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■ STUDENT TRAVEL
Page 2B
SPORTS
THE BATTALION
Wednesday, February 7,2001
W
National signing day set for today
(AP) — A few years after Mack
Brown revived Darrell Royal’s
roundup style of recruiting at Texas,
Bob Stoops is reaching into Okla
homa’s past and pulling off the Lone
Star State talent raids last seen by
Barry Switzer.
The Sooners’ undefeated national
championship season was the perfect
boost to help Stoops cross the Red
River and go back home with verbal
commitments from several top-cal
iber Texans.
Those promises will become offi
cial Wednesday when high school se
niors sign letters of intent and fax
them to the college of their choice.
Oklahoma is expected to sign 15
players from Texas, nearly double its
total from last year.
“Stoops has re-established Texas
as a primary recruiting ground,” said
analyst Bobby Burton of Ri
vals 100.com. “He did extremely
well with the top-level guys, but if he
takes more strides on the field next
year he could get even bigger num
bers from Texas.”
The Sooners were hoping to have
two more this year, but lost out to the
Longhorns on all-around star Quan
Cosby of Mart and Waco linebacker
Derrick Johnson.
That pair pumped up Texas’ al
ready state-best haul and put UT ei
ther even with or ahead of OU in the
mythical national recruiting race. The
consensus among analysts is that the
classes signed by the Longhorns and
Sooners will rank among the top six
in the country.
“Both teams are going to be real
happy,” said analyst Allen Wallace of
SuperPrep.
Texas A&M is likely to be sec
ond-best in the state, followed by
Texas Tech, Houston and Texas
Christian.
The Cougars are the surprise team
of 2001. Coach Dana Dimmel’s in
tense efforts in the Houston area and
throughout the state have paid off as
21 of his 23 expected signees are
from Texas.
TCU was a major player last year
as it was cruising out of a great sea
son and heading into another. This
time, the defection of coach Dennis
Franchione and the graduation of star
running back LaDainian Tomlinson
appears to have triggered a dropoff.
“It’s not so much because they
think (new coach) Gary Patterson or
his staff is not capable, it’s the timing
of the situation,” Burton said. “You
look at it and you notice they lost
some kids who they probably
would’ve gotten.”
The Sooners’ biggest prizes from
Texas include running back Donta
Hickson of McKinney, receiver
Brandon Jones of Texarkana Liber-
ty-Eylau and defensive linemen
Tommie Harris of Killeen Ellison
and Brett Rayl of Lewisville.
OU’s Lone Star crop is well-
rounded, too, featuring eight defend
ers' and seven offensive players,
That's unfair to
the Aggies because
they'll remain
capable of beating
Texas with the
* athletes they sign.”
— Allen Wallace
SuperPrep recruiting guru
counting a kicker. Eight of the 22 Ok
lahoma signees were from Texas last
year.
Wallace credited it all to Stoops,
whom he said is “the most popular
college coach in America” thanks to
a combination of on-field smarts and
warm demeanor off the field.
“Recruits view him as being fun
to play for,” Wallace said.
While playing for the national
champion is a natural draw, Wallace
believes the hurdles Oklahoma
crossed to get there were just as im
portant in the recruiting wars.
“1 think the victory over Nebras
ka has as much to do with it as any
thing. That’s when I looked at them
moving to the next level,” he said.
“People understand that the national
championship can come along only
so often, but there are lots of superi
or programs. That established them
as being among those elite teams.”
In Royal’s heyday, he threw out
the welcome mat and invited all the
best players from around the state to
fight for their place on the depth
chart. Most did, making the Long
horns a national power and leaving
them with third- and fourth-stringers
who could start elsewhere in the
Southwest Conference.
Things already were changing
when Switzer took over OU in the
early ’70s. He made Texas his home
away from home during recruiting
season and signed the likes of Joe
Washington, Billy Sims and David
Overstreet, helping the Sooners dom
inate the Big Eight and the national
rankings.
The glory days for both programs
ended when they stopped bringing in
top recruits.
Brown has kickstarted a revival in
Austin by pumping up his talent sup
ply, starting with better relations with
high school coaches. While Stoops is
making inroads in Texas, he’s domi
nating recruiting in Oklahoma.
“The Sooners own the state of
Oklahoma,” Burton said. “I’d hate to
be (new Oklahoma State coach) Les
Miles right now and looking up at
Bob Stoops and what he’s got going.
There’s probably not enough talent in
Oklahoma to go around.”
As Stoops improves his footing in
Texas, he can use one weapon
Switzer never had: a guarantee that
OU will play Texas, Texas A&M,
Texas Tech and Baylor every year.
That’s something the Texas Big 12
schools feared when the conference
was created and now, after five sea
sons, it appears to be coming true.
“Oklahoma will always recruit
Texas fairly well. It’s just a matter of
how well,” Wallace said. “It’s per
haps more impressive now because
the Longhorns have established
themselves as a tough nut to crack.
Mack Brown has a definite angle on
keeping the best Texas prospects
coming to Austin.”
Burton and Wallace rank the Ag
gies’ class somewhere in the 20s, al
though Wallace said the gap be
tween A&M and Texas isn’t as big
as it seems.
“A&M probably is not going to
get the exposure it deserves for this
class and that’s because of Texas,” he
said. “That’s unfair to the Aggies be
cause they’ll remain capable of beat
ing Texas with the athletes they sign. ”
Internet
changes world
of recruiting
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -
Chris Spencer is a wanted man.
