Tennis! key biscayne,
Fla. (AP) — For Venus
Williams, 19 could be retire
ment age.
Williams, who has yet to
play a match this year, might
give up tennis to focus on her
education and investments,
her father said Tuesday.
“She’s considering that very
seriously,” Richard Williams
said. “On a scale of 10, I’d say
she’s a 7 or a 71/2 [to retire].”
Williams said he advised
his daughter to take at least
the rest of this year off. She
has been sidelined since No
vember, citing tendinitis in
both wrists.
“She has been playing a
longtime now, and she needs
time off to rest,” Richard
Williams said. “She needs to
get more education.’’
NBA! Two members of
the Seattle SuperSonics, in
cluding starting center Horace
Grant, were hurt when trying
to break up a brawl between
teammates Gary Payton and
Vernon Maxwell.
The scrap happened during
practice Sunday when Payton
and Maxwell started exchang
ing barbs. It escalated into a
fight, which Grant and Chuck
Person helped to end by
pu 11i ng thei r tea mmates away
from each other.
Grant sat out Monday night’s
game against San Antonio with
a bruised shoulder and Per
son, who was already on the
injured list, aggravated his sur
gically repaired left knee.
The Seattle Post-lntelli
gencer reported Tuesday that
the scene became so intense
in the locker room after prac
tice Sunday that Payton
picked up a chair and
Maxwell went to find a free
weight, presumably to use as
a weapon. Both men had to
be restrained again and were
escorted from the locker
room separately.
The Seattle Times reported
Tuesday that Grant’s shoulder
injury was a result of a weight
that was thrown. Grant did
not comment, except to tell
the Times, “I was a victim of
circumstance.”
NCAA basketball:
Mateen Cleaves and Morris Pe
terson of Michigan State are
among the 10 players selected
to the 24th annual John R.
Wooden All-American team, it
was announced Tuesday.
Cleaves, a 6-foot-2 guard, is
the only member of the team
similarly honored last year,
and he and Peterson are the
only two Wooden All-Ameri
cans playing in the Final Four
this weekend.
Others on the team are
Shane Battier and Chris Car
rawell of Duke; Marcus Fizer
of Iowa State; A.J. Guyton of
Indiana; Mark Madsen of
Stanford; Kenyon Martin of
Cincinnati; Chris Mihm of
Texas, and Troy Murphy of
Notre Dame.
Best Bet
High school basketball
McDonald’s All-American Game
5 p.m., ESPN
Sports
Wednesday
March 29,2000
Volume 101 .Issue 119
Emerald
Season recap: Three hard-to-replace seniors depart, but head coach
Ernie Kent expects his team to be in good shape with those who
return along with four incoming recruits
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
All season long, the Oregon players talked
about making some noise at the Big Dance.
They knew this was a special year. The chem
istry was right on. The talent was there. The Pa
cific-10 Conference wins were being recorded
one after another.
All that was left for them to do was step up in
the national spotlight in the month of March, play
their game ... and, of course, win.
The opportunity to do such was there for them.
On a silver platter nonetheless.
The Ducks simply had to make one defensive
stop when it mattered most
and a NCAA Tournament win
would have been theirs for the
first time since 1960.
But alas, Seton Hall’s Sha
heen Holloway drove the
length of the court and com
pleted the game-winning buck
et in the final seconds of over
time. Oregon’s season abruptly came to a halt.
“We’ve been on both sides of those shots be
fore,” senior point guard Darius Wright said. “It’s
not a good feeling. Your stomach kind of sinks
just like when you’re on a roller coaster.”
Almost two weeks have passed since that fate
ful drive to the hoop, but the memory figures to
linger for quite some time.
Head coach Ernie Kent knows how much a win
in the NCAAs would have meant to his program,
but he doesn’t want the devastating defeat to di
minish what his team achieved.
Which was the most wins since 1945 (22), the
most Pac-10 wins ever (13) and the first time
since the mid-70s that the Ducks have reached
the postseason in back-to-back seasons.
“It’s been a big year for Oregon basketball, and
I’m extremely, extremely proud of my guys,”
Kent said. “We’ve got to stop and reflect back at
what this team has been able to accomplish, and
not dwell on what got away from us against Se
ton Hall.”
Turn to Basketball, page 9
(clockwise from right} Big things are expected 1
ing guard Freddie jones, who knows he must
the leadership load left by Oregon's three te
Alex Scales, A.D. Smith and Darius Wright all
the bar for Oregon basketball' and wilt before
:
_
Ducks win second straight in California
Pam Sowden
leads the
Oregon
women’s golf
team to victory
in San Diego by
sharing her
third individual
title
By Peter Hockaday
for the Emerald
One extra birdie and a little
help from the California Gold
en Bears gave the Oregon
women’s golf team its second
straight won Tuesday at the Ex
ecutive Women’s Golf Associa
tion/ Lady Aztec Invitational
in San Diego.
Oregon won the tournament
by four strokes over the Gold
en Bears. The Ducks bettered
their first round score by a
stroke Tuesday, while Califor
nia did nine strokes worse in
their second-round effort.
The win was the second for
the Ducks in two weeks, and
their third victory of the year.
Oregon won the Colby/Santa
Clara Invitational in Carmel,
Calif, during March 20-21.
Oregon senior Pam Sowden
won a share of the individual
title, tying Brigham Young’s
Carrie Summerhays with a
one-over par
145. Sum
merhays was
three-over
par on her fi
nal round,
while Sow
den shot an
even-par 72. California’s Vikki
Laing finished a stroke behind
the leaders.
Sowden’s victory was her
second of the year, yet she re
mains unranked nationally.
Sowden won the Nittany Lion
Fall Invitational in October.
The Auckland, New Zealand
native has been the Ducks’ top
finisher in five of their eight
tournaments so far this year.
Four of Oregon’s five starters
finished in the top 15. Junior
Jerilyn White improved on her
first round performance by
three strokes, shooting a final
round one-over par to finish in
a tie for sixth.
Senior Kylie Wilson, the
winner at the Colby/Santa
Clara Invitational a week ago,
shot consistent golf and fin
ished in ninth place. Senior
Angie Rizzo rounded out the
Ducks’ top-15 finishers, shoot
ing a 151 and ending up in a
Turn to Golf, page 8
Tourney
leaders
1. Oregon
298-297 — 595
2. California
295-304 — 599
3. Baylor
306-2%—602
4.SanFrandsco
301-310 — 611
5. Kent
305-307 — 612