Sports Editor:
Adam Jude
adamjude@dailyemerald.com
Assistant Sports Editor:
Jeff Smith
jeffsmith@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, November 8,2001
Best Bet
College hoops: Arizona vs. Maryland,
6 p.m., ESPN2
Foster suspended as NCAA discovers violation
■ UCLAs star running back won’t
play against the Ducks on Saturday
at the Rose Bowl
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
UCLA running back DeShaun Foster
will not play Saturday against Oregon
after the NCAA discovered an “extra
benefits” violation by the senior, the
school announced Wednesday.
The decision to suspend Foster, the
Pacific-10 Conference’s leading rusher,
came from UCLA athletic director Pe
ter Dalis, after a meeting among Foster,
Dalis and a member of the NCAA en
forcement staff. Dalis would not reveal
the specifics of the violation.
“We were made aware by the NCAA
of a possible violation in connection
with DeShaun and have had to declare
him ineligible for this week’s game,”
Dalis said.
The athletic director said that the
school will submit a report to the
NCAA with the facts of the case and
request that Foster’s eligibility be
restored as soon as possible. Although
there is no maximum time limit on
“extra benefits” cases, a one-game sus
pension is common. The NCAA usual
ly requires a suspension of 10 percent
of the season, which is one game on
the football schedule.
I’m extremely disappointed,”
UCLA head coach Bob Toledo told
ESPN.com after practice Wednesday.
“He knows what’s right and what’s
wrong, and he’s being disciplined and
suspended, and we’ll go from there.
“He said he was very sorry for what
happened. He didn’t realize it was go
ing to be like this. We’ll find out more
about it later.”
Foster has been a mainstay at tail
back since his freshman year at UCLA.
He is third all-time on the Bruin rush
ing list, and is only one yard from
attaining second place on that list. His
722 career carries are first all-time at
UCLA.
Foster has been the Bruins’ star on
offense this season as well. He has ac
counted for nearly a third of UCLA’s to
tal points, and ranks third nationally in
yards per game, with a 138.6 average.
Foster’s presence on the field Satur
day would have been especially im
portant because the rest of the UCLA
offense has been hampered by injury.
Quarterback Corey Paus suffered a
jammed thumb and has seen only
limited action recently. Two of
UCLA’s top three receivers, Tab Perry
and Brian Poli-Dixon, have been hit
with injuries. The Bruins have also
seen injuries to starters at center and
right guard.
Toledo told ESPN.com that backup
sophomore Akil Harris would start Sat
urday’s game. Harris has rushed for
201 yards and one touchdown this sea
son. He did not play in the Bruins’ last
two games against Stanford and Wash
ington State.
Peter Hockaday is a sports reporter for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. He can be reached
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
MOORE THAN JUST A FACE IN THE CROWD
■After playing high school football
in California, Oregon cornerback
Steven Moore is fired up to play
in L A for the first time
By Jeff Smith
Oregon Daily Emerald
Go ahead. Try and wipe the smile
off Steven Moore’s face this week.
Can’t do it.
For one thing, he’s going home.
The sophomore cornerback for the No.
7 Oregon Ducks was bom and raised in
Los Angeles and is buzzing with antici
pation of playing in the sold-out Rose
Bowl for the first time in front of fami
ly, friends and his high school coaches.
“I can picture it, just walking through
^the tunnels and looking around and
just, man, seeing all those people,”
Moore said. “And I know there’s going
*to be 15,000 Ducks fans there, maybe
more. That’s going to be fun.”
Speaking of those Ducks fans, who
will no doubt make their presence felt
at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when Oregon
faces UCLA, they’re a big part of the
other reason why Moore has been grin
ning that unstoppable grin all week.
In Oregon’s 42-24 win over Arizona
State last Saturday, Moore unleashed a
hit on Sun Devils receiver Shaun Mc
Donald in the third quarter that gener
ated some “oohs” when it happened
live and some “ahhs” when it was re
played on the big screen.
