Lue eagerly
awaits arrival
of NBA Draft
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
When Nebraska point guard Tyronn Lue
said he would enter the NBA Draft a year early,
he said it was decision he’d never look back on.
In about 120 hours, he’ll find out just how
of good of a decision he made.
On June 24, Lue and other top players in
the nation will find out their future in the NBA
Draft, which is held in Vancouver, B.C. Lue is
expected to be in top 20 picks of the two
round, 58-pick event.
“We’re very excited right now,” said Kim
Miller, Lue’s mother. “We’ve been waiting for
this.”
Since March 30, when Lue announced he
would be turning pro, he has said draft experts
put him somewhere between the 10th and 20th
picks in the draft.
Lue has been considered one of the top five
point guards in the draft since his announce
ment. Mike Bibby of Arizona is widely consid
ered top the point guard available, with Lue,
Jason Williams of Florida, and Larry Hughes
among the players following Bibby
So which team will get Lue? The Mexico,
Mo. native could make any number of NBA
cities home:
—bacramento. The Kings have the seventh
pick and are looking for a point guard to join
newly acquired forward Chris Webber.
—Milwaukee. With Terrell Brandon
already running the point, the Bucks probably
won’t use their No. 9 pick on Lue, but maybe
No. 19.
—Detroit. Lindsay Hunter’s not a true
point guard, so the Pistons may get one with
the No. 11 pick.
—Orlando. The Magic want to move Penny
Hardaway to shooting guard, making a point
guard selection likely in the No. 12, 13, or No.
15 picks the Magic have in the first round.
—Houston. With the No. 14, No. 16, and
No. 18 picks, the Rockets may pick a speedier
point guard than Matt Maloney.
—Los Angeles (Clippers). If they don’t go
with Bibby as the No. 1 pick overall, they
could pick Lue up with No. 22 pick.
NU basketball coach Danny Nee said
whatever team it is, an up-tempo playing style
would be important for Lue to flourish.
“He needs a team that likes to get it up and
down the floor,” Nee said. “I don’t know
enough about the teams to know who’s going
to take him, but a team like that would fit him
well.”
Nee said that with the NBA’s 24-second
shot-clock, Lue with an up-tempo mindset
would work to his advantage.
‘The faster the shot clock the better,” Nee
said. “With the way the 24-second goes, Lue
will fit in just fine in the NBA.”
The Draft will start at 6 p.m. Monday and
will be televised by TNT.
Soccer squad bolstered by former Huskers
By Darren Ivy
Co-editor
After using up her eligibility in 1997, former
Nebraska soccer player Tanya Franck looked for a
place where she could continue to play the game.
But she couldn’t find one, so the defender
worked out on her own and practiced with the NU
soccer team during the spring — not playing in
any games.
Finally, this summer, teammate Kari
Uppinghouse helped Franck find her diamond in
the rough.
Or, m this case, her Denver Diamonds in the
rough. The Diamonds, an amateur soccer team,
compete in the W-League of the United Systems
of Independent Soccer Leagues — the top
women’s league in the United States.
“I was away from soccer for a bit, so I thought
this would be a good opportunity to practice and
play some games,” Franck said. “It’s a quality
team, a quality club, and they have a great coach,
so all the factors were there.”
Franck and Uppinghouse are joined on the
Diamonds by current Comhuskers Jenny Benson
and Lindsay Eddleman, as well as college gradu
ates and players from other colleges.
Eddleman and Uppinghouse, both Denver
area natives, returned home this summer for their
third season with the Diamonds.
Diamonds’ Coach Tom Stone coached
Eddleman and Uppinghouse when they were
younger and played with the Colorado Rush
Soccer Club.
So when the Diamonds were formed two
years ago, Stone built his team around the two
NU players.
“Any team I coach, I want (Kari) on my
team,” Stone said. “She’s been on every great
team I’ve coached.”
Eddleman also is an essential part of the
Diamonds.
“She is a strong, fast forward who loves to
take people on,” Stone said. “Every team needs a
player like that.”
Thus far, Eddleman has scored two goals and
had one assist in two games. Uppinghouse has
added a goal and assist and Franck also has an
assist.
