Wiggins wants to keep legacy alive
BySamMcKewon
Staff Reporter
Three words hardly mentioned
around Nebraska football until five
years ago have had a major impact on
the program.
Manatee
High School.
The small
school just south
of the Thmpa-St.
Petersburg area
has produced two
of Nebraska’s bet
ter players in re
cent years. All
American quar
terback Tommie Frazier and
comerback Tyrone Williams — both
Manatee standouts — were big parts
in the Comhuskers’ run to two straight
national titles.
Now, junior wingback Shevin
Wiggins from Palmetto, Fla., is hop
ing he can make an impact and be
come the third player from Bradenton
to become a star at NU.
Wiggins, a 5-foot-11,180-pounder,
steps into a spot vacated by the depar
ture of Jon Vedral who held the start
ing slot the past two seasons for the
Huskers. Wiggins also figures to be a
big part of the special teams as a punt
return and kick return specialist.
Wiggins said he is looking forward
to expanding his role and getting more
playing time.
“I think we may open up the at
tack a little bit this year, which is
good,” Wiggins said. “I feel like we
can move the ball.”
Wiggins brings a different game to
the field than Vedral. Vedral’s speed
is considerably better. He entered
spring ball with an impressive time
of 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He
also has shown the ability to make big
plays returning kicks and catching
passes.
NU Receivers Coach Ron Brown
said Wiggins has the opportunity to
become one of the Huskers’ best at that
position.
“If you were going to have a com
puter spit out the prototypical
wingback, Shevin Wiggins would be
the guy,” Brown said. “He can block,
catch and he can really run with the
ball.”
Some of that running ability car
ries over from Wiggins’high school
career. At Manatee he earned Florida
offensive player of the year and “Mr.
Florida” honors after running for
2,267 yards and 32 touchdowns in his
senior season.
Wiggins said he held no hopes of
playing running back in college be
cause of his size and he gladly accepts
his role of being a wingback.
“I like to catch the tell as much as
run it,” Wiggins said. “Wingback was
really a position I wanted to play.
Wiggins finally had a chance to
show his catching abilities in breakout
game against Virginia Tech at the
Orange Bowl.
Starting in place of Vedral,
Wiggins caught three passes for 36
yards in the 41-21 Husker victory.
While Wiggins is currently at the
top of the depth chart, he said there
are plenty of good players behind who
want the spot. Behind Wiggins are
Lance Brown and Sean Wieting, both
of whom saw substantial playing time
last season.
“I have to work hard all spring in
order to keep the job,” Wiggins said.
“The job isn’t mine by a long shot.”
Brown said he knows Wiggins will
be up to the challenge.
“Shevin can be as physical as any
one on this team when he wants to be,”
Brown said. “He’s going to be a solid,
all-around player.”
Beck takes
BECK from page 10
said.
Cavalli said he paid close attention
to Beck’s work at NU this season and
when a head coaching position became
available, Beck was his top choice.
“We wanted to really hire a top
notch Division I coach, and we cer
tainly think we got that in Angela
Beck,” Cavalli said. “She’s a big catch
for us.”
Beck interviewed with Gavalli,
ABL Chief Operating Officer Steve
Hams and Portland Coach Lin Dunn
during the Women’s NCAA Final
Four in Cincinnati on March 27.
Earlier this month she interviewed
again in San Jose with Gavalli, Hams,
ABL Vice President Anne Cribbs,
ABL Attorney Rich Nickels, San Jose
General Manager Christine Forder
and Joe Lacob, an investor in the
league. She also met Laser player rep
resentative Sonja Henning.
Gavalli said the mayor of San Jose
wanted to meet Beck but was unable
to because of a previously scheduled
meeting.
“She was the unanimous choice by
the group,” said Gavalli, who offered
her the job while driving her to the
airport on April 11. “She just has a
great personality. She’s very dynamic
and she has this presence that just
lights up a room.
“Her coaching skills and commu
nication skills are very dynamic and
she’s just an enthusiastic person. She’s
great relating to players and motivat
ing players.”
Beck didn’t accept Gavalli’s offer
until Saturday, April 19. She informed
her team of the decision in an unsched
uled meeting Sunday night at 6:30.
“That was one of the more diffi
cult meetings I have ever had,” Beck
said. “I spoke from the heart and told
them that dreams are from within and
don’t stop being all they can be.”
The ABL, Beck said, gives her a
chance to have more control and be
Lasers job
u
We wanted to really
hire a top-notch
Division I coach,
and we certainly
think we got that in
Angela Beck. She’s
a big catch for us.”
GabyCavalli
ABL vice president
able to compete on an equal playing
field.
“In college you work real hard a
lot of times where you lack control,”
Beck said. “In the pro game you have
a little more control and it’s more of
an equal playing field if you’re smart
enough to pick the right players.”
