Section:
1B
Section:
Flashback
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
March 13, 1986 — The Kansas men's basketball team defeated North Carolina A&T 71-46 in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Dayton, Ohio. The Jayhawks eventually lost to Duke in the Final Four.
Inside: Brackets and pairings for the NCAA Tournament were announced last night.
MONDAY, MARCH 12. 2001
SEE PAGES 4B AND 5B
SEE PAGES 4B AND 5B Inside: The Kansas baseball team dropped a 1-0 decision at Missouri yesterday.
SEE PAGE 3B
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Former tennis coach supportive of colleague
Just as a coach tries to shelter his players after a devastating loss, Riley called Nwachukwu to try to salvage the tennis careers of players he recruited and the career of his former player.
But not even former Kansas men's tennis coach Mark Riley could prepare his former player and current Jayhawks coach Ross Nwachukwu for last week's abrupt cancellation of the men's tennis program.
Coaches are supposed to supply their players with game plans for upcoming meets.
"I had no idea — I was just as completely floored as everyone else in the program," Riley said last week from his office at Penn. "I want to help him and his players move on. That's the biggest thing I can do for him."
After Nwachukwu spent four years playing for Riley at Drake, Riley hired Nwachukwu as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs in 1995.
The former four-year letter winner and nationally ranked player received assistance from Riley, who became his colleague instead of his coach.
But the support didn't stop there — in 1999, three years after Riley was hired by Kansas, Nwachukwu was brought to Lawrence to be an assistant in the men's tennis program. The team would produce a 12-9 record and place second in Region V the first year the pair was together.
But Riley said he looked forward to helping Nwachukwu finding a new coaching position, just like he has done in the past.
However, when the opportunity to return to his hometown as the men's tennis coach at Penn emerged last fall, Riley left Kansas to become coach of the Quakers. Nwachukwu was introduced as the new coach of the Javhawks.
High-caliber players — such as Nwachukwu — and high-caliber coaches — such as Riley — were shocked by Kansas' decision.
Kuschbe in a Flossmoor, Ill., senior in Journalism.
Nwachukwu's one-year stint as men's tennis coach was cut short.
For comments, contact Shawn Hutchinson or Shawn Linenberger at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com
It seems Riley left just in time. Only six months later, Kansas Athletics Director Bob Frederick cut the men's tennis program, as well as the men's swimming and diving program.
military coats, was short. Frederick cited increases in scholarship expenses and a 115 percent travel budget increase as the reasons for cutting both programs.
Only eight other schools in the Big 12 Conference house a men's tennis program — but that offers little solace to a program that will no longer exist after this season.
He said Kansas' national reputation would probably suffer from these cuts — along with any hopes of re-establishing the tennis program if more money became available in the future.
Riley said to his knowledge, Kansas' tennis team — which, under his watch, produced a second-place conference finish in 1997, a three-time Rolex Region V Singles and Doubles champion and one double team to the NCAA quarterfinals — was the most successful program to ever be discontinued.
"Building a program from zero will be very difficult," Riley said. "But KU is a great place and can attract caliber players."
No.4 seed not shocking to Williams
Cal State-Northridge looms as 'Hawks prepare for NCAA tournament
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com Kansan writerwriter
Following the "you get what you pay for" mentality, Kansas coach Roy Williams had a similar response to his team's draw in the NCAA Tournament, announced last night.
"You play yourself into the spot that they put you," Williams said. "Where they put us is where we played ourselves into. Everybody in the country can make a case for themselves going up or going down a seed, but we played ourselves into that spot."
No. 9 Kansas (24-6 overall and 12-4 in
the big 12 Conference) is the No. 4 seed in the Midwest regional and is slated to
play No. 13 seed California State-Northridge Friday in Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Williams said he thought his team could have been seeded higher had it won Saturday against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament. Instead, his team is seeded fourth and will be in Ohio, which doesn't bother Williams.
Williams:soid
'Hawks deserved
No. 4 seed
"It doesn't mean anything to me," Williams said. "With the exception of the people that want to see us play, it's a shorter distance to go. When it comes
down to coaching the game and playing the game, where it's located shouldn't make any difference."
