Daily Nebraskan
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Friday, April 3, 1937
By Tim Hartmaon
Senior Reporter
Nebraska baseball coach John San
ders has spent the last 10 years re
cruiting players from all over the coun
try in the hope that they will help him
reach a place that is only 50 miles away
the College World Series, which is
each year in Omaha.
Several of Sandere' Comhusker teams
have reached the NCAA regionals, but
none have ever reached the world
series. Sanders said that reaching the
world series is a goal hi3 teams strive
for each season, and he is disappointed
that none have made it.
"You look at the College World
Series and that's a legitimate goal. Two
years ago we had a real shot at it, we
missed on it, and that was a real
disappointment," Sanders said.
Although none of his teams have
made it to the World Series, they have
won consistently. In the previous nine
seasons all of Sander's teams have
posted winning records, and all have
won more than 35 games.
This year's team, after going 5-3 on
last week's road trip, is now 15-4 on the
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f
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season. Included in the victories last
week were wins over traditional powers
Nevada-Las Vegas and Arizona State.
Earlier this season, against Northern
Colorado, Sanders won his 400th game
as a coach at Nebraska.
"It's not so much the 400th win,"
Sanders said, "it's more or less what
has gone into the time period, the last
10 years, that makes something like
that more significant. You would have
to go back to former players and
everybody that has helped out all.
the administrators, Bob Devaney, all
the boosters who have put money in our
program and helped us get where we
compete on a national level."
One difficulty Sanders has is luring
top high-school players to Nebraska
despite its cold winters. Nebraska's
weather sometimes causes problems
for Husker baseball recruiting; last
weekend, when three recruits were in
Lincoln to see Nebraska play Iowa
State, the games scheduled for Saturday
and Sunday were cancelled because of
a blizzard.
Sanders said the Husker baseball
program compensates for the weather
problem.
Courtesy of tusmaa Sports Informtiion
Genders
"We overcome it through what we
think are outstanding facilities and a
sincere effort on the part of our entire
staff and players to commit to ex
cellence," Sanders said. "That's our
recruiting philosophy."
Another problem is that many of
Sanders' players are drafted by pro
fessional baseball teams before their
four years at Nebraska are over.
"The better the program, the more
turnover you have," Sanders said. "If
you have good players, they're going to
be drafted at the end of their junior year,
and there is a possibility that they will
leave. Of course, we encourage those
that have a good deal to go. It is a
factor, and any good program fights
that problem."
Last season, 16 of Sanders' former
players played in the minor leagues.
Four played in the major leagues: Tim
Burke and Bob Sebra of the Montreal
Expos, Anthony Kelley of the Houston
Astros, and Pete O'Brien of the Texas
Rangers.
Sanders said it would be difficult to
name the best player he has coached at
Nebraska. He said it is hard to compare
players.
"One of the players who is in the big
leagues, Pete O'Brien, came here in the
1978 and 1979 seasons and he left here
with not maybe the best statistics of
some of those we have had since then,"
Sanders said, "but he is in the major
leagues. So it's a hard thing to call."
Sanders, 41, had coaching and playing
experience before he joined the Ne
braska staff in 1977 as an assistant to
former coach Tony Sharpe.
Sanders didn't play baseball in high
school, but was signed to a baseball
contract by Whitey Herzog, who later
won the World Series as a manager of
the St. Louis Cardinals. Sanders spent
five years in the minor leagues before
reaching the big leagues in 1965 when
he was called up by the Kansas City
Athletics;
Sanders coached at Chemeketa
Community College in Salem, Ore., and
Arizona Western College before coming
to Nebraska.
After a year as assistant coach,
Sanders was named coach in 1978.
Sanders said he is not surprised by how
long he's been at Nebraska, but he
hadn't planned on it.
"I really didn't have a plan of action
when I came here," Sanders said. "I
didn't say I was going to be here five
years or 10 or whatever. There have
been times over the course of 10, 11
years, when you take a good look and
you evaluate, but I've been happy and
I've been given the opportunity to win.
There is a commitment here on the part
of the athletic administration, Bob
Devaney in particular, to allow us the
opportunity to win."
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Husker gymnastics team
goes to championship
after big win over SIU
By Rich Cooper
Staff Reporter
After scoring a season-high 284.8
against Southern Illinois Sunday night,
the Nebraska men's gymnastics team
will travel to Norman, Okla., this week
end for the Big Eight championships.
Nebraska, ranked No.2 in the NCAA,
has won the Big Eight Conference
Championship two years in a row. Last
year at Ames, Iowa, the Cornhuskers
won with a 283.75. But this year, the
coaches favor Oklahoma to win the
conference title.
Nebraska coach Francis Allen said
he doesn't think Oklahoma should be
favored because he feels Nebraska is a
better team.
I can't help but
think that the
scene is set for us.
We have to per
form like the team
we were last Sun
day. If we do, then
we'll win.'
Allen
"We beat them by three points the
last time we competed against them,"
Allen said. "I think that proves that we
are the better team, but I guess we will
have to prove that on the floor."
Last weekend against SIU, the
Huskers set several team season-highs,
and several individuals had season
high performances. Nebraska scored a
team high 47.75 on the floor exercise
and on still rings they set a high score
of 47.40.
Junior Tom Schlesinger won the all
around title for the sixth meet in a row,
scoring a career-high 57.95. He also set
a season high of 9.8 on pommel horse,
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and career-highs on the rings (9.65)
and on parallel bars (9.8).
Nebraska and Oklahoma fcave de
feated each other once in Big Eight
competition. The last time the Huskers
competed in Norman, they lost to the
Sooners 278.45-273.95, which was their
lowest score of the season. The two
teams tied at a triangular meet in Lin
coln on Feb. 7, and the Husker defeated
the Sooners 280.95-278.25 March 7.
Allen said that to win the Big Eight
Championship, the team will have to
perform well. The Huskers have not
defeated Oklahoma in Norman since
the 1981-82 season.
Allen said that because the confer
ence championship meet is the last
meet before the NCAA Championships,
it's important that the Huskers have a
good meet. The three upperclassmen
Schlesinger, Kevin Davis and Neil
Palmer must score above 57 in the
all-around and the freshmen also must
have a solid meet, he said.
"If we can win the conference
championship, it will be a good boost
into the NCAA meet," Allen said.
Allen said he thinks this team can
win the meet at Oklahoma because
they are now beginning to peak, which
happens every year at this time, he
said.
Allen said he isn't surprised by
Schlesinger's success. When the sea
son started, Allen said, he told him and
the other two upperclassmen that they
would need a good year to contend for
the NCAA Championship.
"I can't help but think that the
scene is set for us," Allen said. "We
have to perform like the team we were
last Sunday. If we do, then we will win."
For the first time in two years, com
pulsory competition will be a part of
the Big Eight Championships. Compe
tition will begin Friday night with
compulsories and will continue Satur
day night with team and individual
competition.
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