OPENING DAY
Opening day features 12 games, including the World Series champion New York Yankees at Seattle.
THE BOYS OF SUMMER take the field today, but not without some noticeable changes.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Now, for some of those changes. Albert Belle will be wearing a Chicago White Sox uniform. Roger Clements is Toronto's top newcomer. And Jimmy Key, who clinched the sixth game of last year's World Series for the Yankees, will start for Baltimore.
This is also the 50th anniversary of Jackle Robinson breaking the color barrier, and the season is dedicated to his memory.
WINSTON CUP RACING TO BEGIN THIS WEEK
This weekend, the WINSTON CUP SERIES makes its first appearance in Texas in 16 years with the Interstate Batteries 500 at the new Texas Motor Speedway.
The last appearance by NASCAR's top division in Texas was at Texas World Speedway in June 1981, when Benny Parsons held off Dale Earnhardt for the victory.
OHIO STATE JOB
TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 1997
Boston College coach JIM O'BRIEN met with Ohio State officials yesterday to discuss the men's basketball coaching job.
O'Brien could be the leading candidate to emerge from Athletic Director Andy Geiger's conversations with coaches during the weekend at the NCAA Final Four, The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday, quoting a source it did not identify.
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Geiger also spoke with Southwest Missouri State's Steve Alford, George Washington's Mike Jarvis and Illinois State's Kevin Stallings, a former assistant coach under Roy Williams at Kansas.
Two coaches thought to be top candidates going into the search, Bob Huggins of Cincinnati and Pete Gillen of Providence, apparently have never been contacted.
Geoff Krieger / KANSAN
Basketball recruits named Parade All-Americans
Two Kansas basketball recruits have been named to the Parade All-American Boys' Basketball team.
Eric Chenowith, a 7-foot-1-inch center from Villa Park, Calif., and Kenny Gregory, a 6-foot-4-inch point guard from Columbus, Ohio, were named to the team last weekend.
Pitcher Rusty Philibrick fires a pitch. Philibrick finished with four strikeouts in yesterday's 9-1 victory against Oral Roberts.
Both players, who will play for the Jayhawks next season, made Parade's fourth team.
Parade is a magazine distributed through Sunday newspapers. The team is selected annually by college coaches, scouts and recruiters throughout the country. It includes 40 athletes from 22 states. The state of California had the most players selected with six, and New York, Illinois and North Carolina had three players selected from their states.
Chenowith and Gregory join a long list of Kansas players who have been selected to the Parade All-American team. Kansas forwards Nick Bradford, Paul Pierce and Rael LaFrentz were past Parade All-Americans. Also chosen in the past were former players Scot Pollard and Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn was a two time Parade selection.
Parade has been making All-American selections since 1956.
—Kansan staff report
Indians' Mesa to spend season opener in court
CLEVE兰AND — Instead of being with the Cleveland Indians on opening day, relief pitcher Mesa Mesa will be in court facing a rape charge.
Mesa is charged with rape, gross sexual imposition and felonious assault. The Indians will begin the season tomorrow at Oakland without their star reliever, who has had 85 saves in the past two seasons.
Mesa, who has a wife and five children, faces three to 10 years in prison if convicted of rape and two to eight years if convicted of assault.
The charges are related to a complaint by two 26-year-old women who alleged that Mesa and a friend fondled them at a motel in suburban Lakewood after meeting them in a downtown nightclub Dec. 22.
Mesa has had a rough spring on the field. In his last outing before being placed on the restricted list, he gave up a long home run to the Chicago Cubs 'Taylor Houston in the ninth inning of a 6-3 victory Saturday.
Mesa, who saved a major league-record 46 games in 48 chances with a 1.13 ERA in 1995, gave up 20 hits in 13 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA during the exhibition season.
New Orioles shortstop satisfies Baltimore fans
BALTIMORE — Mark Belanger, Luis Aparicio, Cal Ripken. And now, Mike Bordick.
Bordick makes his formal debut as Ripken's replacement at shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles today in the season opener against the Kansas City Royals. Ripken moved to third base after a 14-year run at a position that has a tradition of excellence within the franchise.
