VAUGHN HONORED
Kansas point guard JACQUE VAUGHN has been selected as the 1997 Paine Webber Scholar Athlete of the Year. Paline Webber will make donate $10,000 to the University in Vaughn's name to support research efforts.
.
Vaughn maintains a 3.72 cumulative grade point average in business administration. He also volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
Douglas County and the Special Olympics. On the court, Vaughn averages 10.2 points and six assists a game.
The award will be announced during the March 2 season-ending telecast of the Kansas-Nebraska game.
KANSAS TRACK LOOKING FOR HELP
Be a part of a Kansas tradition. Volunteers are needed for a variety of positions at the 72nd annual KANSAS RELAYS April 16-19.
Call the track and field office at 864-3486, or go to room 150 in Allen Field House for more information or to sign up to help.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28.1997
The Big 12 Conference FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME probably will move from St. Louis to San Antonio's Alamodome this year.
The Austin American-Statesman yesterday quoted an unnamed source familiar with the selection process as saying the choice might be made today. If not, the league may wait more than a week to make an announcement so that attention will not be diverted from the Big 12 men's and
women's basketball tournaments next week in Kansas City, Mo.
Big 12 representative Bo Carter said the proposal to move the game has been under discussion since the first conference championship in December.
PAGE 7
New Kansas tennis coach to encounter former team
The No. 9 Kansas men's tennis team will compete against the Drake Bulldogs at 6:30 tonight at Alvamar Racquet Club in Lawrence.
The match has first-year Kansas coach Mark Riley facing his former team. Riley coached at Drake for three seasons before coming to Kansas this year.
Tonight's match pits two Region V teams against one another. Drake is No. 5 in the region, which consists of teams from Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri and Iowa. Kansas is No. 1.
Kansas, 4-2 overall, lost two matches last weekend at the National Team Indoors in Louisville, Ky. The Jayhawks defeated No. 13 Fresno State, but they lost to No. 3 Mississippi State and No. 8 Duke.
Drake is led by Robert Novotny, the third-ranked singles player in the region. Novotny has won the Missouri Valley Conference singles title the last three years.
The match is free and open to the public.
Kansas women golfers take 10th place at Texas
The Kansas women's golf team finished 10th at the 54-hole Texas A&M Bookstore/Monica Welsh Memorial golf tournament on Wednesday in College Station, Texas.
Kansas shot a team score of 1002,
138 over per. In the three-round tournament, Kansas shot scores of 324,
328 and 350.
The Jayhawks finished 72 strokes behind tournament winner Louisiana State. Rounding out the top five were Texas Christian University, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State University and Baylor.
Kansas was led by Mandy Munsch. She finished 25th with a three-round total of 245, 29 strokes over par.
The Jayhawks finished ahead of No. 29 Kansas State, which ended the tournament in 15th place. No. 24 Missouri finished in seventh place.
Eighteen teams competed in the two-day tournament.
Kansas' Beth Reuter finished in 31st place, and Missy Russell ended the tournament 37th.
Four former Jayhawks head to World League
Kansan staff reports
Four former Kansas football players have been chosen to play in World League Football this season.
Defensive back Doug Terry, who spent four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs after leaving Kansas, will play for Scotland. Guard Chris Banks will play for Barcelona, Spain, and guard John Hones and defensive back Matt Gay will play for Rhein in Germany.
In all, 28 players from the Big 12 Conference schools were chosen to play in the World League. Kansas and Oklahoma led all schools with four selections each. Colorado, Kansas State, Missouri and Texas A&M each had three former players chosen.
Among the players chosen who were not from Kansas were Chad May, former Kansas State quarterback, and Joe Garten, a former Colorado center. May and Garten will play for the Frankfurt Galaxy.
World League training camps open in Atlanta on March 3.
The World League consists of six teams that play a 10-game regular season. The club with the best record after the first five weeks hosts World Bowl 1997 on June 22 against the remaining team with the best overall record after 10 weeks.
'Hawks to face Sooners
Five seniors have final day at field house
By Tommy Gallagher
Kansan sportswriter
When the No.11 Kansas women's basketball team battles Oklahoma at 2 p.m. tomorrow, five seniors will be playing their final regular season game at Allen Field House.
