Tuesday, March 27,1990
The Battalion
Page 9
Arkansas, Texas bring national Penders denies
■ . , .. ^ ^ rumors about
espect and excitement to SWC
\nalysis
3y DENNE H. FREEMAN
Df The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) — When Travis
ays’ 26-foot prayer went un-
nswered by the basketball gods and
frustration foul followed with 16
icks remaining on the clock, the
Texas Longhorns lost their chance
or a rocky mountain high Final
Four.
The Arkansas Razorbacks, as they
bad been all year long, were a little
too good for Texas coach Tom Pen
ders’ overachievers and earned the
ticket to Denver.
The 88-85 victory sent the Razor-
Dacks to the finals against Duke and
the ’Horns had to be content with a
welcome home party in the “Super
Drum.”
But wasn’t the Southwest Confer-
nce the big winner with an out-
ouring of national publicity un-
atched in the league’s somewhat
potted basketball history?
No less an authority than the New
york Times had welcomed the SWC
>ut of the basketball dark ages, say-
wngbefore the game:
I “Buckle your seatbelts for an exhi
larating example of what everyone is
falling the new wave of college bas-
etball, a style that’s high on freew-
iceling shots and low on patience,
iffering pressure defense for 40 sec-
>nds, ana a thrill a second.”
Indeed, it did.
• |i The Arkansas-Texas game, round
'lllS our P rov ided a thrill a minute for
asketball fans every where.
^ was a trem endous game and
uru ive knew Texas would make a run,’
1 \rkansas coach Nolan Richardson
lets pid. “I Texas had gone another
Ebenhii
} Tigers,
re.
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1-1 tie
eighth
to openi
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tros.
ed all sei
aok the If
inning
i single
erfeld.
; more re
singles
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e during
ng.
am
bin
mei
route in the tournament I sincerely
believe we would have played them
for the national championship.”
Penders and Richarson, who had
traded barbs all season, made up
and traded warm handshakes at
game’s end, exchanging “good job”
congratulations.
Penders was the gracious loser al
though it had to hurt as the ’Horns
just missed their first Final Four ap
pearance in 47 years.
“They had too many great play
ers,” Penders said. “We had to hit on
all cylinders to beat them. We
didn’t.”
Texas shot below 40 per cent
from the field and made a costly 22
turnovers which Arkansas cashed
into 23 points.
Texas and Arkansas had gone
into their third meeting of the year
with no respect from the NCAA se
lection committee. Arkansas won the
other games 109-100 and 103-96 in
overtime.
The ’Horns were a 10th seed and
Arkansas only fourth, pretty shabby
for the No. 7 ranked team in the na
tion.
This prime time matchup on CBS
brought national attention to the
SWC which has never won a Final
Four. Baylor and Houston (twice)
have lost in championship games.
“I tried to tell everyone how good
the conference was getting and they
said I was blowing smoke, Richard
son said. “I wasn’t.”
Former Arkansas coach Eddie
Sutton, who had some great teams in
the late 1970s, said flatly “I’ve seen
over 100 games this year and these
two teams can play with any of
them.”
One of the big questions being
asked immediately after 'the final
buzzer was whether Penders would
turn down an attractive offer from
The University of Florida (reported
at $500,000) and stay with the burnt
orange.
A big raise from Penders current
Texas salary of $200,000 plus fringe
benefits was expected to accomplish
that.
“I love being at Texas but I also
have to see what’s best for my fam
ily,” Penders said. “My policy is if
someone wants to talk to me I’ll lis
ten. We’re working on a new con
tract at Texas and I plan to be here
for a long, long time. Maybe I’ll have
announcement before long.”
Stay tuned but Penders should be
offered big bucks to stay at Texas.
The SWC might want to take up a
collection to keep him out of the
$2,630,000 the league cashed in
tournament play. Texas got
$589,000 for advancing to the excit
ing eight while Arkansas took away
$673,000.
Loyola Marymount forced to face
Gathers’ death after loss to UNLV
s a
ast (haii
[off tea"!
