Sports
KU
Bring on the Bears The Kansas men's basketball team faces Baylor tonight at Allen Fieldhouse. Look for full coverage of the game in tomorrow's Kansan.
The University Daily Kansan
1B
Threesink'Hawks
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
By Jesss Newell
jnewell@kansan.com
Kansan sportwriter
A three-point shooting exhibition by Iowa State last night in Allen Fieldhouse floored any hope of a Kansas victory. Kansas forward Tamara Ransburg summed up the Jayhawks' frustrations.
"It was bananas," the Kansas City, Mo., sophomore said. "Just every shot went in. There wasn't even a follow-through. It was just like they threw it and it went in."
The Cyclones rode their successful three-point shooting to a 73-58 victory.
Iowa State connected on 12 of its 29 attempts from beyond the arc, exploiting a defensive weakness for Kansas.
"We give them the scouting report, but they don't understand until they experience it," interim coach Lynette Woodard said. "You talk about the coverage, but they just felt like if they could throw out a hand or jump over, they would miss. That wasn't the case."
A 24-second stretch in the second half
See page 3B for more coverage of last night's woman's game.
underscored the Jayhawks' troubles.
With 8:04 remaining, Iowa State guard Megan Ronhovide connected on a three from the deep left corner, giving the Cyclones their biggest lead, 59-43.
Freshman guard Sharita Smith answered on the other end, hitting her own three for the Jayhawks from the corner.
Cyclone guard Mary Fox jumped into the shooting contest by dribbling to the right corner to nail a three and stretch the lead back to 16.
Those two Iowa State baskets were during a five-minute stretch in which the Cyclones earned 15 points, all from the three-point range.
"It was kind of shocking that everybody on the team — even the coach — could shoot a three." Ransburg said.
The Jayhawks also struggled on the boards. Iowa State out-rebounded Kansas 22-10 in the first half, scoring 14
second-chance points to Kansas' none.
"We've been struggling all year with boxing out," sophomore guard Erica Hallman said. "You'd think that we'd have it by now."
O'Neil paced Iowa State with 18 points, with Ronhov contribute 14.
For the second consecutive game, Ransburg performed well coming off the bench. She led Kansas with 15 points and added three assists in 29 minutes of play.
Kansas will host Texas A&M Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. The Aggies are last in the Big 12 Conference with a 1-11 conference record.
Woodward will look to inspire her players with a team trip to the movie theater.
"We're going to take the team tomorrow to the movies and watch Miracle," Woodard said, referring to the film commemorating the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's gold-medal run, "and see if we can make that happen down the stretch here."
—Edited by Abby Mills
Kansas sophomore forward Tamara Ransburg blocked Iowa State junior guard Mary Fox in the first half yesterday in Allen Fieldhouse. Ransburg led the Jayhawks with two blocks and 15 points as she went 5-for-5 from the field. The Jayhawks lost to the Cyclones 73-58.
Eric Braem/Kansan
Double Trouble
Ashley Filberth Kansas City, Mo., freshman
Photos by Jeff Brandsted/Kansan
Emily Haylock Warrnambool, Australia, senior
Partners' personalities complement their play
By Nikki Overfelt
overfelt@kansan.com
Kansan senior sportswriter
There were times growing up that Ashley Filberth hated tennis.
The Kansas City, Mo., freshman,
coveted the camaraderie her friends
enjoyed in team sports.
At the same time, on a different continent, Emily Haylock was forced to make a decision between basketball and tennis.
She could only commit to one. The Kansas senior's family lived in Warrnambool, Australia, and she had to
drive three hours every weekend to Melbourne to play tennis. It was hard to give up the team sport she loved, but she doesn't regret her choice now.
Both Haylock and Filberth have now found what they were missing in junior tennis: a team. They have come together as a part of the Kansas tennis
team, and as a successful doubles team.
Filberth's tendency to tense up and over think her matches is balanced out by Haylock's laid back attitude and leadership.
