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Huskies and fans show support for Williams
Washington
established a
fund and
FansOnly
provided a
message board
in support of
the fallen
Curtis Williams
By Scott Pesznecker
Oregon Daily Emerald
Saddened Washington players joined
Arizona players at center field in Tempe,
Ariz., for an emotional moment of si
lence before Satur
day’s game to honor
fallen teammate
Curtis Williams.
The senior defen
sive back sustained
a critical spinal cord
injury during the
Huskies’ Oct. 28
win at Stanford.
Williams watched from his intensive
care hospital bed at Stanford Medical
Center in Palo Alto, Calif., as Washing
ton erased a 25-10 third-quarter deficit to
win 35-32.
“He was excited as he could be,”
UW head coach Rick Neuheisel told
the Seattle Times. “His brother [David]
says he continues to be encouraged.”
After the game, Neuheisel attributed
CONFERENCE
his team’s tentativeness in the first
three quarters to a carried-over fear
from Williams’ injury.
“You can never imagine what a toll it
takes, seeing one of your teammates ly
ing motionless on the field,” he said.
“You have to imagine every one of those
kids said, ‘It could have been me.’”
“It’s been a hard week because
everybody’s been thinking about what
happened last week,” said Washington
linebacker Derrell Daniels, one of
Williams’ best friends on the team.
“And going out, at the beginning of the
game, I guess you could tell that a lot of
people were still thinking about what
had happened.”
Washington athletic director Barbara
Hedges announced plans Monday to
create a special fund to help support
Williams’ long-term care.
Hedges said the fund will be estab
lished in Washington’s University Cen
tral Development Office to help pay ex
penses beyond those covered by the
Courtesy of Washington Athletics
UW’s Cody Pickett and Marques Tuiasosopo honor Curtis Williams before Saturday’s game.
family, the university and the NCAA cat
astrophic injury insurance programs.
"We appreciate this outpouring of
support and want this special fund to
address extraordinary expenses that
may not be covered by existing insur
ance,” Hedges said.
Turn to Pac-10 notes, page 6
Catharine Kendall Emerald
Freshman James Davis (1) scored a team-high 21 points for the Ducks in their exhibition win Monday night, including four three-pointers.
Freshmen step comfortably into roles
Oregon’s
newcomers
shone against
the Basketball
Travelers
Monday,
fulfilling all of
Ernie Kent’s
expectations
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
While most people at McArthur Court were
watching Oregon beat up on the Basketball Travelers
102-59 Monday night, Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent was watching another game at the same time.
The newcomer game.
Freshmen Luke Ridnour, James Davis and Luke
Jackson, along with redshirt transfer Mark
Michaelis, were all playing in their first game as
Ducks against the team from the Ukraine.
“I thought the freshmen did a good job,” Kent
said. “It’s very encouraging to see all our pieces fit
together.”
Davis, along with senior forward Bryan Bracey,
led Oregon with 21 points on the game. Ridnour
played point guard for 22 minutes, and dished out
seven assists without a turnover.
“It was a dream come true,” Davis said. “It was
amazing forme.”
The freshmen came out with a few jitters. Davis
missed his first three shots, and went into halftime
shooting l-for-5 from the floor and 0-of-3 from be
yond the three-point arc.
Michaelis, the big man from Utah, also struggled
Turn to Newcomers, page 8
Exhibition game
a ‘thorough’win
■ Bryan Bracey and James Davis score 21 points
each to lead the Ducks to a blowout exhibition win
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Typically, a head coach enters a a
post-game press conference after a
team’s first exhibition game and uses
phrases such as, “a work in progress”
and “we have got to get better. ”
But that was not the case Monday
night for Oregon head coach Ernie
Kent. Instead, he entered the room
boasting that there were “not a lot of
negatives [he] can say” and mention
ing how “thorough” his team was.
It was hard to argue with the coach af
ter the Oregon men’s basketball team
coasted to a 102-59 victory over Korabel,
a traveling basketball team from Niko
laev, Ukraine, in its exhibition opener.
The game drew nearly 7,000 fans at
McArthur Court and provided the new
comers on the team with an opportunity
to play against an actual opponent for
the first time. Of the much-heralded re
cruiting class, freshmen guards James
Davis and Luke Ridnour stood out.
Davis tied Bryan Bracey for the game
high in point totals with 21, and Ridnour
recorded seven assists compared to zero
turnovers in 22 minutes of action.
“It’s very encouraging to see what I
saw out there tonight,” Kent said. “To
see the pieces of what we recruited and
how they fit.”
Oregon entered halftime with a 48
31 lead, but then opened the game up
in the second half. The Ducks scored
the first nine points of the half en route
to a 23-5 game-clinching run.
Korabel was paced by guard Olek
sandr Rayevskyy, who hustled his way
to a game-high 26 points.
The only drama in the game was
whether Oregon would top the centu
ry mark. The Ducks scored their 99th
point on a Davis three pointer — his
fourth of the game — with 2:31 to play
in the game. But then Karobel made it a
bit tough on the Ducks, as they began
to dribble out the shot clock before
shooting.
Freshman forward Luke Jackson,
though, finally pushed the scoreboard
Turn to Basketball, page 8
ii It’s very
encourag
ing to see
what I saw
out there
tonight To
see the
pieces of
what we re
cruited and
how they
fit
Ernie Kent
head coach
_n