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daily nebraskan
tuesday, September 1, 1981
UNL tries to pick from best of high school crop
By Ken Havlat
Nebraska is about to see its best high school basketball
recruiting crop ever, according to UNL Coach Moe Iba.
The Nebraska entrant in the Southern Nevada Coaches'
all-star tournament last month finished fourth of 24 teams
and Iba tabbed the team "the best high school players to
come from Nebraska since I've been in this state."
Iba said UNL is going for as many as seven in-state
recruits but said he is unsure how many of those could be
enticed to attend UNL.
"Just because players come from Nebraska doesn't
mean we are going to get them to play for their state. We
have to recruit very hard and work at it," Iba said.
One of the new National Collegiate Athletic Associa
tion rules that went into effect this fall allows no contact
between colleges and prospettive athletes during the
months of September and October so the student-athlete
can properly train for the upcoming season.
Coach of the Nebraska contingent, Mick Anderson,
said in a telephone interview he really didn't know what
to expect from his team entering the tournament.
Mystery team
"We were the mystery team of the tournament. No one
knew what to expect from us. We were disappointed that
we lost the consolation finals in the last seconds against
Utah and settled for fourth place. I hope the experiences
we had this year are stepping stones for the future, An
derson said.
To prepare for a tournament like this, considered the
top prep tournament in the country, the Nebraska team,
according to Anderson, had little time to prepare for it
but were able to make the most out of it.
"We were able to squeeze in 14 practices. It gave us the
chance to be more organized on the level of basketball we
were participating in," he said.
One of the competitors for the Nebraska team, Mark
Diaz of Lincoln Northeast High School said the tourna
ment was a good experience playir.g with and against
some of the best high school players in the country.
"It was kind of scary at first, but once you got over
that, it was great competing against them," Diaz said. He
said he has received letters of interest from Wyoming,
UNO and Nebraska Wesleyan. While they were at the
tournament, Diaz said some of the players mentioned how
they were being recruited by most of the Big Eight and
Big Ten schools and how some of the schools were send
ing a letter each week to keep them interested in playing
for their school. He said he knows hell be contacted
several more times once the basketball season begins.
Expect more
Will people expect more from him next year?
"They might think I should do really well," Diaz said.
Anderson said Nebraska compared well with other
teams but he felt the teams from New York and Alabama
probably had more rough talent, although another team
he mentioned, Oklahoma (which won the tournament)
played in five tournaments over the summer.
"A thing to realize is California had six teams in the
tournament, so they couldn't put out all of their best ball
players on one team," Anderson said. "We had an advan
tage because we picked over a state-wide area. You can't
say West Los Angeles had a representative team. The team
from New York was good," he said.
Iba said improvement in the game of high school bas
ketball has come because of summer basketball leagues.
"There arent too many other states that have more
people interested in basketball than Nebraska does," Iba
said. "It is a credit to high school coaching because it is
getting better every year."
Wildcat coach going all out for good '82 season
Editor's Note: This is the sixth part in a series pre-viewing
Nebraska's 1981 football opponents. The stories will run
in the order Nebraska plays the teams this fall.
By Tad Stryker
What does a year-in, year-out also-ran think about? Not
all the dirt of the past decade, that's for sure. Coach Jim
Dickey and his Kansas State Wildcats are looking toward
the future. Not just in the trite manner that coaches with
losing records often shrug off another bleak-looking sea
son. Dickey has decided to more or less forego this year
while looking for good things in 1982.
Dickey shocked the Big Eight Skywriters last week by
announcing he was "strongly considering" reshirting seven
of his finest players, many of them two-year starters, in an
all-out attempt at bringing football respectability to K
State die following year.
The fourth-year coach said he wanted to make a win
ner our of K-State, that he has not been satisfied with
mediocrity. Apparently he is willing to risk his own future
to reach his goal.
"If we don't do well in 1982 I'll probably be working
at a car wash somewhere, anyway," he said.
Among the seven starters to be redshirted are all-conference
guard Amos Donaldson and linebacker Will Coke
ley, the Wildcats' leading tackier last season. Dickey said
several of the seven had asked him to redshirt them.
Even with all the attention being given to 1982, Dick
ey still has a season to worry about this fall. He has said
he hopes to field a "pretty decent team" without his red-shirts.
Ktate is leaning toward a more pass-oriented attack
behind coach's son Darrell Ray Dickey, the coach said.
This change is eagerly welcomed by his son, a preseason
all-conference selection in Big Eight magazine.
"We hope we can open up our running game by using
the pass more," the junior quarterback said last week.
The Wildcat running game will be operating behind
what the KSU Press Guide called a "vastly-improved"
offensive line, but that was before Donaldson and tackle
Doug Hoppock were removed from this year's picture.
