TRACK Student volunteers are needed for the Kansas Relays. Page 3. NBA Magic may join the Dream Team. Page 5.
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1996
SECTION B
Upstart Cyclones visit'Hawks
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas senior forward Sean Pearson keeps the ball away from Kansas State's Tyrone Davis in Sunday's game. The No. 3 Jeyahaws will face Will. 21 Iowa State tonight in Allen Field House.
Big Eight lead is on the line
By Jenni Canson
Kansan sportswriter
Roy Williams knew little about No. 21 Iowa State at the beginning of the season.
The Kansas men's basketball coach is not ashamed to admit it. That's probably because he wasn't the only one.
The Cyclones lost 10 lettermen, so second-year coach Tim Floyd brought in 10 new faces.
"He basically had to rebuild his team," Williams said. "But he was able to recruit. He knew what style he wanted to play."
Floyd's style has led to a 5-1 record in the Big Eight Conference and 16-4 overall. With No. 3 Kansas standing at 6-0 in the conference, Iowa State could share the lead with a win tonight. The game tips off at 7:05 in Allen Field House.
"I wouldn't have dreamed of this kind of record early." Floyd said. "We've grown together, and we're playing extremely hard right now."
Much of the success is due to the play of transfers. Seven Cyclone players have experience at either a junior college or another four-year school. The four leading scorers are transfers who account for 51.6 points a game.
Dedric Willoughby, a transfer from New Orleans, where Floyd coached before moving to Iowa State, leads the Cyclones in scoring. The junior guard's 20.2-point-a-game average is third in the Big Eight.
"They're doing it with great defensive play and good guard play," Williams said. "The one thing I see that scares me, though is how much
they get to the free-throw line."
The Cyclones have gotten to the line almost twice as often as their opponents, attempting 562 free-throws compared to their opponents' 288.
Even with this disparity in his team's favor, Flond is still worried.
And Iowa State will be facing the Big Eight's best rebounding team tonight. The Jayhawks average 7.3 more boards a game than their opponents.
Kansas sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz is a major contributor to that advantage. He has the Big Eight's third-best rebounding average at 8.5.
"I don't know that we're out of the woods yet," he said. "We've been a terrible rebounding team."
Williams said LaFrentz might have been as active in the victory against K-State on Sunday as he had been in a long time. He scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including several off his own missed shots.
"I'd like for him to go ahead and get it the first time, unless he's trying to pad his rebound numbers," Williams said.
LaFrentz won't need much motivation to hit shots, rebound or do anything else tonight. The Monona, Iowa, native got heavy criticism from Iowans when he signed with the Jayhawks two years ago.
"I've got a lot of people coming down from home and want to set the record straight," he said. "I'll look forward to playing them here, but I'll really look forward to playing them there."
During the game in Ames, Iowa, last season, LaFrentz was booed by Cyclone fans and scored only five points.
The date of that opportunity is burned into LaFrentz's mind.
"The 17th of February," he said. "Till be read."
Women's basketball recruit rebuilds strength
Kansan sportswriter
By Evan Blackwell
Pruitt, a 5-foot-5 point guard from Jonesboro, suffered the injury in the season-opening game of her senior year.
One of the Kansas recruits for next season, Casey Prutt, had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.
When Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington got a call from Arkansas three months ago, she learned that one of her worst nightmares had come true.
"Nobody even hit me. I just planted my foot, and I heard the knee pop." Pruitt
said. "The first thing I thought of was the ACL, because I've heard about that so much on TV."
Pruitt soon learned that she would miss her entire senior season and that surgery would be required to repair her knee.
Washington said it was easy to assume the worst in a situation like Pruitt's.
"The thing that hit me first was the overwhelming number of young women I've seen getting injured," Washington said. "Here's a young girl who has never suffered an injury before, and it happened to her."
Pruitt underwent successful knee surgery Dec. 20. She is nearing the mid-
die of a seven-month rehabilitation program.
"It was hard the first day," Pruitt said. "My leg felt so heavy. I could barely lift it."
Pruitt said her doctors had said she was ahead of her reh schedule. However, the target date for her return to the court is not until June or July.
"I'm really excited about coming to Lawrence this summer and working out with the team and working at the summer camps." Pratt said.
Pruitt was chosen as an honorable mention in Street and Smith's magazine's National All-American contest
after her junior year.
She chose Kansas over Virginia, Wake Forest and Arkansas State.
"I loved the team, and I loved Coach Washington," Pruitt said. "She cares about you, not just as an athlete, but as a student athlete."
Washington said Pruitt's work ethic helped alleviate fears surrounding her injury.
"I knew she was the kind of kid who wouldn't stay down," Washington said. "With some kids, an injury can become a mental game, but I knew it wouldn't be with Casey because of her determination."
Tennis trio ready for elite event
By Spencer Duncan Kansan sportswriter
The finest players in college tennis will compete to prove who among them is the best, and three players from Kansas will have the chance to be No.1.
Kansas sophomore Enrique Abaroa and juniors Kyle Hunt and Jenny Atkerson will begin play tomorrow in the first round of the Rolex Indoor National Championships in Dallas. The tournament is the third Intercollegiate Tennis Association Grand Slam of the season, and it is the deciding factor in who are the best indoor players in collegiate tennis.
"These are the best players around," Hunt said "But I really don't let that
The tournament is divided into men's and women's divisions. Each division has a field of 32 players in singles competition and 16 teams in doubles competition. The tournament is small and allows for only the top collegiate tennis players to compete against one another.
