NCAA decides
From staff reports
The NCAA ruled Monday on
the futures of two Nebraska football
players.
NU’s Shevin Wiggins, who
appealed to the NCAA for another
year of eligibility, had his request
denied.The committee cited that
Wiggins had used up the five years
allotted to complete four years of
athletic participation.
Giving an athlete a sixth year is
not a common practice and is usual
ly only granted in cases of injury.
Wiggins played in just three sea
sons on the Cornhusker football
team. After sitting out a year in 1994
urorder to meet NCAA initial eligi
bility requirements, Wiggins red
shirted in 1995 before beginning his
flaying career in 1996.
The NCAA committee decided
that Wiggins had used up his five
year clock and, without extenuating
circumstances, a sixth year was not
warranted.
While denying Wiggins’
request, the committee did grant a
fifth and sixth year to injury-riddled
backup quarterback Jeff Perino.
Perino joined NU in 1995 as part
of the recruiting class, and redshirt
ed that season, then proceeded to
miss the next two seasons because
of knee injuries and surgeries.
He will be back next season and
will join spring practice when it
begins March 22. Perino will be eli
gible the following season.
OSlPs Cooper joins
millionaire coaches
■ Incentives could place
the OSU coach among his
highest-paid colleagues.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -
Ohio State’s John Cooper is about to
join an exclusive club: college foot
ball coaches with contracts guaran
teeing them at least $1 million a
year.
Unidentified sources told The
Columbus Dispatch in a story pub
lished Sunday that Cooper and Ohio
State are working cm a new contract
that will assure him of reaching the
million-dollar plateau.
The contract Cooper signed in
1995 has matured to nearly
$750,000 a year.
The numbers include $170,772
in base salary, $290,000 in radio-TV
compensation and $217,000 from
the athletic department’s multimil
lion-dollar contract with Nike.
Added to that will be a $35,000
bonus for taking the team to the
Sugar Bowl; $10,000 for the team
finishing in the top 10 of at least one
major poll; and $ 10,000 for at least a
nine-win season that included a vic
tory over Michigan.
Cooper also has earned three
more “rollover” years to be added to
the five-year contract he signed in
1995, meaning his current deal
would take him through the 2002
season anyway.
The newspaper said the total
doesn’t include what is said to be a
$100,000 personal-services con
tract with the Kroger department
store chain, and any other compen
sation he can find, with the school’s
approval.
Cooper is expected to join
Florida’s Steve Spurrier, Florida
State’s Bobby Bowden and Penn
State’s Joe Patemo as college foot
ball coaches thought to earn at least
$ 1 million.
Recent newcomers to the group
include Mack Brown of Texas, Phil
Fulmer of Tennessee, Rick
Neuheisel of Washington, Bill
Snyder of Kansas State and Tommy
Tuberville of Auburn.
Cooper won’t talk about the
prospects of joining the club, but
athletics director Andy Geiger said
the pay scale for coaches is being
driven by the marketplace.
“You might feel comfortable
with it or hot comfortable with it,
but it falls under the ‘facts of life’
department,” Geiger said.
KU receiver released
after assault, shooting
I Police say they have no
suspects, and no arrests
had been made Monday.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -
Kansas wide receiver Michael
Chandler was released from the
hospital Monday after a weekend
shooting by masked intruders. .
Chandler left Lawrence
Memorial Hospital on Monday
morning, where he had surgery for a
gunshot wound in the groin area. He
was beaten and shot early Saturday
morning after answering a knock at
the door of his off-campus town
house and encountering three men
wearing masks.
“Michael is going to spend a few
days at home resting before return
ing to KU later this week,” said
Chandler’s father, Ron Williams.
Police haven’t been able to con
duct a thorough interview with
Chandler yet, Sgt. Richard Nickell
said Monday morning. No arrests
had been made as of Monday and
police said they had no suspects.
Police have released few details.
But one of Chandler’s roommates
told The Lawrence Journal-World
that Chandler had been asleep on a
couch when someone knocked on
the door. When Chandler partially
opened the door, the suspects
kicked it in and one of them hit him
across the ribs with a baseball bat,
the roommate said.
