Nel^raskan
Tuesday, February 4,1992
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Stad McKee/DN
Nebraska’s Karen Jennings attempts a shot over Kansas guard Angela Aycock earlier this sea
son. Nebraska will play Iowa State tonight at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Skidding Cyclones
plan to apply brakes
to Husker women
By Chris Hopfensperger
Senior Editor ~
Things arc building upon the Iowa
State women’s basketball team’s record
— things like losses.
The Cyclones, 2-16 overall and 0
6 in the Big Eight, have not won a
game since Dec. 14.
“Things are just snowballing out
of hand,” Iowa State coach Pam Weuig
said. “I have felt, every game we have
played we had a chance to win. Then
all of a sudden the bottom falls out.”
Iowa State plays Nebraska tonight
at 7 in the Bob Devancy Sports Cen
ter. The Huskers, 14-5 and 4-2, arc
tied for second in the league stand
ings.
Iowa State is the only team with
out a conference win.
But, the Cyclones’ record is de
ceiving, Nebraska coach Angela Beck
said.
“These guys are much better than
their record,” she said. “I’m in total
shock.”
Right now, Wcttig said, the coaches
are teaching the fundamentals and
downplaying the team’s record as the
Cyclones try for their third win of the
season.
“Most teams would look at our
record and go, ‘Whew, a night off,”’
Wcttig said. “We could pop out of
this at any time.”
The Huskcrs are aware of that,
Beck said.
“I feel for them,” she said. “I know
how it feels. But 1 don’t want to make
their season with this game.”
Iowa State has beaten the Huskers
in Lincoln three years in a row.
Nebraska, who trails only Kansas
in the Big Eight, is concentrating on
the mental aspect of the game after
losing to Oklahoma Slate, 69-57, on
Saturday, Beck said.
“We need to wake up and make
sure we respect them (Iowa State),”
she said. “We had a mental practice
on Sunday.”
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F 21 Shanda Fitxgerald5-11 Jr.
C 50 Barb Gordon 6-1 So. 5.3 4.7
G 5 Tynnetta Rasheed5-10 Sr. 11.3 4.1
G 4 Leslie Maple 5-7 Sr. 9.7 3.5
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New style ‘puts’ Husker
athlete on higher level
By Jason Dyer
Staff Reporter
It’s probably safe lo say one
Nebraska track standout has some
learning lo do about putting the
shot.
Kevin Coleman, a junior mem
ber of the Comhusker track team,
changed his technique two years
ago and the results still arc being
seen.
The two different techniques in
shot putting include the glide and
the spin. It is the spin technique
that has helped Coleman to a per
sonaJ-bcst throw of 62-2 1/2 — a
throw that qualified him for the
NCAA Indoor Championships.
Coleman said he thinks his
improvement is only the begin
ning.
“Thai’s just the lip of the ice
berg,” Coleman said. “1 was al
ways a glider in high-school, then
in my sophomore year here at the
university, 1 changed to the spin
technique, which means I’ve only
been working on the spin for two
years.”
“I’m capable of throwing much
farther than that (his personal best)
once the technique is still refined
and once I get it down to where I
want it to be,” Coleman said.
Coleman followed his father’s
footsteps and began putting the shot
in the seventh grade in Elgin, III.
“My father was a shot putter in
high school and he told me how he
won his conference and that’s what
got me started,” Coleman said.
From that point, Coleman said
he went on to win his conference in
both junior high school and high
school, where he set a new stale
record. Later he went on to be a
high school national champion.
Coleman said his credentials
helped bring him to Nebraska, where
the major part of his training is
various degrees of Olympic-weight
lifting.
“When I’m in the off-season, I
usually train very heavy,” Cole
man said. “But during the season,
my techniques arc usually more
explosive.
“Everything’s quick and very
pushy," Coleman said, “Because
the shot-put is a very explosive
event.”
Coleman said he is dedicated
See COLEMAN on 8
Warm weather starts symptoms
of Final Four madness in hoops
This recent warm weather has got
me thinking. Maybe dreaming is a
more appropriate word.
February has only just begun, but
March is now in sight.
Ahh, March.
The month in which the weather
becomes endurable again. It’s a happy
month. The air is filial with the songs
of birds returning from their winter
vacations in a warmer climate, the
trees get their leaves back, the grass
turns green.
And it starts to heat up, not only
outdoors, but indoors as well.
Especially indoors.
Inside basketball facilities on col
lege campuses everywhere, the inten
sity level of the lop teams reaches a
fever pitch.
Yes, it’s time to come out of win
ter hibernation. March Madness is
only six weeks away. Six weeks may
seem like an eternity, but to die-hard
college basketball fans it’s a signal to
replace the batteries in the remote
control, slock up on beer and watch
the greatest sporting spectacle short
of the Olympics.
Simplyput, March Madnessepito
mi/,cs the essence of amateur sports.
Sixty-four of the best college bas
ketball teams arc selected and al
lowed to have at it until only one
remains unbeaten. For three weeks.
basketball fans follow the upsets, the
comc-from-bchind wins, the last
second miracles.
Aside from the actual tournament
itself, maybe the most fun thing about
college basketball is watching the
regular season unfold.
Every season is filled with the
perennial powerhouses storming
through the season, the upstart teams
nobody has ever heard of, the teams
that pre-season predictors said would
be good — but aren’t.
Another fun thing about college
basketball is the arguments you have
with friends about who the best team
in the country is, and who will win it
all.
And then there arc the predictions.
(You didn’t expect to gel through this
column w i thout predictions did you?)
Every sportswritcr in America
makes predictions based on his or her
“expert” observations. And I’m no
different from any of them.
So sit back and get ready to dis
agree.
I find it easier to determine the
Final Four teams before picking a
national champion. I know who will
be there, but first those who won’t.
Michigan. There’s no way a team
this young will make it that far. A lot
has been said about the freshman class,
but, no matter how talented it is, these
guys won’t be able to hold up under
the gamc-to-gamc pressure of the
NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse. A surprise this year, but
the Orangemen’s early exit in the
tournament won’t be. Next to Mis
souri and Indiana, Syracuse has the
deepest tradition for losing games it
should win.
Indiana. See above.
Missouri. Ditto.
Kentucky. The Wildcats arc
doomed by streaky shooting. In order
to gel very far in the NCAA Tourna
ment, consistent shooting is a must.
Coach Rick Pilino has won a lot of
games by giving his players the green
light to shoot from anywhere at any
time, but his team will hit the skids in
the third round.
Ohio State. Maybe, but probably
not. Jimmy Jackson just might be the
best player in the country and Law
rence Funderburke has the best name,
See HYTREK on 8
