Oregon daily emerald., January 13, 2003, Page 12, Image 12

Football
continued from page 1
safety Keith Lewis, a second-team all
Pacific-10 Conference selection, is
staying for his senior season.
Losing Smith and Wrighster, howev
er, leaves gaping holes in the Oregon of
fense, which faltered late in the season.
Much of those late-season struggles
were because Smith missed three
games with a knee injury, which forced
him to have surgery on Nov. 18.
Despite the injury, Smith rushed
for 1,141 yards and 12 touchdowns
this season, becoming just the second
Oregon running back to tally consec
utive 1,000-yard seasons.
Mel Kiper Jr., an NFL draft expert
for ESPN.com, predicts that Smith
will be a “solid” second round pick.
Bellotti, though, said he had “reliable
confirmation” that Smith would be a
first round selection. Bellotti told
Smith that he should leave if he was
certain he was going to be a first
round pick, but the coach also made
a top-10 list of reasons why he should
stay at school, including getting a de
gree and becoming Oregon’s all-time
leading rusher.
“We had two very frank discussions
(with Smith) about the pros and
cons,” Bellotti said. “And I was sur
prised in all honesty that it came to
that — not that I had any forgone
conclusions. He led most of the dis
cussion of why he should stay, and I
was just very honest with him about
what he has done and what he can do
in the future.”
Wrighster had six touchdowns this
season and was second on the team
with 41 receptions, a record for an
Oregon tight end.
“George, athletically, is as good as
anyone,” Bellotti said. “There’s some
things consistency-wise he needs to
work on, but he had a very good year
for us. I think he would’ve had an
even better year next year, and that
would have enhanced his draft poten
tial, but I think he feels it’s time for
him to move on.”
Kiper has Wrighster listed as a
third-to-fifth round selection in the
April draft.
“George and Onterrio feel that
they’re draft status is secure enough
that they can go out, and I hope that
that’s the case,” Bellotti said. “I’m
going to support them whatever
their decision is.”
As unlikely as it is, Bellotti said he
was holding out some hope that all of
his juniors would return next season.
“Anything isn’t over until it’s over,”
Bellotti said. “It’s just like recruiting,
with whoever gets that last word or
that last pitch. I would say right now
that Onterrio and George are going
out for sure, Keith is staying for sure,
and Sarnie we will know by the end of
the week.”
Contact the senior sports reporter
at adamjude@dailyemerald.com.
Adam Amato Emerald
Onterrio Smith rushed for 1,141 yards and 12touchdowns forthe Ducks in 2002 despite missing three games with a knee injury.
Sports brief
No. 5 Notre Dame
holds off Seton Hall
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (KRT) — Se
ton Hall’s players should have seen
him. The Pirates could have stopped
him. After all, he was shooting in
plain sight, a blue No. 2 sewn onto
his white Notre Dame jersey.
But if it is possible for a 6-foot-2
inch, 178-pound player to be
invisible, freshman Chris Quinn
pulled off the feat Sunday after
noon in Notre Dame’s 74-64
victory over Seton Hall at the
Joyce Center.
Quinn scored just six points in 19
minutes for the Irish (13-2, 1-1 in
the Big East). His value, however,
exceeded his numbers.
With 9:29 left in the first half,
Quinn, ignored by the defense, ro
tated to the left wing, took a pass
from point guard Chris Thomas and
fired off a three-pointer, cutting the
Pirates’ lead to one.
Thirty seconds later Quinn mir
rored the play from the right wing.
His basket not only put Notre Dame
ahead 26-25, it also made it that
much tougher for an already tenu
ous Seton Hall defense to slow
Notre Dame’s scoring.
“Sometimes, when we have four
shooters on the court, it confuses them
a little bit,” Quinn said. “They don’t
know who they have to extend on. ”
Which is what happened Sunday.
Though he only took (and made)
two shots against the Pirates (5-7,
0-3), Quinn subsequently absorbed
plenty of defensive pressure, open
ing up the floor for Thomas, who
finished with a game-high 22, and
Matt Carroll, who added 19.
“It wasn’t a really pretty game,”
Carroll said. “But that’s how it is in
the Big East, every game is a grind. ”
—Avani Patel
Chicago Tribune; distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune
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