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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2006
PAGE 16
SERENITY NOW
Who can stop Wade?
BY FRED A. DAVIS III
fdavis@kansan.com
Editor's note: Game 6 of the NBA Finals was still underway when the Kansan went to press Tuesday night.
Dwyane Wade has been absolutely sick throughout the 2006 NBA playoffs.
throughout the season. The fifth overall pick in the 2003 draft, a draft that will go down as one of the greatest NBA drafts — scratch that — one professional sports
of the greatest drafts in professional sports history. Wade is doing his best M.J. impersonation this postseason and is trying to become the first member of that heralded group to lead his team to a ring.
to up to read his训题
Forgot who was in that draft?
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Wade, Chris Kaman, Chris Bosh, Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Kyle Korver, Josh Howard and Luke Walton.
A few names left off were Darko Milicic, Michael Sweetney, Jarvis Hayes, Marcus Banks and Troy Bell... Troy Bell? The guy hasn't logged real NBA minutes since his rookie season and can be seen on the side of a milk carton with the caption, "last spotted with the Oklahoma City Hornets in preseason - help with jump shot if found."
presentation.
All right, the 2003 NBA draft may not be one of the greatest drafts in sports history, but it is a pretty darn good one and will have plenty of rings to boast when all is said and done.
Through five games of the NBA finals, Wade averaged a smidge under 35 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field. Not bad considering he put up 121 shots in those five games.
Now the Mavs, who have their own gem from that 2003 draft class, Josh Howard, taken with the last pick of the first round, have tried just about everything to slow Wade down.
Back to Wade, who continues to punish the Mavericks, and I don't know if punish is a strong enough word; brutalize, destroy, maim, kill, torture seem as though they fit nicely, because that's exactly what Wade has done to the Mavs and the rest of the NBA during his third playoff run.
Zone defenses have failed, second-year man Devin Harris, while quick enough, is just not strong enough. Adrian Griffin, a Wichita native, is big enough physically at
New faces to fill old places
New, old players must take on new roles to match last season's success
BY SHAWN SHROYER
sshroyer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRITER
Sophomore third baseman Erik Morrison connects on his RBI double in the third inning against Kansas State in Manhattan on April 22.
Kansan file photo
The Kansas baseball team has the opportunity to reach consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time since 1993-1994. However, next year's team will be without at least nine players from the senior-laden 2006 team that reached the Corvallis Regional.
To match last season's success, Kansas will depend on some new faces at key positions and familiar faces in new roles.
BATTING ORDER:
Simpson will likely take Gus Milner's spot in right field.
Junior Brock Simpson has the most experience as a leadoff hitter after filling that role for 24 games last season. Simpson hit .293 in 2006 with eight doubles, six triples, five home runs, 33 RBI, 38 runs and five stolen bases. With another year of experience and consistent playing time next season, Simpson should improve all of those numbers. On defense,
Kansas baseball fans are used to Ritchie Price batting second and playing shortstop. The third and final Price brother, Robby, could find himself replacing Ritchie at both spots. Robby was a Louisville Slugger Preseason First Team All-American this spring and led Free State High School to its first state championship. Even as a freshman, Robby should be a regular contributor for the Jayhawks.
Junior John Allman hit .333 in 2006 with six home runs, 16 doubles, 48 runs, 52 RBI and seven stolen bases. Allman started in left field all but six games last season and should remain there next season.
Junior Erik Morrison also had a solid 2006 campaign. He hit .290 with a team-leading 14 homers, 15 doubles, 47 runs, 52 RBI and seven stolen bases. He only missed three games at third base last season and will man the hot corner again in 2007.
As far as home runs go, Preston Land had the best year ever by a Kansas freshman with nine round trippers in 2006. He also
hit .314 with 27 runs and 33 RBI Land started 40 games at first base last year and should surpass that SEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 19
SUPPORT BOOSTSTEAM GPAs
BY JACK WEINSTEIN
jweinstein@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The University of Kansas athletics teams posted the second highest GPA in school history last semester. The 14 teams posted a combined 2.93 GPA. The highest still stands at 2.98, which was posted in Spring 2004.
Paul Buskirk, associate athletics director, student athlete support services, attributed the rise in GPA to a number of things. With the arrival of Lew Perkins, athletics director, in summer 2003, increases within the academic side of the Athletics Department in
"When Lew came here, he looked around everything, every aspect of what we do here," Marchiony said. "He thought immediately that we needed to increase our support, improve our student athlete support area. We've increased the staff and the tutoring budget."
letics director, said Perkins evaluated the academic support within the department.
Buskirk also attributed the recent academic success of the student athletes at the University to their recent athletic success. He noted the football team specifically. The Jayhawks finished 7-5, 3-5 Big 12, which included a victory in the Houston Bowl - the
'Hawks in the past three years.
The Kansas football team posted its highest GPA last spring at a collective 2.67.
"When student athletes are performing well athletically, they carry that over to other aspects of their lives," Buskirk said. "They carry it over
from the field to the class room."
Though the department was pleased with the second highest GPA in school history, Marchio-
Joshua Bickel/KANSAA
Joshue Bickel/KANSAN
This graph shows the highest GPA of student-athletes over the last 10 years. The highest GPA recorded was 2.98 in spring 2004. Last spring's 2.93 GPA was the second highest
creased markedly Buskirk said. tory in the Houston Bowl - the GPA in school history, Marchio- the second highest jim Marchtony, associate ath- second bowl appearance for the SEE GPAS ON PAGE 19 SEE COLUMN ON PAGE 18
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