Sports
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, February 9, 1988
9
Hawk Hunters important to football recruiting
By Joel Zeff
Kansan staff writer
To have and to hold from this day forward, till negligibility we us part.
In every part of the country, these vows ring true while recruiting the country's future football giants. These are the vows of the coaches, players, and more importantly, the recruiting hostesses.
Recruiting hostesses are a vital part of the recruiting program and are the student link between football prospects and football coaches. Without hostesses, it would be nearly impossible to sell the University of Kansas from a student standpoint, to find the inside information on the recruit, and perhaps, even to sign the recruit.
"We're here to sell KU to a player. Even though the program is not winning, we're here to sell KU", said Pam Hettwer, Kansas co-captain of the Hawk Hunters.
Hawk Hunters, the Kansas recruiting counterpart to the Clemson Bengal Babes, the Miami Hurricane Honeys and Oklahoma's Crimson-n-Cream, are official student representatives of the University. They have lunch with the recruits, escort them on campus tours, sit with them during football games and discuss the University with them.
want somebody to talk to besides a coach."
"The last few years we've shown the recruit the campus and sat with them during the football game," Hettwer said. "And, small talk. Something so they can relate to the student. When the players come they
The Hawk Hunters, now a group of 20 to 25 male and female students, was started by Pepper Rodgers during his tenure as Kansas football coach. Back then, they were called the Sunflower Girls. The name was changed to Hawk Hunters in 1971, when men were included in the group.
"A lot of the recruits open up to the hostesses," said John Bong, coordinator of the Hawk Hunters and academic coordinator for the football team. "What the athlete doesn't tell the coach, they tell the hostess. If they're interested in KU, the hostess comes back and tells the coach."
Bong, who became the coordinator when Coach Bob Valesente was fired, said that the
Hawk Hunters were chosen through an interview process.
"They have to have a general knowledge of KU and some interest in KU athletics," Bong said. "In all truth, these girls are interested in sports, and want to share it with these recruits."
Hettner said that the Hawk Hunters went through a training session about how to act in a situation where he might be pursued.
"We make sure they know who the coach is." Hettner said
Andrea Johnson, Hutchison junior, said, "I didn't do it for the money. It's a way to get
more involved with the football program and the University."
Hettwer said that the type of people who became Hawk Hunters were outgoing, outspoken, fun and easy to talk to.
layers want to talk to someone other than the coach," she said. "They ask, what do I think about the football program, is the school hard and do I have to study all the time. One player told me the only reason that he was at KU was to see Brian Bosworth play in the KU-OU football game.
Orr blasts officials; Nee picks Oklahoma
"We don't see them long enough to have a big effect on them. But, the time we do spend with them is important. It would be nice to come to KU because of a Hawk Hunter."
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Johnny Orr wants basketball game officials to share the glare of media heat.
"Make those referees come to the press conferences so they have to explain what they're doing out there," Orr, Iowa State coach said Monday during the Big Eight coaches' telephone news conference.
Orr, never bashful about criticizing the men with the whistles and striped shirts, said that only players and coaches are made to account for their actions.
"Those officials have to answer to nobody," he said. "No one. They don't talk to coaches. They don't have to talk to the press. They do anything they want in that game. I think that one of the worst rules ever is their not talking to coaches. I think they should be made to come to the press conferences if there's a controversy. They should be made to talk to the press and tell why they did what they did."
A conference spokesman said that reporters could question officials in some situations.
"The media may request and receive a pool reporter to ask the official any question that relates to interpretation of rules," said Tim Allen, director of the Big Eight service bureau. "They may not ask a question in regard to a judgment call."
"Right now, if I had to pick the team or the coach of the year, I'd pick Oaklahoma." Nee said. "I think Billy Tubbs has done a magnificent job. Using his talent, mixing new with old, he's come up with a team with great chemistry. They're playing super defense. They're one of the most, if not the most, explosive and entertaining teams in the country with their three-point shots and the style of basketball they play. We didn't run with them, we ran after them."
