UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, February 29, 1996
3B
PUGH: Happy to be a Jayhawk
practice basketball. He had to. Doctors said the scar tissue that formed would never give Pugh the flexibility to shoot again.
While trying to regain his shooting touch Pushh broke his ankle.
"Ijust came down on it wrong," he said. "That was really kind of a desperation point for me."
But the injuries seemed to drive Pugh more. His sophomore year he quit other sports and concentrated on basketball. Despite the numerous injuries, Pugh's love of basketball was displayed as he devoted himself to the hardwood. He went through countless drills, lifted weights, ran hills and sprinted stairs. He couldn't even go fishing with friends without knowing there would be a basketball court nearby.
Soon, college coaches started noticing Pugh. He limited his choices to schools close to Omaha
— Kansas, Nebraska, Creighton, Marquette and Purdue. Then there was Stanford.
"I told him, 'California's going to fall into the ocean, I don't want you to go there,'" Jan Pugh said. "We wanted to be able to go see him
play."
A National Honor Society member, Stanford's academics were a draw for Pugh. During recruiting he looked for the best combination of academics and basketball.
Pugh's parents knew what they wanted him to do, but this time they didn't pressure him. His friends offered little help, too.
"I just got kind of isolated in the whole thing," he said. "I would have really liked more input than they gave me."
Once Pugh came on his official visit to Kansas, he didn't need much outside input. He attended "Late Night with Roy Williams" expecting to see a scene reminiscent of Creighton's late night, season-opening practice. The Blue Jays hold an open scrimmage in their practice gym, and a few hundred people stand around the court to watch.
It was a little different in Allen Field House.
"I didn't think that many people would want to watch basketball players try to dance," Pugh said. "And they were saying people were getting turned away at the door.
The team chemistry and the honesty of Kansas coach Roy Williams and his staff impressed Pugh as well. They promised him nothing but a challenge.
Wow."
While Pugh was visiting, Williams offered him a scholarship. Pugh chose the Jayhawks in the two or three days following his visit and canceled his other official visits.
"They told me no matter what, I was going to have to work hard every single day just to play here, just like everybody else." Pugh said. "Other schools weren't saying that."
And he still is
"He told me at the beginning of the year, 'Even if I don't get off the bench this year, this is where I belong,'" Jan Pugh said. "There are no egos. They are Kansas; they are not individuals."
There may not be individual egos, but it is the people that makes Kansas so special to Pugh.
"I like the whole basketball atmosphere," he said. "I'm very happy here."
TRACK: After some near misses, Swartz finally defeats Colorado runners to avenge earlier losses
"It was a reinforcer to remember what happened," Swartz said.
However, two weeks before this year's Big Eight Indoor championship, Swartz competed at the Husker Invitational. She took second to a Colorado distance runner.
Before the 3,000 meters at the conference championship meet on Friday, Swartz ran on the Kansas and Big Eight record-breaking women's distance team team. She captured her first Big Eight title.
Before the race, Swartz had planned to stay in the pack until she hit the quarter mark.
Guymon said the Colorado coaches and distance runners had said that they were going to take first through eight places in the 3,000-meters.
"I could tell she wanted to lead but we made a deal that she wasn't going to take off until 400-meters to go," Guymon said. "She ran the most
patient race I've ever seen."
Surrounded by five Colorado runners Swartz made her move with two laps remaining.
"I think my pace picked up even more because I had the flashback of what happened two years ago." Swartz said. "Ever since then, I always made sure I had a kick."
Swartz, a 4.0 student last semester, crossed the finish line with her right arm raised in the air as Baughman did in 1994. Swartz's time of 9:34.90 was more than five seconds faster than the second place finisher.
Swartz said that her victory was a great way to finish her Big Eight indoor season.
"It made it even sweeter just to have all the Colorado girls behind me to see this time, I'm in front," Swartz said. "Good things come to those who wait."
that she had competed against Swartz in athletics since fifth grade, but now the two are good friends
Kansas senior Kristi Kloster said
"This past Saturday, I just went nuts when she won the 3,000," Kloster said. "Melissa is really hard-working and she is very focused once she gets a goal in her mind. She's really helpful to everyone on the team."
Swartz, who is applying to physical therapy schools, will compete in the mile at the Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa. She has already provisionally qualified in the mile, 3,000-meters, and as a member of the distance medley team.
"There's one goal that I've been working towards now for two years and it's to go to nationals, and become an All-American," Swartz said. "This being my last year, I think my confidence has really been boosted knowing that there's nothing to lose."
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