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Three make All-Big 12 team
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Senior Kuni Dorn was chosen for the third consecutive year TENNIS|3B
GAME 2: KANSAS 9, WICHITA STATE 2
Breaking loose from the losing
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior second baseman Sara Ramirez slips in behind a baserunner at first to tag for an out. Kansas faced Wichita State in a doubleheader Wednesday night, splitting the games with a 4-11 loss during the first and a 9-2 victory during the second. The Jawahvers amassed 14 hits in the second game, as they broke a six-game losing streak.
Team splits doubleheader with Wichita St.
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
twitter.com/zgetz
“It’s been a while since we beat a team like that,” Hull said. “When you come out and win, all of this is worth it. One win like that can erase so many losses for me.”
It was also Kansas' largest margin of victory since it defeated Harvard 9-1 March 19 this season. With the split doubleheader, Kansas moved to 19-30 (1-13.) while Wichita State moved to 17-28.
After six straight losses, freshman outfielder Rosie Hull said she badly wanted a victory. After suffering defeat in the first game of a doubleheader, 4-1, Kansas rebounded and broke its losing streak by defeating Wichita State 9-2 in game two.
Kansas racked up a seasonhigh 14 hits in the second game. Freshman outfielder Alex Jones said it took only one hitter to get the team going.
"I feel like hitting overall is contagious," Jones said. "If the top of the order is doing their job and getting on base, it sparks the rest of the team to do the same."
The first game started off slow, but the hits started falling for Wichita State in the top of the fourth when it had three hits, and one got on base with a Kansas error. The Shockers walked away with a 3-0 lead after the fourth, and added another in the fifth.
Kansas started to come to life in the sixth when a Mariah
Montgomery single brought home Jones, and a Britney Hile double put runners on second and third with no outs. Even with two in scoring position, Kansas was unable to score another run in the inning, and Wichita State won the game 4-1.
Coach Megan Smith said the hitters had been handling the riseball pitch well this season, but for some reason the team was chasing too many balls in the first game.
"We just didn't execute the
SEE SPLIT ON PAGE 8B
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior pitcher Sarah Verteka throws a pitch during the first game of Kansas' doubleheader against Wichita State Wednesday night. Verteka pitched just over four innings and gave up seven hits and four runs in a 4-1 loss.
SERIES RECAP
**Game 1**
Wichita State 4, Kansas 1
**Game 2**
Kansas 9, Wichita State 2
PAGE 1B
UP NEXT
Kansas at Oklahoma
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Norman, Okla.
View a photo gallery of the game at kansan.com/photos/galleries.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Vitale visits Washburn talks March Madness
BY COREYTHIBODEAUX
cthibodeaux@kansan.com
twitter.com/c_thibodeaux
TOPEKA — The way Dick Vitale sees it, Northern Iowa beating Kansas defined the essence of March Madness.
For Vitale, an ESPN college basketball analyst, it's miracles such as Northern Iowa's victory that make the NCAA tournament the greatest product sports has to offer.
"In the NBA, that can't happen," Vitale said, referring to the seven-game series
NBA teams play instead of single-elimination tournaments. "That's really the definition to me of what really breaks down what I would call March Madness."
Vitale talked basketball and life at Washburn University Wednesday, where he spoke as part of the Washburn Lecture Series, "The Game of Life"
Vitale
He had much to say about the state of college basketball before the event as well. And he did so as animated and emotional as fans have come to expect.
Vitale didn't know where to
"I do know this, though," Vitale said, "Bill Self and Kansas will always be right up on top in the Big 12."
rank Kansas or Kansas State for next year, and the only predictions he had were his top two teams for next year: Duke and Michigan State.
"I think the one-and-done is the biggest joke that ever hit college athletics," Vitale said. "It is an embarrassment to the term 'student athlete'"
But he expressed extreme displeasure with the one-and-done rule, which requires players to be 19 years old or have at least one NBA season elapse before they can play in the NBA. Most players opt for one year of college, giving the rule its popular name.
"To me, you are supposed to reward greatness," he said.
