KU women ‘balanced’

By Felicia Haynes     Nov 9, 2000

Brooke Reves sees the graduation losses of Lynn Pride and Suzi Raymant as a classic case of addition by subtraction.

“In the past, Kansas has always had a superstar,” Reves, Kansas University’s fleet senior women’s basketball forward, said. “This year, we’re more balanced, which I think is an advantage.”

Balanced is a popular word among the Jayhawks. A season after four of five starters averaged in double figures, Kansas must find a way to replace Pride, who’s now playing in the WNBA, and Raymant, KU’s best three-point threat.

What, the Jayhawks worry?

“We really will be a balanced team, a versatile team,” KU senior Jennifer Jackson said. “We have five to seven players who are capable of scoring 20 points a night.”

The Jayhawks’ cupboard is far from bare. Yes, KU lost its top two scorers last season, but Nos. 3-9 return. Senior Jaclyn Johnson was Kansas’ leading rebounder last year, too.

The Jayhawks also boast a solid three-senior class Reves, Johnson and Jackson that was bolstered by a heralded and junior college-heavy recruiting class.

“In a sense, we’ve seen it all,” Jackson said. “We were thrown in the fire as freshmen, and we had a good year. We had good sophomore and junior years, too, but this is our year. We want to go farther than this program has ever gone, and that means the Final Four. And we want another Big 12 championship banner. We’re seriously lacking in jewelry, and we want some. We’re hungry.”

Marian Washington, KU’s 28th-year coach, is confident the newcomers five in all, including three juco transfers will help sate that hunger.

“I don’t know what we’ve had quite the same mix (before),” Washington said. “We’ve had a lot of freshmen before. Jaclyn Johnson and Jennifer Jackson’s freshman year, we went to the Sweet 16, so we were driven by a young class. But we’re going to depend on some experience. Even the junior college players will have to adjust to the system. They key is, everybody has to be patient with this group.

“I’ve had some success being in this situation before. Hopefully, we can have some success again.”

The “situation” is the unaccustomed role of underdog. KU was picked to finish fifth in the preseason Big 12 coaches’ poll, and no Jayhawks were named to the first or second All-Big 12 teams.

“We’re in a position we’ve been in, in position where we’re coming in somewhat as underdogs,” Washington said. “We’re very cognizant of where we were predicted to finish, and I think we’ll use that as a motivational factor. Personally, I like it.”

And she’s not alone.

“I definitely like that,” said Reves, the Jayhawks’ leading returning scorer at 12.2 points per game. “We seem to rise to the challenge when people look at us as underdogs. We like that.”

“No expectations are great,” added Johnson, who was right behind Reves last season with 11.5 points per game. “People will say, ‘You’re not getting a single vote in the top 25.’ So they’ll be surprised when Kansas rolls in and beats all those top-10 teams.”

Washington’s biggest challenge will be melding the newcomers.

Beside the regular five starters, just two other players averaged more than 10 minutes a game reserve point guard Selena Scott (13.3 minutes per game) and the departed Heather Fletcher (10.7). Posts Kristin Geoffroy (8.4 mpg) and Nikki White (7.9) are the only other returning players who averaged more than five minutes a game.

Thus, Washington will rely heavily on a recruiting class that one service ranked 13th in the country.

“It only worries me in that I’ll have to be very patient with them,” Washington said. “Everybody will have to be patient. But they’re courageous, they work hard and they’re going to be the kind of people who come in here wanting to take advantage of the opportunity. They’ll make some mistakes, but I think they’ll really respond.”

They newcomers are:

Fernanda Bosi, 6-0, guard, San Pablo, Brazil/Western Nebraska Junior College. Bosi averaged 15 points and 16 rebounds last year and played for the Brazil Junior National Team.

Dalchon Brown, 6-5, center, Virginia Beach, Va. and Independence CC. A junior college preseason All-Amer-ican as a sophomore, Brown averaged 14.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 8.0 steals as a high school senior.

Rodneikka Freeman, 6-5, forward, Stone Mountain, Ga. Freeman averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as a senior at Redan High.

KC Hilgenkamp, 6-0, guard, Arlington, Neb. and Hutchinson CC. Hilgenkamp averaged 14.5 points, 7.5 assists and four rebounds at Hutch, where she was ranked the 12th best juco player in the country and third best point guard.

Leila Meguc, 5-7, guard, Sweden. Meguc averaged 20 points and six assists as a point guard at Sanda Gymnasium. She was a member of the Swe-den Junior National Team.

“We’re expecting a lot out of this class, especially the junior college players and especially Dalchon and KC,” Washington said. “We think Dalchon will help with size and agility in the paint. KC will definitely help on perimeter shooting, and Fernanda is also an outstanding shooter.

“Looking at this team on paper, we are a team that definitely should be able to shoot the ball fairly well. On paper, we should be a lot deeper.”

PREV POST

Four preps to sign KU letters today

NEXT POST

569KU women ‘balanced’