Playing in their last game will be guards Tamecka Dixon and Angie Halbleib and forwards Jennifer Trapp, Shelly Canada and Patience Graver.
Kansas could play host to first- and second-round games during the NCAA Tournament next month, but Trapp said the Jayhawks had to remain focused on the game ahead.
"We're going to take care of the game and enjoy ourselves afterward," Trapp said. "Just because we won the conference and it's Senior Day, we're just not going to get complacent. We really want to win, and we don't want to lose one from here on out."
Kansas will enter the game riding a six-game winning streak and having captured the Big 12 Conference regular season
championship on Wednesday night. The Jayhawks have secured the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament next week and are now competing for a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"Oklahoma has beaten us in the past when we probably should have blown them away, so we know they'll play hard and try to spoil the day. We don't want to lose this one," she said.
Canada said that in the past Kansas has been susceptible to letdowns in games like this but that the team had learned from earlier mistakes.
"Perhaps there would be a let-down, except for the fact that the game is against Oklahoma," Canada said.
While Kansas is the Big 12's highest-ranked team, Oklahoma comes to Lawrence as the the Big 12's last-ranked team.
The Sooners defeated Texas A&M on Jan. 4 by two points at the beginning of their Big 12 schedule but have lost 14 consecutive games since.
Sooner center Phylesha Whaley averages a team-high 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds, while forward Tina Taylor averages 11.7 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds.
Forwards Kelley and Michele Workman, twins, combine for 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.
Kansas women's basketball
Oklahoma (5-20 overall, 1-14 in the Big 12) Probable Starters:
Women's Lineup
G Jenny Bramer, 5-8, Sr.
G Roxanne Long, 5-8, Jr.
F Tina Taylor, 6-0, Sr.
F Kelley Workman, 5-11, So.
C Phylehes Whale, 5-10, Fr.
■ Kansas (22-4 overall, 13-2 in the big 12) Probable Starters: G Tamecka Dixon, 5-9, Sr.
G Angie Halibble, 5-10, Sr.
F Lynn Pride, 6-2, Fr.
F Jennifer Trapp, 6-1, Sr.
C Nakia Sanford, 6-3, So.
Time: 2 p.m. tomorrow
Place: Allen Field House
Radio: KJHK-FM, 90.7
coach Marian Washington said winning the Big 12 title Wednesday would help the team relax and enjoy Senior Day.
"There's a little bit of pressure taken off of us because we won the conference, so we won't have to press as much as we did the other night," Washington said.
"You don't ever quite know what family will do to the players, but having to worry about whether we won or having a shot of winning the conference outright is done. Hopefully we can now relax and enjoy the last regular season game at home."
Kansas forward Suzi Raymant goes for a block against Anna DeForce of Nebraska. Tomorrow is Senior Dav, and the Jawhawks will play against Oklahoma.
'Huskers may be tough
Williams nearing a milestone win
Kansas was able to sneak past the Cornhuskers 82-77 (OT) in their first meeting on Feb. 1 at Allen Field House. Since then, the Jayhawks (28-1 overall, 14-1 in the Big 12 Conference) have won the Big 12 outright, while the Huskers (16-12 overall, 7-8 in the Big 12) have struggled to stay afloat in the conference.
Regardless, some Kansas players aren't taking Nebraska lightly.
"That game, we didn't have the emotion," Williams said. "We weren't mentally into the game. They carried what they wanted to do as opposed to having us dictate some things to them."
By Bill Petulla
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams hasn't forgotten the scare Nebraska gave the Jayhawks at their last meeting.
"They're a dangerous team," Kansas
More notable was the Huskers' overtime defeat of Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, 74-69. It was the Cyclones' fourth home loss of the season.
"I don't think it's going to be difficult because the players know what's on the line," Nee said. "We have a chance to make the (NCAA) tournament and a chance to improve our positioning for the Big 12 tournament."
The Cornhuskers are riding a twogame winning streak. On Wednesday Nebraska, behind guard Tyronn Lue's 23 points, defeated Oklahoma State 77-68 in Lincoln, Neb.
forward Pearl Pierce said. "They've come on as of late, and they'll be a tough team to beat on their last game in Nebraska this year."
