Sam McKewon
Missouri’s
coach earns
admiration
I love Norm Stewart.
OK, I said that to get you into my
column. I am not really in love with the
coach of Missouri’s basketball team. I
haven't even met the guy. But I respect
the hell out of him.
1 've heard many sportswnters talk
about how they don’t like old Norm.
They say he’s mean or underhanded.
He’s whiny on the sidelines and is said
to oftentimes have the referees in his
back pocket.
Maybe some of these things are
true. No doubt Stewart gets some calls
from the refs at home.
But there are so many accomplish
ments Stewart has had over the years
that overshadow any personality con
flict he has with a beat writer. The
numbers speak for themselves: 708
career victories, including a 611-320
record at MU
Then there are the 16 NCAA
Tournaments, five Sweet 16 appear
ances and two final eight appearances.
Stewart has had his share of success in
the Big 8/Big 12 Conference, too, with
eight league titles.
Still the numbers don't speak to
the one word that characterizes
Stewart's career: loyalty. Loyalty to his
state. Loyalty to his players.
Stewart has been extremely faith
ful to the Show-Me State. He was bom
in Shelbyville, Mo. He attended the
University of Missouri, where he was
the leading scorer in 1955-56 for the
basketball team and a member of the
NCAA champion baseball team in
1954.
Then, after a stint at Northern
Iowa, Stewart returned to MU to cre
ate one of the nation’s best basketball
programs.
There have been moments during
this season that show Stewart’s loyalty
to his squad. One came on a weekly
Big 12-teleconference, when Stewart
angrily told all listeners that he would
n’t stand for unfair fouls called on his
6-foot-11,355-pound Monte Hardge.
Another was in an 81 -76 win over
Nebraska. NU replaced an injured
player with one off the bench to shoot
free throws, and Stewart countered
with the same action late in the game -
only it didn’t look like the Missouri
player really was injured.
Sneaky? Probably. Below the belt?
Maybe. Brilliant? Absolutely.
It said simply, “I’ll do what I have
to within the rules to see my team
win.” Stewart refuses to let chances to
win slip by. I admire that.
Tonight Stewart’s Tigers will be in
Lincoln, trying to hold on to NCAA
Tournament aspirations late in the sea
son.
Fans should take a moment in that
game to watch Stewart, who will no
doubt be prowling the sideline with a
fierce scowl and competitive fire.
They’ll be watching one of the
best.
McKewon is a sophomore news
editorial and political science major
and a Daily Nebraskan senior
reporter.
Two let go from Huskers
1 Brandon Harrison and
Derek Allen are dismissed
for “disciplinary reasons."
From Staff Reports
Nebraska defensive back
Brandon Harrison and defensive
tackle Derek Allen have been per
manently dismissed from the foot
ball team for “disciplinary rea
sons,” NU Coach Frank Solich
said.
“I really don’t plan to comment
any further on that,” Solich said.
When contacted by phone
Tuesday, Harrison also refused to
comment further on the situation.
Allen could not be reached. Both
players were still enrolled in
classes, Solich said.
Harrison, a 6-foot, 175-pound
junior from Gainesv ille, Texas,
played in 1 1 games last season
including the ,
Orange Bowl -
and recorded 14
tackles.
Harrison started
in three games
and also served
as a backup to
Erwin Swiney.
A junior col
lege transfer
from Blinn Harrison
College in
Gainesville, Harrison recorded 50
tackles and intercepted seven
passes in two seasons before
transferring to Nebraska.
Blinn College posted a 24-0
record during Harrison’s stint and
won the National Junior College
Athletic Association champi
onship in 1995 and 1996.
Allen, a 6-3, 280-pound sopho
more from
Russelville,
Ark., recorded
two tackles in
seven games
last season.
As a fresh
man in 1996,
Allen played in
five games and
had five tack
les, two sacks,
one breakup and
one quarterback hurry. Allen red
shirted in 1995.
Both players took part in win
ter pre-testing in January, and
Harrison recorded the third-best
40-yard-dash time on the team at
4.53 seconds.
Daniel Luedert/DN
NU WRESTLER Brad Canoyer, who has been voted NU’s most dedicated wrestler two years in a row, shows his lead*
ership on the mat - not through words.
Wrestler leads by example
Brad Canoyer voted NU’s most dedicated
By Sarah Dose
Staff Reporter
Brad Canoyer wants to set an
example. An example that, he said,
will show leadership if it’s conveyed
in the right way.
Canoyer thinks the right way is
through his actions, not his voice.
A 134-pound senior, Canoyer has
been voted NU’s most dedicated
wrestler two years in a row. With that
kind of respect from his own team
mates, Canoyer has found his own
way to lead the team.
