SPORTS
CROSS COUNTRY LEANS ON SENIORS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 5B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
QUARTERBACK BATTLE UPDATE
PAGE 3B
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007 PAGE 1B
FOOTBALL
Arising leader
Teammates name Talib as the only nonsenior team captain for the 2007 season
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
qib Talib is not a quiet guy. On game day his performance screams loud enough to warrant the second-team All-American status he earned last season. On the practice field, the junior's good-natured taunts frequently rise above the din of whistles and the cracking of colliding shoulder pads. In front of the media, Talib turns the volume up a notch.
"It has to be double digits," Talib said.
"I have to get that record, I think the record's 10, I just have to get it."
Talib knows his Kansas history. The record he is gunning for in 2007 is the single-season school interception record. After snaring six interceptions last season and two in 2005, the Richardson, Texas, native plans to add to his stat line and the record book in a big way this season.
Talib's talk may sound a bit loud, but he certainly has the credentials to prop up his predictions.
Talib reeled in some regional attention in 2005 thanks to a strong freshman season. He earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention status from the league's coaches, a rarity for a true freshman. At the start of last season, the accolades began to roll in. Talib's name popped up on watch lists for national defensive awards and the preseason All-Big 12 team.
After sitting out the first two games of the 2006 season, Talib made a lasting impression in the final ten contests.
Although teams often avoided his side of the field, he led the nation in passes defended per game. Talib showed he was more than a shutdown corner, switching to the offensive side of the ball and making a sensational 42-yard touchdown catch at Missouri.
EARNING RESPECT
The most impressive testimonials come not from the stat book or Talib's mouth, but from his teammates and coaches.
"Aqib has developed some of the good, strong leadership qualities that we were hoping for," coach Mark Mangino said. "He's a competitive guy who had to grow and mature as a person, and he's done that. Football is serious business to him."
The coach spent a substantial chunk of his half-hour, media-day press conference heaping praise on the player whom he suspended early last season for unspecified disciplinary reasons. The former rule-breaker has become a leader of the 2007 Kansas team. He was one of four players chosen by teammates as a team captain, and was the only non-senior to earn the distinction.
Mangino said he was pleased with the effort Talib showed in the weight room this offseason and that the cornerback is capable of doing almost anything on the football field.
"Aqib Talib is a very positive dude," junior safety Patrick Resby said. "Everything that comes out of his mouth is positive. He's just a great vocal leader."
VOLLEYBALL
Right sides/setter Emily Brown returns to the team this season. She started every match in her career and was on the team during its three-year NCAA tournament
SEE TALIB ON PAGE 4B
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Bechard setting up year to make history
rdodd@kansan.com
BY RUSTIN DODD
The office of Kansas volleyball coach Ray Bechard is playing dual roles these days.
Awards and photographs from Bechard's first nine years at Kansas and his prior 13 years as coach at Barton County Community College take up nearly every inch of wall space in an office that is one part administrative work place and one part trophy room.
The makeshift shrine to Kansas volleyball is a visual reminder of the success Bechard has had during his tenure. But
while Bechard sits three away from becoming the coach with the most wins in Kansas volleyball history, Bechard's thoughts are on rebounding from a disappointing 2006 season.
After reaching the NCAA tournament three consecutive seasons, from 2003 to 2005, the volleyball team finished 2006 with a 10-19 record. Despite the setbacks of last year, Bechard appears poised and confident that his team can regain a place in the upper half of the Big 12 Conference and make a run at an NCAA tournament berth.
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 5B
STUDENT LOANS
NY Attorney General investigating Athletics Dept. Marchiony refutes kickback allegations printed in press release
BY THOR NYSTROM
tnystrom@kansan.com
tnystrom@kansan.com
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigating the University of Kansas Athletics Department in early August along with 39 other college athletics departments to determine whether they received kickbacks for steering athletes and students to preferred education lenders.
The department fired back.
"In the press release," Associate Athletic Director Jim Marchiony said, "they made what I consider a huge leap assuming that because a company was a sponsor of an athletics department that that athletics department was taking kickbacks. There were quotes in there that, in my view, were unconscionable
and borderline unethical."
Cuomo distributed th 1. He also served subpoenas and document requests to the 40 departments, 38 of which are Division I schools.
Cuomo distributed the release on Aug.
already generate from their student
"Students trust their university's athletics departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team," Cuomo said in a press
There were quotes in there that, in my view, were unconsciousable and borderline unethical.
JIM MARCHIONY Associate Athletic Director
tremendous revenue athletes. Today's action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry."
release. "To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division 1 schools
Marchiony said the department was not happy that the Attorney General's office sent the press release to the media before contacting universities. He also attended.
was displeased with the
was displeased with the wording of the release.
SEE ATHLETICS ON PAGE 5B
'The Kansas Comet not alone in program's.legacy
COMMENTARY
BY BRYAN WHEELER
bwheeler@kansan.com
Take into consideration some of the other schools in the Big 12 Conference and the football legacy that each respective program has. If you were to guess which schools in the Big 12 have the highest number of football players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you would surely guess football powerhouses like Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma.
If you guessed those schools, you are partially right, but what you may not have guessed is that our beloved Kansas football team is also among the top teams in the Big 12 for individual players later enshined in
Photo courtesy of Spencer Research Library
Photo courtesy of Spencer Research Library.
Gale Sayers played running back for Kansas before he excelled in the NFL. He is one of three Kansas players to later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Kansas football is tied with Nebraska and Oklahoma for second all-time in the conference, behind Texas, for players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with three: Gale Savers, John Riggins and Mike McCormack.
Gale Sayers was nicknamed the "The Kansas Comet" for his lightning speed and ability to run and catch the ball, as well as to return kickoffs. He remains to this day one of the greatest athletes to play the sport. ESPN ranked him 79th in its list of greatest athletes of the 20th century, and Sporting News ranked him 21st in its list of greatest football players of all-time.
the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Shocking, huh?
A knee injury cut Sayers' career short after seven seasons at the professional level, but he still became the most player, at age 34, ever to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
John Riggins, also a running back who played for Kansas, played for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins in his professional career. Riggins ranks 13th in the NFL all-time in rushing with 11,352 yards and 10th in total touchdowns with 116. In addition to this, he was the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl XVII in 1983. In 1983, he also had a career high 1,347 rushing yards and set the record at the time for most rushing touchdowns, with 24.
SEE WHEELERON PAGE 5B