Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, February 13,2001 Page 10
Courtesty Photo
NU Wide Receivers' Coach Ron Brown says hb primary goal b to display hb religion to
hb players and the people of Nebraska.
Ticket sales on rise
for NU basketball
■Attendance at the games
has increased for the first time
infouryears.
BY DAVID DIEHL
Nebraska’s Cookie Belcher,
who’s been at NU longer than
anyone else on the basketball
team, has seen some pretty life
less arenas in his day.
Thinking long and hard to
pinpoint the deadest arena he’s
ever played in, he mentions
Oklahoma’s Lloyd Noble Center
and another that comes close.
"There wasn’t a lot of noise
in here last year,” Belcher said of
the Bob Devaney Sports Center
during NU’s 11-19 campaign
last season.
That’s totally different now,
Belcher said, as increased atten
dance and a rowdier crowd have
breathed new life into the 23
year old arena.
After witnessing a decline in
attendance for the better part of
the past half-decade, atten
dance figures and season ticket
sales for the Devaney Center are
finally seeing an upswing.
Average attendance at NU’s 11
home contests this season has
been 8,602, up 1,300 from it’s
1999-2000 season average.
Should that average stay
constant through Nebraska’s
remaining three home games, it
will be the first time in four years
that the average home atten
dance at NU hasn’t gone down
from the previous year.
Nebraska, who hasn't sold
out a game since March 2,1997,
saw its biggest crowd this year
when 11,240 turned out to
watch Nebraska lose to in-state
rival Creighton on Jan. 2. That
was the largest crowd in the
Devaney Center since 11,294
showed up to watch Nebraska
host Texas A&M two seasons
ago.
“I think the attendance here
has been real good,” Nebraska
Coach Barry Collier said. “The
people have supported us and
the Red Zone has become a real
plus for the team and the pro
gram.”
The Red Zone, Nebraska's
student section at each end of
the court, has added to the
intensity of the games at the
Devaney, both Belcher and
Please see ATTENDANCE on 9
Husker basketball
grabs in-state giant
■barm biissman will join tne
team without a scholarship
due to restrictions.
BY JOSHUA CAMENZ1ND
Nebraska Coach Barry Collier
has nabbed his latest in-state
recruit by way of New Hampton
Prep in New Hampshire.
Garth Glissman, a 6-foot-6,
205-pounder from Lincoln who
played at Waverly, has agreed to
play for the Huskers next season.
But Glissman, who told
Collier he wanted to become a
Husker during winter break,
won’t be signing his John
Hancock to the dotted line of a
national letter-of-intent anytime
soon.
Because of scholarship
restrictions and NU’s need to sign
a big man for next season,
Glissman will enroll in school in
the fall and join the basketball
team without a scholarship.
"It’s an agreement between
Coach Collier and Garth, and his
family, and 1 do know that Garth is
comfortable in choosing
Nebraska,” said Jamie Arsenault,
Glissman’s coach at New
Hampton.
Glissman’s father, Blayne, said
as a parent, he could not be more
proud of Garth’s decision.
“It’s an agreement
between Coach Collier
and Garth and his
family, and / do know
that Garth is
comfortable in
choosing Nebraska.”
Jamie Arsenault
Glissman’s coach
“I found myself as excited as I
get about athletics,” Blayne said.
"I found myself being excited that
Garth was going to have opportu
nity to be around a man like
Coach Collier for the next four to
five years.”
Arsenault said Collier and the
Husker coaching staff had been
interested in Glissman from the
start, but came away from his 27
point performance against
Hargrave Military Academy even
more impressed.
“They are one of the top
schools in the country, talent
wise,” said Arsenault of Hargrave.
“Eight or nine of their top players
are all going ACC or Big East”
New Hampton gave Glissman
another chance at extending his
Please see GLISSMAN on 9
Spreading Hie Wonl
Ron Brown says God's will keeps him in Nebraska
DT UIHK UHA1 tLAIN
Hanging from a wall behind
Ron Brown’s desk is a saying that
reads, ‘We are not all winners
and we are not all losers. But all
of us are choosers.’
For Brown, those choices
have led him to Nebraska. And it
doesn’t appear that he’s leaving
anytime soon, no matter how
glamorous the job offer may be.
The latest big name to come
calling with a job offer was Dick
Vermeil, coach of the Kansas
City Chiefs. Though Brown was
tempted, he turned the offer
down.
Brown has repeatedly cho
sen to stay at Nebraska, at the
same rung on the coaching lad
der he’s been at for 14 years. It’s
not your typical coaching move,
but, then again, Brown’s not
your typical football coach.
His use of one-liners is com
parable to how many times
Nebraska goes to a five-receiver
sei. ne aoesn i use caicny pnras
es or cliches.
And he refers to his religion
like most people talk about the
weather.
On this Saturday night,
Brown is scheduled to speak at
Faith-Westwood United
Methodist Church in Omaha.
People enter the sanctuary, their
anxious chatter a contrast to the
usual near-silence of a church.
When Brown finally walks in
at 8:20 p.m., loud applause fol
lows him. Brown, who speaks at
several engagements through
out the state every year, smiles
and begins his address. This is
Brown’s real passion.
“Football is an opportunity
to use a skill and talent that God
has given me to share what I
think are the most important
things in life,” said Brown, who
admits to using football as a
pianorm to express ms Cnnstian
feelings. “There is a thrill
involved in that. I live for those
opportunities.”
Brown's confidence is evi
dent as he stands at the podium.
