6A the university daily kansan
sports
mondav.december8.2003
Linebackers play hard, lead by example
Pat Thomas
6-foot-2, 224 pound, junior Miami, Fla.
KeyState - As a freshman at North Carolina State, Thomas was unexpectedly called to duty in the Tangerine Bowl in 2001 when All-American Levar Fisher suffered a broken arm. Thomas came in off the bench and totaled six tackles. After finishing third on the team in tackles as a sophomore, Thomas has had an outstanding junior campaign. Thomas was second on the team with 119 tackles, led the team in tackles for loss with 15.5, led the team in sacks with eight and led the team in forced fumbles with three.
Accomplishments - In the talent-rich world of Florida high school football, Thomas was not the head of his class, but he has worked his way to the top. In his senior season at Killian High School, Thomas had 115 tackles and three interceptions, earning him second-team All-Dade County honors. Thomas had been relatively quiet in his time with the Wolfpack until this season. His through-theroof numbers and leadership qualities for
the nation's 353-ranked run defense earned him second-team ALL-ACC honors.
Creating Havoc - The Wolfpack blitz its linebackers quite a bit, and as a result, Thomas has become one of the ACC's premier pass rushers. But if Bill Whittenmore isn't careful, Thomas could be a problem.
Hitting The Books - Most would say that a middle linebacker needs to be the smartest guy on the football field. For North Carolina State, that's no concern. Thomas is a pretty smart guy, as he found himself on the ACC Academic Honor Roll as a freshman in 2001-02.
Learning From The Best - As a freshman, Fisher saw action in all 12 of NC State's games, but maybe more important than learning by playing was watching All-American Levar Fisher from the sidelines. Fisher, arguably the best linebacker in Wolfpack history, played the middle linebacker position to perfection, giving Thomas some big shoes to fill, but also giving him the perfect model for success.
-compiled by Ryan Greene
6-foot, 4,255 pounds, sophomore West Des Moines, Iowa
Gabe Toomey
Key Stats - In his first season of Division I football, Toomey made an immediate impact. The sophomore was second on the team in total tackles with 118, and second in solo tackles with 80. Toomey tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with 10. The more impressive part of those 10 tackles for loss is that they all seemed to come at a crucial point in the game. Toomey had one interception on the season, and he returned it for a touchdown to seal a victory against UNLV in the second week.
Accomplishments - Toomey's journey to Kansas has been a long one, but he has succeeded just about everywhere he's gone. Out of high school, USA Today rated him as one of the top-four outside linebackers in the country. Toomey originally was with Oklahoma but left after a year to go home and play at Iowa Central Community College. Toomey was the 30th-ranked recruit coming out of junior college last season. His
performance in his first season as a Jayhawk garnered him the honor of second-team All-Big12 by the Associated Press.
Getting Emotional - Even though he was an unknown to Kansas football fans when the Jayhawks took the field for their season opener against Northwestern, Toomey quickly became a fan favorite. Aside from his unusual speed and quickness at middle linebacker, his emotion and fire has consistently been the fuel the Jayhawks needed. He leads the team out of the locker room in a full sprint to start every game. Toomey is just as valuable emotionally as he is statistically.
Prototypical Throwback - There's probably a reason Toomey clicked in his one year at Oklahoma with then assistant coach Mark Mangino. Without Jash or flair, Toomey gets the job done. He is a blue-collared, no-nonsense performer whose only goal is to win. The gash at the top of Toomey's nose has seemed to open up during each game this season. Like the players of the old days, vanity is not an issue for him, and that's pretty hardcore.
- compiled by Ryan Greene
CLASSIC: Jayhawks improve to 3-2, look to Ball St.
Eric Braem/Kansan
Kansas freshman forward Lauren Ervin attempted a layup against UTEP in Allen Fieldhouse yesterday. Ervin was second in scoring for the Jayhawks in both of the team's victories this weekend. Kansas' record improved to 3-2.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10A
Coming out with a stingy full-court press at the 14-minute mark, the Jayhawks forced five straight Miner turnovers, resulting in eight unanswered points.
Burras poured in 14 points and sopho m ore forward Tamara Ransburg added double figures with 10 in the victory. "If we just keep winning and winning tournaments, I know we'll bring crowds and earn respect."
