Section:
6A
The University Daily Kansan
Sports
Tobacco Road Win
Former Kansas assistant coach Matt Doherty and his No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels defeated No. 2 Duke 85-83 in Durham, N.C.
Inside: The women's basketball team hopes to upset Texas in Austin tomorrow.
SEE PAGE 7A
Inside: Kansas track plays host to its only home indoor meet today in Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2001 For comments, contact Shawn Hutchinson or Shawn Linenberger at 864-4858 or sports@kansan.com KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
SEE PAGE 7A
Softball begins amid questions of experience
By Brent Briggeman sports @kanson.com
Kansas sportwriter
Ready or not, the Kansas softball team starts its season this weekend.
The team will participate in the Diamond Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., after only two weeks of practice.
Kansas coach Tracy Bunge worried that the lack of practice time would hurt her team, especially because the cold weather has kept the Jayhawks indoors for much of their time.
Bunge: concerned about team's lack of outdoor practice.
"It's really scary that we haven't been able to be on the dirt to take ground balls," said Bunge, who is entering her fifth season at Kansas. "Using the turf inside is great for repetition, but it can also lead to some bad habits."
She said the team typically takes more time to prepare at the start of the season, but the tournament was too attractive to turn down.
"They offered us a good deal financially," she said. "Plus we have the chance to play a balanced field, including a Cal State-Fullerton team that is among the nation's best."
The No. 14 Titans will be joined by Mississippi, Colorado State and host team New Mexico.
The key concern for the Jayhawks, who were 30-32 last season, will be the pitching staff. Of the three pitchers on the roster, only junior Kelly Campbell has any Division I experience.
"It's nervous and it's exciting. It's going to be a real challenge for our staff because they're so inexperienced and so young. I'm hoping to see some good contributions from all three, but it's a real question mark going in." Bunze said.
Freshman Kara Pierce and junior college transfer Kirsten Milhoan will also take the mound this weekend.
"We already have a lot of team chemistry." Musser said.
Offensively, Kansas must rebound from last season's hitting woes — they hit just .228 as a team. The Jayhawks saw improvement during the fall season, however, when they hit .319.
With all the question marks, only one thing is certain, the Jayhawks will be put to the test early. They face the Titans in the first game of the round-robin tournament at noon and will play four more games this weekend.
Junior Shelly Musser will try to continue her role as the Jayhawks' spark plug from her lead-off spot. The two-time All-Big 12 center fielder already ranks second on the Kansas all-time stolen base list. She said the Jayhawks' unity and enthusiasm would make up for their inexperience.
Back pain slows Axtell
By Chris Wristen
Kansan sportswriter
Edited by Doug Poeey
By Chris Wristen
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriters
Kansas senior Luke Axtell may be battling a Texas-sized pain tomorrow, but it likely won't be his former team, the Longhorns.
Recurring pain from his lower back to his right knee has hindered Axtell's play mid-season for the past few years, but this year's pain is the worst, he said.
He is still expected to play when No. 3 Kansas (17-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12 Conference) takes on Texas (16-5, 5-2) at noon tomorrow in Allen Fieldhouse — but Axtell's minutes will probably be limited.
injuries are nothing new to Axtell. He missed time this season after breaking a bone in his hand during the preseason and then missed games because of two ankle sprains. Since then, coach Roy Williams said. Axtell had shown great improvement but was now facing another painful setback.
"Through the Texas Tech game he was making some shots and was getting better and better defensively," Williams said. "At Oklahoma he did not make any jump shots, yet he really helped us win the game with some other things that he did.
According to Axtell, his injury makes any movement difficult, including jumping, shooting or running.
"It affects your control over your body; I feel like I'm 7-feet-4 sometimes," the 6-foot-10-inch Axtell said. "It affects your coordination when your feet don't go where you want them to, and you don't have the strength going up that you want to have."
Axtell's back felt as good yesterday as it had in weeks, and it might have improved slightly, he said.
Axtell played his freshman season at Texas before an assistant coach released his grades to a radio station, causing him to lose trust within the program. His dislike for the program is now gone, he said.
"All of the ties I have to the program are gone. Everybody from my class is gone," Axtell said. "Now it's just a game so I'm just worried about getting some shots down."
The big body of Texas forward Chris Owens and the athleticism of Wichita native Maurice Evans may make Kansas' attempt to rebound from Monday's loss at Missouri even tougher. Owens has seven double-doubles this season, good for second in the conference behind Kansas' Drew Gooden, and Evans is eighth in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 15.9 points.
Kansas will need lots of shots to fall when the Longhorns come to town. The Jayhawks have the highest scoring offense in the Big 12 with 84 points per game, but Texas has the No. 3 defense, allowing only 64 points per game.
Williams said Evans might be the greatest threat because of his athleticism and consistency. Williams said senior Kenny Gregory would be guarding Evans most of the time.
"I think he's made more three-pointers than anybody else on their team," Williams said. "He's very athletic when he takes the ball to the basket. He's been very consistent for them all year."
Senior guard Luke Axtell has been battling injuries this season. He says recurring back pain affects his playing ability, but he is expected to play against Texas at noon tomorrow in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansan file photo.
Kansas basketball note
Kansas basketball team
■ Williams went to Stillwater, Okla. on
Wednesday for the memorial service honoring
the 10 people who died in the
Oklahoma State plane crash on Saturday
evening. Williams was joined by fellow
Big 12 coaches James Dickey of Texas Tech, Rick Barnes of Texas and Kelvin Sampson of Oklahoma in support of Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton and the victims' families.
