THURSDAY, APRIL 19,2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
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> WAITING TO GRADUATE
Texting not appropriate in NCAA recruitment
BY JONATHAN KEALING
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
JKEALING@KANSAN.COM
The NCAA is about to fix a loophole in the rules that has been allowed to exist for too long.
Rules have always been in place that prevent coaches from making excessive and repeated phone calls to potential recruits. With text messaging, though, rules don't apply. And therein lies the problem. Not only could coaches have unlimited, unregulated, instantaneous conversations with players, but they could also use a text message to prod the recruit into making a phone call to the coach.
KANSAS RELAYS
Recruits are allowed to make as many calls to coaches as they'd like. The three most prominent coaches at the University of Kansas have all acknowledged that they rely on text messaging to communicate with recruits. Men's basketball coach Bill Self will even tell the story of how standout freshman Darrell Arthur committed to the University via text message. His use of text messaging, as well as that of football coach Mark Mangino and women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson, is prominent and entirely legal. But it's just not right, especially when recruits or their parents could be faced with a large bill for those incoming notes.
Finally, however, the NCAA seems poised to make changes to its policies and ban text messaging
The proposal, brought to the NCAA by the Ivy League, had two different options: One would have totally banned text messaging, while the other would limit the number of messages coaches could send.
- The NCAA Division I management council has recommended banning all electronic communication — including instant messages, but not e-mails or faxes — between coaches and recruits. This seems like a bit of an overreaction. Just as phone calls and other forms of communication are limited by number and frequency, text messages should be as well.
- Of course, the counterpoint to this is text messages in and of themselves depend on volume. A
SEE KEALING ON PAGE 2B
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
Freshman Jacob Breth and senior Josh Kirk run the final stretch of the 400-meter dash in the Kansas Relays Wednesday afternoon in Memorial Stadium. Breth finished first in the event and Kirk took second. Kirk is leading the decathlon after day one of the event. He finished first place in the long jump, second in the 400-meter-dash and set a personal best for both high jump and shot-put.
Anna Faltermieer/KANSAN
Senior Josh Kirk warms up prior to running the 400-meter dash Wednesday afternoon during the Kansas Relays. Kirk is leading the decathlon after the first day. The Kansas Relays will continue Thursday through Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Going for gold
BY TAYLOR BERN
Josh Kirk was the favorite entering the first day of the Kansas Relays decathlon competition Wednesday.
After the first five events, the Kansas senior found himself on top with a 70-point cushion, finishing the day with 3,686 points.
"it's pretty comfortable as long as I do what I need to do, because tomorrow is really my strong day," Kirk said.
Kirk started with a decent 100-meter dash and then won
Kansas senior leads decathlon with 70-point lead
the long jump, his only victory of the day. Kirk's most impressive performance came in the third event, the shot put, where he set a personal record with his throw of 40 feet and 1 inch. The mark is nearly a foot and a half farther than his previous personal best.
He said the change was due in large part to his dedication to the event.
"In the off-season I was trying to lift a lot and gain some weight so that my throws could increase." Kirk said.
Kirk then tied a personal record in the high jump before finishing second in the 400-meter dash to freshman teammate Jacob Breth.
Brehm made a showing at his first Kansas Relays, tallying 3,343
SEE TRACK ON PAGE 3B
BASEBALL
Wichita continues domination of Kansas
BY ALISSA BAUER
While looking over the program, Price said he wanted to make sure his team played .500 or better each time the two teams met.
WICHITA — When coach Ritch Price arrived in Lawrence five years ago, he had a goal in mind pertaining to the in-state powerhouse to the south, Wichita State.
State (31-9) 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Unlike the slugfest that took place nearly a month ago to the day, both the Jayhawks and Shockers trotted out a pair of quality starts from Andres Esquibel and Tyson Fugett, respectively. Although both left after three innings of work with a no decision, both left with zeros on the scoreboard and one hit apiece.
For the first time since his arrival, Price and the Jayhawks finished their series against the Shockers at Wichita State without achieving their goal.
"We should've buried the first guy," Price said about Fugett. "The first guy's throwing 79 miles an hour, he's almost under the radar gun. He really had us off balance, we were popping balls up on him because we
Senior first baseman Ross Kelling connects with the ball during Wednesday's game.
Kansas fell to No. 10 Wichita
New problems give Kansas hang-ups against Missouri
SOFTBALL
BY EVAN KAFARAKIS
The breaks continue to fall in favor of Kansas' opponents, leaving the softball team optimistic but
Senior first baseman Nicole Washburn tags a Missouri runner after a ground ball was hit up the first baseline. Washburn had two hits during the second game against the Tigers.
frustrated.
This time the breaks fell to rival Missouri (32-18, 8-1), as the Tigers beat the Jayhawks on Wednesday 1-0.
Kansas also lost the first game of the doubleheader 3-0.
The Jayhaws' (27-18-1, 3-8) recent struggles had been putting batters on base. The team fixed that
problem with a combined nine hits in both games.
The new struggle is getting the runners across home plate.
"We were on the ball, we did some things offensively, but the biggest problem is we are not scoring runners when we get
SEE SOFTBALL ON PAGE 2B
WOMEN'S GOLF
Senior becomes first Jayhawk to win tournament
Senior Amanda Costner made Kansas history Wednesday in Waco, Texas.
to win the Big 12 Championship.
She became the first Jayhawk golfer
Costner also recorded Kansas' only other top 10 individual finish in 2004 when she finished seven. She led the tour- ment after the
Costner
first day, eventually winning by four strokes over Nebraska's El Brown.
"I cannot tell you how happy I am to see that my hard work has paid off." Costner said in a press release.
As a team, Kansas finished ninth, with a three-day score of 945.
Junior Annie Giangrosso finished in a tie for 32nd and freshman Emily Powers finished in a tie for 42nd.
Freshmen Camilla Swensson and Meghan Goekel finished with a three-day scores of 245 and 249, respectively.
ROYALSTAKE REVENGE ON TIGERS
-Kansan staff report
The Kansas City Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers Wednesday afternoon 4-3.
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