University Daily Kansan / Thursday, April 7, 1988
Sports
13
NCAA title doesn't guarantee a good recruiting year
Bv Mike Considine
Special to the Kansan
A national basketball championship may attract attention, but it isn't likely to improve the chances of landing a good recruiting class.
Kansas assistant coach Alvin Gentry said he didn't expect any instant dividends.
Basketball Times columnist Rick Ball said recruiting usually improved the year after a ballpark move.
"There are not many good recruits left," he said. "Something like 90 percent of the men in our company."
Ball said that 25 of his top 30 junior college prospects hadn't signed. He said the NCAA championship could help Kansas' junior college recruiting this year.
Another recruiting obstacle Kansas faces is the rumor of coach Larry Brown's departure.
Athletic Director Bob Frederick granted UCLA permission to talk to Brown on Tuesday. Ball said Brown's talks with the Pacific
10 Conference school could harm Kansas' short-tem recruiting.
"If UCLA hurries up and hires a coach, that'll help." Ball said. "It will cut down on some of those rumors."
Van Coleman, publisher of the National Recruiters' Cage Letter, said Kansas could still bring in a good junior college group if Brown took the UCLA job.
they will make The Jahayhwa plan to issue four or five scholarships during the April 13-May 15 late period. Gentry said.
"A lot of juco kids will not make a decision until two or three weeks into the period," Coleman said. "If they want to go to Kansas, they'll wait."
He said the Jayhawks wanted to sign an inside player, a power forward, two guards and another good athlete, regardless of position.
"We'd just like to strengthen the overall ability of the team," Gentry said. "The athletes we have here have been great. We'd just like to be more creative offensive."
The Jayhawks' most pressing need for 1988-89 appears to be a true point guard. Current starter Kevin Pritchard had to make the transition from off-guard.
"We'd like to get a high school player who could take a year to learn our system and have three years to play." Gentry said.
"I think Kansas could get Sean if they wanted him," Ball said.
Kansas recruited three of Coleman's top four high school point guards: Chris Jackson of Gulfport, Miss., Lee Mayberry of Tulsa, Oka., and Darrick Martin of Long Beach. Only Jackson remains unsigned, and he represented has eliminated the Jayhawks from his list.
One point guard Kansas has recruited all season is Sean Tunstall of St. Louis Vashon High School. Tunstall led Vashon to a No. 4 ranking in USA Today's national poll.
Coleman said he considered Illinois the favorite for Tuscaloosa.
favorite for Tunstall.
Often school guards in the picture are
Other high school guards in the picture are Tony Madlock of Memphis, Tenn., James
Smith, also of Memphis, and Tyrone Buckman of Denver. Coleman said that Smith was a good shooter, that Buckman was a good hitter, and that Madlock had the best combination of skills.
Two Hutchinson Community College players could fill the Jayhawks' front court needs. Maurice Brittain, the Most Valuable Player at the National Junior College Athletic association tournament, and William Davis could move into the starting lineup, Ball said.
Britain is a 6-foot-9 forward-center whose strengths are强抱和 defense. Davis has 17 points and 10 rebounds.
"He's hard-working, and he's real quick." Ball said, referring to Davis. "He's an excellent rebounder, but he doesn't shoot well for a small forward."
Coleman said Brittain would decide between Kansas, Illinois, Purdue, Pittsburgh and Kentucky.
The top high school big man on the Jaya-hawks' list is 6-9 Chris Lovelace of FL.
Wayne, Ind. Coleman了 LoveLovea was favoring Louisville over Kansas and Purdue.
Other highly-regarded junior college prospects under consideration are 8.9 Denor Jenkins of Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Junior College, 6.9 Tony Manuel of Highland Community College, 6.4 Chris Morris of Independence Community College, 6.6 Herman Henry of Midland (Tex.) College and Omar Roland of Garden City Community College.
Gentry said the NCAA title has helped in recruiting high school juniors.
"We feel we've done a good job of cultivating juniors," Gentry said. "The ones we've talked to the past couple of days, their interest has really soared."
One of the top players in that class is 6-9 Chris Hewitt. Rockhawk High School in Hillsborough, MN.
KU to use two quarterbacks; football squad is enthusiastic
Another candidate for the recruiting class of 1989-90 is Ricky Calloway, a 6-4 forward who started on Indiana's national championship team. Calloway reportedly has said he would attend Kansas if Brown stayed here.
