RUNNING INCENTIVE
Maybe $1 million will help inspire AMERICAN MARATHONERS to run faster.
That's the amount that will go to any United States runner, male or female, who breaks the American mark in any of the 61 sanctioned marathons next year.
The money is being put up by New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
Jim Davis, president of the company, said he hoped the money would be an incentive to restore the United States to the prominence it once held in marathon running.
MINNESOTA COACH RESIGNS
Jim Wacker resigned as head coach of the Minnesota football team yesterday, his team having lost six straight conference games, his hopes shattered.
Wacker, occasionally in tears during a 45-minute news conference, said his failure to resurrect Minnesota's football program was the "most disappointing thing, probably, in my entire life."
DIXON RECOGNIZED
Kansas senior guard Tamecka Dixon received votes from the Associated Press for preseason All-American honors. The following is a list of the top five votegetters and others who received votes: Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee, sonhomme
WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 13,1996
Kate Starbird, Stanford, senior Kara Wolters, Connecticut,
Shalonda Enis,
Alabama, senior
La 'Keshia
Frett, Georgia,
senior.
SECTION B
Cleveland slugger wants record-breaking contract
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians have made a rich offer to free agent slugger Albert Belle. If they want to keep him, it looks like they will have to make an even richer one.
"We're in the game. I guess that's the safest way to put it," Cleveland General Manager John Hart said. "We're not close, but I think we've sent the right message to Albert that we want him."
The Indians reportedly offered Belle $8.5 million a year for four or five years. That's more than the five-year, $38 million offer that Belle relected in spring training.
Hart assured Beile's agent, Arn Tellem, that this wasn't the final offer. It has been reported that Beile is $10 million a year.
"I suppose if we don't have a deal, that means the offer was not acceptable." Tellem said.
Belle can negotiate with other teams beginning on Friday. The Plain Dealer reported yesterday that Belle already had an appointment scheduled with the Florida Marlins.
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 1995-96 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote, through one point for a 25th-place vote and last season's final ranking.
1. Stanford (35) 29-3 1,040 3 10
2. Alabama (7) 24-8 952 10
3. Georgia 28-5 952 5 4
4. Tennessee 32-4 897 4 4
5. Connecticut 34-4 886 2 6
6. Iowa 27-4 861 7 7
7. Old Dominion 29-3 773 6 7
8. W. Kentucky 19-13 677 6 —
9. Vanderbilt 23-8 642 12 10
10. Virginia 23-8 642 12 11
11. Texas Tech 27-5 515 9
12. Kansas 22-10 487 20 13
13. N. Carolina St. 20-10 474 23 14
14. Louisiana Tech 31-2 453 1 8
15. Penn St. 27-7 385 1 8
16. Duke 26-7 380 13 17
17. Colorado 26-7 323 17 17
18. Arkansas 21-13 279 — 19
19. Texas 21-9 240 — 20
20. Notre Dame 23-8 233 21 10
21. Florida 21-9 227 18 10
22. Wisconsin 21-8 180 18 10
23. North Carolina 13-14 159 — 24
24. Stephen F. Austin 27-4 154 — 24
25. Auburn 23-9 134 19
Others receiving votes: Clemson 133, San Francisco 101, George Washington 74, LSU 71, Oregon 53, Mississippi 41, DePaul 32, Memphis 29, UCLA 27, Southern Cal 26, Colorado St. 21, Michigan St. 13, Montana 11, Illinois 10, Northwestern 10, Southern Miss. 10, Texas A&M 8, Tulane 5, Nebraska 4, Toledo 4, Indiana 2, Maryland 2, SW Missouri St. 2, Washington 2, Iowa St. 1, Maine 1, Ohio St. 1, Seton Hall 1.
Oklahoma coach unsure about quarterback choice
The Associated Press
NORMAN, Okla. — Who starts for Oklahoma at quarterback against Texas A&M isn't important, coach John Blake said yesterday. He said neither sophomore Eric Moore nor redshirt freshman Justin Fuente had shown himself a complete player.
