Tuesday, March 13, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 3
Knight eyes Tech for fresh start
By Zac Hunter
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Members of the Big 12 Conference may soon be welcoming a new coach onto their basketball courts. He's known for winning and stirring up controversy, and his name is Bobby Knight.
While the former Indiana basketball coach has yet to formalize a deal that would make him the basketball coach at Texas Tech, the rumors are flying.
The much-criticized Knight is slated to travel to Lubbock, Texas, this week to discuss the terms of a contract and to take a tour of campus. And Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers is putting all his eggs in one basket.
Myers said he had contacted no one else about the position and that there was significant interest by both the university and Knight.
Knight was last in the news in
September when he was dismissed as Indiana's coach after violating the notolerance policy the university had instated. Knight grabbed Indiana freshman Kent Harvey after an unacceptable greeting and was fired soon
The Harvey incident, combined with numerous others that ranged from grabbing players to throwing chairs, made for a fiery tenure for Knight that started at Indiana in 1971.
Big 12 coach likes the idea of Knight residing in Lubbock, Texas.
Knight: may be new coach for Texas Tech
"I think if coach Knight does go to
Texas Tech it would be great for our league," said Kansas coach Roy Williams. "I think he wants to get back
into college
into college coaching. 1 don't see anything but positives for everybody."
The firing of 10-year coach
James Dickey, who amassed a record of 166-123 at Texas Tech, paved the way for Knight's anticipated return to coaching.
The Red Raiders haven't finished
better than seventh in the Big 12 since the inaugural season, and they finished last this season, with a conference record of 3-13.
"I first of all want to say I feel very sad for James Dickey," Williams said. "I think James did a quality job there, and I'm sorry to see that had to happen."
Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said that losing Dickey hurt the conference, but that the addition of Knight would certainly add to the already impressive list of Big 12 coaches.
"Certainly Bobby's credentials and success is well known," Sutton said. "It will just strengthen the conference. I don't think there is a league that top to bottom has better coaches."
But the questions of whether the volatile Knight will fit into a conference filled with established coaches remains.
Sutton has a less than confident answer.
— Edited by Leita Schultes
Cuts damage University's reputation, coaches say
Continued from page 1B
Hedrick also questioned the manner in which the University and the Kansas University Athletic Corporation went about making the decision.
Hedrick said that he was curious about whom the KUAC represented and that he hoped its mission was to represent the entire University community. If so, he said it would have been prudent to seek input from faculty, staff, students and alumni regarding the situation.
The Kansas swimming team is in a time of transition with new coach Doug Dickinson, who could have met the challenge of rebuilding the team, Hedrick said. With six quality programs in the Big 12, the loss of the Kansas team will hurt the conference in both depth and quality, he said.
"Would the KU family be proud of the fact that just hours after the men's swimming team got back from the Big 12 Conference championship they were called into a meeting and told that they were no longer a part of the KU family?" Hedrick said.
"Since I have been at Iowa State,
other than men's basketball, I believe one would be hard pressed to find another Jayhawk men's program that consistently was ranked in the top 25 like the swimming program was," Hedrick said. "I firmly believe that with that tradition, KU would quickly move back into the national rankings and continue to produce All-Americans as they have done successfully in the past on a regular basis."
Baylor men's tennis coach Matt Knoll started his coaching career at Kansas. During his two-year tenure as an assistant coach, the Jayhawks won the Big 8 Conference both years while earning a Top 10 national ranking. In the final years of the conference, Kansas dominated the Big Eight and finished in second place in the first year of the Big 12 in 1997. Knoll said.
"I am bitterly disappointed by this decision," Knoll said. "When I heard the news, it was like someone had punched me in the stomach. KU has been in the NCAAs regularly and continues to field a good team."
While the 'Hawks have slipped some in the rankings, they still reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament last season before Knoll's Baylor team knocked them out.
On the heels of Frederick's announcement, the Kansas men's tennis team took on No. 5 Texas A&M on Wednesday, nearly pulling off the upset against the Aggies. A crowd of supporters attended the match at the Alvamar Racquet Club, showing their loyalty to the recently terminated squad.
