Sports Editor:
Hank Hager
hankhager@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, February 12,2004
-- Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet -
NCAA basketball:
Gonzaga vs. San Francisco
8 p.m., ESPN2
Dark skies
will soon
turn blue
yet again
Hank Hager
Behind the dish
At the outset of Wednesday's press con
ference at Hayward Field's Bowerman
Building, douds hung over the venerable
track, keeping visibility low.
By the end of the conference, the douds
had lifted and given way to the sun, which
lit up the Eugene sky with golden over
tones.
The future is dark right now for the new
arena project, but in the hopes of Univer
sity President Dave Frohnmayer, it will
soon be bright.
"I'm sad about a window we missed,"
he said.
That window — whether one, five or
even 10 years down the road — will be
opened again. Right now, it's dosed shut,
much like the ones at the highest level of
McArthur Court.
Whether or not that's positive is in the
eye of the beholder. Soon though, Frohn
mayer said, that window will have to be
opened, whether gently or through force.
McArthur Court is an old facility. It's
been around for the better part of a centu
ry, and it's going to have to be replaced
soon enough.
In the reality of the state of Oregon, cir
ca 2004, money can not be spent frivo
lously. The Lillis Business Complex is a
sight to behold and shows how well mon
ey can be spent when the University does
so wisely.
But you can t stop there, and to get too
deep into the arena-building process with
out solid footing would have been foolish.
"We have a lot of projects that need to
be built and they will all be built first
class," Frohnmayer said. "(An arena) has
to be functional for 75 years, maybe a cen
tury.
"We are back to assessing the project,
but we know' we have to do it."
Frohnmayer, Athletics Director Bill
Moos and Vice President for Administra
tion Dan Williams were all on hand for
the announcement. While Frohnmayer is
the figurehead of the triumvirate, each
played a key role in the decision to stop
the project in its tracks.
Many will say they told them so, that a
facility is not the most-needed thing on
the Oregon campus right now. Maybe
that's true, maybe it's not.
Again, that's in the eye of the beholder.
There are many with opinions out there,
from the University faculty to the Eugene
community. They've expressed their de
sires, whether positive or not. Frohnmayer
said the University's faculty has been in
formed throughout the project's steps.
"It won't come as any great surprise to
them," he said.
It would be easy to complain about the
process, especially since it has netted the
University nothing at this point. But that
would be wrong.
Frohnmayer, Moos and Williams
should be commended for having the
sense to stop while the going is still good.
Turn to HAGER, page 16
Next BIG thing
Oregon basketball player Jessica Shetters has her
teammates to make the college transition easier
By Mindi Rice
Senior Sports Reporter
Jessica Shetters is just a normal college freshman.
She has classes to attend, work to get to on time and friends,
movies and homework to fill the remainder of her waking hours.
The fact that Shetters' work happens to be playing for the Ore
gon women's basketball team, and many of the friends are team
mates or athletes on other Oregon teams, doesn't mean the col
lege thing is any easier for her.
"Sometimes the regular students don't understand the level of
work that we have to put in," Shetters said. "They think 'Oh, you're
on scholarship, you have everything paid for.' Well, you kind of
have to work to keep that scholarship, and it's a lot of work. *
Basketball isn't all work for Shetters. She loves the sport that
she's played since she was a little girl, but
since the move to Eugene, the Duck pro
gram has shown Shetters that she needs to
be easily adaptable and has a lot to learn.
There have been a few tough transi
tions in the Portland native's young col
legiate career.
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
i>ne nad to adapt to being away from her home and mother
and living in dose quarters with another person. For the first time,
she's playing against and living near people dose in stature to her
6-foot-6 frame.
At Portland's Wilson High School and in the Pordand Inter
scholastic League, Shetters was heads above her competition and
her classmates. She was one of three prep recruits to be the na
tion's tallest freshmen this season.
"Being tall is great; I like attention," Shetters said. "But I was
n't always like that. I used to be so self-conscious about how
tall I was and how people would look at me. I think just com
ing to college and being around people that are taller than me,
especially athletes, has really helped me just be comfortable
with myself and everything.