— Edited by Matt Daugherty
Kansas hopes to sweep Lone Star teams
Bv Zoc Hunter
You may not be able to mess with Texas, but you can certainly slap around the rest of the Lone Star State schools in the Big 12 Conference.
Kansan sportswriter
Tomorrow's game is the first in a brutal five-game stretch that consists of two games against Iowa State and one against Oklahoma State.
By Zac Hunter sports@kansan.com
Kansas (17-2, 6-1) cruised by Texas Tech and Texas A&M. It will try to continue the Texas paddlings against the Longhorns (15-5, 5-2) at noon tomorrow in Allen Fieldhouse.
Texas, the only Big 12 team south of the Red River with more than two conference wins, is eying an unset of No. 3 Kansas.
And they have the offensive firepower to hang with the 'Hawks. Despite only averaging 70 points, the Longhorns have three players that can break out and put numbers on the board.
"Maurice Evans hits three-pointers well, and Darren Kelly has been scoring a lot for them, so they have a lot of weapons that we need to be concerned about," said senior forward Kenny Gregory.
Junior guard Maurice Evans and junior forward Chris Owens, with senior guard Darren Kelly, are averaging better than 47 points, totaling 67 percent of Texas' offense.
"You can't say 'OK, we're going to zone them' because Maurice and Darren can make threes," Williams said. "And you can't think you can play them man-to-man and think you're going to do it for the whole game because all of them can take it to the basket."
That type of offensive production will keep Kansas coach Roy Williams on his toes. He'll have to keep changing up his defense.
Despite Texas' offensive potential, senior forward Luke Axtell said he wasn't worried.
Axtell said the Longhorn's offense would be a challenge, but the Jayhawks frontcourt was more than capable of handling Owens and he liked the way the backcourts stacked up.
But Kansas coach Roy Williams was more impressed with their defense. Texas is third in the conference in field goal defense. opponents are shooting just 38 percent against the Longhorns.
"I think we match up great," Axtell said.
"And I think that's typical of Rick's teams, that they are always good defensively," Williams sald.
A huge reason for that is Owens.
"Chris Owens, if he's not the best shot blocker in the league, he's at worst second," Williams said.
Owens leads the league in total blocks with 63 and is second in average blocks to Nebraska center Kimani Friend, who is averaging 3.21.
Sports Columnist
— Edited by Courtney Craigmile
After two consecutive losses, Texas is looking to upset No. 3 Kansas. The teams will meet at noon tomorrow in Allen Fieldhouse. KANSAN file photo
Alan Davis
sports@kansan.com
Football team needs change to be a winner
What's the matter with Kansas?
One problem: out of season, out of mind. Just about everybody's thinking-about the top-10 basketball team and ignoring the football team.
William Alien White, for whom our School of Journalism is named, became famous for asking and answering that question. I don't anticipate the same result for me, but I am asking, "What's the matter with Kansas football?"
However, a lot happens in the lull between the end of one football season and the beginning of the next. Besides spring practice, the football players have off-season strength and conditioning work to do. And right now, the Jayhawks coaching staff, with two new members, is still in the process of hiring.
Four assistant coaches are gone from the 2000 staff - two by their own choice and two who were asked to leave.
Another reason is that Kansas yielded 30-plus points in all seven losses and more than 40 points in four games. So Allen dismissed the defensive coordinator, who also happened to be the defensive line coach.
Why were the two coaches fired?
One reason is that the Jayhawks couldn't run the ball as well as some of us expected. So Kansas coach Terry Allen fired the offensive line coach and replaced the offensive coordinator.
However, the coaching staff turnover doesn't seem to be affecting recruiting. Jon Kirby, of MO-KAN Football ranks the Jayhawks' 2001 recruiting class as the 37th best in Division I, which ranks in the top third. Kirby lists 22 players who have given solid commitments to come to Kansas. Ten of those players are rated as three-star prospects, and one is a four-star prospect.
Kirby also gave high marks to the 2000 Kansas recruiting class. If those players, some of whom redshifted last season, perform up to expectations, the Jayhawks might manage a winning season.
Allen certainly can't be pleased with four-consecutive losing seasons here after his success at Northern Iowa. Under Allen, Northern Iowa was consistently a Division I-AA national power.
However, there are a lot of bullies in the Big 12 Conference — Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas State and Texas, to name a few. The Jayhawks played six Big 12 teams that went to bowl games last season and lost to each of them.
Also, the schedule didn't help the 'Hawks last year. Each year, Kansas plays three Big 12 South Division teams. Last season, the Jayhawks had to play national champion Oklahoma, plus bowl teams Texas and Texas Tech — and lost to all three. Kansas will play those same teams next season.
Two years from now, the Jayhawks will play the other three South Division teams: Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Baylor. Had they met this year, the Jayhawks had a realistic chance to beat at least two of those three, transforming a 4-7 record into a 6-5 bowl season. Three ideas to improve the Jayhawk football team:
First, to get TV exposure, try to schedule a Thursday night game — but only if ESPN or Fox Sports will broadcast it. Second, schedule nonconference games against the weakest Division I-A schools available. Beating weak teams improves the team's record, builds the team's confidence and gives the nonstarts a chance to develop.
Third, schedule a "bowl trip" into the regular season. Try to play in Hawaii. Los Angeles, San Diego, New Orleans or Florida every year. Kansas will travel to Los Vegas in the 2002 season to play UNLV.
Recruiting should be easier if potential recruits know they will be on national television, get a chance to play early or take a trip to a "bowl" location.
— and recruiting is a major key to success.
Davis is a Topeka graduate student in journalism.
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