No!
Nebraska forward Anna
DeForge was named the Big 12
women’s player of the week. In
NU’s wins over Kansas State and
Missouri DeForge averaged 19.1
points, and against the Tigers she
scored a career-high 31 points.
■
Colorado’s 70-45 shellacking of
No. 14 Iowa State earned the Buf
faloes a No. 18 ranking in the latest
Associated Press poll. The last time
CU (14-3 and 5-0 in the Big 12 Con
ference) was ranked in the top 25,
it was 1969 when the popular rock
bands were the Beatles and Cre
dence Clearwater Revival. The last
time CU started 5-0 in conference
play was 1962-63 when the Buffs
went on to win the Big Eight title.
While the Buffs rose, the Cy
clones (11-3 and 2-2) have been in a
downward spiral. With three losses
in four games, ISU dropped to No.
14 in this week’s poll. Kansas (18-0,
4-0) remained a unanimous No. 1,
while Texas Tech is ranked 20th and
Texas (9-5,3-1) is 23rd.
In die women’s Associated Press
pofl, Tfexas (10-3) is ranked 12th,
•Tfcxas^Ibch' is N6.‘ 14 and Kansas ■<
(12-3) is ranked 14th.
■
Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton
is a former television camera opera
tor and after witnessing highlights
of Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman
kicking a cameraman, Patton isn’t
sorry the star received an 11 game
suspension.
Rodman kicked the cameraman
in the Bulls’ win at Minnesota
Wednesday and along with the 11
game suspension he was fined
$25,000 and will lose at least $1
million in salary over that period.
“I don’t think it was too severe,”
Patton said. “I was never confronted
with that situation. I think we’re too
tolerant in our society. But if we
were less tolerant, we could elimi
nate that behavior.”
■
Texas guard Reggie Freeman
earned Big 12 player-of-the-week
honors. Freeman has been hotter
than die Texas asphalt in July aver
aging 32 points and 9 rebounds in
his last two games. Freeman has
topped the 30-point mark four times
this season, including a ^3-point
effort against Fresno State.
The Big 12 honored Nebraska
forward Larry Florence as its rookie
of the week. The 6-foot-5 sopho
more averaged 12 points and five
rebounds in NU’s victories over
Kansas State and Missouri. Flo
rence is the second Comhusker to
earn rookie-of-the-week honors.
Sophomore guard Alvin Mitchell
earned the honor on Jan. 6.
■
Kansas’ Jacque Vaughn’s five
assists in the Jayhawks’ 73-65 win
over Connecticut allowed him to
move into first place on the all-time
KU assist charts, overtaking Cedric
Hunter.
Big 12 Notebook compiled by
staff reporter Vince D’Adamo.
Canadian goalkeeper
leads a bumper crop of
high school seniors.
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Riding the momentum of its quick
rise into the upper echelon of college
soccer, Nebraska has gained verbal
commitments from four versatile high
school seniors.
Sixteen-year-old Karina LeBlanc,
the heir apparent to defend the Cana
dian National Team goal, leads the
group of recruits, each of whom plans
to sign letters of intent Feb. 5.
Julie Greco, a 5-foot-2 striker/
midfielder from Omaha Marian, Chris
tine Gluck, a 5-5 midfielder from
Chino, Calif., and Sarah McCrea, a 5
2 defender from Las Vegas, also have
verbally committed to NU Coach John
Walker.
“Everything that I saw impressed
me,” said the 5-9 LeBlanc, who turns
17 in March. “I liked the facilities, the
atmosphere and the competitiveness.
All the players seemed to get along
really well.”
Bom in Atlanta and now living in
Maple Ridge, British Columbia — a
town of 5,000 nestled in the Coast
Mountains near the U.S. border —
LeBlanc also lived for a few years in
Dominica, a small island in the Carib
bean. Last year, she allowed seven
goals, playing about once a week from
October through March for the Golden
Ears Royals under-19 club team.
LeBlanc has played against Ne
braska defender Sharolta Nonen, who
is from Vancouver, just west of Maple
Ridge. Before last fall, LeBlanc said,
she had heard of NU’s Walker, who is
from Ontario and saves as an assis
tant coach on the Canadian National
Team.
“But I had never met him before
my visit,” she said of the newly named
Division I national coach of the year.
“I was looking for a school with some
Canadian players.” <
Nebraska’s 19% roster included six
Canadians. LeBlanc, who visited Lin
coln on Nov. 17 for NU’s 3-2 overtime
win over Minnesota in the NCAA
Tournament, probably will not play
much next season at Nebraska, she
Please see RECRUITS on 8
Matt Millek/DN
NEBRASKA HEAVYWEIGHT Tolly Thompson beat North Carolina* Justin Harty 9-5 in the National Dnls.
Thompson wants a shot
NU heavyweight
beats one nemesis
but loses to another.
