SportsTuesday
Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, February 6,2001 Page 10
Ffriend to start on bench against OU
Husker center
Kknani Ffriend
won't start
against
Oklahoma State
on Wednesday
after watching
the last 10 min
utes of Nlft
Saturday loss to
Colorado from
the bench.
Ffriend failed to
score against
the Buffaloes.
■ After scoring no points during the
last game versus Colorado, NU senior
will sit out at next game's beginning.
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
When Nebraska tips off against
Oklahoma State on Wednesday night,
Kimani Ffriend will be in the same
position he was in for the end of the
Colorado game - on the bench.
The senior will ride the pine for the
opening tip because of a performance
against the Buffaloes that included no
points, three rebounds and two blocks
in 28 minutes.
Nebraska Coach Barry Collier said
he wanted Ffriend to show better
effort on both ends of the floor, espe
cially on rebounding.
“After looking at the film, our
rebounding looked even worse than
the statistics," said Collier, whose
team was out-rebounded by 12 on
Saturday and gave up 15 offensive
rebounds to CU. "Our failure to block
out was even more evident.”
So will sitting out the opening min
utes against the Cowboys help the 6
foot-11 center gain the focus Collier
desires?
“We will wait and see,” was ail
Ffriend had to say on Monday.
Collier said Ffriend practiced bet
ter on Monday than he played on
Saturday, but he wanted results from
his center on the court before he made
judgment.
"I am not quite as concerned
about guys’ feelings as I am on what
they show me,” Collier said.
Ffriend said he didn’t show much
on Saturday, the latest example of his
inconsistent play in the conference
season thus far.
The Big 12 slate has shown that as
Ffriend goes, so goes NU.
Big games from Ffriend have
resulted in wins against Texas,
Missouri and Kansas State so far this
season. Uninspired efforts in losses to
foes such as Creighton, Oklahoma and
Colorado are what have Collier wor
ried - and Ffriend upset.
“I’m pretty frustrated right now,”
he said. “I could sit here and talk all
day, but I can’t.”
Ffriend^aid he has had trouble
handling pressure this season, and
some of the time, he has let it get the
best of him.
"Sometimes I step up to that pres
sure, and sometimes I don’t,” Ffriend
said. “I am still learning that, and I
guess that is from inexperience. I’m
not used to this.”
There is no doubt Ffriend would
have rather not sat out the last 10 min
utes of Saturday’s game, and he admit
ted having mixed feelings while sitting
on the bench watching his teammates
battle the Buffaloes.
But Ffriend backed his coach’s
decision on Monday.
7 am not as quite as
concerned about guys’
feelings as I am on what
they show me.”
Barry Collier
NU basketball coach
“I wasn’t being productive on the
court, and if you want to be a big-time
player, you have to help your team in
situations when they need you,” he
said.
“I didn't do that, so I just have to
step it up.”
With a 10-11 record and the
Husker’s post season hopes teetering
on the brink of desperation, Ffriend
said the time was now to stop talking
and start acting.
Nebraska’s next four games after
Oklahoma State make up arguably the
easiest stretch on the Husker slate
with games against Baylor, Kansas
State, Texas Tech and a second match
against Colorado.
But those games will mean noth
ing if NU’s mental preparation resem
bles that of the team that took the floor
against Colorado, Ffriend said.
“This game coming up on
Wednesday -1 am not going to lie to
you - could be a back-breaker to lose
that game,” Ffriend said. “You can for
get about it then.”
Giant Finn heads from Laurel to NU
BY BRIAN CHRtSTOPHERSON
LAUREL - Go to the land of rusty windmills, the land where
netted John Deere hats are the rage and the local grocery store
still closes its doors to customers on the Sabbath.
Go to the blip on the road map, the quaint town of Laurel:
population 981. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. You’ll drive
right by The Pizza Ranch and the two gas stations
that sit along the main road that runs through
this quiet town.
You're in Seppo’s town.
Stop in at one of the gas stations, speak
his name and everyone will look up.
“Who are you and what do you want
with our gentle giant?"
You just want to see and talk to 6
foot-5, 320-pound Seppo Evwaraye,
the man who made his way from
Vaasa, Finland, to little Laurel.
You want to talk to the man who
only played two years of American
football,, but still earned a scholarship
from powerhouse Nebraska.
This is the big fella' who led Laurel
Concord to a 13-0 championship romp
through class C-2 football last fall. He
was the rage of small-town Nebraska
football, tossing 200-pound high school
linemen around on both sides of the ball
like Raggedy Ann dolls.
He's the man who bench presses 405
pounds and squats 600. He’s ... he’s the
man.
"When I first saw him,” Laurel
Concord Coach Mike Haley said,
“I thought, ‘He’s got to be1
one of the biggest high
school players I've ever
seen.’”
His dominance and
size caught the eye of
Nebraska, and after an
impressive summer
football camp visit, the
Cornhuskers couldn’t
help but ask the Laurel
giant to come play on the
defensive line in Lincoln.
Evwaraye said it was a
no-brainer to accept the
generous offer and would
sign his letter of intent on
Despite his glorious two-year high school
career, Evwaraye still finds it tough to compre
hend that the Big Red, the mighty and reverently
looked upon Huskers, actually want him.
“I've never really thought I could play at Nebraska,”
he said with a laugh. “I always looked at them and said,
PleaseseeSEPPOon9
Young pitchers pack quite a punch
■ Several NU freshmen
huriers are ready to start
contributing to the team.