Turn to Moore, page 10
Thomas Patterson Emerald
Sophomore comerback Steven Moore (4), a Los Angeles native, seen here entering Autzen Stadium for the Stanford game in
October, has emerged from the pack this season, (n a reserve roll, the sophomore has tallied eight tackles.
Defense must
make stand
in exhibition
■The Oregon women’s basketball
team is looking to put more
defensive pressure on Western
Oregon in its last exhibition tune-up
By Adam Jude
Oregon Daily Emerald
Take two.
In its first exhibition game together
last Friday, the women’s basketball team
and new head coach Bev Smith came
out a little shaky, particularly on de
fense, in a 83-77 win.
Eighty-three points is impressive, espe
cially with five new faces on the floor, but
the Ducks know their defense must im
prove in order to be successful this year.
With their second and final exhibition
game at 7 p.m. today against Western
Oregon, the Ducks will have a chance to
show that they are more than just a one
headed beast.
“We felt we didn’t work as hard as we
could on defense,” said junior guard
Shaquala Williams, who paced the Ducks
with 22 points in the exhibition opener.
“We were kind of lazy in a lot of situa
tions. That’s more effort than anything. ”
Turn to Basketball, page 12
Wrestling team begins season poised for strong competition
■Saturday marks the beginning
of the wrestling season, and the
prospects for the Ducks are
looking good
By Chris Cabot
Oregon Daily Emerald
Despite losing two All-Ameri
cans, the Oregon wrestling team
should come back even stronger
this season.
Ten letter winners, including sev
en starters and five NCAA Champi
onship qualifiers, come back for
head coach Chuck Kearney’s team.
In addition to the returning com
petitors, the freshman recruits will
also play a large role in the success
of this year’s team. According to In
termat, one of the leading Web sites
for collegiate wrestling, Kearney’s
new class of freshmen ranks as the
No. 8 recruiting
class in the nation.
Kearney said
that losing Doug
Lee and Chael
Sonnen, both of
whom won more
than 100 matches over their colle
giate careers, is a big blow, but he
said this year’s team is more bal
anced than last year.
“We can’t replace those two guys
specifically, but the other weight
classes are improving and getting
better,” Kearney said. “I think we
are going to kind of spread the load
those two guys carried last year
amongst 10 guys this year. ”
The long list of top returners for
Oregon includes Eric Webb, Eugene
Harris, Brian Watson and Shaun
Williams. True freshman Shane
Webster will step in right away for
the Ducks and wrestle in the 174
pound weight class. He comes to
Eugene as one of the top recruits in
the country and Kearney is antici
pating excellent results from him.
“I can see him making a real imme
diate impact and becoming a real sol
id performer for us,” Kearney said.
In addition to Webster, Elias Soto
from Eugene’s Churchill High will
join the Ducks’ squad as a freshman
starter. Soto will compete in the
184-pound slot, where Lee domi
nated last year, and has had a very
good autumn of training. Chet
McBee from Eagle Point, Ore., will
likely start for Oregon as a freshman
in the 157 slot, Kearney said.
Other top freshmen, Martin
Mitchell, Skyler Woods and Jacob
Boyles will most likely redshirt
their first years to preserve a year of
collegiate eligibility.
Two wrestlers for Oregon who
both competed as true freshmen
and then redshirted last year, Jason
Harless at 133 pounds and Jake
Leair at 197, will step into starting
roles. Kearney said he is expecting
“some real big things out of those
two weight classes. ”
Because Harris, who competed
last year at 157 pounds, is moving
to the 165-pound slot, Luke Larwin
will probably redshirt this year. Lar
win, who compiled a 12-12 record
last year as a freshman, will step
aside for Harris, a senior.
Last year, Harris was 22-16 overall,
earning 67 total points for Oregon.
In the preseason polls, No. 12 Ari
zona State is the team to beat in the
Pacific-10 Conference. They are fol
lowed by No. 20 Boise State and No.
23 Oregon State. Oregon is not
ranked in the top-25 according to In
termat, but Kearney thinks that his
Turn to Wrestling, page 12