Sports NU signs 26 recruits in ‘unusual’ class By Tim Hartmann Senior Reporter The Midwest produces much of the nation’s food every year, but this year it didn’t produce much of the high school football talent. “This is not a natural gold mine in terms of recruiting,” Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne said. Osborne announced that Nebraska had signed 21 athletes to lcttcrs-of-intcnl by Wednesday afternoon and that he expected to sign five more by Wednesday night. Osborne said he was surprised by the small number of recruits that Nebraska got in-state and from surrounding states. “It 's kind of an unusual group of players in that it’s probably the smallest group from the immediate area," he said. Three high school football players from Nebraska signed leltcrs-of-intent and one more was expected to sign. The Cornhuskers signed no players from Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming or Colorado. I nder NCAA rules, the I luskers are allowed to sign up to 30 players, but Osborne said Nebraska plans to save some scholarships to give to walk-ons. However, he said, Nebraska may give out one more scholarship if a great running back came down the pike." “There’s one other player out there running loose that we might take,” Osborne said. Osborne said Nebraska had to turn away several recruits who wanted to sign with the I luskers because he wanted to save the scholar ships for walk-ons. He said he w as pleased with this year’s recruiting class, especially because of the natural disadvantages Nebraska faces. “I 'm kind of amazed we got as many good ones as wedid w hen you look at thcdistance we were going to get them,” Osborne said. “1 think that some people in the state are unhappy that we don’t go undefeated every year, but after five or six weeks of recruiting, I’m amazed that we do as well as we do. “We really are battling some difficult odds in terms of distance and weather.” One of the disappointments in this year's recruiting class is that Nebraska did not get one ol the top live running backs in the country, Osborne said. Willie McClendon, a highly regarded running back from Jacksonville, Fla., who had been recruited by Nebraska, signed a letter-of-in tent with Florida. Osborne is not allowed to comment on a player until he has signed a lettcr-of-intcnt, so he couldn t discuss the I ive players who had yet to sign. T hose players are Steve Carmer, a defensive back-running back Irom Wahoo; Tyrone Leg ette, a defensive back from Columbia, S.C.; lineman Scott Peterson from Peoria, Ari/..; Mike Petko, a linebacker from Anaheim, Cahl.; and ollcnsive lineman Chris Ybarra from Fontana, Calif. The players who have signed letters-of mtent include: • Scott Baldwin, a running back-defensive back, Irom Roselle, N.J. Baldwin, who is 6 loot-2 and 190 pounds, rushed for 1,368 yards last season, including a school-record 368 yards and live touchdowns in one game. • Ernie Bcler, a running back-defensive back Irom Bayonne, N.J. Bcler was selected as the league back of the year on both offense and defense, and earned second-team all-state honors two seasons in a row. • Jon Bostick, a 6-2, 185-pound split end from Bellevue, Wash. Bostick was named the Washington Player of the Year by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He caught 39 passes for 814 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. • Tyrone Byrd, a defensive back from Chan dler, Ari/. Byrd made interceptions as a senior and earned all-state honors. He also started at quarterback and returned kickoffs for Chandler High School. • Jeremiah Clark, a 6-4, 220-pound defen sive tackle from Mesa, Ari/. Clark, who led Arizona in quarterback sacks with 19, runs the 40-yard dash in 4.77 seconds and was an all state selection. • Jason Daniel, a 6-3, 230-pound offensive tackle from Midland, Texas. Daniel was an honorable-mention all-district player at Robert E. Lee High School, the same school Nebraska sophomore Jake Young attended. • Darin Duin, a 6-2, 190-pound defensive back from Fargo, N.D. Duin was named the North Dakota Player of the Year by USA Today. He played four positions as a senior — wide receiver, tailback, fullback and corner back. • Mike Grant, a quarterback-defensive back from Brandon, Fla. Grant led Brandon High School to a 25-9 record from 1985-87 and earned all-conference honors as a sophomore. Brandon ran the wishbone last season. • Travis Hill, a 6-3, 210-pound defensive end from Pearland,Texas. Hill’s school did not kccpdcfcnsivc statistics, but Osborne said. “He was one of the better players in the Houston area.” • Tyrone Hughes, a wingback from New Orleans. Hughes was named the Louisiana offensive Player ofthe Year. He rushed for 845 yards, caught 20 passes for 601 yards and scored 22 touchdowns. He also returned kick offs and punts. • Bart Janies, a defensive back-quarterback from Tempo, Ari/. James threw for more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for more than 600 >ards last year. On defense, he intercepted eight passes, giving him 30 interceptions in his high school career. • Dave Jensen, a 6-5, 265-pound defensive tackle from Omaha. Jensen earned first-team All-America honors from Bally while leading Creighton Prep to three consecutive state titles. He had 62 unassisted tackles last season. • Lance Lewis, a 6-0, 200-pound fullback from Scott City, Kan. Lewis was the USA Today Kansas Playerof the Year. He rushed for 1,600 yards and s ♦ touchdowns, and recorded 133 tackles as a linebacker. • Jamie Liewcr.a6-5,200-pound offensive defensive lincim from Atkinson. Liew cr w as a four-year start • at West Holt High School. He made 97 lack > last season while earning all-state honors. • Andre McDuffy, a running back from Hurst, Texas. McDuffy was named an all district selection after rushing for 816 yards on 128 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry. He