The assailants asked for
Michael Chandler, he said, and after
determining it was Chandler who
had opened the door, one of the sus
pects shot him with a small-caliber
handgun. The suspects then ran
from the area, the roommate said.
Chandler, a5-foot-ll, 195
pound junior from Kansas City,
Kan., has 46 career receptions for
577 yards. Last season he was third
on the team with 21 catches for 236
yards and a touchdown.
He had been expected to sit out
contact drills this spring while
recovering from surgery to repair
ligament damage in his left ankle.
Doctors said the injury from the
shooting should have no effect on
Chandler’s football career at
Kansas.
5
■ The former Husker
football player comes back
to his roots after stints in
the NFL and CFL.
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
On the wall in Nebraska Assistant
Athletic Director Boyd Epley’s office,
amidst numerous national champi
onship football team pictures and tro
phies, hangs a framed drawing of for
mer Cornhusker defensive tackle
Kenny Walker lifting weights.
The picture of Walker, who over
came being deaf to become an All
American at Nebraska in 1990, is the
only picture of an individual athlete to
ever hang on Epley’s wall. There’s a
reason for that, Epley said.
“I have tremendous respect for
what Kenny Walker has done,” Epley
said. “For a deaf player to go through
our program, and to make All
American and then make academic
All-America and then make it to the
professional level is absolutely
incredible.”
So when Walker’s wife, Martina,
contacted Epley last year and told him
that Walker was interested in becom
ing a strength coach, Epley listened.
“He’s a very special guy.
Naturally, when I learned he wanted
to be a strength coach, I didn’t waste *
any time going around asking for per
mission,” Epley said. “Bill Byrne
made this happen, kind of as a favor to
me and to Kenny. We probably would
n’t have gone out of our way for too
many people, but for Kenny, we did. I
don’t think there is anything wrong
with that.”
Walker started his twc-year
internship in the Memorial Stadium
weight room in October and he is now
one of the most popular strength
coaches. _
“Boyd is the reason I came here,”
Walker said. “He was there for me
almost every day while I was in col
lege. He’s a very good guy.”
Now Walker is the one who is
there every day for current
Cornhusker football players. One par
ticular guy Walker keeps after is
junior linebacker Carlos Polk.
And Walker already is making a
big impact, Polk said.
“Before, I pretty much went
through the motions,” Polk said.
“(Walker) pushes me. He demands
the best out of you. It’s hard to say no
to him. He knows what it takes to get
to the next level. He’ll get down and
do exercises with you.
“He’s the kind of person who has
you set a goal and he makes you reach
it. Now I do more than the coaches ask
me to do.”
Walker said he has a special way
with people.
“I am good with helping people,”
Walker said. “I have the ability to
motivate athletes.”
Before returning to his alma
mater, Walker motivated students at
the Iowa School for the Deaf for three
years. He said he loved his job, serv
ing as tin assistant football coach
along with duties.
“I was a role model for them,”
Walker said. “I showed them what
they could accomplish. It’s something
they needed to see. They didn’t want
me to leave, that was the hardest part
for me.” i
But Walker missed his wife and
three children, Tommy, Kenny and
Anna. He worked at the school from 3
p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through
Saturday. When his children got home
from school, Walker would leave for
work.
Though he now lives in Lincoln,
Walker still has ties at the Iowa School
for the Deaf. Tommy goes to school
and stays in the dormitory there dur
u
I am good with
helping people.
I have the ability to
motivate athletes.”
Kenny Walker
NU strength coach
ing the week and comes home on the
weekends.
It’s hard on Tommy because it’s
the first time he has been away from
home, Walker said.
“My wife and I sat down with him
and explained that the Iowa School for
the Deaf is the best thing for him
because he needs to learn social
skills,” Walker said.
Walker never attended a special
school for the deaf growing up. He
grew up in Denver before moving to
Crane, Texas, for high school. He let
tered at NU in 1989-90 before being
drafted in the eighth round by the
Denver Broncos in 1991. Walker
played with the Broncos from 1991
93 before heading to the Canadian
Football League in 1994-96.
