Nebraska teams pull in bumper crop
Simms the gem of Collier's first signees
BY JOSHUA CAMENZ1ND
The time was July. In the middle of the
summer heat, new Nebraska Coach Barry
Collier was unsure about his prospects of
delivering a good recruiting class in his
first season at NU.
Collier said he had been well received
around the country and in Nebraska as he
sparred with top coaches and programs
for the best talent he could find.
But Collier didn’t know until
Wednesday how good of a job he had done.
After receiving three letters of intent
from players who “bought into everything
we had to say,” Collier felt a little better.
“Now we know that we have some kids
signed up that can help us,” Collier said.
"We feel like we have established a base
line of where we can go for recruiting.”
Collier received commitments from
Lincoln native Jake Muhlheisen, Corey
Simms of St. Louis and Dan Heimos of
Waterloo, III
A fourth recruit, Brennon Clemmons
of Olney Central College in Illinois, has
mailed his letter of intent, but Collier could
not comment on Clemmons’ signing until
he receives the letter.
The new coach was proud of his first
recruiting class, which filled a need at
nearly every position.
Muhlheisen, who represents Collier’s
first in-state recruit, could play both guard
positions and contend for playing time
right away.
The Lincoln Southeast senior received
second-team All-State honors in 2000,
while averaging 16 points, 3.8 rebounds,
2.5 steals and 3.4 assists per game.
“Jake is a perfect fit for Nebraska, no
matter where he is from,” Collier said. “The
fact that he is from Lincoln is a little bit of a
bonus.”
Muhlheisen said Collier was the right
coach for him.
“Coach Collier made it a lot easier for
me to stay home,” said Muhlheisen, who
was first contacted by former NU Coach
Danny Nee. "I wasn’t too sure about
(Nee).”
Heimos, a 6-foot-11 center, averaged
14 points, seven rebounds and four
blocked shots per game in high school last
year. Collier said Heimos, as many high
school post men must do, should bulk up.
“That is one of the reasons he chose
Nebraska,” said Collier of NU, known
nationally for its performance buffet for
athletes.
The prize of Collier’s first class is
Simms, a 6-5 swingman who drew late
interest from Kansas and chose NU over
Florida, Minnesota and Illinois among
others.
Simms averaged 20 points, six
rebounds and three steals per game while
being named a Street and Smith All
American.
“He is physically more developed than
his counterparts across the nation,” Collier
said. “To average 20 points per game
against good competition is a real feather
in his cap." \
Collier said all three will have the
opportunity to play right away and their
ability to pick up defensive schemes and
avoid turning over the ball will play heavi
ly into that happening.
With one scholarship left to fill, Collier
said he is looking for a power forward or
center, and that player will most likely not
come from Nebraska.
Husker Notes: Collier announced that
freshman forward Marques McCarty has
decided to redshirt this season.
Sanderford nabs prized Robinette; Cook
signs three for2001 Husker volleyball
BY SEAN CALLAHAN
The Nebraska women’s basketball
team took a step forward, and the NU vol
leyball team tried to maintain its domi
nance with their recruiting classes
announced Thursday.
By receiving an official letter of intent
from South Sioux City standout Katie
Robinette, Nebraska may be on the cusp
of reaching another level, according to
Coach Paul Sanderford.
Robinette, a high-school All American,
chose Nebraska over Connecticut, Iowa
State, Georgia, Tennessee and Houston.
The 6-foot-3 swing player averaged
19.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per gamp as
a junior, leading the Cardinals to a No. 6
ranking nationally.
Along with Robinette, the
Cornhuskers received letters of intent
from Centura native Jina Johnson and
Penn Valley Community College standout
Keasha Cannon.
After landing the talented trio,
Sanderford said this recruiting class ranks
as one of his best
“We felt like we needed a go-to player
offensively, and I think in Keasha Cannon
and Katie Robinette we got those kind of
players,” Sanderford said.
Johnson, a 5-foot-6 point guard, was
an All-Nebraska selection, leading
Centura to a 25-1 record. As a junior she
averaged 26.2 points, 8.8 assists and 5.6
steals per game.
