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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 2001)
Wednesday Best Bet MLB: Seattle at Oakland 7 p.m., Fox Sports Net SPORTS EDITOR: JEFF SMITH Smittside@aol.com ,hi,d Courtesy Photo After conducting a study in nine statistical categories, the magazine Sports ilustrated announced that Terrell Brandon was the best at his position, "/ don’t want the credit, that’s for sure. I’ll take the criticism though. ” — Terrell Brandon Ducking in ten years later By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald PORTLAND —- He couldn’t even walk the short distance from his team bus to the Rose Garden locker room without being noticed. At 10:30 a.m. on a recent Sun day in April, nicely dressed Min nesota Timberwolves’ point guard Terrell Brandon casually steps foot inside the building where he will play in a game in an hour-and-a half and as he does so, two televi sion cameramen rush over to film his every move. Once Brandon reaches the visit ing locker room, he is greeted by two men wearing collared Port land Trail Blazers shirts. One is holding a cell phone for Brandon to use. The other is clutching onto a thick pile of game tickets bun dled up in a rubber band for this day’s Portland-Minnesota Nation al Basketball Association contest. “Do you know who gets which ticket?” a Blazers official asks. “Yeah, let me see those; I’ll take care of it,” Brandon says. The cell phone rings. “Hello ... oh hey, yeah no prob lem,” Brandon says. “It’s all hooked up. Sounds good, my man. All right, I’ll talk to you later.” While All-Star teammate Kevin Garnett begins to strap on his sneak ers and menacing game face on one side of the locker room and Wally Szczerbiak dribbles a basketball in circles on the other, Brandon is counting a wad of tickets quietly with his mouth and fingers. “That’s 22 ... 23 ... 24 ... 25 ... Brandon says softly. Soon, Brandon is the only Tim berwolves player in the room as all the others have gone onto the Rose Garden floor to shoot around. Usu ally, Brandon is one of the first play ers to leave the locker room, but not on this morning. This can only mean one thing. Terrell Brandon is in his beloved hometown of Portland, Oregon. Ten years have passed since Brandon electrified the McArthur Court crowd with his dazzling passes and uncanny shooting touch as the starting point guard for the Oregon Ducks. The 1991 Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year led the league in scoring that season with 26.6 points per game and set eight Oregon records, including most points in a season and highest scoring average. His record-setting junior season was his last on the college level, though, as he decided to leave school a year early amid all sorts of speculation and doubt. “It's not about money,” Brandon told the Emerald on April 5,1991. “ It’s something I wanted to do all my life; ever since I knew what the NB A was about from a young age to now. ” The book on Brandon as he en tered the NBA draft that spring was that he was too short, didn’t play enough defense and suffered from a lack of experience. After all, Brandon had only played two Tu rn to Brandon, page 8 Men receive honors, women learn of bad news ■ Decathlete Lorenzo and thrower Stiegeler pick up Pac-10 Conference Athlete of the Week honors By Robbie McCallum Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon men’s track and field team’s hot start has been no ticed by the Pacific-10 Conference. Decathlete Santiago Lorenzo and thrower John Stiegeler have been named the conference’s track and field Ath letes of the Week. Stiegeler, a sophomore from Coos Bay, owns the nation’s top mark in the javelin with a toss of 245 feet, nine inches. Stiegeler uncorked an automatic NCAA berth on his first throw of the season at the Oregon Pre view and threw personal bests in each of his last two outings. The latest was his second place effort on Friday at the Texas Relays, behind only German Olympian Boris Henry. Stiegeler ranks second all-time on the Ore gon records list, behind only 1992 NCAA Champion Art Skipper. Oregon’s second automatic NCAA quali fier is Lorenzo. The junior from Buenos Aires, Argentina won the Texas Relays de cathlon with a personal best 7,726 points, edging unattached entrant Trafton Rodgers by 23 points in the final event — the 1,500 meters. Lorenzo is the Ducks’ first Relays champion since 1949. The All-American placed fifth at last year’s NCAA Championships and ranks Turn to Men, page 12 ■The Oregon women lose a key athlete, All-American Karis Howell, just before their weekend matchup By Peter Hockaday Oregon Daily Emerald It’s official. Two-time All-American javelin thrower Karis Howell’s Oregon women’s track and field career is over. Howell, who placed seventh at the NCAA Championships javelin toss last year, has experienced shoulder pain for a few years and even practiced left-hand ed at times last season. The senior had been to the NCAA Cham pionships three times in her career. After “huddling with team doctors,” according to head coach Tom Heinonen, Howell decid ed to call it quits in the interest of saving her body. “It’s a big, big loss for us,” Heinonen said. Howell’s last meet was the Oregon Pre view earlier this season, where she placed third behind Oregon’s Sarah Malone and Charyl Weingarten. Howell exits the Oregon team as the record holder for the new javelin implement with a mark of 168 feet, one inch. Waiting in the wings Out of Howell’s disappointment, a new star in the javelin is rising to take her place: ■ freshman Sarah Malone. Malone has already thrown an NCAA pro visional distance in the javelin. Twice. The freshman threw the implement 155-3 at the Turn to Women, page 12
