Universitv Daily Kansan / Thursday, December 1, 1988
Sports
9
KU prepares to battle Seattle
Williams says team is ready for first home game of season
It would be easy for Kansas to take the Seattle Chieftains lightly.
By Arvin Donley
Kansan sportswriter
Seattle, an NIA division I school,
has opened the season with an 0-6
record. But Kansas coach Roy Wilson
guaranteed his team would be
ready when the Jayhawks play in
7:35 tonight in Allen Field House.
"Also, trying to get in a little work at practice, but at the same time, not doing so much work that we hurt their legs or their rest. I know I'm tired as blazes right now and I didn't even play."
Williams did say, however, that his team was tired after arriving in Lawrence early yesterday morning after an eight-hour flight from Anchorage, where the Jayhawks took place in the Great Alaska Shootout.
"we got back at 1:00 a.m. (mesterday)," he said. "It isn't an easy thing to spend eight hours on an airline. So, we've got to make sure that we get them used to going back and acting like college students again."
"Plus, I don't think our team's going to look at 0-6. They're going to look at it as a basketball team that they are coming out of here 1-6."
Game 4
Kansas Jayhawks
Coach: Roy Williams
Record: 2-1
Seattle Chieftains
Coach: Bob Johnson
Record: 0-6
PROBABLE STARTERS
F-42 Mark Randall 6'9" 13.0
F-21 Milt Newton 6'4" 17.6
C-52 Sean Avarado 6'10" 27.7
G-10 Scooter Barry 6'4" 7.7
G-14 Kevin Pritchard 6'3" 17.0
F-40 John King 6'5" 14.2
F-35 Eric Peterson 6'5" 13.2
C-34 Robert Hendrix 6'9" 15.7
G-11 Curt Scheidel 6'3" 8.3
G-30 Tim Zylstra 5'8" 2.0
COVERAGE: Tip-off will be at 7:35 tonight at Allen Field House in Lawrence. The game will be broadcast on KLZR 106 FM.
Seattle also knows what it's like to be on the road.
"I'm going to be tough enough on them (in practice) that they'll be glad to play somebody instead of seeing me," Williams said. "We've got a good group of kids, and I think they'll be ready to play in the first official game in Allen Field House, and we're looking forward to that."
games away from home. But assistant coach Gene Cash said the unusual number of road games early; in the season ultimately would work to Seattle's advantage.
be on the road.
The Chieftains play their first 10
"The road is always tough," Cash said. "But it will help us later in the season as our team matures because they will be used to adversity."
Cash said one reason for Seattle's slow start was the team's inexperience.
Williams said he was pleased with
"We have a very young team," Cash said. "We have six freshman on the team and none of our starters are seniors. We're hopeing that as our younger players get experience, we can play and peak well at the end of the season during our district tournament."
Although they will be heavy underdogs, Cash said the Chieftains were honing for an upset.
"As a coach you always go into a game expecting to win," he said. "Execution is the key. If we play with intelligence and don't let the crowd put us out of the game in the first five minutes, we could have a chance. We'll have to play with poise, though."
The Cheifteens are led in scoring by 6-foot-9 junior center Robert Hendrix, who is averaging 15.7 points per game. Forwards John King and Eric Peterson are averaging 14.2 and 13.0 points respectively.
Playing in the 15,000-seat Allen Field House will be quite a contrast to Seattle's Connolly Center, which seats 1,000 people. Cash said.
"It is every kid's dream since junior high to play in a place like Allen Field House." Cash said. "We're really excited about playing in Lawrence, Kansas, where there is a great basketball tradition."
Kansas' performance at the Shoot out, but saw room for improvement, particularly the inside play.
"I'm still concerned with being able to stop people inside." Williams said. "I think the (lack of) depth inside concerns me more than anything. We've got to do the best that we can rebound-wise and make sure that doesn't determine the outcome of the game."
Because of the lack of front-line depth, Williams said he was concerned about his players committing "tells fouls."
"ally youn! in the terminal game against Cali-
minal Saturday, four Jayawk starters had picked up four fouls with 12 remaining minutes in the game.
