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Monday, January 25, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
SportsMonday
Big Eight hoop newcomers handle pressure
Rv Tom Stinson
Kansan sports writer
So much importance is placed on an incoming basketball recruiting class. Bolstered by new recruits, a team can become ready to compete with anyone after signing some high school or junior college standouts.
So much pressure on so many untested players.
But the latest men's basketball newcomer class in the Big Eight seems to be handling the pressure, as well as some of the best competition the league has to offer.
Heading the list of future All-Big Eight candidates is Oklahoma junior
guard Mookie Blaylock.
Blaylock is one junior college transfer who is making an impact in the league this season. Others include Oklahoma State's John McCoy and Missouri's Byron McCoy, who transferred from Arkansas.
"With Mookie we knew we had a better player than most." Oklahoma assistant coach Mike Mims said. "He has done something remarkable and tremendous contribution this year."
Blaylock, a transfer from Midland Junior College in Texas, currently leads the nation in steals with 4.7 game, and he averages 17.8 points
per game for the Sooners.
Oklahoma recruited junior college players heavily last year, a trend that is growing with each major college basketball recruiting season. Many people refer to such recruiting as the quick-fix for rebuilding teams.
Of six 1987 Sooner recruits, only one was a high school senior.
"With junior colleges you've got players who had 60 games in two years," Oklahoma assistant coach Mike Mims said. "That puts them in the high school players who played maybe 40 games in two years."
Dave Farrar, basketball coach at
Hutchinson Community College, said the bottom line to recruiting a junior college player was the athletes' academic success and consistent play during his first two years of college.
Kansas State coach Lon Kruger, the 1972 Big Eight Newcomer of the Year, said he anticipated a junior college player to contribute earlier than other recruits. However, Kruger added that every player had a transitional period from his previous program.
Kansas State's McCoy averages 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, but Kruger said that McCoy
was just beginning to feel comfort able with the new program
"McCoy wasn't playing much earlier in the season," Kruger said. "But junior college players are more prepared to contribute today than in the past because of the quality of junior college coaching. So, after a transi- tion from an junior recruiting a contribution from a junior college recruit earlier."
However, the traditional high school recruit is still holding his own in the league. Oklahoma State's Richard Dumas, Missouri's Doug Smith and Nebraska's Beau Reid are consistently playing well in arenas
around the Midwest
Dumas is leading the Cowboys in both scoring and rebounding with 15.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Smith is averaging 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game for the Tigers.
Reid is leading a crop of eight Nebraska newcomers with 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said,
"The change is really hard on freshmen. In their first year, they are adjusting academically, socially and athletically. And we understand that. So we try to keep as much pressure
See NEWCOMERS, p. 13, col. 1
Ultimate Frisbee is catching on
By Brenda Flory
Special to the Kansan
Zontal player Matt Logan defends a pass. The Lawrence-based Zontals defeated the Kansas City Strip 19-10 Saturday in Ultimate Frisbee competition.
OVERLAND PARK — It's a mix between basketball, soccer and Frisbee. Although it's physically demanding, it's one of the most laid-back, friendliest sports around.
The sport, becoming increasingly popular on many college campuses, is Ultimate, or team Frisbee.
Last weekend the University of Kansas' Ultimate team was among the 14 men's teams who came from all over the United States to keep up the Ultimate spirit as the teams participated at the Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Championship in Overland Park.
"The players are here for the love of the game," said John Brooks, a world freestyle Frisbee champion. Brooks helped coordinate the tournament.
"Many love the sport so much that they don't let anything get in the way of it," he said.
Most of the players were from the Midwest, but one team, who spent more than $1500 on airfare, traveled at their own expense from New York. Another team drove from Winona, Minn.
Brooks said Ultimate has increased in popularity in the '80s, especially on college campuses, and that in the '90s he thought the sport might eventually draw crowds. In recently, there are more than 2,900 college including non-college teams, including women's teams.
David Lam, Tulsa, Oka, senior,
said the name was a combination
of the word "horror" and the word
"zontal," which is the term
describing a player diving for the
Frisbee.
Ultimate, first developed in the United States in 1969, didn't get underway at KU until 1981. Grudy Boles, a former KU student, is considered the grandfather of KU's team, the HorrorZontals.
"Horror is actually short for horrible," Iam said. "You see, we were so bad in the beginning that we spent a lot of our time diving for the Frisbee. So we decided to combine the two words."
Now they often call themselves the Zontals.
The past four years, the KU team has made it to the college national, and twice they won the regional championship.
Athletic soccer, rules change when an Ultimate is brought inside. It involves seven players on an outdoor team and five on an indoor team. Time limits are placed on indoor competition where teams play a 45-minute game. There is no time limit on outdoor games. Instead, the players of both teams decide the number of points they
will play to. The first team to reach that number wins.
"I like outdoor competition better because I don't have to worry about the clock," said Stuart "Stuba" Price, Fairway senior.