By Sam McKewon
StaffReporter
About an hour and 45 minutes
into Nebraska’s dual with North
Carolina Saturday in the Cliff Keen
National Duals, heavyweight Tolly
Thompson met up with an old
Mend.
As Thompson took the mat with
the dual tied at 16, he stared at a
familiar opponent Across die mat,
the 6-foot-2 frame of Tar Heel
heavyweight Justin Harty stared
back.
Harty and Thompson have be
come very acquainted with each the
past three years. The two met in the
last two NCAA Tournaments and
they meet again Saturday.
This time Thompson — the
fourth-ranked heavyweight in the
nation — defeated the second
ranked Harty 9-5 leading NU to a
19-16 dual victory. He also got a
little revenge for a loss Harty dealt
him in the NCAA Championships
last March.
“Harty is a tough wrestler,” Th
ompson said. “I’m sure we’ll meet
again somewhere down the road at
the NCAA’s.”
They have seen a lot of one an
other in the past two years.
In 1995, the two met in the
NCAA Tournament. That time,
Thompson came out a 3-1 winner
over Harty. in the NCAA
quarterfinals.
Thompson, a senior from
Janesville, Iowa, lost a controver
sial match to Harty in the semifi
nals last season. Harty used a se
ries of headbutts that left
Thompson’s head bleeding, and
Harty used that to his advantage
winning 6-5.
Harty lost to Wisconsin’s Jeff
Walter in the finals and Thompson
finished third beating Cal
Bakersfield’s Stephen Neal.
Saturday’s match was reminis
cent of the 1996 battle. This time,
Thompson was bleeding undo: his
right eye, butitook a 5-3 lead on a
takedown with 45 seconds remain
ing. Harty came back to reverse
Thompson and tied the score at 5-5.
Thompson won the match after
Harty illegally locked his hands
around Thompson’s waist as Th
ompson was attempting to escape.
* ft • - -
The thought of avenging last
year’s loss never entered
Theflnijpteon’s mind, he said.
know how much this match meant
to them.”
Thompson wasn’t finished fac- ^
ing ranked contpetition yet. He
faced top-ranked Kerry McCoy of
Penn State, but lost 3-1 in overtime.
Thompson and McCoy sowed
their lone points on escapes in
regulation-before McCoy —
named outstanding wrestler of the
tournament—took down Thomp
son in overtime for the win.
“We’ve wrestled each other so
many times, we’re not going to
blow each other out.”
The prospects of facing either
McCoy or Harty again at the
NCAA Tournament in March are
great.
“I know I’m going to be ready
for the NCAA’s,” Thompson said.
“That’s when I have to peak.”
Soccer
Recruits
Name Pos. Hometown
Sarah McCrea D Las Vegas
i
i
\
f
|
L •
next month
By Mitch Sperman
Senior Reporter
r Brandop A Harpspn^ pampts^ill
; awaited the final worc^frpEgC^ejr^oh
•' on Monday night, but the junior col
lege comerback appears ready to en
roll at Nebraska next fall, his mother
said.
Harrison, a 5-foot-11,180-pounder
from Gainesville, Texas, spent last
weekend in Lincoln, Deloris Harrison
said, and likely accepted a scholarship
offer from NU Coach Tom Osborne.
Osborne and NU Assistant Coach
Turner Gill visited Harrison’s parents
in Texas on Monday afternoon, but the <
younger Harrison was not present atthe
meeting.
Late Monday, Harrison's parents
still hadn’t received his call to inform
them that he will officially become a
Comhusker during the letter-of-intent
signing period, which begins Feb~5.
Deloris Harrison said she does not
know howto reach her son, who is stay
ing in Topeka, Kan., withafriend. But
according to The National Recruiting
Advisor, a recruiting service and pub
lication, Harrison verbally committed
during his visit to Lincoln.
Harrison played football at Blinn
College in Brenham, Texas, in 1995
oiiu 177U. nc uoumcucu iu a ivauaas
junior college last month. In onto to
gain admittance to NU* he must gradu
ilehich time he will have two ^ears of
remaining eligibility.
Bobby Burton of The National Re
cruiting Advisor said Harrison origi
nally favored Texas A&M over Ne
braska until the Huskers lost junior
College comerback Kevin Brooks to
South Carolina earlier this month.
While at Gainesville High School,
Harrison, drew strong recruiting inter
est from several schools — including
Nebraska — as a teammate of current
Husker linebacker Julius Jackson.
However, Harrison failed to qualify
academically and enrolled at Blinn
College, where he earned first-team
junior-college All-America honors.
Including Harrison, who runs a 4.5
second 40-yard dash, Nebraska has
received commitments from 20 play
ers, 18 of whom will sign in February.
The other two, comerback Joe Walker
and lineman Glen Matthews, enrolled
at NU earlier this month and will par
ticipate in spring football practice.