To show support for defensive end John McCoy and all U.S. troops, Kansas University football players will have the initials “JM” affixed to the back of their helmets this season.
The decals are gold and approximately an inch tall.
McCoy, a senior from Richwood, Ohio, is a member of the Lawrence-based 317th Quartermaster Battalion that departed for specialized training in late July, forcing him to miss the 2004 season.
Kansas University will honor former baseball coach Floyd Temple prior to Saturday’s game against Oklahoma. Temple, the winningest coach in Kansas baseball history, will throw out the first pitch before the 6 p.m. game Saturday contest and watch as his No. 13 is unveiled on Hoglund Ballpark’s outfield wall.
Special to the Journal-World PhotoKansas University men’s basketball players past and present will participate in season-opening “Late Night In the Phog” festivities Oct. 17 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Members of KU’s 1988 national-championship team will attend and be recognized, associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said Monday.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Marchiony said of first-year coach Bill Self’s idea to honor the ’88 champs at Late Night. “We think the fans will love it. We hope everybody will have a great time recognizing the 1988 championship team.”
Self is excited about recognizing Jayhawks like 1988 national player-of-the-year Danny Manning, who has joined KU’s staff as director of student-athlete development/team manager, plus Kevin Pritchard, Milt Newton, Jeff Gueldner, Chris Piper, Mike Maddox, Clint Normore, Lincoln Minor and others.
“This past April marked the 15th-year anniversary of the championship. We felt it’d be very appropriate to bring those guys back,” Self said. “Late Night is a time where a majority of the guys can come. This is the best time to get everybody together so our fans can definitely honor a remarkable team.”
Self couldn’t guarantee former coach Larry Brown — now with the Detroit Pistons — would be back, but he lent hope.
“Coach Brown and I have talked,” he said, “and we are in the process of getting things worked out.”
Asked whether the ’88 players would suit up and play, Self laughed and said: “I don’t want to comment about that. I think we’ll do some fun things. We’re not looking for any to play, but, hey, a couple of them still can.
“You get Danny and Milt out there … Kevin can, too, I’m sure. I’ve not seen Piper or Gueldner lately. Maybe they can still play, too.”
Newton, in his first year as director of player personnel of the Washington Wizards, said he’d attend Late Night, despite the fact the NBA preseason will be in full swing.
“Being new here (with Wizards), you can always find reasons to spend more time in the office, but this is something I’ll definitely return for,” Newton said.
“Late Night is always a production. I haven’t seen one since 1989. The memories are great, and I’m looking forward to seeing a more modern one.”
Newton said he’d be willing to take a few jump shots if asked.
“I still weigh the same as I did at KU,” the 6-4, 180-pound small forward said. “I play pick-up every now and then. I played two weeks ago for the first time in a year. My jumper is still there. Like Bud Stallworth, I can always shoot it.”
Pritchard, who is a scout of the San Antonio Spurs, also said he wouldn’t miss Late Night.
“I think it’s awesome,” Pritchard said. “I mean, that was a wonderful time. To have coach Self honor it again and bring us back together … we have a lot of fond memories. This is something we won’t forget.
“Coach Self didn’t have to do this. He’s making an effort to connect with some of the former players, and we appreciate it.”
Pritchard, 36, said he wouldn’t be taking part in any Late Night drills.
“I will not be playing,” he said. “That will not happen, not unless they give me a diet pill to get me in unbelievable shape in a week. If I got injured, I’d need one of those big insurance policies. My career is not yet over.”
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Langford rehabbing: KU junior Keith Langford, who had arthroscopic right knee surgery Sept. 30, is well into rehab.
“Keith was on the (stationary) bike today,” Self said. “He’s probably a little ahead of schedule.”
Langford, KU’s leading returning scorer from last year, is ticketed to miss two to three weeks of basketball.
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More on Late Night: The Kansas City Marching Cobras drum/drill team will perform at Late Night. Also, each of KU’s sports teams will be recognized. Doors will open at 7 p.m. a week from Friday, with the show to start about 10 p.m. There’s no charge for admission, but fans are encouraged to bring canned goods to be donated to area shelters.
Perhaps Kansas University’s current baseball players can get a little good karma from the team generally considered the best in school history.
Today’s Big 12 Conference showdown with Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark will have a few special faces in the crowd. Approximately 20 members of KU’s 1993 baseball team, the lone Jayhawk squad to qualify for the College World Series, will be on hand and take part in festivities honoring the 10-year anniversary of their achievements.