Lue is the leader of the offense for the Cornhuskers. The sophomore guard is averaging 19 points per game and netted 26 points in the first meeting with Kansas.
Despite the Cornhuskers' two important wins coming into the Kansas game, Nebraska coach Danny Nee said it wouldn't be hard to get his team focused for the Jayhawks.
"He's been the focal point of our team,"
Nee said. "I really feel that he should be All-Big 12. He can break down defenses."
Williams will be attempting to reach another milestone on Sunday. With 241 career wins at Kansas, he is only one win shy of breaking Everett Case's record for the first nine years of coaching.
For Kansas forward T.J. Pugh, the Nebraska game will be a homecoming of sorts. Pugh, an Omaha, Neb., native, said he had played several high school games at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.
Williams, who has been selected as one of the candidates for the Boost/Naimith National Coach of the Year Award, gives the credit to his teams.
"It means we've played a lot of games and I've had a lot of good players," Williams said.
"I have a lot of history on that court, but I don't think I'll play any harder," Pugh said. "I'm familiar with the surroundings, and that makes it more special for me."
Pugh said that despite returning to his home state, he wouldn't take a different approach to the court.
Last season, Kansas defeated Nebraska 88-73 in Lincoln. The win marked Williams' 200th career victory.
Pam Dishman/ KANSAN
Raef LaFrentz slams a ball in a recent game. The Jayhawks will play their last regular season game tomorrow at Nebraska.
Fans get Big 12 tickets from Texas
Ticket seekers join clubs to buy passes
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Iowa State and Kansas fans are basketball savvy.
They've found inventive ways to get tickets to the inaugural Big 12 Conference men's basketball tournament by joining booster clubs of their Texas counterparts, which traditionally are slower to sell out their allotments.
Tim Allen, associate commissioner of the Big 12, said, "It would be safe to say the topic will be discussed at length in upcoming meetings. It's merely a matter of athletic directors sitting down and deciding what parameters they want to
live by on a conference basis."
The Baylor Bear Foundation recently sold about 300 tickets for the March 6-9 tournament in Kansas City to new members who paid a $200 membership fee.
Foundation members got six tickets to the sold-out tournament
Members of Iowa State's Cyclone Club get just two tournament tickets for the minimum $2,500 donation. A donation of $6,000 or more means just four tickets to the 20,200-seat Kemmer Arena.
The 1,100 tickets allotted to Iowa State sold out months ago.
David Hawkins, executive director of the Baylor foundation.
Baylor doesn't care where its booster club members live, Hawkins said.
wouldn't identify the home states of the new members, but acknowledged that several came from Iowa and Kansas.
"We didn't mind where they were from," he told The Dallas Morning News. "If they wrote us a check and turned in a ticket order..."
"That's totally unacceptable. It's something we need to look at as a conference and do something
That has Iowa State officials steamed.
"It bothers me a great, great deal to hear about that," said Cyclones athletic director Gene Smith. "That's our customer base, and it's being serviced by another institution.
聘
Anyone else must have demonstrated some Tech affiliation, either as a former student or donor.
about." he said.
Baylor wasn't alone as an alternate source of Big 12 tournament tickets. Texas A&M required only a $100 donation to secure seats, while Texas required no donation at all.
Of the Big12 schools in Texas,
only Texas Tech kept its 850 tickets away from out-of-state bidders.
Texas Tech ticket manager Russell Warren said the school distributed tickets on a priority basis to basketball season-ticket holders.
Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas are out of tickets.
"We only sold 850 seats, but those 850 seats went to Red Raider fans," Warren said.
Track athletes hope to qualify
0
Four members of the Kansas track and field team will compete in the NCAA Qualifying meet today in Ames, Iowa.
Kansas staff report
Junior Jerry Pullins and freshman Ricardo Amezcua will compete in the 5,000-meter run. Junior Marc Romito and sophomore Jon Colby Miller will compete in the pole vault.
The provisional qualifying time for championships in the 5,000-meters is 14:16.15. Amezcua's best time is 14:20.40 and Pullins' is 14:22.51.
In the pole vault the provisional height to qualify is 17-2 3/4. Romito's best mark is 17-1 1/2 and Miller's is 16-8 3/4.