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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1991)
Sports King faced with hard work in pros, but is worthy of new-found fortune Rich King has graduated from the college ranks to the NBA, and along the way will become a rich man. Selected by the Seattle Supersonics in the first round, the 14th pick over all, King will bump elbows with the world’s best basketball players. King has had to endure skepticism and criticism from fans in his four year stint with the Huskers, but he did manage to compile some pretty good numbers. He completed his career as the all-time shot blocker in Nebraska history with 183. He was also the Huskers’ leading scorer for the last two seasons, including a 40-point outburst against Northern Illinois which tied the school record. Now King is getting the last laugh. Matter of fact, he’s laughing all the way to the bank. How loud he will be laughing is still to be determined. Early first round picks have gar nered million-dollar contracts recently, but Sonics president Bob Whitsitl said how much King makes will depend on his team’s salary cap limitations. “Every rook ie can ’ t expect to go to Fort Knox right away,” Whitsitl said. The question looms whether or not King is worth this new found fame and fortune. The answer is yes. At 7-2, King has the size to stay in the NBA for a long time. He has great hands, good passing ability, and is a more than ample scorer. But he’s going to have to work on his attitude. Being an NBA center, he’s going to have to go out and be aggressive every day of the year. Seattle will be the perfect place for him. First of all, Seattle was one of the teams he wanted to play for, which gives him the de sire. In a post-draft interview King said he was really looking forward to going there and trying to impress the coaches. “Seattle is the city all along that I really liked, for everything it has to offer,” he said. “I like the team and I think it’s a great place.” Another reason Seattle is a perfect place for King is its roster. King will come in as back-up center to former Creighton player Benoit Benjamin. Benjamin is big and physical, but not a dominating player. He will be able to show King what it takes to play in the NBA, while at the same time not completely dominate him. Had King gone to someplace like Utah, Karl Malone may have proved to be too intimidating of a force. King will also be able to get some minutes playing behind Benjamin. Not only will he probably be the first man off the bench to replace him, but Benjamin’s play can be sporadic at limes— thus giving King some chances to play in crucial situations. This will allow him to someday take over a starling spot. Nebraska coach Danny Nee said the fans probably won’t see the full potential of King until he is about 25 or 26 years old and develops a little more physically. But he said he is definitely an NBA-type player. Seattle finished 41-41 last season, and fell just short of upsetting the Portland Trailblazers, a team with the NBA’s best record, in the first round of the playoffs. The Sonics are loaded with talent and due to some mid-season moves last year, appear to be ready to make a move on the rest of the Western Di vision. This team will continue to get better, thus allowing King to pla^ for a winner. “I think they’re a team that’s re ally, coming along,” King said. “It’s going to be tough, though, they’ve got a lot of good players and I’ve got a lot of work to do to try and fit in there and earn the respect of the coaches and the players and get some time.” How good King will do is yet to be determined. If he is willing to go in and work hard and put on a few pounds, his potential could take him to unlim ited heights. He has the ability to be a good NBA player. He more than likely will never be an all-star, but he could become a starter and a significant contributor. On the other hand, if he chooses not to work hard, he may be a 7-2 inch businessman in six years. Moyer is a senior speech com mu nications major and a Daily Nebraskan reporter and columnist. William Lauer/Dally Nebraskan Rich King goes over the back of a Miami of Ohio player. King was chosen in the first round of the NBA draft by the Seattle Supersonics. NBA picks players from Big Eight By David Moyer Staff Reporter The Big Eight basketball scene contin ued a growing tradition last week by placing five players in the first round of the NBA draft. Doug Smith, Rich King, Victor Alexan der, Shaun Vandiver and Mark Randall played center in college and all went in the top 26 picks. Big Eight Commissioncr Carl James said he was pleased with the Big Eight’s show ing. “I think it’s certainly good for the play ers, and it’s also an indication of the coaches doing a good job,” he said. Nebraska coach Danny Nee agreed that the Big Eight is proving its worth. “I think it’s a real positive,” Nee said. “It’s just another documentation of how good the Big Eight is. It’s a damn good conference.” Smith was the Big Eight’s player of the year the last two seasons at the University of Missouri and was expected to be one of the top picks. He went to the Dallas Mavericks as the sixth pick overall. With injuries to several Dallas inside players. Smith could gel an opportunity to play right away. Nebraska’s 7-2 inch center Rich King went as the 14th pick — the second from the Big Eight — to the Seattle Supcrsonics. King will have to back up Sonics center Benoit Benjamin, a former Creighton Blue jay, but will get some minutes of play, according to Seattle head coach K.C. Jones. Nee said he has always felt King would be an NBA center eventually. “I’ve felt from the beginning he has had NBA potential, but I don’t think we’ll sec his full potential until he is 25 or 26 years old,” Nee said. The Golden Stale Warriors selected the next two Big Eight players, with the 17th and 25th picks taking Victor Alexander from IowJ State and Shaun Vandiver from Colorado. . Alexander and Vandiver will be joining the Warriors famed Run TMC: guards Mitch Richmond, Chris Mullin, and Tim Harda way. Warriors general manager Don Nelson went after big men to go with the guard tandem, and the two former first team All Big Eight performers will be trying to strengthen the post position for Golden State. Mark Randall, a member of the Kansas Jayhawks’ NCAA tournament finalist team, was selected by the World Champion Chi cago Bulls. James said the success of the Big Eight in the draft may not have as big a national impact as one might think, noting the ACC had only four players picked in the first round, but had two teams in the Final Four. The breakdown of conferences with the most first-round picks leA the Big Eight lied with the Big East at five picks apiece. With the help of UNLV placing three players in the lop 12, including number one pick Larry Johnson, the Big \yest finished tied with the ACC with four number one picks overall. | NCAA proposal to raise grades creates problems, Osborne says From Staff Reports Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne says the NCAA President’s Commission’s decision to move forward with a proposal to force ath letes to upgrade their classroom performance will create new problems. The proposal, which still needs approval by a vote of NCAA schools in their convention next January, is among several academic and financial reforms from the presidents commis sion. The commission won near-unanimous approval for another package of reform legisla tion at the last convention. Under new proposals, freshmen would need a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale in 13 college preparatory courses instead of the present 2.0 requirement in 11 core sub jects. There also would be a sliding scale that would make freshmen eligible with a 2.25 grade point and an 800 score on the SAT college entrance lest, or a 2.00 grade point with a 900 SAT score. “I feel, and most coaches I know feel, that the current standards arc good enough, and there is a correlation that a 2.0 grade-point average in the 11 core courses shows a student is well-prepared for college,” Osborne said. Osborne said the jump in the grade-point requirement and number 6f core courses at one time would “cut the percentage of our popula non to recruit from by 30 to 40 percent.” “People need tor realize that the jump in grade requirements is not in chorus, band or athletics, but in sciences, math and languages,” Osborne said. “I could see increasing the grade-point average requirement to 2.2 to start with, but there might also be a problem in the case of land-grant colleges, such as ours, where we would be creating an elitist program because entrance standards for in coming student-athletes would be much greater than the average incoming student.” Osborne said he agrees with the require ment for a grade-point average in a core cur riculum because that indicates a preparedness for college. “There is a cultural bias in the ACT and SAT tests and there are things such as test anxiety and other factors that can throw the lest scores off,” he said. Regarding another proposal requiring coaches to report outside income to the uni versity president, Osborne said, “I have to report to the CEO all my outside income. I make no money from the shoe contracts and from the summer camps. I can sec where if a coach is getting a large sum of money from a questionable source, then a college president might want to step in. “It will be interesting to sec if college fac ulty would be required to live up to the same standards.”