BY SAMUEL MCKEWON
Four meals. A lotta meat
To work his way into an
already stacked pitching lineup,
Nebraska redshirt freshman
pitcher Justin Pekarek added bulk
to his frame the old fashioned way
- he ate, a whole bunch - along
with a twist of the new millenni
um muscle builder, creatine.
Not surprisingly, it produced
the desired effect: more mass, a
hotter fast ball. But to the tune of
35 pounds? And an added 10
miles per an hour to the heater?
“Justin went beyond our
expectations,” Nebraska Coach
Dave Van Horn said. “We expect
ed maybe a 10,15-pound weight
gain. He just kept putting on more
muscle.”
He’ll need it. With the majority
of the last year’s staff - which the
nation’s second best earned run
average - returning, a slew of red
shirt and true freshmen will have
to do a lot with a little.
Spot opportunities out of the
bullpen are about all they’re
promised, Pekarek said, with a
shot at starting mid-week game;
in a few months.
“Weekend starts will be hare
to come by," Pekarek said.
Even for a guy that shot th<
charts off for growth spurts. “Jus
another skinny guy” a year ago
Pekarek said he and other fresh
men settled in under a weigh
program that made them all big
ger. The 78 mile-an-hour fast baJ
that worked in Staplehurst, Neb.
a few summers ago wasn't goinj
to make much of a dent
But the 6-foot-3,210-pounc
Pekarek said at least 10 miles ai
hour had been added to the pitcl
consistently in one year's time. Hi
i clocked 92 in the fall, among the
fastest on the team.
I And he said all the young
pitchers who had a shot at con
; tributing - Van Horn mentioned
t Mike Sillman, Dusty Timm and
, Derek Conti-have learned a dose
of competitiveness and games
t manship from Coach Rob
Childress.
I “He could have just left us
, alone last year and concentrated
\ on the guys who were playing,”
Pekarek said. “But he included us
l in everything the other pitchers
i
i
Please see PITCHING on 9
Several football
players on move
BY JEFF SHELDON
Winter conditioning is a time
of change for the Nebraska foot
ball program. After initial testing,
coaches often approach players
about switching from their origi
nal positions.
Already, it seems, some
changes are in the works for the
2001 Huskers.
TJ. Hollowell, an outside line
backer last season, has seen
extensive action at middle line
backer early in winter drills.
Hollowell cites his excellent speed
as a primary reason for the proba
ble switch.
“I have a little more speed
than a traditional linebacker,”
Hollowell said. "I can cover a little
more field. Hus, I’m a little smaller
than most guys who play the (out
side linebacker) position.”
Other defensive moves will
include the switching of freshman
linebacker Lanny Hopkins to safe
ty, Hollowell said. The redshirt
played safety during his sopho
more year in high school and, at
only 195 pounds, was small for the
linebacker position.
Reserve running back Josh
Davis also is moving to the sec
ondary. Davis said he would move
to rover upon the successful heal
ing of an ACL tear.
“I'm still rehabbing my knee
from a surgery in October,” Davis
said. “I’m about 85 percent now,
but I think I can bring some good
speed and agility to rover."
On the other side of the ball,
reserve I-back Robin Miller will
move up in the backfield to be
used primarily as a fullback,
according to Dave Gillespie, NU’s
running backs coach. Miller will
still see some time at I-back dur
ing winter and spring drills.
Position switches are usually
made due to either an overabun
dance of, or the definite need of
players at one position.
Case in point: the national
champion Oklahoma Sooners
entered 2000 with just two wide
receivers who had any career
receptions. However, OU
Receivers Coach Steve Spurrier Jr.
managed to turn a slew of former
running backs and quarterbacks
into one of the nation’s deadliest
receiving corps.
With a depleted wide receiv
ing corps after the graduations of
starters Matt Davison and Bobby
Newcombe, NU may follow suit
and move players to the split end
and wingback positions.
While Gillespie said such
movement, especially from run
ning back to wideout, was entirely
possible, he and the rest of the
coaching staff hadn’t made any
decisions to do so.
"You better have three or four
quality guys (at I-back), but obvi
ously, you want to get your best
eleven players on the field,” he
said. “We’ll try them out on the
field and see how it evolves.”
High NCAA seed
bad omen for KU
BY DIRK CHATELAJN
Kansas has been down this
road before.
The Jayhawks, ranked fifth in
the nation coming into the week,
remain the class of the Big 12 and
appear headed for a high seed in
the NCAA tournament despite a
79-77 loss to Iowa State on
Monday night. It’s a familiar sce
nario for KU, maybe all too famil
iar - matching the Jayhawks with a
high tournament seed has pro
duced few fond memories.
During a four year stretch
from 1995-98 when Kansas had
what Roy Williams called his best
teams, the Jayhawks never
advanced to the Final Four. They
were beaten once in the second
round, twice in the Sweet 16 and
once in the regional final during
that stretch. In each loss Kansas
was the higher seed.
Williams said poor shooting
had been the main cause for post
season disappointments.
"We have had teams that were
really good shooting teams,”
I rWJl'J I 1
■ Piii Mill MM
Williams said. “But when you lose,
you usually don’t shoot the ball
very well, and in the NCAA tour
nament, you have to shoot the ball
well every night because you’re
playing good teams.”
If statistics mean anything,
KU may be headed to
Minneapolis, the site of the 2001
Final Four. The Jayhawks are third
in the nation in field goal percent
age (50.6 percent). KU also is solid
from the 3-point line, shooting 40
percent, second in the Big 12.
Balanced scoring, however,
looks like KU's greatest asset.
Kansas has six players that aver
age double figures in points.
“Any coach would tell you it's
more difficult to prepare against
balanced scoring because there's
Please see JAYHAWKS on9
