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• / »'•««- 24 »IM.AINDKAI.KH IIKit M.l», VI KDNKSDA \, DKCKMBKR S. 1984 Sports Chris Juzwik Sports Editor College recruiting no tun anymore Reading Sports Illustrated last week (the college basketball issue) prompted a brainstorming session regarding the state of college athletics Amidst the other good stuff in my favorite magazine, there was a story about three college basketball freshmen who shared all their recruiting letters with an SI reporter. The hooks these coaches come up with are unbelievable. It's a wonder they have time to coach a basketball team, much less live a normal life. The main man in the story was North Carolina State's Chris Washburn, who received over 400 correspondences from either NC State head coach Jim Valvano or assistant Tom Abatemarco, in addition to thousands of other offers of instant success from drool­ ing collegiate mentors. Washburn and his mother were sent three to four letters per week from NC State. "Please come here to State, Chris," they pleaded. "We're the best. We can give you what you want. We have umpteen thousand players in the NBA." PERSISTENCE WON out as Washburn signed a letter of Intent to play for the Wolfpack, and is now a starting forward for the squad. It just makes you think: How long will it be before chose let­ ters contain cash or checks. It's probable that money practices are being done as we read. But how long before it's done legally? High school kids will be get­ ting cash bonuses from colleges before they attend even one class of Engraving 001. Arguably, the most ironic thing about the wooing of Washburn, who admits to not being the greatest student, was the grammar, spelling and syntax problems of Abatemarco, who as a coach is allegedly supposed to be a teacher of sorts. This space will take the opportunity to correct the Mr. Abatemarco. Example: "Dear Mrs. Washburn: Chris, played super." Dear Tom: You don't need a comma in there. Ex: "I'm very proud of your son he is a real fine young man." Tom: You ctoneed a comma in there. Ex: "I'm going to try and go and watch Chris play next week." Tom: It's 'try to go to watch.' Or are you going to try, and going to go, and going to watch? ANYWAY, IT'S sad that anyone at all, let1, a college coach, should be able to get through sixth grade, much less high school and college with that sort of grammar problem. But teacher strikes being as they are, these are trying times that we live in. Washburn isn't an exception. He and other prep stars are, in fact, the rule. And it's too bad. Players are force-fed enough when they get to college. There's no need for it while they're still in high school. Washburn received his first collegc recruitment letter just prior to his ninth grade season, the note-dropper being Louisville coach Denny Crum, who told the 13-year old Washburn what a great player he was. Big head? We're talking gargantuan extra large here. But, fear not. There may be a solution in the offing. But as logical things usually aren't, this one probably isn't feasible. But here's the gist of it. New Rule: starting today, college recruiting can only be done on a regional basis, maybe even just a state basis. This way, there are no worries or wondering about how warm it is in Tucson dur­ ing December. IF A PLAYER from California wants to play for the Illinl, tough. He can't. Simple as that. This way, if, say, a McHenry player was a college basketball prospect, he or she would only receive offers from a select group of colleges and universities within a specific area. This theory could be bettered if the athlete were to make a list of the schools, or at least the general size of school he or she wants to attend. The player makes a list of 10 schools, and the institutions of higher learning take it from there. And no correspondence of any kind is allowed prior to the first practice of the athlete's senior season. Any departures from these rules, and the school receives one of those now-famous NCAA probations. Sudden thought: Do schools work this hard to get the students who rank high academically? SURE, THERE are snags in this concept. But the route recruiting seems to be taking is only encouraging the beady-eyed college talent scout to be even more sinister in pishing the rules to the limit. Things have to get better. If not, you may so^ see assistant coaches hanging around maternity wards .n tht never-ending search for 'new' talent. Warrior cagers batter Grant 45-41 By Chris Juzwik PUtodulor-Horald aporta editor At its best, McHenry's 45-41 win over Grant Saturday night was a hard-fought, low-scoring defen­ sive battle. But at its worst, the Warriors' home opener was a sloppy, brawl­ ing street fight. The game could have been played at McCracken Field, or at least more lines and yard markers could have been placed on the hardwood at Buckner Gym. Suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty. "We set basketball back a few years tonight," said McHenry coach Ken Ludwig after his War­ riors posted their second