6B SPORTS
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2006
Camaraderie impresses coach
Bonnie Henrickson impressed with chemistry, camaraderie; players bring their own experience, accomplishments to basketball team
BY CASE KEEFER
More than half of the roster for the Kansas women's basketball team will be new faces this season.
Kelly Kohn, LaChelda Jacobs,
Danielle McCay,Sade Morris,Lindsay
Ballweg,Porscha Weddington and
Rebecca Feickert all completed high
school last May and will be on the
2006-2007 roster.
For the group of seven, the summer was spent getting familiar with the University, going to class and following a vigorous workout regimen every day.
"They made sure that we didn't leave each day until they got everything they could get out of us," Kohn said.
Kohn thrived at the guard position at her high school in Adrian, Mich., she was named a McDonald's All-American honorable mention and a first team all-state player by the Detroit Free Press.
Because of NCAA rules, coach Bonnie Henrickson has had very limited access to the team's summer workouts, but has liked the reports she has received thus far.
"Our strength and conditioning coach has been excited about their progress, she liked their intensity,
liked their competitiveness, athleticism and agility." Hendrickson said.
However, that is not what the coach is most impressed by so far. The seven's chemistry and camaraderie seem to be working out rather nicely as well.
"When you see one, you are going to see a pack. They run together, they are together," Henrickson said. "They will talk to you about how close they've become and how well they get along and they understand why that's important."
Kohn is not the only standout guard of the group. McCray excelled at Olathe East High School en route to being named The Kansas City Star's Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Ballweg is another guard from near by, hailing from Overland Park. Jacobs, from Mansfield, Texas, rounds out the list of new guards.
At 6-foot-2 Peickert has the most size of the septet. She was named North Dakota Miss Basketball last winter and should be invaluable as far as accounting for size disadvantages. Morris, Gatorade Player of the Year, and Weddington, from Temple, Texas, play a physical style at the forward position.
After last season, when the
Jayhawks won their first post-season game in more than five years, expectations seem especially high for this group over the next four years. The attention doesn't seem to intimidate or bother Kohn.
"I can only see things getting better with having so many freshmen coming in and realizing that all of us have the same goal: to take the woman's program to its highest potential," Kohn said.
One area where the team would like to see more help is fan support. Last season marked an all-time high in student attendance during women's basketball games. Those numbers should keep rising this year. Not only are the games free to students, but Kohn is guaranteeing excitement.
"I love watching my other teammates when I'm not in the game, and I know if I was a fan I would feed off of their intensity and that love of the game. It's just something to watch," she said.
Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@kansan.com.
Edited by Mindy Ricketts
NBA
Mistaken identity plagues NBA player
BY EDDIE PELLS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eddie Johnson scratched his way out of the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago, fashioned a long and successful NBA career, turned that into an opportunity on TV and built a reputation as an all-around good guy who loves to work with kids.
Eddie Johnson was mistaken in some media reports for another Eddie Johnson -- a retired 10-year NBA player from Florida who was arrested Tuesday night and charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl.
The Eddie Johnson who had nothing to do with that accusation is a former Illinois star who went on to a 17-year career with the Kings,
Suns, Rockets and other teams.
But when some media reports about the alleged crime included his bio information and file photo linked on the Internet, his phone started ringing.
"The thing that disappointed me the most is some people were overzealous enough to think it was me and attack me with a ferocity I can't comprehend," Johnson said.
Ric Francis/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Change is in the air as season nears
BY RALPH D. RUSSO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Southern Cal quarterback John David Booty looks for a receiver during practice last week. Booty will be one of several new faces in the hunt for this season's national championship.
The Southern California dynasty has been derved, and the player most responsible won't be around to help Texas defend its crown.
For the first time in a few years, there will be a race instead of a chase for the college football national championship.
There's legitimate title talk at Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU, Auburn and West Virginia. Hopes are high for Florida and California. And let's not forget USC and Texas.
Is there even a favorite this season?
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
"At this time of year, I never have an opinion," said USC coach Pete Carroll, whose Trojans were denied a third straight national title
This season the often challenged BCS, always an easy target for those pining for a Division 1-A playoff system, debuts a new five-game, double-hosting format.
by Vince Young and Texas. "We just got to start playing and see what happens."
What college football fans will see this season is bigger — though not necessarily better: an expanded Bowl Championship Series; 12-game regular-season schedules for all major college teams and new replay rules.
"It better than it used be, which is good," said Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower, whose team is a perennial C-USA contender. "At least you have a legitimate chance now."
Since the BCS' 1998 debut, Utah of the Mountain West is the only team from outside the high-revenue leagues to play in a BCS game. The Utes needed to finish in the top six in the final BCS standings to earn a Fiesta Bowl bid.
Now, coaches can challenge a call but will lose a timeout if it's not overturned.
Now teams from the WMC, WAC, MAC, Conference USA and Sun Belt need only finish in the top 12 to get a BCS invite.
The idea behind the expansion is to give better access to teams outside the six conferences with automatic qualification — ACC, Big East, Big
The BCS championship game will be played Jan. 8, a few days after the Sugar, Rose, Orange and Fiesta bowls.
Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC.