Jayhawks plus three
SINCE 1889
Duke, LSU,
and Louisville
take the trek
to the Big D.
See page 2.
DOWN TO DALLAS
Awesome Details page 3
KANSAN SPECIAL SECTION THURSDAY, MAR.27, 1986
Details page 3.
Seniors ready for Final Four finale
Chancellor Gene A, Budig presented the Big Eight regular-season champion ship trophy to seniors Calvin Thompson, Ron Kellogg and Greg Dreiling.
Chris Maerl/KANSAN
By Matt Tidwell
Sports writer
Calvin Thompson could have effectively jinxed himself with comments made last week, but he knew where he wanted to end his collegiate career.
"I but I feel our last game will be in Dallas," he said.
"Any of these games could be our last, I realize how true that is," Thompson said before KU had clinched the Midwest Regional Championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
Confidence. The Kansas seniors — Thompson, Ron Kellogg and Greg Dreling — are brimming with it, and that confidence and their talent has paid off. After a successful season off in grand style at the Final four this weekend in Dallas.
See player profiles, p. 4.
For Thompson, the confidence comes from four strong years at KU, and he has used his experience to lead the team in many ways this year.
Thompson, a 6-foot-6 guard, came to Kansas as a highly recruited freshman in 1983 and has since started in more games than any other player. His looping, last-second shots and demonstrative dunks have earned him a special respect with KU fans.
There were indications during his freshman year that Thompson could score in bunches. That season, he scored 30 points to lead Kansas past a favored Oklahoma team down in Norman, and there is no quicker way to become a hero in Lawrence than to help defeat the Sooners.
Thompson's confidence also comes from consistency. He is averaging 13.4 points a game this year and is shooting 57.1 percent from the field. His career point total, 1,535, places him fourth on the Kansas all-time scoring list, and he owns the KU record for consecutive throws at 85.
At the beginning of this season, he was named to the Big Apple NIT all-tournament team. He finished the year as an honorable mention member of the All-Big Eight teams chosen by the Associated Press and United Press International.
Kellogg is also well aware of the adoration of KU fans, "Mr. Saturday" last year scored 30 points in five different games, all of which were on Saturdays, and Allen Field House went wild when he was hitting long-range jumpers without any hesitation. But his career high came away after a game where he set an arena record of 39 points at Nebraska, his home state.
This year, Kellogg's pure shooting has been just as important, if not as flamboyant, for Kansas. He is averaging 15.8 points a game and is shooting 54.6 from the field.
But offensive totals aren't the only assets Kellogg has brought to Kansas. A 6-foot-5 forward from Omaha, he has consistently been one of the team's best defensive players and often draws the toughest defensive assignments on the team.
For the past two years, Kellogg has been named to the UPI All-Big Eight defensive team. This year, he was also named as a member of the firstteam UPI All-Big Eight and secondteam AP All-Big Eight.
KU's third senior, Dreiling, is playing in his third NCAA tournament.
But his appearances haven't all been as successful.
Dreling's improvement on the court since he transferred here from Wichita State has been perhaps the biggest story of his career.
Dreling went from being a tentative player to performing as an aggressive offensive and defensive force who can dominate a game. He led the first-rank National Basketball Association draft selection this spring.
Dreiling is averaging 11.7 points a game and is shooting 61.1 percent from the field. He ranks ninth on the
all-time scoring list and fifth on the all-time rebound list after only three seasons at KU.
For Thompson to predict a Kansas trip to the Final Four may have seemed risky. But he, and the other seniors, now have nothing to lose as they attempt to stretch their college careers by two more games.
As Thompson put it, the seniors are ending the season exactly where they wanted to be at this point, and he doesn't see it as being any big change.
He said, "We have that kind of confidence in ourselves."
Ticket values rise as Final Four gets close
United Press International
DALLAS — Fewer than 17,000 tickets were printed for the Final Four, and for the next two days each one will be worth more than its weight in gold.
Final Four fever is sweeping Dallas, and the talk of the town was either basketball or turning a quick profit.
"This thing gets to be azo," said Louisville coach Denny Crum. "I wasn't smart enough to recognize it before. But I am now."
Kansas coach Larry Brown said, "When I went to the Final Four in 1980 (as coach of the runner-up UCLA Bruins), it was more than I thought it would be. Your team goes out to
practice on Friday and there are people in the stands just to watch you warm up. And you have all those coaches you admire and respect watching you work."
The business of the National College Athletic Association basketball championship progressed at a normal pace early this week. In Louisville, Ky., Durham, N.C., Baton Rouge, La., and Lawrence, Kan., the participating teams went through their practice sessions. And around the grounds of Reunion Arena on the western outskirts of kirkts in St. Louis, the basketball, signs and other trappings connected with a big time event were going into place.
Behind the scenes, however, free enterprise was quietly at work.
Thanks to the attention focused on the event by television and thanks to clever marketing by the NCAA, the Final Four has become the place to be.
Because so few tickets are available, demand for them exceeds even the Super Bowl. Those who deal in such things place the Final Four behind the Masters golf tournaments when it comes to scarcity of tickets.
That is especially true this year because the game will be played in a traditional arena rather than in one of the domed stadiums that will likely become the only hosts the NCAA will consider in years to come.
New Orleans, Kansas City's Kemper Arena and Seattle's Kingdome. After that the NCAA has indicated it will consider only arenas with a seating capacity of 30,000 or more.
This year, however, is a seller's paradise in a state that does not forbid the resale of tickets for a profit. Even the normal ticket brokers have had problems getting their hands on tickets.
"You just can't get any tickets for this thing," said Scott Baima of Texas Tickets. "I haven't seen any courtside tickets yet."
The next three championships are set for the Louisiana Superdome in
Tickets were available, however, if someone wanted to part with the money. Several private citizens who obtained tickets through the NCAA
lottery are doing their best to reap a profit.
One broker, realizing a month ago that he needed tickets to fulfill previously arranged travel packages, traded a Hawaiian vacation trip for two seats at the Final Four. Another broker said a man had offered his used luxury automobile in exchange for an undisclosed number of tickets.
There were 47 private classified advertisements placed in one Dallas newspaper yesterday listing a total of 164 tickets for sale.
The lowest listed price was $495,
but most were between $750 and
$1,000. One ad read:
"Be on television. Two tickets behind the basket. $1,500 each."
KU, Big Eight gain boon from tourney
By Frank Ybarra
Staff writer
To the Kansas basketball team the "Big D" means a chance at the national championship in Dallas. But, to the KU Athletic Department and the Big Eight Conference, the "Big D" also means big dollars.
Jim Marachiony, director of media services for the NCAA, said Monday that the amount of money each university received depended on its success in the tournament.
That is because Kansas has earned a large sum of money for itself and the Big Eight by going to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament and advancing to the Final Four.
Just for being selected to the tournament, each of the 64 schools that qualified will receive $167,060. For the 32 teams that advanced to the second round, that amount will increase to $334,120.
An appearance in the semifinals in the regional tournament increases the amount of earnings to $501,180. If a team goes to the regional final, it will increase its earnings to $682,400.
The four teams who appear in the Final Four will each earn a total of $835,300.
Carl James, Big Eight Conference
commissioner, said the NCAA would send the money in June to Kansas and the 63 other schools that qualified for the postseason tournament. At that time the University of Kansas will deduct an allotment for travel and related expenses during the tournament.
This year, five Big Eight teams played in the tournament. Nebraska and Missouri were eliminated in the first round. Oklahoma was eliminated in the second round, and Iowa State was knocked off in the third round. The total amount of Big Eight earned was about $2.0 million.
The NCAA will give about $20.7 million to the qualifying schools this year.
The money left after the deduction will be sent to the Big Eight, where it will be divided equally among the teams in the conference. James said.
James said a similar procedure was used when any Big Eight team went into postseason play.
Kansas also earned money at the Allen Field House box office.
Susan Wachter, assistant athletic director, said ticket sales totaled $833,900 through the end of February. At the same time last year, $890,265 in tickets had been sold.
Pumping money into the Big 8
Bill Skeet/KANSAN
Source: National Collegiate Athletic Association
KU brings respect to Midwest
Kansas' advancement to the Final Four will have more ramifications than just the chance for the Jayhawks to win a national championship it will bring respect to basketball and to the Big Eight conference.
Week in and week out ESPN, CBS and NBC point their cameras toward
In the last ten years the shift of prime-time basketball teams has been eastward, or so the average television viewer would be led to believe.
Frank Hansel
Frank Hansel
Associate
sports editor
the East Coast, while teams in the Midwest and West go virtually unnoticed.
The shift was never as noticeable as it was this season. Eastern schools dominated both the polls and the television guides. Every week this season, an East Coast team has held the top spot in the wire service polls.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were No. 1 until Michigan beat them in their first game of the season. North Carolina then took over the top spot and look invincible until injuries derailed the Tar Heels. With the fall of Dean Smith's club, the Duke Blue Devils jumped to the head of the basketball class and have held the top spot for the last month and a half.
While the Atlantic Coast Conference has controlled the top spot, other Eastern teams, like Syracuse, St. John's and Kentucky have dominated the East. The reason the East hasn't had a monopoly — the Kansas Jayhawks.
Kansas head coach Larry Brown said this week that the Jayhawks' success would bring more prestige to the University of Kansas both in terms of recruiting and national exposure.
The Jayhawks, who are enjoying their winningest season ever, have cracked the code of the East, have had several nationally televised games and have been in the top five for most of the season. Now they are one of only four teams still in the chase for the national championship.
"The best-known programs are those that have been in the Final Four in the last three or four years." Brown said.
In the last 25 years, only two teams west of the Mississippi have won the national championship: UCLA, which will win 10 times, and Texas El
recently, many of the Final Four teams have had Eastern addresses. Last year, three Big East teams, Villanova, Georgetown and St. John's made the Final Four, along with Memphis State.
Because of the lack of tournament quality teams in the West, the NCAA once again shifted several Eastern powerhouses to the Pacific Coast. The No. 1 seed was St. John's and the winner of the regional was Louisville. Maryland, Auburn and North Carolina also packed their bags and headed west.
In previous years, Eastern teams have dominated the West Regional. In 1982 North Carolina won the national championship, and the Tar Heels came from the West Regional. In 1983, Jim Valvain took his North Carolina State Wolfpack to the West Coast in the way to a championship.
The continued decline of basketball teams west of the Mississippi was illustrated graphically in the selection of the 64 teams for this season's tournament.
This season the West Regional lost its identity so much that the finals of the region were played in that big Western city — Houston.
While the West well is still dry, the Midwest hit a gusher this season when five Big Eight teams made the field of 64. Although Kansas was the only team to reach the Sweet 16, the Big Eight finally was recognized as something other than a football conference.
The Eastern teams continued their dominance in tournament play. Of the final 16 teams, Kansas and Nevada-Las Vegas were the only ones from west of the Mississippi.
Win or lose, the Jayhawks again will have the recognition that they once enjoyed, and that recognition just might be the pivot needed to turn the television cameras and sport-swifters in the direction of Midwest basketball.
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