Fantasy Football Wednesday has a new day but columnist Evan Hengel still dispenses the same great advice.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19,2006
See what a newspaper columnist at Kansas State has to say about the Wildcats' slow start. 5B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
Living the dream
PROFILE
Brad Witherspoon, Homboldt junior, was chosen to walk-on the men's basketball team. Witherspoon attended open tryouts on Sunday and was notified Monday morning that he had made the team.
Kansas walk-on wanted to join team when he was 'itty-bitty'
BY DREW DAVISON
Ever since he was two years old, Brad Witherspoon dreamed of playing basketball for the University of Kansas. The junior from Humboldt doesn't have to dream anymore; he was picked to join the team after Sunday's open trouts.
Monday morning, Kansas assistant coach Tim Jankovich made the call to inform Witherspoon of Kansas' decision to give him a spot on the team.
"I was leaving my first class Monday and coach Jankovich called me and was like, 'Why are you out of class,' Witherspoon said. "I said 'We got out early, cut me some slack.' Then Jankovich said, 'Well, we think you can be that guy to come in and bring the intensity we need in practice'"
Witherspoon did not know what to save after he found out.
"It felt like I was floating," Witherspoon said. "I was walking up the hill, but it felt like I was floating up the hill."
Jackie Witherspoon, Brad's mom, was the first person Brad called when he found out he made the Jayhawk basketball team.
"Brad has wanted this for a long time," she said. "Ever since he was itty-bitty he pretended he was playing for the 'Hawks."
Interestingly, neither of his parents went to the University of Kansas for their undergraduate degrees, and his mom has no idea where his passion for Kansas basketball came from.
"I'm a K-State grad, and his dad went to college in Missouri at Drury," Jackie said. Jackie did, however, earn her master's degree
from Kansas.
Brad said his passion for KU basketball really began once his brother was at KU.
Witherspoon remembers attending his first KU basketball game, back when Greg Ostertag was on the team.
"i ended up falling asleep on the bench," he said with a smirk. "But I
While Brad was a long shot at making the KU basketball team, he never thought twice about his college decision.
was a big Jacque Vaughn fan, and I still have an autographed poster of Greg Ostertag in my house as we speak."
His high school coach, Craig Smith, encouraged Brad to look at
Division II schools.
"He had offers from every IUCO around and a couple of D-2 schools," Smith, now the Athletics Director at Humboldt High School. "I almost encouraged him to go to a D-2 school, but from day one, he was always set on KU."
》 BIG 12 FOOTBALL
SEE WALK-ON ON PAGE 2B
Punter breaks stereotypes
Baylor's Sepulveda heads toward record for honors
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Punters aren't supposed to be the face of football programs, but Baylor punter Daniel Sepulveda has been breaking down such stereotypes since he arrived on Baylor's campus as a walk-on in 2002.
With the build of a linebacker and All-American honors to match his All-American smile, Sepulveda is one of the most well-known punters in the nation. Solidifying himself as the face of the program, he has
graced the cover of Baylor's football media guide the past three seasons.
Punting though, wasn't how Sepulveda expected to make an impact as a college football player.
"Certainly not, which is a testament to the fact that God has had his hand on me and has a plan for me," Sepulveda said. "This wasn't my plan, it just kind of happened."
Sepulveda
The detour has worked out well for him so far. Although he was a walk on linebacker his freshman year, Sepulveda is cementing his future in the NFL as a punter. As a senior, he is also in position to break several NCAA records and join the elite company of football legend Mike Singletary. But time and time again, none of this seemed possible to Sepulveda.
When Sepulveda walked on at Baylor, he did so with aspirations of following in the footsteps of his brother Stephen, who played linebacker at Baylor. However, when coach Guy Morriss was hired in December 2002, he met with the team in search of a better punter. Not knowing he would no longer be able to play linebacker, Sepulveda raised his hand and volunteered to give punting a try.
When he discovered he would have to be a full-time punter, it took him some time to let go of his dream
of playing linebacker.
"I came from a background where I played a more substantial position, one that sees the field a little bit more often, so it was hard for me to accept the fact that a lot of times I'd play four-to-eight plays a game," Sepulveda said.
As a redshirt freshman in 2003, Sepulveda earned first-team All-Big 12 honors from College Football News. The next year, he won the Ray Guy Award, which is given to the nation's top punter. His junior season, he became only the sixth two-time All-American in school history, earning second-team All-American honors from several sources.