Baltimore fans love Ripken, but they've come to embrace the hardworking, reserved Bordick. He made a few more fans Sunday in an exhibition game at Camden Yards when he dived far to his right to spear a ground ball and threw out the runner.
Baltimore long had been looking for a steady third baseman, and Ripken was the answer if an excellent shortstop was available. Bordick was that shortstop, and when the Orioles signed him as a free agent they finally solidified the left side of the infield.
A year ago the Orioles opened the season by beating the Royals 4-2. Baltimore swept the series en route to an 11-2 start and ultimately made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.
—The Associated Press
Pitching pushes Kansas past Oral Roberts, 9-1
Freshman pitchers overcome early shakiness for win
By Harley V. Ratliff
Kansan sportswriter
Although they may lack the experience of veterans, Kansas freshman pitchers Jake Good and Rusty Philbrick have proven they have what it takes to get the job done.
Good and Philbrick, with the help of reliever Josh Wingerd, worked together to beat the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 9-1 yesterday at Hogland-Maupin Stadium. The two combined to pitch eight innings, allowing five hits and one run.
"The freshmen were awesome today," Kansas second baseman Joey Demarco said. "Jake was a little wild, but he settled down and gave us four good innings. Rusty was just outstanding."
Good struggled to find his control early. After walking the opening batter, the Kansas starter allowed a two-out double to Eagles first baseman Ryan Neill, letting Adam Hust score Oral Roberts' lone run.
However, Good overcame the shaky start, allowing just two hits before being replaced by Philbrick in the fifth inning.
Philbrick, who arrived at the mound with two runners on base and nobody out, ended an Oral Roberts scoring opportunity by putting down the next three hitters. Philbrick gave up two hits and no runs during the next three innings. Philbrick received credit for the win—his first as a Jayhawk.
Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall said Philbrick's relief work was an important part of the Jayhawk victory.
Although Jayhawk pitchers were
"Rusty came in and gave us a big lift in the middle of that game," Randall said. "He pitched terrificly."
Philbrick attributed his pitching success to good coaching and increased pitching control.
shining on the mound, Kansas hitters were equally impressive.
"I've just been doing what the coaches have been teaching me — keep the ball low and in the strike zone," Philbrick said. "I threw my fastball about 80 percent of the time, but it was the first time this year my curve ball has been going over for strikes."
Although they were facing the same starting Eagle pitcher, Dusty Barrett, who had allowed the Jayhawks just one run in the teams' game Friday, the Kansas offense struck early and often.
After the Jayhawks built a 3-1 lead in
"Barrett cut us up pretty good the other night." Demarco said. "But we came out focused and every
"Rusty came in and gave us a big lift in the middle of that game."
Bobby Randall Kansas baseball coach on Rusty Philbrick
ry one did their job his hitting streak to 16.
its built a 3-1 lead in
the first four
innings,
the Kansas hitters had
a three-run, three-
hit sixth inning.
With one out and the bases loaded, Kansas shortstop Paul Levins hit a sacrifice fly that scored first baseman Chad King from third. Demarco followed Levins with a double, scoring
Arizona wins title, outlasts Kentucky
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Now there's only one No. 1 left for the Arizona Wildcats — themselves.
Arizona, the team that was supposed to be a year away, just needed an extra five minutes to win its first NCAA basketball championship.
Led by the backcourt of junior Mike Simon and freshman Mike Bibby, Arizona kept Kentucky from repeating as national champion with an 84-79 overtime victory last night.
Fourth-seeded Arizona (25-9)
Fourth-seeded Arizona (2) became the first team in tournament history to knock off three No.1 seeds—Kansas, North Carolina and now Kentucky.
"We just wanted it more than them," said Simon, the game's MVP. "Their legs were dragging, they were in foul trouble. We just wanted i more."
"It's been the most fun I've ever had as a coach," Kentucky's Rick Pitino said. "I walked off the court feeling very proud."