The hf ;
eld of IS
107 fotV
WilliaiK
s Barton
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The on-court mission
is over for Loyola Marymount, but the emotional re
covery from Hank Gathers’ death was just beginning
Monday.
Players on the nation’s sentimental favorites in the
NCAA tournament became ordinary students again,
returning to the reality of life without basketball as
therapy.
The team was greeted by a welcoming crowd of
about 2,000 students at its Los Angeles campus at 11
p.m. Sunday. After a final flurry of national tele
vision interviews. Coach Paul Westhead went back to
grading papers from his sociology class and his play
ers looked ahead to a final team meeting on Tues
day.
“We’ve been running scared,” said reserve guard
Tom Peabody. “I dont want to have to deal with
Hank’s death. We’ve run our emotions out.
“It’s going to be a difficult next two weeks ...
month ... year,” he said after Sunday’s 131-101 loss
to UNLV m the West Regional final, burying his face
in a towel as he started to cry.
“With a basketball in our hands, it helped us,” said
guard Terrell Lowery. “It made it easier to deal
with.”
Westhead said the defeat showed that Loyola’s
three previous wins in the tournament may have
been flukey, more a measure of his players’ heart
than of their ability. All the emotion they put into
basketball after their star center collapsed in a March
4 game and died from a defective heart will have to
be invested elsewhere.
“They have to sit down and ask themselves,
‘What’s happened to me the last three weeks?’ ”
Westhead said. “They have to reassess what has hap
pened.
“We haven’t had a quiet moment, literally, since
Hank’s death. That time is necessary and upon us.”
Nearby, on the chalkboard in tne Loyola locker
room, someone had written “Remember the dream.”
“The last three weeks have been sort of a blur,”
said ace outside shooter Jeff Fryer, one of four se
niors on the team besides Gathers.
coaching jobs
DALLAS (AP) — Texas basketball
coach Tom Penders on Monday
denied published reports that he has
talked to conference officials about
jobs in Virginia and North Carolina
State.
“I would swear on a stack of Bi
bles,” said Penders in a telephone in
terview from his office at the Uni
versity of Texas at Austin.
He denied a report Sunday by the
Dallas Times Herald that Atlantic
Coast Conference Assistance Com
missioner Fred Barakat called three
weeks ago to tell Penders he had rec
ommended him for thosejobs.
“That’s totally false,” Penders
said. “I don’t know anything about
it. I’m not applying for jobs. If Vir
ginia had contacted me, I would
have said they did. They have not
contacted me, and the N.C. State job
is not even open.”
The Times Herald reported that
Virginia has joined the list of schools
hoping to lure Penders away. I he
Longhorns fell 88-85 to Arkansas
Saturday in the NCAA Midwest re
gional final.
The newspaper said Penders will
be asked this week to interview for
the vacant head coaching position at
Virginia. Penders was quoted as say
ing no one from Virginia has con
tacted him about possibly replacing
Terry Holland as Cavaliers’ coach.
“My policy is if someone wants to
talk to me, I’ll listen,” Penders said.
“Every coach has to do what is best
for himself and his family. I love the
University of Texas and plan to be
here for a long, long time. We’re
working on (a new contract). Maybe
I’ll have an announcement before
too long.”
Holland resigned to become the
athletic director at Davidson. Offi
cials have met with Penn State coach
Bruce Parkhill and Stanford coach
Mike Montgomery, but have put off
a decision in order to seek Penders
and Xavier coach Pete Gillen, the
source told the newspaper.
Stanford Athletic Director Andy
Geiger confirmed that Montgomery
met with Virginia twice and also said
Virginia would like to talk to Gillen
and Penders this week.
Xavier Athletic Director Jeff Fo-
gelson said Virginia has not ap
proached him for permission to talk
to Gillen.
Asked if he has an interview
scheduled with any school, Penders
said, “I have no plans, nor have I
ever had plans. If someone really
wants to talk to me. I’ll talk. It might
be nice to see how other schools do
things.”
Texas Director of Athletics DeL-
oss Dodds and Penders have said
that Florida Athletic Director Bill
Arnsparger called seeking an inter
view with Penders about the vacant
coaching position at Florida.
Penders has taken the Longhorns
to back-to-back NCAA tournament
appearances.
