Sports Editor:
Peter Hockaday
phockaday@yahoo.com
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Bracey chosen by Spurs with last pick of NBA draft
■ Former Oregon forward Bryan
Bracey was tabbed the ‘Mr.
Irrelevant’ of the 2001 draft when he
was chosen with the last overall pick
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
Former Oregon basketball player
Bryan Bracey has turned in his green
and yellow jersey for the black and sil
ver of the San Antonio Spurs.
Bracey was chosen 58th overall by
the Spurs, who made him the last pick
of the 2001 NBA Draft Wednesday
night. That tagged him “Mr. Irrelevant”
of this year’s draft.
Bracey was the first Oregon player
drafted since Terrell Brandon was cho
sen in the first round in 1991. Bracey
was the eighth Oregon player ever to be
drafted in the first two rounds.
The forward from Chicago had indi
vidual workouts with the Portland Trail
Blazers and the Golden State Warriors,
among other teams, but he was never
contacted by the Spurs.
Oregon’s offensive star last year,
Bracey led the team in many offensive
categories. He led the team in points
and rebounding, and was named the
team’s MVP at its awards banquet in
April.
Bracey also made his presence felt
around the Pacific-10 Conference last
season. He was named an All-Pac-10
Team first selection, finished second in
the league in scoring and seventh in re
bounding. He led the league in presea
son scoring but was overtaken by even
tual scoring champion Sean Lampley of
California early in the Pac-10 slate of
games.
San Antonio currently has five for
wards on its roster, including superstar
Sean Elliot. The other Spurs forwards
are Danny Ferry, Malik Rose, Samaki
Walker and Ira Newbie.
Bracey was drafted before Gonzaga for
ward Casey Calvary, Michigan State
guard Charlie Bell and George Washing
ton’s SirValiant Brown, who all made big
impacts at this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Bracey was one of several Pac-10
players selected in the draft. The high
est Pac-10 player drafted was Arizona’s
Richard Jefferson, by Houston. The
Rockets also selected Stanford’s Jason
Collins with the 18th pick. Jefferson
and Collins were the only Pac-10 play
ers drafted in the first round.
Jason Collins’ brother, Jarron, was
chosen in the second round by Utah.
Other Pac-10 second-round picks in
cluded Arizona’s Gilbert Arenas (31st
overall), Southern California’s Brian
Scalabrine (35th) and Jeff Trepagnier
(36th), Arizona’s Michael Wright (39th),
UCLA’s Earl Watson (40th), Lampley
(45th) and Arizona’s Loren Woods
(46th).
JUI
■LJ
BRACEY
Go ahead.
TAKE A HIKE
■Anyone looking to spend time
outside can find numerous hiking,
biking and climbing opportunities
both locally and farther afield
By Inge Scheve
for the Emerald
Ahhhh, summer.
Stuck in classes? Well, you can sim
ply burn your books and head for the
hills, The Eugene area has much to of
fer to outdoor enthusiasts.
Eugene
Inside the city limits are several
parks and trails for mountain bikers,
runners and hikers. Alton Baker Park,
next to Autzen Stadium, offers miles of
bark dust running trails with little ele
vation gain.
But if you happen to like challeng
ing elevations, the Ridgeline Trail
system surrounding Spencer Butte on
South Willamette Street has opportu
nities for all sorts of up-and-down
outdoor activities. The easternmost
trail portion — with sections steep
enough to put all of a bike’s gears to
good use — is almost exclusively
used by mountain bikers, who are
banned from the middle and longer
portions of the trail.
The middle portion of the trail, from
Fox Hollow to Willamette, is a decent
option for trail runners looking for a
hilly challenge, while short enough for
speed work and intervals.
The far west portion of the trail is
not heavily traveled and offers a quiet
and shaded hiking experience.
Steeper terrain faces those who
scale Spencer Butte. The trailhead is
just half a mile from the Ridgeline
Trail parking area on South
Willamette. The trail itself climbs
steeply and provides a four-mile
round-trip hike. This trail is off-limits
to mountain bikers.
Outside Eugene
If you’re looking for somewhere to
hike but need to get out of Eugene,
Dexter Reservoir on Highway 58 is a
relatively flat park with about three
miles of trails. However, this park can
be crowded in the summer as it also
serves as a day-camp area.
Farther east on Highway 58, about
30 to 40 minutes from Eugene, the
Goodman Creek Trail offers two pos
sibilities. Hikers can jaunt 7.5 miles
to Eagle’s Rest or take a steep climb
Turn to Hiking, page 8
Inge Scheve for the Emerald
The woodlands around Eugene offer many tantalizing hiking, biking and fishing opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts.
Emeralds use defense, clutch hitting to secure 13-0 home win
Eugene ends a
two-game
skid with a big
win against
Yakima at
Civic Stadium
Monday night
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
When a baseball team’s offense
is clicking, defense tends to fade
into the early-evening shadows.
Nonetheless, it was the Eugene
Emeralds’ defense that most im
pressed manager }eff Gardner fol
lowing the Ems’ 13-0 victory over
Yakima Monday night.
“We made some great plays,”
Gardner said. “It hasn’t really
come together for us yet, but we
played really well tonight.”
The Emeralds, now 4-9 on the
season, entered Monday’s game
riding a two-game losing streak to
Yakima. Both those losses — Sat
urday’s 4-0 setback and Sunday’s
4-3 defeat — came, in part, be
cause of the Ems’ eight combined
errors in the games.
Monday night’s game was a
different story. Although the
Ems’ bats heated up as well, the
most impressive statistic was the
zero at the end of the scoreboard
— for zero errors. The Ems even
got some “web gems” from sec
ond baseman John DiBetta and
first baseman Jonathan Benick.
In the top of the fourth inning,
DiBetta snagged a line drive off
the bat of the Bears’ Kyle
Nichols and doubled off Reinal
do Barrera at first. In the sixth,
Benick made an over-the-back
catch in foul territory to end
Yakima’s chances in that inning.
On the offensive side of the
ball, the Emeralds used an ava
lanche of runs in the third and
fifth innings to bury the Bears.
In the bottom of the third, lead
off hitter Matt Heilman singled
to center field for the Ems’ sec
ond hit of the game. Shortstop
Jason Bartlett reached on an in
field hit, and then third baseman
Jake Gautreau scored the game’s
first run in an odd fashion after
a wild pitch advanced the run
ners. Gautreau sent a slow roller
back to the pitcher’s mound,
which just trickled underneath
the glove of Yakima pitcher Tan
ner Ericksen.
The Bears committed one
more error in the inning when
catcher Bryan Loeb mishandled
a throw home by the third base
man, and the Ems got hits from
DiBetta and designated hitter
Greg Sain en route to a fi e-run
inning.
Eugene got a two-run home run
from Sain in the fifth inning and
never looked back at Yakima.
“We’ve swung the bats OK for
most of the season,” Gardner
said. “It’s just been a matter of
Turn to Ems, page 6
“It’s just
been a
matterof
putting it all
togetherfor
one game.”
Jeff
Gardner
manager,
Eugene Ems