UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, November 21, 1995
3B
Utah is first in tough season start
Schedule includes UCLA and Virginia in week after Utes
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
While most Kansas students are headed for rest and relaxation during Thanksgiving break, the Kansas men's basketball team will be preparing for what may be its toughest nonconference schedule in the Roy Williams era and its toughest three-game span of the season.
the nonconference schedule includes Florida, Temple, No. 23 Indiana, No. 17 Virginia, No. 8 Utah and No. 4 UCLA.
The Jayhawks have a three-game span beginning Nov. 25 in Kansas City, Mo., against Utah and ending the next Saturday in Allen Field
MEN'S BASKETBALL
House against defending national champion UCLA. Between those two games, Kansas will travel Nov. 29 to Auburn Hills, Mich., to play Virginia, the team that knocked it out of the NCAA Tournament last season.
Kansas' first game of the season, against Utah, may be the game Kansas basketball fans perceive as the easiest in the three-game span.
"People think that's not going to be that difficult of a game, or people don't know that much about Utah," Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams said. "I guarantee you Utah's got two No. 1 (NBA) draft choices right now in Brandon Jessie and Keith Van Horn. Melmeth and Doleac may end up being first-round draft choices."
Sophomore centers Michael Doleac and Ben Melmeth provide the Utes with size to go along with
Van Horn. Van Horn, a 6-foot,9,227-pound junior forward, was named a preseason first team All-American by Street and Smith's magazine and his team was rated as the fourth best in the nation by the magazine. Van Horn was also the Western Athletic Conference player of the year last season.
Utah coach Rick Majerus also has last season's WAC newcomer of the year, Jessie, returning. As a 6-5, 225-pound senior guard, Jessie averaged 16.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game last season. Van Horn averaged 21 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent from the field, including 38.6 percent on three-point attempts.
"He's 6-10. He shoots three-pointer. He drives to the basket," Williams said. "It's going to be a major challenge for the guy who's going to try to guard him."
Kansas sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz will be one of the Jayhawks who will defend Van Horn.
Even though Van Horn is Utah's best player, its supporting cast is what makes it such a good team.
"They're very good defensively. They're a legitimate team," Williams said. "They've got four starters back from a team that won 28 games last season."
Williams said they were comparable to Massachusetts, the team they started against last season.
"They're not going to get the benefit that the eastern teams are going to get, and they still were No. 10," he said of Utah. "So they must be pretty doggone good. People around here have no idea how good they are."
"Last year we played UMass, and this team we're getting ready to play next Saturday is just as talented as UMass was," Williams said. "UMass had just come off beating Arkansas and got all the national attention."
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard has family ties to the Utes.
"I'm really excited," Pollard said. "My dad played for Utah."
Swimmers make a splash in Nebraska
By Bill Kenealv
Kansan sportswriter
Despite losing their first meets of the season last weekend in Lincoln, Neb., the Kansas swimming and diving teams were pleased with the results.
"We had some great performances out of a lot of kids," Kansas swimming coach Gary Kempf said.
The women's team was edged out by No. 8 Nebraska 382-371 and finished second among the sixteam field, which also included No. 14 Alabama and No. 15 Arizona State.
"We gave them about as big of a test as they possibly could have wanted." Kempf said.
A technicality stood in victory's way for the Kansas men's team.
If the victory in the relay, the meet's final event, had been allowed to stand, the Kansas men
way for the Kansas men's team. The men finished third behind Alabama and Nebraska after their win in the 400-yard freestyle relay was disqualified.
would have won.
The team was disqualified because exuberant Kansas freshman Brant Peoples entered the pool to celebrate the victory while the last team still was swimming.
"It was an emotional mistake. I don't have a problem with that," Kempf said. "He is going to be one of the greatest swimmers we have ever had in our program."
"The bottom line is, everyone knew who won the meet. We whupped everybody in front of us. It was a mistake after the meet was over that cost us."
In addition to praising the efforts of Peoples, Kempf was proud of junior freestylester Erik Jorgensen, who won three events.
"Erik was an iron man," Kempf said.
Freshman Kostakl Chiligiris won the 200-yard individual medley and twice made up deficits on relays.
Kansas senior captain Rob Putnam was a model of consistency.
"Everybody knows when Putty
gets in the water what we get out of him — 110 percent, "Kempf said."
The depth of the Kansas women's team was evident in the relays. The squad of seniors Jen Peltier and Donna Christensen, sophomore Colleen Phillipps and junior Rebecca Andrew won both the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays.
The Kansas diving teams fared well too.
"All in all, it was a pretty good weekend," Kansas diving coach Don Fearon said.
The Kansas men were competing against some of the best divers around, including Miami, the top diving program in the country. All three of the Hurricane divers are members of the United States national team. Iowa, another Kansas opponent, has two divers competing to go to Spain for the Summer Olympics.
But Kansas divers held their own. Senior Kris Hoffman, the returning Big Eight Conference champion on the one-meter and three-meter
boards, finished fourth on the one-meter with a score of 464.05.
"Kris was real steady," Fearon said. "He is diving in very good company. I believe after this weekend he will be less intimidated when he faces tougher competition."
Sophomore Brian Humphrey placed fourth in the three-meter diving competition.
Humphrey overcame a scrapeled leg and scored 513.45, a 30-point improvement on his previous best.
Humphrey's score qualified him for the NCAA Zone meet. He joins Hoffman and All-American Michelle Rojohn in qualifying for the NCAA meet.
Rojohn won both the one-meter and three-meter at the Shoot Out, vanquishing fellow All-American Sandy Zubrin of Miami and others.
