Ffriend has hopes
for late-season run
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON
Two years ago, a tall, wiry
Jamaican brought his likable
accent and raw basketball skills
- to Lincoln with some major
hoop dreams.
As Nebraska senior Kimani
Ffriend has found out, not all
dreams come true.
“I got mixed feelings," said
Ffriend, now two years wiser and
about ready to finish his
Cornhusker career. “I had per
sonal goals and team aspira
tions, but unfortunately so far we
haven't fulfilled (the goals) team
wise.”
Despite not checking off
• every goal on his list at Nebraska,
you can bet Ffriend wants to fin
ish his home career in style with
a win over Texas A&M (10-17,3
11 Big 12) at 7:05 p.m. tonight at
the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Ffriend is one of five<Husker
seniors, all important cogs on
the team, who will play their last
home game against the Aggies
tonight
Guards Cookie Belcher and
Rodney Fields and forwards
Steffon Bradford and Craig
Wortman join Ffriend as exiting
players.
Nebraska Coach Barry
Collier said the five seniors
would start tonight's game.
‘There’s a natural
flow of emotions of
remembering days
gone by for those
guys in particular.”
Barry Collier
NU basketball coach
“There’s a natural flow of
emotions of remembering days
gone by for those guys in particu
lar,’' Collier said of Senior Day. “It
usually turns out to be a good
thing if you channel it correctly.’’
Nebraska is in desperate
need of a win after two straight
losses. NU presently sits at 13-14,
6-8 in the Big 12. A win tonight
would lock up the No. 7 seed for
the Huskers in next week's Big 12
tournament
A win would also give NU a
push heading into the season
finale, a road trip to Iowa State on
Saturday.
Ffriend still maintains
dreams of making a late surprise
run and said NU hasn’t given up
hope that they can run die table
at die Big 12 tournament
“I haven’t thrown in the towel
yet, and I won’t until that last
game and I see that clock read
zero,” he said.
Belcher up to challenge
of opponents'best players
BELCHER from page 10
own.
“Steals are what everybody
knows me by," he said. “They are
all hustle, anticipation and
aggressiveness.
“Everyone sees you score and
rebound and all that stuff, but
steals are one of those things that
not many people look at I can tell
by looking at that whether or not I
was aggressive and worked hard
or not"
And Belcher had a shot, as
slim as he said it might have been,
to have that stat all to himself in
the NCAA record books. Starting
the season, Belcher needed 105
steals to tie Eric Murdock for the
record.
His total, which stands at 346
right now, will likely stop twenty or
so short of die necessary 371.
Belcher won't fall short of the
mark without a fight He concedes
it wont happen, but he isn’t by any
means bitter about not reaching
it
* “It was kind of a long shot at
the start of the season, and I
would have had to average a lot of
steals to make it up there," Belcher
said.
It's easy to tell how much it
would have meant to Belcher to
have the mark all to himself. He
pauses when asked about the
record’s importance, looks up,
and mutters under his breath, “I
don’t know.”
Belcher is the kind of player
who, when asked to name the five
best guards he has defended in his
career, thinks long and hard about
the question.
But he can only come up with
three - Paul Pierce, formerly a
University of Kansas star and now
a Boston Celtic, Richard
Hamilton, UConn standout and
now a Washington Wizard and
Cory Carr, a former Texas Tech
gunner. Missouri s Kareem Rush,
Iowa State’s Jamaal Tinsley and
Oklahoma State's Maurice Baker
are the three toughest he has
faced this year.
One has to wonder how many
of those six would mention
Belcher as one of the hardest to
score on. Most of their coaches
already have.
*♦*
When Barry Collier took over
for Danny Nee this season,
Belcher had to adjust to a new
style of defense. No more in your
face, pressure defense - the style
Nee preferred.
Collier wants his players to sit
back in the passing lanes and play
a sag and help style.
Belcher said this neither ham
pered nor helped his attempt at
the record.
Deception, which Belcher
said is a major part of his game,
can be used in either style.
“That is key for a lot of defens
es," Belcher said. “I put myself in
situations where I know I can get
to the ball, but other players think
leant”
But Collier hasn’t been
deceived by his senior leader’s
(day this season.
Collier said Belcher is the most
athletic guard he has seen in his 25
years of coaching. Whether or not
that translates into an NBA call,
Collier is not sure.
Like Williams, Collier is aware
of the kind of weapon he has had
at his disposal this season.
“He reads the passer's eyes
very well and still knows where his
man is,” said Collier, who thinks
the guard is All-Big 12 material
“I think there is a knack to it”
he said. “You can point it out and
try to teach it to others, but clearly
there has to be a level of poise out
there to look for that opportunity”
Wonderlic tests
brain not brawn
NFL from page 10
properly, Stark said. What the test
determines may not actually
translate into reality, he said.
For starters, the test doesn’t
account for learning disabilities,
Stark said, and the fact that it’s a
timed test will affect die scores of
some of its participants.
Stark also noted that the test
isn’t that specialized, as anyone
can administer it IQ tests, which
many people confuse with the
Wonderlic, require licensed pro
fessionals to give them, Stark said.