That year, Kansas finished 45-18 overall and went 4-1 in NCAA Mideast Regional action before dropping games to Texas A&M and Long Beach State in the College World Series.
“For me personally, as a new coach coming in, they set the standard,” current KU coach Ritch Price said. “Certainly, that’s the greatest team in Kansas baseball history.”
The ’93 team’s success remains unprecedented to date. The 1994 team bowed out in regional play after a 40-win season, and since then, only one Kansas team — a 31-25 squad in 1997 — has finished above .500.
Eighteen players from the ’93 team are expected to be in attendance today, notably standout pitchers Chris Corn, Jimmy Walker and Jamie Splittorff, and catcher Jeff Niemeier, who homered and had the only two hits in KU’s 6-1 loss to Long Beach State in Omaha, Neb.
The ceremony will precede the first game of a three-game set with Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks (21-9 overall, 0-3 Big 12) and the Cowboys (15-8, 2-1) also will play at 1 p.m. Sunday and 3 p.m. Monday.
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On the mound: Kansas senior Kevin Wheeler will start today’s game. Wheeler is 4-0 with a 3.94 ERA this season. When not pitching, Wheeler is the team’s designated hitter, and is hitting .375 with a team-high six home runs.
“I love doing both,” Wheeler said of his double duty. “I want to be out there as much as I can doing whatever I can.”
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Everyone gets a turn: With Brandon Johnson, KU’s top reliever, hampered by a sore elbow, Price admits a change in strategy might be in order.
“We’re still not sure of the status of Brandon Johnson,” Price said of the right-hander, a Free State High product. “We may take (today’s) game and do a pitching by committee.”
Kansas had a similar approach Tuesday against Baker, using six pitchers in KU’s 11-2 victory.
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Schedule Change: Price announced Friday that KU’s regular-season finale, May 18 against Kansas State, had been moved back from its original 1 p.m. start to 4 p.m., to accommodate graduation ceremonies scheduled for the same day.
Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo IllustrationKansas University’s women’s basketball seniors are hoping for a grand finale today.
Whatever the outcome of today’s 2:05 p.m. Border War with Missouri at Allen Fieldhouse, it’ll be more like a three-grand finale.
Each of the three seniors Jennifer Jackson, Jaclyn Johnson and Brooke Reves who will be honored during today’s Senior Day festivities joined KU’s 1,000-point club this season.
“It’s hard to put into words what they’ve done for this program,” KU coach Marian Washington said of the senior threesome and fourth-year junior Nikki White, who has decided not to return for her senior year and will be honored with the seniors today. “For three out of their four years, they helped keep us in the national spotlight. It’s been a real struggle this year, but they’ve been responsible for all the success we have had.”
Washington, KU’s 28th-year coach, has had players score more points and collect more rebounds than the seniors who will play their final home game today. But never before has Washington had three players reach the 1,000-point mark in the same season.
Johnson became the 15th member of the 1,000-point club on Nov. 28. Reves hit 1,000 on Feb. 7, and Jackson joined the pantheon three days later.
“It’s unbelievable, really,” Washington said. “Each of these classes is special, and all of those players are all really close. I think they understand how special this is.”
Most of them actually had an inkling four years ago. Jackson, Johnson and White were key components of the 1997-98 team that advanced to the first NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in school history.
Jackson started all 32 games as a true freshman. Johnson made 27 starts that season and White, who sat out the following season as a medical red-shirt, made six starts and played in 31 games.
Reves, who played as a freshman at Wichita State, sat out the Sweet 16 season under NCAA transfer rules.
“As freshmen, we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,” Johnson said. “We just knew how to go out and play hard. It’s gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday we’d go someplace and I had to ask where the court was.”
MISSOURI (17-8, 8-6)F Evan Unrau, 6-1, Fr.F Amanda Lassiter, 6-1, Sr.F Marlena Williams, 6-1, Sr.G Kerensa Barr, 5-10, Soph.G Tracy Franklin, 5-10, Sr. |
KANSAS (10-15, 4-10)F Brooke Reves, 6-0, Sr.F Jaclyn Johnson, 6-1, Sr.G KC Hilgenkamp, 5-10, Jr.G Jennifer Jackson, 5-10, Sr.G Selena Scott, 5-6, Jr. |
| Tipoff: 2:05 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse.TV replay: 10:30 tonight, cable channel 6 |
Jackson’s biggest problem was dress.
“I remember how concerned we were about teaching her how to dress for the weather around here,” Washington said with a laugh. “She was always walking around with her coat open. We were worried to death she’d catch cold.”
