Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
The Kansas rowing team begins its recruitment for walk-on tryouts.
Friday
August 20,1999
Section:
B
Page 1
Pro Basketball
SEE PAGE 3B
Kim Perrot, a guard for the Houston Comets, died yesterday of lung cancer.
SEE PAGE 5B
College Football
Jonathan Beasley, Kansas State's quarterback, is confident as he begins the 1999 season.
SEE PAGE 6B
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Kansas wide receiver Harrison Hill makes a fingertip catch during practice yesterday. The Jayhawks travel to South Bend, Ind., next Saturday to play their season opener against Notre Dame.
Photo by Chad Cummins/KANSAN
'Hawks search for standout
Increased depth key to success
By Mike Miller
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
Luckily, the Jayhawks have several wide receivers that can fit the bill.
When Coach Terry Allen arrived at Kansas, he wanted to upgrade the skill positions. Three years later, he's accomplished that goal at wide receiver.
"This is probably our most anticipated year since I've been here," said senior wide receiver Michael
Chandler. "We have so much depth. We've got height, speed, size, hands. We're set."
Chandler, a senior co-captain, along with junior Termaine Fulton and sophomore Harrison Hill have become reliable wide-outs for Kansas. Last season, as the top three receivers, they accounted for more than 50 percent of all receptions and two-thirds of the touchdown receptions.
Hill was poised for a breakout year last season when he caught eight passes for 118 yards against Alabama-Birmingham, but he suffered a hamstring injury midway through the year. He still led the team with 28 receptions.
Fulton is the deep threat among
the bunch. His 503 receiving yards led the team, and his career average of 23 yards per catch is among the best in school history.
"We all have some good stuff." Chandler said. "Termaine's one of the faster people. Harrison's got some great hands.
"And I'm one of the bigger receivers we have."
Chandler led the team in receptions two years ago and had a reception in every game except the season finale against Iowa State.
"He's the experienced old man of the group." Fulton said.
Throw in speedy junior Eric Patterson, junior Algen Williams and Anton Paige, a redshirt freshman who is the tallest target on the
field at 6-foot-5, and the receivers form one of the best units in the Big 12 Conference. Only Iowa State has more receivers returning who caught more passes last year.
"Two years ago from now we've come a long way," Fulton said. "When we came in, there wasn't much here. Now we have a lot of good receivers."
And that's without sophomore Byron Gasaway, the fastest receiver among them. Gasaway fractured his jaw July 22 and might be out for the season. "We've still got enough guys to be all right but we're going to miss him," Hill said.
Morningstar ready to defend Jayhawks
That leaves more playing time for everyone else.
See ROOKIE one age 2B
By Shawn Hutchinson
sportswriter @kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Scholarship or no scholarship, Jamie Morningstar is a Jayhawk.
Of course, it could have been a different story for Morningstar, a freshman walk-on for the Kansas volleyball team.
As a senior last season at Lawrence's Free State High School, she received scholarships to play volleyball at other schools. She will admit, however, that there weren't many that came rolling in.
The only Division-I offer she received was from Colgate University in New York, a school better known for first-round losses in the men's NCAA Tournament in basketball. Not exactly the place to start a budding volleyball career.
So Morningstar did the easy thing. After her senior year at Free State, where she led the team in kills (303) and digs (164), she simply staved home.
"My parents went here, I love this town and I love this campus," she said. "It's just a great program with great coaches."
"Even when we didn't live in Lawrence, we always cheered for KU," she said. "It's always been a school that I've loved more than any other."
The result? Morningstar will begin her Kansas career as a walk-on.
Morningstar said that one of the deciding factors in choosing Kansas was that her father, Roger, was a basketball player for the Jayhawks from 1974-75. Kansas pride, therefore, was in her from the start.
The only downside is that Morningstar plays defensive specialist, which, according to Kansas coach Ray Bechard, is usually a non-scholarship position.
"Scholarship or not, it's really not a big issue
with her," Bechard said. "It's just the opportunity to contribute that important."
Morningstar may get the opportunity to contribute as early as this season. The Jayhawks have three defensive specialists on their roster. One, Kristi Kiyabu, is a senior. The other, Jennifer Kraft, is sitting through a redshirt season.
("Mormingstar's) goal defined is the ability to come in and serve balls, and serve and receive," Bechard said. "Anytime you have a specialist, the hope is that they raise the intensity of your team when they step on the floor."
"I accepted the role that I am on this team and wherever Coach puts me, that's what I'll do," she said. "If he doesn't put me in, then I'm there for my teamsmate that are in."
Morningstar said one of her goals was to try and earn a scholarship somewhere down the road. But she knows that road will not be easy.
"Whether or not that happens, it really doesn't matter," she said. "I have to prove to them that I'm worthy of one, I guess. I just have to work my hardest no matter what."
Starting Sept. 1, when the Jayhawks open their season against Missouri-Kansas City at the Horesei Family Athletics Center, she'll get that opportunity.
The Jayhawks have been hard at work practicing for two weeks. Morningsar said that it had taken some time to adjust to the Division-I level, but she had learned a lot as to what her role with this team would be.
