ONE AND DONE
Bob Huggins bolted from Manhattan on Thursday after just one season. Huggins is returning to his alma mater, West Virginia. He is required to pay K-State $100,000 for breaking his contract.
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FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2007 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
DENVER
PAGE1B
》 DO THE DREW
Huggins' departure hurts all Kansans
K-State recruits left in limbo
Sophomore pitcher Nick Czyz pitches in the fourth inning of the game against sixth-ranked Texas on Thursday afternoon at Hoglund Ballpark. Kansas lost the game 11-6. Game two of the three-game series is at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Hoolund Ballpark.
BY DREW DAVISON
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
DDAVISON@KANSAN.COM
Bob Huggins said goodbye to Kansas State basketball Thursday afternoon, after taking the head coaching job at his alma mater West Virginia.
K-State athletics director Tim Weiser was obviously disappointed as he held a press conference to discuss the men's basketball program.
"It was more of a, 'Hey, I'm leaving," Weiser said.
I like coaches that are dedicated to getting the job done. Dana Altman, even though he took the job at Arkansas, realized Creighton was the program he built and returned. Same with Billy Donovan staying at Florida instead of tradition-rich Kentucky. But, let's be honest, Huggins isn't that type of coach.
With the entire coaching carousel going on this offseason, I would not have thought that when John Beilein, West Virginia coach, bolted for the Michigan job in Ann Arbor, Huggins would leave Kansas State.
He recruited Beasley without the NCAA rules overlooking him — and K-State fans loved him for it. How else would a No. 1 recruit
Huggins left on a completely different note than what he was welcomed with, K-State laid out the red carpet for Huggins after he was fired from Cincinnati. Heck, they even started calling the downtown district "Huggieville."
They nearly sold out every game at Bramlage Coliseum for him. There was a rejuvenated feeling at Bramlage for the first time in a long time, especially when Kansas played there on Big Monday in February.
8th inning gives Longhorns game
SEE DAVISON ON PAGE 7B
BASEBALL
Beasley could get out of his letter to intent and follow Huggins to become a Mountaineer, but Walker would have to sit out an entire season before he could play if he chooses to transfer.
Weiser was asked whether he felt betrayed that Huggins left and, without hesitation, said, "certainly,"
"This was not the time or place," Weiser continually said during his press conference.
After one season, Huggins jolted the Wildcat nation to go back to his hometown of Morganstown. You can't blame a guy for wanting to go home, but this obviously was not the right time.
I never thought Huggins would be at K-State for more than five years, but he is potentially leaving the No.1 high school player, Michael Beasley, and highly touted Bill Walker, who played at K-State last season before he was injured. Yes, West Virginia is Huggins' alma mater, but how do you leave that on the table?
BY ALISSA BAUER
Heading into the eighth, the Jayhawks were nearly in-step with the No. 7 Longhorns. Looking nothing like the 11-6 final, the 6-4 score through the seventh saw the duration of each sixth pitcher's stxinning performance and a solid intro for each staff's relever.
Texas (27-9, 8-2) had nine hits to Kansas' (17-19, 3-7) six during the back-and-forth game, and the pitchers had given up a total of only four walks. The big inning that has plagued the Jayhawks throughout the season looked as if it had stayed away.
It showed up in the eighth
"I actually thought it was a really good college baseball game for the conditions we're playing in and how cold it is," coach Ritch Price said. "I thought both starting pitches pitched well. I didn't expect that with these conditions. We got behind in the count and had to pitch with the fastball there in the eighth inning. They beat us up in the eighth inning."
The Longhorns brought out the bats that put them in the nation's Top 10 against reliever Hiaral Garcia in the visiting half of the eighth. Center fielder Nick Peoples tagged his first home run of the season to lead off the inning. The Longhorns ended up hitting for the cycle as they sent all nine batters to plate and came up with a triple, a double and a single to compliment People's homer.
Garcia also allowed a pair of walks in the five-run-on-five-hit eighth inning.
"We just got behind a little bit
and they're too good of hitters to get behind." Toda freshman third baseman Robby Price said. "They've got a lot of first rounders. You can't do that with a program like Texas."
By the fifth, Texas seemed to be pacing the game, scoring every other inning. Although the lead stretched to 5-2 in the top of the fifth, junior right field Brock Simpson's two
run shot to right put a wrench in the Longhorns' pace.
