MOST IMPROVED
ISAAC AUSTIN of the Miami Heat, who came back from a season in Turkey, was voted the NBA's most improved player.
Austin, a 6-foot-10 center, averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds and shot 50 percent as the backup to Alonzo Mourning. When Mourning was injured late in the season, he started and averaged 15.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.
He received 41 votes of a possible 115 from a panel of media members, 24 more than Toronto's Doug Christie. Portland's Rasheed Wallace was third with 13 votes and Austin's Miami teammate, Voshon Lenard, was fourth with nine votes.
Austin played for Tuborg Izmir in Turkey in the 1995-96 season after spending parts of three seasons with Utah.
Seniors JACQUE VAUGHN, SCOT POLLARD, JEROD HAASE, STEVE RANSOM, and JOEL BRANSTROM end their Barnstorming '97 Tour tonight at Allen Field House.
BASKETBALL SENIORS PLAY TONIGHT
They will face an All-Star team that includes
former Kansas player Bud Stallworth.
Haase will not play because of injury. In his place is former player Calvin Rayford.
Tickets are $5 at the Kansas Athletic
Ticket Office.
MONDAY, MAY 5. 1997
BRUINS COACH
MIKE MEENAN, fired this season as general manager and coach of the St. Louis Blues, met with Boston Bruins officials about their vacant coaching job.
Keenan met with Bruins assistant general manager Mike O'Connell Thursday before O'Connell left for the World Championships in Finland.
in addition to coaching duties.
General manager Harry Sindan said the talks began several weeks ago in Florida and he was not concerned that Keenan would want a management role
Sinden said Keenan had a good background working with young players.
Keenan is 470-318-99 overall with the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, New York and St. Louis.
Kansas State's search for quarterback continues
SECTION B
MANHATTAN, — Fans wanting an answer to Kansas State's quarterback question will just have to wait.
Competitive performances from sophomore quarterbacks Jonathan Beasley and Adam Helm during the Wildcats' Purple vs. White spring scrim-
mage Satur-
day put the
answer further
out of reach.
"A No. 1 is
A No.1 is going to
emerge," coach Bill Snyder said. "I can't tell you if it will be one of these two guys or if it will be Michael Bishop, but eventually one will emerge."
Bishop, a junior transfer from Blinn Community College in Texas, won't join the Wildcats until fall practices. His arrival will further complicate the quarterback competition.
Beasley went 11-for-16 on the day for 156 passing yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Everett Burnett in the second quarter. Beasley was also the third-leading rusher with 31 yards on three attempts.
Helm was 12-for-21 for 126 yards in the air but had one interception late in the fourth quarter and was sacked twice.
Tigers pitcher hit in head, taken to hospital for X-rays
CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers pitcher Willie Blair was hit in the head by Julio Franco's line drive yesterday and taken by ambulance for X-rays of a possible broken iaw.
Blair was working on a four-hit shutout in the sixth innning when, with two outs, Franco hit a right back at the mound. The ball struck Blair in the side of the head, and he fell to the ground clutching his face.
Blair, 31, lay motionless for more than five minutes while Tigers manager Buddy Bell, his teammates and trainers from both teams attended to him.
Franco ran past first base then remained squatted with his head in his hands, trying not to look.
Detroit was leading 2-0 when Blair was replaced by John Cummings. Blair had allowed five hits, including Franco's single, walked three and struck out four.
An ambulance entered the stadium through a door in the left-field wall, and Blair was loaded onto a stretcher. He was conscious when taken to the hospital for X-rays.
The Indians traded Blair to the Houston Astros in 1991. It was Blair's first appearance against Cleveland since the trade.
Blair was 2-2 with a 5.85 ERA this season.
First timer runs away with Pittsburgh Marathon
PITTSBURGH — Dave Scudamore, running his first marathon, qualified for this year's World Championships by winning the Pittsburgh Marathon yesterday.
Suddamore is a second-year medical student at the University of California at Davis. Medical school and a series of injuries have kept Suddamore from running in other marathons.
"Because of my academic schedule and medical school, I don't have many opportunities to run," Scud-amore said. "I thought about running in the Boston Marathon, but my coach felt it'd be in over my head. He felt this race would be the right level for me. My goal was to finish in the top five."
Scudamore finished in 2:13:48, nearly three minutes in front of two-time Olympian Ed Eyestone of Layton, Utah, the runner-up.
In the women's division, Tatiana Ivanova of Russia won in 2:37:41.
—The Associated Press
Geoff Krieger / KANSAM
A Kansas State player slides safely past catcher Josh Dimmick's tag. Kansas' 7-6 loss to K-State yesterday ended the team's final conference series and a chance for postseason play.
Slipslidin'away
Post-season out of reach after weekend of losses
By Harley V. Ratliff Kansan sportswriter
The Wildcats, taking advantage of 16 Jahawk errors, swept all three games from Kansas this weekend at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium. The three losses eliminated the Jayhawks from the Big 12 Conference Tournament and insured a losing conference record for the third consecutive season.
On a weekend where Kansas baseball could have taken a tremendous step toward a promising future, Kansas State made sure the Jayhawks were firmly planted in the troubling reality of the present.
Three weeks ago the Jayhawks stood in fourth place and were poised to play in the postseason. But after several disappointing conference series, Kansas entered the weekend's series needing to win
"We didn't play our best ball this weekend," Kansas coach Bobby Randall said. "We didn't play the defense I had hoped. Three weeks ago we were having a lot more fun."
two if not three games from the Wildcats. To have a chance at overtaking Missouri for the final birth in the Big 12 tournament, the layhawks had to win one more game than the Tigers, who were playing Iowa State.
