KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 / SPORTS
3B
VOLLEYBALL
Jayhawks ready to rebound from loss
BY SARA KRUGER skruger@kansan.com
A little setback will not be a pitfall for the layhawks; the double header on Friday against Winthrop and Northern Iowa will be met by a different team.
Freshman Caroline Jarmoc, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, is not the most vocal of the Jayhawks. However her solid coverage and powerful attacks did not go unnoticed against Middle Tennessee State Tuesday. Collecting five kills and accomplishing a team-high attack percentage of .273, sweet Caroline was not so sweet.
Although the outcome of the game was not in the Jayhawks' favor, the team never quit battling through the three-game series. They just missed the mark with scores of 25-19, 25-15 and 25-19.
back and take on the next opponent.
The Jayhawks are ready to bounce
"Two games in one day, one game in one day, just get us on the court," said junior Allison Mayfield, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter.
Senior Karina Garlington, a 6-foot outside hitter, favors the double header.
"I like the two in one. I like to get going and get momentum and power through the tournament," Garlington said. "I am excited that we have two on Friday and one on Saturday. I think it is going to be a good turn-out."
Time to turn over a new leaf and, with renewed enthusiasm, meet each new game with no remembrance of the last.
"Last week is over, and this week we have to get better," coach Ray Bechard said. "This week is the most important thing."
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Edited by Lisa Curran
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN Freshman setter Kara Kehrs and Sophomore middle blocker Tayle Tolefree attempt a block Tuesday against Middle Tennessee State.
NCAA
Coaches reticent over player's past
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Although Enes Kanter exhibited remarkable basketball ability, high school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy and two other schools passed on the chance of having him play for their teams. Two of the coaches said Wednesday that Kanter's association with a professional team in his native Turkey was the reason.
Oak Hill Academy Coach Steve Smith said that playing with a professional team made Kanter a risk.
Michael Peck, the coach at Findlay Prep, said he feared a public relations problem with having a professional player on the team.
"I've been here 26 years," Smith said. "I try to do things the right way. I felt it would be perceived wrong. His age was right. He's a heck of a player. But I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the program."
"Kevin Durant is not going to play for some high school now," Peck said.
Neither Smith nor Peck said he had any knowledge of Kanter being paid or receiving any compensation when playing for the Istanbul-based team Fenerbahce Ulker.
A story in The New York Times Wednesday quoted Fenerbahce Ulker general manager Nedim Karakas as saying Kanter and his
family received between $100,000 and $150,000 over a three-year period.
Fenerbahce Ulker officials have shared housing and bank records with the NCAA, The New York Times reported. The NCAA's Eligibility Center is reviewing Kanter's amateur status to determine whether he should be ruled eligible to play for Kentucky this coming season.
The university has declined
com m ent
except to say
it supported
Kanter and
his family
as the player
waits to see
if the NCAA
Eligibility
Center rules
him eligible.
The New
argument, Smith and Peck perceived Kanter as a professional player, and therefore not suitable for a high school team.
"He's a heck of a player. But I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the program."
Smith was contacted in the spring of 2009 about Kanter playing for Oak Hill Academy. In checking Kanter's background, Smith said one of his former players, Brandon Jennings, said he played against the Turkish big man in the European league.
York Times story noted that Fenerbahce Ulker had reason to thwart Kanter's efforts to play for Kentucky. The Turkish team would receive a transfer fee if Kanter plays in Europe this coming season. If Kanter plays for UK, the Turkish team would receive no compensation.
Whatever the validity of that
Max Ergul, a man who acted as an adviser to Kanter, likened the player's time with Fenerbahce Ulker to a U.S. prospect attending a prep school, where tuition and costs can reach six figures in a period of two or three years.
STEVE SMITH Oak Hill Academy coach
"I never knew a player in the
Euro league that didn't get paid," said Smith, who added a moment later. "I can't see a team playing him and not having a contract. Hed jump ship on you. I'm 99 percent sure I was told he had
a contract but was not paid.
When considering adding players, Smith said he will sometimes consult with the Virginia High School Athletic Association even though his school is not bound by its guidelines. Oak Hill Academy is in Mouth of Wilson, Va. But the Kanter case seemed clear enough to Smith that he did not seek help in the decision.
"As a high school coach, it didn't matter if he was paid or not. I just felt the kid played pro ball in Europe. He couldn't come over here and play high school basketball."
Kanter's next stop was Findlay Prep, the school in the Las Vegas area that produced UK wing DeAndre Liggins. After two weeks, Peck decided Kanter could not play for his team.
"Our deal was it was a perception issue," Peck said. "We just felt, from the program and school standpoint, we couldn't withstand the potential of a negative perception that would have come with that."
Such a "negative perception" would come from the team using a professional player. "Obviously, that's a no-no," Peck said. "In high school, even the college level, you're dealing with amateurs."
From Findlay Prep, Kanter went to Mountain State Prep in Beckley, W.Va. Then-Mountain State Coach Rodney Crawford, newly hired as an assistant at Duquesne, declined comment through a spokesman.
On his fourth try, Kanter found a U.S. basketball home at Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif.
While not having to deal with a potential perception problem, Peck said that Findlay Prep also had to do without a standout player.
"Very talented." Peck said of Kanter. "I mean, hands down, very extremely talented. ...
"He's a difference maker."