Jackson, a native Alabaman, finally came to grips with Midwestern winters, but she hasn’t yet dared grapple with the thought of playing her final game in Allen Fieldhouse.
“It went a lot faster than I would have liked,” she said. “I’d like to play four more years, but there comes a point where you have to move on with your life.”
“It’s beginning to hit me,” added Reves, “but it’s something you try to put in the back of your head. I’m sure it will hit me (today) when I give my speech. It’s a goodbye, another chapter in your life. You have to turn the page.”
The seniors’ careers began with a Sweet 16 season and likely will end without so much as an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Entering today’s game against Missouri (17-8 overall, 8-6 Big 12), Kansas is 10-15 and 4-10. The Jayhawks would need to win the Big 12 postseason tournament to get into the NCAAs.
“The tournament isn’t out of the question yet,” Jackson said. “We’ve shown what we’re capable of. We just need to put four games together.”
First, though, comes Mizzou. The Tigers boast three double-digit scorers: Amanda Lassiter, a 6-1 senior averaging 20 points per game; Marlena Williams, a 6-1 senior averaging 12.7 ppg; and Tracy Franklin, a 5-10 senior averaging 10.2 ppg.
Today’s game will be replayed at 10:30 p.m. on cable channel 6.
The Jayhawks will conclude the regular season on Wednesday at Texas A&M.
A moment of silence for Oklahoma State will take place before today’s Kansas-OSU men’s basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse.
The period of reflection will occur when both teams are off the floor, in accordance with the Cowboys’ wishes.
Let KU athletics director Bob Frederick explain:
“I talked to Terry Don Phillips (OSU athletics director) at the beginning of the week and said we wanted to do something that was appropriate, but also wanted to be respectful of their interest in moving on down the line,” Frederick said.
OSU’s players and coaches will forever remember the 10 individuals who died in a Jan. 27 plane crash outside of Colorado, yet the team members would like to move forward with the season and not constantly be reminded of their sorrow.
“We didn’t want to do anything they weren’t comfortable with,” Frederick said. “What they did Monday night (vs. Missouri at OSU) was after the teams left the floor for the locker room, they had a moment of silence and that was it.
“So that’s all we’re going to do Saturday.”
Frederick asked KU’s school newspaper to put out word for the students to not wave newspapers, and to cheer, not boo, OSU during introductions.
Icy weather forced Oklahoma State to change travel plans for today’s game. The Cowboys originally planned on flying four planes to Lawrence or Topeka Friday afternoon.
Instead, because of ice at both Kansas airports, the Cowboys postponed their flight until this morning. They will depart the Stillwater airport at approximately 11:15 a.m. and fly into Lawrence. Upon landing, they will head straight to Allen Fieldhouse for the 3:05 p.m. tip.
“The weather conditions were iffy enough coach (Eddie) Sutton decided we would come Saturday,” OSU associate athletics director Steve Buzzard said Friday. “The airport here (in Stillwater) was closed a while this morning, but it’s been fine this afternoon. We’ve done this before,” he added, referring to traveling on the day of the game, “so it is not a problem.”
Oklahoma State’s Fredrik Jonzen realizes the Cowboys are catching Kansas at a bad time.
“Kansas definitely doesn’t want to lose two home games in a row,” said Jonzen, a 6-foot-10 junior who played a year of high school ball at Shawnee Mission East. “Any game in Allen Fieldhouse is special.”
OSU is coming off Wednesday’s 78-75 overtime loss at Nebraska.
The Cowboys enter 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big 12. KU is 18-3, 7-2.
“I wouldn’t call it a must win because the way the Big 12 is this year,” Jonzen said. “Anything can happen, but it would be huge for us to get a win on the road.”
Jonzen realizes he has his work cut out against KU big men Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Eric Chenowith.
“They’ve got a bunch of big guys that they can rotate back and forth,” Jonzen said. “That’s going to a huge task, not only for me and Andre (Williams), but our other big guys are going to have to be ready to come in and play.”
The death of OSU guard Daniel Lawson has left the Cowboys shorthanded at the guard position. Starting guards Maurice Baker and Victor Williams combined to play 89 of a possible 90 minutes at Nebraska. Williams and Baker have played 162 of 170 minutes in two games since the plane crash. Lawson averaged 9.6 minutes of court time per game.
“Fatigue didn’t set in on me at all today,” Victor Williams told the Tulsa World after the Nebraska game. “Nebraska just played a great game.”