"You've got two quarterbacks that can't do it all, have not been able to put the whole thing together." Blake said.
Blake was leaning toward Moore at his weekly news conference but said that the decision had not been made.
But Moore has relieved a struggling Fuente in the Sooners' past three games; including Saturday's 27-17 victory against Oklahoma State.
Moore struggled in early season starts against weaker opponents and was replaced by Fuente, who led Oklahoma to an upset of Texas and a victory against Baylor.
Kansas shoots for victory
No.2 Jayhawks defeat All-Stars in home opener
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
If its 115-80 victory last night against Geelong, Australia, was a precursor of things to come, the No. 2 Kansas mens basketball team won't be suffering from last season's shooting woes.
The Jayhawks showed surprisingly little rust in their first exhibition game by shooting 61 percent from the field in the first half and 56 percent for the game on 40 of 71 field goals.
"The shooting percentage would probably be the thing I was more pleased with than anything," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "We didn't shoot it very well in the second half, because I thought we rushed a couple of them."
In the first half, the Jayhawks blew open the game against a tenacious Geelong team. Leading only 33-26 with nine minutes left in the first half, Kansas went on a quick 9-0 run that pushed the lead to 42-26 in just more than two minutes. The Jayhawks eventually would lead 62-40 at halftime and never look back.
"For the most part, I think we gained more from it than we would've at practice." Williams said.
Kansas repeatedly pounded the ball inside against the Aussies. Kansas senior center Scot Pollard led the Jayhawks with 25 points, including 11 for 11 from the free-throw line, and sophomore forward Paul Pierce finished with 20 points on 8 for 11 shooting from the floor.
"We wanted to get that shooting percentage back up," said Kansas senior guard Jerod Haase. "The best way to do that is to get fouled and get the ball inside."
Pushing the ball into the post and taking higher percentage shots has been the main focus of the
"We were working on that all fall, all preseason," Pollard said. "We've been working on trying to get the ball inside."
preseason so far, according to Pollar $ ^{1} $
"This year I'm a much smarter player," Pierce said. "I watched a lot of tape, seeing where I can improve at. And I think last year I kind of rushed my shot and took bad shots. This year I'm going to focus on taking better shots and being more consistent."
Kansas sophomore guard Ryan Robertson finished his first game as the Jayhawks starting point guard with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Robertson took the place of senior Jacque Vaughn, who is out with torn ligaments in his right wrist.
After the victory, Robertson said he appreciated the performance from the Kansas front-court.
"It takes a lot of pressure off me when those guys are knocking down shots," Robertson said.
While there were plenty of offensive stars to go around, Williams said the Jayhawks still had problems on the defensive end. Geelong finished with 17 offensive rebounds.
"We've got to get a lot better defensively. We gave up too many second shots." Williams said.
Williams said freshman walk-on Terry Nooner officially was on the varsity team. Nooner had been trying out since Late Night With Roy Williams on Oct. 18. Nooner, a 5-foot-10 guard from Raytown, Mo., played two minutes last night and scored one point on a free throw.
Williams said that Nooner, who played mostly off-guard in high school, slowly had been adjusting to playing point guard for the Jayhawks. Nooner made his debut for Kansas on his birthday.
"Today was his birthday, he played in his first game and made a free throw. That would be a pretty good day for an 18-year-old kid," Williams said yesterday.
Steve Purpose / KANSAN
Kansas senior center Scot Pollard jumps for a shot over Geelong defenders. Pollard scored 25 points and had three blocks in the Jayhawks 115-80 victory last night in Allen Field House.
Geoff Krieger / KANSAN
Kansas senior center Scot Polliard reaches for a loose ball along with freshman guard Nick Bradford and Phil Doherty, Geelong forward. The men's basketball team beat the Geelong All-Stars last night in Allen Field House in its 1996-1997 season opener.
Australian team gains experience from game
"I thought we have played some tough teams so far on this tour in Utah, LSU and Indiana, but there is no question that KU is a step ahead of those teams," said Geelong coach Ian Stacker.