Cannon, a 5-foot-10 guard, originally
committed to NU two years ago but had to
go the junior-college route before becom
“We felt like we needed a go
to player offensively, and I
think in Keasha Cannon
and Katie Robinette we got
those kind of players”
Paul Sanderford
women’s basketball coach
ingaHusker.
At Penn Valley, she was an All
American, averaging 20.7 points and 7.9
assists per game.
Along with Sanderford, NU Volleyball
Coach John Cook had a huge day
Wednesday.
Cook added three new players to his
already loaded roster. t
Melissa Elmer, a 6-foot-2 middle
blocker from Fort Wayne, Ind., Michelle
Lynch, a 5-foot-11 setter from
Jacksonville, 111., and Elizabeth Allyne
Rebholz, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from
Indianapolis all gave Cook word on
Wednesday they plan to join the Huskers
for the 2001 season.
The main concern for Cook this year
was extending the borders outside of
Nebraska. With this class, the first-year
coach feels he did that
“We feel the three people we signed fit
the Nebraska goals,” Cook said. “The class
is deep, athletic, and they are all great stu
dents.”
Wildcats in Nebraska's path to the Big 12 title
DN File Photo
Containing Nebraska's Eric Crouch is a top priority for Kansas State, according to
Wildcat Coach Bill Snyder.
KSUfrom page 10•
"Eric Crouch is twice as fast
as Michael (Bishop) was,”
Snyder said. “He makes those
athletic, quick moves and then
accelerates. If you get just a little
bit out of position, he makes you
look like a fourth-grader.”
KSU junior free safety Jon
McGraw said the Wildcats’
defense must execute perfectly
to prevent Crouch and the
Husker attack from breaking
lose.
“Against athletes like
Nebraska, if one guy gets out
through a gap, then it could be
to the house just like that in one
play,” McGraw said. “That’s the
biggest thing playing Nebraska
is there is no room for error.”
If both defenses are able to
cancel out the others’ offenses,
the game could come down to
special teams play. The Wildcats
feature dangerous return men
led by senior David Allen, who
sits as the second most success
ful punt returner in NCAA histo
ry*
"I think the one thing that
has helped Kansas State over the
years has been outstanding spe
cial teams play,” Solich said. “So
you want to make sure you're
ready to do things very well in
the special teams part of the
game."
Solich said his team has
been focused this week and
knows what is at stake in
Saturday’s contest
"We won’t try to overplay it,
but they understand the impor
tance of this game and what it
means in the context of the Big
12," Solich said.
Huskers enter regionals looking for NCAA bid
■An uphill battle waits for
cross country, which stumbled
at the Big 12 Championships.
BY TOBY BURGER i
If the men’s and women’s
cross country teams hope to
make the NCAA Championships,
they will need to improve on last
week's performances - at the Big
12 Championships - when they
travel to Waterloo, Iowa, Saturday
for the Midwest Regional
Championships.
Last weekend the men fin
ished fifth, while the women
placed seventh. Coach Jim
Dirksen was disappointed with
where the teams placed.
“I really thought we should
have been a place or two higher
on the women's side," Dirksen
said, “and at least a place higher
on the men’s side.”
Improving won’t be easy
because the men will face some
stiff competition, but it will be
necessary if they are to make it to
nationals.
Only the top two teams in
each region earn automatic bids.
And with regional favorite
Oklahoma State, as well as top
notch Missouri and Minnesota,
the road to nationals may prove to
be difficult
“We have the same chance or
maybe a better chance than most
teams do (to make nationals),"
Dirksen said.
Even if the Huskers fail to
qualify, the team may still be rep
resented at nationals. The top
three individuals not on a qualify
ing team advance to nationals.
For Marcus Witter that may be the
case.
"Based on what Witter has
done against good people at all
the meets this year, he is die most
likely to do well," Dirksen said. "I
think his chances are excellent to
go to the national meet”
As for the women’s team,
youth and lack of depth may
prove to be the Achilles’ heel in
attempting to qualify. Dirksen
said that with a strong field of
eight to nine teams, qualifying
will be difficult.
“We're going to have to run
the race of the year by far,”
Dirksen said. “To be one of the top
two teams, we’re going to have to
run way better than we have so
far. I don't know if we are that good
or not”
Northern Iowa is playing host
to the regionals in Waterloo. The
women’s 6,000-meter race begins
at 11 a.m., and the men’s 10,000
meter run follows at 12:15 p.m.