"When I came here, my teammates were only a couple inches
shorter than me and (physically) bigger than me. Just playing with
them in practice every day, that was a huge challenge."
Shetters is the second-tallest player — behind 6-foot-7 Stefanie
Kasperski, who played from 1986 to 1990 — in Oregon history.
She was also the first Oregon high school recruit to sign with the
Ducks since recent graduate Kourtney Shreve made the move to
Eugene in 1999.
Shetters was also thrust into the spotlight earlier than head
coach Bev Smith would have liked because of an injury to senior
Catherine Kraayeveld. Although Kraayeveld has been sidelined
from practice for much of the season, Shetters still has the senior
nearby as a resource.
"Cat's been like a mentor to me," Shetters said. "Not just on the
court, but off the court and how she presents herself. She's defi
nitely a role model for me. It's nice to see somebody who's similar
Turn to BIG, page 14
Adam Amato Senior Photographer
Jessica Shetters (43) is averaging 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in her first season.
Ducks' stretch drive starts in Seattle
The Ducks defeated Washington
earlier this year and want to
avoid a season split with the Huskies
By Hank Hager
Sports Editor
Can the Ducks feel comfortable sitting in third
place in the Pacific-10 Conference?
"Definitely," Oregon guard James Davis said.
"The time is now for us to
IVIEIM S
BASKETBALL
get a string of wins to
gether. We don't have
many ballgames left;
we've got eight. We defi
nitely need to string
some wins together."
The first of those eight comes tonight in
Seattle as Oregon takes on Washington. It's
the first chance for the Ducks to jump-start
that winning streak they will need to earn an
NCAA Tournament berth.
Oregon will have to do it against an ever-dan
gerous Washington team. The Ducks defeated
the Huskies on Jan. 15, but have since watched
Washington go 5-1.
The Huskies streaked to five straight wins
after the loss at McArthur Court. They
could've made it six last week against UCLA
but lost by five.
"UCLA, that was a game (Washington)
probably should've won," Davis said. "They're
playing real well, are always talented and are
athletic all over the floor. They're starting to
come together."
The Huskies (10-9 overall, 5-6 Pacific-10
Conference) present an athletic test for the
Ducks. Of their five projected starters, none
stands taller than 6-foot-8. It is Washington's
most diminutive player, 5-foot-9 Nate Robin
son, that brings the most athleticism and raw
talent to the table.
"Nate's all heart and he's fun to watch,"
Oregon forward Luke Jackson said. "He
helped beat Arizona up there, and at Oregon
State a couple weeks before that, he came back
and pretty much single-handedly brought
them back into the game. He's just a hard
worker, a hard player.
"At the same time, he's really small and we can
take advantage of that."
The Ducks (11-6, 6-4) will take advantage with
two posts — Ian Crosswhite and Mitch Platt —
who have been playing well lately.
Crosswhite scored 14 points in 32 minutes
against the Huskies and Platt, who was coming
back from an ankle injury during the game, has
scored 19 points in his past two games.
"I think we need to stick with the same game
plan because it worked for us," Platt. "I think
we're definitely getting the ball inside more this
time around and that's going to present some big
problems for them."
With those eight games left, today's contest at
Bank of America Arena begins the stretch drive
for the Ducks.
Oregon heads to Pullman to take on Washing
ton State on Saturday, then hosts Arizona and
Arizona State in a crucial home series. If the
Ducks can win six of those eight, an NCAA bid is
not out of the question. Anything less than that,
though, and it can get hairy.
The Ducks' stretch began Saturday against a
tough Oregon State team that nearly pulled
out the win.
"That was important and it's going to be
just as important this weekend because
there's a chance we'll be in the same situa
tion," Oregon forward Ian Crosswhite said.
"We may have to dig deep and pull out both
of these games and we're going to have to be
ready for that."
Last season, the Ducks went 4-4 during
their final eight games. They defeated Wash
ington State, but lost, 78-66, to Washington
in Seattle.
Turn to STRETCH, page 16