Self, Hamilton lead
possible coach crop
COACHES from page 16
And the success didn’t stop there. In
the last six years, Miami nas compiled a
110-66 mark and made the NCAA
Tournament in each of the last three sea
sons.
With the Hurricanes making their
first Sweet 16 appearance in school his
tory, Hamilton’s rebuilding job seems
successful. And, if teams like Georgia
Tech, where long-time Coach Bobby
Cremins stepped down, and the
Huskers get their way, it also will be
over after this season.
Tulsa’s Self knows Hamilton’s
predicament well, but he may know
Hamilton better. Self was an assistant
under Hamilton at Oklahoma State.
Together, they led die Cowboys to two
NIT appearances during Hamilton’s
reign.
Now, at Tulsa, Self will be facing his
former boss. He also faces the same
predicament as Hamilton - whether to
stay or go.
After getting the job at Oral Roberts
in 1993, Self engineered a turnaround
that rivals Hamilton’s at Miami. ORJU
won only five games in the year before
Self took over and six in his first season.
Three years later, die win total was
23. And Self was off to Tulsa.
The coach has had similar success
with the Golden Hurricanes. Despite
coaching at the same university that
spawned coaches Nolan Richardson
(Arkansas), Tubby Smith (Georgia and
now Kentucky) and Steve Robinson
(Florida State), Self has stood out
This season’s 31 wins are already
the most in school history. TU has been
ranked as high as No. 12, and, if it beats
Miami on Thursday night, TU will have
advanced farther than any other Golden
Hurricane team in history.
For two seasons, some have antici
pated that Self will follow in the foot
steps of past TU coaches and search for
greener pastures.
After last year, the 37-year old Self
interviewed for the Missouri job even
tually given to Quin Snyder. And the
coach has said he will consider offers
once the season is over.
But Self said not to assume any
thing about his leaving.
“There’s a misconception about
Tulsa,” he said. “People look at it as a
mid-major school, but its a high-major
job for fan support, and the financial
resources will come.”
Other coaches, after Self and
Hamilton, fit into the NU search.
Butler’s Barry Collier tasted some
NCAA flavor of his own this season
after his Bulldogs won the Midwest
Collegiate Conference Tournament
Butler was knocked out in the first
round by the Florida Gators 69-68 in
overtime on a shot at the buzzer. The
Bulldogs finished die season with a 23
8 mark - the fifth time Collier has
reached the 20-win plateau in his career.
Since.Collier was named coach in
1989, the Bulldogs have made it to post
season play six times and have only had
a losing record twice in Collier’s 11 sea
sons.
Before going back to Butler to
coach his alma mater, Collier held assis
tant jobs at five different schools,
including Idaho, Oregon and Stanford.
Dayton’s Oliver Purnell can sympa
thize with Collier when it comes to f rst
round NCAA exits. Purnell’s Flyers
also lost by one point in the first round,
62-61 to Purdue.
The Flyers finished 22-9 in
Purnell’s fifth year at the helm after
going 11-17 last season. His record at
Dayton is 89-86 and 190-161 in his 12
years of coaching overall.
Purnell, 46, previously had coached
at Radford and Old Dominion and
assisted at ODU and Maryland before
taking the job at Dayton.
Southern Methodist’s Mike
Dement, like Dayton’s Purnell, is in his
fifth year at his respective school.
Dement has compiled a 78-65 record at
SMU, while turning around a dormant
Mustang program.
Dement, 45, has a marie of200-188
in his 14 years of coaching, which
includes stops at Cornell and North
Carolina-Greensboro. He has assisted at
Duke, Cornell and East Carolina before
being hired in 1995 by SMU.
Dement finished 21-9 this season,
10 wins better than NU.
Colorado State’s Richie Mckay is
one name linked to the Nebraska job
who didn’t make an appearance in the
Big Dance this season.
In fact, Colorado State, like
Nebraska, didn’t even make postseason
play. Despite that, Mckay has led the
Rams to success in his two seasons.
Coming off two seasons at tiny
Portland State, where he was the pro
gram’s first basketball coach, Mckay, at
only 32, won the Colorado State job.
In his two years at CSU, Mckay’s
teams have compiled a 37-23 record.
The Rams made the NIT last year
before being shut out of postseason play
this season despite an 18-12 record.
