Spc rts
Smith still succeeds after switching sports
By Mike Kluck
StaffReporler
Heather Smith’s athletic career at
Nebraska can be described like that of
a prize fighter— she’s down but not
out.
Smith, who came to Nebraska on a
track scholarship, was forced to aban
don her career as a high and triple
jumper and join the Comhusker bas
ketball team after sustaining an injury
to her left knee during her sophomore
season.
Smith, who set a Nebraska and Big
Eight record in the high jump with a
leap of 6-feet-1 that earned her All
American status as a freshman, said
she was disappointed about leaving
the track team because itmeantgiving
up her goal of going to the Olympics.
But Smith said she was still pleased
to have an opportunity to play basket
ball.
i Kina oi gave up on iracK occausc
my goals were to be in the Olympics,
and after my injury I gave up on my
goals,” Smith said. “Basketball gave
me a second chance, and I’m really
happy I took the other route. Basket
ball has always been my favorite
sport, but coming out of high school
there weren’t too many opportunities
for women in basketball. Since I had
big goals like the Olympics, track was
my favorite.”
Nebraska track coach Gary Pepin
said he was disappointed that Smith
had to quit the team. He said Smith had
a good chance of representing her
native country of Jamaica in the
Olympics before her injury.
“It was a tremendous disappoint
ment not only for our team but also foi
her,” Pepin said. “She was not only z
great high jumper but was also a greal
triple jumper.”
Smith said she could have made the
Olympics because she won the Iasi
Olympic Trials she competed in with
a jump of 5-fect-7. She said she ac
complished that despite being ham
pered by the knee injury.
“I feel ifl was still healthy and kept
jumping I would be jumping 6-4
now,” Smith said.
Nebraska women’s basketball
coach Angela Beck said Smith has
played a key role for the 12-2 Huskers
this season.
“Smith has added great depth to our
inside game,” Beck said. “She should
be one of the major factors in the Big
Eight and should be one of the top post
players. She has been doing phenome
nal coming back from her knee injury.
She is a quick, powerful player and has
been developing her moves near the
basket.”
Smith has maintained her record
setting performance with the Huskcr
basketball team by setting Nebraska
records with a 27-inch vertical jump,
a 1.63 time in the 10-yard dash and a
3.84 time in the 30-yard dash.
Smith said Pepin supported her
decision to join the basketball team.
“She is a really gifted athlete and
was a really good basketball player in
high school, Pepin said. “I talked to
the basketball coach in the hope that if
she couldn’t do anything in track she
could do something in one of the other
sports. I told her to at least give it a
try.’’
Smith said she has enjoyed playing
basketball even though she has had a
tough time adjusting.
‘rLast year was really tough be
cause I came in about half way through
the season and I had to learn 50 plays
all at once,” Smith said. “I was really
frustrated, but then again it was my
first time in three years that I have
played. Mytimingandeverythingwas
off, so I stayed here last summer and
worked really hard in the weight room
and played basketball. Now my tim
ing and everything is back.
“I feel really good right now be
cause I’m doing something I like.
Basketball gave me a second chance
and I’m having fun doing it. I feel like
I’m needed because I’m helping the
team and I’m just not sitting there
thinking about what I could do.”
Beck said she has worked hard with
Smith in hopes of making the senior
forward’s adjustment to basketball
easier.
“She is the type of player who gets
really frustrated when she isn’t doing
well, and that’s the way she was last
season,” Beck said. “We have limited
her needs to where she is a goal-tender
and blocks shots. She has never
worked this hard in her life.”
Smith said her knee has given her
no problems this season.
‘‘I had surgery on my takeoff leg,”
Smith said. ‘*ln basketball you aren’t
just depending on one leg, so I’m not
putting as much pressure on my knee.
It feels about 95 percent ba ;k to full
strength.”
bmunsaianergoaisas a basketball |
player arc more team-oriented.
