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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2001)
I SportsTuesday ' *_ Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, February 27,2001 Page 10 Playing right away is recni'rts'goal Collier's call right not equal Barry Collier has been adver tised - even, occasionally, by himself-as a disciplinari an cut from a different mold Samuel than the fine McKewon model of situ ational ethics, Danny Nee. There’s been the type of sto ries no lazy player likes to hear-a meeting between he and Cary Cochran when the new Nebraska basketball coach grilled a fourth year player over missing two classes. There was the five miles at 5:00 a.m. An emphasis on effort and defense, and an attitude that suggested playing hard every game, instead of picking and choosing certain games. Collier said after NU’s 78-74 loss to Kansas: “Are we where we want to be? No. But thank God we’re not where we were.” But a decision made last Wednesday before NU’s 65-64 loss to Texas Tech was strictly from the Nee era. And it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Husker forward Steffon Bradford left Lincoln on Tuesday, having dapped a scheduled court date for a failure-to-yield traffic ticket If he didn't know it then, he knew by the time the Daily Nebraskan called his hotel room in Lubbock that night which was answered by NU Sports Information contact Jerry Thcke, who commented on the situa tion. Collier knew by then, too. Both had to know a bench warrant was out for Bradford’s arrest for skipping that court date. (Though no matter what has been written, he wasn’t going to be ambushed by airport cops the second he stepped off foe plana) But it was a traffic violation. The same we’ve all had. It was a missed court date. Not uncom mon. A deal? Yes. A big deal? Debatable. And so, based on the nature of a problem, Collier let Bradford {day, and Bradford played well It was a coach’s decision, sure. In my mind, foe right one. I didn’t have a chance to tell Collier that before he refused further comment on the situation on Monday’s Big 12 Teleconference after saying this: iu uimg up a suuduuu as minuscule as a traffic violation is to shed light on a situation.... A mistake was made, and it was duly rectified.” If it seems Collier is throwing himself in the same boat as alot of coaches who weigh legal matters in their own hands, like Tom Osborne used to by collecting his own facts on crimes his players committed, it’s because Collier’s done just that. His team, his judge, his jury. Collier had die information. His player screwed up a little - not too bad, but worse than blowing off a class - and he was in position, on principle, to suspend Bradford until the issue was cleared. Collier, wisely, let Bradford deal with his own fallout It surprised me a littie. I first viewed it as hypocritical. Then, I saw it as just smart. Besides, Collier seems like a wound-tight type of guy. He closes off his prac tices with an ominous black tarp. He’s rallied the troops into a more secretive alliance. He’s a bad quote. He tries, needlessly, to middle-road every thing, refusing to acknowledge high and lows. His answers lack a common sense perspective. C-..11_V_. AWITUA UUAAipOUll ICUXS.O OL/UUl how proud he is that his Oklahoma team went 3-2 in a tough stretch. Collier talks about no win being worth more than another, how each loss is as disap pointing as it could be... because it’s a loss. Oh boy. It was kept quiet, this Bradford thing, but Collier's pub lic image needs a little humaniz ing. Not being Danny Nee will not always be able to stand as his pri mary strength. Discipline is overrated. Both for coaches, who try to micro manage games more and more in 2001, and in the minds of fans, especially in the conservative state of Nebraska. Look at Collier. His suspen sion of Kimani Ffriend at the beginning of the season? Well, it didn't realty work. What it did was lose a game against Oral Roberts Please see DISCIPLINE on 9 ■ The four Husker signees plan to spend their summer getting ready for the Big 12. BY JOSHUA CAMENZINP As their seasons wind down, Barry Collier’s first full recruiting class believes it knows what it will take to succeed for the Comhuskers at the next level Cory Simms, Dan Heimos, Jake Muhleisen and Brennon Clemons all signed on the dotted line last November to commit their services to Nebraska. The question Collier's first NU recruiting class must now answer is whether or not the four, as well as one other undetermined recruit, can step in and help Nebraska right away. For Heimos, a6-foot-10 center from Waterloo, 111., a “yes” answer will only come by adding extra weight. At 210 pounds, both Heimos and his coach, Dennis Reuter, said this spring and sum mer’s weight program would be essential for the rigors of Big 12 basketball “If I get a lot stronger, then I won’t get pushed around, and I will be able to handle myself down low,” said Heimos, whose Gibault High School team has gone 20-8 thus far this year. For Muhleisen, NU's only in state scholarship recruit so far, the issue is also one of strength, which the 6-foot-4 guard will need to add to compete in the paint “I have to hit die weights real hard and try to put on some pounds before next season because those guys bang down there, and I'm not that big yet,” said the Lincoln Southeast senior. Weight and strength aren’t on everyone's mind, though. Simms, who is considered Collier's prize recruit said cardiovascular activi ties would be his main objective. "I think I have the ability to play, but I will have to work for it” The Class of 2001 How Barry Collier’s first recruiting class looks with only one spot left to fill. I S’ said Simms, whose Normandy (St Louis) team finished its season at ,24-4. “So, I am going to do a lot of conditioning. “When you get into college, everybody can play, and it is all about who wants it die most” Collier’s four recruits have already gotten what they wanted a free education and a chance to play college basketball on the highest level But to get what they want the most next season - playing time - all four knew their senior seasons, and in the case of Clemmons his sophomore year at junior college, would be a time not only to dis play their well-documented skills, but also a time to brush up on their weaknesses. Muhleisen, who missed time this season with a broken