Who's the betting favorite at this point in the season for Big Eight coach of the year? Kansas State's Lon Kruger and Oklahoma State's Leonard Hamilton would certainly draw consideration right now for the Tigers' playoff run. Expectation. But Nebraska Coach Danny Nee has another candidate.
"We learned a lot from our games with Kansas State and LSU." Tubbs said. "We caught them at times when they were emotionally very, very ready to play. I'm not sure we were emotionally ready. I think we were for Kansas State. Both of those teams played great games against us."
Tubbs' Sooners' have lost only to Louisiana State and Kansas State.
Kansas State, under the direction of Kruger in his second year as coach, leads the Big Eight with a 6-0 record but faces a tough road test Tuesday night at Missouri. Missouri's Norm Stewart sees a lot of similarities between the way Kruger coaches and the way he played when he was an all-conference guard for K-State in the early 1970s.
"They focus around one outstanding player." Stewart said of the Wildcats. "Their people go to the boards to rebound, and they have a good, strong inside defense. And they have a good outside shooter. They have great floor leadership. There is quite a bit of similarity. Lon Kruger has really done a tremendous job. You really can't say enough about what they've been able to accomplish. They've been able to win all their close games."
Kruger counts play and leadership from Mitch Richmond and Charles Bledsoe among the reasons for his success.
"But the most important thing is they're doing the same things in the games that they're doing every day in practice," he said. "They're realizing what their strengths are and playing within themselves. They're doing a good job of that."
The Crimson Girls demonstrate the dancing style that earned them second place in the National Pompon Championships.
Crimson Girls performing for enjoyment, competition
By Tom Stinson
Kansan sports writer
And that's what the Kansas pompon squad wants: to perform to a positive reaction.
"I love to perform and dance," junior Alison Knowles said, "and you get to perform in front of a lot of people when you're a Crimson Girl."
Kansas was seeded first after the preliminary round at the
The squad not only performs, it competes. The Crimson Girls finished second to Oklahoma State at the National Pompon Championships. They also have two All-Americans this year.
championships in Dallas. Last year, Kansas placed fifth at nationals.
Knowles and junior co-captain Claire Henderson was the Jayahawk All-Americans. The two were chosen for the award at a summer pompom camp in Knoxville, Tenn. Five women were chosen to be All-Americans from each of three camps across the country.
Not bad for a three-year-old squad, said coach and co-founder Ann Pinkerton. Pinkerton and spirit squat coordinator Elaine Brady started the team to give women who could not do gymnastics a chance to dance and support the University.
"I knew Elaine from high school," said Pinkerton, who has been dancing since she was five.
"When I came to Kansas, they hired me to choreograph the cheerleaders. From there, we progressed it to pompon."
Brady said, "I knew we had the creativity to be one of the best squads in the nation. We have a rare talent in Ann. Few people have the mind and imagination for choreography and the dance background that she has."
The squad cheers at football and basketball games and dances at most basketball halftimes. They also cheer at other events, and this year they led the football and swimming teams in aerobics.
Pinkerton said their emphasis was dancing.
"During tryouts we look for how they project their personality through dancing," Pinkerton said.
"This is what the crowd will see."
This is when the crab enters.
Each spring, tryouts are held for
the available twelve spots. However,
last spring, Pinkerton chose only
seven women. The other five
were picked at another fall tryout.
Pinkerton said she looked for a uniform group of women during tryouts. Making sure the squad was well together is a key, she said.
"We look for different things each year." Pinkerton said. "Whatever the best team look, we need to make sure who made a team. Nobody else fit."
"But the most frustrating thing is when someone doesn't try out again after not making it."
and Rita Roland; junior Knowles, Shari Stewart, Keri DeMars and Natale Nickell; and sophomores Christy Ramsey, Sherri Lewis, Staci Statopouls and Julie Benson.