Arizona won the first overtime championship game since Michigan beat Seton Hall 80-79 in 1989.
"The thing that I'm so pleased about is this is a tough group of Cats," Arizona coach Lute Olson said. "At halftime, we talked about the toughest team mentally and physically would win the basketball game." Arizona became the losingest team to win it all since Kansas (27-11) in 1988.
After Kentucky went on a 7-0 run to tie the game 20-20 with 8:00 left, neither team led by more than two points the rest of the half, and there were five lead changes. The last of those came with 57 seconds left as Eugene Edgerson made two free throws, giving Arizona the 33-32 halftime lead.
Arizona had a chance to win in regulation.
However, overtime was a free throw shooting contest for Arizona, which scored all 10 of its points from the foul line.
Kentucky (35-5) made just two field goals in the overtime, a basket by Anthony Epps with 1:46 left and a three-pointer by Cameron Mills with 6.4 seconds.
Simon, who scored 24 points in the semifinals, was named the tournament's most outstanding player. He finished 14-for-17 from the free throw line.
Arizona finished 34-for-41 from the line, compared to Kentucky's9-for-17.
Kentucky's lightning quick pace everyone expected wasn't there, but both teams played solid defense. The game was decided by the backcourt of Bibby and Simon, although they had 11 turnovers compared to two by the Kentucky guards.
Scott Padgett led Kentucky with 17 points, 10 in the final five minutes of regulation.
Jayhawks to take the field for their new coach today
Allen has not yet seen his football players in action
By Tommy Gallagher
Kansan sportswriter
When spring football practice starts at 4 p.m. today, Kansas football coach Terry Allen finally will see his players perform for the first time.
Allen, who is in his first season, said he would not have a two-deep depth chart until the completion of spring practice. He made that decision because he had seen his players in the weight room but not on the playing field.
"Statistically, we could use a 40-year dash time and strength to come up with a two-deep (depth chart) if we had to," Allen said. "You can take all that and throw it out the window because 'it looks like Tarzan but plays like Jane' happens a lot. We've got to see who the true football players are when we get out there and strap it on."
Allen and his new coaching staff will have 15 days of practice to sort it all out, something he said he normally would have done before spring practice.
Of the 15 days, 10 will be in full pads and
New rules created by the NCAA and the American Football Coaches Association attempt to help prevent legislative action that aims to decrease the number of spring practices in full pads to just five days.
Tyler Wirken / KANSAN
three will be in partial pads. Two days of practice will be run without pads, including today and tomorrow.
The limited number of days in full pads is new to Allen and to college coaches across the country.
Regardless, Allen and his assistant coaches must determine a depth chart during the next four weeks, particularly on offense.
Kansas football coach Terry Allen answers questions at a press conference in John Hadi Audioturium. Allen is unsure how the Jayhawks, who will start spring drills today, will fare next season because of the abundance of young players on the team.
While eight starters return on defense, the offense returns just five players, including two offensive linemen, one wide receiver, one running back and one quarterback.
Junior quarterback Matt Johner is the incumbent starter during spring practice. He will be entering his senior season this fall. Sophomore transfer Akili Roberson and freshman Zac Wegner also are expected to compete for the starting job.
Depth at running back and wide receiver concerns Allen. The loss of seniors June Henley at running back and Isaac Byrd at wide receiver will make spring practice even more important for evaluating personnel.
Junior running back Eric Vann will have a chance to earn the starting spot at tailback. Sophomore Jon Macklin, who had five carries last season, is the only other letterman to return this season.
At wide receiver, freshman John Gordon started five games for the Jayhawks last season. Two freshman wide receivers, Chad Coelner and Mike Chandler, will have a chance to earn starting spots.
Allen said the loss of Henley and Byrd created a void that would be hard to fill.
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"If you take a look at personnel, it's pretty obvious that we're a step behind offensively with the departures of June and Isaac," Allen said. "We have question marks at all positions on offense. It's a real tossup for us at the quarterback position, and we have to find some people to play receiver. But I think the running back situation will take care of itself."
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