Jayhawks
dominate
conference
ByAntoneOseka
Staff Reporter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For many
Big 12 conference teams this year, it’s
the Big 11 and the Kansas Jayhawks.
In reality, many conference coaches
are already planning to chase the
Jayhawks through the regular season.
At the Big 12 Men’s Basketball
Media Day Thursday, coaches were
discussing the possibility of Kansas
running through the league undefeat
ed on their way to the NCAA
Tournament in March 1998.
“We won’t compete with
Kansas,” said Oklahoma State Coach
Eddie Sutton. “Kansas is at a differ
ent level then the other 11 teams in
the league. But, that doesn’t mean
Kansas is going to go undefeated.”
The Jayhawks went 34-2 fast sea
son, but lost some key players from
that team. However, returners Raef
LaFrentz and Paul Pierce make the
Jayhawks tough competition at home
__1 V___4.1..
holds a Division I record for the
longest home court winning streak:
44 straight at Allen Fieldhouse in
Lawrence, Kan.
Kansas Coach Roy Williams
admits he has two of the premier
players in the country running the KU
front court.
“If the NBA draft were held today,
I think Paul and Raef would be in the
top five,” Williams said. “I’m happy
we have two players who can outright
score - it is called a scoreboard.”
Other coaches around the league
know that LaFrentz and Pierce can be
a lights-out shooting combination for
the Jayhawks.
“The great thing about Kansas is
that when you look at great players
across the country, you see two from
Kansas - Paul Pierce and Raef
LaFrentz,” said Texas Tech Coach
James Dickey. “You see great players
all over the country, but two of the top
five can be at Kansas.”
Missouri Coach Norm Stewart
Matt Millkr/DN
JUNIOR ANDY MARKOWSKI aid the rest of the Huskers took Kansas to over
time In the Allen Fieldhouse last year before losing. This season KU is pre
dicted te win the Big 12, while the Huskers were predicted to finish fourth
in the league.
said this Kansas team might be even
better than the team that narrowly
went undefeated last season, but he
and many other coaches were quick
to agree die talented teams in the Big
12 can hand Kansas a loss at any
point during the conference season.
“There are enough quality teams,
in this league that Kansas shouldn't
go undefeated,” Sutton said. “It’s hard
to win on the road.”
Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton
said, “On any given night, anybody
can beat anybody. I believe every
night your players must be ready to
lace it up and play.”
Patton should know. He admitted
his team used to be the easiest win in
the Big 12, but this year’s Buffaloes
team is picked to finish ninth by both
the coaches and the media. Many
coaches see teams like Oklahoma,
Texas and Nebraska as threats to KU
if the Jayhawks aren’t ready to play.
“I think Oklahoma is the real deal
and Nebraska is loaded. Roy
(Williams) is loaded again, no ques
tion,” said Baylor Coach Harry
Miller.
ing success on alf basketball courts
across the country.
Sutton said Kansas’ success only
adds to the conference as a whole, if
you have a team that is in the top lOin
the country, he said, it’s just great for
your league.
Other coaches around the confer
ence agreed.
“This is one of the great and pre
miere conferences in the country,”
Dickey said. “I look forward to die
future.”
Runners plan for championships
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
All season, Nebraska cross
country Coach Jay Dirksen talked
about his team preparing for the
big meets at the end of the year.
The first of those meets arrives
this weekend, as both the men’s
and women’s cross country team
run in the Big 12 Championships
in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday.
“Both teams are ready to run
about as well as they’re going to
run all year,” Dirksen said. “We’re
looking forward to seeing just
how well we can do.”
For both the men’s and
women's divisions, Colorado,
which is ranked in the top five in
the nation, is favored. On the.
women's side, Dirksen said he
sees Nebraska in a fight with Iowa
State and Missouri for the second
place position.
Dirksen said Nebraska has to
keep its fourth and fifth runners
near the top of the pack to win the
duel among the three teams.
“It's important to make sure
our runners who aren’t at the top
run a great race,” he said. “There
are situations where a team’s
fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh run
ners can be make the difference
when points are close”
On the men’s side, the senior
freshman Combination of
Cleophas Boor and Jeroen
Broekzitter will again pace the
Huskers. Boor had his best race of
the season two weeks ago in
: Michigan, where he finished third
at the Wolverine Inter-regional.
Broekzitter has consistently
placed in the top 10 this season, as
well. :
Dirksen said both are ready to
break out with their top race.
“Both haven’t come anywhere
near their best race so far this
year,” he said. “Jeroen and
Cleophas have both had a week to
get ready for this thing and they
. - V •: , .v *>£=*
look like they’re going to run very
well.”
Nebraska took a week off from
heavy training and, combined
with the snowstorm, NU runners
have been able rest up for this
week’s Big 12 Championships.
“This is the first week where
the team has really had a chance to
rest its legs and prepare for a big
meet,” Dirksen said. “It should
help us to be fresh for the meet
and give us a little better stami
na.”
The course for the Big 12
Championships should be a good
challenge for all the teams,
Dirksen said. The course features
many hills and changing eleva
tions that will test the stamina and
speed of the runners.
Overall, Dirksen said he sees
both teams making a big move in
Big 12 Championships.
“It’s good to see, that with all
the things that have happened this
seaspn’ we haven’t been a bunch
of dogs and stay in die bottom of
the conference,” he said. “We’ve
fought hard all year.”
'-.. - ■_ ■■■• -'
W§M&:?,
1st prize $100
2nd prize $50
Sunday, Nov. 1 @ 1 pm
NU vs. Minnesota
at Abbott Sports Complex
(located 1 i/2 miles north of
Comhusker Hwy. on 70 th Street)
1
NEBRASKA VS.
OKLAHOMA
NU Coliseum
• '" • •• - r. ' ;• -