KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 / SPORTS
3B
FOOTBALL
Rvan Wannoner/KANSAN
Senior safety Olatan Oguntodu tries to intercept a pass thrown by Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez in Kansas* 20-3 loss to Nebraska on Nov. 13. Oguntodu will graduate with marketing and finance degrees and a master's in business administration. He wants to help athletes after college.
Oguntodu balances school, family and playing football
BY ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
Senior safety Olaitan Oguntodu has a lot of those good aspects.
With all the scandals that happen in sports, the good aspects of players often get overlooked.
Oguntodu was born in Nigeria
He arrived at the University of Kansas in January 2006, 480 miles from his home in Mesquite, Texas, with a child on the way. Oguntodu
pushed himself academically for his family and will leave Kansas in five years with two undergraduate business degrees and a master's in business administration, an accomplishment that would be tough for any student, let alone a varsity athlete.
to Texas with his family when he was six years old. From an early age, his parents instilled upon him the importance of getting an education.
"It was every
house," Oguntodu said.
Oguntodu wants to create a business to help professional athletes prepare properly for their lives after they are done competing athletically. He has seen too many athletes get taken advantage of because they do not know who to trust. The athletes are then left to pick up the pieces while everyone around them laughs at them.
Growing up for six years in Nigeria has also shaped how Oguntodu views raising his fouryear-old daughter, Kloi.
"Therefore I think that there are people in positions to change that, and the only way you change things is for one individual to decide that it is time for this to stop." Oguntodu said.
"It was an experience that, to some selfish reasons, I kind of want my daughter to experience because it gives you an appreciation of others. It gives you an appreciation of what is going around in the world but I mean,
"School definitely came first in our house."
I said that, but it's rough so you have to take it with a grain of salt," Oguntodu said.
OLAITAN OGUNTODU senior safety
Oguntodu's experience growing up has also helped him handle a difficult season
day in making sure that we were in line and making sure that I was able to follow the leadership that my brothers and sisters provided. School definitely came first in our
where he started the first half of the season at safety before being switched to linebacker and seeing much less playing time on the field. It has also helped him lead
Two late free throws help Volunteers win
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Trae Golden, playing in place of an injured Melvin Goins, hit a pair of free throws with 7.2 seconds left and No. 24 Tennessee beat Missouri State 60-56 in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Wednesday night.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Tennessee (3-0) had a sevenpoint lead with 27.9 seconds left off a pair of foul shots by Cameron Tatum, but Jermaine Mallett hit a 3-pointer to make it 57-53 with 19.7 seconds left.
Missouri State's Adam Leonard answered another pair of Tatum free throws with a 3-point shot to cut the Vols' lead to 58-56 with 8.3 seconds left. Corey Copeland fouled Golden hard, sending him to the floor, but the
a defensive unit that has struggled at times and a team that has seen more lows than highs in the last year.
"I think he is the consummate team player," defensive coordinator Carl Torbush said. "He hasn't been a moaner or groaner. I think he has been a solid leader. Even when things have been tough, he has competed."
Tennessee advances to face Virginia Commonwealth in the semifinals New York City on Nov. 24.
Tobias Harris led the Vols with 15 points, and Kyle Weems scored 18 for Missouri State.
Bears wouldn't score again after his free throws.
Edited by Clark Goble
Associated Press
RECREATION
Students play Frisbee as a way to relieve stress and have fun
Mallory Bayles, a sophomore from Lenexa, tosses the Frisbee. The group meets every Friday.
A Frisbee group meets every Friday
BY SARA KRUGER
skruger@kansan.com
As classes grow more challenging nearing finals week, a team of Kansas students holds on to hope through playing Frisbee. For two years, Ultimate Frisbee has represented relaxation and the end of the week to this team.
Every Friday the team deemed the Navigators get together and play a game of Frisbee, named "Frisbee Fridays."
Sophomore Brandon Ware says he starts looking forward to Frisbee Fridays starting Monday mornings, and the team agrees. Sometimes, Frisbee Fridays can take out, even trump class.
Teammate Dermyer agrees.
"Nothing makes me feel better than sneaking a pass into one of my teammates in the end zone." Ware said.
"It's probably the highlight of my Friday afternoon," junior Levi Dermyre. "I have lab usually, but as I like to tell my teacher, I've got some teaching to do on the Frisbee field."
The mental highlight reel in my mind is filled each week with dominant defensive plays, mostly people rejecting the Frisbee. Something just seems good about
The teams are selected through a coin toss, and afterward analyzed to make sure the teams are fair, based on experience level. Players are ranked off talent similar to football and track. The faster and more agile a player, the better.
"Everyone is so encouraging," sophomore Mallory Bayles said, "Even when I miss a pass, they still give me high fives and tell me 'good try.'"
Ultimate Frisbee serves as a stress reliever, as well as a chance to be competitive. Strategy in a game with two rules — no running with the Frisbee, and no dropping the Frisbee — has to be creative.
that," he said.
Frisbee can seem pretty innocent, but the Frisbee Friday team makes sure to keep things interesting. Ware leaves plenty of room for smack talk.
"They think I'm pretty good," he said, "I'm definitely not the best out there but I can hold my own against almost anyone."
Smack talk is not all that is being thrown around on the Frisbee field; some minor injuries have occurred in play.
"It can get pretty intense," Bayles said, "A lot of times, we will end up on the ground."
Both Bayles and Ware have come out of a game with bruises and scraps.
"Craigcatchesnearlyeverything that comes near him, whether he is on offense or defense," he said. "Any time I can beat the odds and catch it near him is always a good feeling."
At the end of the day, it is all fun and games, and a chance to meet new friends. Ware said he has made some of his best friends on the team.
But with Winter Break fast approaching, the weather is beginning to take a turn for the
"Everyone
"Nothing makes me feel better than sneaking a pass into of my teammates in the end zone."
gets banged up from time to time. There have been a few collisions, elbows, slips, etc.," he said.
BRANDON WARE sophomore
Fond memories have been created through the team. Ware said one of his favorite memories was beating his six-and-a-half-foot tall teammate, Craig Bell, to a catch.
worse.
"If it's really bad weather on Friday, we usually don't play," sophomore Becky Connod said.
While the weather is tolerable, the team is hoping to get as many
games in as possible, welcoming all new players.
"It is open for anyone to play," Bayles said, "We always love new members."
Edited by Leslie Kinsman
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