Perry Watson led Detroit-Mercy to
an 20-12 mark this season. The 49-year
old has a 133-76 mark in his seven sea
sons at Detroit.
Last season his team finished with a
25-6 mark for the second year in a row
and made it past the first round of
NCAA tourney both years.
Before coming to Detroit, Watson
assisted at Michigan during the Fab Five
era and was the coach at Southwestern
High School in Detroit
Along with Watson, Appalachian
State’s Buzz Peterson is a coach from a
small conference looking to move up.
Peterson hasn’t always been at a
school that most people are unaware of.
Although he now walks the sidelines in
Boone, N.C., he played in at a more
well-known North Carolina location,
Chapel Hill.
Peterson was a member of the Tar
Heel team that won the National
Championship in 1984. After a number
of assistant jobs. Peterson took the
Appalachian State job.
The team has compiled a 81-39
record under Peterson.
Bentz likes Husker’s chances
SWIMMERS from page 16
chance on the boards, coming off a Big
12 Championship in the one-meter
event and a second-place finish to
defending national champion Troy
Dumais of Texas on the three-meter
board. Cook beat Dumais in the one
meter. :
NU Diving Coach Jim Hocking
said in the days leading up to the con
ference meet, very little separates the
top divers, and he believes Cook is
always in the hunt, no matter who’s the
competition.
“Diving is a lot like golf in which a
guy can have one bad hole and lose it
all,” Hocking said. “One bad dive by
the leader under that pressure, and he
goes from first to sixth, and that’s when
Erik can really take advantage.”
Some youthful Huskers that could
make an impact are sophomores
Anthony Rogis and Javier Botello.
Nebraska has hopes of at least a
top-eight finish from Rogis in either
the 100- or 200-meter freestyle. Rogis
picked up a bronze in the 200 at last
year’s meet.
Botello hopes to challenge for All
American status in the 200-meter
freestyle, and will also swim the 100
meter freestyle and several relays.
Freshman Erik Wiken will dip his
toes in the NCAA waters for the first
time of his career, handling the back
stroke duties for NU in the 100-meter
event.
With all these factors, Bentz says
his team has a chance to go to places
NU men’s swimming has never been.
“We’ve got a good group of com
petitors, and the experience they bring
in will do nothing but help us.”
\ • ■ .
I Newcombe leads talented returners
«
RETURNERS from page 16
tiori, a lot of inspiration,” Newcombe
said “After that, we went on to win the
game and people were thanking me for
it in the locker room.”
As Newcombe - last year’s No. 2
punt returner in the nation at 18.4
yards-per-retum - reflected on that
return after the second day of spring
practice Wednesday, he looked forward
to busting a few more in die fall.
Newcombe heads a dangerous
crop of punt returners who will look to
give the Huskers favorable field posi
tion and, in die case of the Kansas run
and his second-quarter 60-yard TD
return vs. Tennessee, exciting, game
breaking points.
Senior Joe Walker and junior
Keyou C raver will be there when pun
ters kick away from Newcombe, which
should be often. But opponents won’t
be getting much of a bargain in Walker,
who is tied with Newcombe for ninth
place on NU’s all-time punt return list.
“With Bobby and I back there,
teams better watch out,” Walker said.
“We’re going to try to take it to the
house every time. That’s the goal, that’s
the only thing you think about standing
back there.”
Walker knows a thing or two about
game-breakers. His 73-yard TD return
against Oklahoma State in 1998 kept
NU undefeated and ranked No. 2
before losing four of its last nine
games. He also broke open NU’s sea
son opener against Louisiana Tech that
season, taking a kickoff return 99 yards
for a score after the Bulldogs had
mounted a serious second-half come
back.
This season, the NU’s third-best all
time kickoff returner will take returns
with junior linebacker Randy Stella,
who led the team in the department last
year. It’s a department both Walker and
Coach Frank Solich said has vast room
for improvement, mainly because of
mediocre downfield blocking.
“We need to get better on kickoff
returns and kickoff coverage this
spring,” Solich said. “We have the per
sonnel for it, but we are not among the
best teams in the country in those
areas.”
But no such problems exist on punt
returns. Newcombe is on pace to break
1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny
Rodgers’ record for punt return aver
age, and his 20.33 average-per-retum
in ’97 is a school record.
