Tressel dodges
questions about
Clarett’s future
Maurice Clarett was ruled
eligible for the NFL Draft on
Thursday by U.S. District
Court Judge Shira Scheindlin
By Maria Ridenour
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
CANTON, Ohio — Making nation
al headlines on the football field is
fine, but Ohio State coach Jim Tressel
continues to dodge the subject of
Maurice Clarett's future.
Tressel took only one question
about the suspended tailback Mon
day before a crowd of more than 350
at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Lun
cheon Club at the Four Winds Restau
rant in Canton.
He gave an innocuous answer.
When reporters surrounded him af
terward, he declined to give his reac
tion to a ruling by U.S. District Court
Judge Shira Scheindlin last Thursday
that allows Clarett to enter April's
NFL Draft.
Perhaps the OSU fans in attendance
are tired of the Clarett controversy and
didn't feel like grilling Tressel about
him. But when Tressel finished a sea
son rundown and spring preview that
lasted nearly 50 minutes, the first query
from the audience was, "Does Clarett
have a chance?"
"Obviously, his chance has dou
bled in that the court system has said
that he is in their minds eligible for
the NFL," Tressel said. "As I listen to
our people, he has not ended his op
portunity to be reinstated in the
NCAA. Right now, I guess it could go
either way. Which way it will go, I
don't know."
A university counsel informed
Clarett's attorney, Alan Milstein, that
if Clarett formally declares for the
draft, he will forfeit his remaining col
lege eligibility. The NFL contends that
Clarett already had done that when
Milstein faxed the league a letter dated
Ian. 11 asking that Clarett be included
in the upcoming draft. The NCAA has
not determined its position on
Clarett's status.
Clarett sat out the entire 2003 sea
son after taking improper gifts and ly
ing about it to NCAA and school in
vestigators. His name hit the news
again Feb. 4 when an ESPN.com story
reported that Clarett's friend and War
ren area benefactor Bobby Dellimuti
allegedly had gambled with an off
shore betting service while Clarett led
OSU to the 2002 national title.
If Clarett is drafted April 24-25, he
might be joined by as many as 12
Buckeyes teammates. Tressel said
that's the word he received from pro
scouts when he coached in the Hula
Bowl in Maui last month.
"I think three — Chris Gamble,
Mike Jenkins and Will Smith — will
be in the first round," Tressel said.
Jim Tressel (middle front) recently declined to talk much about Maurice Clarett’s situation.
David Distelhorst Akron Beacon Journal
Tressel said he wasn't initially sure
that junior Gamble had made the right
decision when he announced immedi
ately after the Fiesta Bowl he was turn
ing pro. But Tressel has changed his
mind and now thinks Gamble might
be among the first 15 picks.
As for the 11-game 2004 season,
Tressel said he expects a "great quar
terback derby" to begin in April with
sophomores Justin Zwick and Troy
Smith and grayshirt freshman Todd
Boeckman fighting for the top job.
"I feel great about the way Justin
Zwick has progressed, "Tressel said. "I
thought he was ready to go in the
middle of the year when Craig (Kren
zel) got hurt. (Senior) Scott McMullen
had the first opportunity, but really it
was negligible who was ahead of
whom. If it's that close, typically
you're going to go with the older guy.
Scott McMullen bore out that he
should have had that opportunity."
Asked what he liked most about
Zwick, Tressel said, "Great vision. He's
got an awareness and a vision of
what's going on out there unlike any
guy I've ever been around."
(c) 2004, Akron Beacon Journal
(Akron, Ohio). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Philadelphia shores up net
with acquisition of Burke
The Flyers gave up center
Mike Comrie, who had four
goals and five assists in
21 games in Philadelphia
By Marc Narducci
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
PHILADELPHIA — On the night
that one goalie bid farewell, another is
making a return appearance to the
Philadelphia Flyers.
In a busy evening, the Flyers ac
quired goalie Sean Burke from the
Phoenix Coyotes in a multiplayer
trade. Burke will replace Jeff Hackett,
who Monday night announced his re
tirement. Hackett has been suffering
from vertigo.
In addition to Burke, the Flyers ac
quired rugged right winger Branko
Radivojevic and the rights to unsigned
draft choice Ben Eager for center Mike
Comrie.
Earlier in the day, the Flyers traded
defenseman Eric Weinrich to the St.
Louis Blues for a fifth-round choice in
the 2004 NHL entry draft.
The Flyers were desperate to shore
up their depleted goaltending after
Robert Esche suffered a sprained knee
ligament on Feb. 2.
"I think with Esche's injury, which is
n't real long-term but could be sched
uled four to she weeks, and the prob
lems Jeff had, with him deciding to
retire, we obviously needed a goal
tender," Flyers general manager Bob
Clarke said Monday night on a confer
ence call.
During practice yesterday, Flyers
coach Ken Hitchcock said Esche was
making better-than-expected progress
and could be back sooner than the
original timetable, which was estimat
ed to be a minimum of three weeks.