A game of Ultimate starts out with the defense throwing the Frisbee to the offense, which is similar to the kick-off in football. The team succeeds by the offensive players pass the Frisbee in an effort to get it to a goal.
Like basketball, each player has a "man" to keep track of throughout the game. Once a player
receives the Frisbee, he can only take three steps and then has eight seconds to get rid of it in indoor competition and 10 seconds in outdoor competition.
The defensive player starts counting out loud once the offensive player has taken the three steps. If the offensive player exceeds the time limit, the disc comes to a halt and the defensive player takes more than three steps it is considered a violation of danger.
Unlike other sports, though, a fan will never hear whistles when
a violation has taken place.
"It's a sport specifically geared toward the players." Price said. "You rely on the honor system." He said the rulebook even explains that the spirit of the game must not be hindered by any conflicts. Thus, the rules bend to where a friendly relationship is maintained in competition.
The Horror Zontals, who won two of their six matches this weekend, did not qualify for finals, but said they weren't disappointed.
KU hoping to gain late signing edge
By Mike Considine
Special to the Kansan
On Feb. 8, something resembling the Oklahoma land rush will take place across the country. It won't be as dramatic, but it should be equally competitive.
A wave of college men's basketball recruiters will blanket the land to lay claim to the best unsigned high school and junior college players.
Expect Kansas to be in the thick of
during the first six months of 2019.
Noy.
"When you don't sign kids early, it puts on added pressure to sign good kids in the spring," said Kansas assistant Coach Alvin Gentry.
It won't be easy to make up for lost time.
Bob Gibbons, who publishes All-Star Sports Publications, a recruiting newsletter, said 89 of his pre-season top 100 high school players had signed in November. Gibbons said five of the remaining 11 were unlikely to meet academic eligibility requirements.
Still, Gibbons said there were a number of good players available because many high school and junior college players develop late or prove better than expected.
"I feel very positive about what I'm seeing as I travel around the country," he said. "There are a lot of people there who weren't recognized early."
The Jayhawks' shopping list includes a power forward, a scoring small forward and a point guard, a defensive player and a fourth player might also be signed.
Gentry said Kansas was recruiting from 10 to 12 high school players and 18 to 24 college players.
One key player the Jayhawks are recruiting is 6-foot-3 guard Sean Tunstall, who has helped St. Louis Vashon High School to the No. 5 ranking in USA Today's nationwide poll. Tunstall can play either guard or linebacker and has excellent shooter with three-point range. Gibbons said.
"If they get a kid like Tunstall, who is having an outstanding year, that could really make their recruiting," he said. "He's really shown people he's much better than anticipated."
Gibbons said Tunstall could be better than Kansas City high school guard Anthony Peeler, who chose Missouri over Kansas in November. He was recruiting services ranked Peeler as the top high school offguard.
Gibbons said Dexter Boney of Wilmington (Del.) Brandwine High School was deciding between Kansas, Villanova and Seton Hall. Boney excels in the transition game and on defense
At power forward,Chishaw Lovelace of Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Northrup High
'I feel very positive about what I'm seeing as I travel around the country. There are a lot of good players out there who weren't recognized early.'
Bob Gibbons
publisher, All-Star Sports Publications
"He has all the skills you could ask for in an excellent athlete," Gibbons said. "He needs to play consistently hard. His game is more finesse than power right now."
School has narrowed his choices to Kansas and Purdue, Gibbons said. Lovelace is thin at 6-9 and 195 pounds but has good mobility and shot-blocking ability.
The Jayhawks are in the running for Maurice Brittain of second-ranked Hutchinson Community College. Hutchinson coach Dave Darrar said Brittain, a 6-8 power forward, was also considered DePaul, Minnesota, Indiana, Kentucky and Georgia.
Britain averages 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game.
"Passing and rebounding are definitely his best skills." Farrar said. He's extremely mobile. He would be in Larry's approach to defense.
Herman Henry, a teammate of Lincoln Minor at Midland Junior College, is a late bloomer at small forward. Henry, 6-6, 180 pounds, averaged 9.7 points and 5.1 assists as a reserve on Midland's national championship team, but has emerged as a sophomore.
"He's an unknown who needs
Ball saul. But he is a
Apple, Marshmallow and then
A new NCAA rule that limits the number of games recruiters' can watch has made recruiting a more speculative business. Coaches can only evaluate prospective recruits during two "contact periods." The first was Dec. 11-31 and the last is Feb. 8-29.
"We still haven't had an opportunity to see all the people play who we're really interested in recruiting." Gentry said. "We've had to do a lot more over the telephone. We're in the dark a little bit more. I don't feel like we've covered everything."
Ball said the rule, which was intended to cut costs, will have several undesired side effects — like the "land rush" atmosphere.
"You are going to see a lot more recruiting mistakes than ever before," he said. "Schools are going to be signing players on reputation. That eventually creates a lot more transfers and a lot more hard feelings."
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