K-State second baseman Todd Fereday, who finished the series with six hits and seven RBI, put the game away in the ninth with a grand slam off Kansas reliever Casey Barrett. The Jayhawks added a run in the bottom of the inning but fell 12-7.
On Friday night, Kansas seemed ready to make its postseason dreams a reality.
However, the Jayhawks' season would soon become a nightmare.
The loss, combined with Missouri's doubleheader sweep of the Cyclones, removed Kansas from tournament contention.
"It stings a lot." center fielder Justin
Kansas jumped out to an early 5-2 lead on Friday, but after six innings, K-State had tied the score at six. Two innings later, the Wildcats regained the lead for good with two runs in the eighth.
Randall, who had known about the Missouri sweep since the fourth inning, chose not to tell his players the disheartening news until after the game.
Headley said. "Early on we weren't tight at all. When they got their four runs, we got a little tight, trying to do too much. Those things tend to happen in close games."
"I didn't want them thinking about it," Randall said. "We couldn't do anything about what Missouri did. I wanted them to focus on Kansas State. We played hard but didn't play good."
Saturday, the Jayhawks again grabbed the early lead but couldn't hold on. The Wildcats, with the help of six home runs, hammered Kansas 24-11. The K-State offense managed 20 hits, including seven doubles off five Jayhawk pitcher's.
While the performance was one of Kansas' worst of the season, Randall didn't think it was because of an emotional letdown.
"I really didn't sense that was the problem," Randall said. "We still had a lot to play for. We just gave up a lot of runs quick — that was hard. We simply couldn't keep the score down."
Although the score was closer yesterday, the outcome remained the same.
Ballpark upgrade planned
By Harley V. Ratliff Kansan sportswriter
Thanks to a recent donation, the Kansas Jayhawk baseball team will soon be roosting in a new nest.
Kansas Athletics Director Bob Frederick announced Friday plans for $1.5 million in renovations to Hoglund-Maupin stadium. The project, which will be paid for with private funds, received its largest donation from Kansas graduate Forrest Hoglund. Hoglund, a three-year letter winner for the Jayhawk
baseball team (1954-56)
donated more than $1 million to the renovation project.
"Forrest has meant as much to KU baseball as anyone who has coached or played." Frederick said. "He has been the driving force for KU baseball for a long time. We couldn't appreciate him more. His support, his encouragement, everything has been extremely positive."
The remaining expenses will be covered by the sale of premium seating locations and
Both teams traded runs early on, and after six innings, the score was tied at six. The score remained tied until the top of the 11th, when Fereyd singled in a run off Kansas relieved Josh Wingerd. The run proved to be the deciding difference as the Jawhaws lost 7-6.
After the game, right fielder Stephen Mathews, who made several spectacular catches in the outfield, reflected back on the season and the game.
See RENOVATIONS. Page 3B
"We've had a lot of ups and downs this season," Mathews said. "I've been here three years, and this is going to be the first that we haven't gone to the tournament. It's going to be hard on the upperclassmen."
The Jayhawks (30-24 overall, 12-18 conference) will close out their season next weekend with a home series with Southwest Missouri State. The two teams will open the series at 7 p.m. on Friday and conclude the next day at 1 p.m.
All it takes is a little practice
Today, I am officially declaring myself eligible for the NBA draft.
This, I assure you, is no joke, and I figured today would be a great time to do it.
I have not retained an attorney or an agent, therefore, if things do not go well on draft day, I will not lose my remaining year of eligibility.
Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz have yet to make a decision, so they can't steal my thunder.
And, since I believe that I picked up my first basketball on a Monday morning, then it is appropriate that I make this announcement official on a Monday.
That way, if Roy Williams wants to throw one of those unused scholarships my way, he still can do so.
Now, I am sure some of you are laughing at the fact that a 5-foot-9, slightly overweight white guy who has never played organized basketball in college, is declaring himself eligible.
But the truth is I have always been told that I was good.
when I was little, my parents always told me
that I could be anything I wanted to be. When they watched me play basketball, they always said, "Good job, son. Keep up the good work. And keep practicing."
When I was in fifth grade, my gym teacher couldn't stop talking about my game.
"I have never seen anyone with a style like yours, Spencer," she would say. "Keep practicing Alot."
In seventh grade, I was
SPORTS EDITOR
a killer. No one could touch my layup.
I was so good that my seventh grade coach put me on what he called a "special team."
In fact, one day I was wide open with the ball right under the basket. The game was tied 30-30, and the clock was running down.
At two seconds left, I jumped from the hard court and pushed my body up, propelling myself and the ball toward the basket.
And then, with just one second left, I released the ball and watched it sail into the hoon.
The buzzer went off, and I could hear people cheering. I had scored the winning basket.
We may have lost that day, but I promise you, it was a beautiful shot.
For the past three years I have been honing my basketball skills on the playground. There isn't a sixth grader out there who can beat me.
Of course, I was at the wrong end of the court, and the basket counted toward the opposing team.
But let me be honest, my offense needs work. I have that great layup and a decent jump shot, but I do miss a lot.
My real offensive game comes from behind the three-point line. I'm no Steve Kerr, but I have watched him play long enough to pick up a few tips.
My real strength is defense. I hate it when people score on me, and during the years it has happened quite a few times.
But I have been working on it. And now, my hands are always up. I've got some great noises that I can make to distract other players, and I have perfected the "foul at the end of the game."
Again, this is not a ioke.
I will be sending faxes to all NBA teams, the players union, major media outlets and the NBA itself.
I just want the chance to play, and I am willing to be the last pick taken.
Besides, I bought one of those Jeff Mullins Right Way Basketballs, and I don't want my money going to waste.
Comments? E-mail Spencer at
sports@kansas.com