This year's squar is composed of co-captains Henderson and Kathie Gunderman; seniors Nikki Weigel
Roland had to leave the squad after being named Miss Kansas.
Last year, the team ran into controversy when the outfits they were wearing offended some spectators at a basketball game.
The women performed in unitards, or one-piece body suits, at the Notre Dame game last season. After protest by some alumni, the women were banned from wearing the outfits.
Pinkerton said that the ban was frustrating to the squad, and that the outfits were accepted at other universities.
Surgery is in the past for coach
By Keith Stroker
Kansan sports writer
After surgery, a patient is usually told to rest and relax until fully recovered.
Tell that to Kansas men's track coach Bob Timmons.
Timmons, who will retire this season after 23 years as the Jayhawks' track coach, underwent an angioplasty Jan. 5 to clear partially closed arteries. He said the surgery was less complicated than a previously expected triple by-pass heart surgery.
"A balloon is inserted through the groin area, up towards the heart, and into arteries surrounding the heart," Timmons said. "It is inflated, which pushes the platelets in the blood against the arterial wall, allowing for more blood flow."
Timmons, who was able to watch the operation because of a camera attached to the balloon, was instructed by his physician, Bob Conn, to relax. For a man who is fainted on the go, this was a difficult task.
"I love to exercise, especially playing racquetball." Timmons said. "I can't do that for a while, but I can still go walking. I guess I will just have to take it easy for a while."
A track coach since 1950, Timmons said the thing he will miss most about coaching is the relationship he had with the athletes.
Bob Timmons
"I don't like the idea of retiring because of my love for the sport," Timmons said. "In a 10-month long sport, you have to have a lot of stamina. This year was especially busy. After it is over, there will be a lot of free time to fill.
"When my job is done here at Kansas, I still want to work with young people," Timmons said. "I really like to work with kids, and I will never retire from helping them in achievement areas."
New recruits start signing tomorrow
By Keith Stroker
Kansan sports writer
The signing rush begins tomorrow.
High school seniors can begin sign-
ling letters of intent tomorrow, sayin-
g they will play college football
next season.
Kansas football coach Glen Mason, who was not available for comment yesterday, has been working long hours trying to get the best talent available. In doing so, he's had to overcome a twofold problem: recruiting for a team that was 1-9-1 last season, and not being hired until halfway through the recruiting period.
Mason, who coached last season at Kent State in Ohio, said he would recruit there in the state he knew best.
One player from Kansas has expressed interest in the Jayhawks: 6-4, 240-pound offensive lineman Jim Holt from Wichita Northwest High School. The other confirmed recruit is Brian Christian, a tight end from Denby High School in Detroit.
Three of the five confirmed recruits who have orally committed to Kansas are from Ohio. Ron Page, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound quarterback from Beecheroff High School; Maurice Douglass, a 5-10, 185-pound running back from Independence High School; and Tim Hill, a 5-10, 155-pound quarterback from Franklin Heights High School.
Pat Ryan, a 6-2, 195-pound safety from Rockhurst High School, is the
only player in the Kansas City area who is considering the Jayhawks. He played for the Missouri state champion Hawklets.
next season.
Of all the players recruited, Mason said, 19 have committed to the Jay team.
High school seniors can begin signing letters of intent tomorrow, saying where they will play college football next season.
According to an article in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Mason said it was hard getting players to play for a team he didn't know himself.
In the article, Mason said there were a lot of aspects of the program he had to sell. He said he had to sell himself as an honest, credible and good coach.
Mason brought six temporary emergency assistants with him to Kansas from Kent State. Two other assistant coaches — Vic Eumont, a holdover from the staff of former Mason football coach Jim Pat Rale, former Northern Illinois offensive coordinator — are on Mason's temporary staff.
The Kent State assistants are Vic Adamle, running backs; Dave Warner, quarterbacks; Reggie Mitchell, receivers; Bob Fello, defensive line; Jim Hilles, defensive coordinator; and Mitch Browning, offensive coordinator.