The internal cuts announced by Frederick on March 4 will save the department $600,000 next year and $3.6 million during the next five years.
"I was shocked. It's sobering to think that a great institution like the University of Kansas can't find a way to support a lifetime sport like tennis." Knoll said. "It's certainly understandable that travel expenses went up when KU joined the Big 12, but so did revenues.
"I wish the Athletic Department had chosen to reach out to all the prominent tennis alumni. I understand that several have already expressed a desire to help, but no one asked them before the decision," he said.
Edited by Jay Pilgreen
The Associated Press
Reluctant teams start the dance
The three-time Big South champ and the Southland Conference representative from Natchitoches, La., arrived yesterday to prepare for a play-in game they both dreaded.
DAYTON, Ohio — All of the floor decals and banners can't hide the downside to the NCAA tournament's opening game — Winthrop and Northwestern State would rather not be in it.
The winner of tonight's tournament opener gets to face top-seeded Illinois only three days later. The loser gets the consolation of knowing it appeared in the NCAA tournament.
It's not much consolation
"We felt like we shouldn't have been in this game, but there's nothing we can do about it." Winthrop forward Derrick Knox said.
No matter how the NCAA dressed it up, it was the game no one wanted to play. Faced with a shrinking number of at-large bids, the NCAA decided to expand the tournament to 65 teams this year.
The two worst tests in the draw — Nos. 64 and 65 — were matched in a
play-in that had only some of the trappings and a fraction of the anticipation for a regular NCAA tournament game.
No wonder the players were mad about their slot in March Madness.
"I don't think our kids are very happy about being the 65th team in the nation." Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall said. "The good news is there are 254 other teams that would love to trade places with us."
The NCAA returned to a play-in format this year because the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West got automatic bids. The NCAA wants to keep 34 at-large bids, but now has 31 automatic conference bids to hand out.
It's not the first time the NCAA has expanded the field from 64. In 1991, six teams that got automatic bids held play-in games to join the other 61 teams.
The difficult part was deciding which two teams would have to put up with the disadvantages of last-minute travel and an extra game only three days before facing a No.1 seed.
"Winthrop finished second in the Big South regular season — that's the 31st rated conference." NCAA selec-
committee chairman Mike Tanghese said. "Northwestern State finished fourth in the Southland, which is the 29th-rated conference."
Winthrop has an RPI of 188, worst in the 65-team field. Northwestern State has the third-worst at 169 — N.C.Greensboro is at 177. Both of these 18-12 teams needed remarkable comebacks just to get this far.
Northwestern State lost to Arkansas by 68 points in December and was 11-11 on Feb. 15. The Demons won seven of their last eight games to get their first NCAA tournament bid in their 25 years in Division I.
Just like Winthrop, they're representing a conference that has never won an NCAA tournament game.
Winthrop has won three straight Big South tournament titles, but lost to Auburn by 39 points and to Oklahoma by 24 points in its first-round NCAA games.
The one upside to a play-in game: it assures a first-ever tournament win for one of the two reluctant participants.
"Both of us can play someone more on their own level, as opposed to having to slay Goliath in the first round," Marshall said.
No Big 12 teams to play in KC
Thanks to the NCAA selection committee, there'll be no Big 12 Conference teams in Kemper Arena this week for the men's Midwest Regional, even though Kansas City is a Big 12 town and the conference is the official host.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — So pulling almost 300 jobs out of Kansas City and abandoning its long-time home town for a not of gold in Indiana wasn't enough?
The Associated Press
"I was shocked," said coach Kelvin Sampson of Oklahoma. "Two things shocked me the most, Texas being a No. 6 seed and the fact we don't have a Big 12 team in Kansas City."
The NCAA once again has given the back of its hand to this place the pioneers called Possum Trot.
Of course, the members of the selection committee were not involved in the decision several years ago to leave Kansas City and move the NCAA's headquarters to Indianapolis. But to basketball fans in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma that may be a subtle, meaningless distinction.
