SPORTS RAP Letters from actual sports page readers who get a chance to voice their complaints and insights, Page 6.
SPORTS
U N I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 1996
PROFILE
After breaking four bones in high school, T.J. Pugh has been
Gaining Strength
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Rebecca Pugh sat hollering at the television in a Chicago sports bar.
"There's my brother! There's my brother!" she screamed.
The junior at DePaul watches some of her brother's basketball games at the bar. That night, several people asked who her brother was.
Rebecca Pugh looked them straight in the eye and said, "Calvin Rayford."
Rebecca is the eccentric member of T.J. Pugh's family.
"I don't think there's another one like her in the world," said Pugh, a freshman forward on the Kansas men's basketball team. "She used to have blue hair.
"And my brother, he's more of the social type, kind of the punk of the family."
Even though they are all quite different, Rebecca, T.J. and Pat are all honor students. That might have something to do with their parents. Tim is a lawyer, and Jan is a nurse.
It was Pugh's parents who first pushed — actually shoved — him into athletics.
He didn't want to play T-ball, but he did.
He didn't want to play soccer,but he did.
He didn't want to play basketball, but he did.
Then, he didn't want to stop playing basketball.
"After he tried it, he was enthused." Tim Pugh said. "By fifth grade, you could tell he was better than the average kid. We didn't ever think he'd get a scholarship to Kansas, though."
And Pugh worked harder
than the average kid. From the time he started playing basketball, he would spend one or two hours a day shooting in the driveway. At first, it was for seven or eight months a year.
By eighth grade, Pugh was working out year-round.
"I would rebound for him for hours," said Brian Carlin, who has been one of Pugh's best friends since fifth grade. "He treated it like an eight-hour-a-day job. T.J. and basketball have gone hand-inhand since I've known him."
The work ethic was all in Pugh's control. Still, another
success wasn't —
his height.
By having a father who played basketball at Creighton,
t h o u g h,
Pugh got a little help.
"I was always the tallest person in my class, except for a couple
"On days when we'd have a big wind, they wouldn't let me go outside," he said. "I would just eat all the time all the time. My mom can vouch for that."
Pug ate five meals a day,
and spaghetti, his favorite
food, was often the main
course.
Then his mom would make high-calorie milk shakes, adding scoops of ice cream or a raw egg. The rest of the family got fat just smelling it, Jan Pugh said, laughing as she remembered the concoctions.
The weight didn't magi-
years where there was a girl who was taller than me," Pugh said.
He may not have always been the tallest kid, but few of his peers could match Pugh's growth spurt early in high school. Pugh was 6-feet tall when he started at Creighton Prep. He grew four inches during his freshman year and another three the following year.
Jan Pugh couldn't keep him in shoes, pants or anything else.
Despite his growth spurt, Pugh was skinny.
c a l i r y appear, though, and Pug struggle through injuries because of his slight frame. In a year and a half he b r o k e bones in his right foot, left hand, right wrist and left ankle. The
in injury to his left hand occurred as Pugh was skiing. The others were basketball-related.
"He was either hurt or sick his entire freshman basketball season," said Scott Hawk, Pugh's high school coach for three years. "He was growing so fast his body couldn't keep up. It was a matter of him surviving his growth spurt."
Even with a broken right wrist, Pugh continued to
See PUGH,Page 3.
Steve Puppe / KANSAN
By earning a spot in the Kansas men's basketball roster, slam dunks such as this one have become common for freshman forward T. J. Pueh
Loss pushes runner to victory
By Adam Herschman
Kenyan sportwriter
Kansan sportswriter
Coming around the final turn in the mile run, Kansas senior Melissa Swartz took the lead at the 1994 Big Eight Indoor championships.
Her first Big Eight title was waiting for her at the finish line.
However, 20 yards later Swartz was edged out by Colorado senior Brooke Baughman.
"They're coming around the curb, and this girl was on the bank and she started leaning into Melissa," Kansas assistant coach Steve Gumymon said. "They're fighting back and forth going down these last 20 yards. This girl throws an elbow, and gets just barely in front of her.
After Swartz, who is the Kansas track captain, took the lead from Baughman in 1994, the two runners were very close on the banked track in Oklahoma City.
"Ive got the picture on my desk," Guymon said. "Melissa never foroot this."
Guymon said Baughman crossed the finish line a few yards ahead of Swartz and raised her fist up in the air.
"Ever since then I've just kind of had a grudge against Colorado," Swartz said.
SECTION B
The following indoor season Swartz was redshirted.
