Sports Editor:
Alex Tam
alextam@dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet:
Wimbledon Championships 2004
1 p.m. Tuesday, ESPN
ALEX TAM
HOLDING COURT
Clean up
college
recruiting
A negative image is hovering over colle
giate athletics.
Findings of more and more recruiting
violations committed by coaches around
the country are ruining the integrity of
athletics overall.
The recently released details about
Oregon football assistant coach Gary
CampbellQ is further this problem.
Campbell, who has coached at Oregon
for nearly 21 years, was found to have
committed multiple NCAA violations
with his recruitment of junior college
prospect J.J. Arrington in january 2003.
Arrington is now a reserve tailback at the
University of California-Berkeley.
According to an NCAA release, Camp
bell reportedly traveled to Arrington's
hometown of Newhall, Calif, on Ian. 15
— the deadline for junior college players
to sign a letter of intent to attend a Divi
sion 1 school. Campbell, who has had a
big hand in the development of current
NFL players and former Ducks Onterrio
Smith and Maurice Morris, instructed Ar
rington to forge his father's signature and
to "falsely indicate" that the signature was
made before the deadline.
The Oregon athletic program conse
quently suspended Campbell for one
week without pay during the 2003-2004
academic year and assigned him to a dif
ferent area of recruiting.
These occurrences are not only hap
pening in college football, but in other
sports as well.
Just two days after Oregon's incident,
the University of Missouri was found to
have paid more than $ 136,000 to two bas
ketball coaches who were accused of
breaking NCAA rules, in exchange for their
resignations, according to the Associated
Press. Assistant head coach Tony Harvey
reportedly gave a former player $250. Flar
vey and assistant coach Lane Odom also
committed several recruiting violations.
And you wonder why more and more
high school athletes are deciding to skip
college and heading straight to the profes
sional ranks, in mainly football and bas
ketball? Who would want to be associated
with the increasing negativity surrounding
collegiate athletics?
It is simply hurting the quality of the
sports. In turn, it is also decreasing the
quality of the professional game. These
young athletes jumping from high school
to the pros, who are just teenagers, are not
prepared physically or mentally to handle
the challenges on their respective field of
play and especially off it.
This issue was never more apparent
than in last Thursday's NBA Draft. A record
eight high school players were selected
with the first 19 picks. High school phe
nom Dwight Howard was chosen with the
first overall selection and it marked the
fourth consecutive year that a non-college
player was selected first overall in the NBA
Draft. However, two of those four —
Houston's Yao Ming in 2002 and
Please see TAM, page 6
Jackson selected 10th in NBA draft
— ——---:■ .
7
Former Oregon
forward Luke
Jackson was picked
10th by the
Cleveland Cavaliers
in the 2004 NBA
draft. Jackson is the
third Oregon player
in the last three
years to be taken in
the first round. The
Creswell native led
the Ducks last year
in points, rebounds
and assists.
Tim Bobosky
Freelance Photographer
Luke Jackson says he'll 'fit in'
with the Cleveland Cavaliers
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
Former Oregon forward Luke lackson arrived
at last Thursday's press conference to talk about
his selection in this year's NBA draft as if he just
came from the gym and was eager to embark on
his professional career.
Jackson showed up wearing a white tank top,
black basketball shorts, white sneakers and a re
versed crimson and gold baseball cap that repre
sented the team who chose him with the 10th
overall selection — the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"The one thing that was more important to me
was where 1 went and not really how high 1
went/' Jackson said. "Going No. 10 is just a huge
bonus and going to Cleveland — where I'm go
ing to fit in — that really feels good and I feel
there's something special there."Jackson is the
42nd NBA draft pick in Oregon history and is the
highest selection of a Duck alumnus since Wash
ington drafted Greg Ballard in 1977 with the
fourth overall pick.
The 6-foot-7 Creswell native, who led the
Ducks in points, rebounds and assists last year,
also became the third Oregon player in the last
three years to be taken in the first round of the
NBA Draft. l.ast year, Luke Ridnour was chosen
by Seattle with the 14th pick and in 2002 Fred
lones was selected by Indiana, also at No. 14.
Jackson said he spoke before the draft with
Ridnour, who was competing in a golf tourna
ment in Bend, and received advice from his for
mer back court mate of two years ago.
"He just wished me the best of luck and said
no matter what happens, you'll be all right
(and) you're going to be in
the NBA next year, so you got to feel good about
that," Jackson said.
Please see JACKSON, page 6
Ems offense breaks out against Boise
Jared Paben Editor in Chief
Infielder Brett Burnham is batting .250 with three runs scored in six games played through
Sunday.
Eugene has scored 20 runs on 26 hits
in its past two games in Boise
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
Maybe the offense is finally coming around for the Eugene Emeralds.
The inability to produce key base hits in late game situations with
players in scoring position hampered the Emeralds to begin the 2004
campaign. The Emeralds (4-7) sit in last place in the West Division of
the Northwest league, but have won two straight games on the road
after a 13-8 win against Boise on Monday.
Eugene manager Roy Howell said he is still learning how to use his
players and place them in the right situations for them to succeed.
"What you try to do with these guys is get
v* * f,-•, * ■< K | t^iem out t^iere anc*to play and I have to judge
h U Cjr cN L what's going on and what I can get out of it,"
FMFRA1 DS Howell “id-,<Are we going to run? Are we go
_ ing to hit and run? How we are going to score
runs and what we're going to do with the per
sonnel we have — that's what I have to find out."
Scoring runs had been difficult for Eugene with a team batting aver
age of .201 and an average of four runs per game through Sunday.
However, the offense is showing signs of improvement after scoring 20
runs on 26 hits in the past two games.
"The only thing we can do for the first two weeks is sit back and
watch," Howell said.
On Sunday, Eugene broke its four-game losing streak with a 7-6 win
in 12 innings against Boise. After letting a 6-4 lead slip away in the bot
tom of the ninth, Emeralds's third baseman Lachlan Dale blasted a
solo home run in the top of the 12th inning to give Eugene the lead.
Reliever Jake Vose closed the game out in the bottom of the 12th in
ning for his first save of the season.
What we have to do as a staff is make sure these guys pull together,"
Howell said. 1 he common goal is to win the baseball game and to go
out there and play the game die way it's supposed to be played."
Catcher Colt Morton, one of Eugene's top hitters in the middle of the
lineup, also hit a home run on Sunday. The 22-year-old Morton, who is
Please see EMERALDS, page 8