The 305-pound 17-year-old
supposedly was spotted in
Tuscaloosa, Ala. Later, he was said
to be headed to Baton Rouge. La.,
because he had family there. Both
reports proved to be wrong.
For months, strangers phoned
Spencer's home seeking informa
tion about his next destination, as
many as five calls a day. He sus
pects he is being watched and his
phones have been tapped.
Spencer isn't a fugitive. Heisa
senior at Madison Central High
School in Mississippi and among
the most coveted offensive line-
| men in the country.
Before Spencer announced that
he would sign a letter of intent
with Mississippi on Wednesday
the first day of the national signing
period, he found out just how per-
vasive recruiting coverage has be
come in recent years.
“You can’t make a move with
out people knowing what you're
doing. If 1 go to a basketball game
somewhere, it’s on the Internet the
next hour that Tm at this place or
that place.” he said.
Not long ago, college footbal'
fans had few sources of infonna-
lion on which players were beine
recruited by their favorite team>
Now, fans can surf through a tidal
wave of recruiting facts, stats and
hearsay on the Internet.
“There is more awareness b;
everyone of what you're doing,"
said Ole Miss coach David Cut-
cliffe, who has been recruiting for
20 years. “It is much more of a
spectator sport.”
Scott McKinney, co-hostofa
syndicated talk-radio show that fo
cuses on Southeastern Conference
sports, said the dramatic increase
in recruiting coverage is directly
linked to the Internet boom
Kentucky fires football coach amid controversy
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky foot
ball coach Hal Mumme resigned Tuesday fol
lowing months of investigation into possible
NCAA violations.
Mumme was replaced by Guy Morriss, an as
sistant coach at Kentucky with more than 15 years
of NFL playing and coaching experience. Morriss
was given a one-year contract, athletic director
Larry Ivy said at a news conference.
“I met with coach Hal Mumme this afternoon
and officially accepted his resignation as head
football coach,” Ivy said.
The move came the day before high school
players are allowed to sign letters of intent with
college programs.
“There are two things that are of utmost im
portance to me,” Ivy said. “Number one is the wel
fare of our current student athletes. We’ve spoken
with them on a couple of occasions.
“I was equally concerned about potential stu
dent athletes that had committed to us. I did not
want to wait until after signing day and then have
the decision made, putting them in a position
where they felt like they didn’t have a choice.”
Mumme had four years remaining on a contract
that paid him $800,000 per year. Ivy said the
school did not buy out the contract but would ne
gotiate some kind of severance package with
Mumme.
Mumme was 20-26 in four seasons with the
Wildcats. He has made no public comment since
-the school began an internal investigation in No
vember regarding recruiting.
Mumme is expected to issue a statement on
Wednesday.
“While not admitting to any NCAA violations,
he felt that the problems we had encountered with
our football program were under his watch, and he
felt like he should shoulder the responsibility for
those problems,” Ivy said.
Former assistant coach and recruiting coordi
nator Claude Bassett in January admitted sending
$ 1,400 in money orders to a Memphis, Tenn., high
school football coach and improperly cashing a
$500 check donated by a booster to help fund
Mumme’s summer football camp.
((
While not admitting to any
NCAA violations, he felt that
the problems we had encoun
tered with our football pro
gram were under his watch
and he felt like he should
shoulder the responsibility
for those problems. ”
— Larry Ivy
Kentucky athletic director
Ivy told the school’s board of trustees last
month that the investigation had uncovered sever
al violations, some of which would be deemed ma
jor by the NCAA. He said at the time there had
been no evidence linking Mumme to any of the vi
olations.
Since that announcement, several newspaper
reports said that Kentucky assistant coaches had
asked boosters for money to help pay for recruits
to attend Mumme’s football camps, a violation of
NCAA rules. The school could not provide proof
that nearly 20 recruits, including Kentucky Mr.
Football Montrell Jones, paid the fee to attend
Mumme’s camp last summer.
Ivy said he did not ask for Mumme’s resij®
tion during a meeting early Tuesday.
“We talked in general about where the prograi
was and where he thought it could go if he comic
ued,” Ivy said. “I think it was more of a mutual me
derstanding that a change would probably bebf i
for all concerned.”
Morriss has spent the last four seasons at Ken
tucky after one year at Mississippi State. AnAi
Southwest Conference guard at Texas Christiac
Morriss played 15 seasons lit the NFL —Hie
Philadelphia and four with New England.
Morriss coached with New England andAfi;
zona in the NFL and had stints at Valdosta States
with San Antonio of the Canadian Football Least:
The 48-year-old Mumme was a virtuallyt
known head coach at Division II ValdostaStai:
when he was hired by former athletic direct®:
C.M. Newton in 1997 to replace Bill Curry,wit
was fired after a 26-52 record in seven years*
Kentucky
An offensive innovator, Mumme brought wit
him a wide-open passing attack that showcased tit
talents of quarterback Tim Couch. Under Mumnt
Couch rewrote the Southeastern Conferenct
record book and became the top pick in the
NFL draft.
“Mummeball,” as his aggressive style ofpla'j
became known, ignited renewed fan interest ii
languishing program. Following a 5-6 record It'
first season, the Wildcats went 7-5 and 6-6 the net
two years and played in back-to-back bowl gamej
— a feat accomplished only twice previously
the 109-year history of the program.
After boasting that his squad was ready
challenge perennial Southeastern Conferee
powers Florida and Tennessee entering thelOft
season, the Wildcats lost their final eight gamt
to finish 2-9.
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