tests and meeting the same academic requirements as other students.
On a recent list in the NCAA News, Kansas had more GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans than any school except Nebraska and Notre Dame.
Kansas tied Georgia with 34, while 43 Notre Dame athletes received the distinction and 77 Nebraska scholar athletes were Academic All-Americans.
The success of Jay-
The success of bay hawks as students is no accident.
"Quality student athletes are going to be attracted to a school that has a reputation for doing things the right way and has a good academic support center," said Amy Perko, associate athletics director and senior woman administrator.
Perko was a two-time Academic All-American basketball players at Wake Forest.
Like Perko, Maria Abatjoglou twice was named Academic All-American. Abatjoglou completed her tennis eligibility at Kansas last spring and is scheduled to graduate in May.
The NCAA recently announced Abatjoglou is one of 10 finalists for the 1998 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
In addition to individual honors, teams have improved academically in recent semesters.
In Fall 1995, football bottomed out with a
1. 95 grade point average — the entire team had below a Average.
But Terry Allen was hired as the football coach two years ago, and things have begun to change.
Both Bob Frederick, athletics director, and Paul Buskirk, associate athletics director who is in charge of student support services, said the football team was improving.
In Spring 1998, the football team's GPA was 2.37.
During the same semester, the about 450 student athletes who compete for Kansas had an average GPA of 2.86 — higher than any semester in the 12 years listed by the department.
The reasons for the academic success by students who spend hours practicing and preparing for games are threefold.
First, as Perko said, many athletes were successful students before they came to Kansas.
Jacque Vaughn comes to mind when one thinks of focused individuals who succeeded in competition and the classroom.
Second, coaches are setting high standards for their players. Finally, the Athletics Department provides a strong student support headed by Buskirk.
Student athletes receive degree and career counseling; access to tutors who teach learning skills in addition to subject matter; and support in their daily life with a variety of programming.
"There is no excuse as an athlete at this school not to do well." Anbatoglu said.
That's a lesson all students at the University should learn. The athletics department and Kansas student athletes should be complimented for their academic achievements and should be encouraged to continue to improve.
Friedrichs is a Bremen graduate student in journalism.
Student picks
Student picks The following are the results from the Big 12 football student picks for the last two weeks. To participate e-mail Matt Friedricks at matt@ukans.edu
Week 2 Week 1
Brandon Robertson, Burlington graduate student 10-2
Cal Butcher, Pueblo West, Colo., graduate student 9-3
Jason Shumaker, Grand Prairie, Texas, freshman 9-3
Derek Olson, Portland, Ore., senior 8-4 19-5
Obe Omolke, Chicago graduate student 8-4 18-6
David Raddatz, Holdredge, Neb., freshman 7-5
Seth Rowalt, Lincoln, Neb., freshman 7-5 16-8
Jaycen Sanderson, Douglass, freshman 7-5
Caleb Hensley, Pittsburg, junior* 8-2
*Caleb forgot to pick two of the games
Angle Kuhn / KANSAN
Daily phone calls, mail: The life of a recruit in demand
By Randy Withers
Kansan Sportswriter
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles about the recruitment of a high school athlete through the eyes of the player. Kansas sportswriter Randy Witheres will talk to Jason Rose, a high school football player, throughout the season to observe his progress as a player to give you an inside look at the world of college recruiting.
Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football
With most athletes using up their eligibility in four or five years, Kansas coaches comb every inch of this country (and sometimes beyond) to find future players for their teams.
We have not identified the schools recruiting Jason Rowe at his request.
High school seniors are inundated with mail, phone calls and various other media, extolling the virtues of universities and their athletics programs.
NCAA RULES FOR RECRUITING HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS
Rowe is an offensive and defensive tackle at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee. Only 17 years old, Rowe stands 6-feet-3-inches tall and weighs 270 pounds.
One of those sought-after seniors is Jason Rowe
Phone calls: No calls are allowed before Sept. 1 of an athlete's senior year. At the Division I level, coaches are allowed one call to prospective athletes during May of the individual's junior year.
**Contacts:** Coaches visit prospective athletes off campus. Contacts are not allowed before Dec. 1 or after Jan. 30 of an athlete's senior year in high school. A maximum of seven off-campus contacts are allowed, with no more than one during a given week.
Evaluations: Coaches visit a recruit's high school to attend a practice, watch a game or pick up an academic evaluation. There are 20
days in May of an athlete's junior year and nine days through September, October and November when these visits can take place.
Unofficial visits: These visits by the athlete to college campuses occur during the contact period. Coaches can talk to the player during the visit. All unofficial visits are arranged and paid by the athlete.
"Right now, from a strength and speed
Official visits: During contact period, an athlete is allowed to make a total of five official visits to prospective colleges. These visits are a maximum of 48 hours long. The host football program pays for lodging, transportation, food and entertainment.
situation, I think he's got what they're (Division I programs) looking for," said Bob Jensen, Shawnee Mission Northwest offensive line coach.
Jensen has been working with Rowe for four years and is confident that Rowe can compete at the Division I level. Rowe has received interest from several Division I programs and a number of Division II schools.
Size isn't Rowe's only asset. His abilities as a leader were recognized when his teammates selected him a co-captain. He bench pressed 290 pounds, squatted 375 pounds and lifted 260 pounds in the hang clean.
With unofficial times of 2.9 seconds in the 20-yard dash and 4.8 seconds in the progility drill, he has the explosiveness and agility offensive line coaches look for.
Coaches have begun to call Rowe at home.
"Just last week before our first game, the first coach called my house and talked to me," Rowe said. "He said that he was going to be recruiting me and keeping an eye on him. He told me good luck with the season, and we would keen in touch."
Bow comes across as a bit shy and rather soft-spoken, an unexpected characteristic for someone of such size. Much of
his personality is reflected in how he has stayed humble despite the attention he has received
He said that although some of the recruit
Jason Rowe, Shawne Mission Northwest High School senior, awaits the snap of the football in a game against Olathe North. Rowe has been receiving letters and calls from interested college football programs. Contributed photo
"All of the letters that I have been getting I had kind of expected, but I never expected a phone call," Rowe said. "I mean, the coach takes time out to call long distance on the phone just to talk to me. Makes me feel kind of special."
In the first game, the Shawnee Mission Northwest Cougars defeated hated rival Shawnee Mission South 24-0. Week two brought a match-up with perennial power Olathe North. The Cougars fought to a halftime stalemate, but the Eagles won 28-16.