"He felt really good today and did a
lot of things exercise-wise, and he is
kind of hopeful the three-week win
dow that they stated was the mini
mum, might in fact be the total, so that
is really good news," Hitchcock said.
For the second time, Burke is com
ing to the Flyers as a late-season ac
quisition. He was acquired by the
Flyers from Vancouver in exchange
for Garth Snow on March 4, 1998. In
11 regular-season games that year, he
went 7-3 with a 2.56 goals-against
average. Then he went 1-4 as the Fly
ers lost an Eastern Conference quar
terfinal series to the Buffalo Sabres in
five games.
"Burke is a much, much better goal
tender and played much better the last
three years, and we are a much better
team, "Clarke said.
Hackett missed the last nine games
with vertigo. The 35-year-old went 10
10-6 with a 2.39 goals-against average
this season.
Clarke said he didn't want to part
with Comrie, who was acquired Dec.
16 from the Edmonton Oilers and
played only 21 games for the Flyers.
(c) 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Shockers Jayhawks
may be forced to play
Kansas and Wichita State
have not met since the
1992-93 season; the
Jayhawks have won 12 of 14
By Adam Knapp
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WICHITA, Kan. — A bill intro
duced in the Kansas Legislature would
require the University of Kansas and
Wichita State University to schedule
two men's basketball games against
each other, one in each arena.
The man who introduced it, Rep.
Todd Novascone, R-Wichita, does not
think it will pass.
"I just wanted to get people talk
ing about it," Novascone said Mon
day. "I'm sick of them not playing
each other. I Iopefully this will stir up
talk, and if we have a hearing I will
certainly make my case. It might turn
into something."
The schools have not played since
the 1992-93 season. They have met
14 times, with KU winning 12.
Novascone, a Baylor University
graduate, did not want his name to
appear on the bill alone, so he intro
duced it as a committee bill through
the Tourism and Parks Committee
on Friday.
"But word got around pretty quick
ly that it was me," said Novascone, 31.
"It's fun to talk about. Even some
of the KU people are saying, Yeah, it
has been a long time since they've
played.' But the rest are saying, 'Novas
cone, what are you doing?'"
House Bill 2755 is three paragraphs.
It states that KU and WSU would have
to play once during the 2005-06 sea
son and once in 2006-07, once in
Lawrence and once in Wichita.
Novascone said that would allow
both teams time for scheduling. He
also thinks the Shockers will have had
adequate time to build their program
to be competitive with KU.
KU athletic director I^w Perkins
said he was unaware of the proposed
legislation until Monday.
(c) 2004, The Wichita Eagle
(Wichita, Kan.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
STRUGGLES
continued from page 7
head Saturday.
Oregon (11-11 overall, 3-9 Pac-10)
had been hampered by slow starts ear
lier in the season, but had appeared to
solve the problem of late.
Saturday in Corvallis, however, the
Beavers outscored the Ducks 16-2 in
the game's first five minutes, essential
ly sealing Oregon's fate before the
Ducks could break a sweat.
Oregon State guard Shannon
Howell said Oregon's starting five
looked tired and sluggish during the
Beavers' run.
"Once we got ahead 16-2, you could
see it on their faces," Howell said after
the game ~Ihey looked tired. We were
like, 'Oh, look at them, they're tired.
Let's go at them some more.'"
Oregon forward Eleanor Haring
said there was no reason for the
Ducks' miserable start.
"I don't really know what hap
pened. We just came out flat," Har
ing said. "There's no excuses. We
weren't tired."
Oregon battled back to cut the
Beaver lead to single digits in the sec
ond half, but never overcame the 14
point hole it dug for itself early in the
first half.
Along with the slow start, the Ducks
"Once we got ahead 16-2,
you could see it on their
faces. They looked tired.
We were like, 'Oh, look at
them, they're tired. Let's
go at them some more.'"
Shannon Howell
Oregon State guard
were out-rebounded 37-28 and had
more turnovers (15) than assists (13).
Smith said she was disappointed by
the loss after the Ducks seemed to im
prove during the last two weeks.
"I think it is a little bit of a step
backwards," Smith said. "It's disap
pointing in the sense that we had re
ally made some progress."
Payback in order
Oregon will get a chance to
avenge its 95-50 loss to Washington
on Jan. 15 at Bank of America Arena
when the Huskies come to McArthur
Court Saturday.
The loss was the third-worst in
school history, trumped by a 65-point
loss to Oregon State and a 50-point
loss to Western Washington in 1975.
The Ducks shot 30 percent for the
game, were out-rebounded 56 to 32
and allowed five Huskies to score
double figures.
Haring, who finished with eight
points on 3-of-11 shooting in the loss,
said she can't wait to get another shot
at Washington.
"I can't really speak for the other
girls, but I'm definitely looking to at
tack this weekend," Haring said. "I re
ally want to get the win."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.