Vitale said he loved the NCAA Tournament expanding to 68 teams instead of the proposed 96. That way, everyone can be happy without watering down the competition and the regular season keeps its meaning, Vitale said.
When players come to college knowing they're good enough for the pros, he said, they do not
TENNIS
SEE VITALE ON PAGE 10B
Tournament gives team a chance for redemption
BY KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com twitter.com/kgier
After a disappointing eight-match losing streak to end the regular season, the tennis team will face No. 39 Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament today at 10 a.m.
Kansas, who lost to the Sooners 5-2 on April 18, enters the match as the No. 12 seed. Oklahoma is seeded at No. 5.
The Sooners are led by the No. 97 singles player, Ana-Maria Constantinescu, and the No. 38 doubles team of Constantinescu and Teona Tsertvadze. When Kansas faced Oklahoma, freshman Vika Khanevskaya and sophomore Erin Wilbert recorded victories. Both Khanevskaya and Wilbert went into third set tiebreakers.
"I think we have a chance like any other team," senior Kuni Dorn said. "We are always there; we just need to finish."
"It definitely helps when you know a little bit about who you are playing, especially going into a tournament. It is a new season," coach Amy Halt-Holt
Jerry Wana/KANSAN
Sophomore Ekaterina Morozova hits a backhand against Baylor's #1 doubles team LENA Broosova and Corsi Bassorai. She and her doubles partner Erin Wilbert fell to the Rears 8-1.
SEE TENNIS ON PAGE 3B
COMMENTARY
BY ALEX BEECHER abeecher@kansan.com
Iowa State makes hire to recapture the 'magic'
The so called "Hilton Magic" a supposed force Iowa State fans believe they have for their Cyclones at home, isn't just something only they believe in anymore.
The athletics department at Iowa State, which was supposed to make an objective and reasoned decision on whom to hire as its next men's basketball coach, decided to make a nostalgic decision seemingly based on this magic.
I trust that youre too smart to actually believe in "Hilton Magic." You're too smart to hire a popular ex-player as your head coach, despite the fact that he has no coaching experience whatsoever and no experience in the college game since his playing days.
You're too smart to hire Fred Hoiberg. But apparently, the Iowa State brass are not.
Increased ticket sales can be used to improve a program that has suffered through five straight losing seasons. If Iowa State had a destitute fanbase, that might be reason enough to justify the hire. But Iowa State fans are passionate, and they pack Hilton Coliseum.
Hoiberg, who played from 1991 to 1995, will be a popular hire in Ames. He didn't earn the nickname "The Mayor" without a positive standing there. Hoiberg's popularity is because of his fantastic career playing at Iowa State, which he parlayed into a solid NBA run. With Hoiberg, Iowa State is almost certain to sell more tickets this coming season.
Before you point to Frank Martin's success at Kansas State as a justification for hiring a coach with no college experience, remember that Martin had been a head coach years before he took the Kansas State job in 2007, albeit at the high school level. He also had experience as an assistant, working under Bob Huggins. Finally, and most importantly, Martin had numerous ties to Amateur Athletic Union circles, and thus could recruit top-tier players.
The Cyclones still finished last season third in the conference in attendance behind only Kansas and Texas.
Yes, Holberg will guarantee increased interest from some nostalgic fans.
Hoiberg, on the other hand, hasn't been any kind of a coach, on any level. Nor does he have any known connections in the AAU. Since his playing days, Hoiberg has served in the Minnesota Timberwolves' front office, now one of the worst franchises in the NBA.
but only if you're Iowa State.
4
A WELCOME
HOME
Hoiberg was
introduced as
 Iowa State's
new head coach
Wednesday
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
PAGE 10B
But you know what really increases ticket sales? Consistently winning. And do you hire someone who has never been a coach, on any level, if winning games is your goal? Apparently you do
A better comparison than Martin would be Clyde Drexler, the early '80s University of Houston star who returned to coach his alma mater in 1998. After two years and a 19-39 record, Drexler decided to "spend more time with his family" and resigned.
Which, barring some Gandalf like wizardry, is how Hoiberg's stint at Iowa State is likely to end.
Edited by Jesse Rangel