Edited by Mike Loeder
"My jobs are to serve, pass and to keep the team going and to just be a good teammate," she said. "On and off the court, I need to be there for my teammates just like any other player."
Jamie Morningstar, Lawrence freshman, bumps the ball. Morningstar turned down scholarships to play for other schools in order to stay in Lawrence, her hometown. Photo by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
Water polo, body cramp brings back the memories
Seeing all these freshmen run around has put me in a nostalgic mood. I thought back to my freshmen year at Kansas, back when Budig Hall was a big construction zone, when the smart card was still a science-fictionish idea of the future, when residence hall phone numbers started with 864.
Welcome to your first Friday of classes.
The Fall 1999 semester has begun. A barrel-load of new freshmen have arrived.
The drama continues.
I'm supposedly wiser now that I'm in my senior year. I just wish I had a little more wisdom to offer besides my, "Drop Spanish at KU and take it at Johnson County," no-brainer.
young lot. My high school had limited opportunities when it came to sports. No soccer team. No tennis team. Only the very basic sports were offered.
But I do have a story and a moral for our young new students. It goes like this:
When I first came to Kansas, a huge University of roughly 25,000 students, I
was a little intimidated by the college atmosphere. But then I realized the opportunities KU offered, sports and otherwise.
Think about it. So many people your age in one town. So many being the opposite sex. All ready to party. Or — play sports.
Wanting to explore new sports, I answered the call to a new and mysterious sport. I joined the club water polo team.
I knew nothing about water polo except for that it was easily the most difficult sport I had ever tried. I used to run cross country in high school, and running 15 miles wasn't a
Seth Jones columnist sports@kansan.co
ming after a water polo ball non-stop nearly killed me. Once, I even woke up in the middle of the night with a total body
cramp. They're really freakish, if you've never had one before. I wouldn't suggest them on my list of new things to try at at school.
My water polo career only lasted two weeks. I decided it was time to hang up the Speedos and shower cap as I stood in the shallow end of the pool watching everyone else scrimmage. I had my own coach assigned to me. Rather than talking water polo offense or working on my defense, his job was to try to teach me the proper way to swim.
But understand that if you remain level-headed, Kansas is filled with new opportunities like water polo. Even if you don't really know how to swim, it can be a fun way to sink.
But the guys were cool about my swimming problems. They really didn't care. Sure, they were concerned whenever I'd get tired and start to bob under water, but they still appreciated my efforts. They would have helped me stick it out if I just would have had the same love for water polo as they did.
What Kansas can offer when you mistreated it is bad. For instance, your friendly neighborhood columnist Seth suggests you avoid such things like binge drinking, "minor in possession" tickets, the freshman 15 and a 0.5 grade point average. These things lead to running back home to mom and dad and working at the local Quicky Mart or widget factory.
You may consider me foolish for trying water polo while being a poor swimmer. But what other opportunity would I ever have to try water polo?
This is what the Kansas can offer, when treated right. Opportunities exist for students to try new things and to have fun in adventures with new friends. Meanwhile the same students are getting an education and avoiding that career in the fast food service industry.
Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.
Traffic offense places Earl in county jail
Earl, who is a forward for the Jayhawks, is scheduled to appear in court at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 8.
Kansas basketball player Lester Earl spent 50 minutes at the Douglas County jail early yesterday morning, Lawrence police said. According to the Lawrence Municipal Court, Earl had failed to appear for two traffic offenses. One was a speeding ticket, but the court would not disclose details of the second, a criminal traffic offense.
A representative from the team could not be reached for comment.
Police said that Earl was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear and was booked at 1:45 a.m. yesterday. Bond of $331.50 was paid in cash, and Earl was released at 2:35 a.m. yesterday, police said.
— By Katie Hollar
Danny Manning joins the Bucks in Orlando trade
Manning, who led the Kansas Jayhawks to their miraculous run to the 1988 national championship, has been a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Phoenix Suns and, most recently, the Orlando Magic in his NBA career.
MILWAUKEE -- Danny Manning will be adjusting to a different climate this fall.
Now, without even playing a minute in
be leaving the heat of the desert and the warmth of the ocean to play in a much cooler climate this fall.
The Milwaukee Bucks acquired Dale Ellis from the Orlando Magic yesterday in a trade for Chris Gatling and Armen Gilliam.
Milwaukee general manager Ernie Grunfeld, hired only a week ago, said he and
Manning: Traded to Bucks from the Orlando Maic
Orlando general manager John Gabriel were able to fill the needs of two franchises that appear to be headed in different directions.
"This thing came together pretty quickly," Grunfeld said. "We're excited about adding some proven veterans to our young core."
Ellis and Manning were both acquired by the Magic in off season trades with Seattle and Phoenix, respectively, and hadn't played a game in Orlando.
Both Manning and Ellis told the Magic they were interested in playing for a contender, and Orlando may have accommodated their wishes. With a young starting five that includes Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson, the Bucks made the playoffs last season for the first time in seven years.
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