Beck said she would like to take
some of her staff with her to San Jose,
but also wants to see NU Assistant
Head Coach Theresa Becker take over
the top job at Nebraska.
However, Beck emphasized the
decision on naming the new coach
isn’t hers and she will support the de
cision of Athletic Director Bill Byrne.
Becker has been Beck’s assistant
for eight of the last 11 years. Becker
was the coach at Iowa State from
1992-95 before returning to NU.
“Theresa has put a great deal of
time and effort into the program,”
Beck said. “Our players are happy with
her and it wouldn’t be financially fea
sible for her to come with me. She’s
more interested in staying and doesn’t
want to leave what we have built
here.”
II
Kendig
hopes NU
improves
WOMEN from page 10
Shelly,” Kendig said. “Hie way you
make that up is by making a group
effort.”
Freshman Heather Brink and
sophomore Misty Oxford, both of
whom earned All-America honors at
the NCAA individual event finals,
should be the nucleus of another tal
ented Husker team, Kendig said.
NU, which finished 1997 ranked
sixth, will also benefit from the returns
of Amie Dillman and Laura
Ohlendarf, who both missed regionals
and the NCAA meet with injuries.
The rest of the team will be
loaded with experience. Freshman
Nicole Wilkinson, along with sopho
mores Laurie McLaughlin, Courtney
Brown and Jess Swift will each play
crucial roles, Kendig said.
Two recruits, Amy Ringo and
Kathy Ligon, should make an imme
diate impact next season, Kendig said.
Both athletes have already had
success in junior national competi
tion. Ringo, from Phoenix, finished
second in the all-around at her jun
ior regional and Ligon, of Houston,
was third at her regional.
“The two we have coming in are
very strong,” he said. “So I think the
future does look bright.”
NUs Allen
proud of
team’s end
MEN from page 10
the conference championship. We
beat the national champions. We just
got hurt at the end, and we couldn’t
reach our full potential.”
The Huskers, ranked in the
nation’s top six all season, defeated
national champion California, run
ner-up Oklahoma and third-place
finisher Iowa in the regular season.
Nebraska was favored to finish
in the top three at the NCAA West
Regional in Albuquerque, N.M., but
ended up fifth after losing all
arounde&J.D. Reive.
Reive injured his neck before the
meet while practicing a parallel bars
routine. His future at NU is uncertain.
With Reive’s career in jeopardy
and Ted Harris and Ryan McEwen
graduating, some might think the
Huskers will struggle next year.
“I think if you look at who we
have coming back that we’ll be
loaded next year,” Allen said.
The Huskers will return sopho
more Marshall Nelson, who won in
dividual national championships on
the high bar and the parallel bars.
Also returning will be all-arounders
Bill Mulholland, Derek Leiter and
junior Jim Koziol, who redshirted
this season because of a nagging
shoulder injury.
NU golfers
finish 3rd
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska women’s golf
team finished third and had two
freshmen finish in the top five at
the first-ever Big 12 Conference
Golf championships.
The Ccrnhuskers, who finished
with a final-round team score of
321, completed the tournament
with a score of 945 finishing be
hind winner Texas and second
place finisher Texas A&M.
NU was led by freshmen Hanne
Nyquist and Elizabeth Bahensky.
Nyquist, who was named the Big
12’s newcomer of the year, fired her
third straight round of 77 to finish
the tournament in fourth place with
a 231. Bahensky shot a final-round
score of 81 and finished fifth, three
strokes behind Nyquist.
“I can’t say enough about
Hanne and Elizabeth,” NU Coach
Robin Krapfl said. “To even be in
that situation and come through
really showed a lot of fight.”
Heather Bowie won the indi
vidual crown with a three-round
total of 212,11 strokes in front of
second-place finisher Isabelle
Rosberg of Texas A&M.
Nyquist and Rachelle Tacha
were named to the All-Big 12 team,
and Nyquist and Bahensky were
named as members of the All-Big
12 Tournament team.
Rain prevents
Tfech sweep
From Staff Reports
Only the rain kept the Nebraska
basketball from begin swept in a
doubleheader at Texas Tech.
The No. 1 Red Raiders (38-5
and 18-4 in the Big 12 Conference)
won the first game 9-3 and were
leading the game two 11-6 before
rain forced the game to be sus
pended in the top of the eighth in
ning. By winning the first game,
Tech earned a spot in the Big 12
Conference tournament.
In game one, Tech hitters
pounded NU pitching as Keith
Ginter, Jess Oliveras and Jason
Landreth all homered. For the
Comhuskers (22-26 and 4-15),
Ken Harvey hit a home run in a
losing effort.
The two teams will complete the
suspended second game today at
1:30 p.m. at Dan Law Field.
1
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