After training hard during the summer, Swartz took Guymon's Colorado media guide. She cut out the pictures of Colorado distance runners and put them on her wall. Colorado was known for having a good women's distance program.
See TRACK, Page 3.
Brian Hott / KANSAN
Kansas senior Melissa Swertz won the 3000-meters last weekend at the Big Eight indoor championships.
Baseball team earns 5-4 record without playing a home game
"I'm just mildly disappointed," he said. "We'd love to play, and it'll be nice to be back home, but we're not going to take any chances playing in this kind of weather."
Cold weather yesterday afternoon forced the Kansas baseball team to cancel its home opener against Missouri Western.
Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall decided to cancel the game yesterday morning.
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
The game will not be rescheduled.
The Jayhawks have played all nine of their games on the road, posting a 5-4 record.
The game will not be rescheduled.
But unlike the 1995 season, playing on the road hasn't impeded the team's success. The Jayhawks' five road victories so far this season already match last year's total number of road wins. The 1995 team was 5-20 away from home and didn't win its fifth road game until March 17.
Almost every starter has contributed significantly to the team's continuing success.
Senior second baseman Josh Kliner is hitting a team-best, 424. He leads the team in doubles with six and RBI with nine.
"I try to take the same attitude to
Bobby Randall
the park every day," he said. "I'm going to play hard and give all I can to the team."
Kansas sophomore designated hitter Josh Dimmick is right behind Kliner with a .371
Clay Baird and Josh Belovsky, Kansas' two senior starting pitchers, each have won two games.
average. Dimmick has started at first base the past two games and is riding a five-game hitting streak. He also is second among the Jayhawks with eight RBI.
Kansas sophomore Casey Barrett has performed well as a closer, building Kansas coaches' confidence in his ability. He has three saves in three chances and a teamlow 1.69 ERA.
During the past two weekends, Barrett got out of bases-loaded jams by striking out the game's final batter each time. In both cases, the potential winning runs were on base.
"Once I did it, I got the confidence to get out of it." Barrett said. "It's nice being there in the end when it means something."
Tomorrow's home game against Iowa has been postponed until 1 p.m. Saturday at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium, when the Jayhawks will play a doubleheader.
Women can bring home second title
Coaches expect a tightly contested tournament title
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
There's only one battle left for women's basketball in the Big Eight Conference.
That final stand will be this weekend in Salina at the final Big Eight tournament. The conference will become the Big 12 Conference in June.
Although the conference's top two teams, No. 21 Kansas and No. 20 Colorado, enter the weekend as the favorites to bring home the trophy, most of the Big Eight coaches agree the outcome cannot be predicted.
The race for the Big Eight regular season crown was very close, as the top four teams finished within three games of each other. Kansas State coach Jack Hartman said anything could happen in a three day tournament.
"There's probably not ten points separating the first seed from the eighth seed," said Oklahoma women's basketball coach Burl Plunkett. "Every game is a surprise, you can't predict who's going to win."
"There is very little preparation time, so you have to be a well-schooled team," Hartman said.
The tournament will begin Saturday afternoon when fourth-seed Nebraska plays fifth-seed Missouri. Nebraska swept the season series from Missouri. Both teams need a win to be in prime position for an NCAA tournament bid.
The second game of the afternoon session Saturday will showcase the regular season champs, the Jayhawks. Kansas will renew the Sunflower State rivalry for the second time in a week as it battles the eighth seed, Kansas State.
The Jayhawks swept the season series from the Wildcats, including a 66-56 win Sunday in the final game of the regular season that clinched the regular season title.
Kansas coach Marian Washington said the Jayhawks were eager to win a second Big Eight crown in a week, and a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"We're playing really good basketball down the stretch, and I think that's something the seeding committee looks at," Washington said.
Hartman said that although playing a team twice in a week makes things easier from a preparation standpoint, Kansas State won't have an easy task against Kansas.
"We really respect Kansas. I was very impressed with their team last Sunday," Hartman said. "Obviously, it will take a tremendous effort on our part."
The evening session Saturday will begin with second-seed, and defending tournament champion, Colorado playing seventh-seed Oklahoma. The Buffaloes swept the Sooners in their two meetings this season.
The final game of the first round will be third-seed Oklahoma State battling sixth-seed Iowa State. Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly said his team gained confidence by taking the Cowgirls down to the wire during a 59-57 loss to Oklahoma State on Feb. 3 in Ames, Iowa.
Fennelly said the Cyclones hoped to make a positive impact on the last Big Eight tournament.
"We need to try to be the best team in the league for three days, not for two months," he said.
Results from men's Big Eight Conference play last night. See page 2.