jeff dickerson/sportcuts
Freshmen at the center of attention
With a month still left
between now and the beginning
of basketball season, Oregon
coach Jim Haney has neverthe
less been left to ponder the si
tuation he’s been placed in by
the loss of three players who
were each challenging for start
ing positions
The loss of junior center Ron
Burns, junior forward Ray Whit
ing and sophomore guard John
Cheatham leaves Haney with a
team the coach says is leaning
toward the inexperienced side
“The pendulum now swings
to the inexperienced side with
the loss of three veteran
players," the coach says “It
means the bulk of our early
practices will be spent going
over fundamental drills —
teaching the system to the
younger players."
The young players include
center Blair Rasmussen, for
wards Rodnie Taylor and Je
remiah Adams, and guards
Bryan Trendell and Scott Perry
With Burns out, Haney has to
consider Rasmussen a definite
prospect to become the starting
center, and logic, the coach
says, would seem to bear that
out
"On paper, it would seem
Rasmussen would be the
choice at center," Haney says
“But I expect Jerry (Jeremiah)
Adams and Jerome Williams to
challenge for the position "
Williams, a 6-8 junior who
redshirted last season, and
Adams, a 6-8 freshman out of
Verbum Dei High School in Los
Angeles, can each play the for
ward position Indeed, Adams
was recruited out of high school
as a forward and Williams has
spent much of his time as a
forward for the Ducks
That leaves Rasmussen, at
6-11, as the logical choice to
start at center for Oregon That
is, if he can adjust to the college
game
Currently, the freshman
center is recovering from the
foot surgery he underwent dur
ing the summer, but Haney says
the Washington 1981 high
school Most Valuable Player is
recovering quite well It's his
adjustment to the college game
that Haney is concerned about
"All of our younger players
need to become accustomed to
the physical demands of the
game — only time will tell how
much of a factor these younger
players will be in our season
"We will have to go through
preseason drills and probably a
lot of preseason games before
we know exactly how these
young people are going to fit
into our plans this season,"
Haney says, with an emphasis
on "this season ”
It’s certain that Haney has
had a plan for what is probably
the most talented group of
freshmen he's had in his four
years at Oregon The question
is. did he include them in his
plans this year — before they've
had a chance to internalize the
Oregon system?
The losses of Bums, Cheath
am and Whiting would seem to
have quite a change on the
characterization of the squad
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that should be one of the sur
prise teams in the Pacific 10
Conference this season
Haney says today's team is a
change from what he had envi
sioned last spring, but that by
the summer he knew that he
would be missing some of the
players that contributed to last
year's 13-14 season
"By June I had an idea that we
might not have the total group
back from last year, so we've
been making plans to compen
sate for that," he says
What the coach does have
coming back is a qualified
backcourt crew and increased
strength over last season
"At point guard, Fred Cofield
and Barry Walker bring their
experience onto the court and
freshman Scott Perry could be a
factor too," he says Haney
adds that Paul Bain and Tren
dell, the hot-shooting guard out
of Marshfield High School
should provide additional guard
strength
At forward, senior captain
John Greig should be a starter
with help from Williams, Adams
and sophomore David Brantley
who set a new school record for
field goal efficiency, hitting on
61 of 103 attempts for a 592
percentage
Overall, Haney expects his
team to be a much stronger
team than that of a year ago
"Physically, we are a pretty
good-sized team, and we aren't
weak at any position There's
emerald
msspoms
The EMERALD SPORTS supplement is published bi-monthly
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Jim Hanay
good rebounding strength up
front and we should be a pretty
good shooting team "
At Hanay begins his fourth
season at the helm, he now has
a team entirely made up of
players he has recruited And
even though three of the players
Haney recruited will not be with
the team this year, it should
nevertheless be an interesting
year at Mac Court
Whether the Ducks go on to
do great things this year, next
year or whenever, may depend
upon how quick five freshman
recruits can grow into the pro
gram
And as Haney says, "Only
time will tell "
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