Walker said he is at “98 percent full
speed” after recovering from a tom left
knee that kept him out of 1999’s first
rPR/KR Bobby Newcombe
(16 rat 294 yards, 1 TO on punts)
PR/KR Joe Walker
(30 rat 216 yards on punts, 8 rat
149 yards on kickoffs)
PR/KR Keyou Craver
(10 ret 106 yards in punts)
PR/KR Randy Stella
(2 rat 10 yards on punts 10 rat 232 yards
No team would enjoy kicking to any
■ ■--.j.- of the four returners, but
Z i Newcombe's vision and speed
make him among the most
flMp-’-' dangerous in the nation. Stella has
gjjjg speed on kickoffs, white Craver
displayed sure hands over the
course of last season. Walker gets
jSjj* the most work, and when 100
TW-. percent healthy, represents a home
run threat.
David Jane/DN
two games and hobbled him through
out the season.
It’s a combination that might lead
teams to do what KU, Tennessee, OSU
and La. Tech maybe should have done
- keep the ball out of their hands.
“I wouldn’t kick to us,” Walker
said. “It wouldn’t be wise.”
SPORTS BRIEFS
Men’s Gymnastics
Nebraska is heading to the NCAA
Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, on
March 30-April 1, where it will com
pete in East Regional to determine if it
can advance to the National
Championship round.
No. 9 NU was one of 12 teams
selected for regional competition and
will be competing against No. 1
Michigan, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5
Penn State, No. 8 Illinois and No. 13
Massachusetts on March 30. The top
three advance to the final round on
March 31, where three teams from the
West Region will join them.
If the Huskers do not qualify for
the finals as a team, they still can
qualify individuals performers if they
finish within the top three of their
respective event or the all-around
among competitors not part of a qual
ified team. Derek Leiter is expected to
be among the top all-around competi
tors in the NCAA Championships.
Leading NU were sophomore
Seth Porter and freshman Rob Arthur
who tied for 49th in the competition
with scores of225.
Women’s Gymnastics
The Husker women also won
awards for their academic work as
five were named to Academic All-Big
12 Teams. Heather Brink, Laura Goss,
Arica Lamb and Nicole Wilkinson
were on the first team, while Amy
Ringo was named to the second team.
Cross Country
NU women earned a distinctive
honor Wednesday, after being named
Academic All-Americans by the
Women Intercollegiate Cross
Country Coaches Association.
Nebraska was one of 60 teams hon
ored.
The Huskers posted a 3.68 team
grade point average, trailing Belmont
University (3.78) and Southwest
Missouri State (3.77).
Husker senior Jaime Pauli was
named an individual Academic All
American as she carries a 3.59 GPA in
accounting and finished in the top 10
percent at the NCAA Championships.
Volleyball
A new director of operations has
been created for the Cornhusker team
as Coach John Cook announced the
addition of Diane Mendenhall to the
NU office. Mendenhall’s presence
was necessary, Cook said, because of
the growing “demand placed on
coaches and the overall program.”
Cook said he wanted to “relieve some
of the administrative duties on the
coaching staff.”
NU is in its second full week of
practice and will be holding a coaches
clinic on Friday and Saturday at the
NU Coliseum.
Men’s golf lUM »J11I ^
Nebraska finished 15th at the
Cleveland Golf Collegiate
Championship in Aiken, S.C., this
weekend after shooting a team score %:X
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H Sport Clubs
At Home this Weekend On the Road
Men’s & Women’s Rugby NU BasebaU wi" traveling to Carbondale,
c , x/r u i t ii „ r- u IL this weekend to take on Southern Illinois.
Friday - Mabel Lee Hall Fields
7:00 pm Women On Saturday, Women’s Rugby versus
8:00 pm Men A-side vs. Iowa University of South Dakota.
Men’s Rugby Women’s Soccer travels to Iowa City, IA
atur ay - ittier Field competing in the University of Iowa Soccer
9:00 am B-side vs. Iowa Tournament.
Judo Tournament
Saturday - East Campus Activities Bldg. Get Involved!
11 00 am Join an NU SPORT CLUB! New clubs
For more information regarding any of the include Roller Hockey, Cycling and Handball
UNL Sport Clubs events - Please contact the plus 25+ other clubs to choose from. For more
Office of Campus Recreation^ 472-3467 information ca|| 472-3467._