Hunt knows the field is an elite one.
"There are tough players there, but it really doesn't worry us." Hunt said. "We're ready to go and play. We just have to do what we can."
Hunt holds two national rankings and will be pulling double duty at the tournament. She is ranked sixth in singles and with partner Atkerson is No.2 in doubles. Both of these rankings will be put on the line
Abaroa enters the tournament untested in the last two weeks. He was upset in the second round of the Big Eight Indoor Championships two weeks ago, and has not played since then because of soreness in his shoulder.
Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center thinks the tournament will give Abaroa the chance to to strut his stuff, despite the two week layoff.
"He has been getting treatments and medication to help his shoulder," Center said. "He is in good shape even though he hasn't played. Enrique should play very well."
Although all the players hold national rankings, they couldn't count on the ranking to get them into the tournament. Each player had to win another tournament to get to Dallas.
Abaroa earned a bid by winning the singles title at the Rolex Regional V Championships in October. Hunt received an automatic berth after winning the singles title at the Central Region Rolex Championships.
Atkerson and Hunt received their doubles bid after claiming victory at the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships in Baltimore, which was the first grand slam of the year.
The chances of victory are good, according to the athletes. Center also thinks the players have a good chance of proving themselves.
"It's a tough field to play," Center said. "I think everything will go well."
Kansas greets new baseball coach with preseason uncertainties
Bv Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
The winds of change blew harder than a Tom Seaver fastball on the Kansas baseball team during the offseason.
It had more departures than a metropolitan airport.
The result of the changes is preseason question marks surrounding the team.
He comes to Kansas after 11 years at Iowa State, where he compiled a 309-311-1 record. Iowa State's 28-24 mark last year was good enough for a third-place Big Eight Conference finish.
Who will pitch — and in what role? Who will play third base? Who will play left field? Right field? Can the team overcome a lack of experience early on?
The man who must answer these questions is Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall.
He replaces Dave Bingham, the most successful Kansas baseball coach in terms of postseason appearances. Bingham resigned last August after guiding Kansas to a 24-33, sixth-place conference finish.
Randall, who is joined by assistants Wilson Kilmer, Rick Sabath and Steve Lienhard, knows of the challenges ahead. But he isn't setting goals for wins.
"I'm not going to say, 'We're going to win this amount of games,'" he said. "I want to win all 56. Right now, I'm worried about Friday, Feb. 9. And when that game is over,
ANALYSIS
we're going to start worrying about the next game."
There may be plenty to worry about if the pitching staff cannot overcome the losses it has suffered
"If ever there was a year to be a pitcher at the University of Kansas, this is it. There is unlimited opportunity," Randall said. "There's not much experience on the field. There's little, if any, on the mound. And if they had experience, it wasn't good."
Gone is Kansas ace Jamie Splittertorr and last season's Big Eight saves leader in Robert Keens.
Splittorff was drafted in the 13th round by the Minnesota Twins. Keens quit the team late last season.
The Jayhawk' pitching staff has lost 79 percent of its innings pitched, 74 percent of its strikeouts and 71 percent of its wins.
The only certainty on the mound, if he is healthy, is junior Aric Peters. He appeared in just two games last year before suffering an elbow injury.
"Everything seems to have gotten better," Peters said. "Right now I'm completely healthy, and I'm ready to show Kansas what I can do."
Early reports have him throwing in the low 90s, and Randall expects him to be the ace.
Kansas also is counting on seniors Clay Baird (3-7, 8.27) and Josh Belovsky (1-0, 5.56 with Texas Tech) and sophomore Linus Williams (2-1, 6.75).
Junior centerfielder Isaac Byrd, junior shortstop Joe DeMarco, junior second baseman Josh Kliner and senior catcher Ted Meadows form the nucleus. The arms of the defense are in
The strength of this team is the four players up the middle of the diamond.
"The core of the defense is excellent." Randall said. "We have excellent team speed. We have some guys that can run."
DeMarco said expectations were high within the team.
"Last year there were a lot of negative attitudes and tension between players and coaches. It seemed like we were always at each other's throats," he said.
Steve Punoe / KANSAN
Kansas seniors Ted Meadows, Josh Kliner, Clay Baird and Josh Belovsky will be counted on heavily this season by firstyear coach Boby Randall. The Jayhawks begin the 1996 season on Friday in Grand Canyon, Ariz.
"It's totally different this year. From what I've seen, the attitude is 10 times greater. We're really positive, and that starts with the coach."
Byrd will be the captain of an outfield that doesn't have a starting right or left fielder. Sophomore Eric Vann, junior Mario Opioi, freshman Les Walrond and junior Justin Headley head the list of candidates.
Junior Craig Stewart and freshmen Nick Frank and Andy Juday will compete for the third baseman's job, taking over for Brent Wilhelm, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox last June.
If Kansas can exceed the Baseball America preseason prediction of sixth in the Big Eight, Randall will know why.
"This team hasn't had to learn work ethic," Randall said. "I can demand it, and they know what it means."
24-33 overall, 9-17 in the Big
Eight Conference, sixth place
18-11 home
5-20 away
1-2 neutral
Bobby Randall
Iowa State 28-24, third place
309-311-1.498 11 years
Head Coach: Bobby Randall
(1st year)
Assistant Coaches:: Wilson
Kilmer (ninth year)
Steve Lienhard (first year)
Rick Sabath (first year)
---
y