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
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rectangular polar coordinate
conversions exponential (base 10
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mean sum and standard deviation
• Scientific notation (B-digit
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"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
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