None of the teams assigned to the Friday through Sunday format in Kansas City is closer than about 400
Equally puzzled was Eddie Sutton, whose Oklahoma State Cowboys were made the No. 11 seed at Greensboro, N.C., in the East Regional.
miles from Kemper Arena.
As the 65-team bracket was unveiled Sunday evening, Sampson was happy to see that his Sooners had not been sent to the first regionals that were announced.
Kansas was made a No. 4 seed in Dayton, Ohio.
Missouri got a No. 9 seed in Greensboro, and Iowa State, the conference regular season champ, drew a No.
2 seed and was sent all the way to Boise, Idaho.
"I thought they'd send Iowa State, Missouri or Kansas to Kansas City," Sutton said. "That really surprised me. My wife and I were talking about that last night."
They were identified as the No. 4 seed in the South, shipped to Memphis, Tenn.
The teams that did get to Kansas City include Butler, Iona, Wake Forest and Xavier.
It's not a lineup to generate much excitement among Big 12 fans.
A Kansas City television station had a shot of the Kemper Arena box office where NCAA game tickets were being sold shortly after the end of the Big 12 tourney – the place was deserted.
Driver honors Earnhardt in Atlanta win
The Associated Press
HAMPTON, Ga. — Date Earnhardt's thrillingly narrow win against Bobby Labonte in last year's Cracker Barrel 500 was considered the greatest finish in Atlanta Motor Speedway history.
It kept that distinction for about a year.
Rookie Kevin Harvick, who took over Earnhardt's ride after the seven-time Winston Cup champ was killed in the Daytona 500, took the lead with a three-wide pass with five laps left. He held off a charging Jeff Gordon by inches on Sunday and won the 325-lan race.
Harvick's margin of victory was 0.006 seconds, even smaller than Earnhardt's 0.010 from last year.
"All I have to say is this one is for Dale," said Harvick, 25, the top-finishing rookie in all three of his starts. "We just bided our time. I think somebody was watching over us."
The win and following celebration sent most of the 125,000 fans into a frenzy. Harvick took a victory lap with his hand out the window, holding up three fingers in honor of the No. 3 made famous by Earnhardt.
"I don't even know how to put it into words," said Harvick, who drove a white No. 29 while NASCAR observes a one-year moratorium on the No. 3. It was the same car Earnhardt drove to second place in last season's finale at Atlanta. "It took an extra lap afterwards to get the emotional part out of the way. And then pulling into victory lane and see all those guys who have supported me through probably one of the hardest times of their lives and the hardest situation of my life."
After Harvick zoomed past Jerry Nadeau and Dale Jarrett and took the lead on lap 320, Gordon took second and steadily moved closer. Gordon's only attempt at a pass came in Turn 4 of the final lap, when he pulled under Harvick's car heading to the checkered flag.
"It was a great win for them," Gordon said of Harwick and his Richard Childress-owned team. "He did what it took to win. He had a good car. But he made the move. He took them three-wide and passed those two guys that were battling."
The cars touched slightly as they approached the finish line, and NASCAR needed a few seconds to declare Harvick the winner.
The win for Harvick, last year's Busch Series Rookie of the Year, was the soonest ever in a Winston Cup race, coming in only his third attempt.
kansan.com
Nadeau held on for third despite a spin on the second lap, followed by pole-sitter Jarrett and Terry Labonte.
For Childress, the victory capped a heart-wrenching three weeks since Earnhardt, his longtime driver and friend, lost his life in the final lap of the Daytona 500.
"I just kept praying there at the end, praying for Dale to help us, and he did." Childress said. "I'm speechless. I didn't think I was very emotional. I guess I find out lately how soft I really am."
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Harvick and the rest of the field spent most of the early going trailing Gordon, who led 122 of the first 142 laps until he ran out of gas. He lost a lap when he coasted to the pits, and he didn't regain the lost ground until a lap 275 caution for Matt Kenseth's spin.
Nadeau, one of Gordon's teammates, was leading at the time, and he slowed abruptly on the track to let Gordon by and back into the lead lan
Then, second-year driver Dave Blaney dominated the race for 70 laps before mechanical problems ended his day.
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3/13/01 6:00pm Kansas Union, Alderson Auditorium
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