SEE TENNIS DOUBLES ON PAGE 8B
Jayhawks 'guarantee' a victory over Bears
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After consecutive poundings on the road, the Jayhawks need a spark.
Junior guard Keith Langford tried his best to add this spark by guaranteeing a victory tonight in Allen Fieldhouse against the Baylor Bears.
"I hate to say it, but we won't lose to them," Langford said before yesterday's practice.
Langford
Coaches usually frown upon guarantees from players, but Langford's statement is not as shocking as it sounds.
Baylor (7-16, 2-7) is in 11th place in the Big 12 Conference, and has lost its past two
Self
contests by a total margin of 59 points against the conference's top two teams, Texas and Oklahoma State.
To the Bears credit, two conference wins are two more than anyone expected before the season started.
A tumultuous off-season resulted in the resignation of former coach Dave Bliss, as well as the transfers of three of the team's marquee players. Point guard
SEE BAYLOR ON PAGE 8B
Nearby scandals cause wake-up call for University
By Joe Bant
jbant@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
In a year that has seen allegations of sex parties for football recruits at the University of Colorado and accusations of basketball players being paid at the University of Missouri, Kansas has remained free of such controversy.
While scandals simmer in Boulder, Colo., and in Columbia, Mo., the University of Kansas Athletics Department said recruiting was doing just fine here at the University.
Athletics Department officials said they owed that freedom to hiring the right coaches and recruiting the right players. The scandals of late, they said, were a wake-up call, but did not reflect flaws in the way Kansas recruits its athletes. As such, they probably won't inspire change in Kansas' recruiting practices.
"A lot of times, it's a turnoff to kids and their parents."
On a national level, Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, announced the formation of a task force last week to look specifically into the issue of recruiting and suggest possible reforms in response to the recent problems.
Norm Roberts
Kansas assistant men's basketball coach
Athletics administrators and officials from the NCAA's national office will make up the task force, who said they want to have suggestions ready in time for the NCAA meeting in April.
"Any time that news like that breaks, it reawakens everybody and makes everybody more aware that there are rules in recruiting that need to be followed, not only NCAA rules but ethical rules," said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director for external affairs.
He said Kansas' department kept the reins on its recruiting programs by keeping in constant communication with the various coaches.
Marchiony compared the situation to driving by a car accident. He said it made you more aware of your driving even if you were not driving badly.
That communication, he said, was essential to preventing problems like those at Colorado from happening because it helped the entire department stay aware of expectations. Marchiony said it was important that communication was consistent from top to bottom, beginning with the individual programs and ending with the chancellor.
Norm Roberts, assistant men's basketball coach, said structure and discipline in the recruiting process could stop problems
On a weekend recruiting visit, he said, a player typically came in Friday afternoon and spent the day
before they started.
Roberts
Roberts said a basketball recruiting visit to Kansas left little time for trouble because recruits had such busy schedules.
The coaches don't supervise this part of the visit, but Roberts said the rules about what's allowed and what's not were made clear to the players.
meeting with coaches, touring the campus and meeting with academic advisors.
Friday night, the recruit has dinner at the coach's house with the other players. Afterwards, Roberts said, the players usually entertained the recruit. Roberts said they might take a recruit bowling, for example.
"When you take a recruit out, you show them Lawrence, but we're not a party school." Roberts said.
Roberts said it was a misconception that recruits wanted to party when they came to visit.
He said bars were strictly off limits and that the program did not condone drinking, even for its of-age players.
"All of times, it's a turnoff to kids and their parents." Roberts said.
He stressed that the Colorado situation and the other recent scandals were not the norm of collegiate athletics, and the way for Kansas to avoid similar problems was to maintain the discipline of its programs.
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact Henry C. Jackson or Maggie Newcomer at: SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
Marchiony said Kansas would probably not adjust its recruiting practices in light of the national problems, although he welcomed the efforts of the NCAA task force.
1
- Edited by Guillaume Doane
---