He retired in 1996.
“I lost my motivation,” Walker
said. “My heart wasn’t in it anymore.”
Walker has had no trouble keeping
his heart in his new job in Lincoln,
Epley said.
“He jumped right into this job and
has done a tremendous job for us,”
Epley said. “He’s aggressive and gets
right in there with the guys. He does
n’t stand back and watch. They know
he has been through the battle the hard —
way. There is a lot of respect for him.
He gets along with everybody.
Everybody loves him.”
Walker loves the players too.
“They are like family.”
‘Baby Bull’ Cepeda elected
to Hall of Fame by Veterans
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Orlando
Cepeda, the Baby Bull who earned his
reputation with a big bat, and three
others were elected to the Hall of Fame
today by the Veterans Committee.
Former umpire Nestor Chylak,
turn-of-the-century manager Frank
Selee and Negro Leagues pitcher
Smokey Joe Williams also were
selected.
The 12-member Veterans panel,
which included former Cepeda team
mate Juan Marichal, Ted Williams and
Stan Musial, passed over Bill
Mazeroski, Dom DiMaggio, former
manager Dick Williams and umpire
Doug Harvey.
Candidates needed 75 percent
-nine votes — for election. Voting
totals were not released.
“As a rookie on the Veterans
Committee, I’m glad he got in on my
first year,” Marichal said of Cepeda.
“He was the type of player who
had no fear, the type of player you
wanted playing behind you,” he said.
Induction ceremonies will be held
July 25 at Cooperstown, N.Y. Nolan
Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount
were elected in January by the
Baseball Writers’ Association of
America.
Cepeda was the NL’s rookie of the
year in 1958 with San Francisco and
the league’s first unanimous MVP in
1967 with St. Louis. The first baseman
hit .297 with 379 home runs and 1,365
RBI for his career.
Also called “Cha-Cha,” Cepeda
Splayed in nine All-Star games and
often batted cleanup.
Cepeda played on great Giants
teams with Willie Mays, Willie
McCovey and Marichal, all of them
Hall of Famers.
Cepeda, 61, missed by just seven
votes in the BBWAA election five
years ago, his final try with the writ
ers. He came close last year in voting
by the Veterans.
In 1975, Cepeda was arrested at an
airport on charges of trying to pick up
160 pounds of marijuana. He was sen
tenced to five years and served 10
months. This incident is widely
believed to have worked against
Cepeda in previous bids .for the Hall.
“I just hope this time I make it,”
Cepeda, a community relations repre
sentative for the Giants, said a few
days before the voting. “It would be
tiie highest thing. It’s hard to describe
how much it would mean.”
Cepeda’s father, Pedro, was called
“The Bull” and also the “Babe Ruth of
Puerto Rico.” Cepeda joins Roberto
Clemente as the only Hall of Famers
bom in Puerto Rico.
Chylak, the eighth umpire elected
to the Hall, worked in the American
League from 1954-78 and called five
World Series and six All-Star games.
He died in 1982.
Selee managed from 1890 to 1905
in the National League with Boston
and Chicago, and had a winning per
centage of .598. He died in 1909.
Selee became the 15th manager
elected to the Hall.
Williams, also nicknamed
“Cyclone,” pitched from 1910-32 with
several teams, including the
Homestead Grays and New York
Lincoln Giants. He was credited with
a winning percentage of .624. He died
in 1946.
Williams was the 16th player elect
ed for his accomplishments in the
Negro Leagues.
The Veterans panel was down to 12
from its usual 15 because of the retire
ment of longtime executive Buzzie
Bavasi and the health of writer
Leonard Koppett and Hall of Fame
shortstop Pee Wee Reese.
The Vets could elect one person
from each of four categories: former
major leaguers, Negro Leaguers, 19*
century players and personnel, plus a
composite of managers, umpires,
executives and Negro Leaguers.
This was the final year of a five
year plan to add a supplemental vote
for two of the categories - Negro
Leaguers and 19* century players and
personnel.
«
As a rookie on the Veterans Committee, Im
0
glad he got in on myfirst year”
Juan Marichal
member of committee panel