Despite an impressive junior season, Sepulveda decided to return for his senior season before testing the professional waters. But last April — the month when college football players are drafted, putting an end to their amateur careers — Sepulveda's future at Baylor was put in jeopardy for another reason.
During the Easter holiday weekend Sepulveda was playing a pick-up game of basketball when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, which is his non-kicking leg.
After surgery, he sat down with Morriss and told him that he expected to play in Baylor's season opener on Sept. 3. He said doctors told him he couldn't do any structural damage to the knee during rehabilitation, but the knee would experience some soreness. So, it all came down to how rigorously Sepulveda could rehab the knee and how much pain he could handle.
"I didn't even know I could do it," Sepulveda said. "I just told him that I had every intention of doing everything I could to make it happen."
When Baylor's 2006 season opener arrived, Sepulveda was in the lineup. He said the key to his rehabilitation was God instilling in him the perseverance to work out on a daily
SEE SMROYER ON PAGE 2B
PROFILE
Libero described as fireball
Various nicknames applied to senior player after consistent serving successes
BY JEFF DETERS
Her name is Danielle Wittman. But at volleyball practice, you might hear players and coaches call her "D-Witt," "Dan Dog" and "Danni-Wanni."
Nicknames are often given to players for various reasons, including accomplishments on the playing field. But finding out where and who started the nickname can sometimes be a mystery.
To find the answer, she wouldn't have to go very far. Following the Kansas victory against K-State last Wednesday, junior right side hitter/setter Emily Brown was given credit for "Dan Dog," and another player later came clean on the other.
"I don't know where any of these names come from," Wittman, a senior defensive specialist/libero said.
"I was the one who invented Danni-Wanni," senior outside hitter Iana Correa said.
Correa thought about calling her "Danil-Witt," but ultimately decided that was too boring. Wittman and Correa have spent hours together both on and off the court, and the
two have become close friends.
"Dani Wittman is a fun girl." Correa said. "She's such a nice girl. She's like a sister."
go somewhere,
Wittman is usually her chauffeur.
This season Wittman has spent much of her time driving volleyballs onto the opposing team's side of the floor.
Correa is from Brazil and doesn't have a car in Lawrence. But when
Wittman has played in 17 of KU's 19 matches this season, playing solid defense and contributing 35 digs. On offense she has drilled 15 serving aces this season, including five in her last three games.
Shes that fireball on our team that we always talk about," Brown said. "You always need that spark plug, and that's for sure Dani Wittman."
"She's that
“Coach Jones said ‘Dani, you’re mentally tough, you’re mentally tough, you’re mentally tough.’ So every time I go behind the line I say I’m men-
gave her a few words of encouragement.
"She's the fireball on our team that we always talk about. You always need that spark plug, and that's Dani Wittman."
She credits her serving success to assistant coach jill Jones Stucky, who
EMILY BROWN Junior right side hitter/setter
tally tough, and I'm in." Wittman said. "It's part of positive self-talk."
Wittman, a native of Salina, had many positives to talk about with her friends following the Kansas State victory, including shots on the
K-State volleyball team.
"I love the rivalry between KU and K-State, just because I have so many friends on the other side of the net," Wittman said. "During the game you want to beat them, but after the game you're great friends again. So it's a healthy competition."
Competing against K-State at the Horejsi Center had been a problem for Kansas until last Wednesday's game. The Jayhawks finally defeated
After winning their previous two matches the Jayhawks have momentum going into their next game Oct. 28 at Texas A&M. The Jayhawks have only a month remaining in the regular season. And as time on her Jayhawk career draws to a close, Wittman couldn't help but reflect on her playing career.
"That was very important to these seniors and this group to make that happen," Bechard said. "And it couldn't have come at a better time."
"I think you look back and you're like, 'Have I done it long enough? Did I do it every single game?'" Wittman said. "That's how I hope my team-mates remember me; as a good teammate, one that brought them energy and made them feel comfortable."
Bechard knew how much the victory meant to his team.
the wildcats at the Horejsi Center for the first time during coach Ray Bechard's tenure.
Kansan sportswriter Jeff Deters can be contacted at jdeters@kansan.com.
Kansan file photo
Edited by Patrick Ross
Dani Wittman, senior defensive specialist/libero, is described by her teammates as a ' spark plug.' Wittman is nearing the end of her Jayhawk career and has had consistent serving success.
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