PAGE 16E AUGUST, 1996
KUED·SPORTS
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
Kansas returns all five starters off its 29-5 club
Jayhawks preseason No.1
BY GARY BEDORE
JOURNAL-WORLD ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
UK won the national basketball title in 1996. Now it's KU's turn in 1997, or so the experts say.
Kentucky's basketball players had barely finished clipping the nets last April when Dick Vitale proclaimed the Javahawks preseason No.1 for 1997.
The Jayhawks are a popular pick for No.1 considering they return all five starters and top seven scorers off last year's 29-5 club.
Expectations may be high entering the 1996-97 season,but that's nothing new for the Jayhawks,who have won
MEN'S BASKETBALL
25 or more games seven straight seasons and claimed five of the final six Big Eight titles.
"There's nothing you can do about it, so why should I mind?" KU coach Roy Williams said of great expectations. "There have always been expectations here and always will be. We'll try the same theme as last year: 'Let's enjoy each win, get mad about the losses and try to do something about it the next time.'"
Expectations rose last spring when point guard Jacque Vaughn announced he would return for his
senior season. Coaches and fans alike praised Vaughn for shunning the NBA to complete his degree in business administration.
"I used to say when talking about Jacque if there was a dictionary that had a picture besides the word 'student-athlete' there would be his picture. I've changed that. Now instead of saying 'student-athlete,' it's 'scholar-athlete,'" Williams said.
Last year's Big Eight player of the year, Vaughn, a 6-foot-1 native of Pasadena, Calif, needs 43 assists to pass Cedric Hunter, as the Big Eight's alltime assist leader. He averaged 10.9 points and 6.6 assists on 48.2 percent
shooting last season. He hit 51.2 percent of his three-pointers in Big Eight contests.
"I've got to make sure outside people don't put thoughts or pressure on him, You've got to score such and such points.' He really doesn't have to do that," Williams said.
"He got to be one of the best point guards in the country by playing the way Jacque Vaughn plays. His leadership, his playmaking, his defensive ability all make Jacque Vaughn the player he is. His shooting, if it improves and it has improved every year, will
See Haase, page 18
EARL RICHARDSON/JOURNAL-WORLD PHOTO
Jacque Vaughn, left, decided not to jump to the NBA, so he and coach Roy Williams enter the season as early favorites to win the NCAA title.