"Mark (Randall), Sean (Alvarado) and Milt (Newton) need to be careful because they are really picking up the facts. You can't accomplish anything," he said.
"These kids that I'm working with now are some outstanding young people," Williams said. "I feel fortunate to be working with them. They've taken a fall that has taken smooth by smooth and imagination. They've just continued to work their tails off. They've been an extreme joy to be around."
Despite some problems in execution, Williams said he had enjoyed his first three games as the Jayhawks' coach.
Barry is suffering from a brussed thigh, which was injured during the waning moments of the Seton Hall game, but was expected to play tonight. Randall was suffering from a cold and, as of yesterday, was questionable.
Two Jayhawk starters, Randall and Scooter Barry, are hampered by physical ailments.
"He was in very bad shape during the game Monday night," Williams said. "He wasn't feeling good at all. I couldn't talk to him at halftime because every time I would say one sentence he would cough. It seemed like he was coughing about every 10 seconds."
Snyder faces chore of rebuilding 'Cats
The Associated Press
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Bill Snyder insists his eyes are wide open as he becomes the 32nd head coach for the losingest football program in major college history.
"the opportunity for the greatest turnaround in college football in America exists here today." Snyder said yesterday when he was introduced at Kansas State. "It 'bits down to this — it just takes hard work and commitment."
Given a five-year contract for a reported $85,000 in the first year, Snyder, 47, is K-State's 12th head coach since 1945. In that same period, the Wildcats have experienced only four winning campaigns, a 3-to-1 ratio between coaches and winning seasons. He replaces Stan Parrish, who was 2-3-1 in three years and leaves the Wildcats on a 27-game non-winning streak.
KState's 92-year log of 299-509-41 yields a winning percentage of .376. No. 2 on the all-time worst list, according to NCAA statistics, is Wake Forest, which began this season with a .407 percent Earlier in the year the Wildcats became the first Division I team to win 400 losses.
It has been a coaches' career graveyard. K-State's only appearance in a bowl game was in 1982 and the coach who took them there, Jim Dickey, was fired two games into the 1965 season.
"This is a monumental task — the greatest challenge of my life," Snyder said. He added that the KSA state administration "has convinced me beyond a shadow of it that they are ready to move ahead."
As offensive coordinator at
Iowa, Snyder spent the past 10 years helping head coach Hayden Fry turn around the Hawkeyes the way long-suffering K-Staters hope their fortunes can be reversed.
"Bill Snyder has been in two programs that have similarities to K-State — North Texas State University, a school that had a lack of success but was brought to the top of its level with little money and little support, and the University of Iowa, which had 19 consecutive losing seasons," athletic director Steve Miller said. "Bill Snyder is responsible for both the style and the substance of what we've tried to do at Kansas State in our athletic administration and with our coaches."
Snyder first joined Fry at North Texas State in 1976. His son Sean is a freshman kicker with the Hawyees.
"I just think he'll do a super job — much quicker than anyone anticipates," Fry said. "Coach Snyder will do an outstanding job of making Kansas State competitive in the Big Eight."
Snyder will stay with Iowa through its Dec. 31 Peach Ball game. He said one reason for taking the job was the similarity between K-State now and Iowa a decade ago.
"The situation at Kansas State closely parallels other situations I have been in, especially at Iowa," Snyder said. "Iowa was very similar and it's a wonderful success story. The irony is amazing. I've met the same kind of people (at Kansas State) that we met when we came to Iowa. They're tremendously caring and very concerned. The time seems right at Kansas State."
NL begins search for president
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The National League is considering naming a black man or a woman as its next president.
Simon Gourdine and Gilroye A. Griffin Jr., who are black, and Phyllis Collins, the No. 2 official in the league office, are contenders to take over as president from A. Bartlett Giamatti, said a baseball coach asked not to be identified. Giamatti was the commissioner of baseball April 1.
Gourdine, a former deputy commissioner of the NBA, is the top contender among minorities, the source said. Gourdine also was chief operating officer of the NBA for eight of his 12 years to date, including negotiations, expansion and the merger with the American Basketball Association.
