Recruiting
lures Smith
away from NU
SPOKANE, Wash.—Peru State
isn’t exactly a breeding ground for
basketball coaches.
But Jeff Smith can thank Peru
State for giving him a jump on the
assistant coaching job at Eastern
Washington.
After spending seven years un
der Nebraska coach Danny Nee,
Smith left his part-time assistant
position in May for Cheney, Wash.,
a small town of about 10,000 people
an hour away from Spokane.
When Steve Aggers left Kansas
State to take the head coaching job
at Eastern, Smith had an advantage.
Aggers coached at Wayne State
from 1985 to 1990, while Smith
played and coached at Peru State.
When Smith went in for an inter
view in late May, Aggers knew who
he was getting.
And Smith knew what he wanted.
Somethinghe didn ’t get at Nebraska
as a restricted earnings coach.
Smith wanted the chance to re
cruit at the Division-I level.
He interviewed at the University
of Nebraska at Omaha, a Division
II school, and a Di vision-III school.
When Eastern Washington of
fered, Smith said goodbye to other
options and Nebraska.
l was basically as tar as I could
go in scouting and video,” Smith
said. “I maxed out there.”
Aggers, Smith and David Carter
have a lot to do before maxing out
in Cheney.
Eastern Washington had only
two winning seasons in the past 12
years. Under John Wade, the Eagles
won 34 games — in five years.
Eastern finished 6-20 last sea
son, but the Eagles made some im
provements.
They broke a 29-game Big Sky
Conference losing streak and a 44
game road slide.
“We have a little more rebuild
ing here, a lot of rebuilding,” Smith
said. ‘“This team needs an attitude
change.”
Eastern Washington is not Ne
braska, or even Kansas State. And
the Big Sky is nowhere near the
caliber of the Big Eight.
But Smith will take what he
learned at Nebraska and apply it at
Eastern Washington.
“Any time you’re coaching
against Roy Williams, Eddie Sutton
and Norm Stewart.” Smith said,
“you’re goingtoleamalot. I learned
a lot from Coach Nee.”
Nee was all for Smith moving up
in the coaching ranks, Smith said.
This was anticipated, we talked
about it for quite a while,” Smith
said. “I think he’s happy for me.
Advancement is good.”
But advancing the Eastern bas
ketball program may take awhile.
The Eagles struggled to get 1,000
people at Reese Court on Elm Street
in Cheney.
Aggers and Smith come from
schools used to filling arenas.
At Eastern, it could be a Night
mare (Mi Elm Street.
Pearsoa Is a scalar news-editorial
major aad the Dally Nebraakaa copy
desk chief.
New hoops assistant finally here
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Editor
Lincoln may not be Los Angeles or
Miami, but Scott Howard is happy to
be in Nebraska.
A former Iowa State walk-on.
Howard has spent
much of the last
decade near the
nation’s beaches
coaching basket
ball at Southern
California and Mi
ami, (Fla.).
On Tuesday, the
newly mred
N©e Comhusker assis
tant coach moved into his office at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Howard, who graduated from Iowa
State in 1983 and has also coached at
Iowa, Illinois and Drake, was hired in
early July. But recruiting duties have
kept him on the road until this week.
“I just got to Lincoln yesterday,”
Howard said Tuesday. “I’m getting
moved in, so I haven’t seen much yet,
but I’m glad to finally be here.”
Nebraska coach Danny Nee was
left with two vacant coaching spots
this summer after Gary Bargen and
Jeff Smith left the program. Bargen
was hired as an NCAA compliance
officer under Associate Athletic Di
rector A1 Papik.
Smith, who has unofficially been
replaced by former Husker Bill
Johnson, accepted an assistant coach
ing position at Eastern Washington.
Howard and fourth-year coach
Jimmy Williams will be Nee’s top
assistants this season.
“Scott’s a young coach with a lot of
experience and a high energy level,”
Nee said. “He’s got a well-balanced
background and brings us an enthusi
astic attitude to the table.”
Howard said his history in this part
of the country would allow him to
quickly feel at home in Lincoln.
“I knew a lot about Nebraska and
the Big Eight,” Howard said. “I knew
the kind of support this program re
ceives and the success it has had over
the last few years.”
A year ago, the Huskers finished
18-14 and foiled to qualify for the
NCAA Tournament for the first time
since 1990. Howard said he didn’t
think last year’s dropoff was indica
tive of Nebraska’s future.
“It seems like Nebraska will be
extremely competitive for a longtime*
now that we have established a pattern
of winning,” Howard said. “You start
making trips to the NCAAs, and it’s
like a snowball that keeps rolling.”
Six newcomers — two true fresh
men, three redshirt freshmen and a
junior college transfer—will join the
Nebraska roster this fall. The Huskers
also return six experienced seniors,
one junior and one sophomore.
Senior center Chris Sallee, who
averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds last
year, probably will not be available
for the second half of the season.
Sallee’s five-year clock expires at the
end of the fall semester. Nee said
several appeals to grant Sallee an ex
tra semester had been denied by the
NCAA.
