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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 8, 1997)
ON THE TUBE Major League Baseball Astros vs. Braves, TBS (3), 4:35p.m. X •< /•. s * <f4'•' ' •• •• •• .v .• .. .V -• mssemtXX , , . , . .. , . Emerald MLB American League Minnesota.4 Detroit.10 Texas.3 Milwaukee.5 Boston.2 Oakland.6 Baltimore.5 Kansas City.6 NY Yankees.5 Anaheim.3 Cleveland.8 Seattle.3 National League uncinnau .i Colorado.13 Pittsburgh.2 San Diego.3 NY MetS.2 Los Angeles.3 Philadelphia.3 San Francisco .. .4 Wilkins named Oregon’s most valuable player Kenya Wilkins was named Oregon's most valuable player for the 1997 season at Monday night's men's basketball banquet. Wilkins averaged 15.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 4.7 assists in his final season with the Ducks. Also recognized Monday night were: Jonathan Nelson (most im proved player), Jamar Curry (most inspirational) and Kyle Milling (best rebounder, best defensive player). Walk-on senior Miguel McKelvey also earned the Harry Ritchie Scholar Athlete Award as the player best combining athletics and academics. McKelvey was recognized for finishing with the team’s top grade point average at 4.15. Women’s basketball awards banquet set for April 23 The women's basketball team has scheduled its awards banquet for Wednesday, April 23, in the Pittman Room at the Casanova Center. A no-host social hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. with the awards presentation to follow. Tickets for the event are $15 for adults and $11 for children under 12. Reservations must be made in advance in person at the Casanova Center or by calling 346 3392 by no later than April 14th. Williams and DeVorss win, rest of Ducks falter at Irvine Oregon senior Dougal Williams upset No. 90 Steve Tallakson in straight sets Monday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as the men’s tennis team lost at UC Irvine 5-2. Oregon's only other victory came from senior John DeVorss, who defeated Rob Walker, also in straight sets. “It was one of our best efforts of the year against a ranked team,” assistant coach Greg Smith said. “The guys showed a lot of desire and heart.” UC Irvine is currently ranked 55th. Smith said the Ducks “were points away from win ning the match,” referring to close losses at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Carlos Navarro and Guillermo Carter both had match points but were not able to convert. Both went on to lose in three sets. The Ducks were shut out in doubles play, losing all three matches. The tandem of Cedric Van Haver and Navarro nearly escaped with a victory, falling 9-8 to Andrew Cheney and Chris Lee. The road trip doesn't get any easier for the Ducks as they take on No. 1 UCLA today in Los Angeles. Ore gon started the trip Sunday with a loss to San Diego. JERRY GREEN PRESS CONFERENCE Green cites reasons for leaving CHAD PATTESON/Emerald Former Oregon men’s basketball head coach Jerry Green returned to Eugene for Monday’s team banquet and a press conference. ■ COACH: Opportunity at Tennessee too good to pass up for Jerry Green By Ben Kwasney Sports Reporter Jerry Green is not unlike any college bas ketball coach in the country. He loves to win, and he hates to lose. "If we’re going to play poker, I like to have five cards,” Green said. At Oregon he felt the cards were stacked against him to make the men’s basketball pro gram a national power. “I’m anxious to see how Jerry Green does with a little bit more ammunition even uiuugii uie university OI Tennessee has not had many winning seasons in the last 12 years,” Green said. The task for Green will be to put fans in the 25,000 seats at Thompson-Boline Arena and win games in the competitive Southeast Conference. “Tennessee hasn’t won,” he said. “I like that challenge that they haven’t done it in awhile. Now you go in and do it, and I think people will appreciate our effort. ” At Tennessee, Green will be two hours from where he spent nine seasons as a head coach at North Carolina-Asheville and a few hours from relatives. Green went on to say Oregon can’t make it on the national level with the current state of McArthur Court. “I don’t think they can, simply because not many [recruits] want to come in and play there,” he said. “I’ve recruited to it for five years, and it has an affect on every person who comes and looks at it, again, because they don’t see it on game night. ” Partly because of its size, Oregon is not Turn to COACH, Page 8 Former coach throws support behind. Turgeon ■ CANDIDATE: Jerry Green endorses his former assistant coach By Ben Kwasney Sports Reporter It’s clear in listening to Jerry Green that Mark Turgeon, a Green assistant for five years at Oregon, should be the next Oregon men’s head basketball coach. “He’s paid his debt and he’s been in the game, he’s played it at the highest level, kids love him, great mind in basketball, and I know Mark Turgeon can get it done here,” Green said. As a player and assistant coach at Kansas from 1984 92, Turgeon played on one Final Four team and was an assistant coach for two others. “He’s one of the most brilliant minds, especially on the offensive end, that I’ve ever been associated with,” Green said. Turgeon has assumed the role of head coach for the last week by Green’s request. "Our players respect Mark, and I knew he would do a good job, but I wanted to associate him with the team as quickly as possible,” Green said. Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos is expected to an nounce a new head coach no later than Wednesday. Green anticipated Turgeon would have been hired as soon as two days after Green took the job at Tennessee. “What I would hope, like Rich Brooks leaving, that the job would have been turned over close to immedi ately to Mark Turgeon,” Green said. The other three candidates for the job are, Bobby Braswell of Cal-State Northridge, Ernie Kent of Saint Mary’s and Blaine Taylor of Montana. Turn to CANDIDATE, Page 8 Men’s golf team suffers slow start in California ■ GOLF: Only two Oregon team members manage to crack top 30 at tournament By Ryan Halvorsen Sports Reporter The Ducks played a less-than-spectacular opening day at the Southwestern Intercollegiate golf tournament in Westlake Village, Calif. Monday. The 6815-yard North Ranch Country Club course played tough for Oregon as the team finished the first 36 holes of play in 10th place out of 16 teams. Oregon was in seventh place after shooting an open ing-round 14-over par, but then added 10 strokes to that score in the second round for a two-round total of 606, 24 over and 35 shots behind first place. Ben Crane paced the Ducks once again, shooting an even-par 71 in the first round, putting him in a tie for eighth place. But he fell back in the second round with a 76 to finish the day tied for 22nd with a score of 147. Jeff Barney played well, opening with a 72, but then shot five over in the second round to finish with a 148, guuu ciiuugii iui a lie; ai ^uui. The three other Oregon golfers fin ished the day farther back in the pack. J. J. Astorquia shot rounds of 76 and 79, tying him for 47th at 13-over par. Chris Cone was two shots behind As torquia as he put up rounds of 80 and 77 to finish in a tie for 53rd, and Derek Croskrey had an off day, finishing in a tie for 59th with rounds of 79 and 80. USC and Pepperdine ran away from the rest of the teams finishing the first day one-two respectively. Competition continues today with an 18-hole final round. MEN’S GOLF ■ TOP DUCKS: Ben Crane, 147 Jeff Barney, 148 ■ TEAM PUCE: 10th, 606 ■ LEADER: Chad Wright (USC), 136 ■ TEAM LEADERS: USC, 571 Pepperdine, 573