Freshman kicker Steve Willis could be a bright spot tor
the Wildcats.
"Willis is one of the best young kickers I've ever seen,"
Dickey said.
Willis had taken the first-string kickers spot in fall prac
tice last year, but was injured in a hit-and-run car accident
and won a hardship ruling from the NCAA. He has four
years of eligibility left.
K-State will rely mostly on unproven youngsters on de
fense with half of the returning starters out until next
year. Junior college transfer Reggie Singletary could lead
what looks like a nearly all-sophomore defensive line. Two
new linebackers will have to be found, and their second
team all-Big Eight defensive back, Jim Bob Morris (ano
ther redshirt) will not be around to help out.
The Wildcats do get what could be considered a lucky
break in scheduling. Their non-conference opponents in
clude South Dakota, Drake and Tulsa, plus tough Pac-Ten
representative Washington.
Fledgling soccer club may gain clout
after schools give sport varsity status
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Photo courtesy of Big Eight Service Bureau
Kansas State quarterback Darrell Dickey
By Ward V. Triplett III
When Paul Hornby arrived on the UNL campus as a
freshman, the Miami native was disappointed to notice the
lack of soccer competition in Nebraska.
"It was such a big deal in Miami," Hornby said. "When
I came up here, nobody seemed to care much about soc
cer." Hornby, a 22-year-old senior, is the president of the
UNL soccer club, a still fledgling group that opens its
season this Saturday at Concordia College.
Hornby, a three-year veteran who will be the club's
goalie, runs the club with fellow veterans Matt Brickell
and Mike Bosilevac.
"In the past few years, interest has picked up a little
bit, and that's hard to do here because of the football
team," Hornby said.
In the past, the soccer club was made up of foreign
players who, on the average, didn't attend school.
"We just changed it to where you have to be a student
to play. Before that, w had these foreign guys who
would come down and use the university fields and all,
but were not a part of the school," he said.
Only two foreign players are among the 40 trying out
for the team as of last Friday, Hornby said. Aside from
the three captains, Joe Casey, Rich Bene, Phil Strevey,
Bill Rauth, Jon Morton, and John o'Connor will return
from last year's 12-10 fall squad. The team was 7-4 in the
spring season.
"When the practices are over, the three of us will get
together and decide who stays and who doesn't. We'll
keep 25 guys total and suit up 15 or 16 for road games,"
Hornby said.
Because there is no organization like the NCAA over
seeing soccer matches, teams are responsible for their own
scheduling and expenses, Hornby said.
"Right now, if you want to play somebody, you get on
the phone, or write them, and then pick out a date to
play," he said. Nebraska opponents include all of the
schools in the Big Eight plus UNO, and state colleges like
Dana, Concordia and York. "It's a pretty extensive
schedule,' Hornby said. "Were sponsored by the Miller
Brewing Company, and they buy our uniforms and pick
up the travel expenses, so we really appreciate them.'
The number of people trying out is a good sign of the
sport's growth, Hornby said, though some of those people
eventually quit.
"When they see the level of play we have here, some of
the guys who know they aren't that good will drop. But
the game takes a lot of dedication. You have to be in it
because you like the game, nothing else."
Because soccer is not a varsity sport, players less dedi
cated often drop out. But Hornby doesn't see that as a
problem this year.
"We practice from 4:30 through 6 p.m. and if you're
into other things, like a fraternity, and have to study a lot
too, it's hard to keep up. Especially during the season
when we'll have a game every fourth day," he said.
Since Missouri and Colorado are close to being varsity
teams, Hornby said he feels it won't be long before soccer
is picked up by the public and made into a scholarship
sport.
"In the near future, I think there's going to be a big
interest in the game around here. After Missouri and
Colorado get big enough in it, some other schools are
going to start growing that way too."
s)?fe shorts
Men's, women's and co-recreational intramural punt,
pass and kick competition will be at the Cather-Pound
Recreation Field today, 4 through 7:30 p.m.
Women's and co-recreational flag football entries and
men's and women's fast pitch Softball entries are all due
before 5 p.m. today at the Recreation Office, 1740 Vine
St.
A mandatory managers meeting for all women's and
co-recreational intramural flag football teams will be held
at 4 :30 p.m. Sept. 3 in Coliseum 7.
Nebraska's Jim Hartung won his second consecutive
Ceasar's Palace Gymnastics Invitational all-around
championship at Las Vegas, Nev., Saturday.
Hartung edged runner-up Bart Conner of Oklahoma,
58.05-57.95, Scott Johnson, also of Nebraska, finished
third with a 57.55 and Phil Cahoy was seventh at 56.25.