was also L.D. Bell High School’s leading punt and kickoff returner. • Junior Monai re/., a 6-2,265-pound middle guard from Bell Garden, Calif. Monarrex is a transfer from Cerritos Community College, where he made 78 tackles last year. He was a two-time junior-college All-America selec tion. • Bruce Pickens, a 5-11, 185-pound defen sive back from Kansas City. Pickens is a trans fer from Coffcyville, Kan., Community Col lege. He intercepted five passes last year, in cluding three against Nebraska’s freshman leant. • Kevin Ramackcrs, a6-3,265-pound offen sive-defensive lineman from Norfolk. Ramackcrs was an all-state selection as a senior at Norfolk Catholic High School, and won the Class B gold medal in the shot put in the state high school track meet. • Vic Stachmus,a6-6.240-pound offensive defensive lineman from MeAlester, Okla. Stachmus was an all-state selection at MeAlester High School while playing on an 11 2 team. • William Washington, a 6-3, 235-pound light end from Tyler, Texas. Washington caught 15 passes for 300 yards and four touch downs last season. Osborne said he was Nebraska stop light-end recruiting target in the country. • David While, a 6-3, 225-pound defensive end-linebacker from New Orleans. White caught 15 passes for 225 yards as a tight end, but will play defense at Nebraska. He earned all metro honors in New Orleans. Osborne said he thought new NCAA regula tions that limited the amount of time that Husker recruiting coordinator Jack Pierce could spend on the road hurt Nebraska, because the Huskers recruited so many out-of-state players. Osborne said he thought Nebraska would be hurtbyanew NCAA rule that w ill limitcoachcs to one visit to the home of recruits. The rule will go into effect next season. “I think that being in a sparsely populated area in the middle of the country that every th ing they (the NCAA) do to take people off the road — to shorten the evaluation time, to shorten the recruiting time — works to our disadvantage,” he said. Team to focus on Tigers, not offensive fans Probable Starters: Nebraska (12-11, 3-4) Henry T. Buchanan G Eric Johnson G Rich King C Jeff Rekcwcg F Derrick Vick F Missouri (14-5, 4-3) Byron Irvin G Lee Coward G Doug Smith C Nathan Buntin F Derrick Chicvous F By Mark Derowitsch Senior Reporter A nationally televised meeting against No. 7-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday isn’t the top priority of the Missouri men’s bas ketball team. Missouri coach Norm Stewart said the game against the Running Rebels will have to w ait because the Tigers must first face Nebraska Thursday night at the Hearns Center in Columbia, Mo. The game will begin at 7:35 p.m, “We've got a lough schedule,” Stewart said. “We’re just trying to isolate it and concentrate on play ing one game at a time.” Stewart said Missouri can’t af ford to lake the Cornhuskers lightly. “I think people are looking at (Nebraska’s) ballclub a little bit differently,” Stewart said. “You look at how they came back to take one from us, did the same thing to Kansas, went on the road and won at Colorado and nearly won one on the road at Kansas State. It will be a tough ballgame for us. “We have to leave (for Las Vegas) the following day, and we must make sure we keep our atten tion on that night’s game.” Stewart said the Tigers must do a belter job on free throws to avoid a loss. Missouri connected on 18 of 30 shots from the frec-throw line in its 70-68 toss to Nebraska earlier this season. “I think we’ve put more effort on them and concentrated more,” Ste wart said. “We’re shooting 67 per cent, which isn’t far off. We should be around 70 percent, but we’re getting there.” Nebraska coach Danny Nee said the Huskers, who arc now 12-11 overall and 3-4 in the Big Eight, can’t afford to make mental mis takes against Missouri. “We understand with our ability we have to work hard for us to w in,” Nee said. “We must be in the right frame of mind and be ready to go to work.” Nee said the Huskers w ill focus on Missouri forward Derrick Chievous and center Doug Smith instead of the Antlers, a group of Missouri fans who arc known for screaming obscenities. Chievous, a senior from Jamaica, N.Y., is aver aging 21.9 points and 8.6 rebounds ncr game, and Smith is averaging . 12.1 points. “About the Antlers — that’s secondary stuff,” Nee said. “I’m more concerned with Smith and Chievous.” Nebraska guard Eric Johnson also said the Huskers will have to control Chievous. “We have to stop Chievous,” Johnson said. “That was what we tried to do the first time we played them. We’ll certainly place more emphasis on him.” Johnson said Nebraska will have to look to the future instead of the past. The Huskers go into the game with a three-game losing streak. “We definitely have to be ready for them,” Johnson said. “It will make us or break us. We have to try to make things happen and go alter the win.” Nebraska guard Henry T. Buchanan agreed. “We’ve got to prepare for Mis souri like we did the last time,” Buchanan said. “We have to try to ignore the crowd and play with the same intensity as we did against Kansas State.” Buchanan said the Huskerscan’t be bothered by the Antlers if they are to win the game. “It will be a tough place to play ball, but we’re focusing on the guys we’re playing against, not the Ant lers,” Buchanan said. Husker center Pete Manning said he expects the Antlers to go after him. “I’ve never been down there before, but I heard a lot about it,” Manning said. “They’ll probably be on me — I guarantee that.” Huskers ignore talk about Jayhawk swim meet By Jeff A pel Senior Editor •Nebraska men’s swimming coach Lai Bent/ will pul all the talk aside when the Comhuskers face Kansas Saturday at Robinson Natatorium in Lawrence, Kan. Bent/ said the Huskers, who have captured eight straight Big Eight championships, aren’t listening to the predictions made by Kansas swim m