Section:
B
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Next week in Kansan sports:
Check out the sports section next week for profiles on three of Kansas' new football recruits.
Inside: While the Kansas men travel to Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum, the Kansas women are at home against the Cyclones. SEE PAGE 3B
Inside: The Kansas softball team takes on the top-ranked UCLA Bruins tomorrow in Las Vegas. SEE PAGE 2B
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2001 For comments, contact Shawn Hutchinson or Shawn Linenberger at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Kinsey leaves team. Axtell to miss week with recurring injury
Kansas sophomore forward Nick Collison tries for a basket against Oklahoma State forward Andre Williams . Kansas will face Iowa State tomorrow at noon in Ames, Iowa, for a share of the conference lead. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
Kansas lost two members of its men's basketball team yesterday — one for good.
Kansas coach Roy Williams announced that freshman guard Mario Kinsey has left the basketball team and that senior guard Luke Axell will sit out Saturday's game at Iowa.State with an all-ing back
Kinsey, who left the team to concentrate on academics, played in 16 of Kansas' 23 games this season and averaged 1.9 points and 0.6 rebounds. The Waco, Texas, native is on a football scholarship at the University, but redshirted this season. Kinsey, who is a quarterback, joined the basketball team at the start of practice on Oct. 15.
Kinsey: left basketball team to concentrate on academics
continued to perform below expectations in the classroom," Williams said. "After discussing the situation with Terry Allen and Mario, it was decided that stopping his basketball participation was necessary. Mario will now have more time to devote to his academics, and this will allow his
"Mario struggled academically first semester, and has
body to rest before the start of spring football."
Axtell will miss Saturday's game with back injury
"The playing part didn't have anything to do with it," he said. "Since August I haven't had a break. My academics haven't been where I want them to be. It's not eligibility, it's that I want my academics at a certain level."
The Kansas medical staff decided to hold Axtell out of basketball for up to seven
Axtell will miss tomorrow's game because of chronic back pain.
days so he can concentrate on treatment and rehabilitation and to avoid further irritation of his back.
Axtell is averaging 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
"There is no exact timetable on when Luke will return," Williams said. "But we do need Luke to play effectively, and you can't do that unless you're healthy. This is another big blow for our basketball team at this time, but we've got to move on and hope that this will help us get Luke more healthy and ready to play for us as we get to tournament time."
— Shawn Hutchinson
Fierce rematch brewing
By Chris Wristen
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportswriter
As No. 6 Kansas (19-4, 8-3) heads to Iowa State (20-3, 9-2) in a rematch with the No. 7 Cyclones tomorrow, some questions arise.
Are they out for revenge? Will sophomores Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich be booed because they ditched their home state to go to Kansas? Can Kansas still win the conference?
"I just want to win," Hinrich said. "I've never won there, and we've never beat them since I've been here. I'm sure they're feeling like there's no wav we can beat them."
"They present so many problems for you," Williams said. "They can shoot from the outside, while (Senior forwards Martin) Rancik and (Paul) Shirley give them things inside. They defend your rear end off."
Iowa State beat Kansas in a 79-77 thriller in Allen Fieldhouse 11 days ago. Senior guards Jamaal Tinsley and Kantrail Horton did the most damage. Tinsley hit three of six three-point attempts and dished six assists while Horton hit all four of his three-pointers, including one from nearly 30 feet.
Kansas is tied with No. 14 Oklahoma for second in the Big 12 Conference behind Iowa State, and a loss tomorrow could realistically knock the Jayhawks out of the title race. Kansas has lost its last four games against the Cyclones and Iowa State owns the nation's second-longest home court winning streak at 33 games.
Coach Roy Williams said his Jayhawks would need their best effort of the season to have a chance at slowing the Cyclones, a team he said was definitely one of the nation's best.
"They are extremely difficult to guard when they have three guys, particularly two of them, that really are point guard types that can penetrate so well." Williams said. "What we hope for is that they do not make their
The guards can penetrate, too. Williams said that containing Tinsley and Horton on the dribble would be key to slowing the Cyclones. Both managed to create their own shots and plays for others because they were quicker than Hinrich and junior guard Jeff Boschee.
Hinrich, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, said he would love nothing more than to put an end to that streak.
outside shots.