wrist but is healthy now as Southeast makes a run for the state championship, dted bad free throw shooting as a problem area. So, Muhleisen went out and improved his charity stripe per centage from 68 percent as a jun ior to 90 percent this season. Simms made great strides as he worked to upgrade his all around game to complement his scoring ability. As a junior, Simms averaged only four rebounds per game. That total was up to around nine at season’s end, which shows his dedication, said Simms’ coach, Malcolm Hill Hill said in addition to scoring around 20 points per game, Simms, who was the Suburban North player of the year, ranked in the top 10 in his conference in assists, third in steals and second in blocked shots. A more complete game was necessary for Simms to develop for Normandy to succeed as a team, Hill said. “He’s really done well consid ering the fact that he has two or three guys running at him every game,” Hill said. Clemmons, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Olney Junior College in Illinois, also is doing more than just scoring. The Indianapolis native, whose top choice was Butler when Collier coached the Bulldogs, is averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, four assists and 3.5 steals for Olney, which is 15-12 in the season. When Olney recently upset the No. 1 team in the nation, Wabash Valley, Clemmons was at his best, filling up the box score with 28 points, eight boards, six steals and five assists. “You just can’t focus on one thing,’’ said Clemmons, who will Please see RECRUITS on9 In-state recruit Enright faces high expectations BY BRIAN CHRtSJOPHERSON Every time Roy Enright walks on the basketball court, he is ana lyzed. Worse yet, he lives in a microscope in which only people with high expectations look into. Analyzed, and mostly criticized - criticized for what he can't do and rarely praised for what he can. Welcome to the life of Roy Enright, a junior at Omaha Burke High, 17 years old - didn’t get his first razor too long ago. Criticism is lurking when you’re Enright, when you’re offered a verbal scholarship to play ball at Nebraska about the same time you first receive your drivers license. And more impor tantly, when you accept that scholarship from the homestate school - well, most eyes in the high school gym are going to be on you, and you are expected to put on a show within the show. You’re supposed to be Superman if you’re Enright, and sometimes when you’re a high school kid, you forget your cape. When you show any sign of waffling under the pressure, the critics come out of the woodwork. They find faults in your game and throw mud on your 15 points, seven rebounds per game aver age. The criticism is not seemingly fair. You’re just a kid, or are you anymore? "Criticism is part of the game,” said Enright, who seems totally aware of the attention that is on him. "It doesn't really bother me. I’ve heard the critics... scoring wise; people talk about my scor ing not being high enough, but I’ve always looked at it as a team game.” Welcome to the life of Roy Enright-no, not just the life of Roy Enright. This isn’t a one man cri tique. Enright serves instead as the one-man microcosm of the lucky, yet painful, spotlight gar nering position that thousands upon thousands of talented high school athletes before him have been through. People are apt to fed good for a kid when he signs four years of his life over to a yniversity. And in the next breath, people will ask to see proof of the skills. People want to see if the hype is exactly that hype, or if this athlete is worthy of a free four-year education that they didn’t receive. I heardyou can ball, Roy. Prove it Are you worthy or overrated? Xtverrated! Overrated.*” It's Feb. 17, and Lincoln East students recant the overused chant over and over again. The fans aren't referring to Enright, but rather Enright’s team, a team which is just ending its re$ ular season with a disheartening 71-60 loss which will drop the Bulldogs’ record to 12-7. Enright watches the final minute of the defeat from the bench. He didn’t play bad, scoring 12 points, but one Lincoln East parent was hardly impressed. “What'd Collier see in him?” he asks the man seated next to him. The Collier the man refers to is first-year Nebraska Coach Barry Collier, a coach who is very much Plea$e see ENRIGHT on 9 Big 12 teams gear up for tourney time BY DIRK CHATELAIN How to play your best when it matters most. That's the dilemma. The college basketball season is a long, gruel ing marathon * . ^ that carries on for I ■ ■ more than five I KJ I #11 W I months. With the || | A II ^ Big 12 conference ■ season coming to a close, the final and most important chapter, the NCAA Tournament, is just around the comer. “Our season is going to be graded on what we do at the end, and that’s a shame,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams said. “I think we should all enjoy the journey and not just the final destination.” That sounds logical. But champions aren’t determined in January. Peaking at the right time is the key to a success ful season. Just ask Tennessee, who was a top 10 team in December and January before losing eight ui iu in <i receiii ^iiciiu. Volunteers’ Coach Jerry Green is barely holding on to his job. Williams’ job security is not in question. But he, like every other Big 12 coach making reser vations for the NCAA's, is still feeling the pressure. The KU coach, whose team has been known for post-season disappointments, has his own solution for strong play down the stretch. "I’m one of those guys that thinks you peak at the end of the year because you practice very hard every single day,” Williams said. Missouri Coach Quin Snyder, who is only in his second year as a head coach, has a different phi losophy. “As badly as you want to practice sometimes as a coach, you’re better off keeping it short and keeping them fresh.” i urniK ii» uiipuiuuii iu vaiy Quin snyaer your routine," Snyder said. Missouri coach “Sometimes they just get men- -— tally fatigued. “As badly as you want to practice, sometimes as a coach you’re better off keeping it short and keeping them fresh." Making it even harder, the Tigers have a youth ful line-up that isn’t used to playing a 35-game sea son, Snyder said. Kelvin Sampson, whose Oklahoma Sooners are set to make their seventh-consecutive NCAA Please see TOURNEY on9