“For what they want," Stark
said, “there’s a lot of other ways to
get it"
Stark said examining the pos
sible presence of learning disabili
ties and inspecting college and
high school grades would be effec
tive as well.
“What they’re really trying to
figure out is what the players can
learn,” Stark said, “because when
they get to camp, they’re going to
throw a three-inch playbook in
their lap.”
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Jones'energy sparks NU I
jwi»Trom page m_
points and 5.3 rebounds in the
last five games. Not bad for
someone who is, according to
Sanderford, essentially a fresh
man after sitting out most of last
year with a tom anterior cruciate
ligament in her right knee.
It was fitting the injury came
by crashing into the scorer's
table while diving for a loose
ball.
"She brings a lot of energy
and emotion to the floor,”
Sanderford said. "Some players
try to be cool and play without
passion. I think its cool to have
passion, and she shows it”
Jones has needed passion
the last two years. Last year, she
had the bum knee, which made
her even more antsy than nor
mal
“I’m definitely a better player
because of it, though,” Jones
said.
This year, it has been the los
ing.
"I think I’d be a lot happier if
we were winning. It’s just frus
trating ... we just have to play
harder, work out more. What else
can you do? God says ifyou work
hard, things are going to happen.
You just don’t know when.”
Like many developed per
sonality traits, this innate
aggression came from child
hood and adolescence. Jones
had two older brothers who
wouldn’t let her play basketball
with them, and she had to fight
jum iu ue seen.
That’s easy to believe. What
may not be is that Jones,
although she seems to be in full
steam mode all the time, is not a
punk. She says her aggressive
ness on the court differs from
some in that she doesn’t trash
talk and doesn’t play dirty.
And although she went to
Benson, a school known for its
urban toughness, she’s not just a
brutish basketball player either.
Her passion for excellence in the
game carries over into life - she
had a religious upbringing and
was an honors student, a
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
member and devoted volunteer.
Being “someone no one
wants to play” doesn’t mean
being someone no one wants to
meet
“It comes from my mom -1
was very well disciplined,” Jones
said. “My parents always said
whatever you do reflects on you.
Never do anything that people
would look down on you for.”
Like tearing off people’s jer
seys the first time you meet
them?
Jones offered up a rare smile
when reminded of that
encounter with Sutton.
“It was just like one of those
Hulk Hogan shirts that rip right
off,” Jones said. “(Causing a
scene like that) wouldn’t be
acceptable in what I was raised
in.”
But she sure makes a strong
impression.
Roux looks for strong finish
ROUXfrompagelO
best score.
While she has started strong
in the spring, the autumn was
rough for Roux. After finishing the
Alltel Husker Invitational tied for
ninth, her next-best showing was
25th place at the 2000
Prices/NMSU Invite.
"I wish the fall would have
gone better,” Roux said.
For Roux and her teammates,
it has been a long, cold winter for
NU to mull over its lackluster per
formance in the fall after last
spring's NCAA championships
berth. Cold weather has relegated
the team to practicing in the Bob
Devaney Sports Center:
Lack of outside practice time
makes getting a feel for the game
difficult
"It doesn't hurt ball striking,
but it has hurt our short game,”
Krapfl said. “You can't simulate
dripping and putting inside.”
The Huskers traveled to
warmer weather for a practice
dual against New Mexico in early
February.
Despite the golfing vacation,
Nebraska’s 1 l^-place finish at the
Midwest Gassic was its first finish
outside the top 10 this year.
The lack of outside practice
bothered die Huskers’ play slight
ly, but, Roux said, that can’t be
used as an excuse.
“Some northern schools have
posted some good scores this
spring,” she said. "If they can do it,
we can too.”
NU will try to match last year’s
strong showing by making a
return trip to the NCAA
Tournament. Ori paper, the
Huskers have a decent chance to
do so with four starters back from
last year’s squad. The only loss is
Elizabeth Bahensky, who finished
second on the team in stroke
average last spring. '
To make a repeat appearance,
Krapfl said the team needs a con
sistent fifth player to step up.
Roux agreed.
“We can’t be a contender until
we get four scores in the 70s,” she
said.
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Invite unkind to golfers
FROM STAFF REPORTS
A promising start to the
Nebraska men’s golf season found
a bump in die road after its second
go-around in Texas.
Nebraska, which finished a
respectable sixth in its season
opening Rice Invitational last
weekend, placed 12th in the USTA
Invitational in San Antonio, which
was completed on Tuesday.
Big 12 foe Texas Tech finished
atop the 12-team tournament fir
ing a three-round score of 853,
eight strokes ahead of second
place Texas-San Antonia
Individually; die Comhuskers
were paced by Jim TYoy, who fin
ished tied for 29th place with a
three-round score of 224. The
„ sophomore fired the lowest round
by a Nebraska golfer with an
opening-day 72.
Seth Porter was Nebraska's
most consistent golfer. The junior
fired three consecutive rounds of
75 and finished tied for 34th. He
placed seventh at the Rice
Invitational a week ago.
The next time Nebraska takes
the links will be in Lafayete, La., for
the Louisiana Classics on March
12-13.
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