KSU's Snyder keeps his game plans, humor close to vest
SWYPER from page 10
what prevents KSU from going to
the ultimate top. After the NU
win, the Wildcats suffered a
crushing double overtime defeat
in the Big 12 Championship to
Texas A&M and a crushing loss to
Purdue in the second-rate Alamo
BowL
In nearly 20 games against
Top 10 foes, Snyder has won once.
His 41-31 home loss to now-No. 1
Oklahoma and brutal 26-10 loss
at A&M in three weeks has raised
questions about his big-game
ability.
Last year, with KSU ranked in
the Top 5 and undefeated going
into the NU game in Lincoln, the
Wildcats froze like deer in head
lights. The result was a 41-15
smacking.
Jim Rose, a drive-time sports
talk-show host at Kansas City's
KMBZ, a veteran Nebraska and
Kansas college sports broadcast
er, thinks it's partly Snyder's pre
ciseness that gets in the way.
“Bill Snyder is the most obses
sive, compulsive, perfectionist,
manipulating control freak of a
football coach there is,” Rose said.
“And I think that hurts him in
big games. He tries to be perfect
He tries to run the perfect game
plan. The problem with that is,
when the going gets tough, and he
has to adjust, he freezes.”
It is that kind of criticism that
Snyder, although he claims he
doesn’t mind people’s opinions,
uses for his reasons to fend off
microscopic coverage of his team.
Closed practices and muzzled
mouths are the standard in
Manhattan. When Snyder’s best
player ever, ’98 Heisman hopeful
quarterback Michael Bishop, was
in the middle of his brilliant run
that year, Snyder kept him away
horn all media in fear that Bishop
would trash-talk to the point of
bulletin-board material for any
team.
Snyder, as he is the leader of
everything, leads the tight-lips’
charge at his press conferences.
*♦*
Snyder’s conference begins
with a couple of smiles and laughs
with Pulliam, which loosens up
everyone else. But when he gets
down to business, everything
freezes.
Snyder gives no opening
statement, just looks down at the
table, sitting in the same position
he'd probably been sitting at his
desk for the first six hours of his
18-hour workday. Blank looks and
silence fill the room.
Series of questions about
KSU’s attack and Nebraska’s
attack are answered with suc
cinct, quiet, unrevealing answers,
some one word. Sometimes
Snyder cares to look up; most of
the time he doesn’t. The longest
answer he gives is about the dis
advantages of being a road team
playing an early game. Real
insightful.
In fact, at one point, Snyder
gives such a vague answer, he
says: "I know that sounds vague,
but...” he pauses, the entire room
hinging on his straight face,"...
but I guess that’s the way it is.”
Everyone laughs. Laughs are
good. Laughs are rare.
“Bill does not lack a sense of
humor,” Pulliam said. “You just
have to try and needle him, and it
will come out. But it won’t come
out unless you try.”
***
So, Snyder, unlike most
coaches in this modern era of
slick, pretty-boy, please-me-type
coaches, isn’t a media darling.
But to K-State insiders, he’s a
lot more compassionate than his
image portrays.
Ask Jonathan Beasley, KSU’s
up-and-down quarterback who
gets hit harder than Snyder does
by the media for his big-game
performances. Although a quar
terback controversy brewed in the
press between iffy Beasley and
freshman sensation Ell Roberson
before the start of 2000, Snyder
stood by Beasley and has contin
ued to do so despite recent shaky
performances.
“Coach Snyder has always
been supportive," Beasley said.
“His door is always open. He cares
about us as people, not just as
players. We see how hard he works
for us."
Ask Kevin Saunders, a former
Kansas State rugby player who
was paralyzed from the neck
down in a freak grain elevator
explosion shortly after college.
After becoming an Olympic
wheelchair-racing champion and
motivational speaker, Saunders
rolls the sidelines for Snyder every
week to give Snyder’s players
inspiration.
“Coach Snyder is one of the
nicest, most genuine, most caring
people I know,” Saunders said.
