The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, March 18, 1992, Page 7, Image 7
Sports Wheelchair team looking up Founders want to include disabled athletes By Susie Arth Staff Reporter_ Two UNL students have started a new sport, now they need teammates. Doug Stutheit and Eric Kingery arc the founders of ai wheelchair bas ketball team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but the team is short a few players. “Our plan,” Stutheit said, “is to let the student population Know that there arc people who arc eligible to play on the team but don’t know it.’’ Stutheit, a senior finance major, said students did not have to be regu lar wheelchair users to play. Anyone, he said, who had a disability that kept him or her from playing able-bodied sports was eligible. Wheelchairs, he said, could be supplied for students who didn’t have them. Stutheit, who plays wheelchair basketball for a local team sponsored by Handicapped Recreational Serv ice, said that team had players who weren’t wheelchair users. Unfortu nately, he said, only three members of his local team were UNL students. Stutheit and Kingery said their I ultimate goal would be to get wheel- I chair basketball on a varsity level, I which means the university would give scholarships to encourage the best players to come to Nebraska. Several universities, Stutheit said, already had established wheelchair basketball as a varsity sport. The first step, they said, was to get the sport approved as a club sport on campus. “We need to get enough people so See WHEELS on 8 Photos by Al SchabervDN Clockwise from right: Eric Kingery makes a shot at the Campus Recreation Center basketball courts Tuesday afternoon. Kingery laughs after play ing basketball in the Lincoln City Wheelchair Basketball League at Lefler Junior High School Monday night. Doug Stutheit (left) and Kin gery plav at the Campus Rec reation Center every Tuesday and want to form a college team. Stutheit laughs as he and Kingery race for a rebound Tuesday afternoon. NU shooting for winning tradition, Nee says By Nick Hytrek Senior Editor Regardless of the outcome of the game against Connecticut Thursday, the Nebraska men’s basketball team will end this season a winner. Coach Danny Nee said. When the Huskcrs were selected to the NCAA Tournament last Sun day, it marked the first time in school history that Nebraska had qualified two consecutive years. Last season, Nee guided his Husk ers to a 26-8 record and their first NCAA bid since the 1985-86 season — the season before he arrived. And he said he was more than happy to make a return trip to the tournament. “Since we’ve come here, we’ve been trying to build this winning tra dition,” Nee said. “Getting to the NCAA two years in a row is helping solidify the tradition. “I think the significant thing is that Nebraska’s done it two years in a row. I think that’s a major accomplish ment for this team.” His team’s success against tough competition this season has solidified the program’s newfound winning tradition, he said. “Our only loss to an unranked team was at (Kansas) State and that’s pretty significant,” he said. “We think we’ve done a lot of things right.” The Huskers’ wins over high-ranked teams have helped that tradition grow even more. Nee said. “We beat Oklahoma Slate when they were 20-0,” he said. “We beat Kansas when they were No. 2 in the country. We beat USC that’s a No. 2 seed (in the NCAA Tournament).” Nee said those wins established the winning legacy he wanted to in still at Nebraska. “A lot of good things happened,” he said. “The teams we’ve beaten have great win-loss records. Some of them have the highest (winning) per coinages in the country.” Oklahoma State finished the regu lar season with a 26-7 record, Kansas is 26-4 and USC is 23-5. Nee said his program would bene fit from the recent success and it would expand into different areas. “It’s had a ripple effect,” he said. “We feel that last year’s NCAA bid and the success that we had helped us in our recruiting last fall.” See TRADITION on 8