"If you allow them to penetrate, they get all the way in, and then all of a sudden your big people get involved. Then they get the ball to their big people, and it's usually a layup."
Tomorrow the struggling Jayhawks will get their chance to put up or shut up against a Cyclone team that hasn't lost in more than a month. Despite the
Cyclones' winning streak. Collison talked tough about his team's chances.
"We have to be bigger than that," Collison said. "We have to be upset with what's happened and go on and play. Saying our confidence is shaky is kind of an excuse. I think that is for people that are not tough enough to play at this level."
— Edited by Courtney Craigmile
Charlie Gruber, record holder in the men's 1000-meter run, tears around the corner during his record-setting race. Gruber will be the only KU representative competing in the Adidas Golden Spike Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho, tomorrow. Photo by Nick Krug/KA
Runner to compete on ESPN
"I want to work on strength and develop speed in the 800-meter
By Michael Sudhalter
Gruber has excelled in the 1,000-meter, 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter events and qualified for the NCAA competition in the mile and distance relay events. So why would Gruber want to compete in another event this late in the season?
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Gruber, who will attempt to qualify for the NCAA 800-meter competition, is no stranger to the 800-meter event. He won consecutive Colorado state track titles in the event in 1996 and 1997 and won several 800-meter runs in his early years as a Jayhawk. Gruber said the return to the 800 should help his overall performance with the Jayhawks.
Kansas track and field senior Charlie Gruber is going back to his roots.
event." Gruber said.
Gruber, who broke the school record in the 1,000 meter event, will be the lone Jayhawk at the Adidas Golden Spike Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho, tomorrow. The event will be shown at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.
"I think it's a great opportunity for Charlie and the University of Kansas that he can compete on national television," coach Stanley Redwine said. "He has prepared well for this race and will have a good international field to compete against. We are looking for him to have a great meet."
Gruber may never have gotten the chance to run on ESPN if he had not run cross country as a training sport in high school.
"I played soccer all through high school, but then decided to run cross country my sophomore year as a way to get in shape for basketball." Gruber said.
Once he established himself as a cross country athlete, Gruber expanded his career into the winter and spring track and field seasons.
"I enjoy both sports, but you are more dependent on your teammates in cross country," Gruber said. "I enjoy track because of the competition and shorter distances."
As one of the team's veterans, Gruber is happy with the way the team has come together and gained a Top 10 ranking under a new coaching staff.
"I was really happy to see us ranked No. 10 nationally, and the team is excited with the conference meet coming up," Gruber said. "Coach Clark has done a fabulous job getting the distance runners ready."
Gruber would like to compete in track and field after graduation but also would like a career in the high tech sector of business.
Baseball team stays undefeated in close call
Edited by Melissa Cooley
By Ryan Malashock
sports@kanson.com
Kansas sportwriter
Kansas outslugged St. Mary's (Calif.) early, and then held off a late Gael rally in its 13-10 victory in the opening round of the Rawlings Invitational in Phoenix.
The Jayhawks (4-0) collected a season-high 16 hits on the night and blew the game open with an eight-run fourth inning. Every Jayhawk starter recorded at least one hit in the game.
"The key for me was finally being able to establish my fastball," Olson said. "Once that happened, I started mixing in my off-speed pitches, and I was able to keep
Junior pitcher Dan Olson won his first start of the season and
went five innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out three. St. Mary's beat up Olson in the bottom of the first inning by scoring two runs on four hits and loading the bases with just one out. Olson used a pick-off and a strikeout to end the threat.
them off-balance."
Olson attributed his success to settling down after the Gaels' strong first inning.
Sparked by a Tribble two-run double and RBI singles by junior third baseman Ryan Klocksien and senior right fielder Jesse Gremminger, the Jayhawks scored eight runs in the fourth and took a 12-3 advantage.
But St. Mary's wouldn't go away.
The Gaels rallied off of Jawhawk
Kansas freshman left fielder Matt Tribble began the Jayhawk scoring in the second inning with a two-out, two-run single. Following a single run by St. Mary's in the bottom of the second inning, Kansas exploded in the fourth.