“My main goal is to help lead the
team to a Big Eight Championship any
way I can,” Smith said. “This year we
have a really strong team and we have
a good chance at winning the Big
Eight.”
Smith said her track career may
continue after the basketball season.
“Coach Pepin said that as soon as
basketball is over he’s coming after
me because he wants me to come back
out for track,” Smith said. “I don’t
know if I would high jump because I
really haven’t jumped for two or three
years. If I do go out, it would be like
starting all over again. I haven’t made
up my mind yet, but if I do, I’m
thinking about running.”
Pepin said Smith’s knee may reha
bilitate enough through basketball
that she could high jump again.
Smith said she will make a decision
later about whether to compete in
track. She said she just wants to enjoy
basketball now.
J.P. Caruso/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska's Heather Smith attempts to block a shot by Mis
souri-Kansas City's Lisa Dougherty.
ISU’s Orr unhappy despite Cyclones No. 14 ranking
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
Iowa State’s men's basketball
team is 15-2 this season, but Cyclone
A.U.A.L,
coach Johnny Orr isn't satisfied.
Orr said Iowa Stale needs improve
ment in every aspect of its game. He
said although the No. 14-ranked Cy
clones have played well al times, he
wants to sec them play well all the
time.
“1 thought at the beginning of the
year we played super,” he said. ”Wc
had big wins at the prcscason NIT and
against Iowa and Drake, then we went
into a little slump. But we came back
and got a big win against Kansas.”
The Cyclones lost 96-89 to Florida
in the prcscason NIT and 78-76 to
Butler in the Blade City Classic at
Toledo, Ohio.
Iowa State opened its Big Eight
season by defeating Kansas 88-78 to
give the Cyclones a 1-0 record in the
conference.
Orr said the victory over Kansas
was a big one, but he still wouldn’t
label Iowa State as the lop team in the
Big Eight.
“I would say Oklahoma is the fa
vorite,” Orr said. “Even though they
lost earlier this season, I still think
they’re the team to beat. They’ve
played as well as anybody in the
United Stales.”
Orr said Oklahoma’s schedule,
which forced the Sooners to travel to
New Orleans to play Louisiana Stale
and then to Manhattan, Kan., to face
Kansas Stale, was “very difficult todo
mentally.” Oklahoma is 14-2 after
dropping consecutive decisions to the
Tigers and Wildcats.
Senior forward Jeff Grayer leads
the Cyclones with an average of 25.2
points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Grayer scored 32 points and recorded
24 rebounds in a 123-92 victory over
U.S. International on Saturday.
“Jeffs been tremendous,” Orr
said. “He’s played well at both ends of
the floor.”
Orr said senior center Lafester
Rhodes has also sparked Iowa Stale.
Rhodes, who scored 34 points last
season, has averaged 23.1 points per
game this year.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t
surprised with the play of Lafester,”
Orr said. “He’s played very well.”
Orr said Iowa State’s small front
line forces the Cyclones to rely on
their quickness. Iowa Slate’s front line
is composed of the 6-foot-5 Grayer,
the 6-8 Rhodes and 6-5 Elmer Robin
son.
“We try to keep up-iempd the
whole game and cause turnovers off
our defense,” Orr said.
Iowa Stale starts 5-9 Terry Woods,
who averages 6.6 points per game, and
6-3 Gary Thompkins, who averages
12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per
game, at the guard positions.
Orr said he doesn’t know if Iowa
State will try to run with Oklahoma,
which has averaged over 100 points
per game this season.
Orr said it’s too early to compare
this year’s team to the 1985-86 squad
that advanced to the final “Sweet 16'
of the NCAA tournament.
“I’ll be able to do that when the
season is over,” Orr said.
Nebraska will travel to Ames,
low-a, to face Iowa State Wednesday
night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00
p.m.
Baack is back in basketball, but things have changed
By Mike Kluck
Sulf Reporter
Tom Baack is back on the basket
ball court, but things have changed
since the last time he walked onto it.