Ervin finished with eight points Lauren Ervin Freshman forward ___
and eight rebounds, making all three of her attempts from the field.
The Jayhawks improved to 3-2 on the year, with their next action coming Saturday against Ball State at Allen Fieldhouse.
Ervin said she felt it was important for the team to perform well in its home tournament.
"If we just keep winning and winning tournaments," Ervin said, "I know we'll bring crowds and earn respect."
Edited by Ashley Marriott
WEEKEND: Kansas needs to find someone to step up on the court
someone to step up on the court
The Tigers were led by freshman Linas Kleiza who had 15 points and 13 rebounds. He hit a three-pointer while Missouri made its comeback and his three-play play with just over a minute remaining gave the Tigers the win. Kleiza took charge and showed heart in his third collegiate game.
Meanwhile, Kansas looked for someone to step up against Stanford. No one did. That doesn't mean it's time for Jayhawk fans to start pinching. Last year, Kansas
looked awful in the preseason NIT before seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich regrouped the team.
This year, the Jayhawks don't have seniors with that kind of experience and leadership. But maybe the 'Hawks can learn a lesson from the Tigers. It doesn't have to be a senior, or even a junior, that steps up. But if someone doesn't, this team could end up like many Missouri teams from years past: talented but unable to put it together.
Mettlen is a Lucas senior in journalism.
VOLLEYBALL:
Kansas loses three seniors;
Correa to return
"Those four kids come to work everyday and are extremely excited about the success," Bechard said. "It makes everybody's life easier."
They were standing by the bench celebrating every point as if it would be the last. When they did see the court, they wanted nothing more than to show they too were valuable to the team.
From an overall talent stand-point Kansas should be just as good, if not better next season.
Reserves such as Renita Davidson, Jamie Mathewson, Dani Whitman and Megan Hill rarely saw action during the season. But you wouldn't know it from their attitudes.
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That seems to be the attitude this team has taken on this season, and it's not just the regulars.
It loses three seniors in Rome, Abbie Jacobson and Jordan Garrison. But it gains 6-foot-2-inch setter Emily Brown from Baldwin City who said "No" to Nebraska to become a Jayhawk.
Cornea will also be back from the knee injury that sidelined her for half of the season. However, it will be difficult to match the togetherness of the 2003 team.
"We think we can be good over the next few years," Beachard said, "but it's going to be difficult to match the chemistry that we managed to put together over the last six to eight weeks."
FAIL: Second half
CONTINED FROM PAGE 10A
"The worst thing you can do is stay down 4, but you have a great chance to go down 2 or 1 — and we go down 7," Self said. "That's how you lose games."
Edited by Erin Riffey
Kansas outscored Stanford 17-9 in the first 12 minutes of the second half. The run was capped off by Langford's 5-point play, which gave Kansas a 46-45 lead
The 'Hawks never got a shot off after an offensive foul by Bryant Nash. Then Hawkins fuled Stanford's best free throw shooter, sophomore Chris Hernandez, on a last-second heave with just .7 seconds left in the half. Hernandez hit all three free throws to give Stanford a 36-29 halftime lead.
with 8:23 left to go in the game.
It was the Jayhawk's first-and-only lead of the game, and it only lasted 24 seconds. The Cardinal's senior Matt Lottich hit a three-point shot to give his team the lead, and Stanford never trailed again. Lottich hit five three-pointers in the game and was his team's leading scorer with 18.
The Jayhawks were led in scoring by Miles with 11 Simien and Langford had 10 each. The juniors were Kansas' only players in double figures.
"We're better than how we played," Self said. "You can't control shooting from game to game, sometimes you make bad shots and miss good shots. That's just the way basketball is.
run falls short; 'Hawks drop game with 8:23 left to go in the game.
"You can control playing smart, you can control being able to pass the ball, and feeding the post and not making bone-head plays and things like that," Self said. "Those are the things that I'll probably will leave here the most frustrated with, more so than shooting."
The loss will end Kansas' week at No. 1 in the polls. Miles said the team was not concerned with losing the ranking as much as losing the game.
"This ranking stuff doesn't mean much, it's about playing hard and getting better as a team," he said. "We wanted to win, not just to keep the number one spot, but to win."
- Edited by Erin Riffey
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