Experienced Williams set to lead
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Tyrone Williams has started 20
games during the past two seasons
and played in all but one game in his
sophomore and junior seasons.
But he said it seemed like only
yesterday that he was a freshman
watching others play in front of
him.
Now, as a senior, he has to lead.
“It doesn’t seem that long ago
that I was out here trying to leam
the system and everything,” Will
iams said. “It went by very fast.
This leadership role came up on me
very quickly.”
Williams quickly made a name
for himself at comerback in 1993
after sitting out his freshman sea
son.
The 6-foot, 185-pounder from
Palmetto, Fla., started eight games
as a sophomore, recorded 38 tack
les (nine in the Orange Bowl) and
earned Big Eight Co-Defensive
Newcomer-of-the-Year honors.
Williams totaled 42 tackles,
three interceptions and five pass
breakups Fast season. He was named
to the conference coaches All-Big
Eight first team.
“Tyrone Williams is an impor
tant part of this football program,”
defensive coordinator Charlie
McBride said. “He’s one of those
guys that I’m sure our opponents
think has been here forever. The
thing about it is, he has improved
every year.’”
Now that Williams is a senior,
he said his role had changed on the
defense.
“The young guys might not be
used to certain situations or certain
types of games,” Williams said. “I
bringa lot of experience. I’ve played
in all types of games—big games,
cold ones, warm ones, some that
didn’tmeananythingand some that
have meant it all. I know the game
situations and how to practice so
you’re ready for it.”
He’salsoplayedagainstall kinds
of receivers.
“I’ve played against three first
rounders — J.J. Stokes, Charles
Johnson and Michael Westbrook,”
Williams said. “All that experience
just gave me the confidence that I
can play with anybody. Now that it
is my senior year, I’m going to put
all the pieces together.”
Williams said putting the pieces
together meant reaching all the goals
he had set for himself and the team.
“If we don’t win the national
championship, I just want to know
that we did our best,” Williams
said. “I would be very disappointed
if we went out there and just gave a
game away — a national champi
onship game or any game along the
way. I just want us to go out and
give it our best to win another one.
“About the only personal goal I
have is to dominate my receiver
every game,” Williams said. “At
the end of the year, I want to be an
All-American. But I just concen
trate on doing my job.”
Wi 1 liams said his ability to make
plays when Nebraska switched to
the 4-3 defense helped his chances
of playing right away.
“Coming here, I didn’t think I
would play as soon as I did,” Will
iams said. “But once I started play
ing, I was getting a lot of confi
dence. I knew I could do this or, I
knew I could do that. I was sur
prised by how fast it happened.
“My first year here Ididn’t think
the secondary got much respect at
all. Once we got the 4-3 defense in
here and started makingplays, heads
started to turn. I’m glad I came here
and was part of something like that.”
Jay Calderon/DN
Nebraska comerback Tyrone Williams leaps for a ball
during a drill at football practice Tuesday.
riUU LDER, Colo. (AP)—Thirsty
fans at University of Colorado foot
ball games are going to have to work
a little harder for their beer this sea
son.
Starting with the Sept. 9 game
against Colorado State, beer hawkers
no longer will cruise the stands selling
suds in Folsom Field. Fans will have
to hike to a concession stand behind
the seating areas and present a picture
identification.
Nebraskaplaysat Coloradoan Oct.
28.
Colorado is the only school in the
Big Eight and the new Big 12 that still
sells beer at football games.
But the school is trying to cut the
amount ot beer tnat people annK.
Under the new policy, sales will be
restricted by age. Customers ages 21
to 25 can have only one beer at a time;
those older than 2 5 can have two beefs
at once.
The pol icy is aimed at gaining more
control over who buys beer and the
amount of drinking in general, Colo
rado Associate Athletic Director John
Burianek said. . -
Although beer vendors did not ven
ture into student sections last year, it
was still a challenge to keep alcohol
(nit of underage hands, Burianek said.
The new policy could help beer
drinkers stay within their limits, Colo
rado Sports Information Director Dave
nati saia.
If fans are sober enough to walk to
the concession stand, that could mean
they can handle another beer, Plati
said.
When fans are seated, vendors have
a harder time evaluating their condi
tions, Plati said.
The move for more moderate drink
ing at games comes as Boulder County
leaders try to deal with problem drink
ing across the community.
Their focus often falls on CU.
The school’s new policy for foot
ball games was initiated independently
before an “Alcohol Summit” was held
on campus in June, Burianek said.
“We just felt it was time to do some
things that would make more sense,
Burianek said.
CU Regent Jim Martin, who has
called for a total ban on beer sales at
Folsom, called the new policy, “a step
in the right direction—but only a first
step.”
The Colorado athletic department
wants to keep the tap flowing, Plati
said.
“It’s a big source of income for us,
and obviously Coots is a big corpo
rate sponsor,” Plati said. “There will
always be a number of bad apples who
will try to rum it for everyone. We’ll
just try to keep the bad apples to a
minimum.” .