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<ng coach Gary Kcmpl that say the
I ay hawks are ready to challenge
Nebraska for the conference crown.
He said the Huskers can’t afford to
Pay attention to these statements
because it might pull them away from
their training schedule il they do.
But Bent/ said Nebraska will still
be ready for the meet against the
Jayhawks. The meet, which also in
cludes a women’s battle between
Nebraska and Kansas, begins at 11
a.m.
“We’re not trying to dispute Gary
Kempt or anybody else,” Bent/ said.
“But I guess 1 don’t spend an awful lot
of time thinking about those things
because they are beyond our control.”
Bent/ said Nebraska will use the
dual meet as a steppingstone to this
year’s NCAA Championships, w'hich
w ill be April 7-9 in Indianapolis, Ind.
He said Nebraska needs to continue to
improve if it is to achieve its goal of
earning a top-10 finish nationally.
Bent/, said the Huskers will have
an advantage entering the meet be
cause they will leave Lincoln on Fri
day afternoon. He said Nebraska
usually begins the 3 1/2-hour voyage
to Lawrence on Saturday morning,
but the meet’s early starting time
necessitated the early departure.
Bent/, said he is not concerned
about traveling because the 7-0 Husk
ers have postal road victories against
Louisiana State, Tulane, Missouri,
Southern Illinois and Arkansas this
season. He said Nebraska has cstab
lishal itself as a good road team.
Nebraska women’s swimming
coach Ray Hupperi said the 6-2 Husk
ers have also established themselves
as a strong road team even though
they dropped a 116-101 decision to
Arkansas Saturday in Fayetteville,
Ark. He said Nebraska performed
well despite the loss.
“I’m gelling tired of saying we
learned from a loss,” Hupperi said.
“But we did swim well.”
Hupperi said Nebraska respects
the Jayhawks even though they have
compiled a 6-6 record this season. He
said Kansas possesses excellent tal
ent, but hasn’t been able to put every
thing together.
“1 don’t want to speculate on why
not,” Hupperl said.
Huppert said he knows Kansas
will be ready for the No. 18-ranked
Huskcrs because Nebraska broke the
Jayhawks 10-ycar home winning
streak with a 58-55 victor) in 1985.
The Huskcrs also have defeated
Kansas for the Big Eight champion
ship each of the last three years.
Huppert said Nebraska doesn’t
mind assuming the role of a favorite.
He said it’s a role the Huskcrs have to
accept.
“We’ve shown this year that we
could be the favorites,” Hupperl said.
“So I don’t think that adds any more
pressure.”