"Michelle is at the top of her game," Fearon said.
The Jayhawks' next meet will be the Notre Dame Invitational, Dec. 1-3 in South Bend, Ind.
Women's basketball to begin tough schedule
Jayhawks will spend holiday as road warriors battling Blue Demons, Boilermakers
Kansan sportswriter
By Bill Petulla
The No. 14 Jayhawks will take on No. 15 DePaul Friday in Rosemont, Ill., and No. 10 Purdue Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Thanksgiving vacation usually means plopped in front of the television, loosening one's belt and watching football. However, for the Kansas women's basketball team, this Thanksgiving certainly won't be a laid-back vacation.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said that with a difficult schedule throughout the season, she was more concerned with a strong showing than winning or losing.
"We want to play as hard as we can, come back, take a look at what we did well and what we didn't do so well and continue to keep things in perspective," Washington said. "A win here or there or a loss here or there is not going to make us or break us."
DePaul will be led by forward Latasha Byears. The senior has received a handful of preseason honors, including National Player of the Year by Dick Vitale's College Basketball magazine and was named a first team preseason All-American by the Associated Press, Athlon and Street & Smith's magazines.
DePaul also has four starters returning from last year's 20-9 squad. The Blue Demons went undefeated at home last season, which gives DePaul women's basketball coach Doug Bruno reason to be optimistic.
"When you were the third-leading scoring team in the nation and return a large bulk of your offensive and rebounding productivity, there is evidence for optimism," Bruno said. "We're excited about the preseason accolades, but we believe in reviews, not previews."
Washington said the Blue Demons would be tough to beat.
"DePaul has at least four outstanding ballplayers, and they depend greatly on Byears. She only played 19 minutes in their last exhibition game and shot the ball 21 times," Washington said. "I think our defense is going to be critical all season long, and we're really working hard on it."
Two days after battling the Blue Demons, Kansas will travel southeast to take on Purdue. The Boilermakers are led by forward Stacey
Lovelace. Like Beyears, Lovelace also has amassed preseason honors, including Sports Illustrated's preseason Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. Purdue's roster also features a highly touted incoming class, with freshman Stephanie White, who averaged 36.9 points a game at Seegar Memorial High in West Lebanon, Ind.
"Purdue is a program that has been in the Final Four, and they've been one of the top teams in the Big Ten," Washington said. "It's going to be great competition, and if anything, we'll have to play even tougher basketball."
The Boilermakers are led by forward Stacey
Despite the strong schedule, Kansas does not back down from the challenge.
Kansas junior guard Tamecka Dixon, who was allowed only limited play because of an ankle injury Friday against the Slovakian National team, is expected to be at full strength for the two holiday games.
"I love our schedule," Kansas senior guard Charisse Sampson said. "Every year our schedule gets tougher, and I hope that's a tradition that doesn't change."
Although the Jayhawks suffered several preseason injuries to junior forward Shelly Canada, Sampson and Dixon, Washington is now upbeat.
"We're healing. finally." she said.
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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 30
It will be the third straight bowl appearance for the Wildcats, who beat Wyoming in the 1993 Copper Bowl for their first post-season win. The Wildcats don't know yet who they'll play in the Dec. 29 game in San
When the Holiday Bowl selection committee trimmed its list of finalists to two, it was the Jayhawks and the Wildcats. And with K-State ranked No. 10 and Kansas No. 11, the nod went to Kansas State yesterday.
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Kansas and K-State both finished 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the final Big Eight year, tied with Colorado for second in the conference behind No. 1 Nebraska.
Kansas State beats out rival Kansas again, this time in bid for Plymouth Holiday Bowl
The Associated Press
Coach predicts Wildcat fans will make a strong showing at late-December matchup
MANHATTAN — Beating Kansas 41-7 turned out not to be the final victory Kansas State scored over arch rival Kansas this season.
"It's a great bowl. Everyone's real excited," said Matt Miller, who set the Big Eight season record with 22 touchdown passes. "Head to head we beat KU, so we figured we should go ahead of them."
"At this point, there are a combination of about five different ways to go," said Holiday Bowl president Vince Benstead. "Teams that could be the opponent would be Colorado State, San Diego State, Utah and possibly BYU. It's going to depend entirely on the outcome of games this Saturday."
K-State players made no effort to mask the disappointment they still feel about not getting to the Cotton Bowl. Had they beaten Colorado Saturday in their regular season
Diego. The automatic entry goes to the champion of the Western Athletic Conference, and that depends on games to be played Saturday.
Matt Miller Kansas State quarterback
"It's a great bowl. Everyone's real excited Head to head we beat KU, so we figured we should go ahead of them."
"We're disappointed over the loss we had Saturday," said wide receiver Kevin Lockett. "But we're just happy to be going to a bowl, and not being home for Christmas. It will show the nation what type of team we have."
Benstead said selecting K-State over Kansas was not an easy decision.
"There were a lot of deciding factors," he said. "Both teams and both schools are top-rate in our estimation.
"The bottom line, I guess, is it came down to ultimate ranking. The experience between the two teams probably was a factor as well. It was debated."
"We pledge ourselves to make this the finest Holiday Bowl we ever had," said K-State athletic director Max Urick. "Our people will come with enthusiasm, cheering our team on.
"It will be indelibly written in your mind that people in purple are pretty impressive."
**BOWL SCHEDULE:** Dates and times for all the bowl games. Scores & More, Page 2.
"We're excited," said Wildcat linebacker Percell Gaskins. "Not every team goes to a bowl. We feel blessed. We're disappointed with the (Colorado) loss. But we're glad to go to a bowl."
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