Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, February 5, 2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet
NBA:
San Antonio vs. Seattle
7 p.m., TNT
Oregon's
signees
anchored
by Colvin
The Ducks’ recruiting class
features four players from the
state of Oregon and 30 overall
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Oregon football head coach Mike Bel
lotti announced a recruiting class of 30
players Wednesday, but it was the final re
_ cruit who garnered
n H n wL/fr the most attention.
More than half
FOOTBALL an hour after Bellot
- ti announced the
initial 29, De La
Salle High School's Cameron Colvin told a
national audience during ESPN's "Sports
Center" that he had chosen the Ducks over
Southern California and Michigan.
"I think that he's a great young man that
we're very proud and pleased to choose Ore
gon," Bellotti said. "I know the people re
cruiting him — (defensive coordinator)
Nick Aliotti and (wide receivers coach) Dan
Ferrigno — felt we were in it.
"I think it puts an exclamation point on
that rpmiitinprla^c "
Colvin, a 6-foot-2 wide receiver, was
ranked as the fifth-best player at the po
sition. This season, he racked up 29 re
ceptions for 470 yards and nine touch
downs for the Spartans. He was
academically ineligible the first five
games of the season, but was still in the
top five of most recmiting lists. Bellotti
did say that he is on track to graduate
and will be eligible to attend Oregon.
Colvin became the fourth player from the
Concord, Calif., school to commit to the
Ducks this season. Comerbacks Jackie Bates
and Willie Glasper and safety Terrance Kelly
were announced with the initial 29 players.
Next season, the Ducks will have six play
ers on their roster from De La Salle. Comer
back Charles Favroth will return for his sen
ior season in 2004, and wide receiver
Demetrius Williams will be a junior.
"These young men know how to win,"
Bellotti said, alluding to the Spartans' 151
game winning streak.
Bellotti proved quality is worth just as
much as quantity with his recmiting class.
Of Oregon's signees, 17 come from the
defensive side of the ball. Seven of the 13 of
fensive players are linemen, including Aaron
Klovas, a 6-foot-6 Graham, Wash., native.
Klovas is "probably one of the most deco
rated and highly-ranked players we've re
cruited, " Bellotti said. "He is a physically tal
ented young man."
The Ducks' haul earned Oregon a No. 12
ranking by Rivals.com. Thelnsiders.com
ranked the Ducks 20th early Wednesday,
but Colvin's signing is expected to bring the
Ducks down to the top 15, or lower,
by Thursday.
Also, this current haul includes exclusive
ly high school players — the first time, Bel
lotti said, he has not signed a junior college
player during a recmiting period. That's a
surprise, especially considering the list of
junior college players the Ducks have signed
in the past, including Maurice Morris, Sal
adin McCullough and, most recently, Rod
ney Woods.
"Ideally, most coaches would say you
want to go with high school players,"
Turn to ANCHOR, page 16
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Eleanor Haring moved from her home in Perth, Australia, two years before coming to Oregon.
Success from
down under
Eleanor Haring's love for basketball has helped her at Oregon
By Jon Roetman
Sports Reporter
Moving to Eugene from Portland can be too
much for some to handle.
Moving to Eugene from Australia? Unthinkable
for most.
For Eleanor Haring, however, the move across
the world was just part of playing the game she
loves: basketball.
As a freshman on the Oregon women's basket
ball team, Haring has been able to contribute im
mediately as one of the most experienced new
comers the Ducks have ever had.
Unlike many freshmen, Haring was well pre
pared for the college-bound venture.
Haring's family moved from Rochester, Aus
tralia, to Perth when she was 8 years old, and she
started playing competitive basketball at age 11.
At 16, Haring moved away from home to attend
the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, locat
ed roughly 2,200 miles east of Perth.
She spent her first year at AIS finishing the 12th
grade and playing basketball. Her second year was
spent working in the institute's department of nu
trition while she and the rest of the basketball
team competed as the only amateur squad in the
eight-team Women's National Basketball League.
Haring said moving away from her family at a
young age helped make the transition to college in
the United States a lot easier.
"It probably would have been a bit different if I
hadn't gone away for those two years," Haring said.
"I don't think the transition would have been that
smooth. But since I'd been through that, it was re
ally easy for me to come over here and get into the
swing of things."
Several U.S. colleges showed interest in Haring
while she was at AIS because of her tremendous —
yet raw — athletic ability.
Oregon head coach Bev Smith was one of those
interested in the 6-foot-1 forward. Smith knew the
AIS women's basketball senior coach, Phil Brown,
enabling her to start a relationship with Haring
over the phone. After several calls, Haring decided
Oregon was where she wanted to go, making her
the fifth Australian native to play for the Ducks
since 1997.
It didn't take long for Haring to adjust to life in
Eugene once she arrived in 2003. The noted ham
burger lover said the city has many similarities to
her homeland, with the only differences being the
weather and countless high-calorie food options.
"Eugene is actually very similar to Perth," Har
ing said. "People are very friendly ... (but) there's
so much fast food here. I'm not used to having
Wendy's and every fast food place imaginable."
Regardless of her surroundings, Haring has al
ways been focused on improving herself as a
Turn to SUCCESS, page 14
ISU player
dies after
collapsing
on field
Idaho State rugby player
Mike Sims died Monday at
Sacred Heart Medical Center
__
By Kirsten McEwen
Freelance Reporter
Mike Sims, a 21-year-old Idaho State
rugby player, died Monday after collaps
ing Saturday afternoon during a match
against Oregon's Club rugby team at
Southbank field. It
was the team's sec
ond and last match
of the day.
Oregon's Club
Sports Coordinator
Sandy Vaughn said
Sims collapsed after a play, and Oregon's
athletic trainer immediately called for
emergency support. Sims was transport
ed by ambulance to Sacred Heart Med
ical Center and was listed in critical con
dition. He remained at Sacred Heart and
was taken off life support Monday after
noon. He died shortly thereafter.
Vaughn said these type of incidents
rarely occur, but when they do it takes
the importance and the meaning of
teammates to a whole different level.
"This definitely brings a student group
Club
Sports
Turn to FIELD, page 14
Doubles
Swiss duos
lead way
for tennis
Strong doubles play has carried
the Oregon men and women
to undefeated records thus far
By Alex Tam
Freelance Reporter
The play of the Oregon men and
women's doubles teams has been the over
riding fear so far in the first weeks of the dual
match season.
With seven points up for grabs in a dual
match, Oregon has taken the advantage af
ter three doubles
matches to win the
first point. The
TE |M IM | § Ducks have carried
- that momentum
from doubles into
the six singles matches, each worth one
point as well.
The men, who are a perfect 4-0 this year,
are just as perfect in doubles matches, rack
ing up a 12-0 record.
"We started off well in doubles and that
carried over into (our) singles (matches),"
assistant coach Ross Duncan said after Sat
urday's win against Louisiana-Lafayette.
The No. 2 doubles team, composed of
sophomore Thomas Bieri and junior
Turn to DOUBLES, page 16