By Keith Stroker
Kansan sportswriter
The success of a football team's offense is measured by the play of its offensive line. But the Kansas blockers still need a lot of work.
"We need to learn how to attack the defense. If we are going to be effective in running the football, our offensive line has to learn how to be aggressive," Kansas offensive coordinator Pat Ruel said.
Kansas began its spring football practices March 22, and the new coaching staff let it be known early that he is the team's best to turn the program around.
Players showed enthusiasm as they sprinted from drill to drill, with the coaches matching them stride for stride. Ruel said in order for a team to be competitive, it must be taught the basics, beginning with discipline.
Ruel described the Jayhawks' offense as a multiple one, with several formations. It will be keyed by two quarterbacks, freshman Kevin Verdugo and sophomore Kelly Donohoe.
Verdug, at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds,
has the ability to see over defensive
linemen and relies heavily on his
passing skills. Donohoe, 6-0, 180
pounds, is more of an option quarterback, with the ability to run the wishbone.
"If both of these quarterbacks can run our offense well, then they both will get the opportunity to play." Ruel said. "When I was at Northern Illinois, we had two quarterbacks that played a lot for us and I'm not afraid to do that here. Both guys have strengths they excel in and we will do what we have to do to make the most of them."
and is out for the rest of spring drills. Redshirt freshman linebacker Curtis Moore, 6-1, 210 pounds, has a nerve problem in his shoulder and cannot take any contact. However, Moore is allowed to participate in all non-contact drills.
After two weeks of practice, Kansas has had to deal with only two significant injuries. Redshirt freshman center Chip Budde, 6-2, 260 pounds, sprained his knee in practice
Ruel said there were 17 walk-ons who began practicing with the team two weeks ago, but only two remained: tailback Jay Litteken and linebacker Kevin Shields.
"Most of the walk-onds did a great job while they were here," Ruel said. "Things just didn't seem to work out for 15 of them. The two that remain are working hard and have a chance to make the sound."
The Kansas football team will practice today and then will have three more practices before the annual spring game, April 16 at Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks will also have an intrasquad scrimmage at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the stadium.
Former Maryland coach takes top position at James Madison
The Associated Press
"I don't have anything to prove to anybody," Driesell told a news conference punctuated by loud cheers from several hundred students. "I'm a basketball coach. I've won games, and I've won them within the NCAA rules."
HARRISONBURG, Va. - Lefty Driesel, who resigned as Maryland's basketball coach in the aftermath of the cocaine-induced death of Len Bias, was named coach at James Madison yesterday.
Athletic Director Dean Ehlers and James Madison president Ronald Carrier said they believed the veteran of 26 basketball seasons was their best candidate, despite the 1986 Bias affair.
"We certainly were aware of it," Ehlers said. "I think everybody in America was aware of it. I personally don't think that was the coach's responsibility. A coach can only provide guidance. You can't be with them 24 hours a day."
Driesell said the only person he had picked so far for his staff was his son, Chuck. For other staff members, he had best in the country that I can get.
Driesell said he missed coaching even though he enjoyed doing color commentary on televised basketball games.
"I never really felt like I got out of coaching," he said. "When you do color commentary, you have to scout both teams."
"I think I've got 10 or 15 years left to coach," said Driesell, 56.
James Madison was 10-18 last season, 5-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Carrier said that Driesell's five-year contract was worth $65,000 a year and that the James Madison Foundation would pay him $10,000 a year as an annuity toward his retirement. He also will be able to operate a basketball camp.
Driesell would not comment on reports Maryland will make up the difference between his new salary and the $150,000 a year he would receive in each of the seven years remaining in his 10-year contract.
He acknowledged that he might have problems recruiting as he took over so late in the spring, but he will go after the best players he can
"It's sort of late," he said. "The
time is coming, and then in
bunch, but we're not going to give up.
Driesell becomes the fifth fulltime coach at the Division I school since it began its men's basketball program in 1969.
He won 524 games in nine years at Davidson and 17 years at Maryland.
Bias, an All-American, died of a cocaine overdose the day after the Boston Celtics made him their No. 1 pick and the No. 2 selection overall in the NBA draft.
Campanis says his past statements have become positive for baseball
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Looking back over the past year, Al Campanis said that the outgrowth of his remarks on blacks in baseball has been positive for him and for the game.
A year ago, Campanis sat alone in a chair near home plate in Houston's Astrodome and faced blaring lights and a television camera. Wearing an earphone, he fielded questions from New York on ABC's "Nightline."