By Cameron Heeg Kansan staff writer
This was the fourth game Geelong has played in the past week, and Stacker admitted that fatigue was a factor. The team also struggled throughout the game with the Kansas defense, turning over the ball to the Jayhawks 19 times in the first half.
The Geelong (Australia) All-Stars were defeated by the Jayhawks 115-80 in what turned out to be Geelong's best offensive showing in their three previous games.
"We were sloppy and unorganized with our play," Stacker said."The game came down to our lack of preparation time, a tough schedule and the strong defense KU plaved us with."
The closest Geelong got to Kansas was when they trailed the Jayhawks 8-7 early in the game. From there Kansas never looked back, scoring 62 points by the end of the first half.
ine basketball players from down under didn't get the chance to get on top of the Kansas men's basketball team last night at Allen Field House.
Geelong forward Glen Saville was the leading scorer for the team with 21 points, 1 in the first half. Saville, who seemed to be the only player effective against the
Kansas defense, saw limited action in the second half.
He scored only four points.
"Part of what this tour is about for me is identifying the players that I can have on my future teams, and I wanted everyone to give a chance to play." Stacker said. "These games we are playing are an educational experience for our players. We are not used to the intensity level that basketball here is played at."
Kansas forward Paul Pierce thought that Geelong played intensely when it came to shooting.
"This team is a lot stronger than last year's team, and they were good shooters," Pierce said. "Most of the time we had our hands up in their faces, and they still knocked it in."
With poor shooting last year, Stacker came to Kansas with his former team, the Victorian All-Stars, and suffered a 116-44 loss. Stacker looked back on that Kansas team and said this year's Jayhawk team showed more potential.
"This team seems to have a lot more options and better depth than the team last year," Stacker said. "With this team there is very good perimeter shooting, excellent post-play, and the defense has gotten stronger."
The win last night was not a vital victory for the Jayhawks, but Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams welcomed the experience.
"They did some things that were really good for us," Williams said. "They did try to put the ball on the floor, fake to the basket and pitch cross court, which we will see a lot of this season."
Assistant tennis coach stays but changes teams
By Tommy Gallagher
Kansan sportswriter
After Roland Thornqvist was named the Kansas women's tennis coach almost a month ago, former women's tennis coach Frank Polito said that he never would coach at Kansas again. Since then, he has had a change of heart.
Polito went back to being the women's assistant coach while fielding offers from other universities. But now he will become the men's assistant tennis coach, effective immediately, according to Athletic Department officials.
"I'll miss the girls a lot, but I'm also excited
to work with Mark Riley and the men's program," Polito said. "This last semester has been tough on the administration, on the players and on myself."
Polito was hired last November as the women's assistant coach under Chuck Merzbacher, who left Kansas Aug. 30 to become the head women's tennis coach at Ohio State. Polito was then named interim head coach while department administrators searched for someone to succeed Merzbacher.
Although Polito interviewed for the position, North Carolina men's assistant coach Roland Thormgvist was given the job Oct. 17.
"I thought I had a good chance to be head
Polito received offers from Indiana and Ohio State after returning to his assistant coaching duties, but he said he felt good about being the only assistant for the men's team, a top-10 program.
coach, but I didn't get the position, and that's all right," Polito said. "I want to be a head coach in the future, but for now this will be good for me."
Kansas men's tennis coach Mark Riley said that Polito should be thanked for enduring what he had this past semester at Kansas.
"I don't know if you can do any better job than Polito did," Riley said. "He was thrown into a tough situation, d a commendable job and did everything our athletic department wanted him to do.
"I feel fortunate that we have him as our assistant because he has experience as a head coach and good people skills."
Amy Perko, associate athletic director, said that while the switch from women's to men's tennis might take some adjustment, Polito should perform well at his new position. He was the men's tennis coach at Eastern Michigan for six years before coming to Kansas last year.
"The men's tennis game is similar, but the dynamics are somewhat different," Perko said. "Now we have a full staff for the men's tennis program, which is always a positive."