Senior center Eric Chenowith said that he agreed with the selection committee's seeding of the Jayhawks, and he was excited to play in senior teammate Kenny Gregory's home state.
"It's a good seed for us," Chenowith said. "It's a seed we deserve. It's pretty close to Kenny's home, so it's going to be good for him, and I hope all of the people of Ohio can rally behind us and rally behind Kenny."
The Jayhawks might need a little bit of support after Saturday's frustrating 62-57 loss to Oklahoma. Even more support may be needed based on the difficult teams in Kansas' half of the bracket. A second round meeting with Syracuse, the fifth seed, may lie ahead — and then a possible meeting with No.1 seed Illinois in the Sweet 16 looms.
The other No. 1 seeds are Michigan State in the South, Duke in the East and Stanford in the West. North Carolina fell to a No. 2 seed in the South after its 79-53 spanking by Duke, but that just exemplified what Williams said was a zany week of conference tournament shake-ups heading into the big dance.
"I think eight of the top 10 teams in the country lost in the last seven days," Williams said. "Teams that made significant runs at the end, like Kentucky, moved up to No. 2. Boston College, I thought, would've been a little higher, and I thought Iowa State played well and earned the high seed that they deserved." The Cyclones earned a No. 2 seed in the West and will play Hampton in the first round. Missouri is a No. 9 and Oklahoma State a No. 11 seed in the East. Oklahoma and Texas rounded out the Big 12's representation in the tournament with the South's fourth and sixth seeds, respectively.
- Edited by Jay Pilgreen
Kansas' Kirk Hinrich and Jeff Boschee await reporters' questions at the postgame press conference ten minutes after the team's loss to Oklahoma. Photo by Nick Krua/KANSAN
'Hawks squander lead, Big 12 title hopes
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
By Chris Wristen
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With top-seeded Iowa State out of the way after losing to Baylor, No. 9 Kansas ran on high octane in a 94-63 greasing of Kansas State Friday and looked poised to cruise to the Big 12 Conference Tournament title.
Come Saturday, the oil ran dry.
The Jayhawks (24-6) lost to No. 16 Oklahoma (25-6) in the tournament semifinals after squandering an eight-point lead in the second half in Kemper Arena.
Kansas sped to an early 15-5 lead after five minutes, courtesy of two three-point shots by junior guard Jeff Boschee and two lay-ins by sophomore forward Drew Gooden.
The next 15 minutes of the first half were not so good. The Sooners made a 13-4 run during the next seven minutes, and the Jayhawks scored just 15 points in the
remainder of the half. Boschee added another trey in the final minute that sent Kansas into halftime with a 30-24 lead, but senior forward Kenny Gregory said his team had already missed a golden opportunity to finish off the Sooners.
"Early on, we had a 10- or 12-point lead, and at that point is where we should have really stepped up and tried to bury them, and we didn't," Gregory said. "We had a comfortable seven-point lead in the second half for a while and weren't able to get the lead up any higher."
Not capitalizing came back to bite the 'Hawks. Oklahoma didn't make a field goal until almost four minutes into the second half, but Kansas only mustered a Gregory dunk during that span.
Kansas couldn't score inside because Oklahoma's Kelly Newton, Jameel Heywood and Daryan Selvy wouldn't allow Kansas to get any good looks inside.
"They were doing a good job of getting around and not allowing our high-low
The Jayhawks had 44-36 with 10 minutes left, but Hollis Price sank two free throws and Tim Heskett drained a three-point shot that trimmed the Kansas lead to three points. Heywood was fouled by Chenowith on a lay-in and sank the ensuing free throw that gave the Sooners their first lead since going ahead 1-0 in the opening minute.
game," said Kansas center Eric Chenowith. "They were just fighting."
Also contributing to Kansas' struggles was Oklahoma's ability to hit big shots. The Sooners hit just eight of its 28 threepointers in the game and missed their first eight tries of the second half. But they hit the shots when they counted.
Kansas point guard Kirk Hirnich rank two free throws that put the 'Hawks ahead, but Newton's trey and free throws gave Oklahoma a four-point lead. He added another three-pointer with 1:45 left before Kansas junior guard Brett Ballard cut the Sooners' lead to 7:57-6 on a slashing lay-up.
But the Jayhawks didn't get any closer.