For the past three years, Gourdine, 48, has been director of labor relations for New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the subway and bus system and the commuter railroads.
Collins, the vice president and secretary of the league, also is being given top consideration, the source said. Collins, 57, has been with the league for 11 years and has administered administrative duties during the league. Before that, she was a secretaire at the Atlanta Bravos for 10 years.
Griffin, vice president of labor
vice president for Bristol-Myers,
is another leading candidate, but is
ranked behind Gourdine, the source
Golfman Clifford Alexander, a Washington lawyer who is a consultant to the commissioner's office on minority hiring, would not comment on the specifics of the search process. But he said he generally was pleased with baseball's hiring practices in the past year.
said. Frank Cashen, New York Mets general manager, told the committee he did not want to be considered for the league presidency, the source said Dick Wagner, former general manager of the Houston Astros and the Cincinnati Reds and currently an American League executive, has been considered, but no longer is among the top candidates.
Peter O'Malley, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and head of the search committee, did not return telephone calls. Griffin did not return telephone calls, and Collins and Gourdine refused to comment.
year.
"As far as interaction with the committee, that's been fine," Alexander said Tuesday night. "I wouldn't discuss our work with the committee specifically. The committee itself makes all determinations and the recommendation."
Kansas senior wide receiver Willie Vaughn has been invited to participate in the Blue-Gray college all-star football game on Christmas Day and is expected to be drafted in this year's NFL draft.
Shauna Norfleet/KANSAN
Vaughn hopes to impress scouts at Blue-Gray game
Coach says receiver could be drafted in first 3 rounds
By Jeff Euston Kansan sportswriter
Kansas senior wide receiver Willie Vaughn won't be spending Christmas at home.
at home.
Vaughn, the Jayhawks' all-time leading receiver, will be playing in the annual Blue-Gray college all-star game in Montgomery, Ala., on Christmas Day.
The game is one of several all-stan games that offer college players an opportunity to showcase their skills to NFL scouts.
And Vaughn, a 6-foot, 190-pound senior from Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kan., hopes to impress them.
"We didn't get to play on TV this year, and it's nationally televised, so I'm looking forward to playing." Vaughn said. "I just want to have fun. Hopefully I'll do something to attract somebody's attention."
Kansas wide receivers coach John HadiI said Vaughn's performance could have a large effect on when he was selected in the NFL draft in
"Just guessing, it'll probably be in the first three rounds somewhere," Hadi said. "A lot will depend on how he plays." He may go to the Hula Bowl, too.
"The all-star games are important because he'll be playing with people at the highest level in college this season. It's important that he plays every week preparing himself for the game. The competition level steps up rapidly."
NFL scouts also will invite about 300 of the best college players in the
1.
Willie Vaughn Kansas wide receiver
I'm just going in with the frame of mind that I'm giving it my best shot, my best effort, and hopefully it will turn out.'
country to indianapolis in March. Players are timed and tested in various drills. Hadl said that camp also would be important for Vaughn.
"He's going to have a good chance because of his size and his speed," he said. "The first thing they look for is speed. And then catching the football. He's got the skills, it's just a matter of him doing it consistently.
"I would imagine as a rookie, depending on where's he's drafted, he would be the third receiver. If he went to a team that needed ends desperately, he might get the chance to play right away."
Vaughn is happy just to have the chance to play professionally.
"I'm just going in with the frame of mind that I'm giving it my best shot, my best effort, and hopefully it will out turn." he said.
"I have to work extra hard, because when you go to the NFL, there's going to be a whole lot of guys who are my caliber or guys who are better than me. I just have to play hard and when the opportunity comes I have to produce."
Vaughn certainly produced at Kansas after playing quarterback for three years at Wandyote. During his four-year career, he broke nearly all school receiving record.
He is the Jayhawks' all-time leader in catches (133) and receiving yardage (2.266). He shares the Kansas career touchdown mark of 17 with Bruce Adams, who played from 1972 to 1974.
vaughn also holds the Kansas record for the most matches in one game (11). He is the owner of three of the five longest pass plays in school history, the longest being a 98-yard touchdown reception at Colorado in 1987.