“He runs a tight ship, but his play
ers love and respect him. He’s a
family man, but his family has a
deep understanding how much
he cares about his football pro
gram. I genuinely believe he’s not
going anywhere until he wins a
national championship. That’s
how bad he wants it”
But probably the best per
spective on Snyder comes from
linebacker Ben Leber. When
asked how such an astute, stoic,
quiet man can possibly ever fire
up a group of 21-year old football
players, Leber said:
“He doesn't tell us anything
we don't already know. He re
emphasizes it, puts it in terms of
how important the game is. We're
not stupid. We know what’s at
stake, and he just kind of feeds off
that"
Snyder finishes the press con
ference on a light note, but as he
gets up, he has once again
revealed very little. No one gets
the idea of how he feels about
anything.
But, so be it. God stands up
and, emotionless, walks a few
steps out the doorway and a few
steps more across the hall to his
conveniently located office,
where he can get back to work.
From that office, he can look
right out the window and see his
heaven - the stadium, plastered
with plenty of the Powercat logos
that symbolize his presence.
But although the press can’t
see him in there and don’t really
know him, it can make one decent
guess: Snyder probably enjoys
that view but probably doesn’t
enjoy it for long.
Because a god always has
plenty of work left to da
Exhibition
tackled as
'teal game'
■Women's basketball will try
to bounce back after last
week's loss against Hungary.
BY JASON MERRIHEW_
After a week of practice to
improve on its near collapse to
Hungary, the Nebraska
women’s basketball team will
face the Australian Institute of
Sports on Sunday at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center in its
final exhibition game.
The coaching staff has
emphasized the importance of
ball control and better move
ment around the court to cut
down on the ungodly number
of turnovers the Huskers had
during the Hungarian exhibi
tion game.
Nebraska’s coaches and
players attributed their 30
turnovers to the unexpected 1
3-1 trap defense played by the
Hungarians.
“We worked on throwing
out of traps this week,” NU
Coach Paul Sanderford said. “I
would like to see us cut the
turnovers in half.”
Unlike last week, the
Comhuskers were able to watch
game film of the Australians.
“They are a very good team,”
Sanderford said. “The Institute
of Sports is made up of the top
players in Australia.”
uespue a near disaster
against Hungary, the Huskers
showed some promise.
One of those bright spots
was the play of senior forward
Monique Whitfield. Whitfield
posted a double-double against
the Hungarian team, tallying 13
points while grabbing 10
rebounds.
Freshman guard Shannon
Howell lived up to the hype dur
ing her debut at the Devaney
Center. Howell tied Whitfield for
a team-high 13 points and
added three boards.
The main purpose of last
week's game was to get every
one valuable playing time.
“We’re going to treat this
more like a real game,"
Sanderford said. “We will play
eight or nine players unless the
game gets out of hand."
Tip-off for Nebraska’s final
exhibition game is slated for
2:05 p.m. Sunday.
Wrestlers
pummel
first foe
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Nebraska wrestling sea
son, and Mark Manning’s NU
coaching career, got off to a com
manding start as tiie NU wrestlers
downed Drexel 35-12 in their first
match of the season.
Manning, who came to
Nebraska this season after three
years as Northern Iowa’s coach,
saw his Comhuskers hold a com
manding lead over the Dragons as
they won five of the first six
matches and seven of the first 10.
“We were aggressive," said
Manning, whose team will
remain on the East Coast to
square off against Rider on
Saturday at 1 p.m. “A lot of our
guys were super-aggressive and
just out-fought and out-toughed
their guys.”
Rider will be up against some
individuals who started the year
on a roll by putting their oppo
nents on their backs.
Nebraska picked up three
pins in the match as Bryan
Snyder, Jason Powell and Todd
Beckerman pinned Drexel
wrestlers. Beckerman, who is
ranked No. 2 at 133 pounds, was
the quickest at 2:26.
Brad Vering, the nation’s No. 1
197-pounder and defending
national champion, picked up a
technical fall 20-4 and so did Ad
Conner, the nation’s No. 14174
pounder.
The win never was really in
doubt as NU built a 15-3 lead over
Drexel in the first four matches.
The Dragons placed just one
wrestler on the mat, Dave
Dietrich, who was ranked in the
Top 20, while NU showed up with
six.
Said Manning: “We put a lot of
guys on their backs and really
dominated those weights.”