Monday, August 16, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 7
Woodard returns to coach after successful pro career
By Melinda Weaver
sportwriter@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
Lynette Woodard has returned to her alma mater to serve as an assistant coach for the women's basketball team after a successful 20-year career in the sport.
She was recruited by Coach Marian Washington and will
Repace Deborah Newkirk, who has accepted a position as an administrative assistant for the University of Kansas basketball program.
Woodard: Returns to alma mater
"I am so happy to be a part of the
University of Kansas program officially." Woodard said. "I am excited about working with Coach Washington. I can't miss this opportunity."
Woodard brings experience from a long basketball career and is familiar with the Kansas program. She joined the team in 1978.
"She's been there and done that," Washington said. "She is pound-for-pound the best basketball player to play the game. She will impact highly any young players who set high goals for themselves and are willing to work hard to reach them. We feel very fortunate to have her with our program."
When the Wichita native graduated from Kansas in 1981, she held several collegiate and Kansas basketball records,
many of which have yet to be broken.
Her records include points (3,649), rebounds (1,714), steals (522) and field goals (1,572). Her points record is the highest ever in women's college basketball.
After her collegiate career. Woodard spent two years playing in Italy before returning to the United States to train for the 1984 Olympic games.
She was the captain of the gold medal team in 1984 and then became the first female Harlem Globetrotter.
Woodard spent three years playing professionally in Japan before accepting a position as the athletic director for the Kansas City, Mo., school district.
After two years, she took a break from her basketball career to work as a stockbroker.
In 1997, she ended her brief retirement to play for the Cleveland Rockers in the WNBA. In 1998, she played for the Detroit Shock.
Last season, Woodard served as the Special Assistant for External Relations and Women's Basketball at Kansas. While she was on the sidelines at all of the team's game, she didn't have an official post.
Her responsibilities this season will include assisting with practice sessions, coordinating team travel, recruiting and working as the team's academic liaison.
"She has been an ambassador for women's basketball not only in Kansas but for the nation," Washington said. "We feel fortunate to have all her experience as a player and as a professional."
Edited by Chris Hopkins
Graduated from Wichita North High School in 1978.
■ Leads Kansas in all-time scoring, field goals made and attempted, rebounds, free-throws made and attempted, games played, and steals
LYNETTE WOODARD
KO point record is also NCAA record
Three time Rio Bight tournament MVP
Co-captain of gold-medal-winning 1984 Olympic team and member of 1980 Olympic team.
First female member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Four-time All-America selection at Kansas
Led the nation, including men, in scoring in 1979.
Lynette Woodard has returned to Kansas as an assistant coach. She holds many Kansas and NCAA records from her days of playing for the Jayhawks. Kansan file photo.
Former KU player returns to Lawrence for good cause
**sportswriter**@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Doua DeRhodes
Ten-year-old Anthony Frei of Lawrence has compiled many memories this past summer, and that list got a little longer last Thursday morning.
Sporting two casts — one on each of his legs — Anthony had another memorable moment when former Kansas men's basketball player Greg Ostertag autographed the last cast.
Anthony, who is in the process of recovering from heel cord extension surgery, and other local youths got to talk to and play basketball with one of their heroes.
Ostertag returned to Lawrence this past weekend to participate in last Saturday's fourth annual Ostertag Golf Classic that benefits the American Lung Association of Kansas. Clad in a Utah Jazz T-shirt and shorts, Ostertag and the youth gathered at the basketball courts at Seventh and Kentucky streets to kick off the weekend activities which included the golf tournament and the first Big O's Spaghetti Night.
When all the questions were answered, Ostertag took to the court and played some basketball with about 30 kids. He taught them the fundamentals of blocking shots and allowed them to play him one-on-one or form a team against him.
Ostertag, who was a standout at Kansas from 1991-95, took time to answer questions ranging from his current status with the NBA's Utah Jazz to his shoe size.
An asthma sufferer himself, Ostertag's message was that the chronic disease need not stand in the way of athletic performance or dreams. Ostertag noted that although he still has asthma, he has not used his inhaler in more than a year.
All proceeds from the weekend's events will help the lung association teach children how to better manage their asthma and provide opportunities for them and their parents to learn more about the chronic disease
Brenda Frei, Anthony's mother, was very pleased with the activities and with Ostertag's involvement in the community. "We support the lung association because
Former Kansas player Greg Ostertag plays basketball with local Lawrence youths. He held his fourth annual charity event to raise money for the American Lung Association of Kansas on Thursday. Photo by Chad Cummings/KANSAN
Anthony and his siblings all have asthma," she said. "It is great for Greg to come out here and support this cause."
Frei was not the only one amazed at Ostertag's generosity and loyalty to the town he called home for several years. Other parents talked about how tough it must have been for him to come back and sign autographs and take pictures when a tornado ripped through Salt Lake City, his current home, not twenty-four hours earlier.
Ostertag, who said he often thought about Lawrence and his Jayhawk days, preferred to accentuate the positive.
"I have always loved working with kids. I guess that is because I am a kid myself."
Edited by Jennifer Roush
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