KANSAS RECRUIT
APRIL NANCE, a 6-foot guard from Huntsville, Ala., who has committed to play for Kansas next season, has been named to the 1997 PARADE All-American high school girls' basketball team.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Nance, who attends Butter High School, was a third-team selection. The PARADE team is selected annually by college coaches, scouts and recruiters.
Nance is one of many PARADE All-Americans who have come to Kansas. Guard Erin Reed was a two-time PARADE All-American, and forward Lynn Pride was named to the 1995 team. Former guard Tamecka Dixon was a member of the 1993 PARADE All-American team.
NCAA FUTURE SITE DOWN TO TWO
Either KANSAS CITY, Mo., or Indianapolis will be chosen as the site of the new NCAA headquarters. Dallas and Denver have been eliminated.
A group of college presidents and athletic administrators reviewing potential sites made the decision after a telephone-conference meeting Monday.
CHIEFS SIGNEES
The KANSAS CITY CHIEFS signed tight end Oscar McBride, offensive tackle Leslie Rattliffe and defensive back Michael Centers.
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1997
McBride, 24, signed as a free agent with the Arizona Cardinals in 1995. In 16 games, he caught 13 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He played one game with Arizona last season before being released.
Ratliffe, 23, spent last season with Arizona's practice squad. Ratliffe will spend spring in the World League with the Scottish Claymores.
Senters, 25, spent 1995 on the Chiefs practice squad. He was a fifth-round selection of the Carolina Panthers in the 1995 draft but sat
out his rookie season with an ankle injury.
SECTION B
K-State quarterback role ready for five candidates
MANHATTAN — The quarterback position is wide open as Kansas State begins spring practice. However, 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore Jonathan Beasley could have the advantage.
Beasley spent his freshman season as backup to fifth-year senior Brian Kavanagh, a master of coach Bill Snyer's complicated system of offense and the architect of last season's 9-3
Snyder lists five quarterback candidates on his roster, including one that's not even
Michael Bishop, a 6-3, 195-pounder, was rated one of the top three junior college quarterbacks last year after leading Blinn (Texas) Community College to two straight national titles. But he will not arrive until the fall.
Beasley and his competitors are struggling to learn the nuances of Snwer's system.
It's as difficult a subject as anything the student-athletes are likely to study in their college careers. For sure, Beasley said, it's tougher to master than anything any professor has thrown at him so far.
Kavanah had spent five years in the system criticized as too complex.
Hockey player suspended for high-sticking incidents
The Flyers captain will miss today's home game against the Rangers and Saturday night's road game against Montreal. The suspension is the first in his five-year NHL career.
PHILADELPHIA — Eric Lindros has been suspended from two games and fined $2,000 for two high-sticking incidents in the Philadelphia Flyers game Monday night against the New York Rangers.
The loss of their best player comes at a crucial time for the Flyers, who need to win their final three regular-season games to be assured of first place and the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
The suspension, announced by the league yesterday, stems from the two double-minor penalties Lindros received during the game. He broke the nose of Shane Churla with one high-stick, then cut Ulf Samuelsson's face with another one late in the game
Isiah Thomas denies claims that he gambled as a player
"As I said to them (the authors) at that time, they're lies, they're rumors, they're innuendo," he said. "The people who are supposedly saying this, I wish they'd put a face behind it. It's very easy to stand behind walls and throw stones."
The book, *Money Players*, by Armen Keteyian, Harvey Araton and Martin Dardis, claims that Thomas lost up to $1 million in high-stakes dice games and cites six unidentified sources. Thomas bristled at the reports.
NEW YORK — Longtime NBA star Isaiah Thomas is lashing out at a new book that claims gambling losses by him and teammate James Edwards raised questions about point-shaving during two Detroit Pistons games in 1989.
The six unidentified sources included four eyewitnesses who said they witnessed craps games at the homes of Thomas' neighbor, Emmet Denha.
One gambler, identified as an attorney, told the authors he had seen Thomas win what looked like $250,000 one night, but saw Thomas and Edwards take a financial beating another time.
The Associated Press
Roberson joined team later than expected
Junior college prospect's quarterback goals delayed, not derailed by academics
By Tommy Gallagher
By Tommy Gallagher
Kansan sportswriter
GR Gordon-Ross / KANSAN
Roberson, who will be a junior this fall, transferred from Southwest Community College in Los Angeles during winter break. He would have been a Jayhawk last season but was one class short and was forced to wait a semester before transferring.
Quarterback Akili Roberson is new to Kansas this semester, although he came to Lawrence one semester later than he had planned.
Roberson said he had learned of the missing math class July 12 when he was in Lawrence preparing for the 1996 season.
"I had been here for one month to work out when I got the call saying I was one class short." Roberson said. "A lot of things went through my head."
Roberson had talked to coaches from Hawaii, Arizona, Iowa State and Michigan before he signed with Kansas in 1996. Former Kansas football coach Glen Mason landed Roberson on the heels of a 1995 season that featured a 10-2 record and an Aloha Bowl victory.
Roberson said coaches from Arizona, Hawaii and Iowa State had lost interest in him because they were concerned about his academics. He discussed transferring to Michigan when Mason left for Minnesota but said that Kansas was the right school for him.