BOX SCORE
KANSAS 020-811-010-13 16 2
AT MARIN 814-000-421-10 19
MAR 14 MAY 20
WP. Olson (1-3), LP. Carroll (OX-1), 28XU, Kluckstein (3), Gremmlinger (1), Tribble (5), WM. Wrayen, Spooner. 3B, TEahen.
relivers senior Eric Thompson, freshman Chris Smart and junior Jeff Davis with four runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth. By the time junior closing pitcher Doug Lantz entered the game in the ninth, Kansas' lead had been cut from 12-3 to 13-9.
Kansas coach Bobby Randall sai
Sports Columnist
he was pleased with the Jayhawk's victory, but was discouraged by the play of his bullpen.
Klocksien and Gremminger led the Jayhawks offensively with three hits each. Tribble had two hits, including a double and four RBI.
"We did some good things today, but we also struggled at times," Randall said. "Olson and Lantz pitched well, but we still need some work in our middle relief."
Kansas takes on Northwestern today at 10 a.m. in second-round action of the Rawlings Invitational.
— Edited by Courtney Cornelia
Allan Davis
sports@kansan.com
Hecklers must be cautious with ridicule
While I was browsing through the Kansan Free for All on Feb. 5, something jumped out at me and caught my attention. Someone had called in and said, "Eric Chenowith is the worst basketball player ever."
That took me and my memory back a few years. On Jan. 27, 1997, Kansas State Collegian sports columnist Todd Stewart wrote that K-State basketball forward Manny Dies, of Wichita, was the "worst player in the history of basketball." His entire column denigrated Dies' on-court performance. When Dies play began to improve, Stewart claimed credit for the improvement. Then, on May 5, 1997, Stewart wrote a satirical column in which he made up quotes and attributed them to Dies and then-coach Tom Asbury, among others.
At that point, the 6-foot-8 Dies and Australian teammate Pero Vasiljevic took exception to what Stewart had written and went to Stewart's fraternity house looking for him, apparently to straighten him out. Stewart wasn't at the Kappa Sigma house, but he was at home when one of his frat brothers called and told him that Dies and Vasiljevic were looking for him.
When the two hoopsters arrived at Stewart's home, Stewart wisely locked himself in his roommate's bedroom. Dies broke through the bedroom door, but Stewart had fled, shirtless and shoeless, through a second-floor window and escaped.
In July 1997, the Riley County attorney charged Dies with criminal damage to property, assault and criminal trespass
Vasiljevic was also charged with assault and criminal trespass. All the charges were misdemeanors. Neither player was suspended, and I think that was OK. A player should be suspended only after he is convicted.
In November 1997, Dies pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property and agreed to pay for the broken door. The county attorney's office dropped charges against Vasiljevic. Dies and Vasiljevic sat out K-State's first two exhibition games, but Dies was back in action in the regular-season opener.
Because I remember the previous story, a bell went off in my head when somebody labeled Chenowith as "the worst player ever." The K-State incident suggests that people should be careful what they say.
Just imagine what would have happened if a Kansas athlete — Lester Earl or one of his teammates, Nick Bradford, for example — had charged into the stands after a heckler.
Be aware — players do sometimes lose their cool — Latrell Sprewell and Roberto Alomar come to mind immediately.
Incidentally, Chenowith is not the first Kansas center to be consistently criticized. I remember 7-foot-2 Greg Ostertag, who graduated in 1995, sometimes got no respect.
An example: When I was an undergraduate student at Washburn, a guard from K-State decided he wasn't getting enough playing time and transferred to Washburn. In Broadcasting I, the former Wildcat voiced an opinion highly critical of Ostertag, generally disrespected him and said he would much rather see B.J. Williams out there lumping center.
Among my friends, Ostertag was fair game for razzing when fellow 7-footer Bryant Reeves of Oklahoma State, now with the Vancouver Grizzlies, outscored him.
However, in 1997, Ostertag signed a six-year, $39 million contract extension with the NBA's Utah Jazz. I had no idea he was worth so much. At the All-Star break, he was averaging 4.3 points a game and 4.6 rebounds.
Because of how well Ostertag is doing financially, I don't think Chenowith needs to worry about his future or be bothered by a few boos. If Ostertag can make it in the NBA and earn so much money, so can Chenowith.
I have confidence in that. I'll even volunteer to be his agent.
Davis is a Topoka graduate student in journalism.