Franck and Benson are new to the team this
year, but Eddleman said most of
the players on the Diamonds
played club soccer together and
come back each summer.
The NU players have gotten
to know the scenery along
Interstate 80 quite well this year
commuting back and forth
between Denver and Lincoln
for pre-session classes, and cur
rently NU soccer camps.
The Uppinghouse home m
Littleton, Colo, has become the
second home for Benson and
Franck.
“We’re enjoying it,” said
Mary Uppinghouse. “They are
nice gals.”
This summer the Diamonds
are 5-0, but those wins have
come against lesser competi
tion. However, those games
have been a good tune-up,
Eddleman said.
“The more we play, the
more comfortable we get with
one another,” Eddleman said.
The Diamonds next game is
June 28 against Chicago Cobras
— the top team in the region.
Playoffs are Aug. 8, and
Aug. 15 is the championship
game.
“The Championship game
is our goal,” Eddleman said. “It
seems that each year the league
gets better.”
Originally, the Diamonds
were going to become part of a
new professional soccer league
this summer, but sponsors of the
Mike Warren/DN
AFTER THE BA11 was kicked out of bounds during a practice
game at the Nebraska Soccer Camp Wednesday, Lindsay
Eddleman throws it back into play. Eddleman was back in
Lincoln for the camp then she will return to Denver.
league pulled out at the last minute, so plans were
put on hold until 2000, Eddleman said.
Franck hopes the 1999 Women’s World Cup,
hosted by the United States, will provide support
for the league, because playing professional soc
cer is one of her goals.
“Knowing this team could be a professional
team in 2000 was one reason I joined,” said
Franck, who will join the Canadian National
Team June 28. “It gets my foot in the door.”
The high level of competition was another
reason Franck joined. Stone said the W-League
had 19 National Team players in it and is “the best
league anywhere in the world.”
NU Coach John Walker is pleased Benson
and Eddleman are playing in this top league.
“I think it’s great,” Walker said. “We encour
age all our players to this. They are staying sharp,
and this should help them a avoid a rusty period in
the fall.”
Colorado I-back commits to Huskers for ‘99 season
ByAdamKlinker
Staff Reporter
Josh Davis is the kind of football player
who’s not afraid to give his opponents the run
around, but when it comes to college recruiters,
he is direct
Last week Davis, an I-back from Loveland,
Colo., became the first commitment to the 1999
recruiting class for Nebraska.
Davis, who was bom in Lincoln, committed
to play football at NU after attending a session of
the Big Red Football School in Lincoln last
week.
Also in the running for Davis were
Colorado, Colorado State and New Mexico
State. But Davis’ coach at Loveland High
School, John Poovey, said he had a feeling that
the 5-foot-11-inch, 195 pound son of former
Comhusker running back Tony Davis would
choose the Comhuskers.
“Josh is a phenomenal running back,”
Poovey said. “He’s got great vision, he finds the
holes. I think he’ll fit in quite well.”
Davis returns to Loveland for his senior sea
son this fall after a junior year in which he
rushed 112 times for 1,131 yards, averaging
10.1 yards per carry and scoring 23 touchdowns.
Davis also returned 13 kicks for 420 yards,
caught 13 passes for 273 yards. Defensively,
Davis played safety for a team that went 10-1 in
1997.
Poovey said under a run-oriented offense,
Davis would have been capable of rushing for
more than 2,500 yards. The multiple offensive
attack at Loveland, however, ensured that Davis
didn’t always have to be the go-to player.
“He can do it all,” Poovey said. “But as a
multiple weapon team, we showed we could do
other things, too.”
Davis also competed in track, where he ran a
10.64 second 100-meter dash at the Colorado
State Track Meet. In Lincoln last week, he ran an
electronic 40-yard dash time of 4.8 seconds but
Poovey said Davis has run the 40 in 4.6 seconds.
“He’s a fast kid,” Poovey said.
Tony Davis, Josh’s father, was a Husker run
ning back from 1973 to 1975 and was inducted
into the NU football hall of fame in 1991. Tony
Davis ran for 2,153 yards, which is 15th on the
all-time Nebraska rushing list.
He is currently the offensive coordinator at
Loveland.