FOOTBALL
Gill puts Hatch back at center for Saturday
BY MAX VOSBURGH
mvosburgh@kansan.com
Junior lineman Jeremiah Hatch will take over at center for redshirt freshman quarterback Jordan Webb's first start this Saturday against Georgia Tech. Hatch had started 24 straight games, the most of any current player, before he was kept out of last week's game in favor of senior lineman Sal Capra.
Hatch and Webb will team up this week after both were forced to watch most of the game from the bench last Saturday against North Dakota State.
"We spoke on Sunday and a little bit on Tuesday and he expressed that it was difficult for him to stand on the sideline there and watch his teammates play," Webb said. "But he understood what the situation was and he's prepared to go out and play this week."
Webb will be making his first collegiate start under the experienced Hatch.
"I'm definitely comfortable with Hatch at center," Webb said. "He's a good offensive lineman. He's going to definitely give us a chance to be special on the offensive line."
Senior lineman Sal Capra, who started at center last week, will make the transition over to left guard, replacing sophomore
Duane Zlatnik. Capra, a team captain, recognizes the value Hatch has to this team's offensive line.
"He's certainly got a lot of experience in there," Capra said, "He's a guy who's got a lot of passion."
Hatch has had a very productive career at Kansas so far. He started every game at tackle his freshman year and was moved to center last year, but he wasn't ready to take over at the beginning of this season.
"He was just not prepared to play as far as we coaches evaluated him throughout the preseason camp," coach Turner Gill said.
However, like Webb, Hatch was able to able to prove he had made enough progress that he was ready to start this week.
"He's progressed continually for us the last two to three weeks;" Gill said. "We believe that he's prepared to go out and give the best effort and give us the best chance to be successful."
Hatch approached Webb expressing his desire to make a difference in an offense that failed to score a touchdown last week.
"He's hungry. He's real hungry," Webb said. "He told me Saturday after the game, 'Man Jordan, I'm hurting, I want to be out there.' I said, 'I know, Hatch, me too.'
MLB
- Edited by Clark Goble
Brewers conquer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers roughed up St. Louis rookie Jaime Garcia in an 8-1 win Wednesday night that kept the slumping Cardinals from gaining ground in the postseason chase.
Albert Pujols hit his 36th homer in the first for the Cardinals, but that was the only run Chris Capuano (3-3) allowed over seven innings.
Garcia (13-7) had been looking for his fourth straight win. Instead, he gave up a career-high seven runs as his ERA rose to 2.69.
The Cardinals began the day six games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Reds played later at Colorado.
St. Louis has fallen flat chasing the Reds, losing 11 of the last 15 with 25 games to go. In those four wins, Garcia had three of them with an 0.86 ERA in the span.
The 24-year-old left-hander was again expected to be the stopper, but after the second inning, it was clear he didn't have his best stuff and was gone after the fourth.
Capuano scattered four hits in his longest outing since 2007.
All of Milwaukee's runs came with two outs. Braun tied it in the third with a single and Milwaukee scored two more on Casey McGehee's single. After Corey Hart's RBI single in the fourth made it 4-1, Braun homered.
Braun has been sizzling down the stretch and his fourth-inning drive carried just beyond the reach of Colby Rasmus at the left-center field wall.
Braun joined teammates Prince Fielder (30), Hart (27), Rickie Weeks (26) and McGehee (20) with at least 20 homers.
MLB
Wakefield scores win for Red Sox
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Tim Wakefield became the oldest pitcher to win for Boston, and the Red Sox backed their 44-year-old knuckleballer with five home runs Wednesday night to rough up the Tampa Bay Rays 11-5.
Marco Scutaro hit two homers and Adrian Beltre, David Ortiz and Victor Martinez also connected as warm temperatures on a late-summer night helped the ball carry out of Fenway Park.
Wakefield (4-10) surpassed Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, who was 43 when he got his last win for the Red Sox.
Four of the shots came off Matt Garza (14-8).
The Rays dropped to 2½ games behind the AL. East-leading
Yankees. Boston is nine behind New York.
Wakefield allowed five runs on six hits and four walks in five innings. B.J. Upton hit a three-run homer for Tampa Bay.
Martinez tied it with a leadoff homer into the back of the Red Sox bullpen. Ryan Kalish greeted reliever Chad Qualls with a go-ahead double off the left-field wall, a ball Carl Crawford might've caught if he hadn't pulled up and played the carom. Kalish scored when third baseman Evan Longoria bounced a throw to first for an error.
Ahead 4-0 early, the Rays let Boston tie it through three innings. Jason Bartlett's RBI single in the fourth put Tampa Bay in front, but the Red Sox took the lead 7-5 and chased Garza with a three-run fifth.
Garza gave up nine hits and six
Martinez's RBI single off reliever Randy Chote made it 8-5 in the sixth. Scutaro's second homer, his career-high tying fourth hit, made it 11-5 against Grant Balfour in the seventh.
runs in 4 1-3 innings. He came in with a 3-0 with a 0.99 ERA in his last four starts.
The Red Sox tied it by scoring two runs in both the second and third. Beltre homered into the Monster seats after Ortiz walked, cutting it to 4-2 in the second.
Longoria's sacrifice fly had put the Rays ahead 1-0 in the first. They increased it to 4-0 in the second on Upton's homer.
Scutaro and Ortiz each hit solo shots into the left-field seats in the third.
Boston's Lars Anderson got his first two major league hits, both singles, and drove in a run.
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