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Fonoti draws attention
True freshman guard earns playing time on line
By Matthew Hansen
Staff writer
Freshman guard Toniu Fonoti,
from Hauula, Hawaii, has no doubt
been attracting attention sinc^ he first
set foot on campus. After all, any 6
foot-5, 320-pound freshman is bound
to receive a few stares at orientation.
Since the start of fall camp,
though, Fonoti has regularly turned
heads not only with his physique but
also with his performance as an offen
sive lineman. In fact, the young guard
has turned enough heads to merit
playing time, a rare opportunity for a
true freshman lineman.
“We’ve only had three or four true
freshman play significant minutes for
us in the last 25 years,” Nebraska
Offensive Line Coach Milt Tenopir
said. “The fact that Toniu is playing
this year puts him in a extremely
select group.”
Fonoti didn’t even give much
thought to playing this season. He
said that he was prepared to take the
same path as most Cornhusker line
men and redshirt. His quick rise up
the depth chart to the position of back
up guard leaves him admittedly sur
prised.
The build that caused those stares
at orientation has much to do with
Fonoti’s quick insertion into the offen
sive line rotation. According to both
Tenopir and senior offensive tackle
Adam Julch, Fonoti is the most physi
cally developed freshman to come to
Nebraska in recent history.
“The first time I saw him, I was
just blown away by how big and
strong he was,” Julch said. “I mean,
the guy is just enormous. He has more
strength and quickness then I have
ever seen from an incoming fresh
man.”
Tenopir had the same reaction.
“By looking at his high school
tapes, we could see how big and
strong he was,” Tenopir said. “What
we didn’t know is how quickly he
would pick things up.”
It is the mental part of line play
that has been the biggest challenge for
Fonoti.
“In high school, we had ■about 20
plays, and everything was simple,”
Fonoti said. “Here, things are totally
different. I can t even count the num
ber of plays we have to know.”
According to Tenopir, though,
Fonoti has managed to handle the
mental part of the position reasonably
well. Fonoti attributed much of this
progress to his elders along the offen
sive line, as well as the coaches. He
said that without their guidance, he
would not be playing right now.
“Dominic (Raiola, the starting
center who also is from Hawaii) and I
have kind of taken it upon ourselves to
help him out,” Julch said. “We tend to
go up to the line and help him with
assignments. It’s happening less now,
though, because he usually can get it
on his own.”
Both Tenopir and Julch said the
17-year-old Fonoti is just scratching
the surface of his potential.
“The thing about Toniu is that he
is just getting his bearings,” Tenopir
said. “Once he gets it all together and
is more sure of himself out there, he is
going to be an excellent player.”
Julch agreed.
“His potential is just through the
roof,” said Julch. “I think that he can
be as good as he wants to be.”
Williams provides lift for NU
V Nebraska’s forward
brings more than just
speed off the bench for
the Huskers.
By Darren Ivy
Senior staff writer
Whemdescribing the importance of
sophomore soccer player Najah
Williams, Nebraska Coach John Walker
compared her to a football I-back with
breakaway speed.
At 5-foot-5-inches, and very fit,
Williams doesn’t really look like an I
back, but she possesses the same ability
to get behind opposing teams’ defense.
“It’s like in football, bringing in an I
back who can go the distance every time
he touches the ball,” said Walker, who
recruited Williams as a defender. “One
mistake in the back from the other team,
and she can get in.”
Williams came in with the reputa
tion of being a speedster, but recently
she has proven that she has more to her
game than just speed.
Against Oral Roberts and Kentucky
two weekends ago, the Phoenix, Ariz.,
native scored three goals, which
equaled the number of shots she took
the entire 1998 season.
“Goal-wise, that was the best week
end I have had,” said Williams, who is c
tied for second in goals on the team with r
Lindsay Eddleman. c
Walker said Williams’ improved \
play thus far this season wasn’t a sur- r
prise to him.