Ikeeter
Continued from page 7)
il well,
1. "I was
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amp®”
power-
n my heart stop.
But let’s be fair.
Offensive Coordinator Bob
fToledo has said the startingjob is
Pavlas’ going into spring drills.
That’s the way it should be. He
earned the job with his performance
ast season under a new of fense.
True, at times he was a bit
nconsistent. Crucial mistakes by
Pavlas cost the Aggies dearly at the
nd of games against Arkansas and
Pittsburgh.
But he also saved a few games
also. His clutch performance in the
ast-minute, game-winning drive
gainst Baylor and his game against
douston gave A&M two important
dctories.
Former quarterback Gary Kubiak
said it best. The Aggies have a pretty
nice problem in having to choose
between Pavlas and Richardson.
Both can break a game open, and
both have shown the leadership
needed to take the Aggies to a
higher level.
The sad thing is that the
competition may be nothing more
than a token gesture on Coach R.C.
nd
MVl
t
J
Slocum’s part.
Richardson says he’s back, but he
has yet to make it completely
through spring drills. Then comes
two-a-days next fall. If his knee can
hold up through then, he has a shot.
If not, Pavlas is our man.
Just as 1, Skeeter Brown, seem to
be The Battalion’s new man. I am
thrilled to have taken Mr.
Rasmussen’s place. But don’t call me
a scab. I took two years of beginning
journalism in high school, and am
well versed in both editng and
speling.
What of Mr. Rasmussen, you ask?
He can currently be found hovering
outside Battalion Editor Scot
Walker’s door, demanding a pay
raise and a new desk with a bay-
window.
He already got the personalized
Bob Uecker mug.
It’s sad. One guy can get an idea
for a strike like this just from
watching professional athletes —
supposed role models for today’s
youth. I can remember a time when,
“Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
meant wanting peanuts and cracker
jacks — not increases in pay to pad
my average salary of $600,000 a
year.
Where have you gone, Emory
Bellard?
Hogs streak through
NCAA on way to Denver
DALLAS (AP) — After Arkansas
beat Texas Tech on Feb. 7 for its
12th straight victory, a trip to the Fi
nal Four looked possible.
A week later there was reason to
wonder.
During the streak, the Razorbacks
twice beat Houston and Texas — the
other Southwest Conference powers
— and moved to No. 3 in the poll.
But Arkansas then lost to Baylor and
Texas Christian and fell to 13th with
a 20-4 record.
“The one goal we have ever
year,” Coach Nolan Richardson sab
“is to go farther than we did the year
before.”
7
d.
So knowing they made it only as
far as the second round in last year’s
NCAA tournament, the Razorbacks
attacked the rest of their schedule.
They swept past Southern Meth
odist, Texas A&M and Rice in the fi
nal three regular season games to
win the conference title and improve
to 23-4. Then they beat SMU, Baylor
and Houston to win the conference
tournament.
Arkansas entered the NCAA
tournament ranked seventh but re
ceived only a fourth seed in the Mid
west Regional. Richardson called the
seeding a “slap in the face to the
conference.
The Razorbacks have been slap
ping back ever since.
Against Dayton, Arkansas had the
tempo much more to its liking and
won, 86-84, on Todd Day’s follow
shot with four seconds left.
The Razorbacks have two out
standing sophomores in Mayberry
and Day, and another sophomore
force in 270-pound Oliver Miller.
Arkansas will take a 30-4 record to
Denver, where the Razorbacks will
play Duke in a national semifinal.
Richardson says his team has an “ex-
ceUent chance” to win it all, and is
thanklul lor the opportunity.
“Dayton, North Carolina it
r ;s snt we‘r„fre is u R rs so a n s
long as we gel a chance lo pla’y'it/’ *
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Every day is a sale
in
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The
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Concert Tonight!
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The New Mexico
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Progam will include works by Bach, Handel, Lamb,
Colgrass, and the world premier of "Celestial Voices"
by TAMU's Composer in Residence, Peter Lieuwen.
Tickets Available at the MSC Box Office.
Students - $4.00 Non-Students -$6.00
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