10B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2009
FOOTBALL
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009
Scrappy linebacker making steady strides in first season
BY JAYSON JENKS
jenks@kansan.com
Weston White/KANSAN
Freshman linebacker Huldon Tharp tackles Nebraska running back Roy Helu Jr. Saturday. Tharp led the Jayhawks with 13 tackles and one pass breakup in a 31-17 loss.
During games senior safety Darl
Rolluck watches freshman linebacker Huldon Tharp crash his body into the formidable bodies of offensive linemen.
It's part of Tharp's job description — something each linebacker must do — but the impacts catch Stuckey's attention for a simple reason: Tharp shows no regard for his undersized frame.
At 215 pounds, Tharp is certainly small for a linebacker in the college football world. But he overcomes that fact with a persistent work ethic and a constant drive.
Stuckey takes the assessment of Tharp one step further.
"He's one of those guys that youd see in 'Gladiator' side by side with you," Stuckey said. "He'd be the one protecting you with his shield while he's stabbing his spear and I'm attacking the guy next to me. He's definitely a guy I'd want on my front line if I was a Spartan."
Indeed, Tharp has developed into a trusted component of Kansas' defense, filling a starting spot that was a question mark during the offseason.
With the Jayhawks graduating three three-year starters at linebacker last season, concern shifted to a perceived lack of suitable replacements. Yet for much of the offseason, Tharp's name was rarely mentioned. After all, the Big 12 doesn't feature many freshman starters.
"It's very rare for a true freshman to come right away and play at linebacker, especially undersized." Stuckey said. "He's not the biggest guy. We may weigh the guy.
Tharp actually outweighs Stuckey by 10 pounds, but his point stands: Tharp has relied on aptitude and sheer hard work to earn playing time as an undersized freshman.
"He's still a little underweight," coach Mark Mangino said. "And he can't wait to get into the weight room this winter. But boy he is a fighter."
Tharp had one more obstacle in his way: He had to shake the remaining rust from an injury.
The summer before his senior year at Mulvane High School, Tharp and his team traveled to a camp at Pittsburgh State. On the camp's opening day, though, Tharp tore his ACL. He missed his entire senior season.
"It was just rough sitting around hoping for the best but kind of expecting the worst," Tharp said. "It was a pretty rough time."
In the days that followed, Tharp's attention shifted toward the bigger picture.
Would he still be able to play Division I football or would schools pull their scholarship offers?
"That was my biggest fear actually when I first found out the news: That all the colleges would back off of me and I might have to go to junior college or play in Division II," Tharp said.
That wasn't the case - Tharp actually received a scholarship offer from Colorado while injured — and he ended up committing to Kansas.
Now he's slowly developed into the Jayhawks' fifth-leading tackler this season.
"Coming from playing high school football your junior year to playing in the Big 12, it's definitely
pretty nerve wracking," Tharp said. "But every game I get more confident that I can actually hang with these guys."
For Stuckey, Tharp's success has roots on the practice field and during conditioning drills.
Stuckey praises Tharp's work ethic and maturity - two traits that certainly have helped him earn playing time fresh out of high school.
"When we were running in conditioning, I looked to my right and it wasn't a defensive back running next to me but Huldon Tharp running next to me" Stuckey said. "I thought, 'He's a linebacker. What is he doing next to me? Am I that slow?'
Tharp has struggled at times this season, and that's to be expected from a freshman still grasping the workings of the college game.
But he also has proven that he's capable of corning in the Big 12.
"He wants to be the best he can and he doesn't want to let people around him down," Stuckey said. "Sometimes I think to myself 'Is that what my mentality was when I first came here?'
Follow Jayson Jenks at www.
twitter.com/JaysonJenks.
— Edited by Sarah Kelly
Weston White/KANSAN
Freshman linebacker Huldon Tharp leaps to block a pass attempt to a Nebraska receiver Saturday. Tharp has overcome a torn ACL and his small
Carmelo Anthony leading scorer in Nuggets victory
NBA
Anthony scores 32 points at home against the Raptors.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points and reserve J.R. Smith had 29, leading the Denver Nuggets past the Toronto Raptors 130-112 on Tuesday night.
Anthony is the only player in the NBA to score at least 20 points in all of his team's games so far. He's topped 30 points seven times and 40 points twice.
After withstanding Smith's seven-game suspension and a six-game trip consisting of three back-to-backs, the Nuggets weathered a very mined Raptors that was without
He sat out the final quarter of this one after putting in 30 efficient minutes.
Hedo turkogini b u t didn't trail until midway through the third quarter.
Chris Bosh led Toronto with 13 points and 14 rebounds and DeMar DeRozan scored 17.
DeMar DeRozan scored 17. Nene had 20 points and 10 boards for Denver, which shot 62 percent.
deter t e a m
forward
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Chris Bosh led Toronto with 13 points and 14 rebounds and
Turkoglu missed the game with a sore left hip and was replaced in the starting lineup by Antoine Wright, who dealing with a sore left ankle and
finished with five points in 17 minutes. All the other starters reached double figures, as did reserves Marco Belinelli (16) and Sonny Weems (12).
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Denver didn't grab its first lead until Anthony fed Kenyon Martin for a dunk that made it 70-68 early in the third.
Jose Calderon sank a 3-pointer at the other end and it was back and forth until Denver took control with a quick 7-0 spurt that made it 81-74. Nene hit two free throws and Chaucey Billups sank a technical foul shot before 'Melo swished a fadeaway followed by a turnaround jumper.
Denver went on a 16-4 run to start the fourth, building a 20-point lead. The Nuggets have won 14 straight regular-season games at home, their longest streak since 1989, when they won 19 straight home games.
The Raptors put together an 11-point lead in the second quarter, but they settled for a 64-64 halftime tie. Nene scored eight points and 'Nene seven during Denver's 17-6 run to end the first half, which ended with Anthony's breakaway basket at the buzzer.
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NOTES: Toronto claimed F Pops Mensh-bonsu off waivers from Houston. He averaged 5.1 points, 5.4 boards and 13.8 minutes in 19 games with the Raptors last season before signing a free-agent deal with Houston, which waived him Friday. ... Denver has won eight of its last nine home games against Toronto.