— Edited by Melissa Cookey
BOX SCORE
No. 16 KLAHOMA 62, No. 9 KANSAS 57
KLAHOMA (25 G)
Newton 5 13 2 1 17, Heywood 2 3 2 3 6, McGhee 3-1 2 3
2 8, Johnson 4 10 1 7 8, Price 0 8 6 6 6, Heskett 1 4 0 0 3, Seviy 4 1 2 1 6, Gilbert 0 0 0 0 0. Totals 17 52
20 24 62.
KANSAS (24-6)
Gooden 2-9 3-4 7, Gregory 5-9 1-1 11, Chenowith 3-0 1 6, Hirsch 3-11 4-1 12, Boschett 4-9 0-1 11, Ballard 1-2 0 0 2, Collison 2-8 4-6 8, Carey 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 20-5 12-16 7.
Halftime—Kansas 30. Oklahoma 24. 3-point goals—
Oklaimba 8-28 (Newton 5-12, Sely 1, Heskett 14,
Johnson 15, Price 05) Kansas 5-15 (Bosches 36,
Hinrich 2-7, Ballard 0, Gooden 0, Gregory 0), Fouled out—Gregory, Rebounds—Oklaimba 37 (Heywood 9),
Kansas 35 (Collison 8). Assists—Oklaimba 7 (Price 5),
Kansas 12 (Hinrich 6). Total fouls—Oklaimba 18,
Kansas 20. A–19,100.
Chancellor discusses cuts with frustrated athletes
By Brandon Stinnett
Protesters wrote a new chapter in the ongoing saga surrounding the Athletics Department's decision to cut two Kansas athletic programs when they met with Chancellor Robert Hemenway Saturday in Blake Hall.
Rob Kelly, Naperville, Ill., senior, lists some of the men's swimming and diving team's successes in the classroom. More than 100 of supporters of the swimming and tennis teams met with Chancellor Robert Hemenway in Blake Hall after marching from Robinson Center to Hemenway's home. Protesters also discussed raising funds to save the team. Photo by Melissa Carr/KANSAN
Kansan sportswriter
争
Supporters and members of the Kansas men's swimming and diving and men's tennis teams met with Hemenway after staging a protest march that started outside Robinson Center and ended at Hemenway's home near Fraser Hall.
More than 100 protesters, most wearing white t-shirts that read "Save Olympic Sports," marched through campus holding signs denouncing the cuts and reciting the Rock Chalk Chant.
The march was the second action taken by both teams after Bob Frederick, athletics director, announced last Sunday that budget issues had forced the University to discontinue the two programs after this year.
The teams are trying to gather 15,000 signatures for a petition against the
program cuts.
Hemenway met the protesters outside his home and invited them into Blake Hall to discuss the issue. He answered questions about how the department arrived at its decision and ways to reverse it.
Many of the questions centered around what other options Frederick and the department could have exercised instead of eliminating the two sports.
One of the most vocal protesters was
Monte Johnson, a former Kansas athletics director from 1982-87. Johnson chastised Frederick for not working harder to avoid the program cuts.
Johnson said as athletics director, he used to solve budget issues by calling alumni and asking for financial donations. He said Frederick may have been
"It's the most sickening thing that I've seen since I've been back in Lawrence that they're cutting sports to save money," Johnson said as protesters gathered in a circle before the march.
"The easiest thing to do is to cut a sport." Johnson said. "The hardest thing to do is to work your butt off to make these sports have a chance."
Hemenway said he wasn't aware of other options that were explored to avoid the cut, but he pledged to have Frederick meet with the athletes to discuss details at a later date.
able to avoid the program cuts had he tried to raise the money himself.
Hemenway left the door open for possible reinstatement of the programs if financial issues were worked out, but he remained skeptical because of how much money it would take to save the programs. Hemenway said the University would need about a $12 million endowment fund to keep the two sports running down the road.
"It's a money issue," he said. "If money came forth to make it a nonissue, then it'd be a pretty easy decision." Kansas swimmer Jeremy Howard said he thought the team had a legitimate shot at raising enough money to keep the programs.
"I've only been here for one year and I've personally been in contact with enough people who are willing to donate a half-million dollars," he said.
Edited by Courtney Craigmile