Baack, who spent 13 years as an
assistant coach and player at Nebraska
under former Cornhusker coach Moc
Iba, is now coaching the Bulldogs at
Concordia Teachers College, an
NAIA school in Seward.
Baack said he was upset with the
way things were handled at Nebraska
during his last season in 1985-86. He
left the Husker program after Iba re
signed following Nebraska’s 67-59
loss to Western Kentucky in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament.
“1 didn’t knov v hat was going on
the whole year with Coach Iba,’
Baack said. “I didn’t know Moe had
resigned until after he had turned in his
resignation. All I ever asked was to be
dealt with fairly and honestly, and if
somebody doesn't want me around, 1
won’t stay. It is just unfortunate the
way things were handled.”
Baack said his experience during
his last season at Nebraska gave him a
bitter taste. He said he has since over
come that feeling because of his pre
vious good feelings for the Nebraska
athletic department.
‘‘I have a great deal of care and
respect for the school and have been
associated with some great teams,”
Baack said. “Those feelings arc still
left with me. I also played at Nebraska
and most of my good friends and best
friends have come from my years at
the university.”
Baack, who played for Nebraska
from 1965-68 under late Husker coach
Joe Cipriano, was a three-year starter
and is fifth on Nebraska’s all-time
scoring list.
Baack also went to the NIT Tour
nament as a player in 1967, a graduate
assistant coach in 1978 and a full-time
assistant coach in 1980, 1983, 1984
and 1985.
Baack said he wasn’t surprised
about the success of last year’s Ne
braska basketball squad. The Huskers,
while operating under first-year coach
Danny Nee, advanced to the Final
Four of the NIT Tournament in New
York City’s Madison Square Garden.
“I wasn’t surprised by their success
because they had some gtxxl athletes
returning,” Baack said. “When a new
coaching staff comes in, their success
depends a lot on who’s in the program.
If you lose a lot of players, you have to
wait until you get your own players in
to be successful.”
Baack said he wished Nee the best
of luck at Nebraska.
“Nebraska is a good job and I hope
he docs well,” Baack said.
Baack said he’s happy at Concor
dia even though the Bulldogsarc5-12.
He said he plans to stay at the college
for a long time.
“I enjoy being at Concordia very
much. It’s an enjoyable position,”
Baack said .“I’m happy here, but a few
more wins would make me a lot hap
pier. When 1 was hired here, they said
they wanted someone who would stay
here and not move on, and 1 said 1
would. My father and sister both went
to Lutheran schools, so I know how
and like the way the school operates.”
Baack said the public pressure that
the Nebraska program was under
during his last year with die Huskers
allowed him to get used to the tension
that arises with any coaching job. 1 he
public pressure at Nebraska arose af
ter the Huskers were found guilty of
conducting early basketball practices,
which was a violation of NCAA rules.
“There are pressures in any pro
gram, but it’s just a different kind of
pressure,” Baack said. “In Division 1,
the public causes most ol the pressure
for a team to w in and be successful.
The public caused most of our prob
lems at Nebraska. In our division, the
pressure comes from the academic
level to have every recruit of ours
graduate. If we go 2-20, academic
success is always the top priority, no
matter what. I think at the academic
level, all financial help should not he
treated differently.”
Baack, who also serves as the dean
of students at Concordia, said his
goals arc different now than they were
at Nebraska.
“I really wanted to be a Division I
coach,” Baack said. ‘‘With my wife
and son 1 had to make a decision
whether 1 wanted to be a coach or if 1
w anted to be with them. Being a coach
at Nebraska, I was gone a lot and 1
really like to be around my family.
”1 want to build as competitive as a
program as I can here,” he said. ”We
don' t have the finances here as they do
at other schools in our conference like
Nebraska Wesleyan and Hastings.
Whether we can compete or not 1 don't
know, but 1 am going to work to build
a program and stick with it.”