The wrench turned out to be too small after the lopsided eighth inning, even though Simpson was
one of two runs Kansas put across in its half of the eighth.
SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 3B
SOFTBALL
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Sophomore catcher Tiffany Craner slides into second. The Jayhawks have posted 45 doubles this season, while giving up only 34 to opponents. This weekend's opponent, Texas, has tallied 39 doubles so far.
No.11 Texas up next
After unsuccessful homestand, Jayhawks depart for Austin
BY EVAN KAFARAKIS
The Kansas softball team (26-13-1, 2-3 Big 12) got some much-needed practice Thursday before heading to Austin, Texas, to face the Longhorns (27-9, 2-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Seven games in seven days have limited the Jayhawks to correcting their recent struggles on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
"We haven't had a chance to have a solid practice in a couple weeks," coach Tracy Bunge said.
"Last couple of games, we're making mistakes and when you're struggling, that's the last thing in the world you need," Bunge said. "Hopefully practice gets them going in the right direction."
Senior ace pitcher Kassie Humphreys is in a slump. She has given up 17 hits and 16 earned runs, walked six and struck out 11 in her last four outings.
The Jayhawks came in to a five-game homeand winning four in a row against Oklahoma State and Missouri State, but left the comforts of home after losing four of five games.
Defensively, the team has committed seven errors in the past five games.
The offense has hit a stall of its own, scoring only a combined 10 runs in five games while giving up 24 runs to opponents.
It won't get any easier for the Jayhawks as they face No. 11 Texas at McCombs Field.
Texas was projected to be ranked fifth in the Big 12 standings preseason polls, just in front of the Jayhawks, who were projected to finish sixth.
"Texas is a tough place to play," Bunge said. "The thing about the Big 12 is that you never have a day that you can feel like you can breathe. Everybody can play."
The Longhorns hold the all-time series against Kansas 11-10, with a 6-1 record against the Jayhawks in Austin.
Kansan sportswriter Evan Kafarakis can be contacted at ekafarakis@kansan.com.
Edited by Kelly Lanigan
>> TRACK AND FIELD
Kansas has strong early showing
Athlete sets new school record in hammer throw at Texas Relays
Junior Ashley Brown and senior Janiece Gatson also qualified for the meet, finishing in 10th and 19th place, respectively. Brown, the Co-Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week, finished in 59.10 seconds, while Gatson was close behind at 1:00.76. The men's 4x800 meter relay team finished in 7:34.01, good for fifth.
Junior Egor Agafonov and sophomore Zlata Tarasova made impressive outdoor debooks for the Jayhawks as Kansas scored plenty of early success at the Texas Relays on Thursday.
Agafonov, the 2007 NCAA indoor weight throw champion, won the hammer throw with an impressive toss of 233-04 feet, the third best throw in the nation and a new school record. Tarasova took second place with her throw of 200-01 feet. Both Agafonov and Tarasova earned qualifying marks for the Midwest Regional Championships, the meet at which Tarasova tossed a school record 204-05 feet in 2006.
BY TAYLOR BERN
Brown still has the 100-meter hurdles, an event that she won at the Tulsa Duels two weeks ago.
Still to compete is 2007 Big 12 indoor pole vault champion, freshman Jordan Scott, who
Senior Abby Emsick and sophomore Stephanie Horton will compete in the discus and shot put, respectively. They are ranked second and fourth in the Big 12 in their events.
Junior Colby Wissel, a seventh-place finisher in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships, will race in the mile, while junior Julius Jiles takes on both the 110m and 400m hurdles.
Opting to keep some athletes in-state, the Jayhawks will send a group to compete in the Emporia State/State Farm Relays on April 7.
makes his outdoor debut. Also pole-vaulting will be Indoor All-American Kate Sultanova and freshman Britany Parker.
Highlighting the field will be female pole-vaulters Laura Gjerde and Libby Harmon, along with Josh Kirk, who will compete in the 110m hurdles, shot put and discus.
All athletes are competing with an eye on the Kansas Relays, which take place on April 18-21 at Memorial Stadium.
Kansan sportswriter Taylor Bern can be contacted at tbern@kansan.com.
Edited by Trevan McGee