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.”