"Time has diffused the immediate hurt of April 6," he said. "It has turned out to be a plus for baseball and myself."
Responding to Koppel's questions, Campanis said that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to be baseball managers and general managers.
don't have the baby they A storm of controversy followed.
A storm of controversy followed. Groups such as the NAACP and the Urban League insisted that the Dodgers sever their tie with Campanis. Many of the nation's prominent blacks commented on his remarks.
Campanis, then the Los Angeles
Dodgers' vice president of player
personnel, went on to say, "How
more black quarterbacks do you
know? How many pitchers do you
have that are black?"
And he added that blacks didn't make good swimmers because "they don't have the buoyancy."
Ueberroth also appointed Harry Edwards, a sociology professor at the University of California, as a special consultant to aid in developing a pool of former players from minority groups who were interested in moving into baseball jobs.
Campanis said he was only trying to say that blacks had turned down opportunities to manage in the minors, so they lacked the experience for major league jobs. His remarks during the interview, he said, were mistakes in semantics.
Over the past year, Campanis has been helping Edwards develop the pool and also helping to set up baseball management clinics for minor leagues. Dodge Jr. active spoke recently to some of Edwards' students at Cal.
Within a few days, Campanis was fired by Dodger owner Peter O'Malev.
"I concluded my speech by telling them that if losing my job with the Dodgers has helped the blacks, I'm happy it happened." Campanis said.
"It was a shock at the time, but if I
Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberhoe, who already had dedicated the season to Jackie Robinson and expressed concern over the lack of minorities in baseball management, hired a consulting firm to work with major league clubs on affirmative action programs.
Since he was fired by the Dodgers, Campanis also has trimmed his weight by 25 pounds by dieting and exercising, is working on a book and is considering working as a sports agent.
contributed to increased employment of minorities. I feel it was worthwhile," he said.
Although Ueberroth apparently is pushing hard for more minorities in major league jobs, there have been virtually no prominent changes on the big-league level. Although there have been nine general manager changes and six field manager changes, only one of those hired was a member of a minority — California Angels Manager Cookie Rojas, a native of Cuba.
"I'm the luckiest man alive. I spent 46 years with the best organization in baseball. I have two fine sons and I have two said. "I can't complain in the least."
Ueberroth, however, said that candidates for major league off-the-field jobs first had to be "in the system," and that that was now happening. He predicted that baseball would have a next season and that there could be one or two general managers by that time.
Kansas center Danny Manning played mediator in the Jayhawks' last home game this season when Oklahoma State forward Royce Jeffries and Kansas forward Milt Newton scuffed.
New NCAA ruling determines 'three fights and you're out'
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Players involved in a third fight during regular season basketball games next year will be suspended for the remainder of the season without appeal, the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee said Wednesday.
"One ugly incident is too many as far as I am concerned," said Ed Steitz, athletic director at Springfield College-Mass, and secretary-editor of the committee. Steitz held a news conference today at the of the committee's two-day meeting in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four.
An outbreak of court violence made headlines throughout the past college basketball season. The courts held during the NCAA Tournament.
The policy announced Wednesday specifies a player involved in a fight will be ejected from the game and placed on probation.
"The second time that individual
"We've got to knock this fighing off. I don't think we've pushed the panic button. I think we have to have machinery in place to serve as a deterrent.
Steitz said a player would have way to appeal of a season-suspension for a third fight.
The NCAA also said any bench personnel other than the head coach who enters the court during a fight is subject to disqualification for the remainder of a game.
is involved in a fight during the season, he will be ejected from the game and suspended from participation in his team's next game," the NCAA said in a news release. "If that player is involved in a third fight during the season, he will be suspended for the remainder of the season. If they are guilty, television monitors may be used to determine those individuals involved in a fight."
"There's no appeal. There's no
appeal to the fifth foul called on an outstanding player, and it may have been a phantom call, "Sitzed said. 'It will strictly be up to the officials.' There's no appeal to an NCAA playing rule. Members of the NCAA are voluntary members. They are not pressured to be a part of that particular organization. The majority of the NCAA annual cover the fall shades shall abide by all official NCAA playing rules. If they want to drop out from the NCAA, that's their choice, an institutional choice."
Even if game films show that officials made an obvious error in judging a player guilty of fighting, the ruling — even a season-long suspension — would stand. Steitz said.
"There is no route of appeal once a suspension has been ordered. We're saying to the officials 'make sure you have definite information. Don't come up with any I think so type rulings."