“She had a good spring,” he said. [
“That is where she really started to s
make progress. This fall, we have really
tried to do what is best for her and settle £
her closely in one position.” i
That position is forward, a spot
Williams hadn’t played since her club c
soccer days in Arizona. 1
She said concentrating mainly on t
forward, rather than several positions,
has allowed her to be more confident. 1
“In the midfield, John (Walker) i
always wanted me to be offensive mind- j
ed, but I wasn’t confident that I could go
up and make it back,” Williams said. “At c
forward there is-only one way I can go - 1
forward.” s
Teammate Shannon Tanaka has
noticed Williams’ increased confidence >
level this fall as well. s
“It shows in her play and compo
sure,” said Tanaka, a sophomore mid
fielder. “You can tell she is more com- 1
fortable at forward, and that has helped t
her become an offensive weapon for i
us.” 1
Walker said moving Williams to (
striker was an easy decision. i
“We thought with the experience of
ur returning defenders that it didn’t
lake a whole lot of sense to keep her at
lefender,” Walker said. “We thought
rith her athleticism and speed that we
ieeded to get her on the field.”
Williams hasn’t started, but she has
ilayed about as many minutes as the
tarters.
When she enters the game, the ener
y level of the rest of the Huskers on the
ield increases, Walker said.
“She gives us a big lift when she
omes onto the field,” he said. “You
now, high energy and that breakaway
hreat.”
But the most impressive thing about
Villiams this fall, Walker said, is that
lone of her three goals have come on
mre speed.
Williams’ individual workouts and
ledication to making herself a more
imdamental player are paying off, he
aid.
After scoring three goals in one
veekend, Williams might expect the
ame out of herself each weekend.
Not the case.
“I just want to play well and do what
can to help this team win a national
itle,” Williams said. “If (defenders) are
vorried about me, it is easier for
rindsay, Kelly (Rheem) and Becky
Preston) to get open and score. It does
1’t matter if I score again.”
WAC coaches support conference
By Samuel McKewon
Senior staff writer
It wouldn’t be entirely untrue to say
the departing members of the Western
Athletic Conference left the cupboard
bare when they formed the Mountain
West Conference.
Many believe they did. But that
won’t come out of the mouths of WAC
coaches and officials. >
After all, they’ll say, Texas
Christian, one of the eight teams still in
the WAC, had a winning record of 7-5
and beat big-name Southern California
in the Sun Bowl.
So what if the other seven remaining
teams had a combined record of26-54?
Or that despite being in huge television
markets, cooking shows could generate
more interest than Texas-El Paso vs. San
Jose State? It doesn’t matter to Tulsa
Coach Dave Rader.
“You’re talking to a guy that was
without a conference for a long time,”
Rader said. “So I love this conference.
There’s some good football to be played
here.”
Rader pointed to the WAC’s new
marketing tool for proof. Of the eight
teams - Fresno State, Hawaii, Rice San
Jose State, Southern Methodist, TCU,
Tulsa and UTEP - six are in California
and Texas. And what states, Rader said,
play better high school football than
those?
“Everybody recruits out of those
states - everybody,” Rader said.
However, Fresno State Coach Pat
Hill doesn’t expect the best players to
just come to the WAC. Hill, whose
Bulldogs have the best quarterback
receiver tandem in the conference in
Billy Volek and Charlie Smith, believes
the new WAC needs to gain respect
through non-conference games against
big-name opponents. Last season, cur
rent WAC teams combined to go 7-21
outside of league play.
“You have to keep playing the big
name teams - even if you get your ass
kicked - until you beat them,” said Hill,
who takes his team to UCLA this year.
“It’s either going to be a parade or a
funeral procession. That’s the only way
to do it”
Hill said he expects Fresno State to
be one of the teams to beat in the WAC.
TCU should be strong again with 15
returning starters, as should SMU,
which had the nation’s 14th best defense
last year. Rice, San Jose State, Tulsa and
UTEP will have to reload defensively to
compete.
Then there’s Hawaii.
They were an abysmal 0-12 last sea
son. June Jones quit as the San Diego
Chargers’ head coach to take over the
Rainbow Warriors. Part of the problem
with playing UH is the trip itself, cited
by former WAC members-as one reason
they left the conference.
It’s often a four-day deal, which pays
few dividends if the opponent only
scores 149 points (12.4 average) in a
season, one point less than what UCLA
scored in three games last year.
Another issue with the WAC is
money. The teams still remaining are
painfully weak at the gate. Despite
residing in metropolitan areas of more
than 1 million people, Rice (in
Houston), SMU (in Dallas) and SJSU
(in San Jose) drew 22,115,18,218 and
12,532 in average home attendance last
season.