Vaughn's receiving vardage and catching marks both rank third in the Big Eight Conference.
But Vaughn said the records weren't all he would remember about his playing days at Kansas.
"Most of my feelings go to (former) coach (Mike) Gottfried, who let me become a wide receiver," he said. "Coach Hadi has helped a lot, too. And so did coach (Robert) Ford and coach Joe Pannunzio.
"It's kind of fun knowing that you own a few records. But the most important thing was that I gained some pals like Arnold Snell and Peda Samuel and Rodney Haynes.
"Arnold's from Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Peda's from Greenville, S.C., and Rodney's from Chicago, Ill. So if we hadn't come to college, chances are I never would have met them. So I'm just glad I had the opportunity to come here and play with those guys."
"It was a tremendous effort by Jeff. He is just improving each day. I'm really happy for him."
In the main-draw qualifier of the tournament, Gross defeated sixth-seeded Constation Efiemgewal of Alabama 6-2, 6-2. Kansas junior Craig Wildey lost to Andre Janasiak of North Carolina 7-6, 7-5.
GROSS ADVANCES: Kansas sophomore Jeff Gross defeated Brad Pybis of Georgia Tech 6-4, 6-4 yesterday in the National Court tennis tournament in Hilton Head, S.C. Gross advanced to play third-seeded Mat Malinberg of Trinity College.
Kansas freshman Eveline Hamers qualified for the women's main draw, which will begin tomorrow.
"Wildly just wasnt on today." Kansas coach Scott Perelman said "He should have beaten Janaski but just didn't put him away.
"I think he's got it won right now." Oklahoma State coach Pat Jones said when the team arrived in Japan. "I think it's over with."
Sports Briefs
The Downtown Athletic Club has invited five players to attend the announcement of Saturday of its Heisman Trophy winner as the nation's college football player. Two can't make it to the party, including the favorite, Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State.
HEISMAN TROPHY FINALISTS:
Also invited to the Downtown A.C. in lower Manhattan was Miami quarterback Steve Walsh, but the Hurricanes play Brigham
Sanders already is in Tokyo, where the Wichita native most likely will hear about the award only hours before his assault on the all-time NCAA career rushing record of Markus Allen. The 12th-anked Cowboys play Texas Tech Sunday in Tokyo.
Young on Saturday, and he will have to skip the invitation.
The Heisman candidates who will attend are quarterbacks Rodney Petee of Southern Cal, Troy Aikman of UCLA and Major Harris of West Virginia, the Downtown A.C. said.
"We're working on getting some sort of hookup with Sanders from Tokyo if he wins," athletic club spokesman Bill Esposito said. Esposito said that CBS-TV, which will teleserve the Heisman announcement live, had prepared a hookup to Tokyo if Sanders was the winner, "but that'll only be for a few minutes."
NFL DRUG SUSPENSIONS:
Wide receiver Mark Duper of the Miami Dolphins and defensive back Victor Scott of the Dallas Cowbies were suspended for 30 days by the NFL yesterday for
Neither the league nor the teams would say what drugs were involved.
Both players will be placed on their team's non-football related staff. Joe Brown, the league said, said Joe Browne, director of communications for the league.
violating the league's substance abuse policy, the league said.
The action against Duper and Scott brought to 24 the number of players suspended this season for violating the league's drug policy. All but one have been barred for 30 days, a penalty usually given to those who violated the substance abuse policy for a second time.
house projects The suspensions effectively end the season for both Duper and Scott.
CHARGES FILED AGAINST KIM-BALL: Amended felony charges have been filed against former
Olympic diver Bruce Kimball, giving state prosecutors added legal options in their handling of a case in which two teen-agers were killed in an accident involving Kimball's automobile.
Kimball's car, according to a Hillsborough County sheriff's report, was traveling 70-90 mph when it struck the teens on a deadend road.
The 1984 Olympic silver medalist was arraigned yesterday on two counts of manslaughter by culpable negligence.