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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1981)
sports A link in the Washington connection Northern neighbors gave Oregon Blair Rasmussen By SCOTT COE Or the Emerald There's something about interviewing someone you have to look up to Way up to Blair Rasmussen, the 7-foot freshman center from Auburn. Wash, sat slumped over on a heavily outmatched wooden stool, lacing and relacing his size 16 basketball shoes "I love the game of basket ball. and have ever since I was little” Although it's rather dif ficult to imagine when that was. Rasmussen says. "I'm having more fun playing now than I've ever had ” The state of Washington has supplied more than just its famous apples to Eugene Ras mussen is the second big man recruited from Washington by coach Jim Haney that he and Duck fans hoped would step in and elevate the Ducks from their perennial Pacific 10 Conference also-ran status Haney's first Washington experiment. Ron Burns is sidelined for at least this season with a sore back But even at full strength Burns did not develop into the type of dominant force Haney and Duck fans had hoped for As a result, the pub licity surrounding Rasmussen s arrival has been somewhat sub dued "I don't worry about what the public is going to think of me " commented Rasmussen. “I’m just going to let my basket ball speak for itself ” Rasmussen made his deci sion to play for the Ducks early along in last year's high school recruiting war He knew exactly what he was looking for. and when he found it he was eager to remove himself from the recuiting pressures "It was becoming a giant hassleRasmussen explained "You get to a point where you aren't interested in a lot of places, and (he constant phone calls really become a nui sance" So why Oregon, if so many schools wanted him'? Rasmus sen’s logic put the often over-complicated recruiting process in a realistic perspec tive “I first looked at Stanford, but I couldn't see myself as a Californian, you know the lifestyle down there and ever ything " Sorry Cardinals, Bruins, and Trojans, this big man’s not a beach boy "I could have gone to Washington but I wanted to try something different, he said So Oregon served as a happy medium Happy, of course, for coach Haney "I liked (Eugene's) climate the best and it's an easy-going lifestyle But what really sold me was that Haney stressed the education aspect of the whole thing — that's why we re here really. " he said Last summer Rasmussen joined many of the top prep hoopsters in the country in var ious all-star tournaments He and his new Duck teammate Rodnie Taylor played in North Carolina for an all-Washington team, with both players getting in ample playing time In New York however it was a different story Rasmussen was selected for the West team in the National High School All-Star tour nament, but spent most of the tourney watching the action from courtside He played backup to Stuart Gray con sidered by most everyone to* be the best pivot man coming out of high school this year Gray was eventually named the tour ney's MVP as he led Rasmus sen's West squad to the Cham pionship Gray is going to be playing basketball for the UCLA Bruins this season 46 scientific functions at your fingertips LjaaL.0 3E_.CC] [ .iCEEC E3 Cj lC CJ _J II O 9 B S 0BO0Q IV0 U BP u k: o u u $28.50 MODEL EL-506S • Some of the 46 functions performed at the touch of a key are hyperbolic (smh cosh tanh)and their inverses trigonometric (sin cos tan) and their inverses rectangular polar coordinate conversions exponential (base 10 and base e) and their inverses (logarithms) power (y x) and its inverse ( x root of y ) factorial (n() mean sum and standard deviation • Scientific notation (B-digit mantissa 2-digit exponent, BOOKSTORE 13th & Kincaid Mon-Fri 8 15-5:30 Sat 10:00-3:00 Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 686-3510 • Supplies 686-4331 "Stuart Gray is good — yeah, he’s great," Rasmussen said "But I can match up to him really well, although he's got the edge in talent I'm looking for ward to the challenge of playing against him for four years It s going to be tun " Rasmussen had a minor operation on his left foot this summer, and is still experienc ing soreness from the surgery "It s still tender on top. where they cut it. so I have to soak it after every practice to cool it down to normal," he ex plained The top of his left foot isn’t the only sore area on Blair Ras mussen after practice He is quickly learning about the in crease of bumps and bruises that come with playing college basketball "The battling under the boards," he said “you get bat tered around every day, and these are only my teammates1" The atmosphere in the Duck s locker room thus tar is a cohesive one This will be Coach Haney's first team made up entirely of his recruits, and the comraderie seems to be no accident There s no proDiem between us (the younger players) and the vets. Ras mussen said, which is unlike the past, or so I've heard "We've decided we re not going to say anything about what we re going to do We re just gonna come to play and hope tor the best explained Rasmussen Rasmussen Is hesitant at this point to make personal predictions or goals That stuff is for the coaches he said He feels his biggest weakness is his jumping ability, or lack there of "That should improve when my foot gets stronger, he ad ded When Rasmussen takes the court the effects of his opera tion become apparent His movements aren't fluid as of yet It's as if he's afraid to get in the way He's timid on offense and not aggressive on defense But when Haney whistles for a shooting drill, you get what you came to see As the big freshman rotates around the key from 18 feet away from the hoop, a team mate feeds him for a series of jumpers First three in a row. then four-of-five, then six-of The effects of preseason surgery still hamper Rasmussen eight The shots are graceful, with a textbook arch Rasmus sen looks like and moves like they tell you to in basketball camps As the whistle sounds and the scrimmage resumes, an er rant jumper caroms off toward the young center He gathers it. spins away from a defender and swishes a left-handed hook from seven feet A major league hook shot, comments an observer At last check the Pac-10 defin itely falls into the major" ca tegory So, Oregon's got a new center In fact, they ve got two, when you include freshman Jerry Adams from Verbum Dei high school in Los Angeles He too, has looked promising in preseason workouts But when Coach Haney calls for his start ing five during workouts, or his Gold team, as he calls it, it is Rasmussen who quickly puts his jersey shiny side out and steps forward It's not certain yet whether or not Blair Rasmussen will be as good as gold for Haney's Ducks, but it seems apparent that this big kid from Auburn. Wash isn't going to be a bad apple Snowstorm delays game Monday's men's basketball game between the Oregon Ducks and the University of Rhode Island was postponed until Thursday at 7 35 pm in McArthur Court following a snowstorm that prevented the Rams from flying out of New England The onslaught of snow had decreased by Monday, but high winds continued to plague the Northeast Both teams will carry 2-1 records into Thursday's con test, as the Ducks play a non courUer against Athletes in Ac tion Wednesday and the Rams do not play until again until Dec 26 r pizza V&T££ ^lAAN KlTCHi ^ ALL YOU CAN EAT! SPAGHETTI SPECIAL WITH GARLIC BREAD EA TUESDAY ONLY AhBWW 5 P.M. to9 P.M. 2673 Willamette • 484-0996 Next to the Black Forest Tavern Delivery Service