straight win. "There's something about Grant," Ludwig continued. "There's so much pushing and shoving, and everyone's after each other so much, they forget how to play basketball." FOR the record, the two teams were whistled for 35 total fouls, 19 by the visitors. "I'd love to run an offense against these guys once," Ludwig said. McHenry was trying to avenge a 44-38 loss to the Bulldogs in the Rockford Boylan Tournament over Thanksgiving. In between the free throws and the whistles, between the pushing and shoving, the Warriors did manage to eke out a win, upping their season record to 2-4, as they ready to open the Fox Valley Con­ ference season Friday at Crystal Lake Central. "I assure you we can play better than this," Ludwig said. McHenry jumped out to an 8-2 lead, as 5-11 point guard Scott Freund wriggled his way inside to gather in offensive rebounds and score on two separate occasions. AT THE same time, however, McHenry forward Pat Dunne, who tallied 22 points in last week's win over Grayslake, picked up his third foul with three minutes left in the quarter. Grant fought back on a basket by 6-5 center Mark Kohl to tie the game at eight as the first stanza ended. The Warriors were called for seven fouls in the I first eight minutes, but the Bulldogs' -- especially Kohl's -- ineptitude at the free throw line was apparent, as he missed three tries, the team winding up 2-for-5 in the quarter. Both teams started to open things up in the Second period, most notably McHenry forward Craig Hill. The senior scored on a basket and two free throws, and then nail­ ed a jumper from the left wing to put theAYarrlors ahead 14-12 with 3:51 to play in the half. SENIOR Mark Etherldge, see­ ing an extended amount of playing time in Dunne's absence, scored off an offensive rebound to tie the game at 16. Ludwig did manage to use his seldom-used bench in the wake of his team's foul problems. At, one point, only one starter (Freund) was on the floor for McHenry. Also in that lineup were Chris Anderson, Bob Nolan, Etherldge and Rich White. That unit played the last 2:02 of the second quarter. Freund's two free throws with just five seconds left in the first half cut the Grant lead to 20-18. McHenry forgot the pushing and shoving long enough to open up a four-paint bulge late in the second quarter, as the Warrior seniors began to take charge. Dunne and Freund scored 11 of the Warriors 15 third quarter points. Dunne scored on a steal and lay-up, and on the same play, Freund was pushed under the basket by Grant's Gary Hartig. The Warrior guard hit both free throws to put McHenry ahead 31- 27. » AFTER Wehrstein connected to pull the 'Dogs within two, Joe To- nyan stole a pass at midcourt, and went in for the basket as the third quarter buzzer sounded, with McHenry leading 33-29. Freund's jumper started the fourth quarter scoring, before Grant's Brian Kelly got the hot hand, scoring six straight points to trim the MCHS lead to two. Hill then fed Dunne with a nifty pass for an easy bucket, and Hill connected on two free throws to (Please turn to page 23) > - PlaindealerHerald photo by Chris Juzwik McHenry's J.R.Wright is closely guarded by Grant's Pat King during the Warriors' 4541 victory at Buckner Gym Saturday. Skyhawks trounced in NWSC opener By BarbAnsell Plalndealer-Herald aportawrltor JOHNSBURG - Missed free throws and missed basket op­ portunities in the final quarter allowed the Marengo Indians to pull the Johnsburg Skyhawks back down to earth and capture a 54-44 win. • The two teams wre well- matched in the early going. "In the first quarter, our execution was on the mark," said Skyhawk coach Ben Beck. "We did what we wanted to do." What the Skyhawks did was keep their shooting percentage high and work to spread out the Marengo zone. The 'Hawks shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half, to the Indians' 41 percent, keeping JHS just one step behind Marengo --17-16 -- at the quarter. JOHNSBURG point guard Jeff Nichols took command in the se­ cond stanza, connecting on a shot from the left side to give Johnsburg its first lead at 18-17. Sophomore Frank Husek then tallied on a three point play, to up the Skyhawk lead to four, but it wouldn't last. Marengo bounced back, as an offensive rebound and lay-in tied Jeff Nichols Frank Husek the game at 25 as the buzzer sounded to end the first half. It was a flat second half for the Skyhawks, as their every gain of momentum couldn't be sustained. "We were out of position in the second half and we didn't concen­ trate as well," said Nichols. T H E ' H a w k s l o s s of concentration became most ap­ parent in the fourth quarter* into which the Indians took a five-point lead. Baskets by Husek and Nichols brought JHS back, but Marengo scored six straight points to take command. Two of those hoops came off steals. Johnsburg attempted to return the favor, as forward Mark DuRei picked off an errant Indian pass and fed the ball to Nichols, who was fouled going in for the lay-up. 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