“I’ve always felt that you lead by
example,” he said. “It’s your voice,
too, but example is so much more
important.
“It means a lot to think those guys
have that much respect for me. I like
to use that award as a push in the right
direction.”
NU Coach Tim Neumann said
that push has definitely helped
Canoyer become an honest competi
tor.
“He’s not doing this for celebrity
status,” Neumann said. “It’s for per
sonal reasons. I wouldn’t call him
overshadowed, but more like taken
for granted.”
Neumann said the rest of the team
might not always see what Canoyer
66—
I think of him as our blue-collar... guy
Tim Neumann
NU wrestling coach
does for the team in certain situa
tions.
“He’s a solid performer,”
Neumann said. “Maybe we’ll be in a
slump in a tournament, and he’ll
come through with a big win to get
the ball rolling.”
Tenth-ranked Canoyer said he is
looking forward to the rest of his sea
son and has confidence that both he
and his team will win national titles.
Neumann said those titles will
come if Canoyer keeps his work
ethic.
“I think of him as our blue-collar
work ethic guy,” Neumann said.
“He’s been our solidifying force for a
long time now.”
As one of the team’s captains,
Canoyer said he has never felt over
shadowed by the hype of seniors
Temoer Terry or Ryan Tobin.
“I’ve always felt (wrestling) is a
team sport,” he said. “So I don’t think
I could be overlooked.”
He might not be overlooked,
Neumann said, but he doesn’t exactly
stick out, either.
“He’s honest and hardworking,
but that doesn’t make him stand out,”
Neumann said. “I think that’s the
thing about him - he doesn’t stand
out.
“He’s never once quit or given up.
And more importantly, he doesn’t ask
for anything.”
Canoyer and the rest of the No. 10
Nebraska wrestling team will dual
with Missouri tonight at 7 at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
They also look forward to
Sunday, when they compete at home
again, but against top-ranked
Oklahoma State.
“I hope everyone is looking at
(tonight) and not Sunday,” Neumann
said.
Neumann also said he was wor
ried that the team will be thinking
about how OSU shut out Missouri in
a regular season dual.
“Every positive thing will happen
against Missouri if they concentrate
on the meet at hand and wrestle well.”
Kubik sisters
secure win
for Huskers
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Nebraska's
Cambridge connection out-dualed
Missouri’s sophomore duo to give
the Cornhuskers
a 96-91 victory
Tuesday night at
the Hearnes
Center.
The
Cambridge sis
ters - Jami and
Nicole Kubik -
both gave NU
career-best per
tormances as Nicole Kubik
the Huskers (20
7 overall and 9-12 in the Big 12
Conference) fought off a gritty
Tiger performance. MU fell to 10
13 overall and 2-11 in league play.
Nicole Kubik, who scored a
career-high 23 points Saturday at
Oklahoma - poured in 34, including
two crucial 3-point field goals, and
made 10 of 11 shots from the free
throw line. Meanwhile, sister Jami.
a 57 percent free throw shooter for
the season, connected on 13 of 1 6
attempts from the free-throw line to
help her career-best. 23-point per
formance.
“What you saw tonight was two
young women who put this basket
ball team on their back and refused
to lose,” NU Coach Paul Sanderford
said. “Nicole and Jami Kubik
weren’t going to be denied 20 wins
or this road win.”
The Kubiks’ performance coun
tered a 33-point outing from
Missouri sophomore Julie Helm
and 23 points from sophomore
Ekpe Akpaffiong. Helm was named
the Big 12 Conference freshman of
the year last season.
It was NU sophomore Nicole
Kubik, who made two 3-point field
goals within a two-minute span,
who helped the Huskers overcome
the feisty Tigers. The bucket was
NU’s only 3-point field goal of the
evening.
“I guess 1 just was feeling it,”
Nicole Kubik said. “I hadn’t been
shooting them, and they just went
in. When you’re having a good night
everything goes in for you.”
Both sisters said their perfor
mance reminded them of their play
ing days for the Trojans at
Cambridge.
“(Nicole) was awesome,” Jami
Kubik said. “She really stepped it up
and it reminded me of ours days
from high school.”
Jami Kubik said Nicole had a
look in her eyes of confidence and
determination - similar to when she
played at Cambridge.
Jami, who added two free
throws around Nicole’s two 3-point
ers, said those two field goals were
big in the game.
But quicker than Nebraska
opened up its largest lead of nine
points on Nicole’s second 3-point
goal, the Tigers would cut the lead
to five with 6:14 remaining in the
game.
The Huskers then recaptured a
nine-point lead when Nicole Kubik
added two free throws with 3:19
remaining. But then the Tigers went
Please see WIN on 10