"I didn't necessarily come here to play for Mason," Roberson said. "I would have come here whether I had to sit out one year or not. Once I got here, I liked the environment and the team. That's why this is the only trip I took."
Now that he finally is a Jayhawk, Roberson is trying to earn the starting quarterback position during spring practice. Others vying for the spot include Matt Johner, who will be a senior, and Zac Wegner, who will be a sophomore.
Kansas football coach Terry Allen said it might be tough for Roberson to adjust to the new Kansas offense during spring practice.
"It's going to be a challenge for him because it wasn't a real sophisticated offense at his junior college," Allen said. "We're going to ask a lot more of Akili than he's ever been asked before. But he has the attitude, and he'll do anything to learn the new offense."
Quarterback Akili Roberson, who will be a junior this fall, gets ready to pass the ball during practice. Roberson, third on the depth chart, is a transfer from Southwest Community College in Los Angeles.
Roberson said he would like to be the Jayhawks' starting quarterback this fall, although he acknowledged he would have to unseat Johner, the incumbent, and Wegner to do so.
Regardless, Roberson said making the move from the West Coast to Kansas proved critics at Arizona, Hawaii and Iowa State wrong.
"Other coaches thought that I wouldn't
make it through juco," Roberson said. "People from my hometown said that I wouldn't make it through school and that I wouldn't last. Coming to the University of Kansas — period — was just something I had to prove."
NBA all-time list should take back the Shaq
Shaquille O'Neal should not be considered one of the 50 all-time greatest players in the National Basketball Association.
Shaq is in his fifth season and hasn't had a long enough career to be considered a top 50 player.
No doubt he could be considered one of the top 50 players of all time when his career is finished.
But a player should not make an elite list based on what he or she might accomplish. He or she should be measured on what already has been achieved.
Fifty experts were asked to vote on the 50 greatest players in NBA history. The 50 players who
received the most votes are featured in the book NBA at 50 and were honored at this year's All-Star game in Cleveland.
The panel consisted of coaches, team executives, veteran members of the print and electronic media, and
some of the greatest players in NBA history.
But I disagree with the NBA's criteria for this voting process.
When special-anniversary lists are put together for any league recognizing the greats in its sport, it should not include players who are still active.
Now relax. Take a deep breath and listen.
Sure, Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon are two of the top 50 players to ever touch a basketball. But there are better players than Shaq and David Robinson who did not make the list.
And if you agree with putting current players on the list, then why weren't Kevin Garnett or Grant Hill on the it? They have played in the first 50 years of the NBA, and they eventually could be two of the top 50 players of all time.
The NBA could tarnish its list by taking a current player who doesn't live up to the billing. The National Football League did.
The NFL selected Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Rod Woodson to the NFL's 75th anniversary team. After he was selected, he blew out his knee in the first game of the
See ADAM,Page 2B
Thousands ready to run in relays
Wednesday marks 72nd annual event
By Matt Woodruff
Kansan sportswriter
While announcing the entries for the 1997 relay, Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz said that the competition, which begins Wednesday, would be intense.
With more than 50 colleges and universities and 180 high schools competing next week, the 72nd annual Kansas Relays should be as competitive as ever.
"We may not have as many headliner types come from Kansas," Schwartz said yesterday. "But what people enjoy watching is competition when there are five kids running close after five minutes."
Schwartz said the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, which will
sponsor the event for the second year in a row, was the reason for the strong turnout.
"The fact the word has gotten out that we have sponsorship has enabled us to
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have many cop athletes express interest in competing at the relays," he said. "We had 33 messages this morning in three hours from people who wanted to compete."
Big 12 Conference Indoor Track and Field Champion Nebraska will send several conference champions and All-Americans.
Cross-state rival Kansas State will send, among others, 1996 Olympian Ed Broxterman in the high jump and women's jumpers Wanita Dykstra and Vanitta Kinard, who will be among the
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favorites at the Big 12 and NCAA championships.
The meet also will feature athletes who have stood out on the national and international level.
Among the weapons Kansas will have are All-American decathlete Michael Evers and co-captain Nathan Prenger. Prenger was in second place in the Big 12 indoor heptathlon heading into the final event, but was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury.
In the mile run, eight of the event's participants have posted six-four minute miles. Included in this group are 1996 Olympian and two-time defending United States national champion Paul McMullen, Wichita State's 1996 NCAA 800-Meter Champion Einars Tupurirtis.
On the women's side, Kansas heptathlon record holder Candace Mason will be a scoring threat. Four members of the throwing group, Kim Feldcamp, Lisa Beran, Marlea Woodman, and April Kockrow, placed in the top eight in an event at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
who is ranked third in the world in the 800-meter run, Paul Michalek, who ranked eighth in the U.S. in the mile, and Kevin Sullivan, who is second in the Canadian mile rankings.
The pole vault will feature four vaulters who have career bests of more than 19 feet, which is a first at the Kansas Relays. Former Kansas All-American and 1996 Olympian Scott Huffman, will lead the group. Huffman will attempt to clear 19 feet for the eighth year in a row next week, a feat that has never been accomplished by an American. Also competing will be Jeff Hartwig, who is ranked second in the United States., and Dean Starkey and Bill Deering, who are ranked third in the United States.
Schwartz said the relays' reputation continued to grow.
"It has grown three or four fold and might be even bigger next year," he said. "In years to come, this will be the largest non-paying track meet in the country."