His ensuing testimony focuses
on devotion to God and touches
on the dangers of alcohol, drugs,
gambling and premarital sex. He
speaks confidently, like a minis
ter, nothing like a football coach.
He seems completely secure
with who he is and what he is
doing.
“My ultimate goal in coach
ing is to allow Christ to coach
through me, so that when peo
ple see me, they're seeing
Christ,” Brown said. “That’s
more important than seeing Ron
Brown.”
When Brown completes his
testimony almost two hours
later, the crowd files out silent,
inspired. One man labels
Brown’s speech, “intense.”
Intense, indeed. Brown lives
tor more man Nebraska tootball,
and he’s not afraid to tell people
about it.
“One thing I’ve tried hard
not to do is separate my coach
ing from who I am,” said Brown,
who received public backlash
last year when he spoke out
against homosexuality. “Some
people have a problem with
that. They want me to separate
my coaching from my faith in
Christ. I can't do that. That
would be a huge hypocrisy. You
have to be who you are.”
Brown, who wasn't initially
attracted to the coaching profes
sion, came to Nebraska in 1987
from Brown University, his alma
mater.
The move from the Ivy
League to a college football
power was a significant one, but
Please see BROWN on 9
Setbacks don't deter MU's aoals
BY JOSHUA CAMEN3ND
Missouri Coach Quin Snyder said last week
he was still committed to developing a cham
pionship program, one that puts die team’s
success ahead of individual glory.
With that in mind, Snyder suspended his
second-leading scorer, Clarence Gilbert, indef
initely and dismissed former walk-on and lit
tle-used reserve Kenge Stevenson from the
team.
The punishment Snyder handed down
occurred just days after the second-year coach
found out he would be without the Big 12’s
leading scorer, Kareem Rush, for the remain
der of the year due to torn ligaments in his
thumb. Rush was injured after he fell on his
hand in the waning moments of the Tigers’ loss
to Oklahoma State on Feb. 5.
It’s all part of a process Snyder describes as
“taking a step back in order to take a step for
ward.”
“We've been through our share of adversi
ty,” Snyder said. “Adversity can make you
stronger and make you appreciate prosperity.”
Mizzou stands 15-8 and 6-4 in the confer
ence after its 72-64 loss at Iowa State on
Sunday.
The ISU game saw the Tiger lineup sport
four freshman (Rickey Paulding, Wesley
Stokes, Arthur Johnson and Travon Bryant) on
the floor at one time - Stokes, Johnson and
Paulding are currently starting, while Bryant is
the first Tiger off the bench.
In some ways, most notably the develop
ment of MU’s young talent, the absence of
Rush and Gilbert may help Mizzou.
“I think our team has come together and is
improving,” Snyder said. “In my mind, what we
are doing right now is extremely positive, and I
am really excited about where our guys are
going.”
Of course, without Rush and Gilbert, who
was expected to meet with Snyder on Monday
to determine his playing status for Wednesday
night’s matchup with Colorado, the Tigers are
missing 40 combined points per game in con
ference play.
Snyder said Gilbert’s suspension had to do
with discipline, or lack thereof Gilbert, who is
known for his fun-gunning, smack-talking
style, was evidently suspended in part because
Snyder believed the junior guard hadn’t totally
bought into his coaches’ idea of a team con
cept
“The situation is indefinite, and there are a
number of things that need to be cleared up,"
he said. “It's not a complex situation, it’s just a
question of a young man doing the things that
all the other players are doing and being part of
the team.”
Snyder claimed that if Gilbert were to
return to the team after their meeting on
Monday or at some point after, repairing the
Please see MU on 9
Derek Lippincott/DN
Although their personalities and playing styles are different, sisters Leslie (left) and Rebecca Harvey said their decision to play tennis together at Nebraska was mutual.
Both sisters are undefeated this season.
BY VINCE KUPPIG
They don’t look the same, they
don't act the same, and they don’t
play the same.
One has blond hair and is
shorter than the other, a redhead
with several body piercings.
One spends her time studying,
while the other isn’t as concerned
about schoolwork.
One is loose on the court, a
finesse player; the other is focused
and is an intense, power player.
The only common bonds are
the freckles and the incredible
tennis talent But the attachment
of Rebecca and Leslie Harvey, sis
ters separated by a year, is
unbreakable - when one finishes
her match early, she immediately
shifts her attention to the others’
match.
The Harvey sisters, a large part
of Nebraska’s tennis future, are
absolutely inseparable.
“We are each other's success,
we are each other’s fan club, we are
each other’s motivation,” Rebecca
Harvey said. “It’s just always been
that way for us.”
Since arriving at NU last fall,
the freshmen have taken the
Nebraska women’s tennis team by
storm.
Leslie has been unstoppable
this spring, posting a 5-0 singles
record with her all matches being
decided in two sets, the closest 6
2.
Playing at the No. 1 spot last
weekend for her third consecutive
match, the younger sister is fast
becoming a top contender for the
No. 1 spot during Big 12 play.
Rebecca Harvey also has had
no problem with the opposition in
her first year of college tennis.
The elder sister, who attended
the Air Force Academy last year
but didn’t play tennis, is 4-0 this
spring at the No. 5 and 6 singles
spots.
Like her sister, Rebecca
Harvey has yet to drop a set. In
Sunday’s match, she didn’t give up
a single point in her match, win
ning 6-0,6-0, as well as her doubles
match, 8-0.
Add the Harveys’ numbers up,
and collectively they’ve won 18
Please see SISTERS on 9